Search

In recent years, most European countries have experienced substantial demographic changes and rising cultural diversity. Understanding the social and economic impacts of these shifts is a major challenge for policymakers. Richard Florida’s ideas have provided a popular – and pervasive – framework for doing so. This paper assess Florida’s legacy and sets out a ‘post-Florida’ framework for ‘technology, talent and tolerance’ research. The paper first traces the development of Florida’s ideas. ‘Florida 1.0’, encapsulated by the Three Ts framework, has performed badly in practice. There are problems in bringing causality to the fundamental relationships, and in consistently replicating the results in other countries. ‘Florida 2.0’, though suggests that Creative Class metrics have value as alternative measures of human capital. This create space for a post-Florida agenda based on economic micro-foundations. I argue that the growing body of ‘economics of diversity’ research meets these conditions, and review theory and empirics. Urban ‘diversity shocks’ shift the size and composition of populations and workforces, with impacts operating via labour markets, and through wider production and consumption networks. While short-term labour market effects are small, over time low-value industrial sectors may become migrant-dependent. Diversity may help raise productivity and wages through innovation, entrepreneurship, market access and trade channels. Bigger, more diverse cities help generate hybridised goods and services, but may also raise local costs through crowding. All of this presents new challenges for policymakers, who need to manage diversity’s net effects, and address both economic costs and benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines some of the main geo-economic and geo-political inter-dependencies which are structuring Europe’s relations with the wider world and how various European and European Union (EU) policy frameworks work to create relations of increasing yet uneven inter-dependency between Europe and that wider world. The paper begins with an examination of the economic and financial crisis and its role in transmitting crisis across inter-dependent space, and the consequences for political and urban struggles across Europe and beyond. This is followed by discussion of the entanglement of Europe with the forces which gave rise to the so-called “Arab Spring” in North Africa and the Middle East. The paper then turns to a discussion of the relocation of economic activity outside of Europe to “emerging economies”, of geographical shifts within Europe of elements of value chains in order to cope with increasing competitive pressures from other parts of the global economy by reducing labour costs but ensuring proximity to the main EU markets, and the emergence of new economic players with their origins in emerging economies within European value chains. The paper concludes with a consideration of the primary geo-economic and geo-political dimensions structuring Europe’s urban and regional inter-dependencies with the wider world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the pattern of regional convergence and the determinants of regional growth in Europe, providing a discussion of the issues that are of relevance to the theoretical conceptions and the subsequent design of regional development policy, supported by an illustrative empirical analysis. The analysis covers 249 NUTS II regions of the European Union in the period 1990–2003. Using as its basis the standard framework of (absolute) β-convergence, the paper detects a mirror-image J-shaped relationship between regional growth and regional development levels. This type of relationship indicates that regional divergence factors are getting stronger, and, eventually, dominate, at more advanced levels of development. On the basis of a regional growth model, factors such as agglomeration economies, geography, economic integration and economic structure seem to create an overall unfavourable economic environment for lagging (and, possibly, less favoured) regions. Such an environment generates dilemmas and questions concerning the mix of policies that may promote growth and at the same time reduce regional inequalities in the European Union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past decades many cities have experienced growing pressure to produce and stage cultural events of different sorts to promote themselves and improve economic development. Culture-led development often relies on significant public investment and major private-sector sponsoring. In the context of strained public finances and profound economic crisis in European peripheral countries, local community low-budget events that manage to create significant fluxes of visitors and visibility assume a particular relevance. This paper looks at the four editions (2011–2014) of Noc-Noc, an arts festival organized by a local association in the city of Guimarães, Portugal, which is based on creating transient spaces of culture by transforming numerous homes, commercial outlets and other buildings into ephemeral convivial and playful ‘public’ environments. By interviewing a sample of people who have hosted (sometimes doubling as artists) these transitory art performances and exhibitions, artists and the events’ organizers and by experiencing the four editions of the event and engaging in multiple informal conversations with the public, this paper attempts to discuss how urban citizens may disrupt the cleavages between public and private space permitting various transgressions, and unsettling the hegemonic condition of the city council as the patron of the large majority of events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

'Borrowed size' is an emerging policy concept in several European countries, presenting theoretical potential to explain contemporary urban dynamics unaddressed through conventional urban growth theories that emphasise the role of agglomeration economies. In its original conceptualisation by Alonso, the concept describes and explains the situation that especially smaller cities that are located in a larger 'megapolitan complex' do perform better because they have access to agglomeration benefits of larger neighbouring cities. This paper scrutinises the concept of borrowed size, thereby focusing on its conceptualisation and reviewing its empirical justification thus far. Our empirical analyses show that the concept must be stretched in terms of scale and scope to enhance its policy value. Borrowed size occurs when a city possesses urban functions and/or performance levels normally associated with larger cities. This is enabled through interactions in networks of cities across multiple spatial scales. These networks serve as a substitute for the benefits of agglomeration. Theoretically, the borrowed size concept demands a recasting of the geographical foundations of agglomeration theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the work of the European Cluster Observatory (ECO) in light of current debates around the notion of clusters. Examining the definitions employed by the ECO, questions are posed about how effective policy can be when using highly restrictive means of analysis. Further, the work contends that, far from this being purely an analytical problem, there also exists a fundamental semantic issue regarding the term ‘economic cluster’. