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In the span of two years, Sri Lanka saw one of the biggest protests in South Asia, ousted a president and his government, defaulted on its sovereign debt, declared bankruptcy, appointed an unelected president, went to the IMF for a bailout loan, delayed elections, moved even further away from justice and reconciliation, and celebrated 75 years of independence. While the resignation of president Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his family from government hinted at change for the country, the appointment of Ranil Wickremesinghe demonstrated a firm commitment to lack of reform or accountability. Austerity, intimidation, instability, and further decay followed. These economic and non-economic shocks converged to reveal a country where multiple crises of dissent, debt, decay, and decline were inextricably bound together, with no way forward yet in sight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent literature argues that with ever‐increasing levels of supranational constraints governments have less 'room to manoeuvre'; therefore, voters will place less weight on policy outcomes in their voting decisions. The question that remains less explored is how voters fill this accountability gap. We argue that, in this context, voters may move away from outcome‐ to input‐oriented voting. Fulfilling their promises becomes less vital for incumbents as long as they exhibit effort to overturn an unpopular policy framework. We test this argument against a survey experiment conducted in the run‐up to the September 2015 election in Greece, where we find a positive impact of the incumbent's exerted effort to challenge the status quo of austerity on vote intention for SYRIZA – the senior coalition government partner at the time – despite the failed outcome of the government's bailout negotiations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I discuss the possibilities and limitations of restructuring laws against the background of geopolitical shocks such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the current energy crisis. I make two claims, one narrow and focused on German bankruptcy law, and one broad with a cross-jurisdictional reach. My narrow claim relates to 'StaRUG', the new German restructuring regime. I argue that this law is a superfluous and flawed instrument. It should be repealed. My second claim is much broader. I argue that bankruptcy laws, including restructuring laws, are generally ill-suited to deal with the economic consequences of geopolitical or macroeconomic shocks as a 'first line of defence'. Bankruptcy laws are not designed to provide the structural assistance at scale which the businesses affected by these shocks need. At the same time, massive state aid for distressed businesses in times of crisis and, in particular, ad hoc bailouts of large critical firms are also problematic. I propose that firms' resilience against geopolitical or macroeconomic shocks should be strengthened, and that best practices ('Principles') for bailouts should be developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the main features of the restructuring of the Spanish banking system after the 2008 crisis. The Bank of Spain -the enforcement arm of the European Central Bank's policy- and successive governments accentuated the oligopolistic nature of Spanish banking, as their measures contributed to limit internal competition (eliminating savings banks) and to socialize the costs of the bank bailout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I A Research Agenda for Regional and Local Government i by Mark Callanan and John Loughlin is a forward-looking edited collection which attempts to construct and justify exploratory scholarship on regional and local government (Callanan & Loughlin, [1]). This is clearly linked to the cohering theme of the financial crisis, as, The League, as an example by the authors, did not lead any regional government prior to the crisis, and now commands governance of four Italian regions. As such, this typology is pioneering and future scholarship on this area is welcomed, particularly amidst the COVID-19 crisis and its potential reconfiguration of decentralization and regional authority following the financial crisis. Explicitly focusing on the financial crisis, the authors comparatively analyse similarities and differences of the EU's impact on regional and local governance surrounding the crisis. [Extracted from the article]

How can governments implement foreign economic policies that are popular among political elites but unpopular among their voters? Studying international financial rescues, we argue that governments strategically frame policies in an attempt to minimize their expected political costs, which increases their ability to implement those policies successfully. We theorize that framing strategies allow governments to offer financial bailouts, and we test the resulting hypotheses using an integrative mixed‐methods approach. We trace the underlying causal mechanism of our argument with a typical case study of the U.S. bailout of Mexico during the 1995 peso crisis, test whether a credible threat of migration increases the likelihood of bailouts using an original data set of bailouts by 36 Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) countries to 108 crisis countries over a span of 40 years and analyze a central assumption of our theory with a survey experiment on over 3,000 U.S. residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses New Zealand's strong interest in open international aviation and trade links. It mentions that after the second world war, the trade regime started opening up under the 1947 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade agreement, but the aviation regime remained nationalistic. It assesses how the improvements came about, and the roles New Zealand played must delve into Australia–New Zealand aviation and trade tensions, and government bailouts of Air New Zealand.

