The author reviews the theory of socio-economic inequality in health & concludes that the use of cultural values to explain the ubiquitous association between the socio-economic standing (SES) of individuals & their health is becoming increasingly prominent. Inspired by this, the author examines whether & to what extent several aspects of lay knowledge about & attitudes towards health can explain the social gradient in subjective health in Central & Eastern Europe. The author uses data from the second round of the European Social Survey & limits the analysis to data from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, & Slovenia. The data show that while there is a strong relationship between education & subjective health & also a relationship between education & various measures of lay knowledge about health, beliefs about health are only very weakly related to subjective health & thus fail to account for its dependence on SES. The author concludes that this may be the result of reciprocal causation between lay knowledge & subjective health. More enhanced research designs would be required in order to gain a better empirical evaluation of the causal relationships between SES, lay knowledge, & health.
In this contribution, we compare the correlation of supply & demand shocks for the countries of the euro zone & the acceding countries in Central Europe. Demand & supply shocks are recovered from estimated structural VAR models of output growth & inflation in individual countries. We find that Poland & Hungary face already a comparably high similarity with the countries of the current euro zone. However, the remaining countries show still significant differences in business cycles as compared to the euro zone. This is likely to indicate that the loss of monetary sovereignty may be costly. In turn, the integration is expected to align the business cycles of these countries in the medium run. We document a similar development for the countries of the European Union in the 1990s. 4 Figures, 22 References. Adapted from the source document.
The article focuses on the differences in political participation among post-communist countries. First, it explores the variation in the level of political participation among post-communist states. Second, it deals with the differences in the determinants that account for political participation in individual countries. The second objective is met by introducing a three-dimensional explanatory model of political participation: individual resources, motivations, and social networks. In an empirical analysis political participation in nine post-communist countries is examined using data from the International Social Survey Programme 2004. Results show that the countries under study vary in the level of political participation both at the aggregate and individual levels. The most active citizens are in the former East Germany and Slovakia. Polish and Hungarian citizens participate in politics the least. Further, two modes of political participation – protest activity and contacting – are identified and used as dependent variables in further analysis. In the second part of the article, the explanatory model is tested against data from individual countries. The analysis shows that there is a difference in the factors that account for political participation in various post-communist countries. Generally, the three-level model of political participation works best in Hungary, Bulgaria, and East Germany. It explains very little variation in Russia and Poland.
The article focuses on an analysis of the professions of Czech deputies in the interwar period and in the period after 1989. Based on the theoretical framework of representation we assume that voting decisions are influenced not only by party electoral programs, but also by the individual characteristics of candidates. Candidate professions may indicate whether they are considered to be sufficiently qualified and whether they are considered to represent the interests of voters. The aim of the article is to analyse the differences between two historical periods and the differences among parliamentary parties. The analysis proved that the structure of professions of parliamentary representatives changed dramatically over time. The professions of representatives in the interwar period tended to resemble the professions of their core voters, and hence were rather different across political parties. In contrast, the professions of parliamentary representatives elected on the party list of different parties became rather similar after 1989. A clear tendency towards the emergence of professional politicians can be observed. A descriptive type of representation is on the decline. ; The article focuses on an analysis of the professions of Czech deputies in the interwar period and in the period after 1989. Based on the theoretical framework of representation we assume that voting decisions are influenced not only by party electoral programs, but also by the individual characteristics of candidates. Candidate professions may indicate whether they are considered to be sufficiently qualified and whether they are considered to represent the interests of voters. The aim of the article is to analyse the differences between two historical periods and the differences among parliamentary parties. The analysis proved that the structure of professions of parliamentary representatives changed dramatically over time. The professions of representatives in the interwar period tended to resemble the professions of their core voters, and ...
The article focuses on the relationship between marital status & life satisfaction in the countries of Europe. The first part of the article discusses subjective evaluations of life satisfaction & the theoretical concepts that explain differences in the levels of life satisfaction according to marital status. The second part of the article is devoted to empirical analyses of data from the European Social Survey (ESS), the results of which indicate that in the countries studied married people tend to be more satisfied with life than others, even though the strength of this effect varies. The differences in the effect of marriage cannot be ascribed to a given society's divorce rate. In some countries the life satisfaction of the cohabiting population is almost as high as for married people, while in other countries it is closer to the level of life satisfaction observed among single people, & in other countries the level of satisfaction of the cohabitating individuals lies midway between married & single people.
