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on European Economics |
| By: | Helio Vale (Universidade Nova de Lisboa) |
| Abstract: | With the launching of the European Monetary Union came fears of increased specialization, and potential industry-specific shocks that would endanger the stability within the common currency area. We investigate the impact of the introduction of the euro on the spatial distribution (specialization) of economic activities in four euro zone countries: France, Ireland, Portugal, and Finland. Evidence of a statistical significant increase in specialization is found after the introduction of the euro, in several manufacturing industries, with services playing a downward pressure on countries' specialization level. At the regional level there is evidence of an increase in similarity between regions and the countries they belong to, and the EU15.This paper, First Place Co-Winner of the Best Student Paper Award, was presented at the 18th International Conference of the International Trade and Finance Association, meeting at Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal, on May 22, 2008.Key words: European Integration, Euro, Specialization, Regions.JEL Classification: F14, F15, R12, R15. |
| Date: | 2008–08–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bep:itfapp:1122&r=eec |
| By: | Robert Shelburne (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) |
| Abstract: | Many of the emerging market economies in Europe are presently running current account deficits which are quite high relative to any global or historical standard and are fundamentally unsustainable. This includes the three poorer European Union (EU) members of the old Europe (Greece, Portugal, and Spain), many of the EU's new member states (largely the former transition economies which have joined since 2004), most of those non-EU members in south-east Europe, and a number of the CIS economies in eastern Europe and the Caucasus. The unweighted average current account deficit for this group has more than doubled from under four percent of GDP in 2003 to well over eight percent in 2007. This trend is significantly different than what has evolved in many of the world's other emerging markets; these other economies have generally been running current account surpluses. This paper documents this development, describes the underlying factors that have brought it about, assesses the underlying vulnerability that has been created, and discusses the implications of this development for other emerging markets and global financial stability more generally. In addition, how these risks have evolved since the appearance of the global credit crisis beginning in the summer of 2007 is examined. This paper was presented May 22, 2008, at the 18th International Conference of the International Trade and Finance Association, meeting at Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal. |
| Date: | 2008–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bep:itfapp:1130&r=eec |
| By: | Guglielmo Maria Caporale; Christophe Rault; Robert Sova; Anamaria Sova |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses trade specialisation dynamics in two Eastern European countries (Romania and Bulgaria - EEC-2) vis-à-vis the core EU member states (EU-15) over the period 1990-2006. Specifically, we focus on whether there is a shift towards intra-industry trade leading to economic convergence and technological catch-up. We use recently developed static (FEM, REM and FEVD) and dynamic (GMM) panel data methods which take into account possible heterogeneity. Our empirical results indicate that intra-industry trade has indeed increased, but it is of the vertical rather than the horizontal type, resulting in complementary rather than competitive production patterns. |
| Keywords: | Gravity models, panel data models, trade specialisation, comparative advantage |
| JEL: | F13 F15 C23 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp875&r=eec |
| By: | Mohitosh Kejriwal |
| Abstract: | Recent empirical studies find little evidence of a change in euro area inflation persistence over the post-1970 period. Their methodology is primarily based on standard unit root and structural break tests on the persistence parameter in an autoregressive specification for the inflation process. These procedures are, however, not designed to detect a change in persistence when a sub-sample of the data has a unit root, i.e., when the process shifts from stationarity to non-stationarity or vice-versa. In this paper, we use four classes of tests for a change in persistence that allow for such shifts to argue that euro area inflation shifted from a unit root process to a stationary one at some point in the sample. Statistical methods to select the break date identify the change in the second quarter of 1993, around the time of the Maastricht Treaty which established the groundwork for the European Monetary Union, with an explicit mandate for price stability as the primary objective of monetary policy. Bootstrap estimates of the persistence parameter, half-life estimates and confidence intervals for the largest autoregressive root all suggest a marked decline in persistence after the break. We also illustrate that the hypothesis of stationarity with a mean shift but a stable persistence parameter is not compatible with the data. The evidence presented is therefore consistent with the view that the degree of inflation persistence varies with the transparency and credibility of the monetary regime. |
