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Until recently, both policy direction and public awareness of the Bologna Process has been focused almost unilaterally on the introduction of the Bachelor's degree to European universities. This is understandable, as for most European countries, the Bachelor is a new academic degree. However, commencing with the Berlin Ministerial Conference (Realising the European Higher Education Area, 2003), reform of doctoral studies has been highlighted as a second equal pillar in the Bologna reform process. In this paper, we begin by providing an overview of the general policy background and the rationales that underlie the attempts to restructure doctoral studies in Europe. Next, we focus on the specific situation in Austria, where peculiarities of the status quo collide with uniquely Austrian approaches to reforming doctoral education. Finally, through two case studies, we examine initial attempts--and related challenges--to implement the "New Doctorate" in Austria.

This special issue presents seven selected papers from the 5th Symposium of the European Association of Research in Transportation (hEART) which was held in September 2016 in Delft, The Netherlands, and was organised by Delft University of Technology. The contributions cover a wide range of topics in transportation, reflecting the broad scope of the hEART symposium series, including but not limited to travel behaviour, travel survey methods, railway freight as well as (terminal) logistics. As editors of this special issue we are very grateful for the efforts made by the authors, in particular their enduring efforts to push the quality of their contributions to a higher level during the review process. Also, we like to take the opportunity to thank all the reviewers for their constructive feedback and suggestions for improvement. This editorial provides a brief overview of the hEART2016 symposium. After that, an overview is given of the seven contributions that form this special issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the importance of trade openness for attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows, using a sample of 36 developing economies for the period 1990-2008. It provides a direct test of causality between FDI inflows, trade openness and other key variables in developing regions of the world: Latin America, Asia, Africa, CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) and Eastern Europe. Trade openness is measured by using eight different indicators. The main empirical findings of the panel regression analysis reveal that in the long run, trade openness contributes positively to the inflow of FDI in developing economies.

Background Value-based healthcare (VBHC) is a conceptual framework to improve the value of healthcare by health, care-process and economic outcomes. Benchmarking should provide useful information to identify best practices and therefore a good instrument to improve quality across healthcare organizations. This paper aims to provide a proof-of-concept of the feasibility of an international VBHC benchmarking in breast cancer, with the ultimate aim of being used to share best practices with a data-driven approach among healthcare organizations from different health systems. Methods In the VOICE community—a European healthcare centre cluster intending to address VBHC from theory to practice—information on patient-reported, clinical-related, care-process-related and economic-related outcomes were collected. Patient archetypes were identified using clustering techniques and an indicator set following a modified Delphi was defined. Benchmarking was performed using regression models controlling for patient archetypes and socio-demographic characteristics. Results Six hundred and ninety patients from six healthcare centres were included. A set of 50 health, care-process and economic indicators was distilled for benchmarking. Statistically significant differences across sites have been found in most health outcomes, half of the care-process indicators, and all economic indicators, allowing for identifying the best and worst performers. Conclusions To the best of our knowledge, this is the first international experience providing evidence to be used with VBHC benchmarking intention. Differences in indicators across healthcare centres should be used to identify best practices and improve healthcare quality following further research. Applied methods might help to move forward with VBHC benchmarking in other medical conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes an adaptive network fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) based decision support system that can provide European policy makers with systematic guidance in allocating and prioritizing scant public resources, whilst accomplishing the best growth performance at a regional level. We do so by taking the stance of the Smart Specialization Strategies, which aim at consolidating the regional strengths and make effective and efficient use of public investment in R&D. By applying the ANFIS method, we were able to understand how—and to what extent—the competitiveness drivers promoted technological development and how the latter contributes to the economic growth of European regions. We used socio–economic, spatial, and patent-based data to train, test, and validate the models. What emerges is that an increase of R&D investments enhances the regional employment rate and the number of patents per capita; in turn, by taking into account the several combinations of specialization and diversification indicators, this leads to an increase of the regional gross domestic product (GDP). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines two aspects related to private equity investments in Europe. First, we will present the evolution of private equity investments across European countries during the last crisis. Second, the paper will analyse and identify the main determinants of the European private equity market, using an empirical panel analysis. The empirical model includes many of the determinants already tested in previous studies (GDP growth, Market Capitalization, Research and Development Expenditures, Interest rates, etc.) and also new variables such as productivity and corruption index which we consider important factors in explaining the evolution of private equity investments in Europe. The present research paper follows the equilibrium model of private equity investments (Gompers and Lerner 1998, Jeng and Wells 2000, Romain and de La Potteria 2004, Félix 2007). We will use aggregated data from European private equity market during 2000-2013, as well as macroeconomic data, in order to estimate a panel data model with fixed and random effects. This paper will also run the Hausman specification test in order to compare the consistency of fixed effects models and random effects models. Our results confirm existent hypotheses regarding the importance of some determinants on the evolution of private equity investments in Europe. However, in the context of the last crisis new factors emerged as important for the private equity market in Europe such as productivity or corruption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an overview of this issue in relation to the periodical's twentieth anniversary. The author discusses the organization of a anniversary panel in London, England to mark the occasion, and to review articles from the history of the periodical focusing on economic-policy development during these 20 years. The article also provides an introduction to other articles presented in this issue, including one concerning the evolution of exchange-rate management, the effects of government debts on interest rates, and higher education reform in Europe.

