Research by political scientists on the modern welfare state focuses on its historical development and on the emergence of distinctive welfare state regimes. Research conducted in the past decade has also been concerned with the implications for the welfare state of the recurrent crises which have afflicted western economies since the late 1970's. However, while the politics of building welfare states are now better understood, there remains little systematic study of the politics of their retrenchment, a phenomenon which has been under way for the past two decades in most advanced capitalist states. This study examines the politics of retrenchment in Canada over the period 1978 to 1993. Focusing on three categories of federal income security programmes (family benefits, retirement income programmes, and Unemployment Insurance), the thesis describes a gradual shift in programme design away from universality and toward greater selectivity. Concomitant with this development was an increasing reliance on the tax system as an instrument of social policy. Applying Gosta Esping-Andersen's analysis of welfare state regimes, the thesis contends that the cumulative effect of programme retrenchment during this period was to reinforce the liberal-residualist character of Canada's welfare state at the expense of its social democratic aspects. In an effort to explain the process of welfare state retrenchment in Canada, within and between different categories of income security programmes, the thesis tests hypotheses associated with three major approaches to the study of public policy: class analysis, institutionalism, and pluralism. The thesis concludes that retrenchment in Canada was broadly facilitated by a decline in the political power resources of labour in relation to those of business. Because of the weakness of the relevant non-class pressure groups, pluralism is of limited value in explaining retrenchment outcomes. Insights into more specific patterns of retrenchment are gained from two institutionalist perspectives. The first of these, a state-centred approach, draws attention to the larger role in social policy-making that was assumed by the Department of Finance, the chief fiscal guardian of the Federal Government. The second perspective, a rational choice theory developed by Paul Pierson, provides insight into the manner in which certain retrenchment measures were formulated. Based on Kent Weaver's blame-avoidance thesis, Pierson's model provides a persuasive explanation for the reliance of Canadian governments on arcane changes to tax rules and indexation formulae as an instrument of retrenchment. Since each of the analyses provides at best only a partial explanation for the politics of welfare state retrenchment, the thesis proposes the scheme of an integrated approach which incorporates the explanatory power of class analysis and institutionalism.

Income support programs constitute an integral component of modern labour markets and represent significant fiscal commitments on the part of governments. This thesis examines two key income support programs in Canada and their impact on labour market outcomes, namely employment insurance (EI) and social assistance (SA). Together expenditures on EI and SA represented approximately 2 per cent of Canadian GDP in 1998-99 and influenced a range of labour market decisions relating to labour force participation, employment and unemployment spells. The analysis in this thesis provides new evidence on the role of the EI and SA programs on labour market outcomes by examining the interface between the programs and labour market behaviour. An analysis of the take-up of SA amongst a sample of SA eligible individuals is also undertaken that provides new evidence on the determinants of participation in the SA program in Canada. The analysis in this thesis uses the 1997 Canadian Out of Employment Panel dataset, a unique dataset that provides detailed information on the use of income support programs and employment patterns, and detailed information on a rich set of personal and household characteristics. The approach adopted in this thesis is to use a generalized probability transition model to examine the nature of the interface between income support programs and their effect on labour market outcomes. This approach allows the implications of changes in either program for use of the other program, and overall labour market outcomes, to be identified. The analysis of the SA take-up decision uses a discrete choice framework that explicitly takes account of the potential endogeneity of benefit levels available to the individual. A number of conclusions can be drawn from the analysis undertaken in this thesis. First, when the generosity of the SA program is reduced, individuals decrease use of both the SA and EI programs. Conversely, reducing the generosity of the EI program results in an increase in the use, albeit relatively small, of the SA program. The results of the analysis of the take-up decision of the SA program point to the key role of benefit levels and previous use of the program as determinants of the likelihood that an individual takes up SA.