The article presents selected results from an ethnographic study on the (re)production of gender in the classroom. In this analysis, gender is conceived as a principle manifested in interactions, a principle that structures the lives of individuals and the collective, and not as a complex of essential characteristics of an individual. Gender is analysed in relation to other categories like age and ethnicity. These represent additional re/constructed categories that influence social inequality. These categories tend to be viewed as natural sources of social difference and the legitimisation of inequalities. An analysis of the ways in which these categories are activated in the social fi eld makes it possible to go beyond the boundaries of research on the reifi cation of these categories. In this article, the author shows how these categories intertwine and connect and how the interplay between them is manifested in the behaviour and strategies of various actors, i.e. students, in the classroom.
Despite a consensus on the benefits of liberal international economic regimes, there are important differences in the perspectives of different actors. This article deals with two ideal types of perspectives on international trade liberalization. The first of them is the liberal perspective, & the second is the perspective of economic nationalism. Differences can be found in a number of aspects. We discuss the perception of comparative advantage, economic growth & its determinants, the logic of absolute or relative gains from the global economy, I the causal i relationship between the level of economic development & free trade, the issue of competitiveness in the global economy & the problem of existence, & the role of strategic sectors of the economy. If there exist important differences in presumptions, interests & policy preferences between actors, what are the conditions & limits for the perceived compatibility of the defined perspectives? Under which conditions will an individual actor support the progress in the liberalization of world trade & what are the most important risks? How can the past successes in building the liberal economic regimes be interpreted & what are the prospects for the future? This article also attempts to contribute to the discussion of paradigmatic perspectives in the international political economy. Therefore the text confronts the liberal perspective & economic nationalism & discusses some important aspects of these theories. Adapted from the source document.
It is always difficult to define the one & only measure of poverty, as there are different concepts of poverty based on a number of welfare indicators. The paper discuses main approaches to individual welfare measurement. A measure of individual welfare in the concept of relative deprivation is proposed. Three dimensions of relative deprivation are considered (economic strain, inability to afford certain items, & housing). The measure is based on multiplicative approach & thus is more sensitive to changes & differences in data than measures based on additive approach. The measure reflects the complex nature of households' relative deprivation & is applied to Slovak EU SILC 2005-2008 microdata in order to analyze the level of poverty in Slovakia in the concept of relative deprivation. Three different poverty lines are applied to the data & results are compared. Level of poverty in terms of relative deprivation is decreasing in Slovakia over time. Using the proposed approach, the results strongly depend on the number of components included in each dimension, as well as the components itself. In accordance with economic changes in the society, in the further research reappraisal of certain components could be a matter of discussion in order to reflect the present situation. Adapted from the source document.
The paper provides an exploratory analysis of regional dynamics among 264 NUTS2 EU-27 regions over the period 1992-2006. Seven different regional indicators are analyzed including wages, household expenditures, retail sales, investments, productivity, GDP, & GDP adjusted for international purchasing power differences. Several aspects of regional dynamics are studied such as convergence, polarization, role of international component, overall mobility, & individual mobility of Czech regions. Different methods are employed including some traditional techniques such as Gini coefficient, Theil decomposition, or kernel density estimates but also more innovative measures based on the pair-wise comparisons of regions. The results suggest strong regional convergence in relative ratios hand in hand with increasing absolute gaps among European regions. The analysis also indicates a significant bipolarity in the investigated distributions & a major role of international component in the process of European regional development. From the Czech regions, only Praha & Stredni Cechy recorded some upward mobility in the European regional rank distributions, while the relative positions of all other units deteriorated. Adapted from the source document.
The first question that we ask ourselves in our article is whether the accounting of the central bank is supposed to respect the principles of internationally accepted standards (especially the International Financial Reporting Standards). We are looking for the basic differences in understanding of terms such as (il)liquidity & (in)solvency on the level of central & commercial banking. We analyze the economic reasons for origination of the long foreign exchange position of the CNB which, under the circumstances of trend appreciation of the exchange rate of the Czech crown, is leading to a cumulative loss. We are discussing whether the current level of foreign exchange reserves of the CNB is excessive or adequate. Special attention is paid to the monetary & financial impact of the loss of the central bank. We are pointing out that losing the central bank means profit for market subjects at the same time. It is not just a "fictitious" accounting problem & it can have its factual impact on the national economy. At the end we are summarizing & assessing the individual opinions regarding the loss of the CNB. Adapted from the source document.
