Telecommunications infrastructures and policies as factors in regional competitive advantage and disadvantage

There has been a revolution in telecommunications technologies in recent years. New technologies with myriad applications have helped transform markets, industrial structures and the organisation of firms throughout the economy. These changes have had important spatial effects which are the subject of this paper. The processes of adoption and diffusion of telecommunications technologies are discussed. The argument that the spread of such technologies means that"distance no longer matters" is scrutinised. There is a theme in the literature that this decentralising tendency has particular implications for peripheral regions, that new communications technologies could have a significant impact in reducing the traditional economic disadvantages of such regions. However, there is a contrary argument that there remain strong centralising tendencies. Indeed, new communications technologies may be associated with an increasing polarisation of economic activity. These theoretical arguments are revisited in the context of a case study of the Scottish Highlands and Islands. This is a particularly interesting region because, although it is a peripheral, rural area, it has a highly developed telecommunications infrastructure. This case study deploys the results of a recent study of the use by firms in the Highlands and Islands of communications technologies. The paper finds little significant evidence that telecommunications initiatives in the Scottish Highlands and Islands have significantly altered the competitive position of the region. The paper concludes with a discussion of some of the implications for national and local policy makers in encouraging the take up and effective use of new communications technologies.

What does European institutional integration tell us about trade integration?

This paper analyses trends in working time inthe euro area, in comparison with the US, over the period 1970 to 2004 and examines the causes and consequences of the observed changes. Between 1970 and 2004, a downward trend in average annual hours worked per worker can be observed for the euro area as a whole, all individual euro area countries and the United States. In contrast to the US, the euro area and a number of euro area countries also experienced a significant decline in annual hours worked per capita (“labour utilisation”) over the last three decades. Data reveal important disparities across countries –both in trends and levels. While some countries managed to reverse their downward trends inlabour utilisation in the 1980s and 1990s, the level of average hours worked per capita in 2004 remained significantly below their 1970 levels for all euro area countries for which data are available. From a policy perspective, falling annual average hours worked per worker or per capita are not a problem per se, ifthey reflect preferences. For example,increasing shares of voluntary part-time employment across many euro area countries, whilst increasing European employment rates, have contributed to the downward trend in average annual hours per worker. However, to the extent that low working hours are due to institutional features which create disincentives to work, such as high tax wedges and high unemployment benefits, or enforced reductions in working hours, these factors should be addressed.Annual hours of work, workingtime, labour utilisation, productivity, percapita income, institutions, working timelegislation, Europe and US, part-time work,preferences, labour costs, employment.

Economic and Social Models in Europe and the Importance of Reform

This paper contributes to the ongoing debate on European economic and social models. It provides a comparative assessment of fiscal and regulatory policies in 17 industrialised countries (the EU15, US and Japan) and presents the records of these countries in attaining key economic and social objectives. Social and economic systems that feature efficient public sectors and flexible market structures tend to experience reasonably sustainable public finances, high economic growth, education standards and employment, and well-functioning markets. Anglo-Saxon countries broadly fit this mould, albeit, seemingly, at some cost of income equality. A more pronounced emphasis on welfare state policies and the corresponding relatively high levels of public spending bring benefit to income distribution in the Nordic countries while the resulting inefficiencies in their economies are counterbalanced by flexibility in labour and particularly product markets. Also, a number of reform-minded European countries have improved their fiscal and regulatory policies while significantly enhancing the functioning of markets, fiscal sustainability and economic performance. This was generally attained without jeopardising social objectives. On the other hand, those continental and Mediterranean countries that maintain market inefficiencies and at the same time sustain expensive and inefficient welfare states generally suffer from low growth and employment and less well-functioning markets and face serious risks to their economies’ fiscal sustainability. The findings of this note support calls for the comprehensive reform of fiscal policies, as well as of product and labour markets.fiscal policy, regulation, Nordic model, welfare state, efficiency, reform

Sectoral explanations of employment in Europe: the role of services

This paper investigates the determinants of the service sector employment share in the EU-15, for the aggregate service sector, four sub-sectors and twelve service sector branches. Recently, both Europe and the US have experienced an increase in the share of service-related jobs in total employment. Although converging in all European countries, a significant gap in the share of service jobs in Europe relative to the US persists. Understanding the main factors behind this gap is key to achieving higher employment levels in Europe. This paper focuses on the role of barriers in the EU-15 which may have hindered its ability to absorb labour supply and therefore to adjust efficiently to the sectoral reallocation of labour. We find that a crucial role in this process has been played by the institutional framework affecting flexibility in the labour market and by the mismatch between workers' skills and job vacancies.

Dying to work? An investigation into work-related stress, quitting intentions and absenteeism

The paper uses data from the International Social Surveys Program (ISSP) to investigate work-related stress among a group of 15 OECD countries. It examines the determinants of work-related stress and explores the importance of work-related stress as a predictor of individuals' quitting behaviour and the rate of absenteeism. We find that those individuals reporting to experience at least some stress in their current position are 25% more likely to hold intentions to quit or be absent from work than those without any job stress, with the probability of intending to quit or being absent increasing with successively higher work-related stress levels.

