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on European Economics |
| By: | Heikki Kauppi (Department of Economics, University of Turku); Mika Widgrén (Department of Economics, Turku School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The member states have self-interested objectives and they use their voting power in the Council of Ministers (CM) to maximize their shares from the EU budget, whereas European Parliament (EP) uses its power to support benevolent objectives and equality between member states. Given the current decision procedures of the EU, EP has effective power on non-compulsory expenditure covering structural spending, but not on compulsory expenditure consisting mainly of agricultural spending. We use this fact to assess how the assumed benevolent objectives of EP turn into member states' budget receipts in a power politics based model. |
| Keywords: | European integration, EU budget, voting power |
| JEL: | C71 D70 D72 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tkk:dpaper:dp38&r=eec |
| By: | Fabrizio Balassone (Banca d’Italia, Via Nazionale 91, I-00184 Rome, Italy.); Jorge Cunha (Banco de Portugal, 148, Rua do Comercio, P-1101 Lisbon Codex, Portugal.); Geert Langenus (Corresponding author: National Bank of Belgium, Boulevard de Berlaimont 14, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium.); Bernhard Manzke (Deutsche Bundesbank, Wilhelm-Epstein-Strasse 14, D-60431 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.); Jeanne Pavot (Banque de France, 39, rue Croix-des-Petits-Champs, F-75049 Paris Cedex 01, France.); Doris Prammer (Oesterreichische Nationalbank, Otto Wagner Platz 3 / Postfach 61, A-1011 Vienna, Austria and European Commission.); Pietro Tommasino (Banca d’Italia, Via Nazionale 91, I-00184 Rome, Italy.) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we examine the sustainability of euro area public finances against the backdrop of population ageing. We critically assess the widely used projections of the Working Group on Ageing Populations (AWG) of the EU's Economic Policy Committee and argue that ageing costs may be higher than projected in the AWG reference scenario. Taking into account adjusted headline estimates for ageing costs, largely based upon the sensitivity analysis carried out by the AWG, we consider alternative indicators to quantify sustainability gaps for euro area countries. With respect to the policy implications, we assess the appropriateness of different budgetary strategies to restore fiscal sustainability taking into account intergenerational equity. Our stylised analysis based upon the lifetime contribution to the government's primary balance of different generations suggests that an important degree of pre-funding of the ageing costs is necessary to avoid shifting the burden of adjustment in a disproportionate way to future generations. For many euro area countries this implies that the medium-term targets defined in the context of the revised stability and growth pact would ideally need to be revised upwards to significant surpluses. JEL Classification: H55, H60. |
| Keywords: | Population ageing, fiscal sustainability, generational accounting, mediumterm objectives for fiscal policy. |
| Date: | 2009–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20090994&r=eec |
| By: | Damiani, Mirella; Pompei, Fabrizio |
| Abstract: | The present study examines cross-national and sectoral differences in multifactor productivity growth in sixteen European countries from 1995 to 2005. The main aim is to ascertain the role of flexible employment contracts and collective labour relationships in explaining the ample differentials recorded in the European economy. Research Findings We use the EU KLEMS database for growth accounting and a broad set of indicators of labour regulations, covering two distinct ‘areas’ of labour regulation: employment laws and collective relations laws. This comprehensive approach allow us to consider arrangements that regulate allocation of labour inputs (fixed-term, part-time contracts, hours worked) and of payoff and decision rights of employees. We find that, since 1995, European countries have not followed similar patterns of growth. A large number of variations between European economies are caused by deep differentials in multifactor productivity and part of this heterogeneity is caused by sectoral diversities. We show that, in labour-intensive sectors such as services, fixed-term contracts, which imply shorter-term jobs and lower employment tenures, may discourage investment in skills and have detrimental effects on multifactor productivity increases. We also find that some forms of labour regulation and arrangements that give a ‘voice’ to employees mitigate these perverse effects on efficiency patterns. Employment protection reforms which slacken the rules of fixed-term contracts cause potential drawbacks in terms of low productivity gains. More stringent regulation of these practices, as well as a climate of collective relations, sustain long-term relationships and mitigate these negative effects. |
