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Background: Previous research has reported that sexual harassment can lead to reduced mental health. Few studies have focused on sexual harassment conducted by clients or customers, which might occur in person-related occupations such as eldercare work, social work or customer service work. This study examined the cross-sectional association between sexual harassment by clients or customers and depressive symptoms. We also examined if this association was different compared to sexual harassment conducted by a colleague, supervisor or subordinate. Further, we investigated if psychosocial workplace initiatives modified the association between sexual harassment by clients or customers and level of depressive symptoms.Methods: We used data from the Work Environment and Health in Denmark cohort study (WEHD) and the Work Environment Activities in Danish Workplaces Study (WEADW) collected in 2012. WEHD is based on a random sample of employed individuals aged 18-64. In WEADW, organizational supervisors or employee representatives provided information on workplace characteristics. By combining WEHD and WEADW we included self-reported information on working conditions and health from 7603 employees and supervisors in 1041 organizations within 5 occupations. Data were analyzed using multilevel regression and analyses adjusted for gender, age, occupation and socioeconomic position.Results: Exposure to workplace sexual harassment from clients or customers was statistically significantly associated with a higher level of depressive symptoms (2.05; 95% CI: 0.98-3.12) compared to no exposure. Employees harassed by colleagues, supervisors or subordinates had a higher mean level of depressive symptoms (2.45; 95% CI: 0.57-4.34) than employees harassed by clients or customers. We observed no statistically significant interactions between harassment from clients and customers and any of the examined psychosocial workplace initiatives (all p > 0.05).Conclusions: The association between sexual harassment and depressive symptoms differed for employees harassed by clients or customers and those harassed by colleagues, supervisors or subordinates. The results underline the importance of investigating sexual harassment from clients or customers and sexual harassment by colleagues, supervisors or subordinates as distinct types of harassment. We found no modification of the association between sexual harassment by clients or customers and depressive symptoms by any of the examined psychosocial workplace initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article shows how the Migration Statistics Regulation plays a central role in EU/Schengen external border control. It develops and applies an analytical framework, which shows analogies between how historical nation states produced statistics as a basis for politics and the harmonisation of European migration and asylum statistics. In contrast to national processes, the Migration Statistics Regulation aims to harmonise statistics from established national administrative traditions. The first part shows how the Member States have agreed on the application of common statistical categories, but they have not reached agreements on how to measure migration. As long as different measurement techniques constitute the basis of comparability, the statistics used as basis for European external border control remain incomplete. The second part examines how statistical information is used in the management of border control. While Eurostat is responsible for coordinating statistics, Frontex, EASO and eu-LISA have gained the tasks of managing new types of migration and asylum statistics. This implies new combinations of performing operative tasks with the management of statistics at European level. Moreover, the statistics have increasingly become the basis for calculating funding allocation and relocation of asylum seekers among Member States. While EU Member States harmonise the statistics onmigration and asylum, this does not mean that the countries harmonise their understanding of the phenomenon. When EU institutions use incomplete statistics to legitimate migration and asylum politics, this is not only a technical and practical problem. Behind this incompleteness, there are conceptual and political differences among the Member States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Court of Justice has held that as from 21 December 2012, insurers may no longer charge men and women differently on the basis of scientific evidence that is statistically linked to their sex, effectively prohibiting the use of sex as a factor in the calculation of premiums and benefits for the purposes of insurance and related financial services throughout the European Union. This ruling marks a sharp turn away from the traditional view that insurers should be allowed to apply just about any risk assessment criterion, so long as it is sustained by the findings of actuarial science. The naıvete' behind the assumption that insurers' recourse to statistical data and probabilistic analysis, given their scientific nature, would suffice to keep them out of harm's way was exposed. In this article, I look at the flaws of this assumption and question whether this judicial decision, whilst constituting a most welcome landmark in the pursuit of equality between men and women, has nonetheless gone too far by saying too little on the million dollar question of what separates admissible criteria of differentiation from inadmissible forms of discrimination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on a study which describes the statistical properties to test the uniformity of dosage units using large sample sizes. The researchers have proposed the acceptance probabilities of batch mean and standard deviation among the European Union (EU) options using simulation method. The findings indicate that the acceptance probability of EU options in the label claim is larger than the label claim under normal assumptions.