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The current European policy agenda strongly accentuates the importance of research and development (R&D) as a driver of economic growth. The basic assumption is that high European wage levels make it unlikely that less research-intensive parts of the economy can withstand competition from low-wage countries with increasingly skilled labour forces. Thus, the inferior growth of the European Union (EU) in the 1990s compared with the USA has been explained by the latter’s higher rate of R&D investments. The paper challenges this rather simplistic view of innovation and examines the regional consequences of such policies. EU growth has caught up with that of the USA during recent years and low-tech industries continue to have considerable economic importance in Europe in terms of jobs and value added, especially outside the main growth regions, but also in the major urban regions. Empirical evidence from Denmark and the UK provided in the paper suggests that low- and high-tech industries are closely interconnected because low-tech firms play important roles both as partners in the innovation processes of high-tech firms and as buyers of high-tech products. Therefore, EU industrial policy is not appropriate because it overlooks the continuing significance of low-tech industries. Furthermore, the rather uniform focus on R&D is associated with a strong emphasis on large city-regions where research-intensive industries are concentrated and, thus, increasing regional inequality in Europe is being produced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fight against unwanted sea migration in Southern Europe has triggered the territorial redefinition of European Union (EU) borders and transformed the relationship between sending and receiving countries in the region. This paper focuses on the strategies that the EU and Spain adopted to seal the maritime border around the Canary Islands between 2005 and 2010. According to the primary and secondary data used here, the closure of the Atlantic route that happened in this period was the result of the combination of defensive and preventative measures along and beyond this section of the EU border. Initiatives aimed at promoting economic development, creating jobs at origin, and temporary migration programs paved the way for cooperation among governments, thus making possible the deployment of military resources along the border, the return/deportation of unwanted EU-bound migrants, and the externalization of migration control responsibilities. Cooperation and the mixture of proactive and reactive initiatives seen in this case study are likely to become the hallmark of a new kind of global anti-immigration border that extends beyond the territory of the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses whether hosting the most prestigious European cultural event, the European Capital of Culture, has an impact on regional economic development and the life satisfaction of the local population. We show that European Capitals are hosted in regions with above-average GDP per capita, but do not causally affect the economic development in a significant way. Surprisingly, using difference-in-difference estimations, a negative effect on the wellbeing of the regional population is found during the event. Since no effect is found before the event, reverse causality and positive anticipation can be ruled out. The negative effect during the event might result from dissatisfaction with the high levels of public expenditure, transport disruptions, general overcrowding or an increase in housing prices. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper revisits the relevance of conflict in governance and citizenship practices in cities. Europe national urban policies were readjusted in terms of economic policies and state expenditures in the 1980s and then again and more severely after the 2008 financial and economic crisis. Policy discourses in urban policy have emphasised the beneficial consequences of social and political consensus in helping cities to restructure economically as part of ‘good governance’. At the same time, the paradigm of citizenship understood as a system of social and political inclusion based on economic redistribution and political participation has been substituted by one that has the objective to ensure social cohesion in societies. This substitution renounces the objectives concerning social justice, fails to face the tensions of increasing social inequalities and misses the contribution of social innovation and citizens’ practices that incorporate counter-hegemonic ideals as equally important to an effective multilevel governance. A bottom-link approach is suggested as a synthesis of the tension between top–down policies and bottom–up practices. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The analysis of the contemporary phase of internationalisation implies an assessment of the diverse processes of regional integration. They are key issues in the construction of post-Fordist regimes that can no longer be developed on strict national bases. Internationalisation is also stemmed by directly global developments interacting with regional processes. This paper identifies two ideal types of regional dynamic, which together account for the economic, politic and social dimensions of these processes. In each case, I specify the regional dynamics of convergence or divergence and discuss their stability. I then investigate how interactions with global trends can lead to hybrid forms of regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the challenge of infrastructure networks in European regulatory policies. This paper focuses on the impact of European integration policy in the main infrastructure networks. It concerns the technical and organizational interconnectability of national systems in Europe emphasized in the existing relationship between the operator and the national regulator. The principles of open access and control consist the supranational framework for the European regulation system. This requires fair access fee for all. Integration policies for infrastructure along with the economic principles and the directives for underlying theoretical economic principles are discussed.

