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on Microeconomic European Issues |
| By: | Andrés RodrÃÂguez-Pose; Tobias Ketterer |
| Abstract: | Most immigration theories tend to highlight that migration follows wealth and economic dynamism, but is this also the case across regions in Europe? The aim of the paper is to investigate whether migrants in Europe indeed follow the money and to contrast this with a variety of potential alternative explanations, including the presence of migrants from a similar origin. The analysis is based on panel data estimations including 133 European regions over a time period of 17 years. Different lag structures have been employed in order to distinguish between short- and long-run effects. The results cast some doubt about the prominence of pecuniary factors as a determinant of cross regional migration in Europe, with little evidence to support the idea that migration follows economic dynamism. Network effects, human capital related-, and ‘territorially embedded' innovation enhancing regional characteristics, by contrast, seem to play a much stronger role than hitherto considered. The study also reveals important differences among EU countries in the factors which determine regional migration. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa11p191&r=eur |
| By: | Lukasz Olipra; Ewa Pancer-Cybulska; Ewa Szostak |
| Abstract: | After the accession of Poland to the European Union in 2004 we could observe two phenomena: huge emigration of Poles to the old member states of the EU (mainly to United Kingdom and Ireland) and on the second hand a very dynamic increase in the number of flight destinations from regional airports served by low cost carriers (what meant also increase in the number of passengers). The aim of this article is to answer the question, whether directions of the emigration after accession of Poland to the European Union had a significant impact on the routes of low cost airlines in Poland. Whether we can say, that the migration forced LCCs to establish new flights and connections in a particular direction or not? And if yes - to what extent. What is happening when emigrants are coming back to Poland. If there are significant relation between movement of migrants and number of flights of low cost carriers from Polish airports? Finally, can we say, that growing emigration and growing number of LCCs flights helped to improve territorial cohesion of Polish regions with the core of Europe? What is the scale of this improvement and what is the mechanism of this? What kind of policy can regional authorities introduce in this area to strengthen territorial cohesion of Polish regions with the rest of Europe? To answer all these questions authors want to compare and analyze statistics of migration and original data concerning number and destination of LCCs flights from Polish regional airports. To answer questions stated above statistical methods will be used. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa11p1774&r=eur |
| By: | Jose Villaverde; Adolfo Maza; MarÃa Hierro |
| Abstract: | International migration issues are at the forefront of the political debate in the European Union (EU). Some reasons justify the increasing relevance of this topic, being the unprecedented scale of international migration flows, especially in countries such as Spain, the most prominent. In fact, adequate responses to the necessity for controlling effectively large flows of irregular immigration, and also safeguarding the internal security, are insistently demanded and always placed in the center of the political debate. Thus, recent studies portraying immigration experiences in the EU have been prolific in the literature on international migration. Some of these were applied to Spain as a representative country of changes in international migration patterns. However, and although some contributions to the analysis of international migration in Spain have been made, an examination of the international migration distribution (IMD) is still a pending question that needs further analysis. Accordingly, the aim of this paper is to analyse some relevant aspects on IMD in Spain at regional level. After a descriptive analysis showing the importance that international migration plays in today’s Spanish demography and economy, the paper examines the IMD’s external shape and its intra-distribution mobility. Subsequently, an analysis of the factors that might be behind the IMD and its dynamics is carried out. The results will give information about the role played by factors such as geographical location, per capita income, industry mix, employment density and social networks in explaining this issue. Keywords: international migration; Spanish regions; distribution dynamics; highest density regions |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa11p530&r=eur |
| By: | Elena Arnal |