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a highly prevalent psychiatric disorder in children/adolescents. This study reviews available European-based studies of ADHD-related costs and applies the findings to the Netherlands to estimate annual national costs for children/adolescents from a societal perspective. A systematic literature search was conducted for primary studies in Europe, published January 1, 1990 through April 23, 2013. Per-person cost estimates were converted to 2012 Euros and used to estimate annual national ADHD-related costs based on the Dutch 2011 census, ADHD prevalence rates, family composition, and employment rates. Seven studies met the inclusion criteria. The average total ADHD-related costs ranged from €9,860 to €14,483 per patient and annual national costs were between €1,041 and €1,529 million (M). The largest cost category was education (€648 M), representing 62 and 42 % of the low- and high-value overall national estimates, respectively. By comparison, ADHD patient healthcare costs ranged between €84 M (8 %) and €377 M (25 %), and social services costs were €4.3 M (0.3-0.4 %). While the majority of the costs were incurred by ADHD patients themselves, €161 M (11-15 %) was healthcare costs to family members that were attributable to having an ADHD child/adolescent. In addition, productivity losses of family members were €143-€339 M (14-22 %). Despite uncertainties because of the small number of studies identified and the wide range in the national cost estimates, our results suggest that ADHD imposes a significant economic burden on multiple public sectors in Europe. The limited number of European-based studies examining the economic burden of ADHD highlights the need for more research in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public policy shapes the lives of individuals, and even more so if they depend on state support. In the case of unemployment, the financial situation is largely determined by cash transfers and daily routines depend on the involvement in active labour market policy measures. To what extent, however, can subjective well-being differences of European unemployed be traced back to the national design and generosity of labour market policy? This article applies multilevel and panel estimation techniques to identify the moderating effect of unemployment benefit generosity and active labour market policy on life satisfaction of the unemployed. While unemployment has strong negative life satisfaction effects in all 21 European countries under study, the generosity of passive labour market policy moderates this effect to a surprisingly large extent: the adverse effect of unemployment is almost doubled if unemployment benefits are meagre. This moderating effect can be explained both by a resource as well as a non-pecuniary mechanism. The positive moderating effect of active labour market policy is less robust across model specifications. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: A number of health outcomes were affected by previous financial crises, e.g. suicides, homicides and transport accident mortality. Aim of this study was to analyse the effects of the current financial crisis on selected health outcomes at population level in Europe. Methods: A mixed approach of ecologic and time trend design was applied, including correlation analysis. For eight countries, data on the economic situation (unemployment rate and economic growth) and health indicators (overall mortality, suicide and transport accident mortality) was drawn from EUROSTAT database for 2000–10. Spearman's rank correlation was applied to analyse the influence of social protection on the association between exposure and outcome variables. Results: The financial crisis had no visible effect on overall mortality in any of the eight countries until 2010. Transport accident mortality decreased in all eight countries, in the range of 18% in Portugal to 52% in Slovenia. In contrast, suicide mortality increased in Germany (+5.3%), Portugal (+5.2%), Czech Republic (+7.6%), Slovakia (+22.7%) and Poland (+19.3%). The effect of unemployment on suicide is higher in countries with lower social spending (Spearman's r = −0.83). Discussion: Clear cause–effect relations could not be established owing to the ecological study design and issues concerning data availability. However, there are clear changes in suicide and transport accident mortality after onset of the crisis, and findings are consistent with previous work. As part of this work, a comprehensive framework was developed, which can be applied to analyse health effects of financial crises in more detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What is known and objective The European Paediatric Regulation aims to reduce off-label use of medicines in paediatric pharmacotherapy. Prescribing for off-label use and unauthorized medicines was common in the paediatric wards of the Kuopio University Hospital in 2001. To evaluate the possible impact of the Regulation on the prevalence and the frequency on such prescribing, we repeated the study in 2011 as it was conducted 10 years earlier. Methods In this prospective study, the prescriptions for patients below 18 years of age were reviewed during a 2-week period in each of the three wards; neonatal intensive care unit, general paediatric ward and paediatric surgical ward in April and May 2011. The medicine's authorizing status of all prescriptions was determined according to the approved summary of product characteristics valid during the study in Finland. Data concerning unauthorized medicines were also recorded and classified. Results Out of the entire study population of 123 patients, 119 received a total of 1054 prescriptions in 2011. The proportion of patients with at least one prescription for off-label use or for an unauthorized medicine was significantly higher, 79% ( n = 97) in 2011, compared to 58% in 2001 ( P < 0·001). For newborns, significantly more prescriptions were for off-label use in 2011 than in 2001 (51% vs. 22%; P < 0·001). The proportion of prescriptions for unauthorized medicines was significantly higher in children below 2 years of age than in older children in both years (21% vs. 5% in 2011 and 24% vs. 3% in 2001, P < 0·001). What is new and conclusion The prescribing for off-label use and unauthorized medicines was more prevalent in 2011 than in 2001. This indicates that the recent legislation has had only minor or no impact on the authorizing status of medicines commonly used in paediatric inpatients in specialized care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: European Higher Education institutions are expected to adopt a three-cycle system of Bachelor, Master and Doctor degrees as part of the Bologna Process. Tuning methodology was previously used by the MEDINE Thematic Network to gain consensus on core learning outcomes (LO) for primary medical degrees (Master of Medicine) across Europe. Aims: The current study, undertaken by the MEDINE2 Thematic Network, sought to explore stakeholder opinions on core LO for Bachelor of Medicine degrees. Method: Key stakeholders were invited to indicate, on a Likert scale, to what extent they thought students should have achieved each of the Master of Medicine LO upon successful completion of the first three years of university education in medicine (Bachelor of Medicine). Results: There were 560 responses to the online survey, representing medical students, academics, graduates, employers, patients, and virtually all EU countries. There was broad consensus between respondents that all LO previously defined for primary medical degrees should be achieved to some extent by the end of the first three years. Conclusions: The findings promote integration of undergraduate medical curricula, and also offer a common framework and terminology for discussing what a European Bachelor of Medicine graduate can and cannot do, promoting mobility, graduate employability and patient safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

