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on Microeconomic European Issues |
| By: | Antonio Di Paolo (Departament d'Economia Aplicada, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Campus de Bellaterra, Edifici B 08193 Bellaterra (Cerdanyola), Spain & IEB, Barcelona, Spain); José Luís Raymond (Departament d'Economia Aplicada, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Campus de Bellaterra, Edifici B 08193 Bellaterra (Cerdanyola), Spain & IEB, Barcelona, Spain); Jorge Calero (Departament d'Economia Política i Hisenda Pública, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain & IEB, Barcelona, Spain) |
| Abstract: | This paper is concerned with the investigation of the intergenerational mobility of education in several European countries and its changes across birth cohorts (1940-1980) using a new mobility index that considers the total degree of mobility as the weighted sum of mobility with respect to both parents. Moreover, this mobility index enables the analysis of the role of family characteristics as mediating factors in the statistical association between individual and parental education. We find that Nordic countries display lower levels of educational persistence but that the degree of mobility increases over time only in those countries with low initial levels. Moreover, the results suggest that the degree of mobility with respect to fathers and mothers converges to the same level and that family characteristics account for an important part of the statistical association between parental education and children’s schooling; a particular finding is that the most important elements of family characteristics are the family’s socio-economic status and educational assortative mating of the parents. |
| Keywords: | Educational Economics, Intergenerational Mobility, Europe, Birth Cohorts, Family |
| JEL: | J62 I21 I29 D13 |
| Date: | 2010–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:xrp:wpaper:xreap2010-11&r=eur |
| By: | Antonio Di Paolo (Departament d'Economia Aplicada, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Campus de Bellaterra, Edifici B 08193 Bellaterra (Cerdanyola), Spain. Institut d’Economia de Barcelona (IEB), Universitat de Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | Drawing on data contained in the 2005 EU-SILC, this paper investigates the disparities in educational opportunities in Italy and Spain. Its main objective is to analyse the predicted probabilities of successfully completing upper-secondary and tertiary education for individuals with different parental backgrounds, and the changes in these probabilities across birth cohorts extending from 1940 to 1980. The results suggest that the disparities in tertiary education opportunities in Italy tend to increase over time. By contrast, the gap in educational opportunity in Spain shows a marked decrease across the cohorts. Moreover, by using an intuitive decomposition strategy, the paper shows that a large part of the educational gap between individuals of different backgrounds is “composed” of the difference in the endowment of family characteristics. Specifically, it seems that more highly educated parents are more able to endow their children with a better composition of family characteristics, which accounts for a significant proportion of the disparities in educational opportunity. |
| Keywords: | Educational Opportunity, Family Background, Birth cohorts, Italy, Spain |
| JEL: | I21 J12 J62 |
| Date: | 2010–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:xrp:wpaper:xreap2010-05&r=eur |
| By: | Alexiadis, Stilianos; Kokkidis, Stilianos |
| Abstract: | Regional convergence has spurred one of the most debatable topics in contemporary research in economics and one of the most critical issues from a policy perspective. In this paper, the intention is to augment the literature on regional convergence in Europe using the agricultural sector as a context for empirical analysis. More specifically, following the spirit of the literature, we seek in this paper to address the question of whether, during the period 1995-2004 the NUTS-2 regions of EU-25 exhibited any tendencies to converge in terms of agricultural labour productivity. A low annual rate of absolute convergence is estimated over the period 1995-2004 whilst it is established that the regions of European Union follow two different patterns in their convergence behaviour |
| Keywords: | Club Convergence; Agriculture; European Union Regions |
| JEL: | O47 C2 Q10 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:26011&r=eur |
| By: | Kenneth Aarskaug Wiik, Trude Lappegård, and Renske Keizer (Statistics Norway) |