| Abstract: | Spain and Denmark are two European countries differing considerably in their development and productive structures as well as in their internationalisation process. This affects many dimensions of each economy, most notably their trade volumes, market sizes and product specialization. Spain and Denmark also differ significantly in labour market outcomes as well as in the design of labour market policies and institutions and the role they played in facilitating labour reallocation. For these reasons, it is instructive to compare them, in particular as they have demonstrated substantial labour market adjustments due to changing international economic conditions. While the results of direct comparisons cannot always be translated into policy action due to country-specific institutional settings and varying economic circumstances, comparative analysis has the potential to yield useful insights into best practices and transferrable policy lessons. With this in mind, the purpose of this paper is to consider the evolution of trade and labour market outcomes in Denmark and Spain since the early 1990s, in order to provide policy-relevant insights on the relationship between production, trade and labour markets in these countries. Special focus is given to the increased weight of some emerging economies in world trade patterns and how they have affected the trade patterns of these two European countries and their employment behaviours. |
| Keywords: | trade, employment, wages, inclusive growth |
| JEL: | F16 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:traaab:123-en&r=eur |
| By: | Roberta Capello; Camilla Lenzi |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates over the way in which regions innovate. The conceptual framework departs from the simple idea that scientific activities equates knowledge, assuming that the presence of local knowledge produced by research centers, universities and firms was a necessary and sufficient condition for increasing the innovative capacities in local firms, fed by local spillovers. In particular, the paradigmatic jump in interpreting regional innovation processes lies in a conceptual framework interpreting not a single phase of the innovation process, but the different modes of performing the different phases of the innovation process, highlighting the context conditions (internal and external to the region) that accompany each innovation pattern. The paper conceptually identifies different territorial patterns of innovation, and empirically test their existence in Europe. Interesting results emerge from the European territory, witnessing the existence of large differences in the territorial patterns of innovation. These results strongly support normative suggestions towards thematically/regionally focused innovation policies. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa11p1900&r=eur |
| By: | Emanuele Fabbri; Luciana Lazzeretti |
| Abstract: | Recently at the European level the theme of innovation has been further fostered with the Smart Specialization Strategy underlined within the COM(2010) 553 “Regional policy contributing to smart growth in Europe 2020â€. The aim of this study is to investigate the co-evolutive dynamics of the technological transfer processes at regional level, and in particular the issue of transversality and bases of knowledge between networks according to an evolutionary perspective. Transversality is analysed considering networks’ differences and proximities in terms of industry of application, applied technology, and local dimensions of relationships. In order to analyze these phenomena, we apply the Social Network Analysis to investigate the structural features of the space of relations and relational flows, and to roles and attributes of the universe of the co-funded actors. The structural analysis of the relations’ system (centrality, closeness, betweenness, local dimension) has been analyzed across five regional initiatives, studying over 150 networks and over 1300 co-funded actors. Relations between and within networks have been normalized and the role of specific agents has been underlined with regards to transversality dynamics. As conclusion, policy implications can be drawn, in particular as far as supply-led and demand-led innovation policy. The study is structured as follows. After the introduction describing the context of regional innovation policies over the last Regional Planning period (SPD 2000-2006), the first paragraph describes the main characteristics of the concept of transversality, with connections to RIS model and innovation networks. The second paragraph describes the Social Networks Analysis methodology used to study the evolutionary process of agglomeration with regards to bases of knowledge and transversality. The third paragraph deals with the results of the analysis and the fourth paragraph presents conclusive remarks on policy implication in terms of industrial policies. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa11p507&r=eur |
| By: | Harvey Goldstein; Edward Bergman; Gunther Maier |