| Keywords: | productivity; labour regulation; comparative institutions. |
| JEL: | O47 J24 J50 |
| Date: | 2009–01–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:12710&r=eec |
| By: | Ana Lamo (European Central Bank); Javier J. Pérez (Bank of Spain); Ludger Schuknecht (European Central Bank) |
| Abstract: | This paper looks at public and private sector wages interactions since the 1960s in the euro area, euro area countries and a number of other OECD countries. It focuses on co-movements and causal relationships. To obtain the most robust results possible, we apply a number of alternative empirical methodologies, and perform the analysis for two data samples and different price deflators. The paper reports, first, a strong positive annual contemporaneous correlation of public and private sector wages over the business cycle; this finding is robust across methods and measures of wages and quite general across countries. Second, we show evidence of long-run relationships between public and private sector wages in all countries. Finally, causality analysis suggests that feedback effects between private and public wages occur in a direct manner and, importantly also via prices. While influences from the private sector appear on the whole to be stronger, there are direct and indirect feedback effects from public wage setting in a number of countries as well. We show how country-specific institutional features of labour and product markets contain helpful information to explain the heterogeneity across countries of our results on public/private wage leadership. |
| Keywords: | government wages; private sector wages; causality; co-movement. |
| JEL: | J30 C32 J51 J52 E62 E63 H50 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cea:doctra:e2008_14&r=eec |
| By: | Talpos, Ioan; Dima, Bogdan; Mutascu, Mihai; Enache, Cosmin |
| Abstract: | In the last years, the fiscal harmonization among the European Union members has become a pillar of economic integration and of fiscal and financial stability in the European area. The institutional changes, the semi-failure of the “old” Stability and Growth Pact as well as the recent waves of enlargements all these were put a greater emphasis on this issue inducing a higher pressure for fiscal discipline. In this context, the objective of the paper is to examines recent empirical evidences for bilateral and multilateral integration between fiscal policies, as this are synthesised by budget deficits, of old European Union members in the framework of the Johansen co-integration procedure with a preliminary appliance of the principal component analysis. The study finds that the dynamic of European fiscal policies takes place under the impact of some common driving forces which leads to a differentiate behaviour of two sub regional-groups individualized by the budget deficit series evolutionary patterns. Overall, it concludes that there could be find empirical evidences to support the thesis that a process of fiscal integration is currently running at least at the level of old European Union countries. |
| Keywords: | Fiscal policies in E.U.; budget deficits; co-integration; Johansen Test |
| JEL: | F15 H00 H61 |
| Date: | 2009–01–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:12647&r=eec |
| By: | The Eurosystem Household Finance and Consumption Network |
| Abstract: | The first part of this paper provides a brief survey of the recent literature that employs survey data on household finance and consumption. Given the breadth of the topic, it focuses on issues that are particularly relevant for policy, namely i) wealth effects on consumption, ii) housing prices and household indebtedness, iii) retirement income, consumption and pension reforms, iv) access to credit and credit constraints, v) financial innovation, consumption smoothing and portfolio selection and vi) wealth inequality. The second part uses concrete examples to summarise how results from such surveys feed into policy-making within the central banks that already conduct such surveys. JEL Classification: C42, D12, D14. |
| Keywords: | Household finance, consumption, survey data. |
| Date: | 2009–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbops:20090100&r=eec |
