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Measuring Wealth and Financial Intermediation and Their Links to the Real Economy: Studies in Income and Wealth (National Bureau of Economic Research Conference Report #73)
by Charles R. Hulten and Marshall B. ReinsdorfMore than half a decade has passed since the bursting of the housing bubble and the collapse of Lehman Brothers. In retrospect, what is surprising is that these events and their consequences came as such a surprise. What was it that prevented most of the world from recognizing the impending crisis and, looking ahead, what needs to be done to prevent something similar? Measuring Wealth and Financial Intermediation and Their Links to the Real Economy identifies measurement problems associated with the financial crisis and improvements in measurement that may prevent future crises, taking account of the dynamism of the financial marketplace in which measures that once worked well become misleading. In addition to advances in measuring financial activity, the contributors also investigate the effects of the crisis on households and nonfinancial businesses. They show that households’ experiences varied greatly and some even experienced gains in wealth, while nonfinancial businesses’ lack of access to credit in the recession may have been a more important factor than the effects of policies stimulating demand.
Measuring Welfare beyond Economics: The genuine progress of Hong Kong and Singapore (Routledge Studies in Sustainable Development)
by Claudio O. Delang Yi Hang YuDissatisfaction with the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as an indicator of a country’s development or a population’s wellbeing led to the development of the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI). The GPI is an aggregate index of over 20 economic, social and environmental indicators, and accounts for both the welfare benefits of economic growth, and the social and environmental costs which accompany that economic growth. The result is better information about the level of welfare or well-being of a country’s population. This book measures the GPI of Hong Kong and Singapore from 1968 to 2010. It finds that for both countries, economic output (as measured by the GDP) has grown more than welfare (as measured by the GPI), but important differences are also found. In Hong Kong, the GPI has grown for the whole period under consideration, while in Singapore the GPI has stalled from 1993. This is in line with most countries and is explained by the "threshold hypothesis" which states that beyond a certain level of economic development the benefits of further economic growth are outweighed by even higher environmental and social costs. The book argues that the growth of Hong Kong’s GPI is due to its favourable relationship with China and in particular its ability to export low-wage jobs and polluting industries, rather than successful domestic policies. A stalling or shrinking GPI calls for alternative policies than the growth economy promoted by neoclassical economists, and the book explores an alternative model, that of the Steady State Economy (SSE).
Measuring What We Spend
by Don A. DillmanThe Consumer Expenditure (CE) surveys are the only source of information on the complete range of consumers' expenditures and incomes in the United States, as well as the characteristics of those consumers. The CE consists of two separate surveys: (1) a national sample of households interviewed five times at three-month intervals; and (2) a separate national sample of households that complete two consecutive one-week expenditure diaries. For more than 40 years, these surveys, the responsibility of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), have been the principal source of knowledge about changing patterns of consumer spending in the U. S. population. In February 2009, BLS initiated the Gemini Project, the aim of which is to redesign the CE surveys to improve data quality through a verifiable reduction in measurement error with a particular focus on underreporting. The Gemini Project initiated a series of information-gathering meetings, conference sessions, forums, and workshops to identify appropriate strategies for improving CE data quality. As part of this effort, BLS requested the National Research Council's Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT) to convene an expert panel to build on the Gemini Project by conducting further investigations and proposing redesign options for the CE surveys. The charge to the Panel on Redesigning the BLS Consumer Expenditure Surveys includes reviewing the output of a Gemini-convened data user needs forum and methods workshop and convening its own household survey producers workshop to obtain further input. In addition, the panel was tasked to commission options from contractors for consideration in recommending possible redesigns. The panel was further asked by BLS to create potential redesigns that would put a greater emphasis on proactive data collection to improve the measurement of consumer expenditures. Measuring What We Spend summarizes the deliberations and activities of the panel, discusses the conclusions about the uses of the CE surveys and why a redesign is needed, as well as recommendations for the future.