| Keywords: | persistence, price stability, unit root, monetary policy |
| JEL: | C22 E3 E5 |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pur:prukra:1218&r=eec |
| By: | Pamina Koenig; Megan MacGarvie |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the relationship bewteen cross-country differences in drug price regulation and the location of biopharmaceutical Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Europe. We use a theoretically-grounded location-choice model and data on 294 investments initiated in 27 European countries between 2002 and 2006 to test the hypothesis that biopharmaceutical companies are less likely to locate new investments in countries with more stringent price regulation. |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pse:psecon:2009-11&r=eec |
| By: | de la Rica, Sara (University of the Basque Country) |
| Abstract: | The 2004 and 2007 EU enlargement has led to a significant increase in the immigration flow to Spain. Individuals from the new-EU-12 countries accounted for no more than 10% of the whole Spanish immigrant population in 2004, but by 2008 they accounted for almost 20% of the total flow of immigrants. As of 2008, immigrants from Bulgaria, Poland and Rumania account for 97 percent of new-EU-12 immigrants. These immigrants are younger, and the vast majority of them are educated to secondary level. Their employment rate is higher than that of natives, but they are hit harder by unemployment than natives. Our results point to two conclusions from a policy prospective: first, the EU enlargement has significantly improved legal immigration from new-EU-12 countries. Second, the lack of employment assimilation in terms of job quality for workers from the new-EU-12 countries may discourage the entrance of highly qualified workers. The Spanish authorities should provide on-the-job training for these qualified workers so that they can find adequate job prospects in Spain and decide to stay. |
| Keywords: | EU enlargement, immigration, assimilation |
| JEL: | J61 |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4104&r=eec |
| By: | Balli, Faruk; Ozer-Balli, Hatice |
| Abstract: | The economic integration among Euro members has important consequences for the factors driving asset pricing and asset trading within the financial markets. In particular, since the start of the Euro, cross-country equity index correlations in the region have showed upward trends and domestic investors have allocated their portfolios mostly inside of the region. This paper studies the impact of these recent structural changes on the Euro-wide sectoral equity indices. We modeled the return and volatility of the Euro sector equity indices between years 1992 and 2007. We documented that aggregate world equity or global sector equity indices have not been affecting the sector equity indices since the beginning of the Euro. Aggregate Euro stock index, however, still has been affecting most of the sector equity indices, even though its effect has been declining remarkably for some sectors. In particular, we found that financial sector indices (financial services, insurance, and banking) are being affected increasingly by the aggregate Euro equity index fluctuations after the start of the Euro. However, some ``basic industry sector'' indices, including basic resources, food and beverage, health-care, retail services, and oil & gas had become less dependent to the aggregate Euro index within the same period, suggesting that diversification across these sectors within the region would be much more effective tool for reducing portfolio risk. |
| Keywords: | Stock Market Correlation; Sector Equity Indices; Euro Portfolio Bias; Euro; GARCH. |
| JEL: | G12 G15 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:14554&r=eec |
| By: | Christian Schröder (European Institute for International Economic Relations at the University of Wuppertal / Schumpeter School of Business and Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper highlights the role of financial development in producing innovative products and services. After a general overview of the function of the financial structure as well as financial development in realizing product and service innovations, this work examines a financial intermediary which is particularly specialized to finance high-tech innovations – the venture capitalist (VC). We employ a panel analysis to illustrate whether technical opportunities, taxes, stock market development, relative size of the banking sector, GDP growth and laterstage venture capital influence early stage venture capital investments. The empirical analysis was conducted in 15 European countries and looked at the period from 1995 to 2005. The results show that technical opportunities, size of the stock market and banking sector, interest rate growth and the amount of later-stage venture capital have a significant positive and corporate tax rate a negative impact on the amount of early stage risk capital. The structure of the national financial system seems not to have a significant influence. |
