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Research on immigrants’ assimilation is widespread both in the U.S. and Europe. While it has been extensively studied how immigrants fare compared to natives on socio-economic indicators, few studies have focussed on immigrants’ perception of their position. In this paper we focus on comparing life satisfaction of immigrants and natives across Europe and on the role of social embeddedness. Using data from the first six rounds (2002-2012) of the European Social Survey, a repeated cross-sectional survey, we find that life satisfaction among immigrants is lower than among natives even though differences diminish over generations. For first generation immigrants part of the life satisfaction gap is explained by the lower level of social embeddedness they have compared to natives. We also find that social embeddedness is a key explanatory factor for life satisfaction for both immigrants and natives. For two out of the three indicators of social embeddedness that we consider we however find different patterns of association with life satisfaction for immigrants compared to natives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the 1950s, the share of freight carried by railroads was similar and declining in both the United States and Europe. By 2000, the railroads’ share of freight (measured in ton–kilometers) had reached 38% in the United States while falling to 8% in Europe. This paper examines the reasons for the difference in rail’s share of freight in Europe and the United States. We find that almost 83% of the gap in 2000 is probably due to natural or inherent differences, principally geography, shipment distance, and commodity mix. However, 17% of the gap cannot be explained by these inherent differences and is presumably due to public policies including priority of passenger service, lack of interoperability at borders, service quality and rates, and incentives of the rail operators. We estimate that if that policy gap were closed, railroads’ share of freight in Europe would increase from 8% to 13%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We estimate whether migration can be an equilibrating force in the labour market by comparing pre- and post-crisis migration movements at the regional level in both Europe and the United States, and their association with asymmetric labour market shocks. Based on fixed-effects regressions using regional panel data, we find that Europe’s migratory response to unemployment shocks was almost identical to that recorded in the United States after the crisis. Our estimates suggest that, if all measured population changes in Europe were due to migration for employment purposes—i.e. an upper-bound estimate—up to about a quarter of the asymmetric labour market shock would be absorbed by migration within a year. However, in Europe and especially in the Eurozone, the reaction to a very large extent stems from migration of recent EU accession country citizens as well as of third-country nationals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we contribute to the scant literature covering quantitative studies on the determinants of the non-academic staff incidence in higher education institutions by analysing how the proportion of non-academic staff is related to key features such as size, prestige, year of foundation and financial structure of universities. We apply nonlinear regression analysis to compare HEIs across Europe and the USA, taking into account time and cross-country heterogeneity of the two balanced panel datasets concerning European and American universities over a period of 6 years (2011–2016 for Europe and 2012–2017 for the USA). Evidence suggests that in both Europe and the USA, public and larger (if sufficiently large) as well as more research-oriented units are characterised by a higher proportion of non-academic staff. In Europe, we observe an inverted U-shaped effect of the share of non-personnel expenditure and the foundation year on the proportion of non-academic staff, while the proportion of non-academic staff decreases with the share of core and third-party funding. For the USA, we obtain similar findings except that the share of core funding and third-party funding is characterised by a U-shaped effect, and the impact of the share of non-personnel expenditure has no empirical effect on the proportion of non-academic staff. Additionally, we discover that some factors that contribute to the proportion of non-academic staff may constitute indicators of performance, suggesting the need for further research to extend our knowledge on the complex issue of the role played by non-academic staff in university performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines empirically whether more stringent domestic environmental policies reduce the international competitiveness of environmentally sensitive goods (ESGs). Our time series evidence indicates that there are no systematic changes in trade patterns of ESGs in thelast three decades, despite the introduction of more stringent environmental regulations in most of the developed countries in the 1970s and 1980s. This observed phenomenon is then subjected to a multi-country econometric test using an extended gravity-equation framework. The test suggests that, overall, more stringent environmental regulations do not reduce total exports, exports of ESGs and exports of non-resource-based ESGs. Neither was there any evidence to support the hypothesis that new trade barriers emerge to offset the effects of more stringent environmental regulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper initially describes some of the most important historical processes that have conditioned France's geopolitical position in thecontemporary world. It discusses the current changes in France's geopolitics as a changing reality of international relations and as a changing discourse of scholars and experts, that reflects those real world changes. The paper focuses on French politics in Africa and on France's policy in Europe after the end of the Cold War. In Africa the French post-colonial empire with its close ties between domestic regimes, French business interests and the French state becomes unsustainable after the bipolar rivalry has been suspended. In Europe French policy can no longer be presented as either an independent view among a series of others (Europe des patries) nor as a successful effort topress French views by way of a larger European entity. The paper presents an overview of geopolitical literature written in France as a reflection of these conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous studies to date have interrogated United States (US) think tanks—and their networks—involved in climate change countermovement (CCM). Comparatively in Europe (EU), research has been lacking. This investigation therefore attends to that gap. We conducted a frame analysis on eight most prominent contrarian think tanks in six countries and four languages in Europe over 24 years (1994–2018). We found that there has