Role of social welfare in European suicide prevention

Yur'yev A, Värnik A, Värnik P, Sisask M, Leppik L. Role of social welfare in European suicide prevention The aims of this study were to assess the relationship between suicide mortality and social expenditure in 26 European countries, explore attitudes towards welfare systems and their relationship with suicide mortality, and compare attitudes towards welfare provision in Eastern and Western Europe. The World Health Organization suicide data and Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development social expenditure data for 1980–2005 were used. Data on attitudes towards welfare systems were taken from the European Social Survey. Differences between mean scores for attitudes in Western and Eastern European countries were calculated. Correlations between social expenditure and suicide trends were negative in most countries for both genders. Inverse correlations between attitudes towards welfare provision and suicide mortality rates were demonstrated for males only. Differences in attitudes were found between Eastern and Western European countries; for example, confidence in the welfare system was found to be stronger in Western Europe. Higher social expenditure and greater confidence in welfare provision appear to have suicide‐preventive effects.     

Electricity Cost as a Driver of Competitiveness in Northern Europe: The Case of Estonia

The Estonian electricity market will be fully opened in 2013. Given ever-stricter environmental standards limiting the use of domestically available oil shale as main fuel for electricity generation and expansion of regional power pools, it is widely believed that Estonia’s currently low electricity prices are set to increase. Authors argue that cost differentiation and regional competition will be based on transmission charges and add-on fees. Measuring exporting industry’s total electricity costs as a share of total production costs shows that for the majority of Estonian producers electricity costs make up only around 1–2 % of production costs, but noteworthy exceptions exist.     

Do ownership and size affect the performance of water utilities? Evidence from Estonian municipalities

Concerns regarding rising water and sewerage prices have generated a renewed interest in measuring and assessing water utility performance. An efficiency analysis can serve as a basis for price setting decisions. This article examines the influence of ownership structure and corporate size on the efficiency of Estonian water companies, and assesses the empirical efficiency gaps through the lens of corporate governance and natural monopoly theories. To assess efficiency and the influence of ownership and corporate size on efficiency, we use a Data Envelopment Analysis and truncated regression with maximum likelihood estimation as well as an ANOVA test. The study sample consists of 43 water utilities, serving more than 68% of the Estonian population. One main finding of the study reveals that ownership structure does not affect the efficiency of Estonian water utilities, while efficiency does increase with corporate size: large water utilities outperform small utilities. An additional conclusion is that the Estonian water sector is too fragmented.     

Governance and Performance of a Mixed Public-Private Enterprise: An Assessment of a Company in the Estonian Water Sector

Local governments are increasingly entering into partnerships with the private sector in the “externalization” of public service delivery. While the financial and non-financial interests of the partners involved may appear to be in opposition and potentially un-reconcilable, this is not always the case, especially where governance arrangements exist to align and balance the requirements of financial and non-financial performance. Such arrangements are analysed here with reference to Estonia’s largest water company with mixed public-private ownership. It has a business-like management that facilitates a combination of good non-financial performance (quality and affordability) and considerable financial performance (profitability).     

The Alignment between Organizational Critical Success Factors and Information Technology Capability in Academic Institutions*

Alignment between organizational critical success factors (CSFs) and competencies is widely believed to improve performance. This study examines the performance implications of alignment between CSFs and one source of competence, the organization's information technology (IT) capability. The effects of three antecedent factors–environmental uncertainty, integration, and IT management sophistication–are also examined. This paper uses survey data from 244 large academic institutions, along with some secondary data. Following the profile deviation approach to measure alignment, the academic institutions are divided into three clusters based on their CSFs: the academic comprehensives, the reputed giants, and the small educators. The ideal profile of IT capability is next developed for each cluster in terms of four dimensions: information retrieval, electronic communication, computing facilities for students, and computer-aided education. Alignment is then computed for each institution as the proximity of its IT capability profile from the ideal IT capability profile for the cluster to which it belongs. The results suggest that alignment facilitates both perceived IT success and organizational performance. Moreover, sophisticated IT management facilitates both alignment and perceived IT success, environmental uncertainty facilitates perceived IT success but not alignment, and integration facilitates neither alignment nor perceived IT success.     

The making of national identity among older Estonians in the United States

The purpose of this study was to investigate the development of national identity throughout adulthood among older Estonians in the United States. The participants of the study arrived in the United States as World War II refugees, fleeing the Soviet occupation of their homeland. The data were collected using in-depth semistructured interviews, participant observations, and publications of the Estonian community. The interview sample consisted of 30 Estonians who were 75–92 years old. Data analysis was guided by the grounded theory approach. The study revealed that for Estonian refugees of the participants' generation, national identity has been a central aspect of their personal and social identities throughout their lives. However, when the participants became refugees, the expressions of national identity intensified and acquired a mission-like character. Now in old age, their national identity provides them with an important source of existential meaning and a basis for social connections.     

Satisfaction with Virtual Communities of Interest: Effect on Members' Visit Frequency*

The authors develop a four‐dimensional scale to measure members' satisfaction with virtual communities of interest (VCIs). The dimensions consist of members' satisfaction with member‐to‐member interactions, organizer‐to‐member interactions and organizer‐to‐community interactions, all of which come together on the VCI's site. Using a sample of 3605 members of a VCI, the authors investigated the effect of each satisfaction dimension on members' visit frequency, and the moderating effect of membership duration on the links between the satisfaction dimensions and visit frequency. The results reveal that satisfaction with member‐to‐member interactions, organizer‐to‐member interactions and the community's site has positive effects on members' visit frequency. Members' satisfaction with organizer‐to‐community interactions has no effect on visit frequency. The findings also show that membership duration strengthens two, and weakens one of the linkages between the satisfaction dimensions and members' visit frequency.