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Worker welfare and modern slavery within the fashion industry remain a key supply chain challenge for many retailers, consumers, governments and advocacy groups. Yet, despite publicised worker-welfare violations, many fashion retailers continue to post record sales and profits, indicating that consumer concern does not always translate at the cash register. Research has shown that worker welfare is a less salient area of concern for fashion consumers, and the aim of this research is to investigate the reasons why this may be the case.

Due to the exploratory nature of the research, a qualitative methodology was deemed the most appropriate. Twenty-one semi-structured interviews were conducted with Australian fast-fashion consumers to investigate the underlying reasons worker-welfare violations are less likely to elicit pro-social consumer behavioural change and are a less salient area of concern.

This study found that consumers perceive worker-welfare concerns at both a proximal and cultural distance to themselves, and therefore struggle to connect with the issues associated with modern slavery. Additionally, there was an underlying social consensus that exploitative practices are an accepted part of the fast-fashion supply chain to ensure the continuation of low-cost clothing. Despite an underlying awareness of exploitative practices and acknowledgement that modern slavery is ethically wrong, other consumer values often influenced purchase behaviour and the level of concern expressed towards garment workers.

This is the first study to apply psychological distance in a fast-fashion context to better understand consumer perceptions towards modern slavery. Responding to calls for further research into ethical consumption of apparel, this study develops an in-depth understanding of the reasons why worker welfare is a less salient area of concern for fast-fashion consumers. Extending on current literature, this study qualitatively investigates consumer sentiment towards worker welfare, identifying the greatest barriers to consumers' levels of concern. In addition to a theoretical contribution to the fashion, ethics and business literature, this article provides key insight to guide practice.

The U.S. 2009 Tobacco Control Act opened the door for new antismoking policies by giving the Food and Drug Administration broad regulatory authority over the tobacco industry. We develop a behavioral welfare economics approach to conduct cost-benefit analysis of FDA tobacco regulations. We use a simple two-period model to develop expressions for the impact of tobacco control policies on social welfare. Our model includes: nudge and paternalistic regulations; an excise tax on cigarettes; internalities created by period 1 versus period 2 consumption; and externalities from cigarette consumption. Our analytical expressions show that in the presence of uncorrected internalities and externalities, a nudge or a tax to reduce cigarette consumption improves social welfare. In sharp contrast, a paternalistic regulation might either improve or worsen social welfare. Another important result is that the social welfare gains from new policies do not only depend on the size of the internalities and externalities, but also depend on the extent to which current policies already correct the problems. We link our analytical expressions to the graphical approach used in most previous studies and discuss the information needed to complete cost-benefit analysis of tobacco regulations. We use our model as a framework to reexamine the evidence base for strong conclusions about the size of the internalities, which is the key information needed.

The causal relationship between the size of welfare benefits and the birth decisions of women on welfare has been explored in a number of studies using a variety of analytical approaches applied to vital statistics data, data from the Current Population Survey, the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, or similar survey data. These studies typically use non-experimental methods to relate differences in birth rates or birth decisions across states to differences in welfare benefits levels. Analyses of this type have been criticized on several grounds. Benefits across states may be correlated with unobserved interstate differences that may also be related to birth decisions. Very often, these studies measure the key independent variable, welfare benefits level, as the cash benefit guarantee under the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program for a household of fixed size, varying this amount by state of residence. Actual benefits paid will vary with household size, number of AFDC-eligible household members, other sources of income, and other factors.

This study aims to analyze tax revenue in the presence of double tax treaties affecting social welfare of the inhabitants in the Sub-Saharan African (SSA) developing economies, whose fiscal regimes are being branded as responsible for exacerbating poverty for the inhabitants. This paper seeks to determine if double tax treaties are negatively impacting on human development of the host countries.

This study analyses 21 SSA countries from 1996 to 2016 using panel models and bootstrapped quantile regression. It uses a devised mathematical model which introduces the interaction between tax revenue and double tax treaties and measures the social welfare impact using the human development index (HDI).

The findings have broadly shown that (i) the net effect from the complementarity between tax revenue and double tax treaty (DTTs) in influencing the human development is for the most part negative (ii) the impact of tax revenue from international trade has the most positive net effect as compared to other tax revenues when interacted with the DTT and (iii) the DTT complements the tax revenue from income, profits and capital gains to progressively increase human development in the upper quartiles of HDI.

This study has examined how the presence of double tax treaties has impacted the effect of tax revenue on human development in 21 SSA countries for the period 1996–2016. A mathematical model was devised and bootstrapped quantile regression was used owing to the specificities of the sample. In accordance with recent literature on net effects, the results were interpreted.

It is evident that further research is required on whether double tax treaties are indirectly responsible for poverty on the rise in SSA countries or on the contrary, they bring FDI alongside with other positive spillovers which in the end contribute to a rise in the human development aspect of societies in developing host economies.

The HDI is an important measure used nowadays for human development as a proxy for social welfare. This research will use an HDI mathematical model devised by Sinha and Sengupta (2019) and adapt it to the context to testing econometrically whether double tax treaties have an impact on welfare or poverty reduction. The empirical results will help determine whether tax treaties are impacting the social welfare positively or negatively.