Measuring Your Company's Environmental Impact: Templates and Tools for a Complete ISO 14001 Initial Review
by Camilla Astrand Mats Zackrisson Gunnar BengtssonISO 14001 and EMAS (the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) requirements can be daunting for managers and expensive for companies. How to Measure your Company's Environmental Impact is the most cost-effective and easy-to-use environmental review solution for companies in all sectors of the economy. Designed and written by top environmental engineers, and used by top consultants and companies in Europe, this step-by-step manual contains extensive tools for managers to carry out a complete company-wide initial environmental review as a prerequisite for introducing an environmental management system in accordance with ISO 14001 or EMAS. Emphasis is placed on collecting and presenting quantitative data, starting with material and energy flows through the company. The manual provides indicators for energy, transportation and water use, against which to measure your company. The complimentary CD-ROM toolkit includes a template for the environmental review, an inventory tool designed to calculate emissions and the environmental impact of your company's transportation, energy consumption and other activities, and instructions and forms for an environmental failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) - a method for identifying and evaluating environmental impact to determine your company's most significant environmental aspects.
Measuring and Accounting for Environmental Public Goods: A National Accounts Perspective (National Bureau of Economic Research Studies in Income and Wealth)
by Nicholas Z. Muller, Eli P. Fenichel, and Mary BohmanProvides strategies and approaches for integrating natural capital into environmental statistics. While the importance of natural resources and the contributions of the environment to welfare are apparent, traditional national income and wealth accounting practices do not measure or value environmental public goods. This volume examines the conceptual and empirical basis for integrating natural capital—forests, oceans, and air—into the economic and environmental statistics that inform public policy. It offers innovative approaches to valuing nonmarket environmental goods and services, including strategies for capturing heterogeneity in measurement across types of capital, geography, and individuals. The chapters focus on measuring productivity with adjustments for pollution damage, developing a microdata infrastructure to advance our understanding of the distribution of environmental amenities and hazards, and estimating long-run sustainable development indicators. Case studies consider coastal assets, forests, and marine ecosystems, and develop strategies for implementing specific environmental-economic accounts such as environmental activity accounts and natural capital accounts for forests and the marine economy. As national income accounting standards are updated to incorporate expanded guidance on issues related to natural capital, this timely book will help inform decisions on the measurement and treatment of climate, air, water, and other public goods.
Measuring and Accounting for Innovation in the Twenty-First Century (National Bureau of Economic Research Studies in Income and Wealth)
by Carol Corrado, Jonathan Haskel, Javier Miranda and Daniel SichelMeasuring innovation is a challenging task, both for researchers and for national statisticians, and it is increasingly important in light of the ongoing digital revolution. National accounts and many other economic statistics were designed before the emergence of the digital economy and the growth in importance of intangible capital. They do not yet fully capture the wide range of innovative activity that is observed in modern economies. This volume examines how to measure innovation, track its effects on economic activity and on prices, and understand how it has changed the structure of production processes, labor markets, and organizational form and operation in business. The contributors explore new approaches to and data sources for measurement, such as collecting data for a particular innovation as opposed to a firm and using trademarks for tracking innovation. They also consider the connections between university-based R&D and business start-ups and the potential impacts of innovation on income distribution. The research suggests strategies for expanding current measurement frameworks to better capture innovative activity, including developing more detailed tracking of global value chains to identify innovation across time and space and expanding the measurement of innovation’s impacts on GDP in fields such as consumer content delivery and cloud computing.
Measuring and Accounting for Innovation in the Twenty-First Century (National Bureau of Economic Research Studies in Income and Wealth)
by Carol Corrado, Jonathan Haskel, Javier Miranda and Daniel SichelMeasuring innovation is a challenging task, both for researchers and for national statisticians, and it is increasingly important in light of the ongoing digital revolution. National accounts and many other economic statistics were designed before the emergence of the digital economy and the growth in importance of intangible capital. They do not yet fully capture the wide range of innovative activity that is observed in modern economies. This volume examines how to measure innovation, track its effects on economic activity and on prices, and understand how it has changed the structure of production processes, labor markets, and organizational form and operation in business. The contributors explore new approaches to and data sources for measurement, such as collecting data for a particular innovation as opposed to a firm and using trademarks for tracking innovation. They also consider the connections between university-based R&D and business start-ups and the potential impacts of innovation on income distribution. The research suggests strategies for expanding current measurement frameworks to better capture innovative activity, including developing more detailed tracking of global value chains to identify innovation across time and space and expanding the measurement of innovation’s impacts on GDP in fields such as consumer content delivery and cloud computing.