After a long period in the doldrums with austerity measures and consecutive bailouts, Greece still bears the scars of the recent financial adventure while strives to recover in a new economic environment. As one of the hardest-hit by the economic crisis Member states, Greece has seen its economic capacity reduced, the unemployment and poverty levels rising, and the living conditions for a significant part of the population and social groups deteriorating. Despite the plethora of analyses on the political and socio-economic perspectives, the evolution of social vulnerability remains a largely unexplored area that merits further investigation and analysis in a crisis-ridden country of the European South. The paper aims to study how social vulnerability has evolved in Greece from 2008 to 2017 using secondary data and descriptive statistics that focus on five key variables (disposable income, education, employment, gender, urban/rural environment) for a better understanding of the domestic social vulnerability dynamics in a period of stark contrasts. Overall, our findings demonstrate an increased risk of social exclusion and a widening of inequality and poverty rates during the stated period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every several years, usually after a national recession, and also as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, states enter financial difficulties. These difficulties spur a debate, both in the political arena and in the academic literature, concerning the appropriate federal response. Some advocate for federal bailouts to rescue the distressed states, while others argue that the states need to deal with their troubles independently or with the help of state bankruptcy legislation. The Article explores the proper federal response to states' fiscal crises. The Article argues that the current (suggested) responses--state bankruptcy and ex-post discretionary federal bailout--are problematic solutions. On the one hand, a bankruptcy procedure is inadequate to deal with state economic crises, but on the other hand discretionary bailouts often come too late and create moral hazard and political agency concerns. Instead of these ex-post solutions, the Article suggests the adoption of an ex ante federal assistance scheme. This scheme employs automatic fiscal stabilizers and the Federal Reserve's authority as a lender of last resort, in order to assist states to deal with economic downturns as they develop. It is designed to induce the recovery of the states' and the national economies by enabling states to address their fiscal crises without implementing destructive contractionary measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of COVID-19 on air transport is unprecedented and some well-known airline brands may disappear as a result. Governments around the world have responded swiftly to cushion the financial impact by offering direct wage subsidies, tax relief, loans, etc. This paper explores the government's appropriate responses to failing airlines' bailout request by examining the case of Virgin Australia. Following the bailout policy principles established in the literature, we suggest that bankruptcy protection should be considered as the first solution to a failing carrier. A bailout decision should be guided by a set of principles and procedures, which should not be taken lightly. Our analysis also shows that the government cannot take a hands-off approach in the absence of private lenders and investors, as the costs to consumers and regional residents would be huge if the carrier could not get through the COVID-19 pandemic. A minimum level of assistance with conditions might be needed to maintain market competition. • This paper explores the government's appropriate responses to failing airlines' bailout request. • We study the case of Virgin Australia. • The possible solutions to save the failing airline are explored. • Bankruptcy protection can be considered as the first solution. • A strong analytical framework is needed to inform the government's bailout policy towards the air transport sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article traces the emergence of the concept of 'group solution' and its manifestations in insolvency law and bank resolution as an alternative to the rigid entity-by-entity approach. The rise of this concept can be linked to the recognition of the specificity of problems related to the insolvency of multinational enterprise groups, arising from group operational and financial interconnectedness. This has not happened at once, but has resulted from the evolution of views and ideas, evident in hard and soft law instruments of the 2000s and the 2010s. In light of this important development the article explores the concept of a group solution, its rationale, scope of application and limitations. It concludes that despite the gradual acceptance of the group phenomenon, a group solution has not been formed as a coherent and well-defined legal principle. Instead, it represents a variety of approaches, tools and practices, which pursue different policy objectives underpinned by different societal values. Among them are asset value maximization, business rescue, the protection of financial stability and the preservation of banks' critical functions. With all its flexibility, a group solution has one pervasive limitation—it cannot trump the interests of individual group members and their creditors. At the same time, in order to realize the full potential of a group solution, it is