Choice and competition policies in public services are popular reform strategies in the member states of the European Union (EU). The European choice agenda is based on the view in the EU of ‘social policy as a productive factor’ and the need for ‘modernisation’ of the EU welfare states....

How does fiscal decentralisation affect the development of a health system?Evidence from health care decentralisation in Europe can offer some insights to the question above. This paper addresses the effects of health care decentralisation in Europe, and reviews some of the key questions on the...

State rescaling may take a variety of shapes although scant research has been carried out into the mechanisms and economic incentives that underpin rescaling processes. Recent literature in economics, economic sociology and political economy has identified at least two broad rescaling...

This paper empirically examines the regional effects of sharing a single currency on bilateral trade with other European Union partners. It takes advantage of a gravity specification of bilateral trade between 17 Spanish regions and 13 European countries over the period 1997-2004, which in turn...

Choice and competition policies in public services are popular reform strategies in many European countries. Using the case of health care in the UK, this article analyses the effects of choice and competition policies by using subjective well-being (SWB) as an indicator of welfare and equity....

In this paper we take a fresh look at the magnitude of the trade-off between caring informally for a parent and paid work. We adopt a simultaneous approach with a primary focus on how hours of care are influenced by hours of work rather than the other way round. We also investigate the role that...

Choice and competition policies in public services are popular reform strategies in the member states of the European Union (EU). The European choice agenda is based on the view in the EU of, "social policy as a productive factor," and the need for, "modernisation," of the EU welfare states....

The public funding of long-term care (LTC) programs to support the frail elderly is still underdeveloped compared to other areas of social protection for old age. In Europe, any moves to broaden entitlements to LTC are impeded by increasing demand for care coinciding with constrained public...