| Keywords: | Early Stage Venture Capital, Risk Capital, Financial System, Financing Innovations |
| JEL: | G23 |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bwu:schdps:sdp09004&r=eec |
| By: | Herbert Buscher; Hubert Gabrisch |
| Abstract: | Our study tries to find out whether wage dynamics between Euro member countries became more synchronized through the adoption of the common currency. We calculate bivarate correlation coefficients of wage and wage cost dynamics and run a model of endogenously induced changes of coefficients, which are explained by other variables being also endogenous: trade intensity, sectoral specialization, financial integration. We used a panel data structure to allow for cross-section weights for country-pair observations. We use instrumental variable regressions in order to disentangle exogenous from endogenous influences. We applied these techniques to real and nominal wage dynamics and to dynamics of unit labor costs. We found evidence for persistent asymmetries in nominal wage formation despite a single currency and monetary policy, responsible for diverging unit labor costs and for emerging trade imbalances among the EMU member countries. |
| Date: | 2009–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iwh:dispap:7-09&r=eec |
| By: | George A. Christodoulakis (Manchester Business School, University of Manchester); Emmanuel C. Mamatzakis (Department of Economics, University of Macedonia) |
| Abstract: | This paper focuses on labour market dynamics in the EU 15 using Markov Chains for proportions of aggregate data for the first time in this literature. We apply a Bayesian approach, which employs a Monte Carlo Integration procedure that uncovers the entire empirical posterior distribution of transition probabilities from full employment to part employment, temporary employment and unemployment and vice a versa. Thus, statistical inferences are readily available. Our results show that there are substantial variations in the transition probabilities across countries, implying that the convergence of the EU-15 labour markets is far from completed. However, some common patterns are observed as countries with flexible labour markets exhibit similar transition probabilities between different states of the labour market. |
| Keywords: | Employment, Unemployment, Markov Chains. |
| JEL: | C53 E24 E27 E37 |
| Date: | 2009–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mcd:mcddps:2009_07&r=eec |
| By: | Francesco Sarracino |
| Abstract: | Discovering whether social capital endowments in modern societies have been subjected or not to a process of gradual erosion is one of the most debated topics in recent economic literature. This new stream of research has been inaugurated by Putnam’s pioneering studies about social capital trends in the United States. Recently, a considerable work by Stevenson andWolfers (2008) put a new emphasis on this topic contending Easterlin’s assessment. Present work is aimed at analyzing the relationship between changes in social capital and subjective well-being in Europe considering 11 different countries. In particular, we would like to answer questions such as: 1) is social capital in Europe declining? Is such erosion a general trend of modern societies or is it a characteristic feature of only some of them? 2) social capital trend can help to explain subjective well-being trend? In so doing, our research considers three different set of proxies of social capital controlling for time and socio-demographic aspects in eleven different European countries using WVS data between 1980 and 2000.Our results are encouraging, showing evidence of a probable relationship between social capital and happiness. Furthermore, our results show that during last twenty years European citizens have persistently lost confidence in the judicial system, in the church, in armed forces and the police. Finally, considering single countries, we discover that United Kingdom is the only European country with a clear and negative pattern for social capital: quite every proxy of social capital in UK declined over the considered period |
| JEL: | D6 I31 O1 |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usi:wpaper:558&r=eec |
| By: | Valérie Oheix; Dorothée Rivaud-Danset |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates empirically the use of short-term bank loans by firms. We face two analytical frameworks. According to the corporate finance theory, short-term and long-term ebts are substitutes, while in the credit channel literature they are distinct and complementary vehicles. We estimate a model that explains the level of short-term bank debt, using panel data from the BACH database for six European countries (1989-2003). Our results indicate that the two types of bank loans are complements. They show that short-term bank debt should be analysed as a specific vehicle that finances current assets, as in the credit channel literature. |
| Keywords: | corporate short-term debt, debt maturity structure, credit channel |
