REV - EJGE - Vol. 05, Nº 02, 2016
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/2183/23399
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Item Hidden costs of cuts: Austerity, civil service management and the motivation of public officials in Central and Eastern Europe after the crisis(Universidade da Coruña, Servizo de Publicacións, 2016) Meyer-Sahling, Jan-Hinrik; Janta, Barbara; Reinholde, Iveta; Van Stolk, Christian[Abstract] The implementation of austerity measures presents a dilemma for governments. While austerity measures such as cutbacks aim to reduce costs and enhance public sector efficiency, the same measures might undermine the motivation of employees and, consequently, the prospects of effectively implementing austerity programmes. Based on a survey of ministerial officials in Poland and Latvia, this article finds that the scale of cutbacks explains a larger decline of staff motivation in Latvia than in Poland. The article further shows that motivation was more likely to decrease after the crisis if austerity measures involved cutbacks such as staff reductions, recruitment freezes, and a reduction of training opportunities.Item Switching Costs in the European Postal Service. Are There Any Solutions?(Universidade da Coruña, Servizo de Publicacións, 2016) Pateiro-Rodríguez, Carlos; Prado-Domínguez, Antonio Javier; García-Iglesias, Jesús M.; Barreiro Viñán, José Manuel[Abstract] This article examines the costs of switching that may exist in the European postal sector, where it is carried out an ambitious process of opening to competition since 1997. Inadequate regulation of the access to some elements of postal infrastructure or services within the scope of the universal postal service exists. This article proposes adaptations to ensure transparent and non-discriminatory access conditions to elements of postal infrastructure in line with the sectorial directives aimed at strengthening competition in the long term in the postal market. The proposed adaptations focus on services such as postcode systems, address databases, post office boxes, delivery boxes, re-direction and return to sender services. All of them can help reduce the switching cost and thus strengthen competition.Item Productivity in Europe during the Great Recession: Any evidence for creative destruction?(Universidade da Coruña, Servizo de Publicacións, 2016) Paz Pardo, Gonzalo[Abstract] This article analyses the effects of the financial crisis and the Great Recession on productivity in Europe by studying the process of labour force reallocation between companies. Using micro-data on company balance sheets, a fixed-effects panel estimation of the predictors of the post-crisis evolution of the number of employees for a given company is used. Identification is achieved through the use of pre-crisis values of covariates. The results are in line with the theoretical predictions derived from Schumpeterian (“creative destruction”) endogenous growth models. Pre-crisis productivity is a predictor of a higher number of employees, which means creative destruction is taking place to some extent. Companies in financially dependent sectors perform worse in the context of the financial crisis. Indebtedness has an uneven effect: positive for large companies and negative for smaller ones.Item Editorial statement: The first five years of the European Journal of Government and Economics(Universidade da Coruña, Servizo de Publicacións, 2016) Varela, Diego; Benedetto, Giacomo; Sánchez Santos, José Manuel[Abstract] This editorial statement reflects on the experience from the first five years of the European Journal of Government and Economics and proposes some broad ideas about what we believe should be the future of the journal in the following years. The developments and ideas presented here are divided in three parts: achievements and difficulties of the past five-year period, the renewal of the editorial team, and new challenges for the future