This result is the first research attempt to consider both the impact of tax revenue (which is expected to have a positive impact on social welfare of the people of the host developing countries) and the impact of double tax treaties simultaneously. It is the first empirical study focusing on the impact of tax revenue on human development in the presence of double tax treaties. Its methodology is original and adds to the current literature to benefit policymakers and academia.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors (including conservation payments) that influence household decisions to participate in off-farm work and estimate the impact of participation on household welfare under the auspices of the Grain for Green (GfG) program.

The authors used survey data from 225 farm households on the Loess Plateau and addressed the possible sample selection and endogeneity problems by employing a jointly estimated endogenous switching regression (ESR) model.

The findings of this paper are as follows: off-farm participation is positively related to households’ educational attainment and negatively related to their land resource endowment and the presence of children; participation in off-farm work exerts positive effects on household income and per capita household income, but negative effects on farm productivity; and conservation payments show no significant impact on off-farm participation, no significant impact on any of the three household welfare indicators for off-farm non-participant households, but a significantly negative impact for off-farm participant households.

This paper makes two contributions. First, the authors address the selection bias and endogeneity problem of GfG participating households by employing the ESR method and explicitly estimating the treatment effects of off-farm participation on their household welfare. Neglecting these problems leads to biased estimates and misleading policy implications. Second, this analysis stresses the important role of government in reducing market or institutional failure and other barriers that impede farmers’ efficient allocation choices instead of compensating households for conserving sloping land, shedding new light on the most effective policy options to achieve the program’s goals.

This paper seeks to examine the interrelationship between inclusive business, private sector credit and economic welfare in Africa.

The study uses the seemingly unrelated regression, system generalized method of moments and bootstrap quantile regression in a panel of 54 economies in Africa, over the period 2006–2020.

The authors show that countries that provide more credit to the private sector have better incentives to enhance the ease of doing business. The authors find that ease of doing business and domestic credit to the private sector have a positive and significant effect on economic welfare at higher quantile levels. The authors find that ease of doing business substitutes private sector credit to boost economic welfare, while business account complements private sector credit to boost economic welfare. The authors show that the marginal effect of inclusive business on economic welfare is greater in countries that provide more credit to the private sector.

The implication is that countries that focus on developing their private sector (through credit expansion) should be able to encourage or facilitate the inclusion of businesses to achieve a sustainable economic welfare.

The implication is that policymakers should be able to develop their business environment through inclusive financing so as to build business confidence in the society.

The paper examines the interrelationship between inclusive business, private sector credit and economic welfare in Africa.

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of mobile money access on internal remittances received, per capita consumption expenditure and welfare of household in Ghana.

The study used data from the latest round of the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS 7) and employed the propensity score matching technique to estimate average treatment effect between users and non-users of mobile money transfer services.

The study finds that using mobile money is welfare enhancing, particularly for poor households and the channel by which it impacts on welfare is through higher internal remittances received and per capita expenditure. The results from the average treatment effect indicate that mobile money users receive significantly higher remittances and consequently spend averagely higher on consumption than non-users.

Although the data employed in this study is limited to one country, the findings support the financial inclusion role and developmental impact of mobile money transfer services. Hence, mobile money transfer services should be promoted and facilitated by the telecommunication and financial sector regulators.

In addition to making original contribution to the literature on the welfare impact of mobile money, the study's use of the propensity score matching is unique.

Focusing on micro-level indicators, we investigate financial inclusion levels in rural China, examining its determinants and impact on household welfare. We construct a financial inclusion index of four essential financial services: savings, digital payments, credit and insurance. We identify factors influencing financial inclusion among Chinese rural households and assess the effects of financial inclusion on household welfare.

With the entropy method, we use data from the 2019 China Household Finance Survey to assess financial inclusion levels in rural China. Determinants and their impact on welfare are analyzed through probit and ordinary least squares models, respectively. Propensity scoring matching is applied to address potential endogeneity.

We reveal that rural households exhibit limited usage of formal financial services, with notable regional disparities. The eastern region enjoys the highest financial inclusion and the central region lags behind. Household characteristics such as family size, education level of the household head, income, employment status and financial literacy significantly influence financial inclusion. Financial inclusion positively impacts household welfare as indicated by household consumption expenditure. The use of different types of financial services is crucial with varying but significant effects on household welfare.

This study offers valuable insights into China’s rural financial inclusion progress, highlighting potential barriers and guiding government actions.

The purpose of this paper is to summarize existing evidence on welfare dependence among immigrants in Denmark and to produce new evidence with focus on the most recent years.

The paper combines a broad descriptive/analytical approach with multivariate estimation on the impact on welfare dependence from individual background factors.

The main finding is the importance of aggregate low unemployment for immigrants to assimilate out of welfare dependence. Fairly small effects are reported from policy changes intending to influence the economic incentives between welfare programs and jobs.

While panel data as used in the paper have a great potential, still a number of policy changes are not identified at the individual level. In further work it would be relevant to broaden the coverage including also some small policy programs and to extend the analysis to cover the period including the financial crisis years.

The paper has a potential to influence public attitudes in this area and to inform further public policy regarding benefit programs.

The main new result is the finding, at a disaggregate level, of how changes in immigration policy and cyclical changes interact, influencing the assimilation into or out of dependence on cash benefit programs.

The welfare state is certainly paradoxical. On the one hand, it is extraordinary mundane, concerned with the minutiae of the pension and benefit rights of millions of citizens. On the other, the sheer scale of its growth is one of the most remarkable features of the post-war capitalist world and it remains on of the dominant, if sometimes unnoticed, institutions of the modern world. (Pierson, 1998, p. 208)