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Education is the core of the factors that improved people for a better lifestyle and increases the level of society' development. Quality education is one of the most vital goals of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) due to actualizing these factors. Using relational network data envelopment analysis (DEA), which have three interrelated substages, this current paper computes the educational economy efficiency of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries bearing in mind the characteristics related to SDGs. The contribution of our study is the use of a novel approach to computing the educational economy efficiency using relational network DEA with GAMS. Even though some interesting differences reveal in the efficiency of the countries, the findings show that countries with high-efficiency scores are clustered around countries like Latvia, Slovenia, and Korea.

We define international technological specialisation (ITS) as the technological performance of a country in a specific technology relative to its overall international technological performance. This paper uses patent applications and patent citations at the European Patent Office for five countries (US, UK, Italy, France, Germany) from 1989 to 1994 for 135 technological classes in three industrial sectors (Chemicals, Electronics and Machinery). It shows that ITS is significantly persistent and is affected by the direction of cross-sectoral knowledge spillovers within countries. In addition, the paper shows that the concentration of innovative activities, the emergence of new innovators and technological co-operation positively affect ITS. Some differences across sectors emerge. Keywords: Technological specialization; Knowledge spillover; Market structure [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the seminal contribution of McCallum (1995) economists have tried to estimate the border effect for other countries than the United States and Canada, but have been confronted with a key data problem: data on regional trade flows are extremely rare. The different approaches put forward to overcome this lack of information have been shown to hinge crucially on certain distance measures. The main purpose of this paper is to develop a method that allows us determining border effects with a high degree of accuracy in the absence of intra-national trade data. We show how to improve the estimation of border effects with the example of France and Germany using data on regional transportation flows. Our results indicate that France trades about eight times more and Germany about three times more with itself than with other EU countries, respectively, compared to the predictions of the gravity equation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing the number of tertiary graduates has been a priority on the political agenda of the EU for some years. The focus has mainly been on academic courses though, with less emphasis on the role of vocational education and training. International educational statistics indeed show a clear increase in the number of persons completing tertiary education programmes in recent years. In overall terms, this development is referred to as ‘academisation’. The present paper provides a critical analysis and uses examples from Germany, Austria and France to show that this interpretation is neglecting two crucial facts. One is that various academic programmes in fact are combining academic with vocational learning. The other is that there are vocational programmes in the tertiary education sector that are not adequately visible in international education statistics. This understanding is important in relation to future policy-making as well as individual decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The paper reports on studies of return predictability of stock indexes of blue-chip firms and high-technology firms in Germany, France and the UK during the second half of the 1990s. Return predictability was measured in terms of first-order autocorrelation coefficients, and evidence was found for the return predictability of stock indexes of high-technology firms, but not for the return predictability of stock indexes of blue-chip firms. These findings suggest that a candidate for explaining the economic sources of the return predictability of these stock indexes of high-technology firms is transaction costs in the form of the costs of gathering and processing information in new technological fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses economic, political and national institutional explanations for continued resistance to the multidivisional form in France, Germany and the United Kingdom during the 1980s and 1990s. It finds that the economics of different diversification strategies play a significant but changing role in the structural choices of large corporations. The political interests of personal, banking and government owners are exercised variably. There remain strong national influences on structural choices, with resistance to the multidivisional form particularly pronounced in Germany. Overall, our results call for an increased contextual sensitivity in management research while acknowledging the possibility of convergent processes in business organization, represented here by the slow progress of the multidivisional firm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Exchanges in Europe are in a process of consolidation. After the failure of the proposed merger between Deutsche Börse and Euronext, these two groups are likely to become the nuclei for further mergers and co-operation with currently independent exchanges. A decision for one of the groups entails a decision for the respective trading platform. Against that background we evaluate the attractiveness of the two dominant continental European trading systems. Though both are anonymous electronic limit order books, there are important differences in the trading protocols. We use a matched-sample approach to compare execution costs in Euronext