Michaela Pfeifer

Bio: Michaela Pfeifer is an academic researcher from University of Siegen. The author has contributed to research in topics: Income protection insurance & Welfare state. The author has an hindex of 7, co-authored 10 publications receiving 344 citations. Previous affiliations of Michaela Pfeifer include University of Mannheim.

How Do Europeans Perceive Their Healthcare System? Patterns of Satisfaction and Preference for State Involvement in the Field of Healthcare

Abstract: In this article we analyse the relationship between the institutional set-up of healthcare systems and patterns of public support. Two dimensions are distinguished, namely, state responsibility for healthcare provision and satisfaction with healthcare systems. Using data on 14 European countries from the Eurobarometer survey, we find only small effects of institutional indicators on preferences for a strong role of the state. Almost everywhere in Europe, there is high public support for state responsibility in healthcare. Satisfaction with the healthcare system, in contrast, is more strongly related to specific institutional arrangements. In healthcare systems with lower levels of expenditure, fewer general practitioners and higher co-payments, the overall level of satisfaction is lower. This is especially the case in Southern Europe where more pronounced differences between social groups also become apparent. In contrast, healthcare systems with a long tradition of comprehensive coverage regardless of occupation or income seem to generate rather homogenous attitudinal patterns. These characteristics hold for the Scandinavian systems and for the British National Health Service, and therefore, these healthcare systems still seem to live up to the promise of treating all members of the society equally. Countries with high levels of expenditure, high density of general practitioners, and free choice of doctors, which is mainly the case in Social Health Insurance systems, finally, show the highest levels of satisfaction but also more pronounced differences between social classes.

The last safety net: A handbook of minimum income protection in Europe

Abstract: Introduction Defining and measuring minimum income protection Welfare state contexts Country analyses Comparative analyses Conclusion.

Public Opinion on State Responsibility for Minimum Income Protection A Comparison of 14 European Countries

Abstract: In this article I investigate attitudes towards a subfield of European welfare states in comparative perspective: minimum income protection. My goal is to demonstrate that certain socio-economic ch...

Welfare States and Public Opinion: Perceptions of Healthcare Systems, Family Policy and Benefits for the Unemployed and Poor in Europe

Abstract: Contents: 1. Introduction 2. Perceptions of Welfare State Institutions: Theories and Concepts 3. Healthcare - Our Greatest Good? 4. Family Policy - One for All? 5. Public Support for Unemployment Benefits and Social Assistance Schemes - Money for Nothing or Help in Dire Straits? 6. Conclusion: Comparing Public Attitudes in Three Fields of Social Policy Bibliography Index

Comparing unemployment protection and social assistance in 14 European countries. Four worlds of protection for people of working age

Abstract: Pfeifer, M Comparing unemployment protection and social assistance in 14 European countries Four worlds of protection for people of working age This article aims to show which policy responses 14 Western European countries have adopted to deal with rising unemployment levels and increased need for benefits during working age In contrast to earlier studies, both components of unemployment benefits (UB), ie unemployment insurance and unemployment assistance, were taken into account in a social rights indicator that depicts the legal entitlements of the unemployed In total, there were eight indicators of both UB and social assistance representing expenditure, generosity, problem pressure and benefit entitlements The following cluster analysis groups countries using these indicators The resulting typology consisted of four ways of protecting the working-aged: an extensive safety nets type operating well with functioning labour markets; a liberal protection type dealing with low levels of unemployment; a targeted protection type combined with an insider–outsider divide on the labour market; and lastly, a patchy safety nets type facing high unemployment levels

Funding Health Care: Options for Europe

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How Do Europeans Perceive Their Healthcare System? Patterns of Satisfaction and Preference for State Involvement in the Field of Healthcare

Abstract: In this article we analyse the relationship between the institutional set-up of healthcare systems and patterns of public support. Two dimensions are distinguished, namely, state responsibility for healthcare provision and satisfaction with healthcare systems. Using data on 14 European countries from the Eurobarometer survey, we find only small effects of institutional indicators on preferences for a strong role of the state. Almost everywhere in Europe, there is high public support for state responsibility in healthcare. Satisfaction with the healthcare system, in contrast, is more strongly related to specific institutional arrangements. In healthcare systems with lower levels of expenditure, fewer general practitioners and higher co-payments, the overall level of satisfaction is lower. This is especially the case in Southern Europe where more pronounced differences between social groups also become apparent. In contrast, healthcare systems with a long tradition of comprehensive coverage regardless of occupation or income seem to generate rather homogenous attitudinal patterns. These characteristics hold for the Scandinavian systems and for the British National Health Service, and therefore, these healthcare systems still seem to live up to the promise of treating all members of the society equally. Countries with high levels of expenditure, high density of general practitioners, and free choice of doctors, which is mainly the case in Social Health Insurance systems, finally, show the highest levels of satisfaction but also more pronounced differences between social classes.

Varieties of Environmental Labelling, Market Structures and Sustainable Consumption across Europe : A Comparative Analysis of Organizational and Market Supply Determinants of Environmental-Labelled Goods

Abstract: The purchase of environmental-labelled goods is an important dimension of sustainable consumption. Existing research on environmental labels and sustainable consumption has a rather individualistic bias. Organizational and structural determinants have only recently sparked attention. In this paper, a comparative framework is used to analyse the impact of organizational varieties of environmental labelling and market supply characteristics on purchases of environmental-labelled goods in 18 European countries. Focusing on labels for organic food and ecological durables, the plurality of existing labels as well as state involvement into labelling are used as the central dimensions constituting the organizational varieties. Market structures refer to the supply of labelled goods and the dominant retailing channels that make up the infrastructure for this dimension of sustainable consumption. After giving an overview on the underlying theoretical mechanisms of the main determinants, country differences in the organization of environmental labelling as well as the market structures are outlined. To analyse the effect of these differences, individual level data of a 2007 Eurobarometer survey on purchases of environmental-labelled goods is combined with organizational and market structural indicators. Using random intercept regression models and controlling for individual socio-economic and aggregate market demand-side factors, like average per capita income, share of post-materialists, and level of generalized trust, only the market supply and retailing structure reveal a robust effect on individual purchases of environmental friendly labelled goods.

Determinants of a Silent (R)evolution: Understanding the Expansion of Family Policy in Rich OECD Countries

Abstract: This paper contributes to the comparative social policy literature in two ways. First, we use multiple correspondence analysis in order to assess the different directions and the degree of (employment-oriented) family policy change over the past three decades in 18 rich Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Second, we perform a series of correlations to identify the core drivers of these developments. Our main findings—based on five international datasets—are: (i) we have been witnesses of a significant expansion of family policies over the past three decades in almost all countries analysed, although the degree of change (distinguished by first-, second- and third-order change) differs across the OECD area; and (ii) whilst in the 1980s and 1990s social democracy and organised women were key drivers of family policy expansion, during the 2000s public opinion, that increasingly seems to support a “modernised” family lifestyle in which mothers are employed, seems to have played an essential role in explaining policy change.