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Publication Estimating the cost of type 1 diabetes in Ireland(Wiley, 2021-12-27) Sharma, Shikha; Gillespie, Paddy; Hobbins, Anna; Dinneen, Sean F.; Science Foundation Ireland; European Regional Development FundBackground Type 1 diabetes is a chronic disease, which given its existing and projected prevalence, is likely to pose a significant economic burden, both in terms of directs costs to the healthcare system and indirect costs to society. We aimed to estimate the economic burden of type 1 diabetes in Ireland, which at present, is unknown. Methods A cost of illness study was undertaken to estimate the cost of type 1 diabetes in Ireland for 2018. Data for prevalence, morbidity, mortality, healthcare resource use, absenteeism, and unit costs were obtained from national, and where necessary, international sources. Direct healthcare costs were estimated for primary care, outpatient, emergency and inpatient care, for associated complications, structured education programmes, insulin and related care. Additionally, indirect costs from lost earnings due to premature death and employee absenteeism were estimated. Results Type 1 diabetes was estimated to cost €129 million in Ireland in 2018, with direct healthcare costs accounting for €81.5 million or 63% and indirect costs for €47.5 million or 37% of the total. On average, this amounted to €3994 per patient in direct healthcare costs and €2326 per patient in indirect costs. Conclusion Type 1 diabetes is a leading public health problem. Our study is the first to assess the economic burden of type 1 diabetes in Ireland, and our results should be informative to policymakers tasked with prioritising healthcare and research funding resource allocation.Publication Flooded cities(American Economic Association, 2020-04) Kocornik-Mina, Adriana; McDermott, Thomas K. J.; Michaels, Guy; Rauch, FerdinandDoes economic activity move away from areas that are at high risk of recurring shocks? We examine this question in the context of floods, which displaced more than 650 million people worldwide in the last 35 years. We study large urban floods using spatially detailed inundation maps and night lights data spanning the globe's cities. We find that low-elevation urban areas are flooded more frequently, and yet they concentrate more economic activity per square kilometer. When cities are flooded, low-elevation areas recover as rapidly as those higher up. With the exception of recently populated urban areas, we find little permanent movement of economic activity in response to floods.Publication A foundation for Pareto optimality(Elsevier, 2020-03-04) Duddy, Conal; Piggins, AshleyCan an axiomatic justification be given for the requirement that society picks all and only Pareto optimal alternatives at each profile of individual preferences? Using the framework of fixed-agenda social choice theory, we present a characterization of the Pareto optimal social choice correspondence. We introduce a new independence condition, P-independence. When combined with three natural assumptions, P-independence leads to the conclusion that the social choice set and the Pareto optimal set are the same.Publication Combining actual and contingent behaviour data to estimate the value of coarse fishing in Ireland(Elsevier, 2019-03-15) Deely, John; Hynes, Stephen; Curtis, John; Inland Fisheries IrelandThe use of contingent behaviour style questions enables the presentation of scenarios that extended beyond previous experience, making it a valuable tool for the examination of a change in policy or management practices. This study uses anglers' responses to contingent behaviour survey questions, in combination with actual trip frequencies, to examine the effects of a change in fish quality on users and non-users of Garadice, an Irish coarse fishing site. Respondents, from an onsite and online survey, were asked how many more days they would spend fishing at Garadice if the number of specimen fish increased by 25% or 50%, or if the quantity of fish increased by 25% or 50%. Estimates indicate that the average consumer surplus for a day spent fishing is (sic)93 per day. The marginal benefits from the contingent behaviour changes range from 050.86 for a 25% increase in the quantity of fish to (sic)89.01 for a 50% increase in the quantity of fish.Publication The role of extension in dynamic economic adjustments: the case of Irish dairy farms(Oxford University Press, 2019-01-11) Läpple, Doris; Barham, Bradford L.; Chavas, Jean-Paul; OECD Co-operative Research ProgrammeEuropean Union dairy policy eliminated milk production quotas in 2015, inducing major adjustments in the European dairy industry. This article explores the role of farm extension services in dynamic adjustments on Irish dairy farms. An Arellano–Bond estimation strategy is applied to panel data from a representative sample of Irish dairy farms spanning 2008–2014. We find a positive, yet declining, impact of