|
on Microeconomic European Issues |
|
Issue of 2011‒07‒02
fifteen papers chosen by Giuseppe Marotta University of Modena and Reggio Emilia |
| By: | Kox, Henk L.M. |
| Abstract: | In international forums the EU calls for freedom of movement for goods, services and capital. Freedom of movement of labour - labour migration in other words - is excluded from this claim, certainly in relation to medium- and low-skilled labour. This paper addresses two questions. Firstly, what are the effects of EU's restrictive labour migration policy on welfare within and outside the EU? Both welfare effects are found to be considerable. Secondly, is this policy sustainable over the longer term, say towards 2030? The paper evaluates foreseeable pressures on the fence around the EU labour market, coming from within and from outside the EU. The paper sketches policy options for dealing with the dilemmas that may arise from these pressures. |
| Keywords: | labour migration; European Union; welfare; immigration policy |
| JEL: | F22 F16 J61 D45 |
| Date: | 2011–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:31722&r=eur |
| By: | Anghel, Brindusa; de la Rica, Sara.; Dolado, Juan José |
| Abstract: | This paper addresses the role played by Public Sector (PS) employment across different OECD labour markets in explaining: (i) gender differences regarding choices to work in either PS or private sector, and (ii) subsequent changes in female labour market outcomes. To do so, we provide some empirical evidence about cross-country gender differences in choice of employment in the PS vs. the private sector, using the European Community Household Panel (ECHP), in the light of different theories on gender behaviour in the labour market. We also analyze the main determinants of the hourly wage gaps across these two sectors for males and females separately. Finally, we document the main stylized facts about labour market transitions by male and female workers among inactivity, unemployment, working in the PS and working in the private sector. |
| Date: | 2011–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fda:fdaddt:2011-08&r=eur |
| By: | Silvia Vignetti (Centre for Industrial Studies (CSIL)); Emanuela Sirtori (Centre for Industrial Studies (CSIL)) |
| Abstract: | Infrastructure development is a priority on policy agendas in the EU and worldwide, because of the very high investment needs in basic infrastructure, especially in lagging behind regions and countries. The paper provides a descriptive analysis of the infrastructural gaps in EU transition economies at national and, as far as possible, regional level for some infrastructure sectors: transport, telecommunication, environment and energy. The analysis suggests that, on average, internal divergences in the infrastructures’ endowment are present between the urbanised capital cities regions and the peripheral and rural areas, in all the Member States; yet, the density and quality of such endowment is significantly higher in the Western countries and limited in the Eastern ones. |
| Keywords: | Infrastructure, regional policy, EU new member states |
| JEL: | H54 O18 R11 R58 |
| Date: | 2010–03–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mst:wpaper:201003&r=eur |
| By: | Alessandra Colombelli; Marta Foddi; Raffaele Paci |
| Abstract: | Since the Lisbon agenda in 2000, Europe stated the goal to become the most advanced knowledge economy in the world relying specifically on the increase and strengthen of its human capital and technological endowments. However, given the presence of localized externalities in the knowledge accumulation process, this policy may produce distortive and unwanted consequences at the territorial level reinforcing the existing high inequalities among regions. Another crucial feature to be considered is the recent enlargement process of the European Union which has brought on stage new players characterized by a low average level of knowledge activity accompanied by a huge degree of internal territorial disparity. The aim of this paper is to identify the “knowledge regions” in Europe and to examine their main territorial features. To this aim we first build, for 287 regions belonging to 31 European countries, a comprehensive picture of the two variables - human capital and technological activity - which constitute the main pillars of the knowledge economy. We compute two synthetic indicators for human capital and technology and, on the basis of these two dimensions, we identify 74 knowledge regions, mainly located in the centre and north of Europe. This results are confirmed by a cluster analysis. |
| Keywords: | knowledge; human capital; technological activity; regions; Europe |
| JEL: | R11 J24 O30 O52 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cns:cnscwp:201110&r=eur |
| By: | Cavicchi, Piero |
