Social Policies on Housing in France and Germany

This article presents a housing social policies comparison – social policies housing comparison focusing on France and Germany.

Social Policies on Housing in France and Germany: A Comparative Analysis

Introduction

Housing has been and continues to be vital sector of the economy of developed societies across the world (Sassen 2012). Housing contributes to the economy in three main ways; as part of the construction sector, as part of the real estate market, and through banking in the form of mortgages. Today housing is also an used as an instrument for the innovation of financial instruments and in this regard has raised the distance between itself and the asset that underlies it to the extent that it is associated with high-risk financial innovation (Sassen, 2012). Appreciating its importance, different countries have put in place different social policies in a bid to ensure that their nationals are properly housed and that even the poor do not remain homeless. This paper presents a comparative analysis of the housing policies implemented by French and Germany. The paper presents an overview of the housing policy in the two countries, their guiding principles, housing ownership, the cost of housing, security of tenure, housing benefits, and the financing of private and social housing. The paper also discusses issues such as subsidies and housing allowances in France, role of government and NGOs, beneficiaries of social housing, regeneration, and the Anglo Saxon Liberal Welfare Regime in Germany.

French Social Policy on Housing

Overview of Housing Policy in France

As noted by Blanc (2004), France is known to be a centralised nation with officers at the central government making most of the decisions that touch on social policy. The government of France normal moves with speed in trying to solve problems, a situation that has led civil society in the country to have great mistrust for the government. After the Second World War ended, France realised that she was faced with housing shortage. Consequently, the government emerged as a dominant player in trying to solve the housing problem in the period preceding the 1960s. However, in the 1960s, the government opted to become more indirect while maintaining its economic intervention, a change that was influenced by the appreciation of the neo-liberal ideology (Blanc, 2004). Read more …

Housing Social Policies Comparison.

Solved ABCD Statistics Questions

Solved: ABCD Statistics Questions

ABCD is a fast food restaurant, and has a number of franchisers across the South Wales regions. Recently the Head Office of ABCD received a number of complaints from customers that the queuing time is too long. Each franchiser has randomly chosen 100 customers and recorded their waiting time until food is served. The results are shown in table 1.

Statistics-Questions-SW-Just-Go-table

(a) What is the average waiting time (arithmetic mean) for each franchiser? Which franchiser has the shortest/longest waiting time?

(b) What is the overall average waiting time and standard deviation? Which franchiser should improve their performance and why.

(c) The Head Office wants to know what the most occurring waiting time in each franchiser is. Explain the concept of the mode, mean, and median and help managers of each franchiser find the right number to report back to the Head Office.

2. ABCD is investigating an option to invest in an online booking system, where customers can order food prior to their visit. The management team is thinking of either developing a mobile app or booking through their website. Before making the final decision, the company conducted a pilot study using both platforms to explore the relationship between online orders and sales revenue. Orders (x) are in 000s and sales revenue (y) is in £000s. Summary data for 6 franchisers was as follows;

(a) Calculate correlation coefficient, r, for each options, clearly showing
calculations, and explain the meaning
(b) Calculate the equation of the least squares regression line (i.e. y = a + bx).
(c) The market research shows that if the company introduces the online booking system, there will be an increase of orders to 20,000. In this case, what might be the estimated sales revenue if there is (a) a Mobile App, and (b) a Website booking? Which system should the company develop?

3. ABCD has field-tested two booking platforms – Mobile App and Website on 1,000 volunteers. At a test volunteers were asked to order their food using the Mobile App and Website system, and asked to rate each system. The results of the test are as follows.

	Mobile App	Website
Easy to navigate	385	245
Easy to Order	265	105

Calculate the following probabilities:
(a) that a volunteer who has said that it was easy to navigate
(b) that a volunteer who used the Website and has said that it was easy to order
(c) that a volunteer has used the Mobile App, given that the person said it was easy to order
(d) Based on findings, suggest what system the company should develop to improve customer experiences.

4. ABCD reviewed how much customers spend per order. It has found that the overall spending can be said to be normally distributed with a mean of £22 and a standard deviation of £5.

(a) What percentage of customers have spent less than £15?

(b) As a part of promoting the new online booking system, the company is thinking of offering discount on top 10% of most spent customers. If a customer wants to receive the discount offer, what’s the minimum amount they have to spend on the order?

