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Adopted guidelines reflect a harmonised European approach to a specific scientific issue and should reflect the most recent scientific knowledge. However, whilst EU regulations are mandatory for all member states and EU directives must be followed by national laws in line with the directive, EMA guidelines do not have legal force and alternative approaches may be taken, but these obviously require more justification. This new series of the BJCP, developed in collaboration with the EMA, aims to address this issue by providing an annotated version of some relevant EMA guidelines and regulatory documents by experts. Hopefully, this will help in promoting their diffusion and in opening a forum for discussion with our readers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This article explores the main determinants of youth unemployment in Europe in the period 2002 to 2014 by estimating panel data models for the 28 Member States of the European Union (EU). Heterogeneity is acknowledged by estimating models for subsamples of countries with “high” and “low” youth unemployment rates. The main results suggest that youth unemployment is more pronounced in countries with poor GDP growth, a low share of construction activity and high public debt. Reduced mobility (owing to homeownership), corruption, reception of a high level of remittances and a lack of possibilities for young people to live outside parental homes are also important factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several EU countries import wood pellets from the south-eastern United States. The imported wood pellets are (co-)fired in power plants with the aim of reducing overall greenhouse gas ( GHG) emissions from electricity and meeting EU renewable energy targets. To assess whether GHG emissions are reduced and on what timescale, we construct the GHG balance of wood-pellet electricity. This GHG balance consists of supply chain and combustion GHG emissions, carbon sequestration during biomass growth and avoided GHG emissions through replacing fossil electricity. We investigate wood pellets from four softwood feedstock types: small roundwood, commercial thinnings, harvest residues and mill residues. Per feedstock, the GHG balance of wood-pellet electricity is compared against those of alternative scenarios. Alternative scenarios are combinations of alternative fates of the feedstock materials, such as in-forest decomposition, or the production of paper or wood panels like oriented strand board ( OSB). Alternative scenario composition depends on feedstock type and local demand for this feedstock. Results indicate that the GHG balance of wood-pellet electricity equals that of alternative scenarios within 0-21 years (the GHG parity time), after which wood-pellet electricity has sustained climate benefits. Parity times increase by a maximum of 12 years when varying key variables (emissions associated with paper and panels, soil carbon increase via feedstock decomposition, wood-pellet electricity supply chain emissions) within maximum plausible ranges. Using commercial thinnings, harvest residues or mill residues as feedstock leads to the shortest GHG parity times (0-6 years) and fastest GHG benefits from wood-pellet electricity. We find shorter GHG parity times than previous studies, for we use a novel approach that differentiates feedstocks and considers alternative scenarios based on (combinations of) alternative feedstock fates, rather than on alternative land uses. This novel approach is relevant for bioenergy derived from low-value feedstocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing awareness of the potential risks involved in lending to heavily indebted governments focuses attention on credit pricing in the Eurodollar market. This paper utilizes a recent survey of country-by-country risk assessments as perceived by lenders to show that a systematic relationship exists between these assessments and interest rates in the Euromarket. The relationship is derived from an underlying model described in the paper. The estimated parameters verify a number of hypotheses, providing insights on the loss rates lenders expect to incur in case of default. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The finding of the paper shows the relative effectiveness of the 'one size fits all' policy of the European Central Bank. The paper provides strong evidence in favor of this by testing whether the monetary policy effects (footprints) found in inflation uncertainty converge to a common level. These footprints are measured as the fraction of the estimated policy-induced reduction in this uncertainty. The testing was conducted by applying a bootstrap-type test in a regression of the rate of growth of these fractions on their initial values, computed for 16 euro area countries. ( JEL C33, E52, E58) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Regional Science Policy & Practice is the property of Wiley-Blackwell 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.)

