A paper examined how well the European Union's Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) had met its objectives, focusing on the areas of sampling and design, household dynamics, and incomes. In each domain the EU-SILC formed a unique and useful resource: but there were also problems and shortcomings – some of which could be rectified relatively easily, for the majority of countries.
Source: Maria Iacovou, Olena Kaminska, and Horacio Levy, Using EU-SILC Data for Cross-National Analysis: Strengths, problems and recommendations, Working Paper 2012-03, Institute for Social and Economic Research (University of Essex)
Links: Working paper | Abstract
Date: 2012-Feb
A paper examined the practice of social comparison between the citizens of different European countries. By generating diverse social encounters, new information resources, and an extension in the scope of common legislation, the European project invited citizens to compare their daily experiences with those of people further afield and to evoke reference groups outside their country of residence. The author examined the political significance of these emergent practices for the perception of injustice, the sense of personal misfortune, and the development of new forms of cross-national subjecthood.
Source: Jonathan White, Parallel Lives: Social comparison across national boundaries, LEQS Paper 47/2012, London School of Economics
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Jan