| By: | Ramón María-Dolores (Universidad de Murcia); Jesús Vázquez (Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we estimate a standard version of the New Keynesian Monetary (NKM) model augmented with term structure in order to analyze two issues. First, we analyze the effect of introducing an explicit term structure channel in the NKM model on the estimated parameter values of the model, with special emphasis on the interest rate smoothing parameter using data for the Eurozone. Second, we study the ability of the model to reproduce some stylized facts such as highly persistent dynamics, the weak comovement between economic activity and inflation, and the positive, strong comovement between interest rates observed in actual Eurozone data. The estimation procedure implemented is a classical structural method based on the indirect inference principle. |
| Keywords: | NKM model, term structure, policy rule, indirect inference |
| JEL: | C32 E30 E52 |
| Date: | 2008–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bde:wpaper:0827&r=eec |
| By: | Assenmacher-Wesche, Katrin (Swiss National Bank); Gerlach, Stefan (Goethe University, Frankfurt) |
| Abstract: | We study the responses of residential property and equity prices, inflation and economic activity to monetary policy shocks in 17 countries, using data spanning 1986-2006, using single-country VARs and panel VARs in which we distinguish between groups of countries depending on their financial systems. The effect of monetary policy on property prices is only about three times as large as its impact on GDP. Using monetary policy to guard against financial instability by offsetting asset-price movements thus has sizable effects on economic activity. While the financial structure influences the impact of policy on asset prices, its importance appears limited. |
| Keywords: | asset prices; monetary policy; panel VAR |
| JEL: | C23 E52 |
| Date: | 2008–09–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:snbwpa:2008_016&r=eec |
| By: | Kari E. O. Alho (ETLA and University of Helsinki); Ville Kaitila (ETLA); Mika Widgrén (Department of Economics, Turku School of Economics, and ETLA, CEPR, CESifo and Public Choice Research Centre (PCRC)) |
| Abstract: | Economic convergence of the new member states (NMS) of the EU towards the old EU countries (EU-15), not only in terms of real income, but also in nominal terms, is of paramount importance for the whole of the EU. We build a dynamic CGE model, starting from the Balassa-Samuelson two-sector framework, but modify and enlarge it with forward-looking investment, consumption, and labour mobility behaviour to address several other issues like welfare and sustainability in terms of foreign indebtedness. At the same time we evaluate the impact of convergence on the EU-15 countries also, by endogenising offshoring and the related FDI flows from them to the NMS. Thereby we identify various effects of relocation and globalisation on the EU-15 enlarging the standard set of effects of globalisation and demonstrate the key role of their dynamic nature in the process of convergence. We find that in a general equilibrium setting fears of large adverse effects of a relocation of EU-15 manufacturing to the NMS are not well founded. In contrast, offshoring appears to be a win-win case for both the EU-15 and the NMS in terms of real income. The convergence of the NMS is fairly rapid, but will involve a persistent rapid inflation rate. |
| Keywords: | convergence, relocation, new member states, EU-15 |
| JEL: | F15 F21 F43 |
| Date: | 2008–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tkk:dpaper:dp41&r=eec |
| By: | Martin Kahanec; Klaus F. Zimmermann |
| Abstract: | The 2004 and 2007 enlargements of the European Union were unprecedented in a number of economic and policy aspects. This essay provides a broad and in-depth account of the effects of the post-enlargement migration flows on the receiving as well as sending countries in three broader areas: labour markets, welfare systems, and growth and competitiveness. Our analysis of the available literature and empirical evidence shows that (i) EU enlargement had a significant impact on migration flows from new to old member states, (ii) restrictions applied in some of the countries did not stop migrants from coming but changed the composition of the immigrants, (iii) any negative effects in the labour market on wages or employment are hard to detect, (iv) post-enlargement migration contributes to growth prospects of the EU, (v) these immigrants are strongly attached to the labour market, and (vi) they are quite unlikely to be among welfare recipients. These findings point out the difficulties that restrictions on the free movement of workers bring about. |
| Keywords: | migration, migration effects, EU Eastern enlargement, free movement of workers |
| JEL: | F22 J15 J61 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp849&r=eec |
| By: | Valeria Rolli (Banca d'Italia) |