| JEL: | G32 E51 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:drm:wpaper:2009-14&r=eec |
| By: | Neuhoff, K. |
| Abstract: | The European Renewables Directive requires Member States to deliver on average 20% of their final energy consumption by 2020 using renewable energy sources. To deliver this target, Member States have to adjust planning procedures, evaluate energy market design, provide grid and supply infrastructure, and implement support schemes that limit regulatory risk for finance. The paper discusses how quantitative policy indicators can allow governments to measure and manage the successful implementation of the necessary policies to deliver the renewable targets. The indicators need to be designed so that they can focus on individual components of the policy framework and measure whether the envisaged annual deployment level of a technology is compatible with the framework in place in a country. Increased transparency provided by policy indicators facilitates management of policy implementation, enhances accountability of governments and can inform the reporting of Member States to the European Commission. This allows technology companies to have confidence in projected deployment levels and triggers private sector investment in the supply chain to provide the necessary production capacity. |
| Keywords: | Renewables Directive, Intermediate Indicators, Targets. |
| JEL: | H77 L50 L94 O14 O33 |
| Date: | 2009–04–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:0913&r=eec |
| By: | Wilfried Altzinger; Jože P. Damijan |
| Abstract: | In this paper we revise the empirical tests of the Ricardian model by testing properly the Ricardian hypotheses on bilateral trade flows. Our tests are based on NACE 2-digit industry aggregation of productivity and of bilateral trade flows between 21 EU member states for the period 1994-2004. We compare the matchings between relative bilateral sectoral productivity rankings and bilateral sectoral exports-to-imports ratio rankings for each of 21 x 20 country pairs. We find that the Ricardian hypothesis is surprisingly good at predicting the static pattern of bilateral trade between individual EU member states even after controlling for the Heckscher-Ohlin type of capital-to-labor ratios. Long-term changes in the bilateral trade patterns, however, do not seem to be explained consistently neither by the variation in changes of relative productivity nor by the variation in changes of capital-to-labor ratios. Furthermore, we find quite a strong autoregressive impact of initial trade patterns on the long-term comparative advantages in the bilateral trade among countries. This implies that comparative advantages are structural by nature and that Ricardian differences in relative productivity can account for a good part of their static representation. Explaining their dynamic evolution over time, however, requires further research. |
| Keywords: | international trade, productivity, Ricardian hypothesis, empirical tests |
| JEL: | D24 F14 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lic:licosd:23509&r=eec |
| By: | Andrea Cipollini; Franco Fiordelisi |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of bank concentration on bank financial distress using a balanced panel of commercial banks belonging to EU 25 over the sample period running from 2003 to 2007. Financial distress is proxied by the observations falling below a given threshold of the empirical distribution of a risk adjusted indicator of bank performance: the Shareholder Value ratio. We employ a panel probit regression estimated by GMM in order to obtain consistent and efficient estimates following the suggestion of Bertschek and Lechner (1998). Our findings suggest, after controlling for a number of enviroment variables, a positive effect of bank concentration on financial distress. |
| Keywords: | EVA; Banking; Panel Probit; GMM |
| JEL: | C33 C35 G21 G32 |
| Date: | 2009–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mod:wcefin:09021&r=eec |
| By: | Paolo Lupi (Servizio Analisi di Mercato e Concorrenza, Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni (ITALY)); Fabio M. Manenti (Universita' di Padova); Antonio Scialà (Università di Padova); Cristiano Varin (Università di Venezia) |
| Abstract: | This paper offers a methodology to assess the internal productive efficiency of National Regulatory Authorities (NRAs) based on the performances of regulated markets, measured in terms of the degree of market efficiency (either static or dynamic). The estimation procedure is based on a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), along with a smoothed bootstrap method and it is applied to telecommunications sector across 18 European countries, 5 of which are new accession countries, in 2005. After the discussion of several desirable outcomes for a telecom regulator, we construct an ad hoc database containing information about NRAs regulatory inputs and outputs. We run three bootstrapped DEAs in order to rank NRAs according to their efficiency in carrying out their regulatory activities. We find the NRAs in 2004 accession countries are more efficient in pursuing dynamic efficiency goals than the more experienced NRAs, while they perform generally worse when the regulatory outcomes are measured in terms of retail efficiency. |
