Canada has a universal social assistance program that is almost completely administered through the federal Canada Assistance Program. However, provinces determine the levels of assistance for various groups eligible for welfare. This article exploits the variation in payments and uses microdata to estimate the effect of changes in welfare benefits on welfare participation, single parenthood, births out of wedlock, divorce, and labor force participation among low-income women. In Canada, it would appear that welfare benefits influence these decisions.

This study is concerned with the impact of changes in economic conditions on the family. "Three issues are considered in this paper. First, the reasons why the family is not fading away as an economic entity are discussed. The argument of this paper is that, despite the declines in various economic functions of the family and the increases in divorces and in other failures, the survival capacity of the family is both strong and robust." Second, the author contends that the economic approach should be extended to deal with the effects of the life-span revolution, shifts in prices and incomes, and the ability of the family to cope with these changes. Third, the hypothesis is put forward that intergenerational transfers are less important than increases over time in real per capita incomes and changes in income composition, its permanent and temporary components, and the sources of income. The geographical focus is worldwide.

Abstract This study shows that higher banking organization growth is associated with higher operational losses per dollar of total assets and incidence of tail operational losses. Event studies using merger and acquisition activity and instrumental variable regressions provide consistent evidence. The relationship between banking organization growth and operational risk varies by loss event types and balance sheet categories. Higher growth before the Global Financial Crisis predicts higher operational losses during the crisis. We also find evidence that executive compensation incentives and board monitoring could moderate the relationship between growth and operational losses. These findings have implications for banking organization performance, risk management, and supervision as the banking industry continues to grow and consolidate.

Using a unique set of banking data containing both originally-reported and subsequently-revised financial variables, we study accounting restatements. Our results indicate the worse a bank's financial condition, the more likely it is for originally-reported data to understate financial losses. Also, we find supervisory exams have an important role in uncovering financial problems and prompting accounting restatements to correct loss underreporting. While revisions are directly related to financial difficulties, exam-based restatements are evident at even the earliest stages of deterioration, indicating substantial accounting misstatements—at both banks and other types of companies—can occur well outside severe business circumstances.