| Abstract: | Introduced by Article 9 of Regulation 1/2003, commitment decisions represent a tool - alternative to Article 7 infringement decisions - available to the European Commission in order to ensure an effective implementation of the EU antitrust rules. Over the last few years there has been an increased recourse to commitment decisions in antitrust cases. This paper explores the reasons for the apparent success of this new instrument and anticipates the consequences of the recent Alrosa judgment rendered by the European Court of Justice, which limits the judicial review of commitment decisions to the manifest incorrectness of the Commission's assessment. The paper concludes that, in light of the extent of the Commission's discretion as to the adoption of commitment decisions defined by the Court in Alrosa, the observed trend seems likely to continue. In particular, given the generous boundaries set by the Court to the Commission's discretionary power, hopes of avoiding system failures in commitment decisions seem actually to be pinned on the Commission's self-restraint more than on the potential for control by the Luxembourg Courts. -- |
| Keywords: | Article 9 of Regulation 1/2003,Article 7 of Regulation 1/2003,commitment decisions,infringement decisions,Commission's discretionary power,principle of proportionality,ECJ Alrosa judgment |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ekhdps:311&r=eur |
| By: | Massimo Florio (DEAS, Universit di Milano); Silvia Vignetti (CSIL Centre for Industrial Studies); Emanuela Sirtori (CSIL Centre for Industrial Studies) |
| Abstract: | This paper deals with the effects of the transfer of additional funds on the real economy of recipient countries, in particular the European Member States. The intended and unintended effects of additional funds on national public finances and, ultimately, economic performance are discussed. Understanding the real effects of additional public funds and the possible complementarity or substitutability with national public finance is important for shaping the policies for the allocation of Structural Funds. Verification of additionality plays a role in ensuring that additional funds are used to effectively complement national expenditure programmes. In the case of the European Union, it is widely recognised that the current verification mechanism is affected by weaknesses, that prevent it from providing reliable and useful data to effectively assess additionality. For this reason, the paper suggests the European Commission to move away from the current verification approach and to adopt a new one that could more effectively assess to what extent the Structural Funds complement national investments. |
| Keywords: | Public investment, substitution, displacement |
| JEL: | H5 H6 H7 O4 |
| Date: | 2011–04–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mst:wpaper:201101&r=eur |
| By: | Heike Belitz; Marius Clemens; Christian von Hirschhausen; Jens Schmidt-Ehmcke; Axel Werwatz; Petra Zloczysti |
| Abstract: | We develop a composite indicator measuring the performance of national innovation systems. The indicator takes into account both “hard” factors that are quantifiable (such as R&D spending, number of patents) and “soft” factors like the assessment of preconditions for innovation by managers. We apply the methodology to a set of 17 industrialized countries on a yearly basis between 2007 and 2009. The indicator combines results from public opinion surveys on the process of change, social capital, trust and science and technology to achieve an assessment of a country’s social climate for innovation. After calculating and ranking the innovation indictor scores for the 17 countries, we group them into three classes: innovation leader, middle group and end section. Using multiple sensitivity analysis approaches, we show that the indicator reacts robustly to different weights within these country groups. While leading countries like Switzerland, the USA and the Nordic countries have an innovation system with high scores and ranks in every sub indicator, the middle group consisting among others of Germany Japan, the UK and France, can be characterized by higher variation within ranks. In the end section, countries like Italy and Spain have bad scores for almost all indicators. |
| Keywords: | National systems of innovation, Composite Indicators, Ranking |
| JEL: | O30 C81 H52 |
| Date: | 2011–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2011-036&r=eur |
| By: | Andrea Bassanini (OECD); Giorgio Brunello (University of Padova) |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of regulatory barriers to entry on workplace training. We develop a model of training in imperfectly competitive product and labour markets. The model indicates that there are two contrasting effects of deregulation on training. As stressed in the literature, with a given number of firms, deregulation reduces the size of rents per unit of output that firms can reap by training their employees. Yet, the number of firms increases following deregulation, thereby raising output and profit gains from training and improving investment incentives. The latter effect prevails. In line with the predictions of the theoretical model, we find that the substantial deregulation in the 1990s of heavily regulated European industries (energy, transport and communication) increased training incidence. |