Paris and Xetra. We find that both quoted and effective spreads are lower in Xetra. The differences are more pronounced for less liquid stocks. When decomposing the spread we find no systematic differences in the adverse selection component. Realised spreads, on the other hand, are significantly higher in Euronext. Neither differences in the number of liquidity provision agreements nor differences in the minimum tick size or in the degree of domestic competition for order flow explain the different spread levels. We thus conclude that Xetra is the more efficient trading system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Several studies have been performed on the relationship between working conditions and health. Numerous parameters still require further study, including working hours and obesity among different groups, specifically older workers in national, regional, and international levels. OBJECTIVE: Working hours have considerable effects on the socio-cultural, psychological, and economic aspects of people's lives and health. While long working hours increases income level and raises living standards, it increases the risk of certain health problems. This study investigated whether working hours are associated with obesity in upper-middle-aged workers. METHODS: The Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) dataset was used for the analyses. Analyses were carried out by means of a Cox regression of the panel dataset created with the data in question, surveyed by European Commission to 12,000 participants. RESULTS: The survey was performed in Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Ireland. We found that in most countries, especially Sweden and the Netherlands, upper-middle-aged employees working > 59 hours per week are more likely to gain weight than their counterparts working < 59 hours. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings raise awareness of obesity in older workers, and highlight the need to regulate working conditions and hours in the European Union and other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Most asthma patients have mild disease, although the burden of mild asthma is not well understood nor studied. Some evidence suggests that many patients with mild asthma experience suboptimal symptom control and exacerbations. This study characterizes the burden of illness and treatment patterns among patients with a confirmed diagnosis of mild asthma, defined as GINA Step 1 or Step 2, and residing in China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, the United Kingdom, or the United States.Methods: The Respiratory Disease-Specific Programme prospective cross-sectional survey was conducted with primary care and specialty physicians in each of the eight countries. Physician and patient surveys assessed demographic and clinical characteristics, frequency and timing of asthma symptoms, exacerbations, and rescue inhaler usage, the most recent FEV1% predicted, and healthcare utilization. GINA Step was determined by prescribed treatment regimen. GINA Step 1 patients were prescribed as-needed reliever medication and Step 2 required treatment with a low-dose inhaled corticosteroid, leukotriene receptor antagonist, or theophylline. Treatment adherence was assessed with the Morisky Medication Adherence scale, disease control with the Asthma Control Test, and work and activity impairments with the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment scale.Results: The sample included 1115 GINA Step 1 and 2 patients, with 53% classified as Step 2. Overall asthma control was suboptimal, with reports of nocturnal symptoms (40.6%), symptom worsening (10.5%), and rescue inhaler usage in the last 4 weeks (33.6%). 25% of patients were uncontrolled. The overall mean number of exacerbations in the last 12 months was 0.4, with a higher frequency of exacerbations in Step 2 patients who also experienced more exacerbations requiring treatment intensification, an emergency department visit, or hospitalization.Conclusion: Mild asthma imposes a substantial burden on patients, establishing the need for comprehensive management plans and ongoing support for treatment adherence.Funding: AstraZeneca. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although we do know that out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure is relatively high in Australia, little is known about what health conditions are associated with the highest out-of-pocket expenditure, and whether the cost of healthcare acts as a barrier to care for people with different chronic conditions. Cross-sectional analysis using linear and logistic regression models applied to the Commonwealth Fund international health policy survey of adults aged 18 years and over was conducted in 2013. Adults with asthma, emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) had 109% higher household out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure than did those with no health condition (95% CI: 50-193%); and adults with depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions had 95% higher household out-of-pocket expenditure (95% CI: 33-187%). People with a chronic condition were also more likely to forego care because of cost. People with depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions had 7.65 times higher odds of skipping healthcare (95% CI: 4.13-14.20), and people with asthma, emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease had 6.16 times higher odds of skipping healthcare (95% CI: 3.30-11.50) than did people with no health condition. People with chronic health conditions in Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland were all significantly less likely to skip healthcare because of cost than were people with a condition in Australia. The out-of-pocket cost of healthcare in Australia acts as a barrier to accessing treatment for people with chronic health conditions, with people with mental health conditions being likely to skip care. Attention should be given to the accessibility and affordability of mental health services