After the collapse of the communist system in 1989, most Eastern European countries experienced a mortality and health crisis. However, this did not hit the traditionally most vulnerable groups - children, adolescents, women and the elderly - but male adults in the 20-59 age group. The Report...

This paper summarizes recent empirical research on the determinants of subjective well-being. Results from national and international samples suggest that measures of social capital, including especially the corollary measures of specific and general trust, have substantial effects on well-being...

In this paper we employ World Values Survey measures of life satisfaction as though they were direct measures of utility, and use them to evaluate alternative features and forms of government in large international samples. We find that life satisfaction is more closely linked to several World...

This paper first reviews existing studies of the links between good governance and subjective well-being. It then brings together the largest available sets of national-level measures of the quality of governance to assess the extent to which they contribute to explaining the levels and changes...

This paper explores the role of housing in households’ increasing financial activities. First, I build on quantitative work on the growth of housing related debt across Europe carried out under WP5 by presenting data on rates of homeownership, levels and types of mortgage debt, and house...

The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 paved the way for changes in every aspect of life in this region. New opportunities and new risks emerged for all members of society. The main drive for change has been bold economic and political reform - the transition from planned systems to market...

The author develops the methodical aspects of analysis of efficiency of service enterprises activity, conducts analysis of efficiency of service enterprises activity in Russia and analysis of efficiency of service enterprises activity in the countries of Eastern Europe, and then makes out...

This paper analyses intergovernmental transfers in France and Italy to assess to which extent soft budget spending behaviors result from slack in fiscal constraints or from political factors. It innovates on the previous literature, which concentrated on single countries, by adopting a...

This paper examines institutional differences between the former East and West Germany and four central European transition countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and the Slovak Republic). Using enterprise survey data we show that the quality of both formal and informal institutions in...

This paper interprets the existing evidence on enterprise restructuring in Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. Despite differences in restructuring policies, the pattern of observed restructuring appears similar in the three countries. Contrary to initial expectations, managers of SOEs have...