Background Schizophrenia is a chronic disease associated with significant and long-lasting effects on health, and it is also a social and financial burden, not only for patients but also for families, other caregivers, and the wider society. It is essential to conduct the assessment of indirect costs, to understand all the effects of the disease on society. Our aim is to gain a better understanding of the indirect costs of schizophrenia in Europe. Methods We conducted a comprehensive systematic literature review covering EMBASE, Medline, and PsycINFO as well as reviewing Health Technology Assessment databases from different countries. We used a qualitative research synthesis for presenting information, as most of the studies were methodologically diverse, a quantitative analysis would have been impractical. Results Indirect cost adjusted to inflation ranged vastly between studies included in the review from 119 Euros to 62, 034 Euros annually. The average proportion of indirect costs of total costs was 44%. Studies highlighted important cost drivers as age, gender, and disease severity, explaining the variation in costs between treatment and patient groups. Conclusions Regardless of the methodological heterogeneity of the reviewed studies, there was an agreement about the significance of indirect costs of schizophrenia on the society. Considering the relatively high prevalence of schizophrenia in Europe, a need for more cost of illness studies especially from Central Eastern and Southern Europe is suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic crises carry a substantial impact on population health and health systems, but little is known on how these transmit to health workers (HWs). Addressing such a gap is timely as HWs are pivotal resources, particularly during pandemics or the ensuing recessions. Drawing from the empirical literature, we aimed to provide a framework for understanding the impact of recessions on HWs and their reactions. We use a systematic review and best-fit framework synthesis approach to identify the relevant qualitative, quantitative and mixed-methods evidence, and refine an a priori, theory-based conceptual framework. Eight relevant databases were searched, and four reviewers employed to independently review full texts, extract data and appraise the quality of the evidence retrieved. A total of 57 peer-reviewed publications were included, referring to six economic recessions. The 2010-15 Great Recession in Europe was the subject of most (52%) of the papers. Our consolidated framework suggests that recessions transmit to HWs through three channels: (1) an increase in the demand for services; (2) the impacts of austerity measures; and (3) changes in the health labour market. Some of the evidence appeared specific to the context of crises; demand for health services and employment increased during economic recessions in North America and Oceania, but stagnated or declined in Europe in connection with the austerity measures adopted. Burn-out, lay-offs, migration and multiple jobholding were the reactions observed in Europe, but job opportunities never dwindled for physicians during recessions in North America, with nurses re-entering labour markets during such crises. Loss of motivation, absenteeism and abuse of health systems were documented during recessions in low-income countries. Although the impacts of recessions may vary across economic events, health systems, labour markets and policy responses, our review and framework provide an evidence base for policies to mitigate the effects on HWs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy developments in the post-Communist states of Eastern and Central Europe (ECE) have a major impact on global energy security and sustainability, thanks to this region's key geographical position between the energy-exporting states of the former Soviet Union, on the one hand, and the energy-importing states of Western and Southern Europe, on the other. At the same time, post-socialist reforms of energy industries in this region provide unique insights into the complex relations of power, economic transformation and spatial inequality that govern energy production and consumption. This paper therefore aims to provide an initial look at some of the theoretical and policy issues that underpin the emergent ‘geographies’ of energy reform in ECE, as well as their embeddedness in relations of power stemming from organisational, infrastructural and economic inequalities in the region. It employs an analysis of local news reports, policy papers and statistical data to examine the intricate institutional networks and spatial formations that have governed the energy transformation process. In broader terms, the paper aims to emphasise the important role that human geography can play in making sense of the territorial differences and frictions that have emerged during the post-socialist reform process, while challenging the idea of a ‘neat’ neoliberal transition from a centrally planned to a market-based mode of energy regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper (my keynote talk from the 2006 ESPE conference), I discuss the recent upsurge in research on the economics of education that has occurred, especially in Europe. I discuss the reasons for the increased interest and present some examples from my recent research in the area. The paper concludes that the increased research interest seems likely to be sustained for some time to come. