Cuando el país importa más que Europa: ¿qué implicaciones para el futuro de la UE?

This paper studies the determinants of the imbalance between country and European identity. While the two sentiments are positively correlated, recent empirical evidence showed the emergence, in the last years, of an increasing imbalance in favour of the identification with individuals’ country of residence. In the political arena, this phenomenon is accompanied by the increasing support to nationalisms and Eurosceptic parties almost everywhere in the EU. It is therefore interesting to understand what are the individual and contextual factors associated to this identity imbalance. The assumption tested in this paper is that the unequal distribution (among individuals and regions) of the benefits from EU integration is the main determinant of the emerging antagonism between European and national identity. Empirical results support this hypothesis. Individuals with lower education and income, and those living in the lagging-behind regions of the EU are more likely than the others to identify more with their own country than with Europe.Este artículo estudia los determinantes del desequilibrio entre la identidad de país y la europea. Si bien los dos sentimientos están positivamente correlacionados, la evidencia empírica reciente mostró la aparición, en los últimos años, un desequilibrio creciente a favor de la identificación con el país de residencia de las personas. En el ámbito político, este fenómeno se acompaña del creciente apoyo a los nacionalismos y los partidos euroescépticos en casi toda la UE. Por lo tanto, es interesante entender cuáles son los factores individuales y contextuales asociados a este desequilibrio de identidad. El supuesto que se contrasta en este documento es que la distribución desigual (entre individuos y regiones) de los beneficios de la integración de la UE es el principal determinante del antagonismo emergente entre la identidad europea y nacional. Los resultados empíricos respaldan esta hipótesis. Las personas con educación e ingresos más bajos, y aquellos que viven en las regiones rezagadas de la UE tienen más probabilidades que los demás de identificarse más con su propio país que con Europa

Applying logistic regression analysis to identify patient’s satisfaction predictors with general practitioner assistance: evidence from four Italian regions.

In the last years the interest for patient experience with health care services largely increased. Several surveys have been conducted in order to observe if health care systems answer to the overall patient needs. In 2000 World Health Organization challenged modern health care providers to ensure responsiveness to patients, i.e. to deliver also non-health assistance (respect for dignity, confidentiality, prompt attention, quality of amenities, access to social support networks, choice of provider, etc.). Poor evidence is available in Italy about connections between perceived quality and the capability of the healthcare system to respond to patients’ needs. This work aims at investigating patient experience with General Practitioner (GP) assistance and at measuring the impact of personal and organizational characteristics on overall satisfaction and on willingness to recommend. In 2009 a sample survey was conducted in four regions of Italy (Tuscany, Piedmont, Umbria, and Liguria). About 15.000 citizens answered to a large questionnaire related to Primary Care services, including a section dedicated to General Practitioner (GP) assistance. A logistic regression analysis was applied to analyze which are the predictors of overall satisfaction with GP, focusing mainly on variables related to patient’s expectations, continuity of care and organizational aspects (e.g. scheduled access, waiting time, health case history, etc.) and if there are differences across the four Italian Regions. Econometric analysis has been carried out through both ordered logistic regression and generalised ordered logit models. The inhabitants of the four Italian Regions refer a nice experience with GP assistance: more than 85% of them judged excellent or good the overall service. Generally, in some regions patient expectations affect more the willingness to recommend GP to friends or family members than the overall judgement on service. Besides, the findings provide convincing evidence that GP is a nodal point in the continuity of care process .: patient satisfaction, general practitioner, organizational aspects, continuity of care

Life satisfaction in Romanian cities on the road from post-communism transition to EU accession

The literature on life satisfaction in transition countries, and in particular on Romania, demonstrated that life satisfaction significantly differs across rural communities and cities of different size. The question addressed in this paper is whether these imbalances are stable over time or, instead, they become manifest in the presence of strong divergences in the economic growth rates of different kinds of communities. Results point out that in the period of sharp economic growth led by large urban areas, as the one experienced by Romania on the road to EU accession, rural/urban disparities in life satisfaction widened, favoring cities of intermediate size

Understanding citizen perception of European Union Cohesion Policy: the role of the local context

The way in which Cohesion Policy is perceived by citizens is a crucial issue for the process of European identity-building. Based on the idea that citizens' perceptions depend on the local socioeconomic context in which Cohesion Policy is implemented, the paper seeks to define alternative combinations of the economic, social and institutional features of different local policy implementation settings, and to identify them empirically in European NUTS-2 regions. The results highlight a broad variety of policy settings, whose characteristics are relevant to the outcome of Cohesion Policy implementation. Read the transcript Watch the video on Vime

Territorial Capital and the Effectiveness of Cohesion Policies: an Assessment for CEE Regions