in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Information on costs of managing adverse events (AEs) associated with current treatments in metastatic melanoma is limited. This study estimates costs of AEs in eight countries: Australia (AU), Canada (CA), France (FR), Germany (GE), Italy (IT), the Netherlands (NL), Spain (ES), and the UK.Methods: A literature search was conducted to identify grade 3/4 AEs from product label, published trials, conference abstracts, and treatment guidelines. Resource utilization for the management of each type of AE was determined via interviews with 5 melanoma clinicians in each country. Outpatient and inpatient costs were estimated for each type of AE using country-specific tariffs or government/published sources.Results: In outpatient settings, the most costly AEs per incident included cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) (€1063, £720; NL/UK), anemia (€1443, €1329, €1285; ES/IT/FR), peripheral neuropathy (€1289; ES), and immune-related diarrhea (AUS$1,121; AU). In inpatient settings, the most costly AEs per hospitalization included hypophysitis (€10,265; €5316; CAN$9735; AUS$7231: ES/FR/CA/AU), dyspnea (€9077; GE), elevated liver enzymes (€6913, CAN$8030, AUS$6594; FR/CA/AU), CSCC (CAN$8934; CA), peripheral neuropathy (€6977, €4144, CAN$9472; NL/ES/CA), and diarrhea (£4284, €4113; UK/ES).Conclusions: Costs of managing AEs can be significant, and thus effective treatments with lower rates of severe AEs would be valuable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: As part of the EuroDRG project, researchers from eleven countries (i.e. Austria, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, and Spain) compared how their Diagnosis-Related Groups (DRG) systems deal with cholecystectomy patients. The study aims to assist surgeons and national authorities to optimize their DRG systems. Methods: National or regional databases were used to identify hospital cases with a procedure of cholecystectomy. DRG classification algorithms and indicators of resource consumption were compared for those DRGs that individually contained at least 1% of cases. Six standardised case vignettes were defined, and quasi prices according to national DRG-based hospital payment systems were ascertained and compared to an index case. Results: European DRG systems vary widely: they classify cholecystectomy patients according to different sets of variables into diverging numbers of DRGs (between two DRGs in Austria and Poland to nine DRGs in England). The most complex DRG is valued at four times more resource intensive than the index case in Ireland but only 1.3 times more resource intensive than the index case in Austria. Conclusion: Large variations in the classification of cholecystectomy patients raise concerns whether all systems rely on the most appropriate classification variables. Surgeons, hospital managers and national DRG authorities should consider how other countries' DRG systems classify cholecystectomy patients in order to optimize their DRG systems and to ensure fair and appropriate reimbursement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the history of trade in the Rhine river valley regions of France and Germany following the French Revolution based on the historiography of toll payments in the area. Information is provided on the economic effects of war, trade blockades, and commercial law reforms on Rhine trade, the 1804 establishment of an international convention on Rhine commerce called the Octroi Treaty, and fluctuations in the prices charged by crane operators along the river. The author discusses various attempts to regulate international trade between Germany, France, and the Netherlands.

The significance of the manufacturing sector for the economies of both the European Union and the euro area has declined dramatically over the past ten years. However, development varied between the individual member states, which is particularly evident in a comparison between France and Germany. The manufacturing industry in Germany was able to maintain its position within the national economy, halting the structural change towards the service sector. Conversely, there has been rapid deindustrialization in France: here, value added from the manufacturing sector as a percentage of the overall economy is now even lower than in eastern Germany. Within the German industrial sector, the manufacture of technically complex goods has continued to gain ground. In France, on the other hand, the production of such goods has always been relatively insignificant and, over the last decade, has become even less important. The gap between these two countries is also widening with regard to wage development as well as price competitiveness: in Germany, wage growth has lagged behind increases in production, whereas in France salaries have increased at a much faster pace than production. German manufacturing was, therefore, able to expand substantially into foreign markets, while the French industrial sector is the poorest performing in the EU. If national currencies had been retained, the ramifications of such diverging developments would have been mitigated through exchange rate adjustments. Meanwhile, a currency union requires responsible policies-this also applies to wage development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When the Franco-German trade relationship is viewed from a long-term perspective, the conventional view that trade ties were rather good before 1914 becomes doubtful. In fact, trade statistics point to the absolute and relative decline in trade flows between the two countries after the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1. This postwar episode of Franco-German trade history is far from incidental. On the basis of a comprehensive study of Franco-German trade by product, this article reveals a complete restructuring of French trade with Germany after the conflict and invites a new analysis of its economic consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses how Nazi Germany exploited France, which – from an economic