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on European Economics |
| By: | Jochen Hartwig (Swiss Institute for Business Cycle Research (KOF), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH)) |
| Abstract: | Since the mid-nineties, U.S. labor productivity outgrows its European counterpart by a wide margin. Several recent studies have found that this result is brought about by relatively few service industries, where productivity growth has accelerated in the U.S., but not so in Europe. Based on this finding, TRIPLETT/BOSWORTH (2003) have asserted that ‘Baumol’s Disease’, according to which imbalances in productivity growth between a ‘progressive’ (manufacturing) and a ‘nonprogressive’ (service) sector of the economy lead to constant expenditure shifts into the latter, ‘has been cured’ – at least in the U.S. The present paper challenges this statement, showing that there is only one genuine service industry with a lasting increase in productivity, namely wholesale and retail trade. Labor productivity in the U.S. retail industry has grown fast due to a recent proliferation of Wal-Mart-type ‘big box’ stores that would be practically impossible in Europe because of stricter zoning plans. Since this ‘Wal-Mart effect’ is likely to taper off sooner or later, it is more accurate to say that ‘Baumol’s Disease’ has been protracted than to say that it has been cured. |
| Keywords: | Productivity, services sector, Baumol’s Disease, statistical artifacts |
| JEL: | C82 L80 L81 O41 O47 O57 |
| Date: | 2006–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kof:wpskof:06-155&r=eec |
| By: | Bianchi, Francesco; Mumtaz, Haroon; Surico, Paolo |
| Abstract: | This paper models the evolution of monetary policy, the term structure of interest rates and the UK economy across policy regimes. We model the interaction between the macroeconomy and the term structure via a time-varying VAR model which is augmented with factors from the yield curve. Our results suggest that the characteristics of the yield curve (e.g. level, slope and curvature) display substantial time variation with the level factor moving closely with measures of inflation expectations. Our estimates indicate a large decline in volatility associated with the yield curve and macroeconomic variables, with the period of stability coinciding with the inflation targeting regime. The link between the macroeconomy and the yield curve has also changed over time with fluctuations in the level factor less important for inflation after 1997. In addition, policy rates appear to have responded more systematically to inflation and unemployment in the current regime and the contribution of the policy shock has been low. Finally, in contrast to a fixed coefficients specification, theoretical yields predicted by our time-varying model are very close to actual data and deviations from the expectations hypothesis have been rare. |
| Keywords: | FAVAR; Great Stability; Term Structure; Expectation Theory |
| JEL: | G14 C32 E58 E43 |
| Date: | 2007–01–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:1587&r=eec |
| By: | Spyros Arvanitis (Swiss Institute for Business Cycle Research (KOF), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH)) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates (a) the determinants of innovation performance and (b) the impact of innovation performance on labour productivity of Swiss manufacturing firms in the period 1994-2002. The data used in this study come from the KOF panel database and were collected in 1996, 1999 and 2002 respectively based on a questionnaire quite similar to that used in the Community Innovation Surveys (CIS). The use of a wide spectrum of indicators helps to test the robustness of the specification of the innovation equation as well as the robustness of the impact of innovation on economic performance. We find a clear-cut positive effect of innovation on labour productivity. |
| Keywords: | innovation, labour productivity, R&D expenditures |
| JEL: | O30 |
| Date: | 2006–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kof:wpskof:06-149&r=eec |
| By: | Spyros Arvanitis (Swiss Institute for Business Cycle Research (KOF), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH)); Martin Woerter (Swiss Institute for Business Cycle Research (KOF), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH)) |
| Abstract: | Based on a representative firm sample for Switzerland we empirically investigated strategic approaches for knowledge and technology transfer (KTT) activities between business firms and public research organisations. Based on cluster analysis of 19 different forms for KTT, three types of KTT strategies were identified, each of them correspond with a specific combination of some of the 19 different forms for KTT activities. It was found that they are determined mainly by variables related (a) to the absorptive capacity of a firm and (b) to the degree of appropriability of the returns of innovation, indicating that the followed strategy reflects the resource base of a firm. Further, it was shown that a firm’s obstacle profile with respect to KTT activities is related to the applied strategy. Firms with more intensive contacts emphasise risk-related factors and financial restrictions, while firms with less intensive contacts emphasise a mismatch between firm and university requirements with respect to KTT. Furthermore and most importantly, it was found that strategy matters for the impact of KTT on the innovation performance of a firm. In fact, KTT strategies related to the core R&D activities of a firm showed a greater impact compared to strategies related to ‘softer’ forms of transfer activities, e.g. informal contacts or education related contacts. |
| Keywords: | R&D strategies, knowledge and technology transfer, innovation activities, R&D activities |
| JEL: | O30 |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kof:wpskof:06-148&r=eec |
| By: | GOBILLON Laurent; SELOD Harris |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we investigate how residential segregation and bad physical access to jobs contribute to urban unemployment in the Paris region. We first survey the general mechanisms according to which residential segregation and spatial mismatch can have adverse labor-market outcomes. We then discuss the extent of the problem with the help of relevant descriptive statistics computed from the 1999 Census of the Population and from the 2000 General Transport Survey. Finally, we estimate the effect of indices of segregation computed at the neighborhood and municipality levels, as well as job accessibility indices on the labor-market transitions out of unemployment using the 1990-2002 Labor Force Survey. Our results show that neighborhood segregation is a key factor that prevents unemployed workers from finding a job. These results are robust to potential location endogeneity biases. |
| Keywords: | residential segregation, spatial mismatch, urban unemployment, sensitivity analysis |
| JEL: | J64 R14 |
| Date: | 2007–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lea:leawpi:0702&r=eec |