: The objective of this paper is to verify the hypotheses presented in the literature on the causal relationship between inflation and its uncertainty, for the newest EU countries. To ensure the robustness of the results, in the study four models for inflation uncertainty are estimated in parallel: ARCH (1), GARCH (1,1), EGARCH (1,1,1) and PARCH (1,1,1). The Granger method is used to test the causality between two variables. The working hypothesis is that groups of countries with a similar political and economic background in 1990 and are likely to be characterized by the same causal relationship between inflation and inflation uncertainty. Empirical results partially confirm this hypothesis. Jel Classification: C22, E31, E37. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on the trends observed since 1980 in the deaths related to alcohol of European Union (EU) country residents. It states that the study used the data from the database for European mortality from the World Health Organization (WHO). It used various statistical analysi methods such as Spearman correlations, multivariate and regression analyses. It concludes that deaths related to alcohol account for 10% of all mortality in EU.

When and why will states adopt more (or less) cooperative bargaining strategies? Standard answers to this question focus on the role of state power. Other scholars highlight socialization effects. I argue that in most international negotiations, the institutional bargaining structure will mitigate the effects of power and socialization, and drive state bargaining behavior. Factors highlighted by formal models of international bargaining should therefore best explain the variation in the strategies states adopt. I introduce empirical measures of these abstract concepts, and test their effects against those of power and socialization using an original dataset of state bargaining strategies in the European Union (EU). The results show that structural factors best explain variation in the EU states' bargaining strategies. I conclude by highlighting the conditions under which these effects should explain state bargaining behavior in other international negotiations, and discuss the implications of this argument for the study of international bargaining. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The study objective was to assess the feasibility for injury prevention-related policy transfer among European countries. Subject and methods: A prototype for policy feasibility evaluation was developed and used. Each prototype included six dimensions of barriers/facilitators regarding education, engineering and enforcement. Public health experts from Europe and the USA scored the feasibility of transferability for the selected policies in their own country. Results: We found that availability of materials and public acceptability was considered as contributing to a successful policy transfer, whereas lack of financial resources was seen as a barrier. Prevention policies were more likely to be implemented in the construction and manufacturing occupational areas. Use of personal protective equipment and multiple component interventions received higher feasibility scores compared to environmental modifications or law enforcement. Conclusion: We conclude that in Europe, country-specific processes undertaken before the initiation of a policy transfer may be used to highlight concurrent facilitators/barriers and guide cost-effective preventive efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Several experimental studies have suggested potential anticarcinogenic effects of flavonoids, although epidemiologic evidence for the impact of dietary flavonoids on risk of gastric cancer (GC) is limited. Objective: We investigated the association between intake of dietary flavonoids and lignans and incident GC. Design: The study followed 477,312 subjects (29.8% men) aged 35-70 y from 10 European countries who participated in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. Validated dietary questionnaires and lifestyle information were collected at baseline. A food-composition database on flavonoids and lignans was compiled by using data from USDA and Phenol-Explorer databases. Results: During an average follow-up of 11 y, 683 incident GC cases (57.8% men) were mostly validated by a panel of pathologists and used in this analysis. We observed a significant inverse association between total flavonoid intake and GC risk in women (HR: 0.81; 95% CI: 0.70, 0.94; for the continuous variable after log2 transformation) but not in men (HR: 0.97; 95% CI: 0.85, 1.09). In women, significant inverse associations with GC risk were also observed for intakes of some flavonoid subgroups (anthocyanidins, flavonols, flavones, and flavanols), particularly with intestinal type tumors for total flavonoid and flavanol intakes (P-heterogeneity < 0.1). After stratification by smoking status and sex, there was no significant heterogeneity in these associations between ever- and never-smokers. Conclusion: Total dietary flavonoid intake is associated with a significant reduction in the risk of GC in women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study determining the validity of the qualitative and quantitative evaluations of the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) subscales among patients with articular cartilage lesions to evidence their use in clinical trials. The study found that KOOS subscales showed excellent internal consistency reliability and test-retest reliability suggesting that concepts measured on the KOOS are important to patients with articular cartilage lesions.