(c) What if a standard deviation of the sample is £10 instead of £5, how would it affect their discount offer? Would this be a good deal for customers?

Solutions

Question 1:

What is the average waiting time (arithmetic mean) for each franchiser? Which franchiser has the shortest/longest waiting time?

The arithmetic mean can be calculated using the formula when dealing with grouped data
=∑mf/n
Where: m is the class midpoint

Worked out Solutions
Means:
Cardiff = 8.05
Newport = 6.2
Swansea = 8.2

overall average waiting time

Find worked out, step by step solutions >>>

The Launch of a New Product Under Consideration

1. Solved: The launch of a new product is under consideration. Its unit variable costs will be £30 and it is estimated that incremental fixed costs of £250,000 will be incurred if production is commenced. Forecast sales are 50,000 units. At what level of price for the new product will the organisation break even? If the actual planned selling price is £48 per unit, what will be the organisation’s margin of safety? 2. The following information is about two organisations, A and B. Organisation A Organisation B £ £ Fixed costs 60,000 12,000 Variable costs per unit 0.20 0.50 Unit selling price 0.60 0.60 Expected sales levels (units) 160,000 160,000 Which firm has higher operating gearing? What is the expected net income of both firms? What would expected net income be for both firms if sales were a) 140,000 units and b) 180,000 units? Which firm is facing more risk in terms of its current sales predictions?

Launch of a new product

2. Solved: The following information is about two organisations, A and B.

	Organisation A	Organisation B
	£	£
Fixed costs	60,000	12,000
Variable costs per unit	0.2	0.5
Unit selling price	0.6	0.6
Expected sales levels (units)	160,000	160,000

Which firm has higher operating gearing? What is the expected net income of both firms?
What would expected net income be for both firms if sales were (a) 140,000 units and (b) 180,000 units?
Which firm is facing more risk in terms of its current sales predictions?
Be sure to demonstrate your numerical workings.

Launch of a new product …

Solutions

1 (a) At what level of price for the new product will the organisation break even?
Variable cost per unit = £30
Fixed costs = £250,000
b (in terms of price) = ?
Total sales revenue = fixed costs + total variable costs
50,000 units x b = £250,000 + (£30 x 50,000)
b = (250,000+ 1,500,000)/50,000
Break-even price = Read more …..

b) If the actual planned selling price is £48 per unit, what will be the organisation Read more ….

2 a) Which firm has higher operating gearing?
An activity with relatively high fixed costs compared with its variable costs has a high operating gearing (Atrill and McLaney 2006, p. 229). According to Cima Global (2006), one way of determining operational gearing is by evaluating the contribution-to-sales ratio (C/S ratio). A low C/S ratio indicates that a business has low proportion of fixed costs and vice versa (Cima Global, 2006).

The contribution per unit for organisation A is £0.4 (0.6-0.2) while that for organisation B is £0.1 (0.6-0.5).
Contribution‑to‑sales ratio = (Contribution per unit / Sales price per unit) as a percentage
Contribution-to-sale ratio for:
Organisation A = (0.4/0.6) x 100= 67%
Organisation B = (0.1/0.6) x 100= 17% Read more …

b) What is the expected net income of both firms? Read more ….

What Is Wrong With Having a Nanny? – Philosophy

What is Wrong With Having a Nanny?

What Is Wrong With Having a Nanny There are countless chores that fall within the domain of housework; washing dishes, sweeping, vacuuming, cooking, food shopping, and caring for children and countless others (Peacock, 2012). Housework is commonly assumed to be women’s work (Townsend, 2016). Every year, an average housewife spends between one and four thousand hours performing housework (Davis, 1981; Peacock, 2012). This amount of time does not include constant and unquantifiable attention that mothers have to give dedicate to their children. In spite of the huge amount of time and effort spent in it, housework is rarely appreciated (Davis 1981). In this regard, Ehrenreich and English (1975) note that housework is never noticed until it is not done. For example, people do not notice the scrubbed and polished floor but will quickly notice the unmade bed (Ehrenreich and English, 1975). From a philosophical perspective, this paper attempts to answer the question, what, if anything, is wrong with having a nanny – nanny philosophy | philosophy?