been consistent contrarian framing through think tanks in the EU regarding climate change. Yet, we found a proliferation of contrarian outputs particularly in recent years. This uptick in quantity correlates with increases in CCM activities in the US. Our content analyses showed that well-worn climate change counter-frames spread by US CCM organizations were consistently circulated by European organizations as well. Moreover, we found that, as in the US, neoliberal ideological stances stood out as the most frequently taken up by contrarian think tanks in Europe. As such, we documented that CCM tropes and activities have flowed strongly between US and EU countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper surveys recent efforts to relax the rigid regulatory frameworks for air pollution control in Europe and the USA. European policies have mainly taken the form of bubbles and compensation or offsetschemes. Emission trading has been limited to intra-firm solutions for various reasons: industry structure, absence of real scarcity, andtoo restrictive trading rules. Bubbles have been granted to homogenous sectors only and can be characterized as direct regulation for a group rather than tradable permit systems. By contrast, the sulphur allowance program in the USA has laid down the foundation for a pollution permit market with few formal restrictions. Problems that arise are mainly related to local environmental and public utility controls. Europe can learn from the USA that regular national permit markets could be installed, preferably for homogenous sectors. In designing thepermit system, the differences between the USA and Europe in terms of ecosystem sensitivity, stringency of regulation and differentiationof regional environmental policy have to be taken into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: We seek answers to three questions about adolescent risk of starting to drink alcoholic beverages: (1) in new United States (US) data, can we reproduce a recently discovered female excess risk? (2) has a female excess risk emerged in European countries? and (3) might the size of country-level female-male differences (FMD) be influenced by macro-level gender equality and development processes?Methods: Estimates are from US and European surveys of adolescents, 2010-2014. For US estimates, newly incident drinking refers to consuming the first full drink during the 12-month interval just prior to assessment. For all countries, lifetime cumulative incidence of drinking refers to any drinking before assessment of the sampled 15-16 years.Results: Cumulative meta-analysis summary estimates from the US show a highly reproducible female excess in newly incident drinking among 12-17 years (final estimated female-male difference in risk, FMD = 2.1%; 95% confidence interval = 1.5%, 2.7%). Several European countries show female excess risk, estimated as lifetime cumulative incidence of drinking onsets before age 17 years. At the country level, the observed magnitude of FMD in risk is positively associated with the Gender Development Index (especially facets related to education and life expectancy of females relative to males), and with residence in a higher income European country.Conclusions: New FMD estimates support reproducibility of a female excess risk in the US. In Europe, evidence of a female excess is modest. Educational attainment, life expectancies, and income merit attention in future FMD research on suspected macro-level processes that influence drinking onsets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Training in neurological surgery is one of the most competitive and demanding specializations in medicine. It therefore demands careful planning in both the scientific and clinical neurosurgery arena to finally turn out physicians that can be clinically sound and scientifically competitive. National and international training and career options are pointed out, based on the available relevant literature, with the objective of comparing the neurosurgical training in Europe and the USA. Despite clear European Association of Neurosurgical Societies guidelines, every country in Europe maintains its own board requirements, which is reflected in an institutional curriculum that is specific to the professional society of that particular country. In contrast, the residency program in the USA is required to comply with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education guidelines. Rather similar guidelines exist for the education of neurosurgical residents in the USA and Europe; their translation into the practical hospital setting and the resulting clinical lifestyle of a resident diverges enormously. Since neurosurgical education remains heterogeneous worldwide, we argue that a more standardized curriculum across different nations would greatly facilitate the interaction of different centers, allow a direct comparison of available services, and support the exchange of vital information for quality control and future improvements. Furthermore, the exchange of residents between different training centers may improve education by increasing their knowledge base, both technically as well as intellectually. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The election of Barack Obama as president of the United States in November 2008 lifted hopes around the world that the new administration would usher in a transformational era in American foreign policy. President Obama proved to be particularly popular in Europe, where both the elite and the masses held high hopes that the charismatic, centre-left president would erase the bitter legacy of the Bush years. The new administration engaged the transatlantic community early and often, looking to Europe as its preferred partner in addressing the most daunting foreign policy challenges. Due to a lack of leadership in Europe, sagging political will, and declining capabilities, this article queries whether Europe will respond constructively to Obama's substantive agenda for Transatlantica, which calls for a renewal of the transatlantic community as a means for addressing global threats and challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article argues that at the beginning of the 1960s Western Europe, and Germany in particular, retained a crucial role in American global strategy, and that keeping the Atlantic alliance solid and cohesive remained a key goal of the new Kennedy administration that took office in January 1961. Europe at this time was still the main arena of the cold war. Yet this constant objective of American cold war strategy had to be balanced against other realities of the new phase of the global confrontation, such as the emergence of the 'third world' and the new threat represented by Soviet Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs). In this process of readjustment there began a gradual, but significant, downsizing of the relative weight of Europe in American grand strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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