|
on Microeconomic European Issues |
| By: | Claudia Kettner (WIFO); Daniela Kletzan-Slamanig (WIFO); Angela Köppl (WIFO) |
| Abstract: | The European Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) is a key instrument in European climate policy and covers emitters from the energy and manufacturing sector. The ETS pilot phase (2005-2007) was characterised by an oversupply of emission allowances mainly due to the "generous" allocation of allowances by member countries. For the second trading phase (2008-2012) the European Commission aimed at increasing the stringency of the overall emission cap and took a more active role in approving member countries' National Allocation Plans. Due to the decline in economic activity and emissions in the course of the economic crisis, the cap, however, was only stringent in 2008 whereas 2009 and 2010 both showed a long position for EU total. Differences in national and sectoral caps are found for all years. In this paper, we analyse differences in allocation patterns, i.e., in the stringency of the cap and in the spread between installations, until 2010. We focus on general sectoral allocation patterns and perform an in-depth analysis for three emission intensive sectors: "power and heat", "cement and lime" and "pulp and paper". Furthermore, we discuss the impact of the economic crisis on the emissions of these sectors in detail. |
| Date: | 2011–11–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wfo:wpaper:y:2011:i:408&r=eur |
| By: | Senik, Claudia (Paris School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This article sheds light on the important differences in self-declared happiness across countries of equivalent affluence. It hinges on the different happiness statements of natives and immigrants in a set of European countries to disentangle the influence of objective circumstances versus psychological and cultural factors. The latter turns out to be of non-negligible importance in explaining international heterogeneity in happiness. In some countries, such as France, they are responsible for 80% of the country's unobserved idiosyncratic source of (un-)happiness. |
| Keywords: | happiness, subjective well-being, international comparisons, France, immigration, European Social Survey |
| JEL: | I31 H52 O15 O52 Z10 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6175&r=eur |
| By: | Elsner, Benjamin (Trinity College Dublin) |
| Abstract: | The enlargement of the European Union provides a unique opportunity to study the impact of the lifting of migration restrictions on the migrant sending countries. With EU enlargement in 2004, 1.2 million workers from Eastern Europe emigrated to the UK and Ireland. I use this emigration wave to show that emigration significantly changed the wage distribution in the sending country, in particular between young and old workers. Using a novel dataset from Lithuania, the UK and Ireland for the calibration of a structural model of labor demand, I find that over the period of five years emigration increased the wages of young workers by 6%, while it had no effect on the wages of old workers. Contrary to the immigration literature, there is no significant effect of emigration on the wage distribution between high-skilled and low-skilled workers. |
| Keywords: | emigration, EU enlargement, European integration, wage distribution |
| JEL: | F22 J31 O15 R23 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6111&r=eur |
| By: | Martin Srholec (Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture, University of Oslo) |
| Abstract: | Innovation is new combination of productive means that are internal or external to a firm. Arrangements to cooperate on innovation facilitate access to these external sources of knowledge. Using large micro datasets from the Third and Fourth Community Innovation Surveys in sixteen European countries, including nine new EU members, we examine the heterogeneity of relationships between various characteristics of firms, given by size, ownership or capabilities, and their propensity to cooperate on innovation with domestic as compared to foreign partners, with different types of organizations and how these patterns differ across countries. Econometric estimates of univariate, multivariate and multinomial probit (or logit) models indicate differences between domestic and foreign cooperation, but not between the various types of partners. Strong differences have been found along the level of economic development. Size of the country and openness to globalization proved relevant for explaining cooperation of firms on innovation abroad. Nevertheless, the results reveal that the context matters for interpretation of the cooperation variables themselves, because some of these arrangements may signal limited internal capabilities of firms, rather than virtuous systemic interactions, which complicates comparative studies of this data. |
| Keywords: | Innovation; cooperation; globalization; Community Innovation Survey; Europe. |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tik:inowpp:20111201&r=eur |
| By: | Schäfer, Andrea; Tucci, Ingrid; Gottschall, Karin |
| Abstract: | Starting with a comparative assessment of different welfare regimes and political economies from the perspective of gender awareness and pro-women policies, this paper identifies the determinants of cross-national variation in women's chances of being in a high-status occupation in twelve West European countries. Special emphasis is given to size and structure of the service sector, including share of women in public employment and structural factors such as trade union density and employment protection. The first level of comparison between men and women concentrates on gender representation in the higher echelons of the job hierarchy, while in the second section we extend the scope of analysis, comparing women in high-status occupations and low-wage employment in order to allow for a more nuanced study of gender and class interaction. The first analysis is based on European Social Survey data for the years 2002, 2004, 2006, and 2008, capturing recent trends in occupational dynamics. Results indicate that in general a large service sector and a high trade union density enhance women's chances of being in a high-status occupations while more specifically a large public sector helps to reduce channeling women in low-wage employment. Thus, equality at the top can well be paired with inequality at the bottom, as postindustrial countries with a highly polarized occupational hierarchy such as the UK show. -- |