| Abstract: | Since the mid-nineties international financial integration has advanced gradually in the emerging areas of Asia, while it has progressed rapidly in Central and Eastern Europe. This process has helped provide long-term benefits for the economies of the two regions in terms of faster productivity growth and deepening of domestic financial markets. The strong surge of international capital inflows since the early years of the current decade has, however, also potentially increased the financial vulnerability and the external sources of contagion for a number of countries, particularly those in Central and Eastern Europe that have seen a significant increase in their foreign borrowing, and also those with still relatively underdeveloped financial systems. We thus analyze the risks of financial instability and asset bubbles in the emerging economies of the two regions, taking into account the degree of development of their domestic financial systems. We conclude by discussing possible policy responses to these challenges by the monetary authorities of the concerned countries. |
| Keywords: | Asian economies, Central and Eastern European economies, capital markets, international financial integration |
| JEL: | F36 O16 O52 O53 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_33_08&r=eec |
| By: | Martin Bijsterbosch (European Central Bank, Kaiserstrasse 29, 60311 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.); Marcin Kolasa (National Bank of Poland, Economic Institute, ul. Swietokrzyska 11/21, 00-919 Warsaw, Poland.) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents empirical evidence of the effect of FDI inflows on productivity convergence in central and eastern Europe, using industry-level data. Four conclusions stand out. First, there is a strong convergence effect in productivity, both at the country and at the industry level. Second, FDI inflow plays an important role in accounting for productivity growth. Third, the impact of FDI on productivity critically depends on the absorptive capacity of recipient countries and industries. Fourth, there is important heterogeneity across countries, industries and time with respect to some of the main findings. JEL Classification: C23, F21, O33. |
| Keywords: | Productivity convergence, FDI, absorptive capacity. |
| Date: | 2009–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20090992&r=eec |
| By: | Christian Bellak (Department of Economics, University of Economics and Business Administration, Vienna); Rajneesh Narula (School of Management, University of Reading) |
| Abstract: | Many of the new member states as well as candidate and accession countries of the EU are confident that membership will result in substantially increased inward foreign direct investment (FDI) in manufacturing. This paper discusses the policy issues and challenges that cohesion and accession countries face, applying lessons that by now have become mainstream in the parallel discussion of FDI-assisted development in the developing economies. We argue that globalisation has attenuated the benefits that accrue from EU membership for latecomers, and they must now compete for FDI not just with other European countries but also with non- EU emerging economies. We posit that they should not base their industrial development strategy on mere passive reliance of FDI flows without considering how to concatenate their industrial development and the nature of the MNE activities they attract. |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rdg:emxxdp:em-dp2008-69&r=eec |
| By: | Philippe Quirion (CIRED); Damien Demailly (CIRED) |
| Abstract: | We assess five proposals for the future of the EU greenhouse gas Emission Trading Scheme (ETS): pure grandfathering allocation of emission allowances (GF), output-based allocation (OB), auctioning (AU), auctioning with border adjustments (AU-BA), and finally output-based allocation in sectors exposed to international competition combined with auctioning in electricity generation (OB-AU). We look at the impact on production, trade, CO2 leakage and welfare. We use a partial equilibrium model of the EU 27 featuring three sectors covered by the EU ETS – cement, steel and electricity – plus the aluminium sector, which is indirectly impacted through a rise in electricity price. The leakage ratio, i.e. the increase in emissions abroad over the decrease in EU emissions, ranges from around 8% under GF and AU to -2% under AU-BA and varies greatly among sectors. Concerning the overall economic cost, OB appears to be the least efficient policy, even when taking into account its ability to prevent CO2 leakage. On the other hand, this policy minimises production losses and wealth transfers among stakeholders, which is likely to soften oppositions. GF and AU are the most efficient policies from an EU perspective, even when leakage is accounted for. From a world welfare perspective and whatever the emission reductio |
