This thesis addresses the issue of weighted cost-benefit analysis (WCBA). WCBA is a welfare evaluation model where income distribution effects are valued by distributional weighting. The method was developed already in the 1970s. The interest in and applications of this method have increased in the past decade, e.g. when evaluating of global environmental problems. There are, however, still unsolved problems regarding the application of this method. One such issue is the choice of the approach to the means of estimating of the distributional weights. The literature on WCBA suggests a couple of approaches, but gives no clues as to which one is the most appropriate one to use, either from a theoretical or from an empirical point of view. Accordingly, the choice of distributional weights may be an arbitrary one. In the first paper in this thesis, the consequences of the choice of distributional weights on project decisions have been studied. Different sets of distributional weights have been compared across a variety of strategically chosen income distribution effects. The distributional weights examined are those that correspond to the WCBA approaches commonly suggested in literature on the topic. The results indicate that the choice of distributional weights is of importance for the rank of projects only when the income distribution effects concern target populations with low incomes. The results also show that not only the mean income but also the span of incomes, of the target population of the income distribution effect, affects the result of the distributional weighting when applying very progressive non-linear distributional weights. This may cause the distributional weighting to indicate an income distribution effect even though the project effect is evenly distributed across the population. One rational for distributional weighting, commonly referred to when applying WCBA, is that marginal utility of income is decreasing with income. In the second paper, this hypothesis is tested. My study contributes to this literature by employing stated preference data on compensated variation (CV) in a model flexible as to the functional form of the marginal utility. The results indicate that the marginal utility of income decreases linearly with income. Under certain conditions, a decreasing marginal utility of income corresponds to risk aversion. Thus the hypothesis that marginal utility of income is decreasing with income can be tested by analyses of individuals’ behaviour in gambling situations. The third paper examines of the role of risk aversion, defined by the von Neumann-Morgenstern expected utility function, for people’s concern about the problem of ‘sick’ buildings. The analysis is based on data on the willingness to pay (WTP) for having the indoor air quality (IAQ) at home examined and diagnosed by experts and the WTP for acquiring an IAQ at home that is guaranteed to be good. The results indicate that some of the households are willing to pay for an elimination of the uncertainty of the IAQ at home, even though they are not willing to pay for an elimination of the risks for building related ill health. The probability to pay, for an elimination of the uncertainty of the indoor air quality at home, only because of risk aversion is estimated to 0.3-0.4. Risk aversion seems to be a more common motive, for the decision to pay for a diagnosis of the IAQ at home, among young people. Another rationale for distributional weighting, commonly referred to, is the existence of unselfish motives for economic behaviour, such as social inequality aversion or altruism. In the fourth paper the hypothesis that people have altruistic preferences, i.e. that they care about other people’s well being, is tested. The WTP for a public project, that ensures good indoor air quality in all buildings, have been measured in three different ways for three randomly drawn sub-samples, capturing different motives for economic behaviour (pure altruism, paternalism and selfishness). The significance of different questions, and different motives, is analysed using an independent samples test of the mean WTPs of the sub-samples, a chi-square test of the association between the WTP and the sample group membership and an econometric analysis of the decision to pay to the public project. No evidence for altruism, either pure altruism or paternalism, is found in this study.

South Africa has been going through severe social changes over the past two decades. In light of these changes the present study aimed to understand adolescents’ expectations of their personal future. Based on the Theory of Possible Selves (Markus & Nurius, 1986) the present research addressed the overall question whether adolescents’ personal future plans incorporate the views they share about the present and the future of their social context. Social context was not only limited to factors such as gender, ethnicity and school environment, but also included both the daily lived experiences of inequality, as is the case in South Africa, and the projected social context of the future. A total of 631 pupils from four Gauteng high schools took part in this cross sectional study. The results support the hypotheses especially within the possible selves’ domain of academic achievement. The interrelatedness between possible selves and shared beliefs about the future of South Africa could, however, not be demonstrated. / Grow Your Own Timber Programme of the University of South Africa / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology (Research Consultation))

No description available.