This paper discusses security and development issues in Europe's recent history and immediate future. The issue is how the security system affects the pattern of economic development and. conversely, the long-run effects of development on security. To understand this relationship a longer historical perspective is needed. Too much attention has been given to the EC '1992 project' compared to the more unplanned 'integration' or political homogenization of greater Europe. Three distinct phases in terms of security orders are distinguished: the Hundred Years' Peace (1815-1914), the Cold War security system (1949-89) and an emerging system called the New European Security Order. We are at present entering a turbulent transition period in which several paths are open. A number of risk factors are identified and analysed. The way the security order is established and immediate security crises managed will influence the possibilities of developing a stable peace order, defined as a structure free from major contradictions and low conflict propensity. A European Peace Order, as distinct from a European Security Order, would presuppose a global peace order, the crucial feature of which will be regionalization on various levels of the world system in accordance with the model of 'benign mercantilism', including Europe itself, where subregionalism may emerge as a new form of balance of power politics as an alternative to Pax Germanica. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At a time of major changes in the geography of the global economy, and following the major financial and economic crises of 2007/2008, the European Union (EU) is marked by deepening uneven economic development, between and within the territories of its 28 (for now) member states. This is one expression of neo-liberalisation as the dominant political force in the EU, combined with deep austerity policies in response to the crises of 2007/2008. Within the Eurozone, a common currency without a common fiscal policy further intensified inequalities, especially between the economies of the north and south of the EU. These developments had profound political ramifications as the promise of increasing economic growth and material well-being has been rudely shattered for many people and unemployment, poverty and ill-being have burgeoned in many parts of the EU. The political response to this – in ways reminiscent of the 1930s – has been a resurgence of regressive virulent right-wing nationalisms, sometimes with fascistic tendencies, as people have come to see the EU, and neoliberal globalisation, as inimical to their interests. This tendency has been further intensified by inflows of migrants and refugees, many in response to neo-imperialist ventures in the Middle East. This is most starkly (so far) the case in the UK, leading to the British Exit from the European Community (BREXIT) vote to leave the EU. There are counter-tendencies, locally based political movements that espouse a more humane social democratic model of the EU, but there seems little chance of these cohering politically to challenge the dominant view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses data for 23 countries elicited from the 2010/11 wave of the European Social Survey to examine the stability of social capital as a predictor of job satisfaction at a time of economic crisis. The analysis reveals a remarkably resilient impact of social capital and its constituent components during the economic downturn. However, this resilience is much less pronounced when the focus is on countries where the crisis was most severe, suggesting an economic development threshold below which certain social capital components lose their associational impact. However, religious activity is significantly associated with workers’ job satisfaction in these economies, providing comfort during times of socio-economic difficulty. The extent of organizational trust, measured by proxy variables for participative decision-making, has by far the strongest association with job satisfaction. This suggests that employers need to think again about the way they treat their employees to maximize the benefits of social capital and, ultimately, improve the job satisfaction scores of their workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Results of a new large-scale study question the role of creative talents in fostering economic prospects. It is shown that in Europe, with its cultural diversity and long urban history, Florida’s concepts have to be used with caution. The new study suggests that in Europe, along with so-called ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ factors, there is a third crucial group of factors, related to personal networks, which impacts on economic perspectives. These networks include personal links, professional and social relations and other types of local social connections related to people’s life courses. This appeared to be strong and consistent outcomes of a survey among employees and interviews with employers, managers and trans-national migrants, conducted simultaneously in 13 European cities. It was also made clear that so-called hard conditions, especially job availability, were the second most important factor. Incidentally soft conditions were relevant, but never of prime importance. ‘Soft’ factors such as diversity, openness, amenities, and tolerance were hardly mentioned as relevant deciding factors for settling in a specific city. It also became clear that contemporary conditions that make some European cities more attractive than others for these industries offer only a partial explanation. The current fashionable focus on fostering ‘creative talents’ to improve economic prospects is not an option for all European cities. An alternative view on urban policies, associated with concepts that seem to be crucial for Europe, has been suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