Cross-border labour mobility within an enlarged EU

This paper examines the potential for increased cross-border labour mobility within the EU-25 and considers the costs and benefits of any increase in labour mobility to both sending and receiving countries in the medium to long run. Evidence from previous EU enlargement experiences, academic studies, the existence of barriers to mobility within the EU and the economic determinants of migration all indicate a moderate potential for increased migrant flows. The magnitude of cross-border labour flow in the medium to long run will most likely be largely a function of the demand for migrants and the speed at which the EU-8 catches up economically with the EU-15. If broad-based economic growth and social development continues in the EU-8, labour migration will most likely decrease. In addition, faster population ageing in the EU-8 tends towards dampening migration flow from the new Member States in the medium term. In terms of costs and benefits, for the EU-8 countries labour migration, especially in the short run, may present a number of challenges. Emigration may tend to weigh disproportionally on the pool of young and educated workers, aggravating labour market bottlenecks in a number of EU-8 countries. For the EU-25 as a whole, cross-border labour mobility is likely to offer a number of advantages, by allowing a more efficient matching of workers‘ skills with job vacancies and facilitating the general upskilling of European workforces. The current restrictions on labour mobility from the EU-8 countries to the other EU member countries stand in contrast with one of the central principles of the EU – the free movement of labour. Furthermore, these restrictions may decrease the efficient use of labour resources in the face of demographic change and globalisation and hamper an important adjustment mechanism within EMU. Delaying the removal of these barriers may be costly for the EU-25 at a time when leaders are concerned about Europe‘s international competitiveness and may increase illegal work in a number of countries. Finally, it would not be beneficial for Europe to loose a significant part of the most agile and talented individuals from the new Member States to more traditional migration centres such as the US and Canada.

Health Equity Promotion, Measurement, and Evaluation in Community-Based Participatory Research Partnerships

Community-based participatory research (CBPR) approaches present meaningful opportunities to promote equity within communities facing social disadvantage. Through empowerment, co-learning, and capacity-building strategies, CBPR approaches aim to reduce health inequities by engaging members of marginalized communities in research, action, and decision-making processes from which they have been historically excluded. Equity promotion goals are embedded within CBPR principles, highlighting the need for evaluation measures and processes for assessing equity promotion efforts within partnerships. To facilitate more explicit consideration of equity in the study and evaluation of CBPR partnerships, I describe a conceptual framework linking equitable group dynamics within partnerships to specific intermediate and long-term indicators of equity promotion. I conducted three studies, grounded in indicators and relationships proposed in this conceptual framework. In Study 1, I use quantitative data to investigate the association between two dimensions of equity defined in the framework: community and partnership capacity for community change and equitable power relations in CBPR research processes. In Study 2, I conducted a qualitative analysis of conceptualizations of equity as a partnership evaluation outcome among members of long-standing CBPR partnerships. In Study 3, I used a mixed methods approach to assess four intermediate indicators of equity defined in the framework, drawing on the larger formative evaluation of a CBPR partnership engaged in efforts to reduce the adverse effects of air pollution in Detroit, Michigan. In Study 1, I found that community and partnership capacity are associated with equitable power relations within partnerships, when controlling for demographics characteristics of partners and other covariates. Findings from Study 2 suggest that conceptualizations of equity among partners align with several constructs as currently defined in the conceptual framework, including a focus on addressing issues of equity, equitable partnership processes, shifts in power that benefit communities facing inequities, and reductions in health disparities. Findings also suggest that equity in group dynamics characteristics of partnerships may help to facilitate intermediate partnership outcomes such as a focus on equitable processes within partnerships. Additional measures of equity not defined in the conceptual framework were also identified, such as a sense of community ownership of a partnership’s efforts, and the degree to which community partner identities are socially marginalized (i.e., by race, class, and other factors). Findings from Study 3 highlight the role that a formative evaluation approach can play in helping partners develop specific strategies to improve ongoing equity promotion efforts. These findings point to further research directions that might inform changes to the conceptual framework. These include linking community capacity and power relations and equitable group dynamics to a focus on equity in partnership processes, as well as the inclusion of additional equity measures identified in the qualitative data. Finally, results highlight potential strategies for evaluating and promoting equity within existing partnerships, including capacity building and community engagement approaches. Collectively, this work highlights the importance of establishing equity as an explicit goal within CBPR partnerships, and equitably engaging the knowledge and experiences of communities facing inequities. As members of academic institutions continue to study disparities rooted in systemic racism and institutionalized oppression, and seek partnership in research with community members, it is critical that all partners critically interrogate their efforts to challenge existing power dynamics and social processes that produce inequities both within partnerships in broader communities.PHDHealth Behavior & Health EducationUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/163217/1/melaward_1.pd

The determinants of part-time work in EU countries: empirical investigations with macro-panel data - Hielke Buddelmeyer, Gilles Mourre and Melanie Ward

This paper aims to identify the contribution of the business cycle and structural factors to the development of part-time employment in the EU-15 countries, through the exploitation of both cross-sectional and time series variations over the past two decades. This analysis is used to comment on whether part-time jobs have been used as a flexible work arrangement by firms in the EU-15 over this period.Key results include that the business cycle, as measured by either the output gap or real GDP growth, is found to exert a negative effect on part-time employment developments. This is consistent with firms utilising part-time employment as a means of adjusting their labour force to economic conditions. Correspondingly, involuntary part-time employment is found to be countercyclical, being higher in troughs of economic activity. Splitting our sample by age and gender groups reveals a very significant effect of the business cycle on the rate of part-time work for young and male prime-age workers. Conversely, the effect is very weak for women and insignificant for older workers.employment, part-time employment, labour supply, labour market policies, business cycle, child benefits, unemployment benefits, trade unions, employment protection legislation, temporary jobs, female participation, schooling, wages and non wages costs, work force, Buddelmeyer, Mourre, Ward