point of view – was the most important occupied country during the Second World War. We can show that, in contrast to the conventional wisdom, there was no clear-cut caesura in Germany’s policy of exploiting occupied France – not in the extent of the exploitation in real terms or in the kind of policy toward occupation funds. Although the war in the East and preparations for the invasion made it necessary for Germany to reduce wasteful spending of occupation funds and combat French inflation more consistently, its occupation policy did not shift radically but gradually between mid 1942 and the end of 1943. However, it was not Albert Speer’s Armament Ministry, but other German institutions, especially the Reich Finance Ministry, which played a decisive role in this process. Without this policy Germany would not have been able to increase the French contribution to the German warfare all over Europe, especially on the Eastern front. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Marxism emerged from the confrontation between the German philosophy, classic English economics and the French socialism. It was a philosophy, a scientific method, a new vision of economics, an economic policy and an economic system alike. The Marxian economic strain of thought was assimilated not only by its advocates, but also by the critics of this radical current: in defence of capitalism, Keynes and Schumpeter both start from Marx's work. Starting from the work of classic economists, Marx assumes the valuable scientific elements from the dominant economic theory, but emphasizes the historical, gnosiological and class limits of the classic doctrine. Although he uses the instruments provided by the classics, the German scientist defines his own personal notional system and comes to excel in terms of abstraction. Operating with his own concepts, Marx builds up an infallible logic, which is impossible to turn over if one does not infirm the starting point of the analysis itself - the labour theory of value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The French Revolution had a momentous impact on neighboring countries. It removed the legal and economic barriers protecting oligarchies, established the principle of equality before the law, and prepared economies for the new industrial opportunities of the second half of the 19th century. We present within-Germany evidence on the long-run implications of these institutional reforms. Occupied areas appear to have experienced more rapid urbanization growth, especially after 1850. A two-stage least squares strategy provides evidence consistent with the hypothesis that the reforms instigated by the French had a positive impact on growth. JEL: N13, N43, O47 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to increasing care needs, the reform or development of long-term care (LTC) systems has become a prominent policy issue in all European countries. Cash-for-care schemes-allowances instead of services provided to dependents-represent a key policy aimed at ensuring choice, fostering family care, developing care markets, and containing costs. A detailed analysis of policy documents and regulations, together with a systematic review of existing studies, was used to investigate the differences among six European countries (Austria, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Sweden). The rationale and evolution of their various cash-for-care schemes within the framework of their LTC systems also were explored. While most of the literature present cash-for-care schemes as a common trend in the reforms that began in the 1990s and often treat them separately from the overarching LTC policies, this article argues that the policy context, timing, and specific regulation of the new schemes have created different visions of care and care work that in turn have given rise to distinct LTC configurations. A new typology of long-term care configurations is proposed based on the inclusiveness of the system, the role of cash-for-care schemes and their specific regulations, as well as the views of informal care and the care work that they require. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Bevacizumab plus interferon-alpha2a (IFN) prolongs progression-free survival to >10 months, which is comparable with sunitinib as first-line treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC). The two regimens have different tolerability profiles; therefore, costs for managing adverse events may be an important factor in selecting therapy.Methods: Costs of managing adverse events affecting patients with metastatic RCC eligible for treatment with bevacizumab plus IFN or sunitinib were evaluated using a linear decision analytical model. Management costs were calculated from the published incidence of adverse events and health-care costs for treating adverse events in the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy.Results: Adverse event management costs were higher for sunitinib than for bevacizumab plus IFN. The average cost per patient for the management of grade 3-4 adverse events was markedly lower with bevacizumab plus IFN compared with sunitinib in the United Kingdom (euro1475 vs euro804), Germany (euro1785 vs euro1367), France (euro2590 vs euro1618) and Italy (euro891 vs euro402). The main cost drivers were lymphopaenia, neutropaenia, thrombocytopaenia, leucopaenia and fatigue/asthaenia for sunitinib; and proteinuria, fatigue/asthaenia, bleeding, anaemia and gastrointestinal perforation for bevacizumab plus IFN.Conclusion: The costs of managing adverse events are lower for bevacizumab plus IFN than for sunitinib. The potential for cost savings should be considered when selecting treatments for RCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractWe present a quantitative analysis of the impact of differential ageing and pension reforms on capital and labor market and, in particular, on intra-European capital flows. To this end, we develop a stylized general equilibrium model with overlapping generations of heterogeneous agents for the three largest European