necessary to embrace the group-sensitive and forward-looking interpretation of creditors' interest, facilitating commercially sensible and practical group solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the relationships between financial constraints, government subsidies, and corporate innovation, a semi-logarithmic fixed-effect panel model and mediation effect test were applied, based on the data of Chinese listed companies from 2007 to 2017. We find that (1) financial constraints suppress corporate innovation. (2) Government subsidies are targeted at bailing out firms facing financial constraints. (3) Government subsidies promote corporate innovation (4) Government subsidies partially offset the suppression of financial constraints on innovation. We contribute to the fields of public finance, corporate finance, and corporate innovation by: (1) justifying the government subsidies target strategy as a bailout of corporate financial constraints, (2) verifying the corporate-innovation promotion of government subsidies, thus justifying the efficiency of government subsidies, and (3) showing that different types of innovation benefit differently from subsidies, thus justifying subsidies as a structural innovation engine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the Dutch policy reaction to the financial crisis in the public transport sector caused by Covid-19. Using the multi-level governance theory complemented with the notion of informal governance, the analysis explains the decision-making that defined a State-aid scheme to public transport operators following a process of consultation and concertation between state and non-state actors across governance tiers. To agree on a financial rescue package, these actors engage in front-stage and back-stage political interactions, constrained and enabled by formal and informal governance structures and practices. By analyzing how the interplay between the political mobilization of actors, policy-making arrangements, and existing polity structures shapes political alignment around the financial support scheme, the paper concludes that the crisis did not change customary governance and policy-making practices. Stakeholders sought their usual partners and followed existing routines in path-dependent ways to address the policy challenge brought by Covid-19. Despite being triggered by a major exogenous shock, the policy response to the crisis was driven mainly by endogenous forces; the decision-making mechanism remained the same and the network of actors did not shrink or expand. • Multi-level governance decision-making establishes State-aid scheme for operators. • Informal practices of consultation and concertation drive response to crisis. • State and non-state actors cross governance levels in front and back-stage politics. • Customary governance routines remain in place despite shock with crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The core insight of the new EU framework for bank resolution is to allocate losses to bank's insiders (bail-inable creditors). This affects both financial stability and the corporate governance of banks. The current academic debate on bank resolution overlooks the relevance of identifying the investors in bail-inable securities (ie who is going to bear losses) and the role of counterparty risk. This article identifies the investors that are better suited to hold those instruments and highlights the trade-offs between the corporate governance role and the threat to financial stability posed by different investors. The article demonstrates that the composition of bail-inable debtholders matters and shows – empirically and theoretically – a transition towards a desirable composition of holders; although a considerable room for improvement remains. This exercise deepens the understanding of the impact of the resolution framework and the importance of counterparties for its credibility and future applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Zombie lending cannot stop the supply chain propagation of business failure. • Such an intervention bears a salient cost by distorting efficiency-based firm exit. • Trade credit is an important channel in the exit distortion. • The distortion is more profound in industries with higher financial constraints. • The tightness of supplier-customer relationship also amplifies the distortion. This paper studies whether the bailout of downstream firms helps stop the supply chain propagation of business failure. By analyzing persistent zombie lending in China, we show that such a bailout policy does not work. Zombie lending to downstream firms does not reduce the exit likelihood of upstream firms. Worse, it distorts efficiency-based firm exit in upstream industries. The exit distortion effect works through the trade credit chain and is more profound in industries with stricter financial constraints and tighter supply chain connections. Our findings reveal the importance of credit allocation efficiency for the Schumpeterian process of creative destruction that is essential for economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous literature is rather inconclusive concerning the impact of state ownership on banks. We report that its overall impact is not monotonic as it has so far been implicitly assumed, and that it depends on a contemporaneous conflicting impact on risk and financial performance. This suggests the existence of an optimal level, which we investigate by comparing the relative "overall performance" and efficiency