Europe is getting closer. So are European social sciences. However, this is easier done in theory development and central research questions. When it comes to data the mutual understanding is far from perfect, due to a lack of knowledge about the data bases of the respective countries and the EU in general. This is particularly true when it comes to the regional level. This volume will help to improve the insight into the rich stock of European datasets which cover any kind of regional information. Many institutions ranging from statistical offices to more academic research centres and commercial enterprises report their offerings with special emphasis on the regional level (e.g. European Community Household Panel, European Social Survey, Labour Force Survey). Central categories such as NUTS and LAU are explained and discussed. In addition, typical examples of socio-economic cross-border and multi-level studies highlight the power of a regionalized European perspective. Furthermore, information about special tools for such type of analysis is included in the volume.
About the Author: Gerd Groezinger studied sociology, economics and philosophy at the TU Darmstadt and obtained an MA in sociology. He received his PhD in economics in 1989. After some years as program director of the Lutheran Academy in Bad Boll he changed to the University of Flensburg, where he finished his habilitation in economics in 1999. He was guest professor for labour sociology at the Philipps-University at Marburg and for science organisation at the German University of Administrative Sciences at Speyer. He is now professor in economics in the European Studies Program and managing director of the Collegium Mare Balticum at the Flensburg University, a German-Danish centre for post-graduate studies. Wenzel Matiaske studied sociology, economics, and political science at the Philipps-University Marburg and public administration at the German University of Administrative Sciences Speyer. He received his doctoral degree from the University of Paderborn in 1991 and his habilitation from the Technical University of Berlin in 1999. He worked as research assistant from 1986 to 1992 at the Universities of Paderborn and Mainz and held positions as assistant professor (1992-1998 Technical University Berlin) and acting professor (1998-2000 University of Paderborn). From 2000 onwards he holds the positions of a full professor of Business Administration at the International Institute for Management (IIM) University of Flensburg. From 2003 to 2006 he works as head of the IIM. Furthermore since 2003 he is adjuncted as professor to the institute to sociology at the University of Flensburg and acts as Research-Professor at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) Berlin associated with the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP). C. Katharina Spiess studied economics and political science at the University of Mannheim. In 1996 she obtained her doctoral degree from the Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum. In 2005 he finished her habilitation at the Technical University of Berlin. During 1997 to 2000 she worked as a projectmanager at the Prognos AG, Basle and Berlin. Since March 2000 she is working at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) in Berlin. There she is associated with the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP). From 2006 onwards she holds the position of a full professor at the Free University of Berlin.