| Abstract: | University researchers are now considered by many as key actors in the building of knowledge economies in their regions, as universities are assumed to be important engines of regional economic well-being. Yet within the academy not all faculty are accepting of these roles for their institutions, for a variety of reasons. We measure faculty attitudes towards their universities being involved in (a) assisting regional economic development and (b) the commercialization of knowledge more generally using web-based surveys. Then using secondary data from a variety of sources, we attempt to explain the variation in attitudes among faculty in terms of: (i) individual attributes and professional experiences, (ii) scholarly disciplinary of the faculty member, (iii) institutional characteristics of their respective university, and (iv) regional economic conditions. Using ordered logit models, we test to see if faculty view a distinction in appropriateness of universities assisting economic development versus appropriateness of the commercialization of knowledge, whether there are differences between U.S. and EU faculty in their attitudes towards each type of activity, and whether faculty in regions undergoing industrial restructuring or in economic distress have more favorable attitudes towards each activity. Results to-date indicate that faculty have more favorable attitudes towards their universities assisting regional economic development compared to commercialization of knowledge, that universities individual and disciplinary variables are more important than institutional and regional economic variables, and that there are strong similarities in attitudes between U.S. and EU faculty attitudes, but with a few interesting exceptions. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa11p301&r=eur |
| By: | Peter Huber |
| Abstract: | The migration literature shows that cross-border skill transfer is associated with a risk of increased job-education mismatch. This paper examines whether the problems of job-education mismatch often found among migrants also apply to cross-border commuters and compares cross-border commuters to within-country commuters as well as non-commuters and recent and established migrants in this respect. We find that cross-border commuters and recent migrants from EU15 countries have lower over- but higher under-education rates than non-commuters, but that for cross-border commuters and recent migrants from the NMS12 the opposite applies. Within-country commuters finally have lower over- but higher under-education rates than non-commuters in both regions. Please note: The alternative choice regarding Session theme is K. Spatial issues of the labour market |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa11p112&r=eur |
| By: | Elena Gissi; Giuseppina Siciliano |
| Abstract: | Renewable energy sources, such as biomass can make a positive impact on climate change phenomenon by decreasing our dependence on fossil fuels. The use of biomass energy is directly linked to the use of the land, from which biomass feedstock is obtained, such as farm land and forests, and its ecosystem services. The biomass production and the use of land and ecosystem services are usually associated with a wide range of environmental and social impacts, depending on what choices are made regarding what types of biomass are used, as well as where and how they are produced. Choosing management practices that minimize negative impacts and complement planning policies and energy production objectives is often associated with land-use conflicts among both different institutional levels, local, national and European, and different social actors. Yet, European Directive 2009/28/CE establishes that the energy production from renewable energy by 2020, as well as from biofuel, defined for each member state (Annex 1), must be achieved through a “sustainable†production. Such definition is assigned to national and local contexts, arising issues in policy making, conflicts analysis and methodologies. The present paper discusses on the recent acknowledgment of the above mentioned EU directive in several Italian Regions, such as Puglia and Marche, which have defined regulations/guidelines regarding their potential contribution to the national objectives of production and consumption of energy from renewable sources (EFR). Moreover, the present paper confronts such regulations with results found in literature. Several analyses have been done on the energy production from biomass based on technical and economic aspects of the problem. However, few studies have applied integrated approaches able to take into consideration crucial aspects such as biodiversity conservation and landscape fragmentation, as required by EU Directive 2009/28/CE, side by side with the economic and social dimensions. This paper aims at filling this gap proposing the application of an integrated framework of analysis, based on multi-criteria approaches able to take into consideration socio-economic, environmental and landscape criteria, as well as institutional and social conflicts linked to the biomass production. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa11p1413&r=eur |
| By: | Ben Gardiner; Andries Brandsma; Olga Ivanova; d'Artis Kancs |
| Abstract: | This paper describes some of the features of a new dynamic general equilibrium framework (RHOMOLO) being developed at the European Commission (JRC-IPTS, together with DG REGIO) for evaluating EU Cohesion Policy. The design of the model reflects the objectives of Cohesion Policy, and a broader understanding of impact analysis which goes beyond pure economic effects and also considers environmental and social indicators. The model has both regional and sectoral dimensions – regionally, the aim is for complete NUTS2 (NUTS1 for Germany) coverage of the EU27, while the potential sector coverage is 23 – all of which leads to very large modelling dimensions and presents challenges in terms of data availability. The model is constructed using the concept of Dynamic Spatial Computable General Equilibrium (DSCGE), which ensures Walrasian equilibrium in a sequence of model solutions over time, and also incorporates elements of New Economic Geography (NEG) in the way it captures the forces of economic agglomeration and dispersion. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa11p672&r=eur |