of the institutions. We show that a minimal presence, as opposed to no state ownership can improve performance and efficiency, reduce the likelihood of a bailout, while it is less costly compared to capital injections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Legislators' private financial holdings affect policy decisions. Due to financial self‐interest, we theorize that legislators whose personal investment portfolios include equities from firms affected by proposed policies vote for legislation that benefits those firms. We also theorize that legislators with greater personal exposure to equity investments support policies that benefit equities markets generally. We create a novel data set of legislators' personal stock investments and examine major congressional actions since the 1990s on financial deregulation and market intervention. US House members who own stocks in firms who benefit from financial deregulation vote for deregulation. House members with greater exposure to financial and automotive stocks support the financial and auto bailouts, respectively. General exposure to equities markets is also associated with support for key legislation boosting markets. The normative implications are significant, as legislators' private interests influence decisions in the public sphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on unemployment claims filed by several Americans as result of economic devastation due to the coronavirus pandemic and mentions U.S. stock market that was recorded in April 2020. Topics discussed inlcude back of corporations made clear by Republican senators and president Donald Trump, share holders allowed to enrich when economic recovers allowed by provisions on the bailout restrictions and enhancement of market value.

The article examines the policies for relief and rescue within the theorization of legal elasticity in Katharina Pistor's legal theory of finance. Topics discussed include relief and rescue policies in the U.S., Great Britain and the European Union, impact of debt expansion on corporations and households, and methodological framework for mapping long-term policy and reform considerations that address the adverse consequences of corporate and household fragility.

Human-induced climate crisis is destroying the capacity of our planet to support our species and other life at an unprecedented rate. The most urgent of climate crisis tipping points is Arctic warming and sea ice loss. It is estimated that Arctic summer sea ice loss, that could—based on current trends—occur in one or two decades, would cause an abrupt 0.5 Watts per square meter increase in global warming above preindustrial levels that would be roughly equivalent to the effect of more than seventeen years of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions if it occurred today. A Global Green New Deal (GGND) will require at least three phases and three funding sources. The three overlapping phases are (a) short-run climate restoration or triage, (b) medium-term soil carbon sponge and water cycle adaptation or regeneration, and (c) long-run GHG drawdown or mitigation. The three funding sources are (a) utilizing the sovereign of the US government and Federal Reserve to create dollars, (b) taxing GHG emissions, and (c) taxing wealthy and high-income individuals with a particular focus on rentiers. The ex-nihilo financial support offered by the Fed to bail out the global financial system from 2008 to 2011 would have been almost sufficient to fund a 2020–2050 comprehensive GGND that includes all of the components above. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empirical evidence suggests that managerial overconfidence and government guarantees contribute substantially to excessive risk-taking in the banking industry. This paper incorporates managerial overconfidence and limited bank liability into a principal-agent model, where the bank manager unobservably chooses the level of risk. An overconfident manager overestimates the returns to risk. Our main result is that managerial overconfidence necessitates an intervention into banker pay. This is due to the bank's exploitation of the manager's overvaluation of bonuses, which causes excessive risk-taking in equilibrium and is amplified by government guarantees. Moreover, we show that an optimal bonus tax rises in overconfidence, if returns to risk-taking are positive. Finally, the model indicates that overconfident managers are more likely to be found in banks with large government guarantees, low bonus taxes, and lax capital requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Staged esophagectomy was developed in the mid-twentieth century in an attempt to reduce high rates of postoperative morbidity and mortality. Nowadays, the operation has almost been abandoned due to its significant disadvantages, especially the need for multiple surgeries, inability of patients to feed between operations, and morbidity of esophageal stoma. However, staged esophagectomy is still occasionally useful for very high-risk patients and in particular cases, for example multiple cancers of the aerodigestive tract and emergent esophagectomy. Staged esophagectomy is based on the division of surgical stress into two operations, which gives the patient time to recover before final restoration. Gastric tube ischemic preparation may be a more important mechanism in staged esophagectomy. This approach may survive and expand with the application of ischemic gastric pre-conditioning through embolization or