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How did the relation between Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and government develop during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, once governments had taken restrictive measures to lock down economic and public life? Austria is used as an example of a corporatist welfare state whereby collaboration between government and CSOs occurs particularly in the fields of social services, health-care, and youth. Our analysis focuses on the social service sector and differentiates between several social policy fields. We hereby analyze data from qualitative interviews with CEOs from 30 CSOs, four group discussions with another 30 representatives of CSOs, public agencies and authorities, and from a standardized questionnaire (n = 99 CSOs). We also utilize our own experiences as participant observers in meetings between CSOs and government. Results indicate that CSOs suffered financially partly due to a decrease in income, though mostly due to an increase in cost. In social services in particular, they also faced hardships caused by the need to reorganize operations and human resources, and by the increased demands of customers. Federal government took responsibility for supporting CSOs financially, though such support was hampered by unclear competencies in Austria’s multilayered federal system.

This article examines inequalities in the spatial accessibility of childcare between high- and low-status neighbourhoods in the city of Vienna and asks (i) whether specific public and non-profit provider types contribute to these inequalities and (ii) which factors may cause these inequalities in a mainly tax-funded childcare system. For our analysis, we combine data on the location and characteristics of childcare providers with spatially granular information on demand and neighbourhood characteristics. The results show that two provider types – church-related and independent non-profit providers – are mainly responsible for the higher accessibility of childcare in neighbourhoods with higher socio-economic status. Specifically independent providers charge significantly higher prices and offer more special services in these high-status areas. Public funding of a large part of the production costs, therefore, seems insufficient to ensure equal access in all neighbourhoods. These findings suggest that the exclusive comparison between public, private non-profit and private for-profit providers often found in the literature may be too narrow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infestations by the Eurasian spruce bark beetle, Ips typographus have recently caused peaks in Norway spruce mortality in Central European forests. In this study, we examined how temperature conditions, chronic and acute drought stress, and stand characteristics influence forest disturbance by the spruce bark beetle. We investigated bark beetle induced salvage logging in Norway spruce stands of Austrian Federal Forests (ÖBf) as a proxy variable for infestation/attack by I. typographus. Utilizing ÖBf forest inventory data and the monitoring tool PHENIPS-TDEF, a well-proven bark beetle phenology model combined with a forest water balance module, we retrospectively simulated effective temperature sums for bark beetle development and transpiration deficits at forest stand level. We examined forest stand properties and the model output variables as predictors of bark beetle attack in decision trees and binary logistic regression analysis. We found that I. typographus infestation increased with a stand predisposition index indicating high share of Norway spruce, increased stand age, and stand density. Stands subject to bark beetle attack in the previous year were highly prone to subsequent damage, which points to attack pressure from increased population densities due to ample supply of breeding material. While chronically dry soil conditions described as shallow, xeric, and of low moisture, were associated with bark beetle infestation to a lesser degree, acute drought in the form of increases in stand transpiration deficits proved to raise the probability of bark beetle attacks. The previous year's and current year's summer (June to August) TDEF total, in combination with effective thermal sums allowing for at least two bark beetle generations and sister broods, were significant predictors of bark beetle attack. We conclude from our results that in the absence of windthrow, a combination of ample host availability, favorable temperature conditions for bark beetle development, and acute disposition of trees to attack caused by drought stress can intensify population growth and very likely lead to bark beetle mass outbreaks.

This article provides theory and evidence on the spatial determinants of regional patient flows. We develop a theoretical model that explains a patient's choice to consult a general practitioner by a measure of spatial accessibility. We empirically test this gravity‐type model using regional patient flows and detailed data on the spatial distribution of residents and physicians in Austria. Our measure of spatial accessibility is a crucial determinant of patient flows that substantially increases the explanatory power of regular gravity models. Counterfactual simulations show heterogeneous effects of exiting physicians on health‐care accessibility and patient mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6435.2010.00489.x Byline: Astrid Pennerstorfer (1), Ulrike Schneider (1) Abstract: SUMMARY Existing research in labor economics has rarely accounted for non-profit status in examining wage dispersion. Contrariwise, in non-profit sector research, little has been said so far about (intra-organizational) wage dispersion. Scattered findings from previous work indicate that wage dispersion is smaller in non-profit organizations (NPOs) as compared to for-profits (FPOs). Fairness perceptions and high moral ideals of workers within this sector are often cited as reasons for this assumption. Empirically, however, the reasons for inter-sectoral differences remain obscure. In our analysis, we concentrate on specific characteristics of NPOs as compared to FPOs. More specifically, this paper is to address the question if volunteer workers, donations and public subsidies influence the within-firm wage dispersion in NPOs. In order to answer this research question we use Austrian matched employer-employee data collected in 2006. We estimate an instrument variable regression and find that NPOs that employ volunteer workers and NPOs with a more even mix between paid and unpaid staff display smaller wage dispersion. Donations and public subsidies augment the wage dispersion. Author Affiliation: (1)Vienna University of Economics and Business, Nordbergstrasse 15, 1090 Vienna