Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research

This paper explores the distributional and welfare impact of the cost-of-living crisis in Europe, differentiated by gender, thereby addressing the gap in the literature on gender-specific effects of inflation. Using household consumption data linked to price changes between April 2021 and July 2023 across six European countries, it examines how different consumption patterns between male-and female-headed households influence their exposure to inflation. By relying on the full distribution of household-specific inflation rates and quantile regression approach, the results show gender-specific disparities in inflation exposure and inequality. Across countries, women-led households are more impacted by heating and electricity inflation, while men are more affected by motor fuel and services inflation; in both cases, gender disparities diminish with rising income. The paper further evaluates the welfare changes attributable to inflation by estimating a behaviourally-adjusted welfare effect. Building on the Atkinson welfare measure, we decompose the change in welfare into equity and efficiency components, differentially for male-and female-headed households. By doing it, the paper enriches our understanding of the differential impact of inflation across household types, providing information for designing better and more targeted policies. JEL Codes: D12, D31, D60, E31, I30, J16

Objective Increased out-of-home consumption may elevate sodium (Na) intake, but self-reported dietary assessments limit evidence. This study explored associations between neighbourhood exposure to fast-food and sit-down restaurants and estimated 24-hour urinary Na excretion. Design A cross-sectional analysis from the ORISCAV-LUX 2 study (2016-2017). 24-hour urinary Na was estimated from a morning spot urine sample using the INTERSALT formula. Spatial access to fast-food and sit-down restaurants was derived from GIS data around participants’ addresses within 800-m and 1000-meter road-network buffers by summing up the inverse of the road-network distance between their residential address and all restaurants within the corresponding buffer size. Multi-adjusted linear models were used to assess the association between spatial access to restaurants and estimated 24-hour urinary Na excretion. Setting Luxembourg Participants Urban adults age over 18 years (n=464). Results Fast-food and sit-down restaurants accounted for 58.5% of total food outlets. Mean 24-hour urinary Na excretion was 3564 mg/d for men and 2493 mg/d for women. Health-conscious eating habits moderated associations between spatial access to fast-food and sit-down restaurants and Na excretion. For participants who did not attach great importance to having a balanced diet, greater spatial access to restaurants, combining both density and accessibility, was associated with increased urinary Na excretion at 800 m (β highvslow = 259, 95% CI: 47–488) and 1000 m (β highvslow = 270, 95% CI: 21–520). Conclusions Neighbourhood exposure to fast-food and sit-down restaurants influences sodium intake, especially among individuals with less health-conscious eating habits, potentially exacerbating diet-related health disparities.

We present an experimental test of a procedurally fair co-determination mechanism where group members reduce their value uncertainty before submitting bids for a joint project. The results suggest a relatively efficient mechanism, with unprofitable projects being largely rejected and profitable ones accepted. Repeated interactions tended to enhance the efficiency, while uncertain information reduced it. The subjects invested surprisingly little search effort to reduce the uncertainty about the costs and benefits, and appeared to trade off search costs against higher bids.

Introduction The study investigated inequalities in the sense of belonging in education among students in primary, secondary and tertiary levels in various European, North American and Oceanian countries. Variation across different educational contexts was explored by examining example countries (Finland, Hungary and Ireland). An intersectional approach to inequalities was adopted; more specifically, an intersection between gender, migration and socioeconomic status was emphasized. The focus of the study was the sense of belonging in education among students representing different intersectional groups in different stages of the educational pathway across educational contexts. Method Data from the PIRLS, TIMMS, PISA, and Eurostudent were harmonized and analyzed. In addition, macro-level indicators characterizing educational policies and practices were used to pinpoint different educational contexts. Regression analysis was used to explore inequalities in the sense of belonging. Findings Our results demonstrate the extensive complexity of sense of belonging in education on an individual level, and various dynamics across intersectional groups as and educational stages. Across all educational stages native females with high socioeconomic status had the strongest sense of belonging. Discussion Our results also show that characteristics of macro-level educational contexts have multifaceted and even contradictory associations with inequalities in students' sense of belonging in education.

