The resilience of EU Member States to the financial and economic crisis What are the characteristics of resilient behaviour?

This study presents an empirical analysis of the resilience of European countries to the financial and economic crisis that started in 2007. The analysis addresses the following questions: Which countries showed a resilient behaviour during and after the crisis? Is resilience related only to the economic dimension? Has any of the EU countries been able to use the crisis as an opportunity and 'bounce forward'? Is it possible to identify any particular country characteristics linked to resilience? The analysis is based on the JRC conceptual framework for resilience (Manca et al., 2017) which places at its core the wellbeing of individuals, thus going beyond the merely economic growth perspective. The study carefully selects a number of key economic and social variables that aim to capture the resilience capacities of our society. Resilience is measured by investigating the dynamic response of these variables to the crisis in the short and medium run. In particular, we define four resilience indicators: the impact of the crisis, the recovery, the medium-run, and the ‘bouncing forward’. Results from a narrow exercise focusing on macroeconomic and financial variables confirm the validity of the proposed measurement approach: Germany appears to be among the most resilient countries; Ireland, after having been severely hit, shows a good absorptive capacity; Italy seems to be still struggling with the recovery, while Greece remains the most affected. After measuring resilience, we identify underlying country characteristics that may be associated with resilient behaviour. As such, these could indicate entry points for policies to increase countries' resilience to economic and financial shocks.JRC.B.1-Finance and Econom

How resilient are the European regions? Evidence from the societal response to the 2008 financial crisis

This report proposes a new approach for measuring regional resilience that goes beyond the assessment of traditional economic dimensions. It defines resilience as the societal ability to preserve and generate well-being in the presence of shocks and persistent structural changes in a sustainable manner, without hindering the well-being of future generations. The empirical exercise concentrates on the 2008 financial and economic crisis and the subsequent overall response of EU regions to the economic shock. We implement a three-step methodology: (i) select an extensive list of economic and non-economic variables that span the entire production process of societal well-being; (ii) compute regional resilience indicators based on the joint dynamic response of these variables to the crisis; (iii) identify those pre-crisis characteristics that differentiate resilient regions from the non-resilient ones. Our analysis reveals substantial heterogeneity in resilience across the European regions. It confirms the importance of expanding the measurement strategy to a broader list of subjective and objective well-being measures (like social inclusion, social capital, and quality of life). We show that observed resilience performance is highly dependent on the time horizon: resilience rankings of European regions are markedly different in the short and long run. The analysis of the recovery time provides additional information on the strength and weaknesses of regions, and it is largely dependent on the specific dimensions (variables) considered. Finally, our results highlight that certain country-level and regional characteristics, such as private sector credit flows and the gender employment gap, are strong predictors of resilient regional behaviour after the crisis.JRC.B.1-Finance and Econom

Ghrelin Modulates the fMRI BOLD Response of Homeostatic and Hedonic Brain Centers Regulating Energy Balance in the Rat

The orexigenic gut-brain peptide, ghrelin and its G-protein coupled receptor, the growth hormone secretagogue receptor 1a (GHS-R1A) are pivotal regulators of hypothalamic feeding centers and reward processing neuronal circuits of the brain. These systems operate in a cooperative manner and receive a wide array of neuronal hormone/transmitter messages and metabolic signals. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was employed in the current study to map BOLD responses to ghrelin in different brain regions with special reference on homeostatic and hedonic regulatory centers of energy balance. Experimental groups involved male, ovariectomized female and ovariectomized estradiol-replaced rats. Putative modulation of ghrelin signaling by endocannabinoids was also studied. Ghrelin-evoked effects were calculated as mean of the BOLD responses 30 minutes after administration. In the male rat, ghrelin evoked a slowly decreasing BOLD response in all studied regions of interest (ROI) within the limbic system. This effect was antagonized by pretreatment with GHS-R1A antagonist JMV2959. The comparison of ghrelin effects in the presence or absence of JMV2959 in individual ROIs revealed significant changes in the prefrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens of the telencephalon, and also within hypothalamic centers like the lateral hypothalamus, ventromedial nucleus, paraventricular nucleus and suprachiasmatic nucleus. In the female rat, the ghrelin effects were almost identical to those observed in males. Ovariectomy and chronic estradiol replacement had no effect on the BOLD response. Inhibition of the endocannabinoid signaling by rimonabant significantly attenuated the response of the nucleus accumbens and septum. In summary, ghrelin can modulate hypothalamic and mesolimbic structures controlling energy balance in both sexes. The endocannabinoid signaling system contributes to the manifestation of ghrelin’s BOLD effect in a region specific manner. In females, the estradiol milieu does not influence the BOLD response to ghrelin

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http://archive.org/details/evaluationofunit00menyNAN

Letters of Recommendation: Perspectives, Recommendations, and Ethics

Recommendation letters are ubiquitous, but have problems of nonexistent guidelines and standards, redundancy, and inflation. A review of 150 letters revealed they typically state the writer\u27s association with the applicant; the applicant\u27s skills and ethics, supervision behavior, interpersonal skills, and worthy accomplishments; and closing positive remarks. Ethical issues in letters are often vague. Applicants should provide associations with the writer, target sites/individuals, vita or transcript, and memory cues, and should ask if the recommendation will be strong. Writers should refuse to write or warn applicants of poor or neutral letters, and give specific examples. A drastic suggestion is a moratorium on letters, which would have drawbacks. At least we can educate applicants about letters, teach them to discuss their strengths and weaknesses beforehand, and establish guidelines for letters

The resilience of EU Member States to the financial and economic crisis

Based on the JRC conceptual framework for resilience (Manca et al., 2017), this study presents an empirical analysis of the resilience of EU Member States to the recent financial and economic crisis. We ask two main research questions: 1) Which countries demonstrated a resilient behaviour, in terms of both shock absorption during the crisis and recovery in its aftermath? 2) Are there pre-determined country characteristics that help to explain resilient performance? To address these questions, we first select 34 key indicators of economic performance and societal well-being, going well beyond the merely economic growth perspective. Resilience is then measured by the properties of the joint dynamic response of these variables to the crisis shock at different time horizons. Our results demonstrate substantial differences between countries in each of the resilience capacities considered. Regression analysis also reveals that certain deep-seated characteristics – such as government expenditures on social protection, political stability or a favourable business environment – are strongly associated with resilient behaviour. These findings offer lessons for monitoring resilience and provide entry points for effective policy interventions in the future.JRC.B.1-Finance and Econom

Letters of Recommendation: Perspectives, Recommendations, and Ethics

Recommendation letters are ubiquitous, but have problems of nonexistent guidelines and standards, redundancy, and inflation. A review of 150 letters revealed they typically state the writer\u27s association with the applicant; the applicant\u27s skills and ethics, supervision behavior, interpersonal skills, and worthy accomplishments; and closing positive remarks. Ethical issues in letters are often vague. Applicants should provide associations with the writer, target sites/individuals, vita or transcript, and memory cues, and should ask if the recommendation will be strong. Writers should refuse to write or warn applicants of poor or neutral letters, and give specific examples. A drastic suggestion is a moratorium on letters, which would have drawbacks. At least we can educate applicants about letters, teach them to discuss their strengths and weaknesses beforehand, and establish guidelines for letters