laparoscopic ligation of the gastric arteries, which is a less explored and promising technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Euro-crisis, the subsequent bailout efforts and 'institution-building' have triggered intense contestation. How these measures have changed the dynamics of integration, but also their democratic implications remain uncertain. This article examines the responses taken by the EU and its member state governments, the financial mechanisms, EFSM, EFSF, and ESM in particular. Their institutional character and how they conform to or diverge from previous institutional development in the EU are assessed. Building upon that, we address their connection with the democratic dilemma of the EU. European integration has long relied on balancing between intergovernmentalism and the supranational 'Community method'. A growing preponderance of intergovernmentalism in the delicate policy area of fiscal and economic governance could be understood as a protection to member state autonomy. However, such developments can exacerbate multiple asymmetries and have problematic implications for democratic legitimacy, not just at EU level, but also for the member states themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why do common-pool problems persist over time in federations? The literature shows that macro institutional, economic, and political incentives facilitate bailouts through intergovernmental transfers and debt management. Little research, however, explores the legislative mechanisms that prevent common-pool problems from being effectively addressed. This article focuses on a most central mechanism: tax lawmaking. We argue that lawmakers, whose careers rest in the hands of provincial constituencies, administer the legislative process to promote bills that protect the federal transfers that finance vertical fiscal imbalances and to amend proposals that seek to change them. Using an expert-coded dataset designed to assess the direction and magnitude of tax policy change, as described by the amendments proposed by legislators to the full set of tax bills proposed to the Argentine Congress since 1983, we document the legislative dynamics underpinning the common-pool problems of decentralized fiscal federal arrangements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intracranial vascular malformations are increasingly being treated via the endovascular route. Though generally safe, a multitude of intraprocedural complications that potentially lead to disastrous clinical outcomes may arise. It is crucial for the operators to be well versed with the various techniques that are available to overcome any procedure-specific complications. We present 2 cases in which we encountered premature intravascular detachment of the microcatheter tip and coil migration while treating a dural arteriovenous fistula and aneurysm, respectively. We used a stentriever to remove the detached microcatheter tip and suction using the reperfusion catheter to remove the migrated coil, both techniques that have not been reported in the literature thus far. Detached microcatheter tip and migrated coil were successfully retrieved using a stentriever and aspiration catheter. These novel techniques could potentially reduce mortality and morbidity associated with neurointervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses a pathway towards achieving fiscal union in the euro area. It outlines three steps and their prerequisites. In the first step, Banking Union would be completed to increase the financial stability of the euro area. It would render the "no bailout" clause more credible and thereby allow to deal better with insolvent governments. In the second step, more centralised funds would be created in order to provide important public goods and in order to deal with large asymmetric shocks. The third step, which is currently unattainable, consists of a true federalisation of important government functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accelerating financialization and rising societal wealth have meant that democratic governments increasingly provide bailouts following banking crises. Using a new long-run data set, we show that despite frequent and virulent crises before World War II, bank bailouts to protect wealth were then exceptionally rare. In recent decades, by contrast, governments have increasingly opted for extensive bailouts—well before the major interventions of 2007–2009. We argue that this policy shift is the consequence of the "great expectations" of middle-class voters overlooked in existing accounts. Associated with the growing financialization of wealth, rising leverage, and accumulating ex ante financial stabilization commitments by governments, these expectations are suggestive of substantially altered policy preferences and political cleavages. Since the 1970s, when severe banking crises returned as an important threat to middle-class wealth, this "pressure from below" has led elected governments to provide increasingly costly bailouts with no historical precedent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We develop a theoretical model in which there are public and private firms and a government. When firms become insolvent, the government can intervene with bailouts or nationalizations. The government only intervenes when the bankruptcy of a firm entails social costs. In this setting, we analyze how government interventions affect allocative and productive efficiency. Nationalizations of private firms after