BackgroundLittle is known about how the views of the public are related to self-stigma among people with mental health problems. Despite increasing activity aimed at reducing mental illness stigma, there is little evidence to guide and inform specific anti-stigma campaign development and messages to be used in mass campaigns. A better understanding of the association between public knowledge, attitudes and behaviours and the internalization of stigma among people with mental health problems is needed.MethodThis study links two large, international datasets to explore the association between public stigma in 14 European countries (Eurobarometer survey) and individual reports of self-stigma, perceived discrimination and empowerment among persons with mental illness (n=1835) residing in those countries [the Global Alliance of Mental Illness Advocacy Networks (GAMIAN) study].ResultsIndividuals with mental illness living in countries with less stigmatizing attitudes, higher rates of help-seeking and treatment utilization and better perceived access to information had lower rates of self-stigma and perceived discrimination and those living in countries where the public felt more comfortable talking to people with mental illness had less self-stigma and felt more empowered.ConclusionsTargeting the general public through mass anti-stigma interventions may lead to a virtuous cycle by disrupting the negative feedback engendered by public stigma, thereby reducing self-stigma among people with mental health problems. A combined approach involving knowledge, attitudes and behaviour is needed; mass interventions that facilitate disclosure and positive social contact may be the most effective. Improving availability of information about mental health issues and facilitating access to care and help-seeking also show promise with regard to stigma. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The European Union, through the Europe 2020 program, adopted by European Council in June 2010, aims at exploiting in the next decade the globalization potential in order to stimulate the economic growth and employment. At EU level it was defined the integrated industrial policy for globalization era, being pointed out the competitiveness and sustainability. The strategy of Europe 2020 launches a new vision for Europe economy in the next decade (based on an extended coordination of economic policies) to generate an economic growth and an enhanced employment helping the Union economic and financial re-launch. The new strategy is focused on some key fields: knowledge and innovation, a more viable economy, a high level of employment and social inclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to determine how Economic Intelligence (EI) is perceived in terms of existing organizational culture, both in Romania and in France, through a comparative study and to determine it's positioning in relation to law and ethics. The starting point of the research was based on the existing confusion in the business environment in both countries regarding the lack of organizational culture addressed to this concept and the association with economic espionage accentuated by the current context of economic crisis. The non-directive and semi-directive exploratory interviews aimed at identifying the use of specific means, at the border between legality and illegality, to obtain strategic information and, also, the identification in the organizational minds of such impulses. Analysis made on information obtained revealed among other things, a reluctance of the organizations to address these issues, especially the aspects regarding EI activity, due to an association with economic espionage and based on the lack of thorough knowledge in this respect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intermarried couples in Denmark face a range of psychosocial challenges in the context of dominant discourses of homogeneity coexisting with ethnic diversity. This article deals with the couples’ managing of everyday life, mental health, well-being and implications for health promotion and counselling. The participants in this qualitative study (n = 10) are persons in mixed relationships where one partner is from South Asia and the other a native Dane, forming visibly ethnically different households [Phoenix, A. (2011). Psychosocial intersections: Contextualising the accounts of adults who grew up in visibly ethnically different households. In Lutz, V., & L. Supik (Eds.), Framing intersectionality: Debates on a multi-faceted concept in gender studies. Surrey: Ashgate]. The analysis indicates that internal, personal and family aspects, such as realistic plans, mixing everyday practices and focussing on the fun part, are in interplay with external aspects such as formal and informal acceptance of the intermarriage in society, dominant gender roles, recognition and inclusion for the mixed couples. Recognition of the significance of these aspects and practices is important for promoting positive mental health and well-being over the life course. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In comparative studies of health inequalities, public health researchers have usually studied only disease and illness. Recent studies have also examined the sickness dimension of health, that is, the extent to which ill health is accompanied by joblessness, and how this association varies by education within different welfare contexts. This research has used either a limited number of countries or quantitative welfare state measures in studies of many countries. In this study, the authors expand on this knowledge by investigating whether a regime approach to the welfare state produces consistent results. They analyze data from the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC); health was measured by limiting longstanding illness (LLSI). Results show that for both men and women reporting LLSI in combination with low educational level, the probabilities of non-employment were particularly high in the Anglo-Saxon and Eastern welfare regimes, and lowest in the Scandinavian regime. For men, absolute and relative social inequalities in sickness were lowest in the Southern regime; for women, inequalities