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Randomised clinical trials are key to advancing medical knowledge and to enhancing patient care, but major barriers to their conduct exist. The present paper presents some of these barriers.Methods: We performed systematic literature searches and internal European Clinical Research Infrastructure Network (ECRIN) communications during face-to-face meetings and telephone conferences from 2013 to 2017 within the context of the ECRIN Integrating Activity (ECRIN-IA) project.Results: The following barriers to randomised clinical trials were identified: inadequate knowledge of clinical research and trial methodology; lack of funding; excessive monitoring; restrictive privacy law and lack of transparency; complex regulatory requirements; and inadequate infrastructures. There is a need for more pragmatic randomised clinical trials conducted with low risks of systematic and random errors, and multinational cooperation is essential.Conclusions: The present paper presents major barriers to randomised clinical trials. It also underlines the value of using a pan-European-distributed infrastructure to help investigators overcome barriers for multi-country trials in any disease area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first of this two-paper series addresses a practical day-ahead auction model, where generation revenue constraints are explicitly incorporated in the problem formulation, as routinely done in several national electricity markets across Europe. The revenue-constrained market-clearing procedure includes the effect of the transmission network, inter-temporal constraints associated with generation scheduling, demand-side bidding, and marginal pricing. This auction design is an instance of price-based market clearing which features two major complicating factors. First, locational marginal prices become decision variables of the optimization process. In addition, producer revenues are formulated as bilinear and highly nonconvex products of power outputs and market-clearing prices. The resulting problem is formulated as a mixed-integer nonlinear bilevel program with bilinear terms for which available solution techniques rely on heuristics, approximations, or modeling simplifications. This paper presents a novel and exact methodology whereby the original problem is recast as an equivalent single-level mixed-integer linear program. As a consequence, finite convergence to optimality is guaranteed and the use of standard commercial software is allowed. The proposed transformation is based on duality theory of linear programming, Karush-Kuhn-Tucker optimality conditions, and integer algebra results. In the second part of this two-paper series, numerical results from several case studies illustrate the effective performance of the proposed solution approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Papeles: Revista de la Facultad de Educación Universidad Antonio Nariño is the property of Universidad Antonio Narino 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 adopts a social psychological perspective to review individual and socio-political factors accounting for the resurgence of the far right in Europe, in light of the economic crisis. The paper addresses three main questions in relation to this review. First, what psychological processes translate unfavorable contextual attributes into perceptions of uncertainty, threat and ruthless competition that may trigger ideological attitudes, behaviors, and policies relevant to the far right? Second, what strategies do far-right leaders implement in order to counter accusations of fascism and racism? And third, what is the role of the mainstream political system and the media with regard to the legitimization of right-wing extremism and populism? The paper draws upon examples from different member countries of the European Union, with an emphasis on Greece. It is concluded that European citizens should remain vigilant towards the far right, though avoiding oversimplifications and emotionally driven reactions that would allow corrupt, opportunistic leaders to amass political power by exploiting generalized fear against the far right. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the nature of undeclared work in South East Europe and the rest of the European Union and in doing so, to evaluate critically the validity of depicting the character of undeclared work as being the same everywhere. Design/methodology/approach -- A 2007 survey of undeclared work is reported, conducted in 27 European Union (EU) member states involving 26,659 face-to-face interviews. This paper focuses on the results of the 2,432 interviews conducted in five South East European countries, namely Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Romania and Slovenia. Findings -- In South Eastern Europe, more undeclared work is found to be waged employment and conducted by marginalised population groups out of necessity compared with other EU regions. Nevertheless, and similar to other EU regions, most undeclared work is conducted on an own-account basis, rather than as waged employment, for close social relations, rather than anonymous employers, and out of choice rather than necessity, although different mixtures prevail in different places and populations both within South Eastern Europe and across the EU as a whole. Research limitations/implications - This recognition of the multifarious work relations and motives involved in undeclared work, and different mixtures in varying populations, displays the need to move beyond treating undeclared work as everywhere the same and towards nuanced spatially sensitive representations. Practical implications -- Given the proportion of undeclared work conducted on an own-account basis and for closer social relations, this paper reveals that if South East European governments continue to seek its eradication, they will deter with one hand precisely the entrepreneurship and mutual aid that with another they are seeking to nurture. Originality/value -- This is the