M.Comm. (International Accounting) / Recently, there has been a spate of reported cases of large corporate entities paying very little, or no income tax, despite the appearance of being profitable. Enron conducted a lot of business through special purpose vehicle (SPV) companies that were structured specifically for the purpose of paying very little, if any, corporate tax, without having to reduce reported book net profits to achieve this. A study in October 2012 of Starbucks by Reuters found that the company had reported no profits and had paid no income tax for the previous 3 financial years in the United Kingdom despite sales of 1.2 billion pounds. By comparison, McDonalds had to pay tax of 80 million pounds based on a turnover of 3.6 billion pounds, and KFC paid 36 million pounds in taxes on 1.1 billion pounds turnover in the United Kingdom. Another company highlighted for paying no tax is the giant Internet company, Ebay. In its latest financial period the company paid 1 million pounds in tax, on a turnover of 800 million pounds. Again complicated tax structures are at the centre of the tax computation. Consideration has to be given to the role played by the accounting standards, if any, in this scenario, and the extent of the role played by accounting treatments. One has to question if accounting treatments are enabling companies to consistently pay lower rates of tax than is statutorily required, through mechanisms like the raising of deferred tax, or whether it is simply a question of the relevant tax legislation being formulated in a way that allows taxable income to be lower than accounting income. The extent of this book-tax gap and the amount of tax actually paid by companies have been researched to a limited degree. Several studies have been conducted on the financial results from the 1990s, where a consistent decline in the collection of tax by authorities, despite the economic boom that was in existence at that time, has been shown. Research in the 2000s tends to confirm the continuance of this trend of an ever-increasing book-tax gap. The general consensus from the literature review conducted is that the divergence between book income and taxable income is a growing trend, and taxes actually paid by corporates are declining and are on average lower than statutory tax rates.

Income support programs constitute an integral component of modern labour markets and represent significant fiscal commitments on the part of governments. This thesis examines two key income support programs in Canada and their impact on labour market outcomes, namely employment insurance (EI) and social assistance (SA). Together expenditures on EI and SA represented approximately 2 per cent of Canadian GDP in 1998-99 and influenced a range of labour market decisions relating to labour force participation, employment and unemployment spells. The analysis in this thesis provides new evidence on the role of the EI and SA programs on labour market outcomes by examining the interface between the programs and labour market behaviour. An analysis of the take-up of SA amongst a sample of SA eligible individuals is also undertaken that provides new evidence on the determinants of participation in the SA program in Canada. The analysis in this thesis uses the 1997 Canadian Out of Employment Panel dataset, a unique dataset that provides detailed information on the use of income support programs and employment patterns, and detailed information on a rich set of personal and household characteristics. The approach adopted in this thesis is to use a generalized probability transition model to examine the nature of the interface between income support programs and their effect on labour market outcomes. This approach allows the implications of changes in either program for use of the other program, and overall labour market outcomes, to be identified. The analysis of the SA take-up decision uses a discrete choice framework that explicitly takes account of the potential endogeneity of benefit levels available to the individual. A number of conclusions can be drawn from the analysis undertaken in this thesis. First, when the generosity of the SA program is reduced, individuals decrease use of both the SA and EI programs. Conversely, reducing the generosity of the EI program results in an increase in the use, albeit relatively small, of the SA program. The results of the analysis of the take-up decision of the SA program point to the key role of benefit levels and previous use of the program as determinants of the likelihood that an individual takes up SA. / Arts, Faculty of / Vancouver School of Economics / Graduate