| Keywords: | occupational sex segregation,gender equality,public sector employment,cross-national comparison |
| JEL: | P5 D6 J2 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zeswps:042011&r=eur |
| By: | Cullell March, Cristina |
| Abstract: | Most of the countries in the European Union are immersed in the analogue-digital switchover, and it is envisaged that by the end of 2012 all of the countries will have changed over to digital television, giving rise to the digital dividend in Europe. The recently harmonisation of the 800MHz band as the European digital dividend will have different impact on EU member states. In this paper we will address the question regarding the impact of digital dividend harmonisation on national planning for the development of Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) in United Kingdom and Spain. Taking these two countries as our reference points, we will see that their DTT transition models differ greatly. In the UK, the digital transition was based on a centralised model designed to release a major portion of the spectrum, whereas the Spanish model is highly decentralized, both regionally and locally. In Spain, the introduction of digital television has sought to respond to regional and local communication needs, virtually casting aside the release of the digital dividend for the provision of wireless communications services other than broadcasting. The lack of European coordination and the limited foresight of the Spanish authorities regarding the increase in spectrum demand will make the digital transition in Spain far more expensive, given the need to reassign the frequencies subject to European harmonisation. Unlike the UK, which had already envisaged the release of a large amount of spectrum, in Spain, the impact of European harmonisation on national DTT planning will inevitably be greater. The structure of this paper will consist of an identification of the regulatory framework and the directives issued by EU institutions in relation to European policy on the development of digital terrestrial television, a prior and necessary step to complete our understanding of EU actions involving the digital dividend. Having analysed harmonisation process of the digital dividend in the EU, we will pay attention to its impact on the national DTT plans of United Kingdom and Spain. -- |
| Keywords: | Broadcasters,Spectrum,Digital Dividend,Harmonization,European Union |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itse11:52186&r=eur |
| By: | Stephan Brunow; Hanna Brenzel |
| Abstract: | After the crisis years of 2008 and 2009 EU countries followed different employment paths. Employment and wage levels, for instance, are quite unevenly distributed across Europe. Some of the EU countries expect labour shortages due to demographic change in the future. If this is the case, wages will rise when the shortages occur. From literature on migration it is well known that regions with relatively higher income levels and a lower risk of unemployment are typical destination countries for immigration. Thus, European regions might be expected to become rather mixed in cultural terms in the future. Despite the filling of the labour market and the redistribution of the resource of labour, the ultimate question raised in the discussion is whether there are additional gains or losses due to immigration. This work therefore focuses on the impact of migrants on regional GDP per capita for European regions. Does the proportion of foreigners in the labour force increase or lower regional income? Does the composition of non-natives with respect to their countries of origin matter? Both questions are addressed in this study while controlling for endogeneity. We provide evidence that immigration raises regional income and a tendency towards (roughly classified) dominant foreign-born groups reduces the costs of interaction and integration. Thus, in general immigration has a positive effect on regional performance and the costs of immigration in destination regions are balanced out. Depending on the labour market status of migrants, the regions of origin of migrants within the EU face a rise or decline in income as a result of the outflow. |
| Keywords: | Regional Income, Cultural Diversity, Effects of Immigration |
| Date: | 2011–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wfo:wpaper:y:2011:i:413&r=eur |
| By: | Stephan Brunow (Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg); Hanna Brenzel (Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg) |