O presente estudo volta-se à discussão do Federalismo Fiscal na América Latina, em particular nas quatro Federações Brasil, Argentina, México e Venezuela, como instrumento de integração. A proposta de integração desenvolve-se a partir da compreensão do sentido de pobreza, que na região está associado à desigualdade, inserido sobretudo a partir de uma primeira integração digamos, quando houve um encontro entre as civilizações pré-hispânicas e europeia, notadamente Espanha e Portugal, em decorrência da qual se enraízam a pobreza e a exclusão social na sociedade dela resultante. No entanto, passados cinco séculos, entende-se que a integração da América Latina poderá encontrar em oportunidades de participação da sociedade no debate político, e portanto, na inclusão social, uma outra realidade em que a pobreza possa ser reduzida ou extinta. Para tanto, o estudo ora apresentado utiliza da teoria sobre uma ética de participação e distribuição, construída nas democracias latino-americanas. Esse sentido de construção de relações sociais vincula-se à necessidade também de serem estruturadas relações sociais condizentes com a solidariedade social, estabelecendo-se na região instituições próprias que assegurem a redução das desigualdades sociais e que possam revelar um novo e autêntico modelo de integração. As normas jurídicas presentes no Federalismo Fiscal nas quatro Federações mencionadas são valioso instrumento do fortalecimento de um institucionalismo próprio ao ensejo de desenvolvimento regional, com inclusão social em que a conservação do meio ambiente reflete a preocupação com o ser humano. Enfim, a proposta de integração regional está expressa na distribuição e aplicação de receitas arrecadas por meio da tributação ambiental, enlaçando o Federalismo Fiscal próprio e comum às Federações latino-americanas. / This paper then turns to a discussion of Fiscal Federalism in Latin America, particularly in the four Federations Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and Venezuela, as an instrument of integration. The proposed integration is developed from the understanding of the meaning of poverty in the region that is associated with inequality , especially inserted from a first integration say, when there was a meeting between the pre - Hispanic and European civilizations , notably Spain and Portugal , as a result of which are rooted poverty and social exclusion resulting in her society. However, after five centuries, it is understood that the integration of Latin America can find opportunities in a society participation in political debate, and therefore, social inclusion, another reality in which poverty can be reduced or extinguished. Thus, the study presented here uses the theory of an ethic of participation and distribution , built in Latin American democracies. This sense of building social relationships linked to the need also to be structured social solidarity, settling in the region institutions that ensure the reduction of social inequalities and that may prove a new and authentic integration model . Legal norms present in Fiscal Federalism in the four Federations mentioned are valuable instrument of strengthening a institutionalism itself and the opportunity for regional development with social inclusion in the conservation of the environment, which reflects a concern with the human being. Finally, the proposed regional integration is expressed in the distribution and application of revenues collected through environmental taxation, linking the Fiscal Federalism itself and common to Latin American Federations.