Research by political scientists on the modern welfare state focuses on its historical development and on the emergence of distinctive welfare state regimes. Research conducted in the past decade has also been concerned with the implications for the welfare state of the recurrent crises which have afflicted western economies since the late 1970's. However, while the politics of building welfare states are now better understood, there remains little systematic study of the politics of their retrenchment, a phenomenon which has been under way for the past two decades in most advanced capitalist states. This study examines the politics of retrenchment in Canada over the period 1978 to 1993. Focusing on three categories of federal income security programmes (family benefits, retirement income programmes, and Unemployment Insurance), the thesis describes a gradual shift in programme design away from universality and toward greater selectivity. Concomitant with this development was an increasing reliance on the tax system as an instrument of social policy. Applying Gosta Esping-Andersen's analysis of welfare state regimes, the thesis contends that the cumulative effect of programme retrenchment during this period was to reinforce the liberal-residualist character of Canada's welfare state at the expense of its social democratic aspects. In an effort to explain the process of welfare state retrenchment in Canada, within and between different categories of income security programmes, the thesis tests hypotheses associated with three major approaches to the study of public policy: class analysis, institutionalism, and pluralism. The thesis concludes that retrenchment in Canada was broadly facilitated by a decline in the political power resources of labour in relation to those of business. Because of the weakness of the relevant non-class pressure groups, pluralism is of limited value in explaining retrenchment outcomes. Insights into more specific patterns of retrenchment are gained from two institutionalist perspectives. The first of these, a state-centred approach, draws attention to the larger role in social policy-making that was assumed by the Department of Finance, the chief fiscal guardian of the Federal Government. The second perspective, a rational choice theory developed by Paul Pierson, provides insight into the manner in which certain retrenchment measures were formulated. Based on Kent Weaver's blame-avoidance thesis, Pierson's model provides a persuasive explanation for the reliance of Canadian governments on arcane changes to tax rules and indexation formulae as an instrument of retrenchment. Since each of the analyses provides at best only a partial explanation for the politics of welfare state retrenchment, the thesis proposes the scheme of an integrated approach which incorporates the explanatory power of class analysis and institutionalism. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate

South Africa is a democratic country since 1994 and transformation brought policies that aimed to address the inequalities and poverty situation countrywide. During apartheid era the existence of social assistance was more focused on minority group. Hence the eroded social inequality cannot be ignored as poverty takes its toll in our communities. It was the previously termed state maintenance grant that was phased out with the introduction of Child support grant (CSG). The purpose of CSG was to reduce child poverty; however a long list of challenges regarding the aims and objectives of the CSG surfaced. This study was about the challenges of child support grant as poverty alleviation strategy in waNobuhle community in Uitenhage. The purpose of the study was also to investigate the value CSG adds in the beneficiaries’ lives in terms of poverty alleviation and what is mostly hindering the CSG from alleviating poverty. The research design for the study could be classified as mixed designs which include qualitative and quantitative approach, taking a form of action research. A sample of 30 participants was drawn from SASSA beneficiaries. The sampling method for the study was purposive, which is a non-probability sampling. Semi structured questionnaires and semi structured interviews were utilized to collect data and the data collected was analysed thematically and descriptive statistics analysis was undertaken as well. Questionnaires to collect data from the thirty (30) CSG beneficiaries’ from KwaNobuhle community and semi structured interviews was undertaken. The most important findings that emerged from the study were that participants appeared to have a clear understanding of the fact that CSG represented a government strategy to support children, fight poverty and uplift the standard of living for the poor. However, majority of the participants were not satisfied with CSG as poverty alleviation strategy, participant’s wants government to increase the amount of CSG and to create employment opportunities. The CSG was pointed as inadequate due to the fact that all family members of the beneficiaries are dependent on the CSG. The conclusion drawn was that CSG paid to KwaNobuhle beneficiaries seemed to be achieving their aims even though the CSG is announced to be inadequate, employment is a necessity and the gap between departments serving the community. The findings of the study are discussed as suggestions to SASSA and the Department of Social development.

This investigation studied the level of knowledge that principals have concerning the maintenance of their schools. A questionnaire was developed to address three research questions. These research questions were: (1) what is the extent that facilities maintenance is an important issue for school principals? (2) in what specific areas of facilities maintenance do principals lack knowledge? and (3) in what specific areas does the lack of facilities maintenance knowledge by principals exceed 30%? A questionnaire was developed to gather data to analyze comparative relationships to the research questions. Data indicated that principals do believe facilities maintenance is an important issue. Reponses to the questionnaire indicated most principals have a general understanding of facilities maintenance in its broadest sense. However, the data supported that most principals lack knowledge concerning the specific facilities maintenance information and issues. Recommendations were made to address the lack of knowledge principals have concerning facilities maintenance. Recommendations were also made for additional research in the area of the principal's knowledge concerning facilities maintenance.