It is frequently argued that changes in the occupational structure and labour markets of European cities have the potential to undermine social cohesion. The term ‘social polarisation’ has been widely employed to characterise this effect, either in a broadly descriptive manner or in line with specific hypotheses. In the first part of this article, alternative definitions are reviewed and the results of empirical research on social polarisation are summarised. Some of its limitations are discussed and its theoretical origins explored. In the second part, attention is turned to the ‘mechanisms’ driving change in workplaces and urban labour markets in Europe. It is argued that an accurate account of changing occupational structures and labour markets in European cities—and a balanced assessment of their consequences for social cohesion—can only be obtained by building up a complex and carefully contextualised analysis of the ways in which these ‘mechanisms’ interact in different cities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The whole pattern of European integration is in crisis and important institutional transformations can be observed. It is argued that traditional comparative approaches, such as the Varieties of Capitalism literature, fall short in providing an adequate analytical framework to deal with the European crisis. We propose applying a theoretical framework which allows us to focus on the specific and asymmetric linkages between national economies in combination with a systematic analysis of institutions at different spatial levels. This is provided by a modified and expanded regulation approach. We provide an empirical overview of the different regimes of accumulation and their interaction, and our analysis of the asymmetric interaction helps us to explain the crisis and its dynamics. In addition, we analyse the reactions to the crisis and the consequences in terms of institutional transformations at different spatial levels. Finally, conclusions regarding the dynamics of future political-economic developments in Europe are drawn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article develops a framework for analysing the distinctive national trajectories of European varieties of capitalism under the conditioning of ‘the international’. It does so through a critical engagement with two prominent historical materialist literatures — transnational historical materialism and uneven and combined development. I argue that, in contrast to these contributions, a nationally-oriented perspective utilizing Antonio Gramsci’s writings on ‘common sense’ has greater potential for narrowing the optic from broader concerns to fine-grained analysis. In particular, I focus on how articulations between the national and the international are constitutive of how humans make sense of the material basis for their existence.The Dutch variety of capitalism is then examined in order to demonstrate the advantages of utilizing this ‘common sense’ framework for political economy analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The rising focus of politicians as well as scientists in the EU on the large urban agglomerations as centres of economic growth is accompanied by political efforts to identify and to demarcate such agglomerations under the label ‘metropolitan regions’. This study develops a theoretical framework broaching the issue of cooperation between municipalities from the perspective of regional economics as well as political science. The framework is applied to the empirical case of the polycentric metropolitan region of the ‘Saxony triangle’ in east Germany. The results show that various intervening factors prevent intense co-operation between the actors in the region. Policy implications and conclusions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article attempts to deconstruct and analyse British views of the European economies during the post-war years of fast growth, low unemployment and subdued inflation. Though there had been a great deal of academic attention paid to Britons' self-perceptions, less research has been conducted as to how they saw the most relevant 'other': the societies and economies on either side of the English Channel. Two case-studies are utilized here to suggest both how Britons saw themselves by reference to their near-neighbours, and to study how policy ideas moved around the international world of advice, interpretation and global governance that was emerging after the Second World War. The French and Soviet examples, so scrutinized and apparently fascinating at the time, are the main focus of the article, though other sources of inspiration - German, Scandinavian, Italian - are also suggested. The article concludes with a brief sketch of the main reasons other Europeans' apparent 'success' came to seem so important. These include a national sense of 'declinism'; the importance of international bodies such as the United Nations; and the intertwined relationship between domestic and foreign policy during the Cold War. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Journal of Maritime History is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article presents the condition of social work services in the European countries. There is a debate as to the existence of European social model and its meaning. The debate is said to be important for the social workers and educators due to the diversity of the political systems and economic development of the European region. The article mentions the social tension building in the countries and the need for social cohesion since social changes are even more disruptive than economic changes. In this regard, the author sees the need for social workers professional alliances in Europe and alignment of training and professional qualifications across the region. For the author, social work is an investment in the future welfare of Europe.