| Keywords: | Emission Trading, Allowance Allocation, Leakage, Spillover, Climate Policy, Kyoto Protocol, Border Adjustment |
| JEL: | Q5 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2008.89&r=eec |
| By: | Rie Fujisawa; Gaetan Lafortune |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a descriptive analysis of the remuneration of doctors in 14 OECD countries for which reasonably comparable data were available in OECD Health Data 2007 (Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States). Data are presented for general practitioners (GPs) and medical specialists separately, comparing remuneration levels across countries both on the basis of a common currency (US dollar, adjusted for purchasing power parity) and in relation to the average wage of all workers in each country.<BR>Ce document de travail présente une analyse descriptive de la rémunération des médecins dans 14 pays de l’OCDE pour lesquels on trouve des données raisonnablement comparables dans Eco-santé OCDE 2007 (Allemagne, Autriche, Canada, Danemark, États-Unis, Finlande, France, Hongrie, Islande, Luxembourg, Pays-Bas, République tchèque, Royaume-Uni et Suisse). Les données sont présentées séparément pour les généralistes (omnipraticiens) et les spécialistes. La comparaison des niveaux de rémunération entre pays est faite sur la base d’une monnaie commune (le dollar américain, ajusté pour la parité des pouvoirs d’achat), ainsi qu’en rapport avec le salaire moyen de l’ensemble des travailleurs dans chacun des pays. |
| Date: | 2008–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:elsaad:41-en&r=eec |
| By: | Solera C (University of Torino) |
| Abstract: | This paper compares Italy and Great Britain and uses event history data and methods to investigate changes across cohorts in the effect of family responsibilities on womenÂ’s transitions in and out of paid work. My findings show that womenÂ’s attachment to paid work has increased and that education and/or class has marked the divide, as predicted by human capital theory. However, the effects of marriage and motherhood are, ceteris paribus, stronger in a residualist-liberal welfare regime such as the British one. In Italy, where demand for labour is relatively low and gender role norms are quite traditional, reconciliation policies are weak but largely compensated by intergenerational and kinship solidarity, fewer women enter paid work, but when they do so, they interrupt less when becoming wives or mothers. |
| Date: | 2008–07–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ese:iserwp:2008-22&r=eec |
| By: | Julien Martin; Isabelle Mejean |
| Abstract: | This paper describes the impact of the Euro on i) the level, ii) the evolution and iii) the dispersion of trade prices. This empirical analysis relies on firm level data about French exports over the period 1995-2005. We find that the elimination of exchange rate fluctuations reduces the pricing to market behavior of French exporters. At the beginning of the EMU, we also observe an increase in aggregate prices for sales in the Euro zone. This price increase does not compensate for the aggregate price gap between cheaper EMU markets and more expensive non-EMU countries. Last we find that the Euro has affected firms’ pricing strategies leading to a reduction of the price dispersion inside the Euro zone. |
| Keywords: | International trade prices; european monetary integration |
| JEL: | F12 F15 |
| Date: | 2008–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cii:cepidt:2008-29&r=eec |
| By: | Luísa Farinha (Banco de Portugal, 148, Rua do Comercio, P-1101 Lisbon Codex, Portugal.); Vítor Gaspar (Bureau of European Policy Advisers, European Commission, Rue de la Loi 100, B-1049 Brussels, Belgium.) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we use the Furfine (1999) statistical procedure to identify Money market operations from Payments Systems data. Given the availability of an alternative data set, recording money market operations we could confirm the accuracy of the method. We examine evidence on integration of the Money market in the euro area. We ask, “how do Portuguese banks participate in the market for daily funds?” and look for a possible hierarchical structure in the market. We find strong evidence of integration and mixed evidence on hierarchical structure. JEL Classification: E52, E58. |
| Keywords: | Money market, Furfine procedure, financial integration, hierarchical structure, Portuguese banks. |
| Date: | 2008–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20080985&r=eec |