| Abstract: | In this study, we utilize data from the first wave of the Generations and Gender Surveys to investigate relationship quality among currently married and cohabiting individuals aged 18 to 55 (N = 41, 666) in eight European countries (Bulgaria, France, Germany, Hungary, Norway, Romania, Russia, and the Netherlands). Controlling for a range of characteristics of respondents and their partners, the analyses show that cohabitors in general more often have breakup plans and are less satisfied than those married. We expected to find fewer differences between cohabitation and marriage in countries where cohabitation is widespread. Correspondingly, we find that the difference between marriage and cohabitation is largest in Russia, Romania, Germany and Bulgaria. |
| Keywords: | Marriage; Cohabitation; Relationship Quality; Europe |
| JEL: | Z10 Z13 Z19 |
| Date: | 2010–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssb:dispap:633&r=eur |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | How do Member States regulate their national public procurement systems below the EU thresholds and in areas not regulated in detail by the EU Directives? This paper provides the reader with an overview of different national policies, rules and procedures and presents common features and patterns in the regulatory approach of the countries covered. It will help Sigma partner countries design efficient and sound legal frameworks also outside the scope of the EU Directives. It may as well be of interest to the Member States themselves and to the international procurement community at large. |
| Date: | 2010–05–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:govaac:45-en&r=eur |
| By: | Francesco Bogliacino (JRC-IPTS) |
| Abstract: | In this article, we analyse the microeconomic relationship between innovation and employment, using company data from R&D Scoreboard for Europe covering 2000-2008. We estimate a reduced form equation in which R&D can account for both product and process innovation. The existence of non constant elasticities is assessed, due to the combination of efficient scale and decreasing return to R&D: in our empirical estimates the scale effect tends to prevail for a given R&D intensity generating an increasing relationship between total turnover and employment. Our results have important implications for policymakers: R&D and innovation supporting policies should be correctly tailored and monitored since the results depend on the characteristics of the firms benefited. By the same token, calibration of general equilibrium models aimed at quantifying the employment impact of R&D and innovation policies should take into account that the average elasticity can be a very rough approximation. We claim that our results support the position that R&D and innovation policies should be tailored towards favouring entry by knowledge intensive firms, instead of supporting existing actors. |
| Keywords: | Technological change, corporate R&D, employment, panel data |
| JEL: | O33 J20 |
| Date: | 2010–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:wpaper:201008&r=eur |
| By: | Luthra R (Institute for Social and Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | This paper compares the educational performance of the children of immigrants to the children in their parentsÂ’ home countries. I utilize the 2003 and 2006 PISA internationally standardized test scores for Italian, Polish, Turkish, former Yugoslavian, and former Soviet origin youth attending school in Germany, as well as youth attending school in the origin countries. Controlling for family background, I find that the children of immigrants in Germany perform better than peers in every origin country with the exception of Italy. Checks for selection bias suggest that positive selection may account for some, but not all, of this immigrant advantage. |
| Date: | 2010–10–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ese:iserwp:2010-34&r=eur |
| By: | Tess Altman; Cris Shore |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the role of the private and voluntary sectors in helping to fill gaps in public sector social welfare provision and considers the extent to which this augments or weakens the democratic process. While the public sector has tended to be the major provider in European social welfare systems, since the late 1980s there has been a notable trend towards increasing use of privately provided support and grey services as people (and governments) have sought solutions outside of the state welfare system. This shift has been fuelled by an increasing emphasis on measures that encourage efficiency, productivity and competitiveness as well as pressures on the sustainability of welfare systems which have been exacerbated by the recent global financial crisis. The paper proceeds as follows. First, we discuss the emerging ‘disorganised welfare mix’ and the implications of restructuring welfare regimes according to quasi-market principles. We ask whether these approaches resolve or exacerbate the ‘dilemmas’ of welfare provision, particularly in terms of wider democratic goals and social inclusion. Second, we examine empirical case studies from Britain, the US and New Zealand of the Private Finance Initiative, Asset-Based Community Development and the new contractualism to investigate how adoption of neoliberalising welfare strategies is reconstituting democracy in Europe and beyond. Third, we map the current state of welfare provision in Europe through a critical analysis of the European Social Model (EMS) and the Welfare Triangle. Finally, we use further examples from Europe to analyse the contradictions between the goals of social protection and regulation that underpin European social policy and the demands for increased flexibilisation and privatisation promoted by the European Single Market and the rulings of the European Court of Justice. |