The article discusses the characteristics of trade unions in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Similarities and differences among the trade unions in those regions are viewed on the unions' density, employer recognition of the unions, and tendencies toward decentralization of collective bargaining. In Asia, big differences in the character and size of trade unionism is possible to identify because of the different level of economic development and political systems of the countries in the region.

Copyright of Journal of European Social Policy is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The purpose of this article is to explore globalization and European integration and the link between the two developments from a realist perspective. I demonstrate how realists have engaged in analyses of globalization and European integration but have so far failed to pro-vide a link between the two developments. I argue that realists can con-vincingly provide such a link by utilizing the perspective's often neglected process variables: socialization, competition and interaction capacity. Using these variables, I demonstrate how the dynamics of power politics perfectly consistent with realism may result in an inter-national system characterized by actors and processes incompatible with realist predictions. The article is a contribution to the ongoing debate on the applicability of international relations theory to globalization and European integration and to the contemporary debate between realists and their critics on the development of the realist research programme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years there has been an accelerating academic interest in the coherence of European regional policy, particularly in relation to the local application of Structural Funds. In tandem there has also been an increasing importance attached to the governance of regions and localities. This article fuses these two sets of debates in critically examining European Objective I support for Merseyside in the UK. Merseyside was an Objective I region for the 1994-1999 programming period, and this article traces some of the fundamental fault lines in the design and delivery of its Single Programming Document — the strategy and resource framework accompanying Structural Funding. It therefore provides some instructive lessons for the 2000-2006 UK-based Objective I regions: Merseyside (receiving its second tranche of support) and the new recipients of Cornwall and Scilly, South Yorkshire, and West Wales and the Valleys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assesses the consequences of war on economic growth and development in Europe. Evaluation of the negative effects of war in economic development; Impact of war on economic cost; Foundation of Patrick O'Brien's argumentation on economic mainstream and cost-benefit problem of war.

This article discusses the dechristianization of the working class in Europe during the late 19th century. At the end of the nineteenth century, the organization of the working class was only beginning. Union membership, except in certain skilled trades, was generally low, and only in Germany had socialist politics established a clear ascendancy over the workers. But the existence of a working class with its own distinctive way of life was already a fact in every west European country . This distinctive way of life included a characteristic religious position. Most workers were members of the church traditionally dominant in their own country, and they continued to celebrate with religious rites the great turning points of life. But they seldom went to church at other times, and many of them regarded the church and clergy with hostility. In Catholic and Protestant countries, and from those with differing political institutions, and at differing stages of economic development, the same story was being told in the 1880s and 1890s. In Vienna, there was a prevailing indifference in religious matters among the artisans, while bitter anti-clericalism seems to have been predominant among those of Milan.

Western Europe has been integrating since 1950, but such a process must not be confused with state absorption. The EEC and NATO probably enhance national statehood more than they diminish it. Equally, integration has been paralleled by peripheral disintegration even since 1945. This is because many states are multicultural. This process may continue, but its origins are complex, being derived from the evolution of nationalist ideology in the nineteenth century. An important factor is modern integrative ideology which undermines the appeal of regional nationalist movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights the Fifth Conference on the Evaluation of European Structural Funds, held in Budapest, Hungary, in June 2003. Importance of evaluation in European Structural Funds; Issues addressed in conference workshops; Participants.