Subgroup and Shapely Value Decompositions of Multidimensional Inequality: An Application to South East European Countries

Inequality is a multidimensional phenomenon though it is often discussed along a single dimension like income. This is also the case for the various decomposition approaches of inequality indices. In this paper we study one- and multidimensional indices on inequality on data for three large South-East European countries, Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia. We include four dimensions in our measure of multidimensional inequality: income, health, education and housing. We apply various decomposition methods to these one- and multidimensional indices. In doing so, we apply standard decomposition techniques of the mean logarithmic deviation index (I0) and decompositions based on regression analysis in conjunction with the Shapley value approach.Multidimensional inequality, Inequality decomposition, Shapley value

Determinants of Inequality in Selected SEE Countries: Results from Shapley Value Decompositions

In this paper we provide a comparative analysis of inequality in household consumption per capita in four South-Eastern European countries, Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, and Serbia. The analysis is based on a largely consistent dataset derived from the World Bank’s Living Standards Measurement Study (LSMS) providing data for at least two years for each of these countries and a comparable set of variables. We apply inequality decomposition methods based on regression analysis and variants of the Shapley value approach. We also present results from related methods like a decomposition of the explained variance using different approaches for comparisons. The results suggest that three groups of variables are particularly important for explaining patterns of inequality; these are socio-demographic variables, employment status and education. Regional aspects and nationality or ethnicity plays a less important role though there are some country differences.Inequality decomposition; Gini; Shapley value; Western Balkan countries

Economic Inequality in Central, East and Southeast Europe

The article analyses the issue of economic inequality in the transition economies of Central, East and Southeast Europe. It consists of a literature review and a descriptive analysis as well as an econometric modelling exercise. In the fi rst part we point at the fact that the rise in income inequality was triggered by the magnitude of transitional output loss and a reduction of formal employment. Rising wage inequality was at the core of total income dispersion, while government transfers had a redistributional function only in Central and Southeast European countries contrary to the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). In the econometric analysis it is found that for instance public utilities infrastructure liberalisation has increased inequality in transition, while price and trade liberalisation has decreased it. A high share of employment in industry and high government expenditures are connected with less inequality.income distribution, inequality, transition economies

AUSTRIA 2020: The impact of medium-term global trends on the Austrian economy

This study quantifies possible impacts of medium-term structural changes in the global economy on the Austrian economy. Emphasis is placed on the effects of continued medium term growth in emerging markets, especially in Asia and Latin America, on the structure of the Austrian economy. The issues here include the identification of price effects (due to increased demand for raw materials) that can be expected, as well as how these may impact the commodity composition of both exports and imports. Underlying global trends also involve both investment patterns and total factor productivity trends at a more regional level, also impacting on the Austrian economy. Finally, these structural changes at the global level also lead to changes in household incomes and the cost of living in Austria, impacting on patterns of inequality in Austria at the household level.CGE models, GTAP applications, household inequality