Nannies are charged with the responsibility of taking care of children in their home; work that squarely falls under the umbrella of housework. As noted by Ghaeus (2013), among other duties, nannies meet children’s security, affection, social and other needs and guide them in different situations. For many people, taking care of children at home is mindless work; work that they would rather leave to others if money allows (Townsend, 2016). Unlike the carpenter, electrician, or plumber who earn their respect because of the intelligent skill they apply in their labour, housework seems to demand no particular skill. There continues to be raging debate among philosophers, feminists, economists and other experts regarding housework, its importance and whether it should be done in the first place. Drawing on different perspectives, this paper seeks to answer the question, what, if anything, is wrong with having a nanny? The paper also discusses the nature of what nannies do (domestic work), and different perspectives on domestic/nanny work (including Marxist and feminist perspectives) -nanny philosophy. Read more …

Online Sales Bans By Product Manufacturers

If a manufacturer of a product requires that its distributors do not make online sales, then that must harm competition and so such “online sales bans” should be strongly presumed to be anti-competitive. Do you agree? Online Sales Bans By Product Manufacturers on Distributors – online sales bans anticompetitive.

Should Online Sales Bans Imposed By Product Manufacturers On Distributors Be Strongly Presumed to Be Anti-Competitive?

Introduction

Firms may engage in vertical agreements with other firms or parties as a way of achieving goals they may not otherwise realise acting on their own. When they make such agreements with other companies or parties, firms may impose vertical restrictions. Such restrictions may come in the form of selecting distributors, limiting online sales among other conditions. An Online sales ban come into effect when a company requires its distributors not to make online sales. With anti-competitive practices generally prohibited in the European Union and indeed in many other jurisdictions, the question of the legality of online sales bans is one that lingers in the
minds of many business owners and distributors. If, for example, a manufacturer of a product requires that its distributors do not make online sales, then that must harm competition. Should such “online sales bans” be strongly presumed to be anticompetitive? This paper attempts to answer this question and argues that absolute online sales bans by manufacturing companies are strongly presumed to be anticompetitive.

online sales bans by product manufacturers

Anti-competition Laws and Vertical Restraints

Many countries have in place laws aimed at protecting consumers and businesses from unfair practices and practices that inhibit or thwart competition. In the UK in particular, Chapter I of the Competition Act 1998 expressly prohibits any agreement or concerted practice that restricts, prevents, or distorts competition unless such action enjoys exemption from the prohibition. In the same spirit, Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) forbids concerted practices, agreements and decisions by undertakings or group of undertakings acting together that aim to restrict, prevent, or distort competition within the common market or that may affect trade between European Union (EU) member countries. Read more …

Human Capital and Financial Statements

Should human capital be included in financial statements?

The global economy has over time shifted from an industrial economy to an economy that is based on information and knowledge (Monday, 2017). As a result, human capital has more than ever before become of greater benefit to organisations. Many human resource and business experts agree that the human capital is an organisation’s most important asset (Dean, et al. 2012 ; Cobb and Wallace, 2016). Although this is the case, employees are often considered to be liabilities in financial statements given that they are paid wages and add to business expenses such is the case with their pension contributions. People play an important role in creating intangible such as research and development, brands, patents and intellectual property. In turn, these intangible assets greatly contribute to the creation of tangible assets such as land, equipment, vehicles and plants. Human capital, therefore, emerges as a core contributor to company profits and shareholder value (Dean et al. 2012). While this is the case, human capital often does not feature in balance sheets as assets in spite of its direct and indirect contribution to business profitability and shareholder value.

Human capital and financial statements

Washer and Nippani (2004) hold the opinion that the importance of human capital in financial decisions can be appreciated by including human capital in the statement of financial position. Given that financial statements are mainly aimed at trying to portray as accurately as possible a company’s economic reality as well as providing users with relevant information to enable them make sound investment decisions, it is relevant and logical that human capital is featured as an asset in such statements. This is more so the case given that human capital is a key contributor to the organisation’s profits and shareholder value.