Out-of-home mobility and neighborhood environment have been, respectively, shown to be associated with older adults’ cognitive abilities and they may have combined effects. Adopting an ecological perspective to mobility–cognition associations, this study examined daily maximum distance from home in relation to daily working memory performance in community-dwelling older adults and the moderation effect of neighborhood environments. Analyses included data over 947 days from 109 Swiss older adults aged 65 to 89 years. Over two weeks, participants wore a custom-built mobile GPS tracker and completed a smartphone-based numerical memory updating task seven times per day. Daily maximum distance from home was extracted from the GPS data. Neighborhood environments were assessed with the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale at baseline. Multilevel models showed that maximum distance from home was not associated with working memory performance, but there were cross-level moderation effects of neighborhood environments. Daily maximum distance from home was positively (vs. negatively) associated with daily working memory performance in participants who lived in neighborhoods with more (vs. fewer) places for walking and cycling and higher (vs. lower) land use mix-diversity. Out-of-home mobility and neighborhood environment could have combined effects on older adults’ cognitive abilities. Neighborhoods with more places for walking and biking or having a higher mixture of land use could enhance a positive association between traveling a far distance from home and working memory performance.

Zusammenfassung In diesem Kapitel wird der Blick noch einmal weiter gefasst und eine umfassendere Perspektive auf die in der Arbeit untersuchten Diskurse aufgetan, indem konflikt- und schliessungstheoretische Ansätze und ihre Anschlussmöglichkeit an diskurstheoretische Zugänge behandelt werden. Dies gründet in einer dem Forschungsvorhaben übergeordneten These. Diese lautet, dass die politischen und massenmedialen Debatten zu Islam und Muslim*innen in der Schweiz einen konflikthaften Aushandlungsprozess um das gesellschaftliche Wissen zu Islam und Muslim*innen darstellen, dabei gleichzeitig aber die symbolische Form der Schweizer Gesellschaft verhandelt wird.

Zusammenfassung In diesem Kapitel wird ein sensibilisierendes Konzept für das Forschungsvorhaben beschrieben. Es lässt sich dem Ansatz der empirischen Subjektivierungsforschung zuordnen und stellt entsprechend Fragen nach Selbst- und Weltdeutungsstrategien von Individuen, die in einer gewissen Abhängigkeit von gesellschaftlichen Wissensbeständen stehen.

Zusammenfassung In diesem Kapitel geht es nun darum, wie die Befragten mit den aus den massenmedialen und politischen Debatten rekonstruierten Subjektpositionen in ihren Selbsterzählungen und daher auch in ihren Selbst-Positionierungen umgehen. Zunächst wird der ausnahmslose Nicht-Bezug von Herrn L. aufgenommen, bevor für jede rekonstruierte Subjektposition sowie für das rekonstruierte Deutungsmuster einzeln die verschiedenen, aus dem Datenmaterial herausgearbeiteten Umgangsweisen dargelegt werden.

Zusammenfassung In diesem Kapitel stehen nun die Selbst-Positionierungen der interviewten Imame im Zentrum. Durch Selbst-Positionierungen drücken Menschen gegenüber anderen Menschen in sozialen Situationen aus, für wen sie gehalten werden möchten. In diesem Kapitel werden zunächst Selbst-Positionierungen von Imamen beschrieben, ohne Bezüge zu den rekonstruierten Subjektpositionen herzustellen. Dies ist der Annahme geschuldet, dass die rekonstruierten Subjektpositionen nur einen kleinen Teil aller an Imame gerichteten Adressierungen und Zuschreibungen darstellen.

Zusammenfassung Dieses Kapitel beschreibt das methodische Vorgehen der Studie, indem für die beiden Datenkorpora zunächst die einzelnen Schritte zur Korpusbildung und Analyse und danach die jeweilige Umsetzung erläutert werden.