Erholungstendenzen in den MOEL

GERMAN: Das Wirtschaftswachstum belebt sich in den mittel- und osteuropäischen Ländern (MOEL) langsam, bleibt jedoch schwächer als vor der Wirtschaftskrise. Einige der kleinen, offenen Volkswirtschaften der Region wahrten durch Abwertung oder auch Produktivitätssteigerung ihre preisliche Wettbewerbsfähigkeit. Der überwiegend starke Exportaufschwung trug zur Erholung der Industrieproduktion bei. Aufgrund der dynamischen Ausfuhrentwicklung und der Schwäche der Inlandsnachfrage verringerten sich die Leistungsbilanzdefizite 2010 weiter; in den kommenden Jahren ist allerdings wieder mit einem leichten Anstieg zu rechnen. Mit der Verbesserung der Kapazitätsauslastung werden die Anlageninvestitionen 2011 in allen MOEL ausgeweitet. Auch die Nachfrage der privaten Haushalte wächst, allerdings eher verhalten. Die weltweite Verteuerung von Nahrungsmitteln und Rohstoffen bewirkt auch in den MOEL eine Inflationsbeschleunigung. Der Kreditmarkt leidet in den MOEL nach wie vor unter einer Kreditklemme und einem relativ großen Anteil uneinbringlicher Kredite. In den meisten MOEL schwenkte die Budgetpolitik 2010 auf einen ausgabenseitigen Konsolidierungspfad. Aufgrund des mäßigen Wirtschaftswachstums wird die Beschäftigung erst ab 2012 so stark zunehmen, dass die Arbeitslosigkeit merklich sinkt. ---- ENGLISH: Stabilization of a Weak Recovery in the CESEE Countries The outlook for the world economy improved in the course of 2010 and the recovery has now gained strength in the EU as well. The Central, East and Southeast European (CESEE) countries have also recovered from the crisis; most of them recorded positive GDP growth rates. On average, their exports have been growing at an even stronger pace than before the crisis. On the other hand, industrial output has so far not surpassed pre-crisis levels. The persistent unfavourable development in construction and fixed investments – both rates echoing the still hesitant credit markets – represents one of the key internal risks that could negatively affect the rather optimistic regional economic forecast. The general outlook for the CESEE region in the baseline scenario expects a gradual strengthening of economic growth over the period of 2011-2013, usually not exceeding 4 per cent p.a. GDP growth will become more broadly based. The formerly predominant role of external demand will weaken somewhat, while both household consumption and gross fixed investments will ultimately contribute positively to GDP growth. With exports, industrial output levels and eventually also GDP growth already recovered or on the road to recovery, the economy is seen as having largely returned ‘back to normal’ – yet with at least two important differences: (i) post-crisis growth will be slower; that slower growth, however, also implies that (ii) the labour market situation will be ‘very far from normal’ as unemployment will remain high, with young and low-skilled workers being especially adversely affected, and any improvement only gradual and delayed. Inflation rose throughout 2010 as food and commodity prices soared; in general, however, it will pose no (or little immediate) threat. The moderate economic upturn and a revival of capital inflows have resulted in renewed pressure to appreciate the currency. The forecasts point to a gradual deterioration of current account positions in all CESEE countries. The financing constraint with respect to both domestic and external loans will constitute one of the key brakes on future economic growth. Given the sorry state of public finances and the ensuing budget consolidation efforts, we cannot expect any further growth-stimulating measures from the public sector – on the contrary, owing to the limited fiscal manoeuvring space government deficits and public debts will have to be scaled back.transitional economies, comparative study, economic growth, fiscal and monetary policy, macroeconomic forecast, macroeconomic analysis

AUSTRIA 2020: The impact of medium-term global trends on the Austrian economy

This study quantifies possible impacts of medium-term structural changes in the global economy on the Austrian economy. Emphasis is placed on the effects of continued medium term growth in emerging markets, especially in Asia and Latin America, on the structure of the Austrian economy. The issues here include the identification of price effects (due to increased demand for raw materials) that can be expected, as well as how these may impact the commodity composition of both exports and imports. Underlying global trends also involve both investment patterns and total factor productivity trends at a more regional level, also impacting on the Austrian economy. Finally, these structural changes at the global level also lead to changes in household incomes and the cost of living in Austria, impacting on patterns of inequality in Austria at the household level

Barriers to health care access and service utilization of refugees in Austria: Evidence from a cross-sectional survey

This paper provides evidence on (1) refugees' subjective well-being, (2) their access and barriers to health care utilization and (3) their perception of health care provision in Austria, one of the countries most heavily affected by the European "refugee crisis". It is based on primary data from the Refugee Health and Integration Survey (ReHIS), a cross-sectional survey of roughly five hundred Syrian, Iraqi and Afghan refugees. Results indicate that refugees' self-rated health falls below the resident population's, in particular for female and Afghan refugees. Whereas respondents state overall high satisfaction with the Austrian health system, two in ten male and four in ten female refugees report unmet health needs. Most frequently cited barriers include scheduling conflicts, long waiting lists, lack of knowledge about doctors, and language. Although treatment costs were not frequently considered as barriers, consultation of specialist medical services frequently associated with co-payment by patients, in particular dental care, are significantly less often consulted by refugees than by Austrians. Refugees reported comparably high utilization of hospital services, with daycare treatment more common than inpatient stays. We recommend to improve refugees' access to health care in Austria by a) improving the information flow about available treatment, in particular specialists, b) fostering dental health care for refugees, and c) addressing language barriers by providing (web-based) interpretation services