first evaluation of undeclared work in South East Europe and the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structure and methods to complete and derive a quality score from the European Network of Health Economic Evaluation Databases (EURONHEED) transferability information checklists for published economic evaluations were reported and discussed in a previous paper (Boulenger et al. in Eur J Health Econ 6, 334–346, 2005). Within the same paper, the use of the checklists was illustrated through their application to a sample of economic evaluations conducted in France and UK. The transferability information subchecklist, consisting of 16 items from the original 42-point checklist, and methods used to derive it, were validated among 16 health economists across Europe participating in the EURONHEED project. Recent correspondence with other researchers, however, indicates that the checklists are now being utilised in empirical work and the methodology of assessing transferability and generalisability. This supplementary paper provides full details of the guidelines that have been developed and recently updated by the authors, such that the overall and subchecklists can be more widely and consistently completed and utilised. We also briefly discuss associated issues such as weighting of items in the checklists and give further clarifications regarding what we consider the most appropriate applications of the checklists to be. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper aims to study the stock market reaction to sporting results of European listed football clubs. Specifically, it tries to examine the impact of the sporting results on the stock market valuation in terms of abnormal returns and trading volume around the dates of matches. Design/methodology/approach - This paper undertakes an event study around the dates of 745 matches played by European listed football clubs. Findings - The empirical analysis shows that the sporting results of listed football clubs affect both the abnormal returns and the trading volume around the dates of matches. The movement (positive or negative) and the time when the impact occurs (before or after the match) differ according to the nature of the result (defeat, draw or win) and the match venue (home or away). Findings in this study imply that the success of investments in listed football clubs requires a regular follow-up of their sporting performances. Originality/value - This paper is one of the first to take into consideration the nature of sporting results (defeat, draw or win) according to the match venue (home or away) in order to study the market reaction in terms of both abnormal returns and trading volume. Unlike some previous studies, it is not limited to studying a single specific context but considers listed football clubs from all over Europe. [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 focuses on the growing U.S. current account deficit and the potentially sharp exchange rate movements any future adjustment toward current account balance might imply. The authors argue that the speed at which the U.S. current account ultimately returns toward balance, the triggers that drive that adjustment, and the way in which the burden of adjustment is allocated across Europe and Asia all have enormous implications for global exchange rates. This paper begins by trying to put the recent U.S. experience with current account imbalances in historical perspective. The authors then provide a nontechnical summary of the authors' core three-region model. The paper's final section highlights the main conclusions that the authors draw from the technical analysis.

Background: Many low-and middle-income countries (LMIC) of the World Health Organization (WHO) European Region have introduced social health insurance payroll taxes after the political transition in the late 1980s, combined with budget transfers to allow for exempting specific population groups from paying contributions, such as those outside formal sector work and in particular vulnerable groups. This paper assesses the institutional design aspects of such financing arrangements and their performance with respect to universal health coverage progress in LMIC of the European region. Methods: The study is based on a literature review and review of secondary databases for the performance assessment. Results: Such financing arrangements currently exist in 13 LMIC of that region, with strong commonalities in institutional design: This includes a wide range of different eligible population groups, mostly mandatory membership, integrated pools for both the exempted and contributors, and relatively comprehensive benefit packages. Performance is more varied. Enrolment rates range from about 65 % to above 95 %, and access to care and financial protection has improved in several countries. Yet, inequities between income quintiles persist. Conclusions: Budget transfers to health insurance arrangements have helped to deepen UHC or maintain achievements with respect to UHC in these European LMICs by covering those outside formal sector work, and in particular vulnerable population groups. However, challenges remain: a comprehensive benefit package on paper is not enough as long as supply side constraints and quality gaps as well as informal payments prevail. A key policy question is how to reach those so far uncovered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduces a series of articles which deals on economics and business in Europe.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including the business environment in the Western Balkan countries, the role of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the European economic development and the innovation activities in Macedonia.