were lowest in the Scandinavian regime. The authors conclude that the Scandinavian welfare regime is more able than other regimes to protect against non-employment in the face of illness, especially for individuals with low educational level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Aims To describe current and recent changes in cigarette affordability across the current 27 European Union (EU) Member States, and to assess the impact of these changes on smoking prevalence in countries that were EU members in 2004 (old Member States) compared to countries that have joined since 2004 (new Member States). Design Investigation of cigarette affordability using the minutes of labour measure, and comparisons of changes in affordability, tax and smoking prevalence in old and new EU Member States. Participants Current 27 EU Member States. Settings European Union. Measurements Cigarette prices, overall tax yield and incidence, hourly wages and smoking prevalence in the EU were obtained from published sources, and the affordability of the EU Most Popular Price Category (MPPC) cigarettes estimated as the number of minutes of labour required to earn the price of 20 cigarettes in the years 2003, 2006 and 2009. Findings The mean [standard deviation (SD)] number of minutes of labour required to purchase 20 MPPC cigarettes in EU Member States in 2009 was 31.3 (SD 10.7), but ranged fourfold across the EU, and was significantly higher in new than old Member States. The number of minutes of labour measure increased more, although not significantly so, between 2003 and 2009 in new [mean (SD) 12.1 (10.9)] than in old [6.7 (4.0)] Member States, largely because of proportionately higher increases in taxation. However, there was no correlation between change in affordability and change in smoking prevalence in recent years. Conclusions Cigarette affordability varies substantially and cigarettes are generally becoming less affordable in European Union Member States. However, these reductions in affordability do not appear to have impacted substantially on smoking prevalence in recent years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to evaluate, in light of statistical data, Poland's capacity for dynamic development in the future and its possibilities for the attainment of its ambitious economic and social goals. The analysis was based on the latest available data drawn primarily from Eurostat. They concern a number of EU countries, chosen as the reference countries in the paper. The author discusses different measures for the evaluation of the economic and social processes to assess Poland's development opportunities in the coming years. For the sake of simplicity of presentation, the author has divided the measures into short- and long-term indices. Short-term analysis shows that Poland is successful in the short run. Unfortunately, long-term indices, which are rarely discussed by the public, reveal a grim picture of the performance of Poland in comparison with the reference EU countries. The author concludes that Poland is a country which does not pay much attention to its long-term socio-economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a consequence of increased life expectancies and the overall improved health status of elderly people in industrialized countries, grandparents and grandchildren are now sharing a longer period of their lives together, from which they can both actively benefit. In addition, grandparents help their children by looking after their grandchildren and are consequently an important service provider in the domain of childcare, especially for mothers active in the labour market. The analyses, which are based on the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland), show significant country differences in the occurrence and intensity of grandchild care in Europe: whereas grandparents in southern Europe engage less often but more intensively in childcare, grandchild care is provided more often but much less intensively in northern Europe. Multilevel logistic regression models show that country-specific differences are associated with welfare state arrangements and, specifically, with public investments in childcare infrastructures. Public investments ‘crowd in’ grandparental willingness to engage in childcare but ‘crowd out’ the intensity of this intergenerational time transfer. Family and state thus complement one another, with grandparents taking over sporadic, less time-intensive care while public institutions provide regular, time-consuming childcare services. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To compare regard for working with different patient groups (including substance users) among different professional groups in different health-care settings in eight European countries. A multi-centre, cross-sectional comparative study. Primary care, general psychiatry and specialist addiciton services in Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Poland, Scotland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. A multi-disciplinary convenience sample of 866 professionals (physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses and social workers) from 253 services. The Medical Condition Regard Scale measured regard for working with different patient groups. Multi-factor between-subjects analysis of variance determined the factors associated with regard for each condition by country and all countries. Regard for working with alcohol (mean score alcohol: 45.35, 95% CI 44.76, 45.95) and drug users (mean score drugs: 43.67, 95% CI 42.98, 44.36) was consistently lower than for other patient groups (mean score diabetes: 50.19, 95% CI 49.71, 50.66; mean score depression: 51.34, 95% CI 50.89, 51.79) across all countries participating in the study, particularly among staff from primary care compared to general psychiatry or specialist addiction services ( P < 0.001). After controlling for sex of staff, profession and duration of time working in profession, treatment entry point and country remained the only statistically significant variables associated with regard for working with alcohol and drug users. Health professionals appear to ascribe lower status to working with substance users than