Measuring and Controlling Sustainability: Spanning Theory and Practice
by Bernhard Hirsch Adam Lindgreen Christine Vallaster Dr Shumaila YousofzaiEfforts to establish the measurement and control of sustainability have produced notable tools, but those instruments lack applicability in practice. Increasing the level of standardization of such tools also seems difficult to achieve, because the contexts surrounding the focal organizations differ considerably. Therefore, what we need is a systematic, interdisciplinary assessment of how to measure and control sustainability, so that we can establish an essential definition and up-to-date picture of the field. Measuring and Controlling Sustainability attempts to provide such an assessment in 17 chapters, organized into four main topic sections: (a) organizations and social value creation: concepts, responsibilities, and barriers; (b) accounting, measurement, performance, and diffusion of social value; (c) practical and managerial insights from real-life cases; and (d) choices, incentives, guidance, and ethics. This research anthology provides a comprehensive collection of cutting-edge theories and research that will further the development and advancement of measuring and controlling sustainable efforts in theory and managerial practice.
Measuring and Developing Professional Competences in COMET: Method Manual (Technical and Vocational Education and Training: Issues, Concerns and Prospects #33)
by Felix RaunerThis book is a detailed manual for the implementation of competence diagnostics in the field of vocational training. With the COMET competence model, both conceptual competences as well as practical skills are recorded and evaluated. The manual guides through all methodological steps, including the preparation and implementation of tests, cross and longitudinal studies, the development of context analyses and measurement methods for the test motivation. The focus of the final chapter is the application of the COMET procedure for the design, organisation and evaluation of vocational education and training processes.
Measuring and Evaluating Sustainability: Ethics in Sustainability Indexes (Routledge Studies in Sustainable Development)
by Sarah E. FredericksThe indexes used by local, national, and international governments to monitor progress toward sustainability do not adequately align with their ethical priorities and have a limited ability to monitor and promote sustainability. This book gives a theoretical and practical demonstration of how ethics and technical considerations can aid the development of sustainability indexes to overcome this division in the literature and aid sustainability initiatives. Measuring and Evaluating Sustainability develops and illustrates methods of linking technical and normative concerns during the development of sustainability indexes. Specifically, guidelines for index development are combined with a pragmatic theory of ethics that enables ethical collaboration among people of diverse ethical systems. Using the resulting method of index development, the book takes a unique applied turn as it ethically evaluates multiple sustainability indexes developed and used by the European Commission, researchers, and local communities and suggests ways to improve the indexes. The book emphasizes justice as it is the most prevalent ethical principle in the sustainability literature and most neglected in index development. In addition to the ethical principles common to international sustainability initiatives, the book also employs a variety of religious and philosophical traditions to ensure that the ethical evaluations performed in the text align with the ideals of the communities using the indexes and foster cross-cultural ethical dialogue. This volume is an invaluable resource for students, researchers and professionals working on sustainability indicators and sustainability policy-making as well as interdisciplinary areas including environmental ethics; environmental philosophy; environmental or social justice; ecological economics; businesses sustainability programs; international development and environmental policy-making.
Measuring and Improving Performance: Information Technology Applications in Lean Systems
by James William MartinAs a pioneer in Lean improvement methods, Jim Martin was among the first to suggest that truly successful Lean initiatives are those applied across every facet of an organization, not just on the shop floor. Building on this concept, Martin demonstrates that one of the most effective ways to implement operational improvements across an organization
Measuring and Improving Social Impacts: A Guide for Nonprofits, Companies and Impact Investors
by Marc J. Epstein Kristi YuthasIdentifying, measuring and improving social impact is a significant challenge for corporate and private foundations, charities, NGOs and corporations. How best to balance possible social and environmental benefits (and costs) against one another? How does one bring clarity to multiple possibilities and opportunities? Based on years of work and new field studies from around the globe, the authors have written a book for managers that is grounded in the best academic and managerial research.It is a practical guide that describes the steps needed for identifying, measuring and improving social impact. This approach is useful in maximizing the impact of different types of investments, including grants and donations, impact investments, and commercial investments.With numerous examples of actual organizational approaches, research into more than fifty organizations, and extensive practical guidance and best practices, Measuring and Improving Social Impacts fills a critical gap.