This article investigates whether the varying prevalence of temporary employment contracts across Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) countries can explain their different unemployment dynamics. Using a database of labour market institutions, dynamic panel regressions are carried out for 11 eurozone countries for 1995-2013. Labour market duality - i.e. the co-existence of permanent and temporary contracts - is found to have a robust and significant effect on unemployment dynamics: a high duality rate increases the response of unemployment to output shocks while decreasing its persistence. The authors suggest that introducing a 'single contract' could improve stability at both eurozone and country level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transport infrastructure has represented one of the cornerstones of development and cohesion strategies in the European Union (EU) and elsewhere in the world. However, despite the considerable funds devoted to it, its impact remains controversial. This paper revisits the question of to what extent transport infrastructure endowment - proxied by regional motorways - has contributed to regional growth in the EU between 1990 and 2004. It analyses infrastructure in relationship to other factors which may condition economic growth, such as innovation, migration, and the local 'social filter', taking also into account the geographical component of intervention in transport infrastructure and innovation. The results of the two-way fixed-effect (static) and difference GMM (dynamic) panel data regressions indicate that infrastructure endowment is a relatively poor predictor of economic growth and that regional growth in the EU results from a combination of an adequate 'social filter', good innovation capacity, both in the region and in neighbouring areas, and a region's capacity to attract migrants. The meagre returns of infrastructure endowment on economic growth raise interesting questions about the opportunity costs of further infrastructure investments across most of Western Europe. Resumen La infraestructura de transporte ha venido siendo una de las piedras angulares de las estrategias de desarrollo y cohesión en la Unión Europea ( UE) y el resto del mundo. Sin embargo, y a pesar de los considerables recursos que se le ha dedicado, su impacto es un tema controvertido. Este artículo revisa el interrogante de hasta que punto ha contribuido la dotación de infraestructura de transporte - representada por las autopistas regionales - al crecimiento regional en la UE entre 1990 y 2004. Se analiza la infraestructura en relación a otros factores que podrían condicionar el crecimiento económico, como la innovación, la migración, y el 'filtro social' local, teniendo en cuenta asimismo el componente geográfico de la intervención en la infraestructura de transporte y la innovación. Los resultados de las regresiones de datos de panel de efectos fijos (método estático) de doble vía y MGM por diferencias (método dinámico) indican que la dotación de infraestructura es un pobre indicador del crecimiento económico y que el crecimiento regional en la UE tiene su origen en una combinación de un 'filtro social' adecuado, en una buena capacidad innovadora tanto en la región como en áreas vecinas, y en la capacidad de la región de atraer migración. Los escasos retornos para el crecimiento económico de la dotación de infraestructura suscitan cuestiones interesantes sobre los costos de oportunidad de futuras inversiones en infraestructura para la mayoría de Europa Occidental. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Regional Science Policy & Practice is the property of Wiley-Blackwell 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.)

Abstract: This article investigates the evolution of job tenure for the time period 2002–2012 using microdata from the European Union Labour Force Survey (EU‐LFS). Overall, the data show a slight increase in average job tenure at the EU level, which can be explained by disproportional lay‐offs of short‐tenured workers during the crisis. When controlling for changes in the demographic composition of the workforce, an underlying negative trend in mean tenure becomes visible. Job tenure evolved very differently across the EU before and during the crisis, highlighting the importance of institutional frameworks, especially employment protection legislation (EPL). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Papers in Regional Science is the property of Wiley-Blackwell 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 paper argues that: (1) the demise of 'occupational' and 'internal' and the spread of 'external' labour markets in growth areas of UK economy such as the creative and cultural sector, coupled with the massification of higher education which has created a new type of post-degree 'vocational need', means that the transition from education to work should be re-thought as the development of vocational practice rather than the acquisition of qualifications; and (2) in order to re-think transition as the development of vocational practice it is necessary to eviscerate the legacy of the 'traditional' conception of practice in UK educational policy. The paper reviews a number of alternative social scientific conceptions of practice, formulates more multi-faceted conceptions of vocational practice, and discusses their implications for UK and EU educational policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyses the relationship between trade, financial integration and business cycle synchronization in the euro area. The introduction of the euro has had a noticeable impact on European financial markets. Evidence that capital market integration exerts a positive effect on output correlation has two major implications. First, it corroborates the hypothesis of the endogeneity of optimum currency areas, whereby after joining a monetary union countries better meet standard OCA criteria; second, it provides European policy-makers with yet another reason to pursue financial integration in the euro area (and in prospective members as well). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The unprecedented sovereign debt crisis across the eurozone has prompted a new generation of models with 'self-fulfilling' attacks on public debt. The model presented in this paper shows that multiple equilibria arise as investors have no direct information, and form heterogeneous rational beliefs, about the government's sustainable limit of the solvency primary balance. If beliefs of insolvency are sufficiently large, then the government is bound to default, although initial solvency conditions are satisfied. Several issues are discussed concerning the role of initial conditions, fiscal shocks and the policy options to escape from the default domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Papers in Regional Science is the property of Wiley-Blackwell 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.)