| By: | Paolo Sestito (Bank of Italy); Eliana Viviano (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | We use the Italian Labour Force Survey and the European Household Panel Survey to analyse the distribution of the reservation wages reported by jobseekers. In Italy, reservation wages appear to be higher in the South - the low income and high unemployment area of the country - than in the North and Centre. A similar, rather counterintuitive, pattern, however, can also be found in Finland, France and Spain. First, we show that the way in which these data are commonly collected generates double selection bias. Second, we show that this bias has a strong effect on the estimation of the geographical pattern of reservation wages in many countries. The size of this bias is substantial in Italy. When controlling for it, reservation wages are 10 per cent higher in the North and Centre than in the South. |
| Keywords: | reservation wages, sample selection, regional differentials |
| JEL: | J64 J22 R23 |
| Date: | 2008–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_696_08&r=eec |
| By: | Bruckmeier, Kerstin (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]); Schwengler, Barbara (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]) |
| Abstract: | "Almost twenty years after German reunification there are still huge income disparities between western and eastern regions in Germany. The main purpose of the paper is to show how social transfer payments reduce these inter-regional disparities. In a first step we examine inequalities in the distribution of gross income from dependent employment and self-employment at the small-area level of 439 NUTS-3 units. Our distributional analysis quantifies regional wage inequalities driven by economic disparities and different patterns of employment. A decomposition analysis reveals that large wage differentials exist not only between eastern and western Germany but also within western regions. Furthermore we estimate the income effects of the German unemployment and pension insurance using different sources of social security data at regional level. The results indicate large regional redistributive effects across areas: the share of social benefits and payments as a percentage of total net income ranges from 11 per cent to 41 per cent. Like other European states, Germany faces several problems concerning its welfare system. Recent reforms of the welfare system in 2004 and 2005 also affected some core principles of social security. Our results show that changing parameters of eligibility, claims and financing will influence the spatial income distribution. Hence further research on this topic is recommended when data for 2005 and later years are available." (author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) |
| Keywords: | Sozialpolitik, Verteilungseffekte, Einkommenseffekte, regionale Disparität, Einkommenshöhe, Einkommensentwicklung, regionaler Vergleich, Sozialversicherung, Sozialausgaben, Sozialleistungen, Transferleistung, Lohnhöhe, Arbeitslosenversicherung, Rentenversicherung, abhängig Beschäftigte, Selbständige, Einkommensverteilung, Ostdeutschland, Westdeutschland, Bundesrepublik Deutschland |
| JEL: | D30 D63 H55 R12 |
| Date: | 2009–01–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabdpa:200901&r=eec |
| By: | Antonio Accetturo (Bank of Italy, Milan Branch); Luigi Infante (Bank of Italy, Economic and Financial Statistics Department) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to assess the relationship between individual skills and labour market performance of immigrants residing in Lombardy during the period 2001-2005. We use a recent dataset collected by the NGO ISMU, which includes information on individual characteristics and the legal status of each immigrant. Our results show that returns on schooling are positive and range from 0.8 per cent to 0.9 per cent, a figure that is much lower than the one estimated for native Italians. This result is robust to a number of specifications and tests. In particular, it is not influenced by the legal status of the alien or by a possible self-selection in the labour supply. Moreover, although more talented immigrants tend to self-select in the Lombardy region compared with the other Italian regions, their return on schooling remains low compared with natives. We also show that a certain heterogeneity exists across educational levels and countries of origin: immigrants from Eastern Europe are better able to exploit their human capital, especially when they hold a university degree, while the school-wage profile of Latin Americans and Asians is basically flat. Finally, there is some evidence of a cohort effect in migration, but this tends to impact on the return on experience rather than on the return on schooling. |
| Keywords: | Immigration, return on schooling, return on experience |
| JEL: | J31 O15 |
| Date: | 2008–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_695_08&r=eec |