countries: France, Germany and the United Kingdom. The model presents a structure halfway between pure general equilibrium models with rigorous microeconomic foundations and accounting models where the macroeconomic environment remains exogenous. We show that the dynamics of capital accumulation and pension system sustainability are totally different depending on the assumption concerning economic openness. Finally, in the long run, resorting to debt financing seems to be a dead end to finance retirement systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes variation in International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditionality. Conditions attached to IMF loans vary qualitatively and quantitatively across time and space, contrary to the allegations of inflexibility and insensitivity. This study theorizes that despite the IMF's official rules to determine conditionality by economic criteria, variation arises because the strategic interests of the five biggest contributors to the IMF (the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany and France) interfere with IMF policy, which potentially compromises the effectiveness of its programs. This theory is tested empirically against 398 conditionality agreements contracted between 1983 and 1997 using an event-count method based on the Poisson distribution to obtain statistical results supportive of the theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a world dominated by oil, each country has to design its own energy policy to cope with increasingly scarce stocks of this fossil fuel. Particularly, the United States, France and Germany engaged into significantly different paths coping with challenging constraints such as ensuring economic growth, security of energy supply, and respect of the environment. The impact of these energy policies on the development of renewable energies has been assessed by analyzing each national policy from the economic, political, and technological standpoints. The results of this study provides some explanations of tactical moves made by these energy hungry economies to cope with the increasing pressure put on the oil supply market and to prepare for a future where green energies are bound to play an increasingly important role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economists were long unaware of the influence of knowledge upon the growth process. With theories of human capital and theories of endogenous growth, knowledge gained a central position in the growth process. However, this has not been proved in many industrialized countries. The nature of the relations between education and growth is hence far from having been perfectly determined. It is therefore of interest to examine the links between education and economic growth. From this point of view, three questions are addressed. Does higher education play a part in the growth process? Which sector of education is involved? Is its role the same in different countries? Using the notion of causality developed by Granger, the relationship between higher education and economic growth is compared in France and Germany before the Second World War. The results show that higher education has an influence on gross domestic product but only in the case of France. Germany does not seem to obey the dominant theory whereby education is the cause of growth. Moreover, economic growth increases the number of students in Germany. This is consistent with the idea that education is a growth-driven accompanying investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Migraine is a distinct neurological disease that imposes a significant burden on patients, society, and the healthcare system. This study aimed to characterize the incremental burden of migraine in individuals who suffer from ≥4 monthly headache days (MHDs) by examining health-related quality of life (HRQoL), impairments to work productivity and daily activities, and healthcare resource utilization (HRU) in the EU5 (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom).Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study used data from the 2016 National Health and Wellness Survey (NHWS; N = 80,600). Short-Form 36-Item Health Survey, version 2 (SF-36v2) physical and mental component summary scores (PCS and MCS), Short-form-6D (SF-6D), and EuroQoL (EQ-5D), impairments to work productivity and daily activities (Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire (WPAI), and HRU were compared between migraine respondents suffering from ≥4 MHDs (n = 218) and non-migraine controls (n = 218) by propensity score matching using sociodemographic characteristics. Chi-square, T-tests, and Mann-Whitney tests were performed to determine significant differences between the groups after propensity score matching.Results: HRQoL was lower in migraine individuals suffering from ≥4 MHDs compared with non-migraine controls, with reduced SF-36v2 PCS (46.00 vs 50.51) and MCS (37.69 vs 44.82), SF-6D health state utility score (0.62 vs 0.71), and EQ-5D score (0.68 vs 0.81) (for all, p < 0.001). Respondents with migraine suffering from ≥4 MHDs also reported higher levels of absenteeism from work (14.43% vs 9.46%; p = 0.001), presenteeism (35.52% vs 20.97%), overall work impairment (38.70% vs 23.27%), and activity impairment (44.17% vs 27.75%) than non-migraine controls (for all, p < 0.001). Additionally, HRU was significantly higher for individuals with ≥4 MHDs compared to their matched controls. Consistently, migraine subgroups (4-7 MHDs, 8-14 MHDs and CM) had lower HRQoL, greater overall work and activity impairment, and higher HRU compared to non-migraine controls.Conclusions: Migraine of ≥4 MHDs was associated with poorer HRQoL, greater work productivity loss, and higher HRU compared with non-migraine controls. The findings of the study suggest that an unmet need exists among individuals suffering from ≥4 MHDs in the EU5 suggesting the need for effective prophylactic treatments to lessen the humanistic and economic burden of migraine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]