| Keywords: | regulators efficiency, Data Envelopment analysis, bootstrapping, telecommunications |
| JEL: | L86 L96 |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pad:wpaper:0098&r=eec |
| By: | Malgorzata Sulimierska (Economics Department, University of Sussex) |
| Abstract: | The dissertation investigates if Central and Eastern European countries with unregulated capital flows are more vulnerable to currency crises. In order to answer this question properly the paper considers two lines of analysis: single-country and multi-country. Single -country studies look into three cases: Russia, Poland and Latvia. The multi-country analysis is the simple adaptation of Glick, Guo and Hutchison's probit panel model (2004). The results suggest that countries with liberalized capital accounts experience a lower likelihood of currency crises. Moreover, the information from case studies pointed that the speed and sequence of the CAL process needs to be adequate for the country development.This paper, co-winner of the best student paper award, was presented at the 18th International Conference of the International Trade and Finance Association, meeting at Universidade Nova de Lisboa, May 22, 2008. |
| Date: | 2008–10–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bep:itfapp:1140&r=eec |
| By: | Ciro Avitabile (University College London, University of Naples Federico II and CSEF) |
| Abstract: | I use microdata from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe to study whether the cost of acquiring health information is an important determinant of the decision to buy private hospital health insurance for individuals aged 50+, in eight European countries. I first test whether, conditional on health insurance companies' risk assessments, individuals have residual private information on insurance determinants other than their risk type. My results show that there are individual characteristics, not observed by the insurers, that are positively correlated with hospital insurance coverage and negatively correlated with the ex post probability of requiring hospital treatment. However, this opposite association is significantly different from zero only in countries with low quality healthcare systems. I then provide evidence that education and cognitive ability act as substitutes for quality of health promotion in determining the propensity to take out a voluntary private hospital insurance. |
| Keywords: | Health Insurance, Cognitive Ability, Healthcare Quality |
| JEL: | D83 G22 I18 |
| Date: | 2009–04–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sef:csefwp:221&r=eec |
| By: | Daniel Albalate (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona); Germà Bel (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | The importance of effective and efficient mobility in large cities is becoming essential for planners and citizens due to its impact in terms of social, economic and geographic development. The aim of this research is to determine factors explaining urban transport systems by estimating aggregate supply and demand equations for 45 large European cities. Supply and Demand equations are separately and jointly determined using OLS and SUR estimation models. On one hand, our findings suggest the importance of economic variables on the supply of public transport. On the other, we highlight the role of those factors influencing the generalized cost of transport as main drivers of demand for public transit. Additionally, regional variables are introduced to capture institutional heterogeneity in this service, and we find that regional patterns are powerful explanatory determinants of urban transportation systems in Europe. |
| Keywords: | Urban transportation, Local government policy, Mobility. |
| Date: | 2009–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ira:wpaper:200905&r=eec |
| By: | Patrick Roger (Laboratoire de Recherche en Gestion et Economie, Université de Strasbourg) |
| Abstract: | We analyze the demand of the Euromillions lottery tickets, a European lotto-like game launched in 2004 and played simultaneously in nine countries with the same rules and the same draws. Using the effective price methodology, we show that price elasticities are very different across countries. Especially, Spain and Portugal exhibit a low price elasticity and high mean sales, meaning a low sensitivity to jackpot increases. On the contrary, Ireland and the United Kingdom exhibit very high long-run elasticities and a large sensitivity to jackpot variations. The interpretations of these results are linked to lower GDP in the two former countries and, for Spain, to the large development of syndication play, and to the bookmaking activities and the highly competitive betting market in Ireland and the UK. Moreover, we show that Spanish and Portuguese players pay a much higher effective price than UK gamblers, meaning that in a certain sense the former subsidize the latter. |
| Keywords: | Lottery, gambling, demand estimation, price elasticity. |
| JEL: | D81 H71 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lar:wpaper:2009-05&r=eec |