O Programa do Biodiesel, estabelecido pelo Governo Federal, visa atingir diversos objetivos: diversificação da matriz energética, diminuição da dependência de energia não renovável e redução dos impactos ambientais resultantes do uso de combustíveis fósseis. Um importante componente social é a tentativa de utilizar o Programa para melhorar a renda da agricultura familiar, contribuindo para a redução das desigualdades. Esta pesquisa analisa a estrutura de custo na produção de mamona nos principais municípios produtores da região de Ireçê-BA, aplicando a Teoria Neoclássica da Produção na estimativa de uma função custo Translog. Essa função é utilizada para derivar a curva de custo médio e diversas formas de elasticidades. Na região do estudo, constatou-se que a mamona adota tecnologia intensiva em mão-de-obra e com processos rudimentares. Em comparação, a literatura mostra que a produção da soja é mais intensiva em capital, tecnologicamente mais avançada e sua cadeia produtiva encontra-se melhor organizada. Os índices de economia de escala estimados para a mamona são bastante significativos e os custos médios são declinantes para todo o intervalo da amostra. A comparação dos custos de produção da cultura da mamona e da soja indica que o óleo de mamona tem custo de produção 7% menor que o da soja. Por outro lado, a presença de significativa economia de escala mostra que a transferência de renda para os agricultores familiares, através do programa de biodiesel, só seria possível através de apoio do governo (compensação dos diferenciais de custos entre os pequenos e grandes produtores) ou via expansão da escala de produção acima dos níveis observados na amostra. / The Biodiesel Program, established by the Brazilian Federal Government, has several objectives: energy matrix diversification; reduce the dependence on non-renewable energy; and, reduce the environmental impacts resulting from fossil fuels consumption. An important aspect of this Program is the potential to improve the family farms income, helping to reduce social inequality. This research analyzes the cost structure of castor bean production in the region of Irecê-BA, using the Neoclassical Theory of Production to estimate a Translog cost function. This function is used to derive the average cost curve and several forms of elasticities. In the region covered by this study, castor bean production is heavily dependent on labor and is not technologically advanced. In comparison, the literature shows that soybean is much more intensive in capital, uses advanced technology and its production chain is much better organized. The scale economy indices estimated for castor bean are very significant and the average cost is declining over the whole sample interval. The cost comparison shows that castor bean oil has a slightly smaller average cost (-7%) than soybean oil. On the other hand, the significant scale economy found in this study indicates that the objective of improving the family farm income, through the biodiesel program, will only be possible through the governments support (compensation for the cost differential between the smaller and larger farms) or through the expansion of production scale above the levels observed in the sample.

Orientador: Ana Maria Fonseca de Almeida / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Educação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-17T02:40:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Basilio_JulianaRegina_M.pdf: 2460861 bytes, checksum: 64921daf6bb289e8a2a74ea7ccc78362 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010 / Resumo: A pesquisa tem em vista contribuir para o entendimento da condição docente na escola básica paulista, por meio do estudo das práticas de recrutamento e das formas de inserção dos professores nas escolas que compõem essa rede de ensino. O estudo foi estruturado em dois eixos. O primeiro consistiu no levantamento e na análise, numa perspectiva histórica, da legislação que governou a contratação de professores de 1974 a 2009. O segundo determinou o exame das práticas de recrutamento realmente realizadas. Para isso, foram levantados e estudados os dados estatísticos disponíveis sobre os professores e seus contratos no Departamento de Recursos Humanos da Secretaria Estadual de Educação; foi também realizada uma observação de inspiração etnográfica, no ano de 2009, em diferentes etapas de atribuição de aulas, numa das Diretorias Regionais de Ensino, com vistas a acompanhar in loco os processos de recrutamento e inserção de professores efetivos temporários e eventuais. O estudo apontou que: (i) a atuação dos professores na escola tem uma relação intrínseca com a sua situação de emprego, ou seja, se ele possui ou não um contrato de trabalho e se ele tem ou não estabilidade no emprego; (ii) sua atuação docente, quando analisada do ponto de vista da formação inicial e continuada, tende a culpabilizar o professor pela situação da escola, sem considerar as condições objetivas do exercício do seu trabalho; (iii) o processo de obtenção do emprego e a inserção na escola são reveladores tanto dos processos pelos quais se constrói o lugar objetivo do professor no sistema de ensino quanto de sua posição social. / Abstract: