Voter turnout, information acquisition and education: evidence from 15 European countries

This article examines the impact of education on political participation in 15 European countries. We use data from the European Social Survey and find that education is positively associated with voter turnout and information acquisition about politics and currents affairs. However, when we use exogeneous changes in compulsory schooling to instrument education, we observe a statistically significant causal relationship in the case of information acquisition but not voter turnout.<br/

What makes cities happy? Factors contributing to life satisfaction in European cities

The purpose of this study is to identify the main factors of city life satisfaction across Europe. Data come from the recent fifth survey on quality of life in European cities and cover 83 cities located in the European Union, the European Free Trade Association countries, the United Kingdom, the Western Balkan Region and Turkey. In addition to running classical econometric analysis, we quantify the relative importance of the various determinants of overall satisfaction with life in cities, thus offering novel insights to shape evidence-based urban policies. The results highlight that two main policy-relevant areas contribute to the satisfaction with city life: the presence of amenities, on the one hand, and the inclusiveness and safety feeling, on the other hand. Socio-economic characteristics are generally not relevant, with the exception of economic insecurity

Indicators for European Union Policies. Business as Usual?

Lisbon strategy, Indicators,

Social Capital and Smoking Behavior

In this paper, we explore one mechanism that may underlie the negative relationship between social capital and smoking: whether social capital strengthens the effect of anti-smoking regulations. We use data on smoking behaviors collected immediately before and after the implementation of smoking bans in public places in Germany in order to determine whether the impact of these bans on smoking prevalence and intensity is greater among individuals richer in social capital. We find that smoking bans reduce both smoking prevalence and intensity mainly among men and that individual social capital strengthens the effect of the bans