Definition of Human Capital

Human capital is the skills, training, education, competencies, experiences, and innovation of a person that enables the transformation of raw materials into more valuable products (Micah et al., 2012; Dean et al. 2012; Oseni and Igbinosa, 2015). Cobb and Wallace (2016) define human capital as the productive capacity of an individual including their talent, innate ability, skills, and learned knowledge among other attributes. Essentially, the human capital of an individual determines their ability to generate ideas and produce goods and services, as well as their economic productivity (Cobb and Wallace, 2016). An organisation’s human capital can be said to be sum of the current and future economic valuation of the capabilities and skills embodied within all the persons that together make the organisation’s entire work workforce at a given date (Cobb and Wallace, 2016). In essence, human capital contributes to a business’ market value as it contributes to intellectual value. Intellectual value on its part contributes to organisational reputation and brand value. Continue reading “Human Capital and Financial Statements”

Economics Contribution to State Aid

Does economics contribute anything to state aid cases beyond the analysis of the market economy operator principle (MEOP)? – Economics Contribution to State Aid.

Does economics contribute anything to state aid cases beyond the analysis of the market economy operator principle (MEOP)?

Introduction

Article 107 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) contain provisions of the European Union (EU) relating to state aid (European Commission, 2018). According to the article, state aid is generally incompatible with the common market except for a few exclusions and some exceptions (European Commission, 2018). Considering the provisions of the article, EU member countries generally avoid engaging in activities that are considered to be state aid and that are not compatible with the EU. Companies within the EU and EU member states always need to evaluate the cases they face and the potential risks of engaging in actions that trigger state aid as they attempt to deal with these cases. To perform such evaluations, member states apply tools such Market Economy Operator Principle (MEOP), which are based on economic principles (Nicolaides, 2015; Koenig, and Wendland, 2017). The European Commission (EC) and EU courts also rely on such tools when adjudicating cases revolving around state aid. Beyond the market economy operator principle, economics finds a lot of application in evaluating and adjudicating state aid cases. This paper discusses the contribution of economics in state aid cases beyond MEOP.

Economics Contribution to State Aid

State Aid in the European Union

State aid is any form of selective advantage conferred by national public authorities to undertakings (Werner and Verouden, 2016). For such an advantage to amount to state aid, some features must be proved. One of the features that must be proved in this regard is that there has been an intervention by the state or through state-owned resources (Department for Business Innovation and Skills, 2015). Interventions in this regard may take the form of grants, interest reliefs, tax reliefs, guarantees, preferential provision of services/goods and the holding of part or whole of a company by government. It must also be proved that the intervention selectively gives a recipient an advantage (Department for Business Innovation and Skills, 2015). In other words, the intervention must not be equally targeted at all industrial sectors or companies equally but the selection must be such that it targets only specific companies, industries or corporations within specific jurisdictions. Thirdly, the intervention must actually distort or have the capacity to distort competition (Department for Business Innovation and Skills, 2015). Read more …

Decolonisation and International Power Relations

Did Decolonisation Transform Power Relations in the International Economy? If not, why not?

Decolonisation has been defined by Tuhiwai (2010, p. 3) as “the long-term process involving the bureaucratic, cultural, linguistic, and psychological divesting of colonial power”. According to Klose (2014), decolonisation is a process that involves the dissolution of colonial rule together with its economic, political, social, and cultural dimensions. Although different scholars have defined decolonization in different ways, there is wide agreement that decolonization is linked to the transfer of legal and institutional control over territories and dependencies from colonial powers to indigenously based, formally sovereign, nation states (Duara, 2004). Decolonisation, in Duara’s (2004) view, was not only a process but also a movement for political solidarity and moral justice against imperialism. There is a lot of agreement among scholars that decolonization had a significant impact on the global sphere (Collins, 2016; Office of the Historian, 2018). This notion is especially supported by the fact that within thirty years of the signing of the Charter of the United Nations in 1945, the European colonial empires in Africa and Asia completely disappeared, and in their stead stood new independent states (Klose 2014). For many territories under colonial rule, the thought of becoming independent states through the process of decolonization promised hope, freedom and prosperity. Decolonisation also promised positive changes in power relations between the newly formed independent states and imperial powers. This paper seeks to answer the question: Did decolonisation transform power relations in the international economy? If not, why not?This paper argues, based on dependency, New International Economic Order, and structuralism, that in spite of these promises, decolonisation did not truly transform power relations in the international economy.

