Showing papers by "Aalto University published in 1985"

Redistribution and equality in the welfare state:An effort to interpret the major findings of research on the redistributive effects of the welfare state

Abstract: One of the many vividly debated issues of the welfare state is that of its redistributive effects. Perhaps a majority of social scientists and economists believe that the welfare state makes a considerable effort to improve the lot of the poor and the worse-off more generally, at the expense of more well-to-do, joining Wilensky's conclusion that '. .. taxes and benefits taken together have a highly egalitarian effect on income distribution.' (Wilensky, 1975: 94). Some students in the field go even further and argue that the welfare state has actually broken the link between economic welfare and contributions made in the production system, thus causing strong work disincentives (Lindbeck, 1983: 227). For some scholars the welfare state is an important step towards democratic socialism, because it removes commodities from markets to be distributed politically and thereby changes the mechanisms and distributions of capitalism (Furniss and Tilton, 1977; Stephens, 1979, Esping-Andersen, 1980). Then there are those who claim that the welfare state is a failure. Its ability to diminish equality has been challenged: '. . . a growing body of academic work shows increasing disillusion with the achievements of state welfare and pessimism about its potential for achieving redistribution to those in need.' (Taylor-Gooby, 1982; quoted by O'Higgins, 1985b). Some even argue that the welfare state actually is as much for the rich as for the poor (Le Grand, 1982), and its ability to modify class relations has been seriously challenged (Westergaard and Resler, 1975, Westergaard, 1978). This review attempts to clarify the issue of the redistributive effects of the welfare state on equality by looking carefully at research findings and by examining the theoretical assumptions that have led to controversial interpretations. For this purpose, there are two types of study which are relevant. First, there is a diffuse group of studies focusing on welfare outcomes, both their development in time and their distribution. Welfare research and social indicators on health, education, housing, economic resources etc. have greatly improved our knowledge of the level and distribution of welfare in a society; but for our purpose the basic problem of the use of the welfare outcome studies is the difficulty of specifying the impact of the welfare state, since these outcomes are obviously an effect of a vast array of other factors as well. The second group of studies focuses on the welfare efforts of the state, or on the inputs it makes in order to influence welfare outcomes. These studies are similar enough to justify the notion of a 'redistribution research paradigm'. This review focuses on the presentation of this paradigm, examining its characteristics, findings and weaknesses, but in the end we come back to studies on welfare outcomes.

On Developing a Visual Interactive Multiple Criteria Method — An Outline

Abstract: In this paper we describe a new interactive method for solving multiple criteria problems Interactive use of computer graphics plays a central role in our approach The method does not rely on explicit knowledge of the properties of the decision maker’s underlying utility function However, if we assume that the utility function is a pseudoconcave function at the moment the decision maker wants to terminate the search, sufficient conditions for optimality can be established Our approach is a blend of the methods of Geoffrion et al, Wierzbicki, and Zionts and Wallenius, flavoured with some ideas of our own If all constraints and objective functions are linear, then all necessary computations can be performed using any linear programming software with a parametric programming routine We have implemented two versions of the method: one on an Apple III microcomputer and one on a HP3000/68 computer

First year operating experience from Kerava solar village

Abstract: SYNOPSIS Kerava solar village has been in operation since the beginning of 1983. During the first year numerous system and component tests have been made. Preliminary results show that a solar fraction of 40–50% may be achieved in normal conditions. Despite some difficulties in system control, the system performance has been satisfactory, in particular the solar collectors.

A Principle for Solving Qualitative Multiple-Criteria Problems

Abstract: In many practical applications, the final choice from among discrete alternatives is based on several criteria, which can be quantitative or qualitative. By the term quantitative we mean that the decision-maker is able to present his preferences over alternatives on some cardinal (interval or ratio) scale. If we call a criterion qualitative, we mean that the decision-maker can only express ordinal preferences by stating which of a pair of alternatives he prefers most. Very often the criteria are clustered in such a way that they have a natural hierarchical structure. In any case, we can assume that this kind of hierarchy can be constructed.

A survey of solar energy utilization in Finland

Abstract: SYNOPSIS Biomass is the most important indigenous energy source in Finland and its share of the primary energy consumption was about 16% in 1982. Its significance in the future has also been recognized by the government's energy policy. The use of solar heating for buildings is mainly limited to experimental projects. The gross technical potential of solar heating after the turn of the century was estimated to be 4.8 Mt o.e. (5.4 TWh).