This paper tests Ahmed and Safdar's noise‐related fundamentals‐based explanation for the momentum premium in European equity markets. Consistent with the view that past price changes may be partially driven by noise, the future return behaviour of winners and losers is significantly dependent upon the degree to which past price performance is consistent with fundamentals. European momentum profits are concentrated among those firms where past price performance is congruent with fundamentals, but absent among those firms where past price performance is incongruent with fundamentals. The significantly different momentum premiums on congruent and incongruent fundamentals‐momentum strategies are attributable to the exploitation of existing mispricing among momentum stocks that can be ex ante identified using firm fundamentals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on contractual distinctions as an explanation for the price divergence between futures and forward contracts. Specifically, it investigates the effect of marking-to-market on the observed price differences using the pricing model described in Cox, Ingersoll, and Ross (CIR) (1981, Journal of Financial Economics 9, 321-346). Using previously unavailable data, this paper employs Eurodollars, an interest rate-sensitive financial asset, to test the CIR model. Unlike prior empirical studies, test results support both the weak prediction concerning the sign of the average price difference and the stronger prediction that specific covariances explain the variation in the price differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Papers in Regional Science is the property of Wiley-Blackwell 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 general absence of legal reserve requirements upon the reserves of non-U.S. banks offering dollar-denominated deposit facilities (hereafter Eurobanks) provides a unique opportunity for analysis of reserve determination by a fractional-reserve financial intermediary. This paper presents evidence that the reserve ratio in the Euro-dollar system is low and falling and is in fact determined by behavior which is consistent with the hypothesis that Euro-bank dollar deposits in U.S. commercial banks (excluding loans to home offices) are held as precautionary reserves. The demand for such loans to home offices largely determines their level. Since the theory of precautionary balances held by commercial banks is consistent only with the profit maximization principle of commercial banks' asset management, where commercial banks' responses to market forces determines portfolio behavior, we shall be concerned here primarily with the determination of Euro-banks demand deposit claims on U.S. commercial banks, exclusive of loans to home offices. Evidence reported below does in fact suggest that the behavior of liabilities to foreign branches of U.S. banks is not consistent with the profit maximization principle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents comments on the research paper by Joseph Aschheim entitled "Supplementary Security-Reserve Requirements Reconsidered." Presented are comments on how the volume of bank deposits is regulated in Great Britain. The author states that Aschheim's analysis is "limited to supplementary security-reserve requirements with the objective of insulating bank-held government debt, in whole or in part, from the impact of restrictive monetary policies on the private credit market." Comments on the liquidity ratio in Great Britain are also provided.