| By: | Reynard, Samuel (Swiss National Bank) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the behavior of the Swiss franc (CHF) over the past 35 years. It relates the evolution of the CHF exchange rates to economic fundamentals like the relative competitiveness of the Swiss export sector, accumulated current accounts, interest rate differentials and oil prices. Some factors like the introduction of the euro, a relative increase in Swiss domestic productivity and higher oil prices seem to have modified the CHF behavior in the last decade, but more data will be needed to draw definitive conclusions. The paper relies on different data sources and assesses potential exchange rate determinants under different angles. Overall, measurement and econometric issues would make it difficult to determine a unique econometric specification or specific values for equilibrium exchange rates. |
| Keywords: | Swiss franc; exchange rates; fundamentals |
| JEL: | F31 F32 |
| Date: | 2008–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:snbwpa:2008_014&r=eec |
| By: | James Buchan; Susanna Baldwin; Miranda Munro |
| Abstract: | The UK has a population of 56 million, and most healthcare is delivered through the National Health Service (NHS). The NHS employs more than one million staff. In the late 1990s shortages of skilled staff were a main obstacle to improving services in the NHS. The response by government was to “grow” the NHS workforce. There are four main policy options to “grow” the workforce- increase home based training; improve retention rates of current staff (to reduce need to recruit additional staff); improve “return” of staff currently not practising; and internationally recruit health professionals. International recruitment was used to achieve rapid growth in the NHS workforce. It was facilitated by fast tracking work permits for health professionals, by targeting recruits in specified countries, using specialist recruitment agencies, and by co-ordinating local level recruitment within the NHS (...)<BR>Le Royaume-Uni compte 56 millions d’habitants, et en matière de santé, la plupart des prestations y sont fournies par le biais du National Health Service (NHS). Le NHS emploie plus d’un million d’agents. A la fin des années 90, un des principaux obstacles à l’amélioration du NHS était la pénurie de personnel qualifié. La réponse du gouvernement a consisté à « étoffer » les effectifs du NHS. Pour ce faire, les pouvoirs publics disposent de quatre grands moyens d’action possibles : développer la formation dispensée dans le pays même, améliorer le taux de maintien des agents en poste (ce qui permet de diminuer les besoins en recrutement de nouveaux agents), convaincre les agents ayant cessé d’exercer pour le moment de « reprendre du service », et recruter des professionnels de la santé à l’international. Soucieux d’étoffer rapidement ses effectifs, le NHS a eu recours au recrutement à l’international. L’opération a été facilitée par l’application de la procédure de traitement accéléré des demandes de permis de travail pour les professionnels de la santé, par le ciblage des personnes à recruter dans des pays précis (en faisant appel à des agences de recrutement spécialisées), et par la coordination du recrutement au niveau local au sein du NHS (...) |
| Date: | 2008–10–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:elsaad:38-en&r=eec |
| By: | Beer, Christian (Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration); Ongena, Steven (CentER - Tilburg University and CEPR); Peter, Marcel (Swiss National Bank) |
| Abstract: | Household borrowing in a foreign currency is a widespread phenomenon in Austria. Twelve percent of Austrian households report their housing loan to be denominated in either Swiss franc or Japanese yen for example. Yet, despite its importance, peculiar character, and immediate policy concerns, we know too little about the attitudes and characteristics of the households involved in this type of carry trade. We analyze a uniquely detailed financial wealth survey of 2,556 Austrian households to sketch a comprehensive profile of the attitudes and characteristics of the households involved. We employ both univariate tests and multivariate multinomial logit models. The survey data suggests that risk-loving, wealthy, and married households are more likely to take a housing loan in a foreign currency. High-income households are more likely to take a housing loan in general. These findings may partially assuage policy concerns about household default risk on foreign-currency housing loans. |
| Keywords: | foreign currency borrowing; mortgages; banking sector; Austria; Swiss francs |
| JEL: | F34 F37 G15 G21 |
| Date: | 2008–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:snbwpa:2008_019&r=eec |