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on Microeconomic European Issues |
| By: | Michele Raitano; Francesco Vona (Sapienza University of Rome.) |
| Abstract: | Recent literature agrees that the degree of intergenerational mobility substantially differs across European countries, ranked between the “mobile” Nordic countries and the “immobile” Anglo-Saxon and Southern ones. In this paper we will compare the intergenerational transmission of advantages in 8 European countries using EU-SILC dataset. Considering parental occupations as background variable, our main aims are to assess whether residual returns to background on offspring’s labour incomes persist after controlling for intermediated background-related outcomes (education and occupation) and to disentangle the role played by upward and downward occupational mobility on earnings. Our empirical analyses show that cross-country differences occur in the labour markets rather than in the educational stream. Consistently with previous findings, residual background effects on earnings are not significant in Nordic and Continental countries whereas they appear large in Anglo-Saxon and Southern ones. When the impact of backward and upward mobility is assessed, in all countries but Nordic ones penalties for upgrading emerge mostly in top occupations and are higher in less-mobile countries. These patterns are smoothened but preserved in bottom occupations and robust to different labour income measures. |
| Keywords: | Residual Returns to Background, Earning Impact of Occupational Mobility, International comparison, Intergenerational Inequality |
| JEL: | D31 I21 J24 J31 J62 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dsc:wpaper:13&r=eur |
| By: | Bruno Contini |
| Abstract: | Why did employment growth - high in the last decade– take place at the expense of young workers in the countries of Central and Southern Europe ? This is the question addressed in this paper. Youth unemployment has approached or exceeded 20% despite a variety of factors, common to most EU countries. According to neo-classical economics all would be expected to exert a positive impact on its evolution: population ageing and the demographic decline, low labor cost of young workers, flexibility of working arrangements, higher educational attainment, low unionization of young workers, early retirement practices of workers 50+. But neither seems to provide a convincing explanation. Historically based institutions and political tradition, cultural values, social capital – factors that go beyond the standard explanation of economic theory – provide a more satisfying interpretation. |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cca:wplabo:102&r=eur |
| By: | Aurelijus Dabušinskas; Tairi Rõõm |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we give a comprehensive overview of wage and price adjustment practices in Estonia, drawing from two managerial surveys which were conducted in autumn 2007 and summer 2009 within the framework of the Wage Dynamics Network (WDN), a joint research project by the Eurosystem/ESCB. Our discussion covers a broad range of results, including firm-level descriptive evidence for several institutional and structural characteristics of the Estonian economy such as unionisation and collective bargaining coverage, labour intensity of production, remuneration methods, product market competition, etc., and insights into the wage and price setting behaviour of Estonian firms. To illustrate this behaviour, we give an overview of the frequency and timing of wage and price changes; the extent of downward nominal and real wage rigidity; the determinants of wages paid to newly employed workers; and finally, the nature of firms\' adjustments to cost push and negative demand shocks |
| Keywords: | survey data, wage setting, price setting, Estonia |
| JEL: | E3 J3 |
| Date: | 2011–05–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eea:boewps:wp2011-06&r=eur |
| By: | Benito, Andrew (Bank of England); Saleheen, Jumana (Bank of England) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines labour supply adjustment – both hours worked and participation decisions. The analysis focuses on the response of each to financial shocks, employing data from the British Household Panel Survey. Results suggest that employees whose financial situation deteriorates relative to what they expected, increase their labour supply in response. That response is consistent with models of self-insurance that incorporate labour supply flexibility. The shock reflects several factors including financial wealth and a partner’s employment situation. The response is significantly larger for those who change job, consistent with the importance of hours constraints within jobs. The propensity to participate in the labour market also appears to respond to the financial shock but that is somewhat less robust than the hours response. |
| Keywords: | Labour supply; self-insurance. |
| JEL: | J22 |
| Date: | 2011–05–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:boe:boeewp:0426&r=eur |
| By: | James Banks; Zoe Oldfield; James P. Smith |
| Abstract: | In this paper we examine the link between retrospectively reported measures of childhood health and the prevalence of various major and minor diseases at older ages. Our analysis is based on comparable retrospective questionnaires placed in the Health and Retirement Study and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing – nationally representative surveys of the age 50 plus population in America and England respectively. We show that the origins of poorer adult health among older Americans compared to the English trace right back into the childhood years – the American middle and old-age population report higher rates of specific childhood health conditions than their English counterparts. The transmission into poor health in mid life and older ages of these higher rates of childhood illnesses also appears to be higher in America compared to England. Both factors contribute to higher rates of adult illness in the United States compared to England although even in combination they do not explain the full extent of the country difference in late-life health outcomes. |