This research aims to contribute to the understanding of teacher's condition in elementary school in São Paulo by the study of recruitment practices and forms of insertion of teachers in schools which make up this network of education. The study was structured in two approaches. In the first, the survey and analysis of the legislation that governed the hiring of teachers from 1974 to 2009 were carried out in a historical perspective. In the second, it was accomplished the examination of recruitment practices which are really carried out in the schools. Thereby, the available statistical data on teachers and their contracts with the Department of Human Resources at the State Department of Education were surveyed and studied. In addition, it was accomplished the observation of ethnographic inspiration, in 2009, in different stages of classes attribution in one of the Regional Boards of Education, aiming to follow in loco the processes of recruitment and insertion of temporary effective and eventual teachers. The study showed that: (i) the teachers' performance in school has an intrinsic relationship with their employment situation, in other words, whether or not they have a labor contract or stability in the work, (ii) their teaching performance, when analyzed from the viewpoint of initial and ongoing formation, tend to blame the teachers for the school situation, without considering the objective conditions of the practice of their employment, and (iii) the process of obtaining the employment and the insertion in school reveal both the processes by which the objective place of teachers is developed in the education system and their social position. / Mestrado / Educação, Conhecimento, Linguagem e Arte / Mestre em Educação

Esta tese se propõe a demonstrar avanços e limitações encontrados para a escolarização de crianças e jovens com necessidades especiais na rede estadual de ensino de São Paulo, nos últimos seis anos e discutir possibilidades e desafios para a condução de ações da modalidade de ensino Educação Especial, sob a perspectiva da política educacional denominada inclusiva. Fundamentada em pesquisa e estudos das áreas da Sociologia, destacadamente, as da Sociologia Crítica e da Educação, esta tese discute a dicotomia inclusão/exclusão presente na concepção de políticas públicas atuais, evidenciando a partir do referencial de laços sociais e de construções teóricas sobre afiliação/desafiliação de Robert Castel, para analisar contextos sociais. Ao examinar como as contradições e os impasses existentes no contexto socioeconômico influenciam a política educacional e, com maior intensidade, as questões referentes à escolarização de crianças e jovens com necessidades especiais, coloca em xeque a reprodução de desigualdades sociais na escola, a prática docente e a estrutura do próprio sistema. Ao indicar a necessidade de que a concepção da política educacional vai além da implantação de reformas, transformando estruturalmente o sistema de ensino, propõe que a Educação possa ser realmente um dos caminhos pelos quais se encontrem possibilidades para a construção de arranjos sociais plausíveis que se fundamentem nos princípios da coesão social, da igualdade de direitos e da solidariedade. / This research aims to show the conquests and limitations found for teaching kids and teens with special needs in São Paulo educational network, in the last six years and discuss the possibilities and challenges to conduct actions in the Special Education sector, under the educational policy perspective, denominated inclusive. Based on researches and studies in the Sociology areas, specially Critical Sociology and Education, this thesis discuss the dichotomy inclusion/exclusion, presented in the conception of the public policy nowadays, proving from the social laces and the theorical constructions by Robert Castel toward the affiliation/disaffiliation for the social context analysis. After examining how the contradictions and the deadlocks that exist in the socialeconomical context affecting the educational policy, and with bigger intensity, the questions regarding to the education for kids and teens with special needs, testing the social inequality reproduction at school, the teaching practice and the structure of the system itself. By indicating the needs that the conception of the educational policy goes beyond implementing the changes, structurally transforming the teaching system, proposes that the Education could be really one of its ways which would find possibilities for building the social arrangements plausible that would be based in the principles of the social cohesion, the equal rights and solidarity.