| By: | de Arce, Rafael; Mahia, Ramon |
| Abstract: | In this paper one survey of econometrics modelling about migration flows determinants is carried out, with an extensive critical review of variables and methods used in recent literature. After it, a rigorous model to forecast migrations flows from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt and Turkey to EU is developed. The weight of network effects and potential migration in origin countries is pointed out and 15 years of forecast horizon is drawn. |
| Keywords: | migration determinants; migration econometric models; migration flows; EU-MPC migration |
| JEL: | F22 C23 |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:14547&r=eec |
| By: | Anna Matysiak (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Daniele Vignoli (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany) |
| Abstract: | This goal of this study is to add to our understanding of the impact of women’s human capital accumulation on the timing of first births. Applying intensity regression to national retrospective data, we examined the transition to motherhood in Italy and Poland. These countries share several similarities – Catholicism, strong family ties, and considerable tensions between fertility and work – but also differ in female labor supply developments. Our life-course study illustrates that paid employment clearly discourages childbearing in Italy, at least among low- and medium-educated women. In Poland, by contrast, employment functions as a precondition to childbearing, irrespective of a woman’s educational level. |
| Keywords: | Italy, Poland, fertility |
| JEL: | J1 Z0 |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2009-011&r=eec |
| By: | Ana Rute Cardoso; Elsa Fontainha; Chiara Monfardini |
| Abstract: | We analyze a mechanism that has been disregarded in the literature on parental investment in children, as little attention has been devoted to the choices made by children themselves. We model directly time use by youngsters into activities related to the acquisition of human capital, considering not just the decision on study time, but also on socialization/networking at young age, which can enhance personal interaction skills. We provide new empirical evidence for three European countries (France, Italy and Germany) on the link between time allocation by parents and time allocation by youngsters, highlighting country-specific patterns as well as cross-country differences. We run fractional regression models and double hurdle models on multi-member household micro data on time use. Countries diverge concerning the association between parents and youngsters allocation of time to socializing and to reading and studying activities, with Italy standing out as the country where that association, in particular between youngster and mother, is strongest. Our results are consistent with different mechanisms: parental role model directly influencing children behavior, intergenerational transmission of preferences, or network effects, as individuals adapt their behavior to social patterns. |
| Keywords: | study time; socializing, networking, youth, intergenerational transmission of preferences, fractional regression models, double hurdle models |
| JEL: | J22 J24 J13 C21 C24 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wpc:wplist:wp17_08&r=eec |
| By: | Blanchflower, David G. (Dartmouth College, USA and University of Stirling, UK.); Oswald, Andrew J. (University of Warwick, UK.) |
| Abstract: | This paper is a continuation of results in Blanchflower and Oswald (2008). It provides new evidence that well-being follows a curve through life. We use data on half a million randomly sampled individuals across eight major European nations. Importantly, we show that in this set of countries there is a U-shape even in unadjusted data, that is, without the inclusion of control variables. But we also advise against a focus on elementary bivariate associations. |
| Keywords: | Happiness ; aging ; well-being ; mental-health ; depression ; life-course |
| JEL: | D1 I3 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wrk:warwec:896&r=eec |
| By: | Germà Bel (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona); Xavier Fageda (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | This paper empirically analyzes changes in the supply of non-stop intercontinental flights from European airports. We take advantage of OAG data for air services from a rich sample of European airports to intercontinental destinations in the period 2004-2008. Results of the empirical analysis indicate a tendency towards a more balanced distribution of intercontinental flights across European airports. We also find that the demographic size of a region, its sector specialization, the political role of its central city and the proportion of connecting traffic explain the amount of and changes in long-haul air services supplied from European airports. |
| Keywords: | airports, air transportation, intercontinental flights |
| Date: | 2009–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ira:wpaper:200906&r=eec |
| By: | Annamaria Simonazzi |