| By: | Giuseppe Mazzeo |
| Abstract: | The European space is marked by the recent beginning of the dualism nation-region. In it the cities take on a fundamental role because their success becomes the success of the territories around. Manuel Castell has maintained that the city is the social structure in which any territorial phenomena (from the economical development processes to the relations between classes or ethnic groups, from the public intervention to the financial accumulation) takes on its bigger strength because in it are concentrated the focusing in the territorial transformations. Obvious the cities are not the same, for physical or functional dimension; besides every innovation adds and modifies the relational system previously created. Aim of the paper is to analyse the factors generating the urban hierarchies to the European level and the impact on it of the new high velocity nets. In the first section it is carried out a reading/analysis of the hierarchies in the urban European system, as outlined in a series of studies. The second section analyses the role of the communication infrastructures in the building of the hierarchies and, in the third, is deepen the impact of the building of European high speed network on the fluctuations in the cities hierarchy. The paper asserts that the hierarchy is influenced by the growing of this infrastructure only for the second level positions, while the head positions are not influenced by it. One of the possible conclusion is that in a mature situation as the European territorial system, the urban structure seems to be well organized around poles with a strong persistence. This does not mean that a city could not climb the hierarchies, although this is possible only if a number of preconditions and of support policies are verified and with the remarks that this does not seem to affect the head positions, characterized by large stability. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa11p485&r=eur |
| By: | Marte Bjørnsen; Gudbrand Lien; Timo Sipiläinen |
| Abstract: | Dairy production has long been the most important production line in Finnish and Norwegian agriculture. Prior to Finland joining the EU, farm structure as well as national agricultural policy was very similar in the two countries. In this paper, we explore development and differences in productivity and efficiency trends in the two countries before and after 1994 when Finland joined the EU. The challenge is to isolate the effect of EU-membership from other events like introduction of milk quotas, and more generally, changes in agricultural policy and macro-economic factors. We model productivity growth by means of standard production efficiency frontier models on twenty-year panels of Finnish and Norwegian farm accounts data. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa11p793&r=eur |
| By: | Renato Redondi; Mariasole Bannò; Marco Mutinelli |
| Abstract: | By integrating the theoretical perspective of international business, economic geography and transportation science, we develop a novel framework to investigate the relationship between the localization of foreign direct investments (FDI) and air connectivity. In particular the key research question for this study is whether and in which ways the spatial network structure offered by the global airline system contributes to the development of both outward and inward FDI. Due to the widespread diffusion of multinationals, air travel is often required as a mean to engage face-to-face contacts at various levels within the organization, by the board of directors, managers, entrepreneurs and staff. The introduction of a new route, by reducing transport costs, should increase the likelihood of FDI exchange between the regions newly connected. Several studies have already analyzed the linkage between air traffic and various urban or regional characteristics, among which its degree of internationalization, and have unanimously demonstrated that the geography of FDI is related to the desire of large multinational companies to easily access the main international airports. However, literature traditionally focused on larger multinational companies located in global cities. To the best of our knowledge, no study has yet considered the effect of air travel on FDI by SMEs in secondary regions. We aim to test whether the geography of FDI between Italy and Europe is related to the desire of overseas companies to directly access international airports. This paper employs an event study methodology to determine the impact of new routes on the generation of both inward and outward FDI considering both SMEs and large companies. In particular, we built an original database covering the period 1997-2010 where for each FDI between Italy and Europe we collected information about the locations of both the overseas company and the newly created subsidiaries at a municipality level. That enables us to estimate the impact of a new route to the FDI subsequently generated between the catchment areas of the connected airports. We account for the existence of a possible endogeneity bias by considering several control variables. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa11p249&r=eur |