helping other patient groups, particularly in primary care; the effect is larger in some countries than others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although there is a growing agreement among researchers that the modern environment contributes to the current trend of decreasing leisure-time physical activity (LTPA), there are very few studies addressing environmental and policy correlates of LTPA within a cross-national European context. This study describes LTPA patterns across the European Union and identifies some macro-environmental factors associated with LTPA rates at a national level. Methods: Data on LTPA and indicators of the economic, physical, and policy environment were assembled from international databases for the 27 European member states. To examine the association of each of the independent macro-environmental variables and LTPA as a continuous dependent variable, bivariate linear regression models were employed. Separate analyses were done for the overall, male, and female groups. Results: With respect to LTPA, striking differences between European member states and genders were found, with higher rates in Western and Northern European countries, and among males. Statistical significant associations were observed between overall LTPA and variables from the economic (GDP, real GDP, and public expenditures on health), food (available fat, available fruit, and vegetables), urbanisation (urban population, total and new passenger cars), and policy (all governance indicators) domains. Associations for male and female LTPA were similar, except that for males available fruit and vegetables, and for females available fat and urban population were not significant. Conclusions: This exploratory study seeks to plead for the need for cross-nationally comparable LTPA data and more sophisticated research in order to understand the role of macro-economic environments, with a special focus on policy-related variables and gender-specific differences. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Existing studies have found only limited empirical evidence of welfare state convergence. Moreover, although there are good theoretical reasons both for and against welfare state convergence, there are virtually no studies that have explicitly tested the assumed effects. We argue that the concept of conditional convergence helps to both better describe and explain the phenomenon. By applying error correction models, we examine conditional convergence of various types of social expenditure in 21 OECD countries between 1980 and 2005. Our empirical findings go beyond the existing literature in two respects. First, we show that there is very strong evidence of convergence across all categories of social expenditure when conditional factors are taken into account. Second, we demonstrate that the speed of convergence is highly driven by globalization and European Union membership and shaped by existing welfare state structures. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Welfare states face pressures from various directions. This paper uses data from the 2008 European Social Survey to consider whether citizen attitudes will provide continuing support for the welfare state in more difficult times. Sustainability requires current support for the idea that government should be responsible for provision. It also depends upon trust that government can and will continue to deliver good quality services that will meet people’s needs in an uncertain future. The analysis takes into account the extent to which welfare states are successful in providing citizens with security, equality of outcome and better opportunities, using multi-level models. Individual characteristics are most important in explaining both support and trust. At the national level, the data indicate that opportunity is understood more in terms of collective policies to mitigate disadvantage rather than individual policies to strengthen incentives. Support for and trust in the welfare state pull in opposite directions: greater security weakens support but reinforces trust. Pressures on state welfare may diminish the feeling of security so that support for state provision grows, but does so in a climate of more equivocal trust in government services. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Eco-efficiency links economic efficiency with environmental efficiency. The main purpose of the concept is to identify and implement activities to enable production that is both economically more efficient and cleaner. This means that parameters with a high indicative value have to be used. Since both the environmental and the economic performance of industries must be described concurrently, environmental intensity appears to be a good indicator of eco-efficiency. Environmental intensity is environmental impact per unit of economic performance. In this paper, the environmental impact of industry classes is derived from emission data, released by the European Pollutant Emission Register (EPER), and then aggregated and assessed using Eco-Indicator 99, a single-score life-cycle impact assessment (LCIA) method. The calculated ratio is thus an accurate description of the environmental–economic state of industry classes. The main advantage of this approach is the underlying consistent statistical framework, that permits, on a disaggregated level, economic data to be correlated with ecological data and to be frequently updated. This single indicator facilitates a comparison of environmental intensity of different industry classes. The paper shows that it is possible to deduce a disaggregated eco-efficiency indicator, which is exemplified using German data, however could be analysed for different European countries. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article discusses the approach to the exposure evaluation of food chemicals in Great Britain. It mentions the exposure assessment as the vital component for measuring the risk associated to food chemicals and for providing an informed risk management strategy to protect population groups. It notes that the actual procedures for exposure assessments of food chemicals involve stages of advancement and expertise in the area.