Fatigue Assessment of Wire and Arc Additively Manufactured Ti-6Al-4V

Wire and arc additively manufactured (WAAM) parts and structures often present internal defects, such as gas pores, and cause irregularities in the manufacturing process. In order to describe and assess the effect of internal defects in fatigue design, this research study investigates the fatigue strength of wire arc additive manufactured structures covering the influence of imperfections, particularly gas pores. Single pass WAAM structures are manufactured using titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V and round fatigue, tensile specimen are extracted. Tensile tests and uniaxial fatigue tests with a load stress ratio of R = 0.1 were carried out, whereby fatigue test results are used for further assessments. An extensive fractographic and metallographic fracture surface analysis is utilized to characterize and measure crack-initiating defects. As surface pores as well as bulk pores are detected, a stress intensity equivalent ∆Keqv transformation approach is presented in this study. Thereby, the defect size of the surface pore is transformed to an increased defect size, which is equivalent to a bulk pore. Subsequently, the fatigue strength assessment method by Tiryakioğlu, commonly used for casting processes, is applied. For this method, a cumulative Gumbel extreme value distribution is utilized to statistically describe the defect size. The fitted distribution with modified data reveals a better agreement with the experimental data than unmodified. Additionally, the validation of the model shows that the usage of the ∆K modified data demonstrates better results, with a slight underestimation of up to about −7%, compared to unmodified data, with an overestimation of up to about 14%, comparing the number of load cycles until failure. Hence, the presented approach applying a stress intensity equivalent transformation of surface to bulk pores facilitates a sound fatigue strength assessment of WAAM Ti-6Al-4V structures

A Wearable Ultra-Low-Power sEMG-Triggered Ultrasound System for Long-Term Muscle Activity Monitoring

Surface electromyography (sEMG) is a well-established approach to monitor muscular activity on wearable and resource-constrained devices. However, when measuring deeper muscles, its low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), high signal attenuation, and crosstalk degrade sensing performance. Ultrasound (US) complements sEMG effectively with its higher SNR at high penetration depths. In fact, combining US and sEMG improves the accuracy of muscle dynamic assessment, compared to using only one modality. However, the power envelope of US hardware is considerably higher than that of sEMG, thus inflating energy consumption and reducing the battery life. This work proposes a wearable solution that integrates both modalities and utilizes an EMG-driven wake-up approach to achieve ultra-low power consumption as needed for wearable long-term monitoring. We integrate two wearable state-of-the-art (SoA) US and ExG biosignal acquisition devices to acquire time-synchronized measurements of the short head of the biceps. To minimize power consumption, the US probe is kept in a sleep state when there is no muscle activity. sEMG data are processed on the probe (filtering, envelope extraction and thresholding) to identify muscle activity and generate a trigger to wake-up the US counterpart. The US acquisition starts before muscle fascicles displacement thanks to a triggering time faster than the electromechanical delay (30-100 ms) between the neuromuscular junction stimulation and the muscle contraction. Assuming a muscle contraction of 200 ms at a contraction rate of 1 Hz, the proposed approach enables more than 59% energy saving (with a full-system average power consumption of 12.2 mW) as compared to operating both sEMG and US continuously.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, 1 table, 2023 IEEE International Ultrasonics Symposiu

Psychosoziale Gesundheit und gesellschaftliche Teilhabe in Österreich: Zur Prävalenz von Angststörungen und Depressionen unter syrischen, irakischen und afghanischen Geflüchteten

Flucht und Asyl haben lange die öffentlichen Debatten in Europa bestimmt. In vielen Ländern haben rechtspopulistische Parteien an Bedeutung gewonnen. Eine Einigung darüber, wie die Europäische Union ihre Verantwortung gegenüber den weltweiten Fluchtbewegungen wahrnehmen kann, scheint in weiter Ferne. Der vorliegende Band trägt zu einer Ausdifferenzierung dieser Debatten bei. Einerseits regt er dazu an, Flucht und Asyl aus einer internationalen und historischen Perspektive sowie aus dem Blickwinkel der Betroffenen neu zu denken. Andererseits präsentiert er empirische Ergebnisse zur politischen und zivilgesellschaftlichen Auseinandersetzung mit Geflüchteten, zu ihrer Integration in den Arbeitsmarkt sowie zu den Möglichkeiten und Grenzen ihrer gesellschaftlichen und kulturellen Teilhabe