Social Dimension of Intra-EU Mobility: Impact on Public Services

Freedom of movement of citizens constitutes one of the core values of the European Union and is closely linked to European citizenship. There is, however, a heated debate in many of the destination Member States about the impact of intra-EU mobility on their public services. The debate centres on the ‘welfare magnet hypothesis’, which holds that migrants, including mobile citizens from the central and eastern European Member States, are attracted by the better quality of these services and easier access to them in the host countries. The issue has become highly politicised recently, especially as a consequence of the economic crisis and the increased inflow of these EU mobile citizens. The main objective of this research project is to explore whether there is any evidence to support the welfare magnet hypothesis. It examines the take-up of benefits and social services by mobile citizens from 10 central and eastern European Member States (EU10 mobile citizens) in 9 host countries – Austria, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK – compared to the native populations and other citizen groups. It also seeks to identify the obstacles to their integration in the host countries and initiatives to aid their integration

International Profiles of Health Care Systems, 2012

This publication presents overviews of the health care systems of Australia, Canada, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Japan, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States. Each overview covers health insurance, public and private financing, health system organization, quality of care, health disparities, efficiency and integration, care coordination, use of health information technology, use of evidence-based practice, cost containment, and recent reforms and innovations. In addition, summary tables provide data on a number of key health system characteristics and performance indicators, including overall health care spending, hospital spending and utilization, health care access, patient safety, care coordination, chronic care management, disease prevention, capacity for quality improvement, and public views

Applications of Research Data Management at GESIS Data Archive for the Social Sciences

The chapter "Applications of Research Data Management at GESIS Data Archive for the Social Sciences" explores ways in which an archive - i.e. an organization whose work has a strong focus on preservation and dissemination of digital data - can become involved in research data management (RDM). The Data Archive looks back on a long history of working with researchers to make their data re-usable and accessible since 1960. Today it provides support for Research Data Management across the entire data lifecycle by offering a wide range of tools and services tailored to the needs of different types of stakeholders. The chapter gives an overview of selected tools and services offered in the areas of metadata and data documentation, data preparation, data publication, and long-term preservation. To illustrate how support for research data management plays out in different settings, three case studies for typical scenarios are presented: 1) The European Values Survey (EVS), a large international longitudinal survey studying basic human values across Europe. 2) The German Longitudinal Election Study (GLES), a national survey program with a comprehensive approach to gain insights into the German federal elections. 3) A data center in the health sector which decided to make data originally collected to support policy-making available to research

A characteristics framework for Semantic Information Systems Standards

Semantic Information Systems (IS) Standards play a critical role in the development of the networked economy. While their importance is undoubted by all stakeholders—such as businesses, policy makers, researchers, developers—the current state of research leaves a number of questions unaddressed. Terminological confusion exists around the notions of “business semantics”, “business-to-business interoperability”, and “interoperability standards” amongst others. And, moreover, a comprehensive understanding about the characteristics of Semantic IS Standards is missing. The paper addresses this gap in literature by developing a characteristics framework for Semantic IS Standards. Two case studies are used to check the applicability of the framework in a “real-life” context. The framework lays the foundation for future research in an important field of the IS discipline and supports practitioners in their efforts to analyze, compare, and evaluate Semantic IS Standard

State Support for Compatriots: Improving Kazakhstan Legislation

In the context of the changes in the migration process taking place in the world, the support of compatriots, the protection of their rights and freedoms are becoming one of the key priorities of Kazakhstan's foreign policy. The purpose of the study is to study the legal aspects of supporting compatriots in accordance with the legislation of such countries as the Russian Federation, the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of Korea, to determine the main directions of development of the relevant Kazakh legislation. The experience and legislation of Germany, Russia, and South Korea were studied, since they have special laws regulating the repatriation and state support of foreign compatriots. The study examined the legal acts of the Russian Federation, the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of Korea on repatriation. There were analyzed provisions of the legislation of Germany, Russia and Korea on state support for repatriates - these are adaptation measures, the right to receive medical care, educational services, the opportunity to work or do business, assistance in learning the state language and granting citizenship

PRIMUS/Informed Cities: Making research work for local sustainability

The final report of a three year European Commission FP7 project