| Keywords: | democracy; European social model; governance; social policy; welfare state |
| Date: | 2010–10–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:erp:reconx:p0076&r=eur |
| By: | Marius-Cristian Frunza (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne et Sagacarbon - Caisse des Dépôts); Dominique Guegan (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne - Paris School of Economics); Antonin Lassoudière (Sagacarbon - Caisse des Dépôts) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to show evidence and to quantify with forensic econometric methods the impact of the Value Added Tax fraud on European carbon allowances markets. This fraud mainly occurred at the beginning of between the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009. In this paper, we explore the financial mechanisms of the fraud and the impact on the market behavior as well as the reflexion on its econometric features. In a previous work, we showed that the European carbon market is strongly influenced by fundamentals factors as oil, energy, gas, coal and equity prices. Therefore, we calibrated Arbitrage Pricing Theory-like models and showed that they have a good forecast capacity. Those models enabled us to quantify the impact of each factor on the market. In this study, we focused more precisely on the benchmark contract for European carbon emissions prices over 2008 and 2009. We observed that during the first semester of 2009, there is a significant drop in our model performances and robustness and that the part of market volatility explained by fundamentals reduced. Therefore, we identified the period where the market was driven by VAT fraud movements and we were able to measure the value of this fraud. Soon after governments passed a law that cut the possibility of fraud occurrence the performance of the model improved rapidly. We estimate the impact of the VAT extortion on the carbon market at 1.3 billion euros. |
| Keywords: | Carbon, EUA, energy, arbitrage pricing theory, switching regimes, hidden Markov Chain Model, forecast. |
| Date: | 2010–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:10069&r=eur |
| By: | Serrano Martínez Lorenzo (UNIVERSITY OF VALENCIA INSTITUTO VALENCIANO DE INVESTIGACIONES ECONÓMICAS (Ivie)); Pastor Monsálvez José Manuel (UNIVERSITY OF VALENCIA INSTITUTO VALENCIANO DE INVESTIGACIONES ECONÓMICAS (Ivie)) |
| Abstract: | In this working paper we analyze the effects of the expansions of the European Union on inequality using an approach based on individuals lifecycle incomes. Such an approach allows us to consider the effect of different national growth and survival rates on inequality. It differs from the usual analyses of inequality that focus on the evolution of current per capita income for the period. The results show that inequality in terms of permanent income was substantially less than in current per capita income at the time of all the expansions except those of the last ten years. The results point to the key role of policies that stimulate growth in the less developed countries. With an annual b-convergence of 2% in current income, inequality in permanent income would be one third lower. |
| Keywords: | Permanent income, inequality, European Union. |
| Date: | 2009–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fbb:wpaper:201050&r=eur |
| By: | Modena, Francesca; Sabatini, Fabio |
| Abstract: | This paper carries out an investigation into the socio-economic determinants of childbearing decisions made by couples in Italy. The analysis accounts for the characteristics of both possible parents. Our results do not support established theoretical predictions according to which the increase in the opportunity cost of motherhood connected to higher female labour participation is responsible for the fall in fertility. On the contrary, the instability of women’s work status (i.e. having occasional, precarious, and low-paid positions) is revealed as a significant dissuasive factor in the decision to have children. Couples in which there is an unemployed woman are less likely to plan childbearing as well. Other relevant explanatory variables are women’s age, men’s work status and education, women’s citizenship, marital status and perceived economic well-being. |
| Keywords: | Fertility; family planning; parenthood; childbearing; participation; job instability; precarious employment; Italy |
| JEL: | J13 J71 J12 Z13 C25 |