| By: | Stefan Groot |
| Abstract: | This paper considers diversity of the knowledge of expats as a complementary dimension of human capital that may generate spillovers. Such, often intangible, knowledge about foreign markets, management skills, and other complementary information may enhance the productivity of these expats, or the people who interact with them. However, due to a lack of knowledge about local culture and language, productivity may also decline. We explore an extensive set of microdata from Statistics Netherlands, and use an augmented Mincer approach to simultaneously identify the private and social returns to the presence of foreign knowledge workers. Private returns are found to be negative and statistically significant, while no evidence for – either negative or positive – social returns is found. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa11p1338&r=eur |
| By: | Manuel Lopez-Estornell; Ignacio Fernández de Lucio |
| Abstract: | ABSTRACT The first aim of the paper is to analyze the presence of knowledge in innovative firms located in industrial districts (ID) in order to contrast it with this kind of firm located in non industrial districts areas (NID). This approach assumes the presence of an industrial district effect, i.e., the presumption of a better performance of knowledge and economic results in the first group of firms. Second, we have attempted to identify the existence of interdistrict effect, i.e., the emergence of gaps in knowledge of innovative firms located in ID with different technological intensity. For both purposes we have chosen the Valencian ID in Spain. Besides, with the introduction of innovative firms as units of analysis we have assumed that: a) They reflect a superior use of knowledge resources as inputs for business innovation generation and b) Their greatest use of such resources facilitate the absorption of knowledge spillovers that flow through the district. The empirical analysis has used an unprecedented database containing information of 5,553 innovative companies we have found in the region. The mean analysis applied has allowed us to identify the variables with statistically significant differences, as a preliminary step to isolate the groups of firms with more pronounced central values. The results have shown the presence of differences characterizing differently innovative companies of ID and NID as well as the groups of innovative firms belonging to districts of different technological level. In the first case the superiority of innovative companies has not arisen and, consequently, we cannot confirm the existence of a district effect. Nevertheless, we have detected some evidence of inter-industrial effect in the gradation performance of innovation firms of shoes, textiles and tales. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa11p361&r=eur |
| By: | Ismael Ahamdanech; Carmelo GarcÃa-Pérez; Hipolito Simon |
| Abstract: | The research examines wage inequality in the Spanish labour market from a regional perspective, drawing on stochastic dominance techniques. The field of study is of particular interest because wage determination in Spain incorporates an important territorial component, facilitated by certain specific institutional elements, given that Spain is one of the few developed countries in which collective bargaining is mainly developed through industry-wide agreements on an infra-national scale applied exclusively to provinces or regions. The main empirical findings are that wage inequality exhibits a significant regional heterogeneity and that both regional differences in workforce heterogeneity and the mix of jobs and workplaces and differences in their wage returns are influential factors in the explanation of regional heterogeneity in the levels of wage inequality. Consequently, the infrequent regional dimension of collective bargaining on an industry level implies the presence in Spain of wage determination mechanisms that are differentiated by region, which give rise to the existence of significant differences in regional wage structures. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa11p1074&r=eur |
| By: | Zizi Goschin; Monica Roman; Aura Popa |
| Abstract: | In the past few years, there has been a renewed interest in remittances of international migrants, as their strong recent increase shed more light on the effects at both micro and macro level. The remittances not only contribute to the well-being of the receiving households, but are also a large source of external financing, second only to FDI. The remittances are particularly important for Romania as in 2010 it was on the 5th place in the European top of emigration countries and on the 4th place as remittance recipient country. Therefore the determinants of remittance behavior need to be better understood. Following increasing interest and significant public debate on migration in Romania, our paper examines the significance of selected economic and demographic factors associated with the remittance behavior of Romanian international migrants, as characterized by the propensity to remit and the amount remitted. In particular we address the question of the