extension services on the dynamics of dairy herd size, specialisation and intensification. Farm-level response changes in relation to length of extension membership and policy implications to re-structure extension services are discussed.Publication Austerity and Irish local government expenditure since the Great Recession(Sciendo, 2018-12-31) Turley, Gerard; McNena, Stephen; Robbins, GreraldineThis paper sets out to establish the extent of austerity in the Irish local government system during and after the Great Recession. Austerity is measured by the adjusted change in local government expenditure from peak to trough years, and is analysed by type of expenditure, service division and local authority. Stripping out the change in local government current spending that is due to expenditure reassignments reveals that the austerity-related reduction in local government operating expenditure is not as large as often portrayed. As for other findings, there are sizeable differences across the aforementioned classifications, with, most notably, capital expenditure cuts far exceeding cuts in current expenditure. The largest decreases in total spending were on roads and housing services, and small rural county councils endured the most austerity, as measured by the initial reductions in current expenditure. In terms of policy implications, the biggest concern is the large infrastructural deficit that needs to be tackled, arising from austerity cuts in capital expenditure imposed at both central and local government level. As the economy recovers from the Great Recession and the subsequent era of austerity, failure to address this problem will hinder Ireland s international competitiveness, constrain the economy s future growth rate and result in impoverishment of public services at local level.Publication Economics, politics and democracy in the age of credit-rating capitalism(Sameeksha Trust, 2013-02-02) Raghavendra, Srinivas; |~|Unlike in earlier major economic crises, the current turmoil in the global economy has seen the consolidation of orthodoxy as the dominant paradigm. This essay traces the political economy of change in the current situation and discusses how credit-rating agencies have assumed a pivotal role in delinking politics from the conduct of economic policy, thereby undermining the legitimate role of the state in the economic domain.Publication A needs and resources assessment of fiscal equalisation in the Irish local government system(Economic and Social Studies, 2015) Turley, Gerard; Flannery, Darragh; MvNena, Stephen; |~|In 2000 the central government in Ireland introduced a formula-based needs and resources equalisation model in its local government system to ensure that the allocation of general purpose grants to local authorities was done in an equitable manner. However, the equalisation model is lacking in transparency, with few details publicly available as to its exact specification. Within this context, the purpose of this paper is to critically assess fiscal equalisation in Ireland s local government system. More specifically we address the question of whether general purpose equalisation grants bear any relation to expenditure needs and fiscal resources. We achieve this by estimating our own model based upon a number of indicators of potential need and available resources. We outline a number of alternative equalisation models based on different objective criteria, and compare the simulated allocations resulting from the alternative models to the actual general purpose grants, with a view to partly explaining past allocations but also identifying improvements in the future design of fiscal equalisation in Ireland. Our findings show politically sensitive redistribution away from county councils towards city councils, resulting in new winners and losers. The results for Dublin City Council raise the question of whether, given its population size, level of economic activity and budget, it should be treated separately and as a special case with respect to intergovernmental fiscal relations in Ireland.Publication An analysis of local public finances and the 2014 local government reforms(Economic and Social Studies, 2016) Turley, Gerard; McNena, Stephen; |~|In this paper we set out to analyse changes in local government expenditures and income in the context of central government austerity measures, local government budgetary adjustments and, most especially, the 2014 local government reforms. More specifically we outline the effect of the local government reforms, and, in particular, the redesign of intergovernmental fiscal relations (namely, territorial rescaling, expenditure and revenue re-assignment, changes in central government transfers) on the local public finances. Using data from the Local Authority Budgets we examine changes to the main service divisions, income sources and cross-council variations in expenditures and income, pre and post the 2014 reforms. Our results show that local