| Keywords: | training, product market competition, regulatory reform, Europe. |
| JEL: | J24 L11 O43 |
| Date: | 2011–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pad:wpaper:0137&r=eur |
| By: | Andrea Gauselmann; Philipp Marek; J. P. Angenendt |
| Abstract: | The focus of this article is the empirical identification of factors influencing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in transition economies on a regional level (NUTS 2). The analysis is designed as benchmark between three neighboring post-communist regions, i.e. East Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland. Their different transition paths have not only resulted in economic differences. We can also observe today that the importance of pull factors for FDI varies significantly across the regions. This analysis shows that in comparison with Poland and the Czech Republic, East Germany’s major benefit is its purchasing power, its geographical proximity to West European markets, and its modern infrastructure. Furthermore, the analysis suggests that intra-industry linkages such as specialization and agglomeration economies are relevant factors for the location decision of foreign investors. This result can help to explain the regional divergence of FDI streams in transition economies. |
| Keywords: | multinational enterprises, international business, regional economic activity: growth, development, and changes, discrete choice |
| JEL: | F23 R11 C25 |
| Date: | 2011–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iwh:dispap:8-11&r=eur |
| By: | Tomasz Brodzicki (Faculty of Economics, University of Gdansk) |
| Abstract: | The concept of industrial cluster has become one of the most prominent ones both in theoretical discussions, policy making and actual business. It is generally believed that under certain conditions, efficiently performing cluster through positive externalities can become an engine of regional development. Due to potential market imperfections public intervention is frequently required. The concept has gained significance in Eastern and Central European Countries including Poland. Sound cluster-based policy requires a detailed identification of dominant cluster as well as embryonic clusters. In the past few years at the central level of Poland and at the level of some of its provinces (eg. Pomerania, Mazovia, Opole, Silesia) cluster-mapping exercises were performed as part of an effort to modify/inform regional development strategies. Apart from several domestic studies an analysis by an international team for the European Commission for the whole area of Central and Eastern Europe was carried out. The present paper critically reviews the aforementioned studies identifying major methodological bottlenecks. It seems that more emphasis should be placed on the issue of co-location of both vertically related industrial sectors as well as horizontal agglomeration. Spatial autocorrelation should also be included. Appropriate level of sectoral as well as spatial disaggregation of data is of outmost importance. |
| Keywords: | industrial concentration, cluster, cluster-based policy, statistical cluster mapping |
| JEL: | B41 C81 R12 R30 |
| Date: | 2010–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gda:wpaper:1001&r=eur |
| By: | Norimichi Matsueda (Kwansei Gakuin University); Yoko Nagase (Oxford Brookes University) |
| Abstract: | In order to cope with the increasing scarcity of final dump sites for household wastes, the UK recently introduced an environmental policy targeted at the firms that produce and sell products that generate packaging wastes. This policy requires such businesses to hold predetermined numbers of tradable credits called gPackaging waste Recovery Notesh (PRNs). This article provides insights into the economic implications of such a policy through a simple analytical model of a recyclable product and the PRN markets. Our analysis yield two particularly interesting results. First, an increase in the required recycling rate dampens the output and landfill waste levels, while the effect on the level of recycling activities is ambiguous. Second, an increase in the landfill tax always leads to an increase in the landfill waste. We also discuss how the socially optimal landfill tax in the presence of the PRN market should be chosen. |
| Keywords: | PRNs, Recycling, Landfill Tax, Comparative Statics |
| JEL: | Q28 |
| Date: | 2011–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kgu:wpaper:72&r=eur |
| By: | Emanuela Marrocu; Raffaele Paci; Stefano Usai |