The principle of effective demand states that given endogenous expenditure patterns, the level of exogenous expenditure determines the level of employment. If investment represents the sole form of exogenous expenditure, employment adjusts to the level of investment. If exogenous expenditure changes, equilibrium is restored via the equilibrating variable, employment. If employment is linked in a unique way to income, we have what is referred to as the income adjustment process. The income adjustment process is investigated in a closed and a small open economy (SOE) which imports consumption and capital goods. If a SOE imports its capital goods, the causal link between investment and employment is weakened. When capital goods are imported, investment adjusts to the balance of payments and animal spirits are constrained. Certain South African data are analysed within the framework of the income adjustment process. / M.A.(Economics)

Face aux nouveaux cadres législatifs ou environnementaux dans lesquels ils doivent évoluer, les systèmes industriels actuels sont, en plus d'être contraints par des exigences classiques de productivité et de cout, sujets au respect de nouvelles exigences relatives à la sûreté, la sécurité ou au développement durable notamment. Pour répondre à ces exigences et améliorer la maitrise des performances de ses systèmes, EDF souhaite faire évoluer sa démarche d'Optimisation de la Maintenance Basée sur la Fiabilité vers une nouvelle méthode. Cette méthode nécessite en autre la proposition d'une approche outillée permettant de quantifier a priori les programmes de maintenance (CMPQ) sur ses systèmes par rapport aux indicateurs de performance attendus (KPIs). Cet outillage fait l'objet de cette thèse financée dans le cadre du GIS 3SGS - projet DEPRADEM 2. Après avoir généralisé les besoins d'EDF en regard de la CMPQ, nous proposons une identification de la connaissance générique nécessaire pour évaluer les KPI. Afin d'aboutir à un outil permettant l'automatisation de ces études de CMPQ, cette connaissance générique est ensuite modélisée sur la base de deux langages : le langage semi-formel SysML capitalisant, par l'intermédiaire de différents diagrammes, la connaissance statique, interactionnelle et comportementale ; et le langage AltaRicaDF, supportant un modèle dynamique permettant d'évaluer les KPIs par simulation stochastique. La création de ce modèle dynamique à partir des différents diagrammes est basée sur un mapping entre les concepts d'intérêt des deux langages. La démarche dans sa globalité est validée à la CMPQ d'un cas d'étude fourni par EDF : le système ARE / To face with new legislatives and environmental contexts in which they have to operate, it is needed now that the industrials systems have to satisfy to many different requirements and constraints. Thus, these requirements are not only conventional ones such as availability and costs, but also emergent ones such as safety and sustainability. This report implies for the specific French company EDF (energy power supplier) to evolve from its usual approach of reliability centered maintenance (RCM) to a new approach. It is consisting mainly in developing a tool able to support the Complex Maintenance Programs Quantification (CMPQ). This Ph.D. is dealing with this the engineering and deployment of this tool in the frame of the GIS 3SGS - DEPRADEM 2 project. The first step of the work is to generalize EDF needs, then to propose a framework enabling to identify required generic knowledge needed to assess the Key Performances Indicators (KPIs) for supporting quantification. The next step is to model the generic knowledge in two complementary ways: a formalization of the static, interactional and behavioral knowledge based on different SysML diagrams; and a formalization of the dynamic and executable knowledge formalized by AltaRicaDF (ADF) language, allowing to perform stochastic simulation and to assess required KPIs. The path to elaborate dynamic executable vision from SysML diagrams is released by means of rules between each element of interest of both languages. All this approach/tool is applied to a specific EDF case study: the ARE system