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-18T18:54:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Jacinta.pdf: 1245045 bytes, checksum: 1ef218360086cb6327c248f7c517d8b2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-03-09 / This thesis aims at analyzing the official discourse of the Brazilian Social Assistance Policy on the family and the idea of centrality in the family, from their key documents, both at the level of the general formulation and of the regulation and at the level of technical guidance and standardization of the socioassistencial services, within the period from 1999 to 2011. We seek to understand the contemporary family as a dynamic and contradictory whole, built by the historical, economic, cultural and social. That movement, and as an expression of the diversity and complexity of forms of family life. That movement produces changes in the major determinants of the construction of family concept: the patterns of sexuality and conjugality; the relations of consanguinity and filiation; the cohabitation; and family affection and solidarity. It discusses the approach of the family in demographic studies, highlighting the controversies and the influences of these studies in the Social Assistance Policy. We also analyze the building process of that policy, highlighting its contradictions, innovations and continuities. It discusses the social inequality in Brazil, showing how effective it is in the Brazilian families and among their different configurations.The conception of the Social Assistance Policy is captured within the conflict between the assistencialist tradition and the process of affirmation of rights, while we seeks to understand how the family is inserted into the process of setting up of that policy. Some advances in the legal conceptual field of the Social Assistance Policy of that are highlighted, as well as the limits of the social protection for the families and the key elements for the design of the policy: its specificity in social protection; the intersectionality; and its decentralization in the context of the SUAS. Finally, we analyze the official discourse of the Brazilian Social Assistance Policy, using the method of Discourse Analysis, seeking to understand how the family and the idea of centrality in the family appear as discursive guidelines of the main documents of that Policy: the Organic Law of Social Assistance; the first and second National Policy of Social Assistance (PNAS/1998; 2004), as well as the documents related to basic social protection and the special social protection of the Policy destined to families. In the official discourse of that policy, the family and the centrality in the family appear in an imprecise, diffuse and ambiguous way. The analysis of the documents led to the identification in that discourse of the social stability, the discontinuities, the ruptures, the unspoken and the interdict. The idea of centrality in the family appears in a different way: now it is announced, sometimes it is said, sometimes it is interdicted. / Objetiva-se analisar o discurso oficial da Política de Assistência Social brasileira sobre a família e a ideia de centralidade na família, a partir dos seus documentos principais, tanto no nível da formulação geral e da normatização quanto no nível das orientações técnicas e da padronização dos serviços socioassistenciais, no período de 1999 a 2011. Busca-se compreender a família contemporânea como totalidade dinâmica e contraditória, construída pelo movimento histórico, econômico, cultural e social, e como expressão da diversidade e da complexidade das formas de viver em família. Esse movimento produz alterações nos determinantes principais da construção da concepção de família: os padrões de sexualidade e conjugalidade; as relações de consanguinidade e filiação; a coabitação; a afetividade e a solidariedade familiares. Discute-se a abordagem da família nos estudos demográficos, explicitando as controvérsias e as influências desses estudos na Política de Assistência Social. Analisa-se, ainda, o processo de construção dessa política, destacando suas contradições, inovações e continuidades. Discute-se a desigualdade social no Brasil, evidenciando como ela se efetiva nas famílias brasileiras e entre suas diferentes configurações. A concepção da Política de Assistência Social é apreendida no âmbito do conflito entre a tradição assistencialista e o processo de afirmação dos direitos, ao mesmo tempo em que se busca entender como a família se insere no processo de constituição dessa política. Destacam-se alguns avanços no campo jurídico conceitual na Política de Assistência Social, os limites da proteção social às famílias e elementos fundamentais para a concepção da referida política: a sua especificidade na proteção social; a intersetorialidade; e a sua descentralização no âmbito do SUAS. Por fim, analisa-se o discurso oficial da Política de Assistência Social brasileira, através do método da Análise de Discurso, buscando apreender de que modo a família e a ideia da centralidade na família aparecem como elementos discursivos norteadores dos principais documentos dessa Política: a Lei Orgânica de Assistência Social; a primeira e a segunda Política Nacional de Assistência Social (PNAS/1998; 2004); e os documentos referentes à proteção social básica e à proteção social especial da referida Política direcionadas às famílias. No discurso oficial dessa política, a família e a centralidade na família aparecem de forma imprecisa, difusa e ambígua. A análise dos documentos permitiu identificar nesse discurso: as estabilidades sociais, as descontinuidades, as rupturas, os não ditos e os interditos. A ideia de centralidade na família aparece de forma diferenciada: ora é anunciada, às vezes não é dita, outras vezes é interditada.