| Abstract: | This paper aims at assessing the role of various dimension of proximity on the innovative capacity of a region within the context of a knowledge production function where we consider as main internal inputs R&D expenditures and human capital. We want to assess if, and how much, the creation of new ideas in a certain region is the result of flows of information and knowledge coming from proximate regions. In particular, we examine in details the concept of proximity combining the usual geographical dimension with the institutional, the technological, the social and the organizational proximity. The analysis is implemented for an ample dataset referring to 287 regions in 29 countries (EU27 plus Norway, Switzerland) for the last decade. Results show that human capital and R&D are clearly essential for innovative activity but with an impact which is much higher for the former factor. As for the proximity and network effects, we find that geography is important but less than technological and cognitive proximity. Social and organizational networks are also relevant but their role is more modest. Finally, most of these proximities prove to have a complementary role in shaping innovative activity across regions in Europe. |
| Keywords: | knowledge production; technological spillover; proximity; networks |
| JEL: | O31 C31 O18 R12 O52 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cns:cnscwp:201109&r=eur |
| By: | Karanassou, Marika (University of London); Sala, Hector (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | This paper aims at identifying the labour share (wage-productivity gap) as a major factor in the evolution of inequality and employment. To this end, we use annual data for the US, UK and Sweden over the past forty years and estimate country-specific systems of labour demand and Gini coefficient equations. Further to the statistical significance of our models, we validate their economic significance through counterfactual simulations. In particular, we evaluate the contributions of the labour share to the trajectories of inequality and employment during specific time intervals in the post-1990 years. We find that during the nineties the cost of a one percent increase in employment was in the range of 0.7%-0.9% higher inequality in all three countries. However, in the 2000s, whereas the inequality-employment sensitivity ratio slightly fell in the US, it exceeded unity in the countries on the other side of the Atlantic. It obtained its highest value in the UK, where a 1% growth in employment was achieved at the expense of 1.3% worsening in income inequality. In the light of the significant influence of the time-varying labour share on the inequality and employment time paths documented in our sample, the evolution of the wage-productivity gap deserves the attention of policy makers. |
| Keywords: | income inequality, labour income share, employment |
| JEL: | D30 E25 E24 |
| Date: | 2011–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5796&r=eur |
| By: | Carlos Vieira (Departamento de Economia, CEFAGE-UE, Universidade de Évora); Isabel Vieira (Departamento de Economia, CEFAGE-UE, Universidade de Évora) |
| Abstract: | This paper formulates a model of demand for higher education in Portugal considering a wide range of demographic, economic, social and institutional explanatory variables. The estimation results suggest that the number of applicants reacts positively to demographic trends, graduation rates at secondary education, female participation, compulsory schooling and the recent Bologna process. Demand reacts negatively to the existence of tuition fees and to unemployment rates. Within an adverse demographic and economic context, forecasts of demand for the next two decades suggest the need to increase participation rates, to avoid funding problems in the higher education system and increase long-term economic development prospects. |
| Keywords: | Demand for higher education; determinants of university participation; applications forecasting. |
| JEL: | I20 I22 I28 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cfe:wpcefa:2011_15&r=eur |
| By: | Bosio, Giulio (University of Milan); Leonardi, Marco (University of Milan) |
| Abstract: | The Bologna process inspired the Italian 3+2 reform of the university system which constitutes a big increase in the supply of college graduates. This paper is a preliminary attempt to identify the effects of the reform on (i) the relative probability (relative to non-graduates) of employment of college graduates in the age range 25-34; (ii) their quality of employment measured with the relative probability of being employed with a temporary contract; (iii) the college wage premium. Using administrative data to identify the gradual introduction of the reform in different universities, we find that the reform increases significantly the relative employment of graduates except for women in the South where the rapid increase of female post-reform graduates has not been absorbed by the weak labour market. Finally we find that post-reform college graduates have a significantly lower college premium with respect to high school graduates than pre-reform graduates. |
| Keywords: | university reforms, college attainment, college wage premium |
| JEL: | I23 I28 J24 |
| Date: | 2011–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5789&r=eur |