El 1 de mayo de 2004, diez países del centro y este de Europa se unieron a la UE y se convirtieron en elegibles para recibir financiación comunitaria. Aunque los criterios de elegibilidad son los mismos, a nivel regional los territorios de los países del centro y este de Europa se caracterizan por tener condiciones socioeconómicas muy distintas. En particular, las distintas regiones tienen unas dotaciones muy diferentes de lo que se ha denominado «capital territorial», de manera que la dotación de activos públicos y privados, materiales e inmateriales varía de forma significativa entre los distintos territorios. Este conjunto de condiciones territoriales, que facilita que el desarrollo económico tenga lugar, se asume en el contexto de este trabajo que afecta también a los resultados de la política de cohesión. Este trabajo tiene por tanto como objetivo evaluar el papel y las condiciones territoriales específicas que tienen sobre la implementación eficiente de las políticas de cohesión a nivel de regiones NUTS3 en los países del CEE. El análisis señala los mecanismos a través de los cuales la dotación de activos territoriales específicos afectan a los resultados de las políticas de cohesión. Parece que una mayor dotación de activos territoriales específicos conlleva la presencia de rendimientos crecientes, y que las regiones mejor dotadas con tipos específicos de capital territorial son más capaces de obtener ganancias a partir de las inversiones realizadas en los diferentes campos

Life satisfaction in Romanian cities on the road from post-communism transition to EU accession

The literature on life satisfaction in transition countries, and in particular on Romania, demonstrated that life satisfaction significantly differs across rural communities and cities of different size. The question addressed in this paper is whether these imbalances are stable over time or, instead, they become manifest in the presence of strong divergences in the economic growth rates of different kinds of communities. Results point out that in the period of sharp economic growth led by large urban areas, as the one experienced by Romania on the road to EU accession, rural/urban disparities in life satisfaction widened, favoring cities of intermediate size

cultural heritage creativity and local development a scientific research program

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Enhanced tonic GABAA inhibition in typical absence epilepsy

The cellular mechanisms underlying typical absence seizures, which characterize various idiopathic generalized epilepsies, are not fully understood, but impaired GABAergic inhibition remains an attractive hypothesis. In contrast, we show here that extrasynaptic GABAA receptor–dependent ‘tonic’ inhibition is increased in thalamocortical neurons from diverse genetic and pharmacological models of absence seizures. Increased tonic inhibition is due to compromised GABA uptake by the GABA transporter GAT–1 in the genetic models tested, and GAT–1 is critical in governing seizure genesis. Extrasynaptic GABAA receptors are a requirement for seizures in two of the best characterized models of absence epilepsy, and the selective activation of thalamic extrasynaptic GABAA receptors is sufficient to elicit both electrographic and behavioural correlates of seizures in normal animals. These results identify an apparently common cellular pathology in typical absence seizures that may have epileptogenic significance, and highlight novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of absence epilepsy.peer-reviewe

When country matters more than Europe: what implications for the future of the EU?

This paper studies the determinants of the imbalance between country and European identity. While the two sentiments are positively correlated, recent empirical evidence showed the emergence, in the last years, of an increasing imbalance in favour of the identification with individuals’ country of residence. In the political arena, this phenomenon is accompanied by the increasing support to nationalisms and Eurosceptic parties almost everywhere in the EU. It is therefore interesting to understand what are the individual and contextual factors associated to this identity imbalance. The assumption tested in this paper is that the unequal distribution (among individuals and regions) of the benefits from EU integration is the main determinant of the emerging antagonism between European and national identity. Empirical results support this hypothesis. Individuals with lower education and income, and those living in the lagging-behind regions of the EU are more likely than the others to identify more with their own country than with Europe.Este artículo estudia los determinantes del desequilibrio entre la identidad de país y la europea. Si bien los dos sentimientos están positivamente correlacionados, la evidencia empírica reciente mostró la aparición, en los últimos años, un desequilibrio creciente a favor de la identificación con el país de residencia de las personas. En el ámbito político, este fenómeno se acompaña del creciente apoyo a los nacionalismos y los partidos euroescépticos en casi toda la UE. Por lo tanto, es interesante entender cuáles son los factores individuales y contextuales asociados a este desequilibrio de identidad. El supuesto que se contrasta en este documento es que la distribución desigual (entre individuos y regiones) de los beneficios de la integración de la UE es el principal determinante del antagonismo emergente entre la identidad europea y nacional. Los resultados empíricos respaldan esta hipótesis. Las personas con educación e ingresos más bajos, y aquellos que viven en las regiones rezagadas de la UE tienen más probabilidades que los demás de identificarse más con su propio país que con Europa