government fiscal changes and recovery lag central government patterns, a general shift from central grants to local own-source revenues, and cross-council differences with respect to dependency and selfreliance persist. The establishment of Irish Water and the Local Property Tax have, at least initially, made the local government fiscal accounts, and in particular the Local Government Fund, less transparent and more complex, making an objective and accurate assessment of local authority budgets more difficult than before the reforms. Earlier publication of the consolidated Annual Financial Statements of the local authorities is called for so as to ensure continued scrutiny of the local public finances.Publication Deprivation and access to work in Dublin city: the impact of transport disadvantage(Elsevier, 2016-09-29) Ahern, Aoife; Vega, Amaya; Caulfield, Brian; |~|Ireland's economy underwent a period of rapid expansion between 1995 and 2007, accompanied by a boom in construction. The subsequent decade saw a rapid decline in construction as Ireland went through an unprecedented recession. This paper examines how this boom and bust has influenced deprivation and accessibility in Dublin. The paper examines, through a logit model, links between transport disadvantage, deprivation and employment accessibility in the city. The paper concludes that links exist between deprivation and accessibility in the city, in particular in the newer peripheral suburbs, leaving these areas open to risk of transport poverty. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Publication The spatial impact of commuting on income: a spatial microsimulation approach(Springer Verlag, 2016-08-24) Vega, Amaya; Kilgarriff, Paul; O'Donoghue, Cathal; Morrissey, Karyn; |~|The Irish economic boom resulted in a substantial increase in car-ownership and commuting. These trends were particularly noticeable in the Greater Dublin Area (GDA), with an unprecedented increase in employment levels and private car registrations. While employment dropped by an overall 6 % during the recent economic recession, the already increasing process of suburbanisation around Irish main cities continued. The commuting belt around Dublin extended beyond the GDA with a substantial number of individuals commuting long distances. The aim of this paper is to examine the impact of both monetary and non-monetary commuting costs on the distribution of employment income in Ireland. The Census of Population is the only nationwide source of information on commuting patterns in Ireland. However, this data set does not include information on individual income. In contrast, SMILE (Simulation Model for the Irish Local Economy) contains employment income data for each individual in Ireland. Using data from the Census of Population of Ireland, discrete choice models of commuting mode choice are estimated for three sub-samples of the Irish population based on residential and employment location and the subjective value of travel time (SVTT) is calculated. The SVTT is then combined with the SMILE data to produce a geo-referenced, attribute rich dataset containing commuting, income, demographic and socio-economic data. Results show that the monetary and non-monetary costs of commuting are highest among those living and working in the GDA.Publication Lack of critical slowing down suggests that financial meltdowns are not critical transitions, yet rising variability could signal systemic risk(Public Library of Science, 2016-01-13) Raghavendra, Srinivas; |~|Complex systems inspired analysis suggests a hypothesis that financial meltdowns are abrupt critical transitions that occur when the system reaches a tipping point. Theoretical and empirical studies on climatic and ecological dynamical systems have shown that approach to tipping points is preceded by a generic phenomenon called critical slowing down, i.e. an increasingly slow response of the system to perturbations. Therefore, it has been suggested that critical slowing down may be used as an early warning signal of imminent critical transitions. Whether financial markets exhibit critical slowing down prior to meltdowns remains unclear. Here, our analysis reveals that three major US (Dow Jones Index, S&P 500 and NASDAQ) and two European markets (DAX and FTSE) did not exhibit critical slowing down prior to major financial crashes over the last century. However, all markets showed strong trends of rising variability, quantified by time series variance and spectral function at low frequencies, prior to crashes. These results suggest that financial crashes are not critical transitions that occur in the vicinity of a tipping point. Using a simple model, we argue that financial crashes are likely to be stochastic transitions which can occur even when the system is far away from the tipping point. Specifically, we show that a gradually increasing strength of stochastic perturbations may have caused to abrupt transitions in the financial markets. Broadly, our results highlight the importance of stochastically driven abrupt transitions in real world scenarios. Our study offers rising variability as a precursor of financial meltdowns albeit with a limitation that they may signal false alarms.Publication How have contracts for difference affected Irish equity market volatility?