Suchergebnisse

Includes bibliographical references and index

This paper analyses whether Maastricht and Stability and Growth Pact fiscal rules have affected growth in the European Union negatively. A growth equation is specified for a group of 15 European Union countries (and 8 OECD countries) over the period 1970–2005 to analyse this issue. Panel estimations using fixed-effects, pooled mean group and system-GMMestimators show that the institutional changes that occurred in the European Union after 1992 were not harmful to growth. Moreover, results show that growth is slightly higher in the period in which the fulfilment of the 3% criteria for the deficit started to be officially assessed, i.e. after 1997 ; Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia ...

A poster presentation regarding a simplified approach for the registration of medicines in small European countries. Introduction: A medicine requires a Marketing Authorisation (MA) before it could be made available on the EU market (Directive 2001/83/EC) to ensure its safety, quality and efficacy. The requirements to obtain a MA are complex and may adversely influence accessibility to medicines. The problem of accessibility to medicines is of particular interest to small countries such as Malta. The research question of this study was: Can registration of medicines in small EU countries such as Malta be simplified? Aims: • To review the processes by which medicines are registered in the EU, with particular interest to small countries such as Malta. • To analyse the strengths and weaknesses of these registration processes and identify problems in the registration process in Malta. • To compile a guide intended to simplify the process for the registration of medicines in Malta and in small EU countries. ; N/A

Introduction: There are limited data on the potential effects of e-cigarette experimentation on support for tobacco control policies. To bridge this gap, we assessed associations between e-cigarette experimentation and support for tobacco control policies in the European Union 2012-2014. We also investigated variations across tobacco-use status, e-cigarette experimentation and sociodemographic characteristics. Methods: Datasets were used from the Special Eurobarometer for Tobacco surveys performed in 2012 (n=26 751) and 2014 (n=27 801). Tobacco control policies assessed were: banning advertising, policies to keep tobacco out of sight, banning online sales, banning flavors, standardized packaging, tax increases, and policies to reduce illicit trade in tobacco. We use multilevel logistic regression models to assess variations in socio-demographics and tobacco/e-cigarette use with support for these policies in 2014, and examined changes in support for these policies, between 2012 and 2014, separately by tobacco-use status (never, current, and former smokers). Results: Population support for tobacco control policies was high in 2014: policies to reduce illicit trade had the highest level of support at 70.1%, while tax increases were the least likely measure to be supported with 52.3% support. Among never and former smokers, experimentation with e-cigarettes was associated with reduced support for all tobacco control policies assessed. For example, never smokers who had experimented with e-cigarettes were less likely to support either tobacco advertising bans (adjusted odds ratio aOR=0.57, 95% confidence interval 0.46-0.71) or standardized packaging for tobacco (aOR=0.58, 95% CI: 0.47-0.71). Former smokers who had experimented with e-cigarettes were less likely to either support standardized packaging for tobacco (aOR=0.70, 95% CI: 0.60-0.82) or keeping tobacco out of sight (aOR=0.77, 95% CI: 0.65-0.90). Among current smokers, e-cigarette experimentation was not associated with support for the tobacco control policies assessed. Conclusions: E-cigarette experimentation was consistently associated with reduced support for tobacco control policies among never and former smokers but not among current smokers. The implications of these findings for tobacco control are unknown, but the data support concerns that e-cigarette experimentation may affect public support for established tobacco control policies within specific subgroups. Further research is needed to assess potential long-term impacts on tobacco control policies.