Measuring and Improving Social Impacts: A Guide for Nonprofits, Companies, and Impact Investors
by Marc J. Epstein Kristi YuthasPhilanthropic NGOs, foundations, and corporations face endlessly competing needs when deciding to invest or donate for maximum social impact. This book fills an enormous gap by providing a system to measure, operationalize, and improve any organization's impact investments.
Measuring and Managing Liquidity Risk
by Antonio Castagna Francesco FedeA fully up-to-date, cutting-edge guide to the measurement and management of liquidity riskWritten for front and middle office risk management and quantitative practitioners, this book provides the ground-level knowledge, tools, and techniques for effective liquidity risk management. Highly practical, though thoroughly grounded in theory, the book begins with the basics of liquidity risks and, using examples pulled from the recent financial crisis, how they manifest themselves in financial institutions. The book then goes on to look at tools which can be used to measure liquidity risk, discussing risk monitoring and the different models used, notably financial variables models, credit variables models, and behavioural variables models, and then at managing these risks. As well as looking at the tools necessary for effective measurement and management, the book also looks at and discusses current regulation and the implication of new Basel regulations on management procedures and tools.
Measuring and Managing Operational Risk
by Paola Leone Pasqualina Porretta Mario VellellaThis book covers Operational Risk Management (ORM), in the current context, and its new role in the risk management field. The concept of operational risk is subject to a wide discussion also in the field of ORM's literature, which has increased throughout the years. By analyzing different methodologies that try to integrate qualitative and quantitative data or different measurement approaches, the authors explore the methodological framework, the assumptions, statistical tool, and the main results of an operational risk model projected by intermediaries. A guide for academics and students, the book also discusses the avenue of mitigation acts, suggested by the main results of the methodologies applied. The book will appeal to students, academics, and financial supervisory and regulatory authorities.
Measuring and Maximizing Training Impact
by Paul LeoneThis book shows trainers how to create building blocks, construct the right linkages, and measure the impact of training programs from the first step (Level 1 - reaction) to the final destination (Level 5 - ROI). Including a new ground-breaking Level 6 exploring training sustainability, this is a must-read for HR professionals.
Measuring and Modeling Health Care Costs (National Bureau of Economic Research Studies in Income and Wealth #76)
by Colin Baker David M. Cutler Ana Aizcorbe Ernst R. BerndtHealth care costs represent a nearly 18% of U.S. gross domestic product and 20% of government spending. While there is detailed information on where these health care dollars are spent, there is much less evidence on how this spending affects health. The research in Measuring and Modeling Health Care Costs seeks to connect our knowledge of expenditures with what we are able to measure of results, probing questions of methodology, changes in the pharmaceutical industry, and the shifting landscape of physician practice. The research in this volume investigates, for example, obesity’s effect on health care spending, the effect of generic pharmaceutical releases on the market, and the disparity between disease-based and population-based spending measures. This vast and varied volume applies a range of economic tools to the analysis of health care and health outcomes. Practical and descriptive, this new volume in the Studies in Income and Wealth series is full of insights relevant to health policy students and specialists alike.
Measuring and Monitoring Absolute Poverty in the European Union
by Balint Menyhert Zsombor Cseres-Gergely Virmantas Kvedaras Benedetta Mina Filippo Pericoli Slavica ZecThis book sets out a new framework and methodology for the measuring and monitoring of absolute poverty in the European Union. A comparative needs-based analysis of poverty is presented that allows for cross-country examination. By comparing absolute poverty measurements with existing conventional measures, a new understanding of poverty within the European Union is explored, highlighting that poverty is cyclical and unevenly disturbed across Europe. Issued related to poverty, including food basket development, basket pricing, household compatibility, are also discussed. This book aims to provide a comprehensive account of methodological tools available for the measurement of poverty. It will be relevant to researchers and policymakers interested in absolute poverty measurement.This is an open access book.