| Abstract: | After the crisis years of 2008 and 2009 EU countries followed different employment pathes. Employment and wage levels, for instance, are quite unevenly distributed across Europe. Some of the member states expect labour shortages due to demographic change in the future. If this is the case, wages will rise when the shortages occur. From literature on migration it is well known that regions with relatively higher income levels and a lower risk of unemployment are typical destination countries for immigration. Thus, European regions might be expected to become rather mixed in cultural terms in the future. Despite the filling of the labour market and the redistribution of the resource of labour, the ultimate question raised in the discussion is whether there are additional gains or losses due to immigration. This work therefore focuses on the impact of migrants on regional GDP per capita for European regions. Does the proportion of foreigners in the labour force increase or lower regional income? Does the composition of non-natives with respect to their countries of origin matter? Both questions are addressed in this study while controlling for endogeneity. We provide evidence that immigration raises regional income and a tendency towards (roughly classified) dominant foreign-born groups reduces the costs of interaction and integration. Thus, in general immigration has a positive effect on regional performance and the costs of immigration in destination regions are balanced out. Depending on the labour market status of migrants, the regions of orgin of migrants within the EU face a rise or decline in income as a result of the outflow. |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nor:wpaper:2011021&r=eur |
| By: | Herranz, Neus; Ruiz-Castillo, Javier |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the European Paradox according to which Europe plays a leading world role in terms of scientific excellence, measured in terms of the number of publications, but lacks the entrepreneurial capacity of the U.S. to transform this excellent performance into innovation, growth, and jobs. Citation distributions for the U.S., the European Union (EU), and the rest of the world are evaluated using a pair of high- and low-impact indicators, as well as the mean citation rate. The dataset consists of 3.6 million articles published in 1998-2002 with a common five-year citation window. The analysis is carried at a low aggregation level: the 219 sub-fields identified with the Web of Science categories distinguished by Thomson Scientific. The problems posed by international co-authorship and the multiple assignments of articles to sub-fields are solved following a multiplicative strategy. We find that, although the EU has more publications than the U.S. in 113 out of 219 sub-fields, the U.S. is ahead of the EU in 189 and 163 sub-fields in terms of the high- and low-impact indicators. Furthermore, we verify that using the high-impact indicator the U.S./EU gap is usually greater than when using the mean citation rate. |
| Keywords: | citation analysis; European Paradox; journal classification; normalization; research performance; Web of Science categories |
| JEL: | O31 Y80 Z00 |
| Date: | 2011–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:8674&r=eur |
| By: | Francesco Vona (Observatoire Français des Conjonctures Économiques) |
| Abstract: | Expansion of higher education leads in principle to attainments’ equalization. Using EU-SILC dataset, this hypothesis is tested for 12 European countries. The paper novelty is to convert multi-dimensional information on parental background in a continuous scale to express origins in relative terms, eliminating the influence of compositional changes. It is shown that the higher education expansion brought about an increase in background-related inequality, which mainly occurred in last decade and has been concentrated in the bottom-half of the background distribution. In the top half, a timid inversely U-shaped relationship emerged especially when considering the transition from upper-secondary to tertiary education. |
| Keywords: | Higher Education Expansion, Educational Inequality, Family Background, Measuring Family Background. |
| JEL: | I21 I23 J62 |
| Date: | 2011–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fce:doctra:1112&r=eur |
| By: | Marin, Dalia; Rousová, Linda |
| Abstract: | Recent literature on international trade has established that the most productive firms become multinationals. But our data reveal a startling variation in productivity levels of foreign affiliates across the countries in Eastern Europe of the same European multinational parent firms suggesting that not all multinationals transplant their home productivity advantage to the new EU Member States and Emerging Europe. One candidate for this startling difference in productivity levels among foreign affiliates is the ability of European multinationals to transport their business model abroad. This paper examines the conditions under which European multinationals give autonomy to their subsidiaries and delegate authority to them. We also analyse the conditions under which European multinationals transplant their business model to Eastern Europe. We collect original and unique matched parent and affiliate data on the internal organization of 660 German and Austrian parent firms and 2200 of their subsidiaries in Eastern Europe including the former Soviet Union. We test the hypothesis that the ability of European multinationals to transplant their business model to foreign affiliates is determined by the organization of European multinationals on the one hand and the market environment their affiliate firms face in Eastern Europe on the other hand. We show that the business culture of parent firms accounts for about 50 percent of the variation of the organization of subsidiaries, while the market environment of subsidiaries contributes the rest. |
| Keywords: | International Trade and Organizations; Multinational firm with internal hierarchies; Empirical test of the theory of the firm; Technology transfer to Eastern Europe; Organizational transfer across countries |
| JEL: | F F23 D21 L22 O1 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lmu:muenec:12453&r=eur |
| By: | Spencer, Thomas; Marcey , Celine; Colombier , Michel; Guerin , Emmanuel |