Esta dissertação intenta investigar como a condição de vida da escritora Higuchi Ichiyô vai modificando o seu pensamento literário levando-a à criação do universo da obra Nigorie (Enseada de águas turvas) tentando desvendar seus ideais sociais. A partir de sua visão perspicaz sobre as condições sociais do país, Ichiyô foi a primeira escritora da época a expressar de forma tão direta a tristeza das mulheres abandonadas por uma sociedade desumana. Considerando a importância da vivência pessoal de Ichiyô, um estudo sobre sua vida faz-se necessário para compreender a trajetória percorrida pela autora até a obra em questão. Ichiyô viveu nos arredores dos bairros de prostituição e manteve contato direto com o mundo das meretrizes, e essas experiências serviram-se de subsídios para a sua criação literária. Nigorie descreve a limitada e infeliz vida das mulheres socialmente degradadas que trabalham em um bairro de prostituição clandestina e os homens que o freqüentam. Sente-se em Nigorie um desejo velado de Ichiyô em denunciar ao mundo essa triste realidade e protestar contra a pobreza e o sistema social japonês de sua época. / This dissertation intends to investigate how the condition of life of writer Higuchi Ichiyô starts to modify her literary thought leading her to the creation of the universe of her work Nigorie (Troubled Creek) attempting to reveal her social ideals. From her talented vision on the social conditions of the country, Ichiyô was the first writer of her time to express in such a direct way the sadness of the women abandoned by an inhuman society. Considering the importance of the personal experience of Ichiyô a study upon her life becomes necessary to understand the trajectory the author went through as far as her work inherently. Ichiyô used to live in the outskirts of the prostitution quarters, keeping in touch with the world of prostitutes. These experiences turned into subsidies for her literary creation. Nigorie describes the limited and unhappy life of socially degraded women who work in a quarter of clandestine prostitution as well as the men who frequent it. It is felt in Nigorie a hidden desire of Ichiyô in denouncing this sad reality to the world, and besides, her intention to protest against the poverty and the Japanese social system of her time.

Objectifs : Le mémoire examine la privatisation en Bulgarie à partir d'une certaine distance historique de 25 ans, pour démontrer les conséquences sociales présentement visibles, entre autres les inégalités sociales par rapport au développement économique; l’impact démographique aussi que les nouvelles structures et valeurs sociales. Méthode: Nous utilisons une approche à deux volets. Pour le développement socio-économique, nous étudions six variables constantes pour la période, telles que le nombre de personnes en dessous du seuil de pauvreté, le PIB, l'indice Gini, les dynamiques démographiques, le taux de chômage et l'indice de développement humain; Pour les changements sociaux, les nouvelles structures et les valeurs, nous utiliserons une approche qualitative, basée sur des entrevues, des questionnaires, des études de terrain, etc. Résultats: Nous constatons que les résultats obtenus par les deux méthodes, ceci comprenant leurs limitations, correspondent plutôt à notre hypothèse : la privatisation en Bulgarie était économiquement nécessaire, mais socialement destructive et a entraîné des conséquences sociales dévastatrices à long terme, principalement en raison des politiques et des pratiques de privatisation défectueuses. La privatisation a émergé de la théorie néo-libérale économique prédominant à l'époque. Les pratiques spécifiques utilisées dans la privatisation Bulgare ont favorisé principalement à court terme certains petits groupes sociaux, mais pas la société dans son ensemble. Conclusion: Nous constatons que la façon dont la privatisation bulgare a été menée a été socialement et économiquement nuisible avec des conséquences continues. À long terme, l'économie s'est rétablie, mais les divergences sociales ont toujours une tendance à croître. / Objectives : We look at the privatization in Bulgaria as defined above from a certain historical distance of 25 years, trying follow the visible now social consequences of the privatization, such as social inequality vs economic development; demographic impact and new social structures and values. Method: We use a two-prong approach. For the socio-economic development we study six constant variables for the defined period such as number of people below poverty line, GDP, Gini Index, demographic dynamcs, employment rate, and Human development index; for the social changes, new structures and values we use a qualitative approach, based on based on interviews, questionnaires, field studies, etc. Results: We find that results by both methods, with all the limittaions they have, rather align with our hypothesis that privatization in Bulgaria was economically necessary, but socially destructive and led to devastating social consequences, mainly as a result of flawed privatization policies and practices. It did emerge from the predominant at that time neo-liberal economic view and the specific practices used in the Bulgarian privatization favoured mainly in short term for some small social groups but for the society as a whole. Conclusion: We find that the way Bulgarian privatization was conducted was socially and economically damaging with long lasting consequences. In the long run the economy has recoverd, however the social divergences tend to grow.