The analysis of the statistical data shows, that JSC "Lithuanian railways" existing passenger rolling stock is approaching the critical moral and technical wear limit. Passenger rolling stock analysis in detail lead us to create three possible rolling stock alternatives. The first alternative -- "Doing nothing option", in this case, JSC "Lithuanian railways" will not be doing any traction rolling stock renovation projects. The second alternative proposes "The new rolling stock option", that is the company renews traction rolling stock by buying only the new rolling stock. The third alternative offers "The new and modernized rolling stock option", that is the company modernizes the existing passenger rolling stock while buying the new one. Out of three passenger rolling stock renewing alternatives, the best according economic value criteria's would be "The new rolling stock buying and modernization option". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On January 1, 2005, the Multi-Fibre Arrangement, which established quotas on different categories of apparel and textile imports to the European Union, was phased out. This article synthesizes the determinants of trade patterns in the absence of quotas and reviews their impact for the UK apparel retailer market. It assesses international strategic merchandising from China, post-quota elimination for the UK apparel market with particular reference to global adjustment to apparel supply. However, to sustain their domination of global fashion textile supply, particularly to EU markets, China will need to face the challenges of anti-dumping, technical regulations or standards, preferential trade agreements, regional free trade zones and other non-tariff trading barriers. The article concludes that China is well placed to exploit her position of dominance but suggests that sub-optimal considerations of cost versus response time to the EU retailer will provide a challenge for the future supply of fashion retail products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper synthesises the implications of recent statistical evidence regarding inflation persistence in the euro area. For aggregate data, the degree of inflation persistence appears to be very high for sample periods spanning multiple decades but falls dramatically once we allow for time variation in the mean level of inflation; furthermore, the timing of these breaks in mean generally coincides with observed shifts in the monetary policy regime. Finally, sectoral inflation series exhibit much less persistence than aggregate inflation, mainly because of the influence of transitory sector-specific shocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data on environmental chemicals are urgently needed to comply with the future chemicals policy in the European Union. The availability of data on parameters and chemicals can be evaluated by chemometrical and environmetrical methods. Different mathematical and statistical methods are taken into account in this paper. The emphasis is set on a new, discrete mathematical method called METEOR (method of evaluation by order theory). Application of the Hasse diagram technique (HDT) of the complete data-matrix comprising 12 objects (databases) × 27 attributes (parameters + chemicals) reveals that ECOTOX (ECO), environmental fate database (EFD) and extoxnet (EXT)-also called multi-database databases-are best. Most single databases which are specialised are found in a minimal position in the Hasse diagram; these are biocatalysis/biodegradation database (BID), pesticide database (PES) and UmweltInfo (UMW). The aggregation of environmental parameters and chemicals (equal weight) leads to a slimmer data-matrix on the attribute side. However, no significant differences are found in the “best” and “worst” objects. The whole approach indicates a rather bad situation in terms of the availability of data on existing chemicals and hence an alarming signal concerning the new and existing chemicals policies of the EEC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the current state and identifies priorities for the development of short-term statistics in the service sector for the euro area. The service sector covers 70% of the euro area and EU economy, but statistical information at monthly or quarterly frequency is rare, with the exception of information on retail trade. More data will become available from some EU regulations in the course of the next few years, but, in particular, economic activity and prices are not sufficiently covered yet. As part of the 5th Progress Report of the Economic and Financial Committee (EFC) on European Monetary Union (EMU) statistics, the Statistical Programme Committee (SPC) and the Committee on Monetary, Financial and Balance of Payments Statistics (CMFB) jointly proposed steps to improve service statistics. The proposed priorities for improvements of short-term statistics therefore include new indicators (output, output prices and employment), improvements in coverage particularly in the market sector, and better timeliness for some indicators. The new draft EU Regulation concerning short-term statistics addresses several of these issues and is therefore welcomed by the European Central Bank (ECB). For its implementation a co-ordination approach at European level is highly desirable in order to avoid delays in the release of statistics for the euro area as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The increasing integration of EU countries and the introduction of a new round of Applicant countries has created the need for more comparable statistics on indicators and more standardised statistical measures. Hence, indicators such as life expectancy, or GDP per capita have been used for measuring the 'progress' of Candidate countries in the