(The Economic and Social Review, 2014) Corbet, Shaen; Twomey, Cian; |~|Contracts for Difference (CFDs) have existed for less than twenty years and the markethas grown significantly up to the period before the recent international crises. This paper presentsan analysis of how CFDs have affected equity market volatility in Ireland. EGARCH models areused to uncover volatility changes in the periods before and after the introduction of the newtrading product in Ireland. We find that CFDs appear to have lowered asset-specific volatilityacross the majority of equities traded on the Irish Stock Exchange. These findings do notcorrespond to the expected volatility increase associated with leveraged products that are closelyassociated with high frequency trading. Our empirical analysis suggests that CFDs are having analternative volatility reducing effect through the presence of bid and ask price overhangs thatare generated through the hedging practices of CFD brokers. A fully worked example of thedevelopment of an overhang is provided.Publication From boom to bust? The financial performance of city and county councils(2014) Turley, Gerard; Robbins, Geraldine; McNena, Stephen; |~|A framework to assess the financial performance of city and county councils in Ireland is applied to the recent boom and bust period. Based on previous work, our financial performance measurement framework assesses performance in the areas of liquidity, autonomy, operating performance, collection efficiency and solvency using the audited published financial statements of Irish local authorities. Financial indicators for the years 2007 and 2011 are developed and reported to capture the boom and bust years, respectively. Overall, the results indicate that the majority of Irish city and county councils performed satisfactorily in a financial sense relative to central government performance despite the downturn in economic activity and the resulting fall in council income. The paper suggests a small but increasing number of county councils are exhibiting signs of financial difficulty, with poor levels of revenue collection, increasing provisions for bad debts and rising debt levels. In light of the recent boom and bust in the Irish economy and the growing importance of performance measurement in a reforming public sector, we recommend adoption of the financial performance measurement framework as part of the annual financial statements of Irish local authorities.Publication The impact of the economic boom and bust on local government budgets in ireland(Institute of Public Administration (Ireland), 2013) Turley, Gerard; |~|This paper analyses the effects of the economic crisis on local government budgets in Ireland. In this context, it also examines the preceding period, namely the impact of the economic boom on local government finances. We find that the budgets of local authorities, as with the national budget, increased greatly throughout the boom years. Although local authority spending increased, local governments were not as profligate as central government during this period. As for the economic recession, the evidence is of a lagged effect on local government budgets, with no dramatic change in 2008, unlike the impact at the central level. As with downturns elsewhere, the negative impact of this recession on local authority budgets began to impact only after it had affected the national budget. Falling local revenues combined with significant reductions in central government allocations to local government have resulted in expenditure adjustments as local authorities seek pay and non-pay savings. We also show evidence of much cross-council variation in finances, with particular regard to changes in rate income and central government grants.Publication Quantifying the effects of the inclusion and segregation of Contracts for Difference in Australian equity markets(Econjournals.com, 2014) Twomey, C. and Corbet, S.; |~|This study examines the effects that Contracts for Difference (CFDs) have had on theAustralian equity market, either as an accelerant for mispricing, or as a source of increased marketfunctionality through the addition of a new tradable product and increased liquidity. The AustralianSecurities Exchange (ASX) made the decision to segregate CFDs to a separate ring-fenced exchangein November 2007. This study uses EGARCH techniques to test for the effects of CFDs on returnvolatility at the time of CFD inclusion and segregation in Australian equity markets at the index andequity-specific level. A fully worked explanation and example of a CFD-influenced overhang is alsoprovided. The results provide evidence that cannot reject the presence of overhangs in Australianequity markets.Publication Have Exchange Traded Funds influenced commodity market volatility?