Purpose: The paper aims to provide comparative empirical evidence on young people neither in employment nor in education and training (NEET-youth) under the influence of the digital divide, education and sectoral growth across the EU regions, with a focus on the transition patterns followed over time by EU regions in bridging the digital divide and their specific implications on school-to-work transition (STWT).Design/methodology/approach: Firstly, five variables on Internet usage activities are aggregated into an index of E-skills. Secondly, linear dynamic panel data regression models are used to explain the influence of various factors on regional rates of NEET-youth, with or without grouping regions upon the digital divide in relative terms.Findings: Advanced digital literary skills are found to have a stronger effect on the STWT than the basic ones. The growth of employment in specific economic activities like “Information and Communication” enhances STWT, but only when considering regional differences in the digital divide and E-skills as well. However, the negative effect of deprivation and low educational attainments on STWT is offset by a low level of the regional digital divide. In addition, more R&D expenditure in higher education is necessary to compensate for the effect of the digital divide on the STWT.Practical implications: On brief, the policy implications are twofold. Firstly, regions will need to focus more on reducing the digital divide, because it will not only generate positive effects for STWT but will also enhance the positive impact of education and sectoral growth on STWT and even compensate for their low progress. Secondly, in the context of the EU single market, to better address the situation of young people, regions should monitor the relative progress in bridging the digital divide and improving E-skills, with respect to the other EU regions. Improving the relative position on the EU map of E-skills increases the effectiveness of regional policies targeting the STWT.Originality/value: The originality of the paper lies in the regional approach to the relationship between STWT and the digital divide, which allows us to derive new policy measures for the EU regions. Other innovative contributions rely on the identification of (1) transition patterns that region follow over time in improving STWT while bridging the digital divide and (2) policy measures addressing the NEETs in the context of the regional digital divide.

This paper makes a comparison between the financing of health systems in six European Member States: France, Denmark, Spain, Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary, starting from the structure of financial allocations to health systems in the context of fluctuating macroeconomic developments marked by multiple economic crises and the onset of the pandemic, which posed a real challenge to maintaining the health security of the European population and beyond. The need for this research is connected to the gap in the literature regarding economic development, health management and health financing performance. The main objective of the research is to determine the performance aspects of health systems financing and efficient financing models in relation to the evolution of macroeconomic indicators such as gross domestic product, household final consumption, general public expenditure and population. Empirical and analytical methods consisting of literature review, database construction, econometric modeling and statistical model validation were used. The results of the study highlight the performance of financial allocations for the six countries analyzed and could help decision-makers adjust health financing strategies in line with the insights provided by the current research. The novelty of this research is the comparison between different EU member states according to their economic development level in direct connection with health financing performance. This paper identifies the key aspects of health systems’ financing and of efficient financing models in connection to the evolution of main macroeconomic indicators.

This paper analyses the returns to education in Ecuador based on cross-sectional data collected by a National Survey at the individual- and canton-levels in 2005 and 2015. The multilevel analysis provides the methodological framework that allows capturing the regional peculiarities of data as well as addressing the high regional economic heterogeneity. The two level- random intercept and random slope models are used to examine the impact of individual-level and canton-level characteristics on the labour income. In subsidiary, the paper explains the proportion of variance in individual- level income that is explained by canton- level characteristics