The changes taking place in the contemporary labour market were the fac­tor that prompted our project. The employee's position on this market does not depend only on his specialist knowledge and professional qualifications. This is particularly important in a multicultural environment, in which even linguistic competences are losing their significance because – without the ability to adapt to new cultural conditions – they do not play a major role. Cultural diversity becomes a source of competitive advantage at the moment when a company adopts appropriate strategies and techniques, which is the task faced by, among others, modern managers. The aim of the project is to explore the role of cross-cultural competence as an important element of uni­versity education from the point of view of both: educational programmes and the labour market. It is now believed that cross-cultural competence, under­stood as an attitude towards cooperation with representatives of other cultures, is a very important element of university education in the process of prepar­ing students to successfully function on the global labour market. The level of interpersonal skills of individual members of a multicultural team (espe­cially the level of their cultural intelligence) which enables them to effectively cooperate with representatives of other cultures is one of the main elements of cross-cultural competence. On the basis of the results of the study, the theo­ries of management science will be elaborated on, taking into account interna­tional realities and emphasising the importance of cross-cultural competence on the labour market. The results of the project will support the development of management science, especially in the field of intercultural management, by indicating how existing management theories are based on and benefit from practice, and how they are interpreted in management practice. Thanks to the study, both theoreticians and practitioners of management will be able to obtain more knowledge about cross-cultural competence. ; Czynnikiem determinującym podjęcie niniejszego tematu badawczego są aktualne zmiany na rynku pracy. Coraz częściej przyjmuje się, że pozycja i rola pracownika na współczesnym rynku pracy nie zależą wyłącznie od jego specjalistycznej wiedzy i zawodowych kwalifikacji. Jest to szczególnie istotne, kiedy rozważamy ten problem pod kątem wielokulturowego środowiska pracy, w którym nawet kompetencje językowe tracą na znaczeniu, ponieważ – bez umiejętności adaptacji do nowych warunków kulturowych – nie odgrywają one większej roli. Umiejętne zarządzanie różnorodnością kulturową staje się źródłem przewagi konkurencyjnej w momencie, gdy firma przyjmuje odpo­wiednie strategie i techniki. Głównym celem projektu jest zbadanie roli kom­petencji międzykulturowych jako ważnego elementu uniwersyteckiego kształ­cenia, zarówno z punktu widzenia programów edukacyjnych, jak i rynku pracy. Obecnie uważa się, że kompetencje międzykulturowe, rozumiane jako zdolność do współpracy z przedstawicielami innych kultur, są bardzo waż­nym elementem kształcenia uniwersyteckiego w procesie przygotowywa­nia studentów do skutecznego funkcjonowania na globalnym rynku pracy. Poziom umiejętności interpersonalnych poszczególnych członków zespołu wielokulturowego (zwłaszcza poziom inteligencji kulturowej) umożliwia­jący im efektywną współpracę z przedstawicielami innych kultur jest jednym z głównych elementów kompetencji międzykulturowych. Na podstawie wyni­ków badań zostaną zaproponowane uzupełnienia do teorii nauki o zarzą­dzaniu, uwzględniające międzynarodowe realia oraz potrzebę wzmacniania poczucia znaczenia kompetencji międzykulturowych na rynku pracy. Wyniki projektu będą wspomagały rozwój nauki o zarządzaniu poprzez wskazanie, w jaki sposób istniejące teorie zarządzania bazują na praktyce i korzystają z niej oraz w jaki sposób są interpretowane w praktyce zarządzania. Dzięki przeprowadzanym badaniom teoretycy i praktycy zarządzania mogą zdobyć większy zakres wiedzy dotyczącej kompetencji międzykulturowych.

Defence date: 7 June 2008 ; Examining Board: Tanja Boerzel (Free Univ. Berlin), Maurizio Ferrera (Univ. Milano), Adrienne Héritier (EUI/RSCAS), Martin Rhodes (Denver Univ./former EUI) ; This thesis aims to understand how the Open Method of Co-ordination (OMC) has developed at the European level and to explore how, and with what effect, it has influenced the EU Member States. My cases are policy areas, which have been selected on the basis of their salience in Member States. The case of high salience is employment policy and the case of low salience is anti-poverty policy. Regarding the European level, the thesis seeks to identify the main causal factors that determine the development of the OMC. I use an adapted version of the Principal-Agent framework, where the Member States represent the Principal(s) and the European Commission represents the Agent. While most existing literature analyses the OMC at one moment in time, I analyse how the OMC develops through time, where I distinguish between emergence, when it has not been fully established, and evolution, when it has been fully established as a policy coordination instrument. I develop two hypotheses to test Commission-Member State interaction during OMC development during emergence and evolution and two to test if their interaction differs in cases of high and low saliency. My findings show that the Commission has a greater influence during the emergence of the OMC and that the Member States have more influence during the evolution of the OMC. The saliency of a policy issue only minimally influences Member State and Commission interaction in the two cases. For the national level, the thesis seeks to shed some light on how and the extent to which the OMC has been integrated into the domestic contexts of (14) EU Member States. The endeavour is first to draw some general conclusions about how governmental and non-governmental actors in Member States use the OMC. My findings show that it has mainly been used as a policy reporting instrument, but has in some cases also been used for policy development. The aim is secondly to assess the extent to which the general objectives of the OMC have been achieved. My findings show that it does not define core reform programmes in Member States, which is hardly surprising, since the OMC is a soft policy instrument.

The financial crisis has led to a far-reaching redesign of the European regulatory and supervisory framework for financial markets. This book provides students and professionals with a lucid guide to the new regulations and the policy context that led to the changes.