Copyright of TEME: Casopis za Društvene Nauke is the property of TEME: Casopis za Drustvene Nauke 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 growth in a number of tourists and, consequently, a larger income obtained from tourism by the state led to the situation when the previously marginalized tributes imposed on tourists by local governments have assumed greater significance. Additional revenues to local units' budgets, gained from the above-mentioned tributes, are often allotted for better infrastructure and tourist promotion, thereby contributing to the increased tourist competitiveness. The present paper discusses the construction of levies imposed on tourists by local governments in various European states. Besides, the issues of how local governments can influence the construction of the tax within the frames of the granted tax autonomy are examined. Due to the fact that in many European countries burdens imposed on tourists by local units can be called taxes, fees or other levies, the term „tribute”, as a broader one including all statutory charges, is intentionally used in the present paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Comparative Economic Research is the property of Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Lodzkiego 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.)

Copyright of Comparative Economic Research is the property of Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Lodzkiego 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 considers future European growth prospects in the light of a new productivity paradox, namely, the co-existence of a productivity slowdown and exciting new technologies. Several potential explanations are reviewed. It is argued that while some are unpersuasive it is too soon to be sure which carry the most weight. This has the implication that while the slowdown is real, it is not necessarily permanent. A key, hotly disputed issue is the future economic impact of technological progress on which forecasts differ dramatically. Supply-side reform could have a strong positive effect, but this is not likely to happen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rare diseases are an important public health issue with high unmet need. The introduction of the EU Regulation on orphan medicinal products (OMP) has been successful in stimulating investment in the research and development of OMPs. Despite this advancement, patients do not have universal access to these new medicines. There are many factors that affect OMP uptake, but one of the most important is the difficulty of making pricing and reimbursement (P&R) decisions in rare diseases. Until now, there has been little consensus on the most appropriate assessment criteria, perspective or appraisal process. This paper proposes nine principles to help improve the consistency of OMP P&R assessment in Europe and ensure that value assessment, pricing and funding processes reflect the specificities of rare diseases and contribute to both the sustainability of healthcare systems and the sustainability of innovation in this field. These recommendations are the output of the European Working Group for Value Assessment and Funding Processes in Rare Diseases (ORPH-VAL), a collaboration between rare disease experts, patient representatives, academics, health technology assessment (HTA) practitioners, politicians and industry representatives. ORPH-VAL reached its recommendations through careful consideration of existing OMP P&R literature and through a wide consultation with expert stakeholders, including payers, regulators and patients. The principles cover four areas: OMP decision criteria, OMP decision process, OMP sustainable funding systems and European co-ordination. This paper also presents a guide to the core elements of value relevant to OMPs that should be consistently considered in all OMP appraisals. The principles outlined in this paper may be helpful in drawing together an emerging consensus on this topic and identifying areas where consistency in payer approach could be achievable and beneficial. All stakeholders have an obligation to work together to ensure that the promise of OMP's is realised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the European Commission was for Europe to have a leading role by year 2020, supporting competition and thriving thanks to a knowledge-based, connected, more sustainable and more inclusive economy, characterized by strong and sustainable growth and which ensures both a high level of employment as well as social progress. The general framework of Europe 2020 Strategy, as defined by the European Council, involves smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, which will ensure high levels of employment and productivity, as well as economic, social and territorial cohesion. Starting from this aim, the first part of the paper aims to present the reference framework of the European politics in terms of Europe 2020 Strategy, which was developed in March 2010, when the failure of the Lisbon Strategy was already visible. The priorities and objectives of Europe 2020 Strategy will be approached in terms of the way they are reflected in the policies of the EU Member States, in the second part of the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically examines the discourse surrounding fair trade mainstreaming, and discusses the potential avenues for the future of the social movement. The authors have a unique insight into the fair trade market having a combined experience of over 30 years in practice and 15 as fair trade scholars. The paper highlights a number of benefits of mainstreaming, not least the continued growth of the global fair trade market (tipped to top $7bn in 2012). However, the paper also highlights the negative consequences of mainstreaming on the long-term viability of fair trade as a credible ethical standard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a 12-country study regarding estimates of lost revenue resulting from the illicit trade of cigarettes. It is said that such illicit trade has compromised health protective measures as well as government revenue. Results show that the estimated annual revenue loss to illicit cigarette trade is over three times the budget of the World Health Organization (WHO). Findings also suggest that lost revenue is greater than the investments made by the government to control tobacco.

