What explains prevalence of informal employment in European countries : the role of labor institutions, governance, immigrants, and growth

This paper looks into institutional and other macro determinants of prevalence of informal dependent employment, as well as informal self-employment, in European countries, using European Social Survey data on work without legal contract in on 30 countries, covering years 2004-2009. Consistently with theoretical predictions, quality of business environment has a significant negative impact on prevalence of both types of informal employment. The share of non-contracted employees is negatively affected by perceived quality of public services and positively related to economic growth. Informal self-employment is positively related to growth in Europe at large, as well as in Eastern and Southern Europe. The level of GDP per capita also has a positive impact on the prevalence of informal employment in Europe at large and within Eastern and Southern Europe, whilst an opposite effect is found in Western and Northern Europe. Other things equal, the share of non-contracted employees in the labor force across European countries increases with the minimum-to-average wage ratio, with union density, with the share of first and second generation immigrants, and with income inequality, but falls with stricter employment protection legislation (EPL) and higher tax wedge on labor. Thus it appears that in Europe at large, labor cost effects of EPL and taxes are weaker than their impact via perceptions of job security and law enforcement, along with tax morale and the income effect. Yet the EPL effect on informality is positive (i.e., cost-related) when either Eastern and Southern Europe or Western and Northern Europe are considered separately. Furthermore, within Western and Northern Europe, the minimum wage effect is negative, whilst within Eastern and Southern Europe, the union effect is negative; in both cases, we offer a supply side explanation.Labor Markets,Labor Policies,Debt Markets,Economic Theory&Research,Markets and Market Access

Crop monitoring in Europe - MARS Bulletin Vol. 23 No 10 (2015) - Difficult start for winter crops in Eastern and Northern Europe

Yield forecasts for summer crops at EU-28 level remain low and are comparable to last month’s forecast. September was warmer than usual in northern, eastern and south-eastern Europe and colder than usual in western Europe. October has generally been colder than usual so far, especially during the second dekad, when negative minimum temperatures occurred in many areas of central and eastern Europe. Wetterthan- usual conditions were recorded in south-eastern Europe, south-eastern France, central and southern Italy, northern Germany and several parts of northern Europe. Large areas in south-eastern Europe faced a period of abundant rains slowing down the harvesting activities of maize and sunflower and hampering the sowing of winter crops. Dry conditions have persisted in Poland, Lithuania, western Ukraine and southern Russia. In these regions, the winter crops sown in September germinated under unfavourable conditions which further worsened due to the low temperatures that occurred in October. The sowing of winter cereals has progressed without major problems in the EU’s largest producing states, France, Germany and the UK.JRC.H.4-Monitoring Agricultural Resource

Regional differences in the profile of disabled community-dwelling older adults: a European population-based cross-sectional study

The main objective of this work was to estimate the prevalence of disability in European community-dwelling older adults, as well as to investigate differences in the profile of disabled older adults between European regions (Northern, Central, Eastern and Southern). A cross-sectional study based on wave 6 (2015) of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) was conducted. Community-dwelling participants aged 65-84 were selected (n = 33,369). Disability was defined as presenting at least one functional limitation in basic activities of daily living (BADL). Sociodemographic, health services, lifestyle and health-related variables were analyzed. Statistical analysis was carried out through the Chi-square and ANOVA tests for bivariate analysis, and Poisson regression for multivariate analysis. Overall prevalence of disability was 13.8%: 9.4% in the Northern region, 13.1% in the Southern region, 13.6% in the Central region, and 16.6% in the Eastern region. Portugal, Poland, Estonia and Belgium showed the highest prevalence of BADL limitations, while Sweden, Denmark, Greece and Switzerland showed the lowest prevalence. Besides, disabled older adults from East Europe presented the most disadvantaged health profile, followed by the Southern region. On the other hand, disabled older adults living in the Northern region showed the most advantaged characteristics of most variables, except for smoking and polypharmacy

North American liaisons

Not only are there strong cultural connections between Northern Ireland and North America, but much of the geology of Northern Ireland is related to its shared history with the eastern seaboard of Canada and the USA. Even the opening of the Atlantic Ocean and the parting of North America from Europe left the Giant’s Causeway as a legacy. Events like this over geological time have given Northern Ireland a greater geological diversity than any similar-sized area on Earth and have provided opportunities to explore for minerals, to understand how we can manage groundwater sustainably and to enthuse generations about the mysteries of our landscape

Clover rot (Sclerotinia trifolium) and Fusarium fungi in organic red clover in Finland

