We present novel evidence on the motherhood penalty in female employment, investigating its evolution over time and the role of family policy in mitigating this negative effect. Using a dynamic framework, we analyze seven European countries from 2003 to 2020, taking into account the potential endogeneity of fertility decisions. We find that childbirth affects female employment with different intensities across countries. Such an effect strengthens over time and persists as children grow up in most countries. Higher spending on family policies is associated with higher employment rates among new mothers. Disentangling cash and in-kind transfers, we find that the cash benefits have a slightly negative effect, while in-kind support is positive. However, the mere distinction may be insufficient for designing effective family policies, as the impact of spending interacts with multiple social and institutional factors, including gender equality in caring activities and inclusive labor markets.

This symposium grew out of dissatisfaction with the existing theories of institutions. Notwithstanding significant progress in the analysis of the macro-institutions through which systemic rules and norms are established and the micro-institutions through which actors decide and implement transactions within the playing field thus defined, researchers working along one or the other dimension faced a critical and largely unanswered question: how to bridge the gap between these two institutional layers? The selected articles assembled in this issue came out of efforts to identify and understand within a unified theoretical framework the arrangements through which these layers interact. Building on contributions in economics and other social sciences as well as from in-depth empirical studies, these articles explore the relevance of the concept of ‘meso-institutions’ to designate and characterize the devices (e.g. regulatory agencies) and mechanisms (e.g. guidelines) that connect the macro- and micro-institutional layers.

It has already been three years since millions of Ukrainians found refuge in other countries. In our longitudinal research, we examine in what way the main news websites in Poland and Czechia portray Ukrainian refugees and through that how they contribute to their social construction as a group deserving or undeserving of societal and public policy support. Data were collected from platform X, focusing on the accounts of the five most popular news websites in each country. In 2022, we expanded CARIN to CARIN+A, highlighting assistance as a booster (Zogata-Kusz, Öbrink Hobzová, and Cekiera, 2023). Now, examining the period between February 24, 2023, and July 31, 2024, we formulate a hypothesis of dimension content modification, i.e. the meaning of deservingness dimensions change over time for the same target group. Both countries exhibited similar themes and narratives. This was most visible in the attitude and reciprocity, although identity was also important. While at the beginning of the invasion the question of deservingness tied to who they are, later how they behave became crucial. Additionally, we observed normalisation of the situation, without compassion fatigue. Longitudinal media analysis is rare but crucial for countering xenophobia and nationalism.

Solidarity is a fundamental concept in social sciences, explaining the motivation for collective action and understanding how social cohesion institutions are structured. Its conceptualization, however, is often taken for granted in solidarity economy literature. This article investigates its emergence in solidarity economy organizations and the transformation through practices and discourse in public policies. We conducted a qualitative single-case study of COOPERCENTRAL VR, a family farming cooperative center with 13 organizations in Brazil. In conclusion, we demonstrate the paths of solidarity in the construction of a new socioeconomic reality and the role of the relationship between civil society and governments in forming and maintaining this process. The organization is indicated as an essential factor in bonding subjects and society.

For the past several years, affirmative action policies and their implementation have constituted a field of debate and academic research, in dialog with social movements and public policies carried out by various Latin American and Caribbean states, to mitigate persistent historical inequalities related to discrimination and racism. This article presents the results of the implementation of affirmative action policies for Afro-descendants in Uruguay in the workplace between 2014 and 2019, the first five years of implementation of Law No.19122 (which establishes a period of fifteen years in total for its validity). These results were obtained through interviews with key informants and through documentary analysis of the annual reports of the National Civil Service Office for the period under consideration.

Although feminist scholarship has discussed intersectionality extensively, few studies have addressed its implementation in public policies. This article fills that gap with an empirical study of the obstacles and enabling factors in implementing intersectionality in the Madrid City Council. We focus on the multiple meanings, actors, and structures involved in translating policy planning into concrete measures. Through a content analysis of policy documents, interviews, focus groups, and participant observation, our qualitative study identifies five key factors that hinder the implementation of intersectionality-informed policies: the absence of a legal framework and precise guidelines; the multiple and contrasting interpretations of intersectionality; the lack of training; the compartmentalized work structure and culture; and the unavailability and misuse of data. These findings contribute to the scholarship on the implementation of intersectionality in public policies and provide empirical-based recommendations to overcome the identified obstacles.