| Abstract: | Rapid population ageing has dramatically increased the social and economic cost of elderly care. Demand for care labour is increasing rapidly, and all countries are experiencing problems in recruiting enough workers to meet demand. In some countries, the shortage of care workers has been met by a large inflow of immigrant, mostly female, workers. The paper’s aim is twofold. To argue that the way in which care is provided and financed may entail large differences in the creation of a formal care market. Provision in kind and ‘tied’ monetary transfers - that is, cash benefits that are somehow regulated – may prevent the formation of a large informal care market. National employment models in turn shape the features of the care labour market: in fact, they affect the quantity and the quality of the care labour supply, the size of the care labour shortage, and the degree of dependence on migrant carers. We show how these two factors combine to shape the characteristics of care regimes and their long term sustainability. |
| JEL: | F22 I3 J3 O15 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sap:wpaper:113&r=eec |
| By: | Soushi Suzuki (Hokkai-Gakuen University, Sapporo, Japan); Peter Nijkamp (VU University Amsterdam); Eric Pels (VU University Amsterdam); Piet Rietveld (VU University Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) has become an established approach for analyzing and comparing efficiency results of corporate organizations or economic agents. It has also found wide application in comparative studies on airport efficiency. The standard DEA approach to comparative airport efficiency analysis has two feeble elements, viz. a methodological and a substantive weakness. The methodological weakness originates from the choice of uniform efficiency improvement assessment, while the substantive weakness in airport efficiency analysis concerns the insufficient attention for short-term and long-term adjustment possibilities in the production inputs determining airport efficiency. The present paper aims to address both flaws by: (i) designing a data-instigated Distance Friction Minimization (DFM) model as a generalization of the standard Banker-Charnes-Cooper (BCC) model with a view to the development of a more appropriate efficiency improvement projection model in the BCC version of DEA; (ii) including as factor inputs also lumpy or rigid factors that are characterized by short-term indivisibility or inertia (and hence not suitable for short-run flexible adjustment in new efficiency stages), as is the case for runways of airports. This so-called fixed factor (FF) case will be included in the DFM submodel of DEA. This extended DEA – with a DFM and an FF component – will be applied to a comparative performance analysis of several major airports in Europe. Finally, our comparative study on airport efficiency analysis will be extended by incorporating also the added value of the presence of shopping facilities at airports for their relative economic performance. |
| Keywords: | Transportation; Demand Supply; and Congestion; Safety and Accidents; Transportation Noise |
| JEL: | R41 |
| Date: | 2009–03–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20090024&r=eec |
| By: | Raul Ramos (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona); Jordi Suriñach (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona); Manuel Artís (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | The paper analyses the link between human capital and regional economic growth in the European Union. Using different indicators of human capital calculated from census microdata, we conclude that the recent economic performance of European regions is associated to an increase in overeducation. In fact, measures of educational mismatch seem to have a stronger connection to regional economic performance than other traditional measures of human capital stocks. |
| Keywords: | Regional economic growth, human capital, educational mismatch, overeducation |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ira:wpaper:200904&r=eec |
| By: | Philippe Aghion; Mathias Dewatripont; Caroline M. Hoxby; Andreu Mas-Colell; André Sapir |
| Abstract: | We investigate how university governance affects research output, measured by patenting and international university research rankings. For both European and U.S. universities, we generate several measures of autonomy, governance, and competition for research funding. We show that university autonomy and competition are positively correlated with university output, both among European countries and among U.S. public universities. We then identity a (political) source of exogenous shocks to funding of U.S. universities. We demonstrate that, when a state's universities receive a positive funding shock, they produce more patents if they are more autonomous and face more competition from private research universities. Finally, we show that during periods when merit-based competitions for federal research funding have been most prominent, universities produce more patents when they receive an exogenous funding shock, suggesting that routine participation in such competitions hones research skill. |
| JEL: | H0 H52 I2 I23 I28 O3 |
| Date: | 2009–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14851&r=eec |