Rewarding work : cross-national differences in benefits, volunteering during unemployment, well-being and mental health

Due to increasing labour market flexibilisation a growing number of people are likely to experience unemployment and, as a consequence, lower mental health and well-being. This article examines cross-national differences in well-being and mental health between unemployed people who engage in voluntary work and those who do not, using multilevel data from the European Quality of Life Survey on unemployed individuals in 29 European countries and other external sources. This article finds that, regardless of their voluntary activity, unemployed people have higher levels of well-being and mental health in countries with more generous unemployment benefits. Unexpectedly, the results also suggest that regular volunteering can actually be detrimental for mental health in countries with less generous unemployment benefits. This article concludes that individual agency exercised through voluntary work can partially improve well-being but the generosity of unemployment benefits is vital for alleviating the negative mental health effects of unemployment

The management of the Eurozone in crisis times: Actors, institutions and the case of bailout packages

The adjustment to the financial crisis was particularly brutal for Eurozone countries targeted by private bondholders. Financial assistance through the newly created Eurozone governance system was conditional on the implementation of austerity measures and the introduction of structural reforms in industrial relations (decentralization of collective bargaining and liberalization of employment protection). Our analysis focuses on the formation process and the structural features of Eurozone supranational institutions. Building from the insights of actor-centred institutionalism, we illustrate the importance of coalitions among some, but not all, important actors based on the overlapping of their non-monolithic preferences in the process of institutional innovation. The structural features of Eurozone institutions curtailed member states’ ability to effectively resist the imposition of internal devaluation policies. A contested outcome, these institutional features were secured by a specific coalition of important actors – most notably, the German government and the European Central Bank – based on their overlapping interests around internal devaluation policies

Contaminant loading and competitive access of Pb, Zn and Mn(III) to vacancy sites in biogenic MnO2

The scavenging properties of MnO2 are largely attributed to sorption on layer vacancy sites. However, co-occurrence of Mn(II, III) with MnO2 can change mineral reactivity by modifying its Mn(III) content or number of free vacancy sites. These processes are critical in biogenic MnO2 because nascent precipitates are in contact with aqueous Mn(II) and redox processes involving the biomass can modify the Mn(III) content of the oxide. Here we studied the mechanism of Zn(II) and Pb(II) sorption by the biogenic MnO2 precipitated by Pseudomonas putida GB-1. Sorption isotherms on biogenic MnO2 at pH 5.2 +/- 0.3 showed considerably higher loadings for Pb(II) (0.49 mol Pb mol(-1) Mn) than for Zn(II) (0.12 mol Zn mol(-1) Mn). For loadings above 0.1 mol mol Mn, Zn(II) and Pb(II) sorption was concomitant, albeit to different extents, with Mn(II) accumulation in solution. Wet chemical measurements and analysis of Zn K-edge and Pb L-3-edge EXAFS spectra showed that the difference in metal loadings on the oxide and extent of Mn(II) release to solution originates from the ability of the cations to displace interlayer Mn(III), which then undergoes disproportionation and accumulates as Mn(II) in solution. In addition, the formation of nanoscale precipitates rich in Pb-P-Cl in the biomass matrix, as shown by energy dispersive X-ray analysis, leads to greater accumulation of Pb than Zn on the biomass. Our findings show how the reactivity of biogenic MnO2 towards co-occurring trace or contaminant metals in natural systems depends directly on the mineral Mn(III) content and competitive sorption processes.LG