| Date: | 2010–10–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:26117&r=eur |
| By: | De Wet van der Westhuizen (Department of Economics, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand.); Gail Pacheco (Department of Economics, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand.); Don J. Webber (Department of Economics, Auckland University of Technology and Department of Economics, UWE, Bristol) |
| Abstract: | This study explores the impact of culture on participative decision making (PDM) and job satisfaction (JS) using data obtained from the European Values Study. We parameterise two different cultural variables using principal components analysis: first a continuum based on survival versus self-expression values, and second a continuum based on traditional versus secular-rational values. Application of ordered logistic regression to Likert scales of PDM and JS suggest that greater self-expression in the survival versus self-expression variable enhances both PDM and JS; more traditional values in the traditional versus secular-rational continuum have the same effect. |
| Keywords: | Job satisfaction; participatory decision making; culture |
| JEL: | J28 |
| Date: | 2010–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uwe:wpaper:1010&r=eur |
| By: | Ruth Delzeit; Horst Gömann; Karin Holm-Müller; Peter Kreins; Bettina Kretschmer; Julia Münch; Sonja Peterson |
| Abstract: | In the context of energy security and climate protection, biomass is given high importance. Nevertheless, land-use conflicts resulting from the cultivation of biomass and their economy-wide effects are yet to be fully understood. To shed light on this issue we link three distinctive models; a global, multi-regional general equilibrium model (DART), a regionalised agricultural sector model for Germany (RAUMIS) and a location model for biogas plants. The DART model allows capturing international and national feedback effects of an increased use of bioenergy such as increased agricultural prices. The interaction of DART and RAUMIS links global markets and connects them to the detailed specification of agricultural land use in Germany. Finally, we link this system to the newly developed location model ReSI-M that accounts for the location choices of biogas plants in Germany and the resulting regional markets for energy crop demand. As a first application of the modelling system we analyse the effects of the German Renewable Energy Source Act on German biogas production and of the EU 10%-biofuel target on German agriculture and world agricultural prices. A main result of the simulations is that accounting for existing land-use restrictions and land-use competition has a significant effect on model results |
| Keywords: | Bioenergy, land use, renewable energy policy, coupled models, agricultural-sector models, CGE |
| JEL: | C61 C68 Q15 Q42 Q48 |
| Date: | 2010–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kie:kieliw:1653&r=eur |
| By: | Matthias Keese; Annika Meng; Reinhold Schnabel |
| Abstract: | The development of expenditure for care services is one of the most intensively debated topics in public. However, studies calculating financial provision gaps only focus on the macro-level implications for the compulsory care insurance. In contrast, this paper examines the individuals’ micro-level perspective. We use survey as well as regional and national statistical data to calculate expected individual costs of long-term care on a very detailed care arrangement and care level basis. Afterwards, we compare these costs with the individuals’ total wealth. In our most conservative policy scenario, our results show that about a third of statutorily insured individuals will have to face a financial care provision gap. Among homeowners, an even higher share will have to liquidate the main residence. The privately insured are affected to a somewhat lower extent. In both groups, the situation will become much more severe if the development of public transfers does not keep up with future increases of long-term care costs. Furthermore, regression analyses show that provision gaps are more frequent among statutorily insured individuals, females, and individuals in single households. |
| Keywords: | Long-term care costs; care prevalence; life expectancy; provision gap |
| JEL: | D91 H75 J14 |
| Date: | 2010–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rwi:repape:0203&r=eur |
| By: | Michel Dumont (Federal Planning Bureau; University of Antwerp (UA)); Bruno Merlevede (UGent; HUBrussel); Christophe Piette (National Bank of Belgium, Research Department); Glenn Rayp (UGent, Sherppa) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses to what extent the decision to start exporting may be subject to spillovers of the internationalisation behaviour of other (foreign and domestic) firms. We distinguish between two possible channels: effects on productivity and effects on the perceived level of sunk costs of exporting. For both channels, we consider geographical and activity or industry-based linkages between firms. For a sample Belgian firms we find evidence of significant spillovers on productivity as well as productivity-independent spillovers on the decision to start exporting. Spillovers seem more substantial in the geographical dimension than in terms of competitor, client or supplier links, except for the impact of multinationals on the productivity of domestic firms. |