This review paper critically examines a range of analytical frameworks used to analyse the German mini-job scheme in comparative research on work and welfare. The approaches examined include labour market dualisation in comparative political economy research and welfare-to-work policies in comparative social policy research. The paper claims that using stylized facts instead of a thorough understanding of the broader context of national employment and social systems leads to misinterpretations in terms of policy learning. By describing the institutional context and main drivers of the evolution of mini-jobs over time, based on variety of data sources, statistics and empirical studies, the paper addresses the critical role of this specific employment scheme for gender equality, largely ignored in the comparative literature.

Cet article propose de montrer la transformation de l'idée d'interculturalisme au Québec de sa genèse dans les groupes communautaires montréalais des années 1960 jusqu’à son intégration dans la politique des partis au début du XXIe siècle à l'Assemblée nationale du Québec. Cette sociologie historique insiste sur la course à relais entre divers acteurs qui sont entrés en concurrence afin d'en définir le sens et les principes. L'histoire de l'idée d'interculturalisme montre en relief quatre périodes distinctes : la genèse du vocabulaire de « l'interculturel » (1963–1977), sa diffusion hors des groupes communautaires (1978–1988), la transition sémantique vers « l'interculturalisme » (1988–2006) et la polarisation politique à son sujet alors que se lèvent au Québec les controverses identitaires (2007–2018).

We provide an overview to the special issue entitled New Tools for Global Analysis of Economic Dynamics by detailing the main aim of each contribution being part of it.

This article aims to analyze the emergence of the migration-development nexus after decolonization in Francophone sub-Saharan Africa. The first section explores the way in which French governmental bodies and NGOs started to frame public policies linking migration and development in the 1960s and 1970s. The second section highlights how developmentalist ideology was mobilized in the 1980s in order to set up return policies in partnership with African governments who were increasingly inclined to control migrants’ monetary remittances. The last section emphasizes how the migration-development nexus was orchestrated to control migratory flows from the late 1980s onwards.

Which conditions foster accountability for health policy implementation in Spain’s 17 regional governments? We analyze five conditions: private management of health services, political salience of health policies, governments’ left ideological position, strong presence of non-statewide parties, and minority governments. We use fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) to identify how necessary and/or sufficient these conditions are (alone or in combination) to foster accountability. We find that there is no single recipe to ‘cook’ accountability. Three conditions appear to be ‘quasi-necessary’ but must be combined with others to foster accountability, thus defining three routes to accountability. The implications of the findings are discussed in light of current debates on the effects of decentralization, left-right ideologies, and privatization, on accountability for public policies.

Brazil's biodiversity faces significant threats, including wildlife crime. Although wildlife is protected by law and there are enforcement agencies to administer penalties and impose fines, the effectiveness of this system is questionable. Tackling wildlife crime requires legislation aligned with well-structured mechanisms for surveillance and de facto punishment. We used data on notifications of violations and payment of fines associated with wildlife crime in the state of Pernambuco over 12 years as a proxy for efficiency in tackling wildlife crime in Brazil. We tracked 803 processes from 2000–2012, extracting data on the type of violation, the fine imposed, the length of process handling, and processing and payment status. The number of processes rose from 17 in 2004 to 167 in 2012, with 69% of cases occurring during 2008–2012. Only 37.6% of processes were concluded, with completion times of 286–4,558 days. Some processes had been open for 11.5 years. Fines totalling > USD 22 million were issued but only c. 1% of this amount was paid. Small fines are often pardoned or converted to a warning. Although enforcement has improved it is still inefficient, with errors in notification and data entry, a lengthy judicial process, and an inability to recover unpaid fines.