Abstract: Although the debates about access to services of general interest have been at the core of the EU territorial cohesion discourse since the late 1990s, the impact of unequal accessibility to living conditions has yet be the subject of close inspection. The paper examines the relationship between the accessibility of services of general interest and demographic and socio‐economic conditions in a specific Czech region. The analysis reveals inter‐municipal disparities and identifies spatially excluded areas. Despite the negative association of insufficient access with education and depopulation characteristics, the results suggest that demographic and socio‐economic development stems from a more complex set of factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the growth rate volatility of European regions' per capita GDP from 1992 to 2008. We measure the regional volatility using a new methodology based on Markov matrices, and investigate its main determinants. Volatility displays a geographical pattern and a significant spatial dependence. Output composition appears one of the main drivers of volatility; among the other determinants we find a negative impact of the size of regional economies and of labour market flexibility, and a positive impact of sectoral concentration, financialization of the economy, and, occasionally, of participation in EMU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditionally, the effectiveness of European Cohesion Policy has been evaluated in terms of GDP growth rate. In this paper, we consider the effect of the regional policy in terms of its impacts on two specific fields of intervention, namely 'research, technological development and innovation', and 'transport infrastructure'. Our econometric approach involves the use of a non-parametric regression discontinuity design technique to a uniquely-disaggregated Cohesion Policy dataset broken down according to the specific objectives of each stream of funding. The analysis considers different time intervals and sub-samples. Our results demonstrate a positive impact of Cohesion Policy interventions in these two specific fields of intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the pattern of interactions between education, occupation, personal economic expectations and feelings of national identity and how these interactions affect public support for the EU. Using Eurobarometer data from 1993 to 2006, the results in this paper demonstrate that occupation mediates the relationship between EU support and education. It is also found that the sway of citizens' personal financial expectations on EU support is not conditioned by education and occupation. Finally citizens' personal economic expectations are not found to condition the relationship between EU support and feelings of national identity. In the light of these findings the paper draws implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT European labour markets have undergone several important innovations over the last three decades. Most countries have reformed their labour markets since the mid-1990s, with the liberalization of fixed-term contracts and temporary work agencies being the common elements to such reforms. This paper investigates the existence of a change in the dynamic behaviour of the aggregate employment for major European Union countries - France, Germany, Italy and Spain. According to our results, partial labour market reforms have made the response of the aggregate employment to output shocks larger and quite comparable to that found for the UK - the most flexible labour market in Europe since the Thatcher reforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We estimate the EU Commission loss preferences for major economic forecasts of 12 Member States. Based on a recently proposed method by Elliott, Komunjer and Timmermann (2005) the paper provides evidence of asymmetries in the underlying forecast loss preference of the Commission that tend to vary across Member States. In some cases, our results show that EU forecasts tend to display a rather optimistic picture for main economic variables, e.g. government balance, thus allowing a certain degree of leeway in the fiscal adjustment path towards the medium-term objective of ‘close to balance’ or ‘in surplus’ of the recently revised Stability and Growth Pact. Over the period of our sample, 1970–2004, this apparent asymmetry in the underlying loss preferences tends to deter prudent advice over economic policy. Lastly, we provide an analysis on the trade-off between loss and distribution asymmetries, for which simulation results show that the testing method is robust in the presence of skewness. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops a method to estimate jointly the degree of intertemporal consumption smoothing and the degree of “inter-regional” risk sharing. The empirical results for the U.S. states and OECD and EU countries suggest that: (i) regardless of the assumption on the degree of intertemporal consumption smoothing, the degree of risk sharing within a country is larger than across countries; (ii) the degree of intertemporal consumption smoothing within a country is also larger than across countries; and (iii) the difference between the degree of intertemporal consumption smoothing within U.S. states and across OECD and EU countries is as large as the difference between the degree of risk sharing, contrary to the findings of some past studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we develop a new and at the same time simple method of obtaining a measure of the rate of capacity utilization (CU) which makes use of the structural vector autoregression (SVAR) system of equation estimating technique with long-run restrictions. The measure of CU that we derive for each of 14 EU countries replicates to a great extent the European Commission's Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs (ECFIN) measure. On closer examination we find that the in-sample explanatory content with respect to the inflation rate of the SVAR measure exceeds more often than not that of the ECFIN's measure; however, the out-of-sample forecasting performance of the two models is approximately equivalent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a three-step approach to key constitutional issues in the European Union. The first step introduces the main descriptive elements of EU constitutionalism, highlighting some Of the principal fields in which constitutional debate is presently clustering. Step two elaborates upon the tensions within EU constitutionalism by presenting a conceptual approach focusing upon the 'postnational' and procedural questions. Finally, in the third step, the paper sets out examples in order to demonstrate how the conceptual framework fits more closely with the emerging empirical reality of EU constitutional practices. It focuses upon events surrounding the inter-governmental conferences at which amendments to the EU treaties are agreed by the member states. The aim of the paper is to locate some of the tensions and relations which hold EU constitutionalism in place, rather than to capture its 'essence'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The shift of policy focus from job security to employment security calls for a more dynamic measurement of young people's labour market performance. This article uses data on monthly employment status trajectories and job duration to investigate young Europeans' employment security around five years after they finished education. The authors show that almost 40 per cent of 'job-insecure' individuals actually enjoy employment security - i.e. they are able to re-enter paid employment rapidly after losing their job. The article highlights the need for policy measures to enhance employment security, and the positive role that stricter temporary employment protection, and ALMP expenditure, could play. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Economics is the property of Wiley-Blackwell 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.)