| Keywords: | Export, FDI, spillovers, sunk cost, region |
| JEL: | F2 |
| Date: | 2010–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbb:reswpp:201010-201&r=eur |
| By: | Ron Boschma; Asier Minondo; Mikel Navarro |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates whether related variety, among other types of spatial externalities, affected regional growth in Spain at the NUTS 3 level during the period 1995-2007. We found evidence that related variety matters for growth across regions, especially when measured with the assistance of the Porter's cluster classification and the proximity index proposed by Hidalgo et al.. That is, Spanish provinces with a range of industries that are technologically related tend to show higher economic growth rates, controlling for the usual suspects. We did not find, however, any evidence of regional growth effects that come from technologically related sectors imports. |
| Keywords: | technological relatedness, related variety, regional branching, regional diversification |
| JEL: | R11 O14 N94 |
| Date: | 2010–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:1012&r=eur |
| By: | Catalina Bolancé (Departament d'Econometria, Estadística i Economia Espanyola, RFA-IREA, Universitat de Barcelona); Ramon Alemany (Departament d'Econometria, Estadística i Economia Espanyola, RFA-IREA, Universitat de Barcelona); Montserrat Guillén (Departament d'Econometria, Estadística i Economia Espanyola, RFA-IREA, Universitat de Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | Pensions together with savings and investments during active life are key elements of retirement planning. Motivation for personal choices about the standard of living, bequest and the replacement ratio of pension with respect to last salary income must be considered. This research contributes to the financial planning by helping to quantify long-term care economic needs. We estimate life expectancy from retirement age onwards. The economic cost of care per unit of service is linked to the expected time of needed care and the intensity of required services. The expected individual cost of long-term care from an onset of dependence is estimated separately for men and women. Assumptions on the mortality of the dependent people compared to the general population are introduced. Parameters defining eligibility for various forms of coverage by the universal public social care of the welfare system are addressed. The impact of the intensity of social services on individual predictions is assessed, and a partial coverage by standard private insurance products is also explored. Data were collected by the Spanish Institute of Statistics in two surveys conducted on the general Spanish population in 1999 and in 2008. Official mortality records and life table trends were used to create realistic scenarios for longevity. We find empirical evidence that the public long-term care system in Spain effectively mitigates the risk of incurring huge lifetime costs. We also find that the most vulnerable categories are citizens with moderate disabilities that do not qualify to obtain public social care support. In the Spanish case, the trends between 1999 and 2008 need to be further explored. |
| Date: | 2010–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:xrp:wpaper:xreap2010-08&r=eur |
| By: | Claudio Detotto; V. Sterzi |
| Abstract: | We use national panel data at provincial level to investigate the relationship between suicide rates and socio-economic factors in Italy. The role of family, drug and alcohol consumption, social conformism and population density are the main factors in explaining the suicide rate in Italy. In a further step, we check for the differences in the suicide determinants between southern and northern provinces. The findings show that the number and size of families as well as alcohol or drug abuse play a key role in the northern provinces, while density and social conformism appear to be the main factors in the South. |
| Keywords: | suicide rate; socio-economic determinants; role of family |
| JEL: | D10 K00 R00 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cns:cnscwp:201020&r=eur |
| By: | Ludo Cuyvers (University of Antwerp; North-West University (Potchefstroom Campus), South Africa); Emmanuel Dhyne (National Bank of Belgium, Research Department; Université de Mons, Centre de recherche Warocqué); Reth Soeng (University of Antwerp, Steunpunt Buitenlands Beleid) |