(Econjournals.com, 2014) Twomey, Cian; |~|Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) have existed since the late 1980s, but were first traded on commodity markets in the early 2000s. Their inception has been linked by some market analysts with the large commodity price increases and volatility evident between 2007 and 2009. This research provides a concise literature review based on ETFs and then focuses on the role that the product has played, either as an accelerant for mispricing in international commodity markets, or as a mechanism for liquidity improvements, thereby increasing the speed of the transfer of information. This research also investigates whether the effects are more pronounced in larger or smaller sized commodity markets. The results indicate that larger market-proportional ETF holdings are associated with higher EGARCH volatility. Smaller commodity markets are found to have increased liquidity flows, indicating benefits from ETF investment. The need for further regulation of investment size and market ownership limits cannot be rejectedPublication The Eurozone: Saved by the Bell(Institute of Bankers, Dublin, 2012) Twomey, Cian; |~|The article focuses on the European Central Bank (ECB) as a lender of last resort (LOLR) for the government bond markets of the Eurozone. It states that the increase of bond yields in the European crisis changed the liquidity crisis to solvency crisis. Belgian macroeconomist Paul De Grauwe said that ECB is the only Eurozone's institution that can perform as a LORL, however, the ECB does not want to get involved, wherein its doctrinal persuasion and legal mandate are the roots of its hesitation.Publication Participatory action research with and within community activist groups: Capturing the collective experience of Ireland's Community and Voluntary Pillar in social partnership(SAGE Journals, 2012-07-18) Carney, Gemma M.; Dundon, Tony; Ní Léime, Áine; |~|The inclusion of community activists in policy planning is increasingly recognized at the highest international level. This article shows how the use of Participatory Action Research (PAR) can present a deeper and more holistic picture of the experiences of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in shaping national-level social policy. By utilizing action-based research, the Community and Voluntary Pillar (CVP) of Ireland's system of social partnership is shown to be an important agent in deliberating national bargaining outcomes (known as the Towards 2016 national agreement). The key contribution of this research is the reflective methodological considerations in terms of PAR design, execution and participant integration in the research process as a way to enrich and develop a deeper and more informed community of practice.Publication Spatial (Im)mobility and Accessibility in Ireland: Implications for Transport Policy(2012) Rau, Henrike; Vega, Amaya; |~|PRTLI|~|Recent social research that links people s position in society to their ability to access employment has shown the centrality of spatial mobility in the (re-)production of patterns of (in)equality. This is particularly evident in regions where economic activity is unevenly distributed and concentrated in an urban centre and where daily travel patterns reflect a spatial segregation between places of work and residential areas. This paper presents a spatial analysis of accessibility to employment for Galway City and its environs, a predominantly rural region in the West of Ireland dominated by its urban centre. Travel-to-work data from the 2006 Census of Population of Ireland were used to present a comparison of district-specific accessibility levels across three socio-economic groups. Network analysis and Geographic Information System (GIS) visualisation tools are used to map existing socio-spatial topographies of (in)accessibility. This is done to test two contrasting sets of theoretical proposals in the social science literature regarding the relationship between spatial mobility and social status. Advocates of the first position conceptualise spatial mobility as a form of capital that helps to maintain many existing social hierarchies. This contrasts with the views of those who anticipate the dissolution of established social boundaries ( fluidification ) as a result of increased spatial mobility of people, goods and ideas. It is argued that these contrasting positions are highly relevant to current transport policy debates, including discussions around the impacts of recession-related cuts in transport infrastructure investment on patterns of accessibility. In addition, they encourage reflection on the impacts of sustainable transport initiatives on different social groups that are more or less mobility-disadvantaged, a fact that has hitherto received little attention in policy research and practice.