Zusammenfassung In diesem Kapitel sowie den nächsten zwei stehen die Erfahrungen der Imame im Vordergrund. Dieses Kapitel bildet die Grundlage für die im nächsten und übernächsten Kapitel untersuchte Frage, wie Imame wahrgenommen werden möchten, also die Betrachtung ihrer Selbst-Positionierungen. Es untersucht grundsätzliche und allgemeine Aspekte des Imamseins aus der Perspektive der interviewten Imame: Ihre Rolle, ihr Aufgabenbereich und ihre Tätigkeiten, ihre transnationale Sicht sowie die genderspezifische Dimension der Rolle.

Zusammenfassung In diesem Kapitel wird das Untersuchungsfeld näher charakterisiert: Erstens wird beleuchtet, wer die Imame in der Schweiz sind und was sie machen, um der Leserschaft einen ersten Einblick in das von Diversität geprägte Feld zu geben. Zweitens werden die öffentlichen Debatten zu Islam und Muslim*innen näher beleuchtet. Drittens wird auch erarbeitet, wie Muslim*innen mit diskursiven Anrufungen umgehen. Daran anschliessend folgt eine Konkretisierung des Forschungsvorhabens.

Zusammenfassung In diesem Kapitel werden zunächst die Schlussfolgerungen dargestellt, die sich auf das vorherrschende Verständnis von «Imam» und damit auf männliche Imame beziehen, welche die vorliegende Studie hauptsächlich in den Blick genommen hat, bevor auf die Ergebnisse zu den weiblichen Befragten eingegangen wird. Aufgrund dieser Vorgehensweise werden erst die beiden Subjektpositionen des Imams als Bedrohung und des Modell-Imams, die Umgangsweisen der Imame mit diesen und ihre Selbst-Positionierungen unter Einbezug einer schliessungstheoretischen Perspektive näher behandelt. Dann wird auf weibliche Sichtweisen eingegangen, indem einerseits die dritte Subjektposition des oder der inklusive*n Imam*in und die Umgangsweise von Frau R. damit aufgegriffen wird, und andererseits die Perspektive von Frau P. beleuchtet wird.

Zusammenfassung Dieses Kapitel beschreibt zunächst die bisher eher spärlichen wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnisse zu Imam-Debatten und Subjektpositionen sowie das aus der Versicherheitlichung entstandende Dispositiv und seine Konsequenzen für Imame. Danach werden die Ergebnisse der eigentlichen Diskursanalyse dargestellt, das heisst, welche an Imame adressierte Subjektpositionen in massenmedialen und politischen Debatten der Schweiz konstruiert werden und welche Zuschreibungen damit verbunden sind.

Machine Learning (ML) methods are increasingly being used across a variety of fields, and have led to the discovery of intricate relationships between variables. We here apply ML methods to predict and interpret life satisfaction using data from the UK British Cohort Study. We discuss the application of first Penalized Linear Models and then one non‐linear method, Random Forests. We present two key model‐agnostic interpretative tools for the latter method: Permutation Importance and Shapley Values. With a parsimonious set of explanatory variables, neither Penalized Linear Models nor Random Forests produce major improvements over the standard Non‐penalized Linear Model. However, once we consider a richer set of controls these methods do produce a non‐negligible improvement in predictive accuracy. Although marital status, and emotional health continue to be the most‐important predictors of life satisfaction, as in the existing literature, gender becomes insignificant in the non‐linear analysis.

Parental leave policies are designed to facilitate the reconciliation of family and work life. Usage of leave is related to various factors, including the parent's gender, as well as their workplace and employer's characteristics. A wealth of research has explored employees' perceptions of the role of workplaces on leave‐taking, yet considerably less is known about the perspective of employers. This paper examines the challenges employers face while implementing parental leave reforms aimed at increasing take up by men. We conducted semi‐structured interviews with staff responsible for implementing leave in Luxembourg‐based companies where low take‐up by fathers is most prevalent. We explore the perceptions of difficulties related to leave usage that companies encounter. The results show that that full‐time leave remains the most common choice, while part‐time or split leave is less utilized. The employers in the study report difficulties in reorganizing work, finding replacements, and reintegrating employees. The organization of replacement cover appears more challenging when employees take full‐time rather than part‐time leave and when employees with a highly‐specialized job (irrespective of their level of education) take parental leave. These employers tend to cope with replacement issues by negotiating with employees to take more informal forms of leave or by simply not hiring employees in a certain life stage.

