Suchergebnisse

This paper presents a baseline picture of the co-operation between service purchasers and private elderly care and primary health care providers both at the national level and at the level of local welfare regimes in Finland. Data from two national surveys and from interviews conducted in six municipalities are analysed. The perceptions of the co-operation during the contractual period differed substantially between the private providers and the municipalities. The differences were evident especially between the for-profit providers and the municipalities. In general the private providers would be willing to work together with the municipalities, but to them it seems that the municipalities lack interest in this. The municipalities, in turn, considered that contracting is mostly a tool to reduce administrative responsibilities. However, in order to be able to gain benefits from contracting, to avoid excessive transaction costs and to co-ordinate the network of different service providers, the municipalities should invest in contract management and also be active during the contractual period.

Scholars in the field of electoral participation have for long been aware that turnout is strongly connected to sociopsychological variables such as religiosity, party identification, political interest and sense of political efficacy. The impact of personality characteristics has remained largely unexplored until recently. Based on the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development (JYLS, original N = 369), this article analyses the links between individuals' personality traits and their propensity to vote at ages 36, 42 and 50. The personality traits are measured by using the five‐factor model of personality consisting of extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness to experience. The results show both extraversion and agreeableness to be positively associated with electoral participation, but the findings are not consistent at all ages. Finally, the analysis suggests that the effect of extraversion varies depending on the level of education. Whereas well‐educated people are more prone to be habitual voters regardless of their level of extraversion, among less‐educated respondents it has a more sizeable effect.