When the Export of Social Problems Is No Longer Possible: Immigration Policies and Unemployment in Switzerland

Throughout the twentieth century, Switzerland has been one of the OECD countries with the highest proportion of immigrants in its population. The aim of this article is to show how institutional factors have shaped the opportunities for change in immigration and immigrant‐employment‐related policies there in the 1990s. Whereas unemployment had remained low in the 1970s and 1980s, there was a marked increase at the beginning of the 1990s. Existing migration policies were considered a central cause of this increase, since the great majority of foreigners who had come and settled in Switzerland in the periods of economic expansion were low‐skilled, and were now over‐represented among the unemployed. The reforms undertaken in the field of immigration and integration policy to respond to these new problems have been determined by specific institutional factors: direct democracy, a defensive migration regime, the development of immigrant rights and the weak autonomy of the central state. These factors account to a large extent for the limited scope and specific pathways of policy reforms in these two domains.     

Association between handgrip strength,walking, age-related illnesses and cognitive status in a sample of Portuguese centenarians

Background

Centenarians are a growing population in Europe and present significant variability in motor and cognitive functions. The aim of our study was to characterize health status, as well as cognitive and motor functions in a group of Portuguese centenarians. In addition, our study also aimed at analyzing the relationship between cognitive functions and the burden of diseases affecting the elderly.

Methods

Fifty-two centenarians were evaluated using the Mini-Mental State Examination, short version. Walking-related parameters (velocity and time spent in the 3 m walk test), grip strength and number of age-related illnesses were also measured. The relationship between cognitive scores and time spent in the three metre walk test, velocity, grip strength and number of diseases was analysed.

Results

Cognitive scores showed a positive correlation with both handgrip strength and time spent in the three metre walk. In contrast, no association was found between cognitive scores and the presence/absence of disease, walking velocity or number of diseases present.

Conclusions

These results suggest that in centenarians, cognitive functions may be related with motor functions.

     

Trade Dynamics in the Market for Federal Funds

We develop a model of the market for federal funds that explicitly accounts for its two distinctive features: banks have to search for a suitable counterparty, and once they meet, both parties negotiate the size of the loan and the repayment. The theory is used to answer a number of positive and normative questions: What are the determinants of the fed funds rate? How does the market reallocate funds? Is the market able to achieve an efficient reallocation of funds? We also use the model for theoretical and quantitative analyses of policy issues facing modern central banks.     

Permanently Provisional: History,Facts & Figures of Portuguese Immigration in Switzerland

This article provides an overview of the main demographic, social, and economic characteristics of Portuguese immigration in Switzerland. Firstly, it outlines the political and economic underpinnings of Portuguese migration flows to Switzerland. Then, it analyzes the demographic and sociological composition of these flows, the composition of the Portuguese population in Switzerland, as well as processes of economic and cultural integration. It is notably argued that the enduring Portuguese “ideology of return migration” has played a central role in the patterns of integration of Portuguese immigrants in Switzerland.     

The Brazilian Multinationals' Approaches to Innovation

Brazilian multinationals, born in a country where the environment is non-conducive to the scientific breakthrough type of innovation so stimulated in other countries, are increasingly expanding in international markets, where innovativeness is an intrinsic component of competitiveness. Aiming to study Brazilian multinationals' approaches to innovation, a new analytical framework was developed assuming that the internationalization process relies on the firm's innovative capability. In turn, innovative capabilities are derived from core competences and competence formation at firm level is influenced by the characteristics of the national environment. A survey involving 61 Brazilian multinationals led to the identification of four approaches to innovation, the competences that enable each one of them and the country-of-origin effects over competence development. That led to the explanation of why firms that do not show the expected strength in R&D, but are able to combine skillfully their organizational competences, manage to develop innovative capabilities which allow them to internationalize successfully. The overall outcome suggests that the dynamic relationships among institutions – competences – innovation – internationalization are setting new grounds for the international expansion of Brazilian firms.     

Trade policy and the United States labour market

The United States Government proposed a sweeping review of existing trade deals when the current Administration took office in January 2017. This paper reviews the ongoing changes, and considers the potential impact of two strands of the trade policy debate on the United States labour market. First, we consider policy decisions that may impact the location decision of multinational enterprises, especially within the context of the renegotiation of NAFTA. Second, we review the policy debate related to the steel industry, and the potential channels through which an import tariff on steel imports may impact the labour market.     

Income distribution determinants and public spending efficiency

This paper examines the impact of public spending on income distribution in OECD countries, paying attention in particular to the impact of the quality of education and public institutions. The paper assesses the efficiency of public spending in improving income distribution by using Data Envelopment Analysis. The empirical analysis shows the existence of both input and output inefficiencies across countries when relating public social spending to the inequality in income distribution.     

Urban art as platforms for bodily engagement and social encounters: the Modified Social Benches

Abstract

This paper discusses the role of the Modified Social Benches, a series of urban artworks, as platforms for bodily engagement and social encounters in open, outdoor urban spaces. Special attention is given to a couple of salient aspects involving both the design of the artworks and their social appropriation: (a) the different levels of sensory and kinesthetic engagement afforded by the benches, and (b) how these material qualities reflect in the urban space around the benches, lending the artworks a notorious social character. The social and the bodily dimensions are presented as intertwined characteristics of the Modified Social Benches. In order to explore these relationships, the paper highlights a set of key concepts, such as social encounters and affordances, as well as the notions of performance and engagement.     

Building evaluation capacity in Spain: a case study of rural development and empowerment in the European Union

The development of European Community administrative authority has greatly influenced the development of an evaluation culture among the southern and central member states of the European Union. The present case study from Spain provides an example of this diffusion through the use of an empowerment evaluation approach to build evaluation capacity within the context of rural development. The study focuses on the evaluation process over a 10-year period of three local development programs run by three local partnerships created in the rural areas of the Madrid region through the European LEADER initiative. Critical components of empowerment evaluation are discussed, as well as the impact, limitations, difficulties, and applicability of the approach to rural development in the European Union. Conclusions are presented concerning evaluation capacity building and the development of an evaluation culture.