| Abstract: | We empirically investigate the effects of the internationalisation of Belgian firms on domestic demand for production and non-production workers, which are used as proxies for unskilled and skilled labour. Distinction is made between home-employment effects of firms’ internationalisation, through either international trade or outward foreign direct investment, in highincome countries and in low-income economies. The results of our econometric analysis, using data over 1997-2007, suggest that increasing import shares from low-income countries or investing in those countries significantly reduces demand for low-skilled labour, while it increases demand for skilled labour. An increase in exports generally raises the demand for production workers, while it reduces the demand for non-production workers. However, these effects are reversed in the case of exports to low-income countries. Considering the impact of FDI, our results tentatively suggest that the setting up of a new international investment project has a positive impact on demand for non-production workers one period before it is made. This positive effect is offset in the long run, particularly in the case of investment in low-income countries. |
| Keywords: | labour demand, international trade, outward FDI, skilled and unskilled labour |
| JEL: | C23 F16 F21 |
| Date: | 2010–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbb:reswpp:201010-206&r=eur |
| By: | Régis Blazy (LaRGE Research Center, Université de Strasbourg); Jocelyn Martel (ESSEC Business School); Nirjhar Nigam (Luxembourg School of Finance) |
| Abstract: | This empirical paper investigates the determinants of the arbitration taking place after a corporate default. Two ways of resolving financial distress are conceivable: either the creditors privately renegotiate with the debtor, or a formal bankruptcy procedure is triggered off. This arbitration depends on the legal context and, more specifically, on the national bankruptcy code. No study has been done on the French Civil Law. Yet, this legal system has inspired other important legislations in continental Europe. We use original data coming from the recovery units of five French commercial banks. Our sample gathers 735 credit lines allocated to 386 distressed companies (233 of them are used in our econometric regressions). Our variables encompass the profile of the company, the origin of the default (with a specific focus on faulty management), the nature of the credit relationship, and the type of borrowings. We test four hypotheses. Hypothesis H1 focuses on a tradeoff between the arguments based on coordination issues and the counterarguments based on the stakeholders’ bargaining power. Such tradeoff may depend on the legal environment. Hypothesis H2 suggests that, to support renegotiation, a bank needs information on the project’s profitability (adverse selection), and on the managers’ reliability (moral hazard). To reach an agreement, the bank must believe both conditions prevail. Hypothesis H3 predicts the likelihood of renegotiation increases with the bank’s financial involvement (size effect). Hypothesis H4 focuses on the level of collateralization (when the bank has inclination for liquidation, collaterals may increase the occurrence of bankruptcy, provided the law facilitates such liquidation and protects the bank’s priority on junior claims). To test H1 to H4, we use sequential LOGIT modeling to split between the variables explaining the decision to engage (or not) renegotiation and the variables explaining the success (or the failure) of renegotiation. Regarding H1, we find the “coordination argument” is of secondary importance compared to the “bargaining power counterargument”. Indeed, whatever the coordination issues, a major bank may not wish to renegotiate simply because the competition with the other minor creditors is expected to be weak under bankruptcy, and/or because the debtor cannot survive without the bank’s financial support. Consequently, even a court-administered procedure (as in France) may not have dissuasive effects provided the bank’s bargaining power is strong enough. Regarding H2, we show the project profitability and the managers’ reliability are two essential conditions to escape bankruptcy, but it needs time to discover them. Consequently, the first step of the arbitration (i.e. renegotiation attempt vs. direct bankruptcy ) does not depend on these conditions. Regarding H3, our results suggest that, when the lending is bigger and/or when the debt contract is longer, the chance of undertaking renegotiation is higher, but this does not predict such renegotiation shall be successful. Last, regarding H4, we do not find any evidence that the level of collateralization significantly influence the tradeoff between informal renegotiation and formal bankruptcy. Indeed, in France, liquidation is viewed as a secondary objective, and the social claims outrank the secured ones. |
| Keywords: | Bankruptcy, Renegotiation, Banks, SME, Sequential LOGIT. |
| JEL: | G33 K22 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lar:wpaper:2010-15&r=eur |