| Abstract: | ASSESSMENT European climate policy is gradually shifting towards a long-term perspec- tive. The electricity sector has a crucial role to play in the long-term decar- bonization of the EU economy. It makes up a significant share of EU emis- sions and can contribute to the reduction of emissions in other sectors, particularly buildings and transport. The EU 2008 Climate and Energy Package (CEP) took a significant step towards a low-carbon future, initi- ating a very ambitious program of renewables expansion and strengthen- ing the ETS. However, the omissions and internal inconsistencies of the CEP are becoming more and more evident. This relates in particular to the absence of long-term, comprehensive signals for decarbonization and the imbalance between the ETS, energy efficiency and renewables objectives. This risks delaying and distorting investment in low-carbon infrastructure and ideas, raising the ultimate cost of climate policy. In view of the inertias within the electricity sector, it is imperative for the EU to set a long-term signal for the decarbonization of the sector by set- ting 2030 objectives for the ETS and complementary policies. The EU’s decarbonization strategy needs to be robust against future uncertainties; strengthening a technology neutral instrument like the ETS can provide a key part of a comprehensive signal to develop the full range of decarbon- ization options. The instrument imbalance also needs to be addressed. Demand side policies should be the point of departure for supply side interventions: ETS caps should be set so as to achieve carbon scarcity after energy efficiency and RES objectives have been taken into account. A short-term adjustment of scarcity in the ETS may create some incen- tives for low-carbon investment. However, it would not address the funda- mental concern, namely the lack of policy information regarding the post 2020 environment in which these investment will amortize. |
| Keywords: | European climate policy; 2050 decarbonization; European emissions trading scheme; renewables policy |
| JEL: | Q50 |
| Date: | 2011–11–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:35009&r=eur |
| By: | Major, Iván; Kiss, Károly M. |
| Abstract: | Cost-based pricing has dominated the regulatory regime of network industries - and first of all, the regulation of the infocommunications sector - in the European Union since the early 1990s. When privatization of network industries began in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), one of the main stumbling blocks on the road toward privately owned telecomm companies and postal services, energy producers and distributors, and other network industries was the lack of efficient and up-to-date industry regulations. From the mid-1990s, accessing countries that later became members of the EU, and other CEE countries that are still waiting for admission swiftly adopted the regulatory framework of the European Union. The EU has been striving for market opening and liberalization in these industries; it abolished industry regulation in several segments of the market of network industries. Now it applies so-called cost-based pricing in areas where regulation is still in place. CEE countries now use the same type of regulation as the advanced member states of the EU. But the regulatory capacity of most CEE countries is still far behind of their West European counterparts. Experts of network industries advocate, and telecommunications, energy and other market regulators in various parts of the world practice, cost-based pricing for inter-firm network access services. Cost-based pricing is carried out under the assumption that the regulator has perfect information regarding the costs of producing the services. We show in this paper that - under fairly general conditions - cost-based pricing creates incentives for regulated firms not to improve their efficiency. We also show that cost-based pricing results in smaller consumer welfare than incentive regulation that takes into account the existence of information asymmetry between the regulator and the firm. A model of interconnection with adverse selection and moral hazard is presented. -- |
| Keywords: | network industries,regulation,incentive contracts |
| JEL: | D8 L14 L51 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itse11:52194&r=eur |
| By: | Barth, Anne-Kathrin; Heimeshoff, Ulrich |
| Abstract: | The increasing usage of mobile communication and the declining demand for fixed line telephony in Europe make the analysis of substitutional effects between fixed and mobile networks a key aspect for future telecommunication regulation. Using a unique dataset which contains information on all 27 European Union members from 2003 to 2009, we analyze substitutability between fixed and mobile telecommunications services in Europe by applying dynamic panel data techniques. We find strong empirical evidence for substitution from fixed to cellular networks throughout Europe. In addition, the article reveals resulting policy implications. -- |
| Keywords: | Dynamic Panel Model,Fix-Mobile Substitution,Telecommunication Markets |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itse11:52144&r=eur |
| By: | Carole Brunet (LED, Université Paris 8. 2, rue de la Liberté 93 526 SAINT-DENIS CEDEX); Nathalie Havet (Université de Lyon, Lyon, F-69007, France ; CNRS, GATE Lyon St Etienne,F-69130 Ecully, France) |
| Abstract: | Our empirical study stems from previous research on the inter-relations between residential status and microeconomic labour market outcomes. It focuses on employees and assesses the a priori ambiguous e-ect of homeownership on job-match quality. We use the French data set of the 1995-2001 European Community Household Panel to build a subjective measure of job downgrading. We estimate a recursive trivariate probit with partial observability that simultaneously models the residential status choice, its impact on the probability of being downgraded, and the selection into employment. The comparison with simpler models indicates that taking into account the selection into employment and controlling unobservable individual heterogeneity are of prime necessity to obtain robust conclusions. |