unprofitable investments lead to increased allocative efficiency despite private ownership. The effort level chosen by the managers and employees working for a firm is also affected by the possibility of government interventions, reducing the productive efficiency advantage of private firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article asks what kind of state intervention is needed for a post-Covid recovery. The government bailout will seek to sustain a modified form of neoliberalism, but what is needed is a bailout for society from the wreckage of the neoliberal paradigm. The outlines of a strategy for the UK economy are presented: at its heart is a radical industrial policy that prioritises social infrastructure, a green transition and providing quality employment opportunities, while paying particular attention to the functioning of the foundational economy. An active labour market policy (ALMP) is also needed, which turns away from a focus on conditionality for those on benefits, and instead focuses support on industries less affected by the pandemic and its implications for demand, including through securing a workforce that is ready to populate them. Conditionality should, on the other hand, be imposed on firms receiving government support. Bailout 2.0 must also involve intervention designed to create new public assets, managed via new forms of democratic ownership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The July 2019 parliamentary election was the first national election since Greece officially exited the eight-year bailout programmes in August 2018. It was preceded by three ballots on European Parliament, regional and municipal elections in May 2019, which served as a decompression valve for the electorate to punish the incumbent government and indicate a clear will for governmental change, since the conservative party ND won by a landslide. Whereas ND's victory in the parliamentary election was anticipated, it was its scale that would define the shape of the new government. Increasing its score by 11.76 points since September 2015, ND won 39.85% of the vote, securing a comfortable majority of 158 out of 300 seats. This is the first majority government in Greece since 2011, marking the return of the country to a new normality. Even if SYRIZA failed to deliver the anti-bailout programme which had initially brought the party to the centre of electoral competition, it still gathered 31.53% of the vote, losing just 3.93 points since its last victory in 2015, hence securing its place as one of the two key actors in the new two-partyism. Party fragmentation was limited to six parliamentary parties instead of eight, with the neo-Nazi party, Golden Dawn, having lost its parliamentary representation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What explains the sharp divide in European public attitudes toward Grexit? We explore this question using original surveys from four of the largest European economies. We contend that differences in economic self-interest, and the often-mentioned chasm between supporters of mainstream and extremist parties, provide little insight into the public divide over Grexit. Instead, we show that the key factor is the split between the left and the right. We then develop and test a set of theoretical explanations for the prominence of this cleavage. We find that the left-right divide over Grexit is not driven by differences in attitudes on redistribution, levels of empathy, or general European Union support. Instead, left and right voters seem to have different expectations about how a default and exit of a currency-union member would affect the European economy. These expectations likely reflect differences in core beliefs about the consequences of a free-market approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Can positive expectations help foster resiliency against adversity? In this study, we used high-frequency panel data, to examine how positive as compared to neutral and negative expectations can buffer the negative impact on subjective well-being generated by an adverse event, the announcement of the Greek bailout referendum in July 2015. Results show that individuals with more positive expectations for the future before the referendum announcement experienced smaller decreases in subjective well-being and adapted quicker to this adverse event. In addition, we found evidence that individuals who shifted from positive to negative expectations before and during the adverse event, respectively, had significantly lower subjective well-being than individuals who had consistent positive expectations. This finding supports the view that optimism, or consistent positive expectations, and even positive mindsets, as indicated by lacks of shifts to negativity, can be a source of resilience that helps individuals cope and adapt quicker to adverse events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The non-implementation of certain key initiatives of South African Airways' (SAA's) turnaround strategy poses a risk that SAA may not recover financially. Objectives: The establishment of SWISS (previously known as Crossair and Swiss International Air Lines) as a successor airline to Swissair's liquidation was studied to determine the viability of closure and restart of a smaller successor state-owned airline as an alternative option to a sudden liquidation of SAA. Method: The study is based on a literature review of analysis, official reports and financial results. Results: Three distinct phases for