Measuring the Benefits of Clean Air and Water (RFF Environmental and Resource Economics Set)
by Allen V. KneeseKneese examines issues surrounding benefits assessment, including such tools as bidding games, surveys, property value studies, wage differentials, risk reduction evaluation, and mortality and morbidity cost estimation. He discusses methods for quantitatively estimating benefits derived from the maintenance or improvement of air and water quality. Suitable for undergraduate classroom use. Originally published in 1984
Measuring the Business Value of Cloud Computing (Palgrave Studies in Digital Business & Enabling Technologies)
by Theo Lynn John G. Mooney Pierangelo Rosati Grace FoxThe importance of demonstrating the value achieved from IT investments is long established in the Computer Science (CS) and Information Systems (IS) literature. However, emerging technologies such as the ever-changing complex area of cloud computing present new challenges and opportunities for demonstrating how IT investments lead to business value. Recent reviews of extant literature highlights the need for multi-disciplinary research. This research should explore and further develops the conceptualization of value in cloud computing research. In addition, there is a need for research which investigates how IT value manifests itself across the chain of service provision and in inter-organizational scenarios.This open access book will review the state of the art from an IS, Computer Science and Accounting perspective, will introduce and discuss the main techniques for measuring business value for cloud computing in a variety of scenarios, and illustrate these with mini-case studies.
Measuring the Cost of Resource Capacity
by Robert S. Kaplan Robin CooperVirtually all Stage III activity-based cost (ABC) systems start by estimating activity cost driver rates from historical data. However, ABC should not be thought of solely as an historical accounting or general ledger system. ABC systems should be used proactively to estimate the costs of activities that will be performed in current or future periods. This chapter shows how to incorporate both budgeted and capacity information into ABC models.
Measuring the Data Universe: Data Integration Using The Statistical Data And Metadata Exchange
by Reinhold Stahl Patricia StaabThis richly illustrated book provides an easy-to-read introduction to the challenges of organizing and integrating modern data worlds, explaining the contribution of public statistics and the ISO standard SDMX (Statistical Data and Metadata Exchange). As such, it is a must for data experts as well those aspiring to become one.Today, exponentially growing data worlds are increasingly determining our professional and private lives. The rapid increase in the amount of globally available data, fueled by search engines and social networks but also by new technical possibilities such as Big Data, offers great opportunities. But whatever the undertaking – driving the block chain revolution or making smart phones even smarter – success will be determined by how well it is possible to integrate, i.e. to collect, link and evaluate, the required data. One crucial factor in this is the introduction of a cross-domain order system in combination with a standardization of the data structure. Using everyday examples, the authors show how the concepts of statistics provide the basis for the universal and standardized presentation of any kind of information. They also introduce the international statistics standard SDMX, describing the profound changes it has made possible and the related order system for the international statistics community.
Measuring the Effectiveness of Border Security Between Ports-of-Entry
by Henry H. Willis Paul K. Davis Wayne P. Brown Joel B. PreddThis report offers research and recommendations on ways to measure the overall efforts of the national border-security enterprise between ports of entry. Focusing on three missions--illegal drug control, counterterrorism, and illegal migration--this report recommends ways to measure performance of U.S. border-security efforts in terms of interdiction, deterrence, and exploiting networked intelligence.
Measuring the Effectiveness of Social Protection: Concepts and Applications (Streamlined Analysis with ADePT Software)
by Zurab Sajaia Michael Lokshin Ruslan Yemtsov Maddalena Honorati Brooks Evans'Measuring the Effectiveness of Social Protection: Concepts and Applications' provides the conceptual and analytical framework for assessing social protection (SP) programs, as well as provides a practical guide for users seeking to conduct analysis, particularly using the World Bank's Software Platform for Automated Economic Analysis (ADePT). The manual provides a comprehensive unique resource to tie together social policy theory, concepts and practical analytical techniques. The book content is targeted at policymakers and practitioners worldwide seeking to improve the outcomes of their social protection policies. It suggests advanced methods and a new rapid analysis instrumental for technical experts working on quantitative SP analysis for their ministry, national statistics offices, think tanks, universities, or development organizations. The book aims to equip users with different statistical background and SP knowledge to independently conduct SP analysis and prepare a standardized set of tables and graphs to conduct different types of SP performance analysis, ranging from benchmarking SP performance within and across countries, simulating the performance of alternative reform options, and assessing the viability of proposed programs.
Measuring the Government Sector of the U.S. Economic Accounts
by Committee on National StatisticsA report on Measuring the Government Sector of the U.S. Economic Accounts