This paper analyses the determinants of regional economic growth in the European Union adopting a non-parametric approach. Although the local-linear kernel estimator applied does not explicitly take into account the spatial dimension of the data, it is found to be consistent in our context. In addition, the geographically weighted regression turns out to be less efficient. We obtain evidence of a non-linear relationship between regional growth and its determinants in the form of parameter heterogeneity and threshold effects. These non-linearities mainly affect the initial productivity of labour, the human capital endowment and, as a novelty, the level of infrastructures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the end of 1990s, Danny Quah devoted several papers to the analysis of polarization and stratification in the convergence processes of economies, creating the image of the 'convergence clubs' and suggesting the importance of studying the distribution dynamics of the macroeconomic variables. As for the labour markets, Overman and Puga (2002) showed that a progressive polarization of unemployment was in fact occurring among the European regions in 1986-1996, causing a phenomenon of cross-border clusterization. Here we propose to analyse the evolution of the unemployment rates of the EU 27 regions in the last two decades assuming that the unemployment rates evolve according to a Gompertz stochastic process. The estimated parameters of the process - intrinsic growth rate, deceleration factor, volatility - represent the evolutionary path of the unemployment rate and allow for estimating the steady state of the process. A cluster analysis is performed on the steady state values of the unemployment rates. The analysis confirms the emergence of several 'convergence clubs' among the European regional labour markets, which are compared to the clusters resulting from the more traditional clusterization on the current unemployment rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The paper explores the characteristics of spatial price movements for fresh vegetables. The analysis is conducted on tomato and cauliflower prices collected on main production and consumption European markets. We estimate an asymmetric threshold autoregressive econometric model and provide estimates of transaction costs and speeds of price transmission among spatially separated markets. We assess the average elapsing time for the transmission of price shocks. In eight of ten cases we found that spatial price transmissions is not symmetric. Moreover in most cases we conclude that tomato and cauliflower markets are not efficient. We convey interesting policy considerations for the fresh vegetables sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How many domestic workers are there in Europe? How have their numbers evolved? Do the patterns differ across countries? Examining European Union Labour Force Survey data for the EU15 over the period 2000-10, the author finds that the numbers of domestic workers grew in this period, particularly those caring for children and frail adults. His analysis confirms the coexistence of two contrasting models that broadly divide Europe between northern countries relying mainly on public services and southern countries relying on private solutions. Considering the explanatory capacity of public policy, labour market dynamics and gender relations, however, he argues for a more nuanced approach to understanding cross-country patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The price-making ability of food small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) is important for their market survival. Since pricing is a part of marketing activities, by developing specific marketing capabilities, firms can improve their ability to make pricing decisions. This paper aims at evaluating the relationship between marketing capabilities and a firm's price-making ability. A survey was conducted based on a sample of 371 food SMEs in the EU. We applied an Ordinal Regression Model to evaluate the determinants of a firm's price-making ability. The analysis results revealed a certain ability of SMEs to set prices. Market analysis and marketing strategy planning capabilities are positively related to the price-making ability of a firm, while firm size is not. Supply chain relationships play a crucial role in price-making due to the strong constraint presented by the presence of vertical competition between food SMEs and supermarkets. (L25, L66, M31) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To-date, forest resource-based carbon accounting in land use, land use change and forestry ( LULUCF) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC), Kyoto Protocol ( KP), European Union ( EU) and national level emission reduction schemes considers only a fraction of its potential and fails to adequately mobilize the LULUCF sector for the successful stabilization of atmospheric greenhouse gas ( GHG) concentrations. Recent modifications at the 2011 COP17 meetings in Durban have partially addressed this basic problem, but leave room for improvement. The presence of an Incentive Gap ( IG) continues to justify reform of the LULUCF carbon accounting framework. Frequently neglected in the climate change mitigation and adaptation literature, carbon accounting practices ultimately define the nuts and bolts of what counts and which resources (forest, forest-based or other) are favored and utilized. For Annex I countries in the Kyoto Mechanism, the Incentive Gap under forest management ( FM) is significantly large: some 75% or more of potential forestry-based carbon sequestration is not effectively incentivized or mobilized for climate change mitigation and adaptation (Ellison et al. 2011a). In this paper, we expand our analysis of the Incentive Gap to incorporate the changes agreed in Durban and encompass both a wider set of countries and a larger set of omitted carbon pools. For Annex I countries, based on the first 2 years of experience in the first Commitment Period ( CP1) we estimate the IG in FM at approximately 88%. Though significantly reduced in CP2, the IG remains a problem. Thus our measure of missed opportunities under the Kyoto and UNFCCC framework - despite the changes in Durban - remains important. With the exception perhaps of increased energy efficiency, few sinks or sources of reduced emissions can be mobilized as effectively and efficiently as forests. Thus, we wonder at the sheer magnitude of this underutilized resource. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comments on the paper by Mahe and Roe that deals with the U.S. agricultural policies with focus on the driving forces behind the reform of agricultural policies in the European Union. Pressures for the reform of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP); Failures of CAP.