the establishment of the successor airline for Swissair were identified: (1) Financial distress of the SAirGroup (Swissair's holding company) and the factors which contributed to Swissair's demise. (2) The transition from Swissair to SWISS. Swissair's grounding was caused by a liquidity crunch followed the announcement of bankruptcy protection. Flight operations were restarted a few days later with financial support from both the State and the private sector. Some of Swissair's assets, routes, staff and flight operations were transferred to a subsidiary, Crossair, as successor airline, later re-branded as SWISS. SWISS, however, continued to incur losses despite progressively reduced scale of activities and four restructuring plans. (3) As a Swiss-based national airline SWISS, which became profitable following its acquisition by Lufthansa. Conclusion: The transformation of SWISS as successor airline to Swissair is an option to mitigate the risk of a sudden service disruption of SAA. Serious pitfalls require detailed preparation and funding before implementation. SWISS only became successful following its acquisition by Lufthansa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically examines the health reform trajectory in Greece in the last decade. The first part provides an overview of the Greek healthcare system shortly before the crisis, with an emphasis on the incomplete development of a national health system beset by inequalities in coverage and funding. At the backdrop of the crippling debt-crisis that engulfed the country in the late 2000s, the second part of the study tracks the major healthcare reforms under the successive bailout packages. These are examined from the point of view of whether they can secure the public system's long-term viability and promote equity, or if they contribute to its withering away instead. The third part of the article looks at the impact of the austerity-driven reforms on inequalities in healthcare, highlighting some major findings regarding health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With its old core classified as a World Heritage Site since 1996, Porto has recently been experiencing a tourism boom. Voted 'Best European Destination' of the year three times since 2012, this mid-size city core area is experiencing an economic renewal after decades of neglect. Many of the new ventures are tourism-orientated: restaurants, bars, hostels, short stay apartments and specialised crafts shops are populating previously derelict eighteenth and nineteenth century buildings, bringing new life to previously depopulated streets. Most of these ventures are fronted by middle class individuals who saw their traditional economic outlets wither during the Portuguese economic crisis and consequent international bailout in 2011. This paper analyses a particular tourism venture: a walking tour of the city called 'The Worst Tours'. The offspring of three architects, these tours differentiate themselves by not aligning within a hegemonic model of tourism that focuses on the built heritage of the UNESCO classification and its historical discourse on the city, offering instead a more politically engaged discourse in which the urban and social impacts provoked by Portugal's economic downturn and the touristification of the city's economy are highlighted and discussed with the tour participants. I will approach the tour through the lens of critical cosmopolitanism and the idea of a cosmopolitan imagination producing new relations between self, other and the world in moments of openness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How did the Eurozone bailouts affect national democracies? Recent research indicates strong citizen detachment due to the external constraints imposed by bailout programs on national autonomy. This paper re-examines the detachment thesis by broadening the view toward multiple dimensions of democracy and effect heterogeneity across time and space. Using the generalized synthetic control method, we find a negative effect of bailouts on satisfaction with democracy and turnout but show that effects vanish after several years and vary strongly across bailout cases. In addition, we find resilient attitudes and behaviors in spite of national democratic institutions that continue to deteriorate. These findings indicate that economic policy outcomes have a stronger influence on satisfaction with democracy and electoral turnout than the quality of the democratic process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Eurozone and migration crises have reconfigured sovereignty in the European Union. The Eurozone has moved from an outright prohibition to a conditional acceptance of bailouts, and the Schengen regime has extended into the long sacrosanct national turf of border control. Building on recent scholarship on sovereignty practices, we argue that EU leaders worked out crisis responses that shifted broad understandings of how sovereignty was practiced. Our main claim is that politicization, in situations of crisis, can accelerate the reconfiguration of fragile sovereignty practices. After a crisis reveals the vulnerability of existing sovereignty practices, EU leaders search for integrationist remedies, incorporate sovereignty concerns as key reform ingredients, and coalesce to marginalize sovereignty claims that threaten integration. This logic calls into question the widespread view that politicization necessarily carries dismal prospects for integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]