role played by the geographic distance, as potentially affecting the immigrants’ ties with their homeland and consequently the remittance decisions. Our present work builds on a recent source of data on immigrant cohort resulting from an online survey conducted during August-December 2010. Respondents were asked questions on a variety of topics including income, employment, remittances, regions of origin and destination, graduated studies both in Romania and in emigration country, length of migration and intention to return to Romania. The final database consisted of 1514 Romanian immigrants from 55 destination countries. We developed several multivariate models to study the determinants of remittances by employing regression analysis. Among the main findings is that the geographic distance is not related to the remittances. Although contrasting with the existing literature, this result can be explained by factors such as modern instant communication and fast travel supporting very strong and resilient transnational links despite geographic distance. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa11p1001&r=eur |
| By: | Fernando Rubiera Morollón; Mario Polèse |
| Abstract: | The spatial distribution of employment in service industries is compared for Spain and Canada for nine (9) industry classes. The empirical and theoretical literature on modern services stresses the importance of agglomeration economies for high-order services. The relationship between city-size and location is examined with emphasis on cases that deviate from predicted patterns. The results for Spain and Canada reconfirm the weight of city-size as a determinant of location for high-order services. However, once one goes beyond this fairly predictable result, national differences in geography, institutions, and development come to the fore, making generalizations more difficult. Unlike most manufacturing industries, the definition and the spatial behavior of many service sectors is highly sensitive to institutional factors, creating unique patterns largely fashioned by national context. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa11p209&r=eur |
| By: | P. Lelio Iapadre |
| Abstract: | This paper addresses the relationship between trade, employment and wages in Italy from the perspective of the specific features of its international specialisation pattern. It focuses on several key questions: To what extent has international economic integration, including trade and international outsourcing, changed the structure of the Italian economy? To what extent has exposure to foreign competition helped Italian firms to restructure and upgrade their production, so as to increase the skill intensity of their activities? What are the effects of these processes on employment and wages? The paper opens with a short review of the relevant literature and a description of recent developments in the trade specialisation pattern of the Italian economy, including its linkages with the structure of employment. This is followed by the main original contribution of the paper consisting of an econometric study structured around two parts. The first part presents an estimate of the employment effects of trade and off-shoring in the Italian manufacturing industry based on a panel of 15 sectors for the period from 1999 to 2008. The second part addresses the relationship between trade and wages using a rich micro-level panel of individual workers for the period from 1997 to 2003. In light of the results, the paper then considers the main policies adopted in Italy to facilitate the adjustment of employment and wages to external shocks, including short-term effects of trade liberalisation. The Italian case appears to confirm that international economic integration, while generating important static and dynamic benefits, requires a flexible and efficient social security system, able to assist workers displaced by external competition or other kinds of structural change. In view of shortcomings in the existing system, a comprehensive social security reform, inspired by principles of universal access, medium-term financial equilibrium, and a proper design of individual incentives, may be necessary to better help workers displaced by international integration. |
| Keywords: | trade, employment, wages, inclusive growth |
| JEL: | F16 |
| Date: | 2011–10–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:traaab:126-en&r=eur |
| By: | Karine Daniel; Nejla BEN ARFA; Sylvain AMISSE; Fanny FONTAINE |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we attempt to ascertain to what extent the clusters identified in the agricultural and agri-food space rely on a spatial dynamic involving real agricultural and agri-food activities in the relevant geographic area. We use explanatory spatial data analysis (ESDA) to detect the spatial structure and dynamics of agri-food activities and to connect them to the competitiveness clusters’ locations. Results show that the six clusters specifically studied have different profiles because of their proximity to dynamic areas of agricultural and agri-food production and because of their collaborations with other clusters. Keywords: French Competitiveness Clusters, spatial analysis, inter cluster collaboration. |
| Date: | 2011–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa11p1848&r=eur |