Please cite this paper as: Snacken et al. (2012) Surveillance of hospitalised severe cases of Influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 and related fatalities in nine EU countries in 2010-2011. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses 6(601), e93-e96. A few months into the 2009 influenza pandemic, nine European countries implemented case-based surveillance of hospitalised severe influenza infections. In the present study, we assess the association between patient characteristics, in particular underlying conditions, and the severity level of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 infection during the 2010-2011 season. Patient age, the presence of underlying conditions, pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and the need for ventilation were significantly associated with the severity of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 infection. Despite limitations essentially because of the heterogeneity of the data reported, this study provides insight into severe influenza cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial ecology is a concept that is known worldwide; however, its dissemination and implementation is not an easy process. Industrial routines are embedded in unsustainable practices that are difficult to change. The complexity and uncertainties of new concepts are often approached with ignorance and misperceptions. Nevertheless, the integration of economic, environmental and social dimensions in industrial activities is increasingly perceived as a necessary condition for a sustainable society. This paper reflects upon the relevance of theories of capabilities, embeddedness and transformation for providing guidance in understanding the practical experiences of industrial symbiosis, processes and results in the Rotterdam Harbour and Industry Complex. The conclusion is that, despite sustainability learning processes leading to radical applications of waste heat in regional housing areas and a seafood farm, the elaboration of sustainability approaches is still dominantly techno-centred. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we investigate the relationship between trade intensity and the business cycle correlation using a panel data set taken from 24 countries over the period 1959–2003. Most previous studies did not account for the possibility that the business cycle correlation may be influenced by unobservable country-pair specific effects. Our estimates, using both fixed- and random-effects methodologies, suggest that trade intensity and the business cycle correlation are positively related to one another. However, detailed investigation shows that this relationship exists mainly for the European countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on earnings conservatism, and provides new evidence based on procedures that account for variability at the firm level, drawing a comparison between the European Union and the United States. A key finding is that the estimated responsiveness of earnings to bad news is substantially higher when unobserved firm-specific effects are modelled. Furthermore, it is shown that accounting has become more conservative not only in the U.S. but also in the EU when taken as a whole, and there is little evidence of marked differences in the asymmetric timeliness of earnings between the two. Indeed, any changes in this property of earnings are likely to be attributable to a common factor that influences firms similarly in both locations, and not necessarily to the process of economic convergence that has taken place in the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From 2005, over 7,000 listed firms in the European Union and many more around the world are required to adopt International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The introduction of a uniform accounting regime is expected to ensure greater comparability and transparency of financial reporting around the world. However, recent research has questioned the quality of financial statements prepared under IFRS standards, particularly in the presence of weak enforcement mechanisms and adverse reporting incentives (Ball et al., 2003). In this paper, we assess the quality of the financial statements of Austrian, German and Swiss firms which have already adopted internationally recognized standards (IFRS or U.S. GAAP). The study makes use of available disclosure quality scores extracted from detailed analyses of annual reports by reputed accounting scholars (‘experts’). This work complements other contemporary research on the quality of IFRS financial statements where the properties of earnings are used as an evaluation metric (Barth et al., 2005). Our evidence shows that disclosure quality has increased significantly under IFRS in the three European countries we analyse. This result holds not only for firms which have voluntarily adopted IFRS or U.S. GAAP, but also for firms which mandatorily adopted such standards in response to the requirements of specific stock market segments. Although we cannot establish direct causality due to the inherent self-selection issues for most of our sample firms, the evidence shows that the quality of financial reports has increased significantly with the adoption of IFRS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Food Safety Authority marks a new stage in European Union governance. It has no direct regulatory powers, but is entrusted with