Enlargement process, mainly as static measures like Gini coefficients, while the dimension of time is not well developed. In this paper, I argue for a new complementary kind of statistical measure, the S -distance, that would measure the distance (proximity) in time between the points in time when two series are compared that have reached a specified level on indicator X . This can lead to very different analytical and policy conclusions about the interrelationship between growth and inequality. In the empirical section a selected set of economic and social indicators for five candidate and three EU cohesion countries is compared with the EU15 average. It is demonstrated that the degree of disparities across indicators may be very different in static terms and in time. For all eight countries no significant correlation was found between the ordering of indicators by static measure of disparity and by time distance. This confirms that the new broader methodology can provide new insights from existing data and serve also as an excellent analytical and presentation tool for policy debate across many fields of concern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a factor model with infinite dynamics and nonorthogonal idiosyncratic components. The model, which we call the generalized dynamic-factor model, is novel to the literature and generalizes the static approximate factor model of Chamberlain and Rothschild (1983), as well as the exact factor model à la Sargent and Sims (1977). We provide identification conditions, propose an estimator of the common components, prove convergence as both time and cross-sectional size go to infinity at appropriate rates, and present simulation results. We use our model to construct a coincident index for the European Union. Such index is defined as the common component of real GDP within a model including several macroeconomic variables for each European country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares AIDS hospital care in several European-Union countries. For this purpose hospital-care utilisation studies on inpatient days and outpatient contacts were analysed in a generic approach controlling for severity stages of AIDS. Lifetime hospital-care needs for AIDS are derived, providing useful information for health-care policy makers. In a next step, lifetime estimates are linked to estimated annual new cases of AIDS, resulting from standardised epidemiological modelling. These results on AIDS impact at the population level are reported including statistical confidence limits. Both lifetime hospital- care needs at the patient level and AIDS impact at the population level are compared between countries and related to characteristics of the national AIDS epidemics and health-care systems. A person with AIDS has a contact - either inpatient day or outpatient visit - with the hospital in 14% (UK) to 24% (France) of the days spent in the AIDS stage. Related to the national AIDS epidemics (epidemiological impact), Italy and Greece have high levels of outpatient contacts per million population. Estimated hospital-bed needs for AIDS in 1995 are up to 2.13% (in Spain) of total national acute-care hospital beds available. Estimated per-capita needs for outpatient visits in 1995 are highest in Italy, corresponding to 108 doctor full-time equivalents. In a case-study for Greece and The Netherlands, differences in hospital-care utilisation patterns were assessed to correspond with differences in their health-care systems (number of hospital beds, doctors and nurses per capita and some qualitative characteristics of medical care in both countries). International comparison of AIDS hospital care is possible using standardised analysis of national hospital-care utilisation data and standardised epidemiological modelling. Estimates of lifetime hospital-care needs are an essential input for cost-effectiveness analyses used to aid health-care policy decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OECD purchasing power parities (PPPs) are used regularly in strategic governmental policy papers to compare the performance of construction industries among countries. These PPPs suggest that the relative competitiveness of the Dutch construction sector is fairly weak compared with surrounding countries. This contradicts the general view that the Dutch construction industry is very productive and efficient, especially in house-building. For the member countries of the European Union the OECD uses data from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. In this paper the methodology followed by OECD/Eurostat in their calculation of PPPs for construction is reviewed. The data for five European countries (Netherlands, Belgium, UK, France and Germany) are analysed. Next, the Eurostat results are placed alongside the results of other international building cost comparisons. The differences are observed and the conclusion is that the Eurostat PPPs do not reflect the real construction price or cost differentials among the five EU countries. It appears that the basic construction price data used by Eurostat are not very accurate, that the comparison methodology applied by Eurostat itself is insufficient to express and explain building cost differences among countries, and that the Eurostat figures for construction are the result of a complex statistical weighting and processing procedure in which corrections are not applied for extreme deviations. The conclusion is that the Eurostat data cannot be used for comparison purposes. Proposals for improvement of the comparison methodology are reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Editorial. Provides information on the European statistical system or Eurostat. Details of the policy making of the European Union; Development of statistical standards.