This article explores the spatial influences that shape the contemporary Czech party system & their consequences for the institutionalization of the party system. First, the regionalization of the party system is measured to identify the specific regional clusters of votes for individual parties. Second, after controlling for the impact of social cleavages, the independent effect of two macro- regions on the differences in voting decisions is analyzed. In the case of Moravia, no such independent effect is evident. Conversely, in the formerly German- inhabited Sudetenland there is an effect on the vote in the case of two parties (KSCM & ODS). The historical reasons for this spatial regime are briefly discussed. Finally, the relative insignificance of spatial regimes in the Czech party system is explained with reference to its high degree of nationalization (the level of spatial heterogeneity in regional voting results). The author employs spatial analytical techniques in the article, such as measures of spatial autocorrelation, the spatial regression model, & the Gini Index. The findings suggest that there is a high degree of spatial institutionalization of the Czech party system & relatively insignificant contextual effects at the macro- regional level.
The article provides an overview of the main theoretical approaches to research on educational choices and anticipated labour-market opportunities from a gender perspective. It then presents the results of three quantitative analyses of secondary data. The objective is to help facilitate a complex understanding of the mechanisms of the reproduction of gendered social structures. The genderedness of the social institutions in the education system and the labour market in relation to the socialising trends in the family is described in three parts: 1) gender segregation in employment in the context of segregation in education – the author shows that the horizontal dimension of these social institutions plays a more signifi cant role than the vertical dimension; 2) the factors that condition girls' and boys' educational aspirations and choice of schools – the author demonstrates how secondary school choices are gendered (though the analysis did not reveal the differences between the factors that infl uence girls' and boys' aspirations); 3) the factors that condition parents' educational and class aspirations for their sons and daughters – the author uncovers several aspects of the socialising effect of the reproduction of the two traditional career trajectories based on gender. In conclusion, the article answers the question of how structurally gendered expectations cohere with individual career trajectories, and based on the three analyses formulates questions for further research and offers a revised theoretical conceptualisation of gender as an analytical category.
The main purpose of this article is to show by selected case studies to what extent the euro has already managed to establish itself as one of the key international currencies from the point of view of various aspects, to what extent it fulfills the functions of an important international currency, and what are the prospects of the euro's position in the future. Various signals indicate that the euro already fulfills some conditions which would allow it to become a serious competitor to the dollar in a relatively short period of time. The article is also taking notice of some obstacles and drawbacks that the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) has to and will have to deal with.First of all, the author deals with the question of whether the eurozone is an optimum currency area. This is one of the principal theoretical problems which has been accompanying the EMU since the very beginning. Then he shifts his attention to the question, concerning what role does the euro play in the world economy at present from the point of view of the share of the eurozone on the world GDP, trade, officialforeign exchange reserves, selected indicators offinancial markets etc. Then he deals with the role of the euro in the world monetary system -- one of the main subsystems of the world economy. Here is presented a survey of countries which have accepted the euro as its single or main currency, and also countries whose currencies are narrowly linked to the euro by means of various exchange rate mechanisms. The next part of the article outlines the potential of the euro in its "conquest" offurther regions of the world. Both those where the euro is becoming or will become the number one currency (e.g. in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe) in a foreseeable future, and those where it will compete with the American dollar (e.g. in Latin America, in the Middle East etc.). In the final part, the author attemptes (use the same tense) to point out some problems which can influence what?missing subject, if and to what extent the euro really will become a strong and stable currency. At the moment, it is not yet possible to answer concisely and clearly the question of whether the euro will become an equivalent competitor to the American dollar. It is important whether the EMU will or will not break up in the course of the coming years or decades. So far, there have not appeared any signals of this kind. It will be substantial how the member countries of the eurozone will be able to handle the first serious crisis, e.g. analogical to that of 1992-1993. At that time, the exchange rate mechanism (ERM) was abandonned temporarily by the 1talian lira and permanently by the British pound. This crisis of the European monetary system has shown the difficulty or even incapacity to set such a monetary policy which would be simultaneously advantageous for all member countries of a certain monetary system. The question is whetlLer it is possible considering there are usually big differences in economical standing between individual countries. A similar or even a more serious crisis could emerge in a longer time horizon. The EMU thus stays a long term project and a long distance run. It is, however, possible to assume that within the next ten years, it could become totally clear whether the EMU project is a great success or a great error. Adapted from the source document.