| Keywords: | residential status; job downgrading; overeducation; job matching |
| JEL: | C35 J24 J28 R21 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gat:wpaper:1131&r=eur |
| By: | Polemis, Michail; Fotis, Panagiotis |
| Abstract: | This paper explores whether asymmetric pricing can be identified in the eleven euro zone countries (Austria, Belgium, Finland, Greece, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain) by utilizing Error Correction Model on the weekly price changes in order to assess current and future potential. The sample spans from July 1996 to August 2011. We also try to analyze the effect of competition on the dynamic adjustment of gasoline price to which has been paid scant attention in the past. The results favor the common perception that retail gasoline prices respond asymmetrically to cost increases and decreases both in the long and the short-run. At the wholesale segment, there is a symmetric response of the spot prices of gasoline towards the adjustment to the short-run responses of the exchange rate. |
| Keywords: | asymmetric pricing; euro zone countries; dynamic ordinary least squares; error correction model; unit root; Cointegration techniques; gasoline prices; competition; oil industry |
| JEL: | C51 C32 L11 |
| Date: | 2011–11–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:35097&r=eur |
| By: | Gabriella Berloffa (Department of Economics, University of Trento); Francesca Modena (Department of Economics, University of Trento and Euricse); Paola Villa (Department of Economics, University of Trento) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we analyze the way in which changes in macro-economic circumstances and labour market institutions, that occurred in Italy over the ‘90s, affected the set of opportunities for young generations, amplify or shrinking existing inequalities. In particular we investigate whether they have modified the importance of the family background to reach certain labour outcomes (in terms of more or less secure employment). Results suggest that the effect of the social network of the father on early occupational outcomes is more related to changes in the macroeconomic circumstances than to institutional changes, and that the one on transitions is larger, in relative terms, in the late ‘90s than in the early ‘80s. |
| Keywords: | equality of opportunity, labour outcomes, precarious employment, Italy. |
| JEL: | D6 J2 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:inq:inqwps:ecineq2011-241&r=eur |
| By: | Macías Dorissa, Marta Pilar; Muiño Vázquez, Flora |
| Abstract: | After adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for consolidated financial statements by European listed companies, a number of European countries still require the use of local standards in the preparation of legal entity financial statements. This study investigates whether this requirement can be explained by a low demand for high quality financial reporting and an orientation of accounting toward the fulfilment of regulatory needs in these countries. Specifically, using accounting quality as an indicator of the focus of accounting on capital providers' needs, we compare accounting quality between countries permitting and prohibiting the use of IFRS in individual financial statements. Consistent with our expectations, we find that countries requiring the use of local standards in the preparation of legal entity financial statements exhibit a significantly lower level of accounting quality, both prior to and after IFRS adoption. We interpret these results as evidence that these countries have local standards more oriented toward the satisfaction of regulatory needs, rather than investors' needs. Furthermore, since differences in accounting quality persist after the implementation of IFRS, results suggest that firms in these countries face a lower demand for high quality financial reporting |
| Keywords: | IFRS endorsement; Accounting quality; Value relevance; Domestic GAAP; |
| Date: | 2011–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ner:carlos:info:hdl:10016/12645&r=eur |
| By: | Peter Huber (WIFO) |
| Abstract: | I analyse the skill and age structure of commuters in 14 EU countries. Theory implies that commuters can be either more or less able than stayers, but are always less able than migrants and that they are also always older than migrants but younger than stayers. Empirically all types of commuters are younger and have higher education than non-commuters. Internal commuters are better educated and younger than cross-border commuters, education decreases while age increases with distance commuted and recent migrants are younger but also more highly educated than commuters. |
| Keywords: | Commuting, Selectivity, Migration |
| Date: | 2011–11–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wfo:wpaper:y:2011:i:407&r=eur |
| By: | Alessandro Antimiani; Anna Carbone; Valeria Costantini; Roberto Henke |
| Abstract: | This paper explores agri-food export dynamics in New Member States (NMS) and Old Member States (OMS) of the European Union during the enlargement process. A quality-oriented survey is conducted by developing an original analytical framework which combines information from trade similarity analysis with elements from the sophistication literature. Country and sector specific features seem to emerge, revealing a more complex picture than that produced by aggregated trade analysis. While for some NMS agri-food exports, patterns converge towards OMS with regard to size, competitiveness and quality improvement process, for other NMS, a low-quality trap seems to prevail |
| Keywords: | Agri-food sector, export dynamics, EU enlargement, quality upgrading |
| JEL: | F14 F15 Q17 |
| Date: | 2011–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rtr:wpaper:0134&r=eur |