Sclerotinia trifolium is economically one of the most important pathogens of red clover in Europe and North America, while many Fusarium species can cause root rot in red clover in certain environmental conditions. During the years 2003-2004 S. trifolium was found only in the Northern and Eastern part of Finland, although in 1960's it was common everywhere in Finland

Overview Chapter 3: Birth regulation in Europe

Early in the 21st century modern contraception -- primarily hormonal methods, advanced IUDs, sterilization and condoms -- has become the main instrument of birth regulation in Northern and Western Europe and gaining ground in Southern Europe and the formerly state socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Legal induced abortion use, which was highly prevalent in Central and Eastern Europe, has been declining since the demise of authoritarian regimes around 1990. Nonetheless, abortions are still used in countries of the former Soviet Union and the Balkans, where the “abortion culture†had been deeply ingrained. Liberal abortion legislation, modern induced abortion technology, and modern contraceptives, have enhanced women’s health, been instrumental in childbearing postponement, have been a factor in changing partnership relations, and in the evolution of values regarding sexuality, reproduction, and childbearing, but they have not been a principal cause of contemporary low fertility. Assisted reproductive technology (ART) is emerging and having a slight positive impact on fertility in some countries.childbearing, contraception, Europe, fertility

Northern Hemisphere winter snow anomalies: ENSO, NAO and the winter of 2009/10

Winter 2009/10 had anomalously large snowfall in the central parts of the United States and in northwestern Europe. Connections between seasonal snow anomalies and the large scale atmospheric circulation are explored. An El Niño state is associated with positive snowfall anomalies in the southern and central United States and along the eastern seaboard and negative anomalies to the north. A negative NAO causes positive snow anomalies across eastern North America and in northern Europe. It is argued that increased snowfall in the southern U.S. is contributed to by a southward displaced storm track but further north, in the eastern U.S. and northern Europe, positive snow anomalies arise from the cold temperature anomalies of a negative NAO. These relations are used with observed values of NINO3 and the NAO to conclude that the negative NAO and El Niño event were responsible for the northern hemisphere snow anomalies of winter 2009/10

Evidence for West Nile Virus and Usutu Virus Infections in Wild and Resident Birds in Germany, 2017 and 2018

Wild birds play an important role as reservoir hosts and vectors for zoonotic arboviruses and foster their spread. Usutu virus (USUV) has been circulating endemically in Germany since 2011, while West Nile virus (WNV) was first diagnosed in several bird species and horses in 2018. In 2017 and 2018, we screened 1709 live wild and zoo birds with real-time polymerase chain reaction and serological assays. Moreover, organ samples from bird carcasses submitted in 2017 were investigated. Overall, 57 blood samples of the live birds (2017 and 2018), and 100 organ samples of dead birds (2017) were positive for USUV-RNA, while no WNV-RNA-positive sample was found. Phylogenetic analysis revealed the first detection of USUV lineage Europe 2 in Germany and the spread of USUV lineages Europe 3 and Africa 3 towards Northern Germany. USUV antibody prevalence rates were high in Eastern Germany in both years. On the contrary, in Northern Germany, high seroprevalence rates were first detected in 2018, with the first emergence of USUV in this region. Interestingly, high WNV-specific neutralizing antibody titers were observed in resident and short-distance migratory birds in Eastern Germany in 2018, indicating the first signs of a local WNV circulation

Between the Balkans and the Baltic : phylogeography of a common vole mitochondrial DNA lineage limited to Central Europe

The common vole (Microtus arvalis) has been a model species of small mammal for studying end-glacial colonization history. In the present study we expanded the sampling from central and eastern Europe, analyzing contemporary genetic structure to identify the role of a potential `northern glacial refugium', i.e. a refugium at a higher latitude than the traditional Mediterranean refugia. Altogether we analyzed 786 cytochrome b (cytb) sequences (representing mitochondrial DNA; mtDNA) from the whole of Europe, adding 177 new sequences from central and eastern Europe, and we conducted analyses on eight microsatellite loci for 499 individuals (representing nuclear DNA) from central and eastern Europe, adding data on 311 new specimens. Our new data fill gaps in the vicinity of the Carpathian Mountains, the potential northern refugium, such that there is now dense sampling from the Balkans to the Baltic Sea. Here we present evidence that the Eastern mtDNA lineage of the common vole was present in the vicinity of this Carpathian refugium during the Last Glacial Maximum and the Younger Dryas. The Eastern lineage expanded from this refugium to the Baltic and shows low cytb nucleotide diversity in those most northerly parts of the distribution. Analyses of microsatellites revealed a similar pattern but also showed little differentiation between all of the populations sampled in central and eastern Europe