| JEL: | I10 |
| Date: | 2011–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17096&r=eur |
| By: | Maria Nieswand; Stefan Seifert |
| Abstract: | Efforts undertaken by France to restructure the allocation of governmental competencies increased the importance of subnational governments by transferring additional tasks. This paper analyzes the efficiency of public spending on an intermediate government level for a sample of 96 départements in metropolitan France in 2008. Spending efficiency is measured using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Results indicate significant room for improvements and detect spending inefficiencies averaging between 10 and 22 percent, depending on model specification. To explain efficiency, a bootstrapped truncated regression, following Simar and Wilson (2007), is applied. The second-stage regression shows that efficiency is also determined by exogenous factors and identifies the distance to the national capital, inhabitants' income and the share of inhabitants of an age over 65 as significant determinants of efficiency. |
| Keywords: | Intermediate government spending efficiency, nonparametric efficiency analysis, bootstrapped truncated regression |
| JEL: | C14 H11 H72 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1130&r=eur |
| By: | Halkos, George; Tzeremes, Nickolaos |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses how European football clubs’ current value and debt levels influence their performance. The Simar and Wilson (J Econometrics, 136: 31–64, 2007) procedure is used to bootstrap the data envelopment analysis DEA scores in order to establish the influence of football clubs’ current value and debt levels on their obtained efficiency performances. The results reveal that football clubs’ current value levels have a negative influence on their performances, indicating that football clubs’ high value doesn’t ensure higher performance. At the same time, the empirical evidence suggests that there is no influence associated of football clubs’ debt to their efficiency levels. |
| Keywords: | European football clubs; Data Envelopment Analysis; Truncated regression; Bootstrapping |
| JEL: | C69 C14 L83 |
| Date: | 2011–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:31173&r=eur |
| By: | Viviane De Beaufort (Public and Private Policy Department - ESSEC Business School) |
| Abstract: | Servir de révélateur aux différentes dimensions de la création d'entreprises au féminin, tel est l'objectif de cette étude comparative qui intégrant une dimension de genre tente d'appréhender la question à échelle de l'Europe avec davantage de développements sur le contexte français particulièrement exemplaire. L'entreprenariat féminin est partout un réservoir de croissance insuffisamment exploité. Il s'agit alors de cerner les motivations des femmes qui créent ou reprennent une entreprise et leurs spécificités éventuelles, les particularités des modèles d'entreprises " au féminin 3 (taille, service, mode de développement). Et également les obstacles à cette dynamique. Dans quelle mesure sont ils particuliers ? Quelles mesures d'accompagnement spécifiques faut-il, dés lors, continuer à développer ? |
| Keywords: | entreprenariat au féminin ; approche en Europe ; approche comparée |
| Date: | 2011–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00593527&r=eur |
| By: | Alessandra Minello; Nicola Barban |
| Abstract: | The general aim of this paper is to investigate the educational aspirations of the children of immigrants living in Italy and attending the last year of primary school (8th grade). We look at the educational aspirations both as a predictor of educational choice and as a measure of social integration. We consider both secondary school track and university aspirations as indicators of educational preferences in the short and long run. Data have been collected during the 2005-2006 school year and they come from the ITAGEN survey: the first Italian nation-wide extensive survey on children with at least one foreign-born parent. First, we analyze association between aspirations and structural characteristics (e.g. migration status and country of origin) and social aspects such as family socioeconomic status, and friendship ties. These aspects seem to be determinants in defining both short and long time aspirations, while long-term aspirations are not associated with migration status. Second, we investigate the relevance of context in delineating educational aspirations. To develop this second aspect we perform multilevel analysis that takes into account both individual and school level variables. Our hypothesis, confirmed both for short and long aspirations, is that attending a school where most of the Italian pupils have high educational aspirations may lead children of immigrants to enhance their own aspirations. |
| Keywords: | educational aspirations, immigrant integration, ITAGEN, friendship ties, scholastic context |
| Date: | 2011–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:don:donwpa:046&r=eur |
| By: | Francesco Rentocchini; Dimitri Tartari |
| Abstract: | The wide diffusion of open source software (OSS) is driving discussion among scholars on a set of issues, including its adoption by public administrations (PA). Previous works only discussed one or a few factors that drive the decision to adopt OSS and did not addressed the potential benefits in terms of e-government that OSS may bring to PA. Our paper attempts to fill these gaps. The analysis is based on the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and studies the adoption of software (both proprietary and open source) by local PA. The results show there is increased adoption of OSS in several different domains of application, both servers and desktop clients. Among the motivations to adopt OSS, only dependence on software suppliers seems to be important. Its adoption also positively affects the variety and extent of interactivity of local public e-services. |
| Keywords: | open source software; public administration; online public services; empirical research |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:trn:utwpol:1101&r=eur |