Usually, Statistical Institutes and Research Centers present the results of surveys in a ''standardized'' way, that is, the estimator of the parameter of interest and the associated measure of accuracy. This implies the calculation of the variance of the estimator, which is typically done in two possible ways: analytically or with replication methods. The analytic way requires the availability of the information of auxiliary variables used in the methodological plan of the survey, both at the sample level for the design variables, and at the respondent level for the variables involved in the treatment of non-response. Unfortunately, these variables are often not available in the final survey dataset, and the variance might therefore be miscalculated. Replication methods, which fully integrate the methodological plan applied into the survey, may be considered as good alternatives to this approach. This paper uses real data from the survey on ''Racism and Ethno-racial Discrimination'' carried out in Luxembourg in 2021, to compute and compare analytic variance estimators and bootstrap variance estimators. For this survey, both the linearization and the rescaled bootstrap lead to similar results, but the ultimate cluster variance estimator can be substantially biased. This suggests that the rescaled bootstrap may be a relevant approach.

Silvio Berlusconi was the archetypical representative of the Western patriarchal culture, now constituting the basis of a cultural war fought by the radical right in the public sphere of the Western world. Nevertheless, there is limited research into how journalists of the quality press address the cultural patriarchy of political leaders, such as Berlusconi. The scope of the current article is to investigate this phenomenon by paying attention to how the French and Italian quality press represented women associated with the life of Berlusconi, the day following his death. The research, based on a critical discourse analysis, shows that the male-controlled press favorable to or critical of Berlusconi tends to circulate a patriarchal culture comprising the reproduced marginalization of women in society.

The wellbeing effects of urban greenspace are well established, but may be more attributable to pedestrians’ perceptions than objective levels of greenery. An immersive virtual environment was designed with three levels of roadside greenery: no trees, 200 trees, and 400 trees. Participants were asked to rate each for several perceived and objective factors, and gave their years lived experience in urban, rural, and suburban environments. Trees impacted perceptions of beauty and greenness, and, slightly, building heights. Controlling for urban experience significantly lessened the impact of trees, but showed that perceived greenness had higher significant correlations to all other outcomes.

Background The lack of accurate and affordable monitoring of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) is a common issue among patients with diabetes in low- and middle-income countries. We aimed to test a tablet- and smartphone-based point-of-care (TSB POC) device against a local laboratory-based measure of HbA1c for monitoring diabetes under real-world conditions. Methods For this cross-sectional clinical method applicability study, capillary and venous blood was collected in duplicate and analyzed at local primary health care centers. For a heterogeneity test, the tests were performed by an expert, and by a team of local nurses. The study was conducted in a multicenter design in rural and urban Aceh, Indonesia in 2019, and included a total of 533 adults. We mainly used Bland-Altman plots to assess the number of readings within the 95%-limits of agreement (LoA) and Deming regressions. Results The results show a mean difference between capillary HbA1c on the test device and the reference method of −0.54 [CI0.95 = −1.6933; 0.6048] with 5.21% of measurements outside the LoA and a Pearson’s r = 0.91 in the Deming Regression. There is no significant difference in test concordance between local nurses and the expert (4.23% versus 5.13% results outside the LoA [CI0.95 = −0.0331; 0.0511]). Conclusions TSB POC for analysis of HbA1c is an acceptable alternative for accessible monitoring of diabetes patients under these conditions. This method could provide access to high-quality diagnostic decisions through regular and cost-effective HbA1c monitoring directly in healthcare facilities, thus providing better access to essential health services.