Power in International Politics and Economy

The concept of “power” is perhaps the most fundamental in political science, international relations and political theory. Although there is general consensus regarding its importance, the definition of “power” remains a subject of great disagreement and debate. Indeed according to Barnett and Duvall (2005), scholars remain divided on how to define, conceive, study, and measure power, rendering the concept quite elusive. According to Barnett and Duvall (2005), power relates to the production of effects, in and through social relations, which determine the ability of actors to define or decide their circumstances and fate. Read more …

Did Decolonisation Transform Power Relations in the International Economy?

PESTLE Analysis for Air Pollution Eating Bikes

PESTLE Analysis for Air Pollution Eating Bikes in Poland

Introduction
As part of its growth strategy, ABC Bicycle Company, a company based in London, seeks to enter the Polish market with its pollution eating bicycles. In order to establish the suitability of the Poland market with this product, the company needs to evaluate the external business environment of this market. The external environment of the country was evaluated by conducting a PESTLE analysis. This report presents the results of the PESTLE analysis and recommendations for ABC Bicycle Company
regarding the market – PESTLE Analysis for Air Pollution Eating Bikes in Poland. The report is limited to the Political, Economic, Social and Environmental factors and does not include the Technological and Legal factors.

Search Results Web results PESTLE Analysis for Air Pollution Eating Bikes in Poland

Political Factors

Poland has a stable government and a stable political environment and is governed by the rule of law (Radio Poland, 2018). Recently, there has been growing concern that the country is experiencing declines in democratic freedoms. However, the country has a functioning judiciary and strong institutions. Corporate tax in Poland is 19% although start-ups (businesses in their first year of paying corporate tax) and small businesses (those that did not achieve a turnover more 1.2 million euros in the previous year) are taxed at the rate of 15% (Price Waterhouse Coopers 2018). The lower tax paid by start-ups and small businesses serves to promote entrepreneurship as well as increase chances of business survival and success. The Polish government has no special policies governing cycling or the bicycle industry although it appreciates the riding culture in the country and is taking measures to improve cycling infrastructures in some cities and towns (Rigitano, 2015).

Economic Factors

Bicycle Sales

According to Mayne et al. (2016) Romania, France, Sweden, Germany and Poland have been experiencing a rise in bicycle sales since 2012. Of these countries, Poland experienced the highest (20%) increase in bicycle sales between 2012 and 2015 as can be seen from figure 1 (Mayne et al., 2016). In 2010, Poland’s bike sales stood at 750,000, sales exceeding the country’s manufacturing capacity (Utkin, 2016). Read more …

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PESTLE Analysis for Parcel Delivery Using Drones

PESTLE Analysis for Parcel Delivery Using Drones in the UK Market

1.0 Introduction
SFS Express is a Chinese company that provides logistics and parcel delivery
services. Having witnessed a lot of success in the Chinese market with its parcel delivery services that relies on drones to make last mile deliveries, the company intends to expand by venturing into the UK market. Being a foreign market, SFS Express needs to understand the external business environment of the UK and its suitability for parcel delivery and courier services using drones. This report presents a PESTLE analysis of the courier and parcel delivery service market as applies to the UK.

2.0 Political
A stable political environment is important for business and provides a conducive environment for economic activities. The United Kingdom is a peaceful country with a stable political environment. The country’s postal and courier industry is liberalized so that any interested person can easily enter the industry (Brown and Conway 2017). The industry is widely unregulated, a factor that has led to the poor services by some industry players (Tims 2014). Operators may, for example, provide postal and courier
services without a license or without prior authorization from Ofcom, the industry regulator (Brown and Conway 2017). Although the industry generally remains widely unregulated, shipping products to and from international destinations outside the European Union requires custom clearance and is highly regulated (Parcel Hero 2015). Several legal hurdles make international shipping both expensive and difficult, which has rendered international shipping unattractive for relatively small firms (UK Government 2017). While the liberation and limited regulation of the parcels industry makes it easy for businesses to venture into the industry, it also gives room for the entry of many players in the industry, which potentially makes the industry highly competitive.

The courier and parcel delivery market in the UK is taxed the same way as other industries. While corporate tax has been set at 19% since 2017, this rate is set to be reduced to 18% as from April, 2020 (with a possible further reduction to 17%) (HM Revenue and Customs 2018). Continue …

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PESTLE Analysis for Parcel Delivery Using Drones