The outcomes of bargaining over losses, the subject of this paper, have rarely been studied. But experimental studies of related situations, such as those involving bankruptcies or bequests in which the sum of the legal claims that can be made against a bank or firm or estate are greater than their values, have produced strong support for the proportionality principle. To test whether this principle would find support in other situations involving losses we designed an experimental game in which four players start out with differing initial endowments of real money. They are then informed that a certain amount of this resource has to be given back to the experimenter. How should the loss be shared among the agents? This game was run at different locations and under different treatments over a period of almost three years. We found that the proportionality principle was rarely proposed and even less frequently accepted as a solution to this problem. One of the main reasons for this result was that the two players with the smallest endowments opposed most of the proposals which asked them to contribute at least some positive amount of their own initial resource., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

A growing body of the literature has argued that austerity has been bad for health, though without directly measuring austerity. This paper explicitly distinguishes the association of mortality with macroeconomic fluctuations from that with fiscal policy measures, using data for 28 European Union (EU) countries covering the period 1991-2013. The main results present a nuanced, complex picture about the mortality impact of fiscal policies. We confirm the mortality decreasing (increasing) effect of recessions (booms), with the exception of suicide mortality, which shows the opposite effects. Austerity regimes are associated with an increase in all-cause mortality (0.7%). At the same time, fiscal stimuli tend to significantly increase death rates due to cirrhosis or chronic liver disease (3%) and those due to vehicle accidents (4.3%). Our results are sensitive to the set of countries included: when excluding the Baltics, Romania and Hungary, austerity policies turn out to significantly increase suicide-related mortality (2.8%), while the effect on all-cause mortality remains unaffected (0.7%). Overall, however it appears that the austerity-increasing effects are mostly compensated by the (mostly) mortality-decreasing effects of recessions. A notable exception appears to be suicides, which receive a 'double-boost' from both recessions and austerity., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The occurrence of the most critical international economical and financial crisis of the 21st century brought into the spotlight the damages that crises can bring to our economy. After its burst in the autumn of 2007, the crisis has spread all over the world through the Contagion Effect, and has led to an accelerated and sharp deterioration of economic activity. The effects of the episodes of financial crises have on the real economy seemed to be more important and persistent in some specific countries. For this reason we focused our attention upon eight European transition countries and a sample of thirteen financial crises. The aim of this study is to perform an econometric analysis of the effects of episodes of financial crises on real output (GDP) for eight economies from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) using an ARDL equation and an impulse response function. The main findings of the paper suggest that, in the case of the CEE economies analyzed, financial crises have an important and long-lasting effect, lowering the real output by about 12-14%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper estimates a linearised DSGE model for the euro area. The model is New Keynesian and allows for a role for oil usage and endogenous price markups. The importance of shocks to monetary policy and oil prices is estimated to have declined in the post-1990 period, in line with the higher predictability of policy and the fall in the persistence and-to a lesser extent-variability of oil disturbances. Counterfactual exercises show that oil efficiency gains would alleviate the inflationary and contractionary consequences of oil shocks, while higher wage flexibility would help ease the impact on real output at the expense of larger inflationary pressures. While we report evidence of 'countercyclical' price markups, the rise in markups induced by an oil disturbance is not found to considerably amplify the inflationary and contractionary effects of the shock. The paper discusses the policy implications of our empirical results for the euro area economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using individual-level data from a large number of countries, this paper examines how self-reported subjective well-being depends on own income and reference income, where reference income is defined as the income of one's professional peers. It uncovers a divide between ‘old’—low-mobility—European countries on the one hand, and ‘new’ European post-Transition countries and the United States on the other. The relative importance of comparisons (‘jealousy’) versus information (‘ambition’) seems to depend on the degree of mobility and uncertainty in the considered countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A substantial amount of evidence has emerged indicating that a majority of the world's largest multinational enterprises concentrate activities in their home region. However, there are relatively few studies which test whether such concentrations are consistent with economic theory. This paper works to fill the void. It tests whether regional concentrations of OECD exports and outward FDI are consistent with predictions of a gravity model. The empirical evidence provided here indicates that exports are far more regional than the model predicts. As for FDI, the empirical evidence shows that intra-regional FDI in Europe is larger than the model predicts, whereas intra-regional FDI patterns within North America are consistent with gravity. Overall, this paper provides further support for Rugman's thesis that MNEs are best described as regional as opposed to global actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper builds up a model for analysing regional attitudes towards separation from national states, where separation implies `opting out' of the national income redistribution system and starting a regional one, while at the same time having direct access to supranational institutions. In an overlapping generations (OLG) framework, we show that interregional cooperation can perform the same task as intergenerational cooperation, and can prevent rich regions from wanting to separate from poor nations. In the second part of the paper, we estimate the impact of alternative institutional settings on regional welfare by using data on the inter-governmental financial relations of the Italian regions with the central government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]