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2018-06-04T12:35:00Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Sidney Rezende Azevedo.pdf: 1755449 bytes, checksum: aa4e16e0504e0108a8e17052384ae516 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-06-04T12:35:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Sidney Rezende Azevedo.pdf: 1755449 bytes, checksum: aa4e16e0504e0108a8e17052384ae516 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-03-22 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The purpose of the presente study is to investigate the situations of social helplessness experienced by families that receive any help from the “BolsaFamília” program in the Municipality of VárzeaPaulista -SP. The research is essentially qualitative, where were analyzed aspects related to the objective and subjective conditions of the beneficiary families and the ability to access and evaluate municipal public services, for instance health, education and social assistance. The Evaluations were made through a questionnaire applied at the households address, where it was heard reports of different situations of social abandonment experienced by these families during their lives. Material and symbolic relations between families, and the construction of feminine gender that the PBF has in addition to the discursive elements showed the occurrence of familism and pointed out the feminization of poverty. It was also evaluate how people deal with absence or presence of the State. In which dimension is happening the “non-accountability” of the state and the accountability of the families. The familismphenomenonand the interface with the PBF. The biggest Brazilian program of income transfer faces an articulation difficulty with other social policies, which makes it difficult to overlap the stigma of a social program of poverty relief. We approached different situations of social destitution that accumulates in the family dynamics which demands the offer of social protection .Questions about death in the family, accidents, evictions, famine, constant residential changes, diseases, births, discrimination, landslides, flood, maternity domestic violence, unemployment, and street situation. Situations of disrespect, humiliation and embarrassment that cause ethical-political suffering. The research shows how families, especially women, working class that doesnt have the support of the State and how much the “extended family”, like religious institution and friends/ neighbors can offer and help. In most families, occasional and restricted support. The poor women who live from the work are the same who suffer prejudice and discrimination from the several discriminating agents mentioned in the research. They are exploited by working capital and they occupy the most precarious jobs, even exploited, they need to resist to the perverse logic of social abandonment,low access and quality of the public services that accumulate according to the territory / O presente estudo se ocupa em investigar as situações de (des)proteções sociais vivenciadas pelas famílias beneficiárias do Programa Bolsa Família do Município de Várzea Paulista-SP. A pesquisa é de caráter essencialmente qualitativa, tendo sido analisados aspectos pertinentes às condições objetivas e subjetivas das famílias beneficiárias. Analisamos as condições de acesso das famílias em relação às políticas públicas e coletamos avaliações sobre os serviços públicos do município, entre os quais os de saúde, educação e assistência social. As avaliações foram feitas através da aplicação de um questionário realizado no domicílio das famílias, onde ouvimos os relatos de diferentes situações de (des)proteções sociais vivenciadas por essas famílias no decorrer de suas vidas. Identificamos relações materiais e simbólicas entre as famílias, e constatamos a construção do gênero feminino que o PBF tem para além dos elementos discursivos que revelaram a ocorrência do familismo e apontaram para a feminização da pobreza. Também avaliamos como as pessoas lidam com ausência/ presença do Estado. Em que medida está ocorrendo conjuntamente a desresponsabilização do Estado e a responsabilização da família. A pesquisa abordou a questão do fenômeno do familismo e a interface com o PBF. Em que medida o maior programa de transferência de renda condicionada do Brasil enfrenta dificuldade de articulação com as políticas sociais e assim, sobrepor-se ao estigma de programa social de alívio a pobreza. Agrupamos as situações de (des)proteções sociais que se acumulam nas dinâmicas familiares, em razão da ausência da oferta de proteção social. Questões relacionadas à morte em família, acidentes, despejos, fome, mudanças residenciais constantes, doenças, nascimentos, discriminação, desabamento, enchente, maternidade, violência doméstica, desemprego, situação de rua e na rua. Quantificamos e analisamos as situações de desrespeito, humilhação e constrangimento que causam sofrimento ético-politico. A pesquisa aponta o quanto as famílias, nelas principalmente as mulheres pobres que são pertencentes uma classe social que vive do trabalho, não contam com o apoio do Estado e o quanto as beneficiárias podem contar com as famílias extensas, instituições religiosas e amigos/vizinhos. Na maioria das famílias, um apoio esporádico e restrito. As mulheres pobres que em geral participam da classe que vive do trabalho e são exploradas pelo capital trabalho: ocupam os empregos mais precários, e mesmo exploradas, resistem à lógica perversa do desamparo social e do baixo acesso à qualidade dos serviços públicos, que se acumulam conforme o território