developing norms of food safety, which are to inform the material content of EC food law. The hope is that its independence and expertise will restore popular confidence both in the EU and in the food we eat. The irreducible nature of lay-expert conflicts about hazard suggests that a more likely scenario is that such disputes become recast as opposition to EC law. Such conflict is most likely to manifest itself in national courts through challenges to or non-compliance with EC law. The current principles for resolution of such conflicts are hopelessly outmoded. The article, therefore, argues for a constitutional resettlement, which sets out principles germane to the nature of the EC regime, namely that of a multi-level regulatory State. It argues for a new defence of regulatory balance. Individuals could argue for the disapplication of EC norms where these violated a valued local regime which had given consideration to the issues raised in the EC legislation and whose positive value to its subjects exceeded its negative impact on the interests protected by the EC legislation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Her Majesty's Treasury is due to report in June 2003 on the economic case for the UK adopting the Euro. One criterion concerns the extent of economic convergence between the UK and the European Union countries. Differences in financial, credit and housing institutions between countries present one important subset of constraints to sustained convergence (Maclennan et al, 1998) - largely neglected in the economic literature on common currency areas. These types of differences create tension within the Eurozone. Empirical evidence supporting these concerns has emerged in signs of overheating in the Netherlands, UK and some of the fringe economies, and in the relative stagnation of Germany and Italy. The UK's buoyancy, however, is accompanied by serious economic imbalances, with consequent risks of instability. These would be exacerbated should the UK be prematurely locked into an exchange rate and interest rate regime unresponsive to domestic conditions. There is much to learn from European experience: from Germany and Italy, on the consequences of illiberal economic structures; from The Netherlands, on some of the risks of liberal credit markets; and from Denmark, with a liberal credit market but rational property taxation. In this paper, John Muellbauer argues that convergence does not have to be fully achieved, if there is a counterbalancing policy instrument to mitigate some of the effects of these slow-to-dissipate differences. Specifically in the UK, a reformed system of property taxation would contribute greatly to long-term stability and the preservation of economic balance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The continuing expansion and deepening integration of the European Union is redefining the map of threats and opportunities for both companies and regions in Europe. In this paper I analyze the changing geography of the production system in three industries – automobiles, clothing and steel – as a product of the strategies and tactics of companies, states (at EU, national and regional levels) and trades unions, as they seek to shape geographies of production to favour their interests within this changing European political–economic space. It is argued that the end product of this process will be the creation of new and sharper forms of regional uneven development and qualitative differentiation between regions, as well as a renewed widening rather than further narrowing of regional differences in economic performance and well–being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geographical indications, as a form of intellectual property, are becoming increasingly important in global trade. In South Africa’s trade and cooperation agreement with the European Union, problems over the use of names such as ‘port’ and ‘sherry’ provided an important obstacle to the conclusion of the trade deal. This paper argues that the conflict over geographical indications in this trade agreement must be seen in the context of broader initiatives to establish a system of protecting this form of intellectual property through the World Trade Organisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the impact of national borders on international trade within the European Union (EU). Bias for intranational trade among EU countries discovered through the use of a gravity model; Impact of national borders on international trade patterns.

Discusses the relationship between inflation and the relative variability of prices in European Union (EU) countries. Examination of data disaggregated to the commodity level across 10 EU countries; Removal of the deterministic component; Lack of persistency in the stochastic component.

The need for more effective co-operation between higher education and industry was recognised by most West European governments during the 1980s. This article provides an overview of the measures initiated to strengthen the relationship. The aim has not been to discuss such measures in depth, but to outline the main themes to emerge and, where appropriate, draw attention to questions which remain unanswered. The paper draws heavily for its factual information on reports prepared by national experts as part of the EC Community programme in Education and Training for Technology (COMETT). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]