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on Microeconomic European Issues |
| By: | Hakim Hammadou (EQUIPPE - ECONOMIE QUANTITATIVE, INTEGRATION, POLITIQUES PUBLIQUES ET ECONOMETRIE - Université Lille 1 - Sciences et Technologies); Sonia Paty (GATE Lyon Saint-Etienne - Groupe d'analyse et de théorie économique - CNRS : UMR5824 - Université Lumière - Lyon II - École Normale Supérieure - Lyon); Maria Savona (CLERSE - Centre lillois d'études et de recherches sociologiques et économiques - CNRS : UMR8019 - Université Lille 1 - Sciences et Technologies, SPRU - Science and Technology Policy Research - University of Sussex) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to test the presence of strategic interactions in government spending on Research and Development (R&D), among EU-15 countries. We add to the literature on public choice strategic interactions in general, and to work on R&D spending in particular. We take account of traditional and some rather overlooked factors related to countries' public R&D spending, including (i) the international context - i.e. Lisbon strategy ; (ii) country characteristics - the National System of Innovation ; (iii) national similarities in relation to (a) trade and economic size and (b) sectoral specialization. Sectoral specialization is likely to affect government spending, depending on the mechanisms of complementarity or substitution between public and private R&D. Using a dynamic spatial panel model in which spatial matrices are specified in terms of traditional Euclidean distance, and sectoral specialization proximity, we confirm the existence of strategic interactions in relation to R&D spending among European countries with similar economic, international trade and sectoral structure perspectives. Unlike the results for strategic interactions in public choice, geographic proximity seems not to affect interactions related to public spending on R&D. |
| Keywords: | Public R&D expenditures ; National Systems of Innovation ; complementarity public and private R&D ; spatial interactions ; EU countries ; spatial dynamic panel data |
| Date: | 2012–09–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-00727362&r=eur |
| By: | Petrick, Martin; Kloss, Mathias |
| Abstract: | The aim of this Working Paper is to provide an empirical analysis of the marginal return on working capital and fixed capital in agriculture, based on data gathered by the Farm Accountancy Data Network from seven EU member states. Particular emphasis is placed on the detection of credit market imperfections. The key idea is to provide farm group-specific estimates of the shadow price of capital, and to use these to analyse the drivers of on-farm capital use in European agriculture. Based on Cobb Douglas estimates of farm-type specific production functions, we find that working capital is typically used in more than economically optimal quantities and often displays negative marginal returns across countries and farm types. This is less often the case with regard to fixed capital, but it is only in a small set of sectors where access to fixed capital appears severely constrained. These sectors include field crop and mixed farms in Denmark, dairy farms in East Germany, as well as mixed farms in Italy and the UK. The relationship between farm financial indicators and the estimated shadow prices of capital varies considerably across countries and sectors. Among the farms with a high shadow price for fixed capital in Denmark, high debt levels and little owned land tended to induce more intensive capital use, which may reflect the liberal Danish banking system. In East Germany, Italy and the UK, high debt levels made farmers more tightly capital constrained. Hence, in the latter group of countries, more traditional mechanisms of capital allocation based on debt capacity seemed to be at work. As a general conclusion, EU agriculture appears to be characterised by overcapitalisation rather than by credit constraints. |
| Date: | 2012–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eps:fmwppr:137&r=eur |
| By: | Luca Gattini (European Investment Bank, 98-100, Boulevard Konrad Adenauer, Luxembourg L-2950); Ioannis Ganoulis (European Central Bank, Kaiserstrasse 29, D-60311 Frankfurt am Main, Germany and CEPR) |
| Abstract: | In comparison with the large literature on house prices, housing investments have been studied far less. This paper investigates the behaviour of private residential investments for the six largest European economies, namely: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. It employs a common modelling structure based on an error correction approach and country specific models. First, co-integration among the parsimoniously specified set of fundamental variables is detected in all countries. Second, cross-country differences are found in the responsiveness of private residential investments to real prices and to other relevant factors. Germany has the strongest response of private residential investments to house price changes whereas Italy shows the lowest responses. In Spain investments seem to be primarily related to their lagged component and short-term changes in house prices, and show a poor relationship with deviations from long-term fundamentals. In some countries, the lagged component of residential investments seems to point to a high persistency effect. JEL Classification: C2, R30, E22 |
| Keywords: | Housing investments, elasticity, co-integration, error-correction mechanism |
| Date: | 2012–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20121461&r=eur |
| By: | Tim Goesaert |
| Abstract: | This paper looks at the effect of agglomeration economies on the tax sensitivity of investments in Belgian firms using detailed firm-level data. We find a negative effect of taxation on investment. However, this is dampened by the presence of agglomeration externalities. Our results hint to the importance of local labor market and supplying industries for firm investment decisions and follow the more nuanced view on tax competition of the New Economic Geography models. |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ete:vivwps:28&r=eur |
| By: | Degavre, Florence |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ner:louvai:info:hdl:2078.1/112096&r=eur |
| By: | Esther Goya (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona); Esther Vayá (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona); Jordi Suriñach (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses a structural model to analyse the impact of innovation activities, including intra- and inter-industry externalities, on the productivity of Spanish firms. To the best of our knowledge, no previous paper has examined spillover effects by adopting such an approach. Here, therefore, we seek to determine the extent to which the innovations carried out by others affect a firm’s productivity. Additionally, firm’s technology level is taken into account in order to ascertain whether there are any differences in this regard between high-tech and low-tech firms both in industrial and service sectors. The database used is the Technological Innovation Panel (PITEC) which includes 8,611 firms for the year 2009. We find that low-tech firms make the most of a range of factors, including funding and belonging to a group, to increase their investment in R&D. As expected, R&D intensity has a positive impact on the probability of achieving both product and, more especially, process innovations. Finally, innovation output has a positive impact on firm’s productivity, being greater in more advanced firms in the case of process innovations. Both intra- and inter-industry spillovers have a positive impact on firm’s productivity, but this varies with the firm’s level of technology. Thus, innovations made by firms from the same sector are more important for low-tech firms than they are for their high-tech counterparts, while innovations made by the rest of the sectors have a greater impact on high-tech firms. |
| Keywords: | Productivity, innovation, industry spillovers. JEL classification: D24, O33. |
| Date: | 2012–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ira:wpaper:201214&r=eur |
| By: | Ciaian, Pavel; Kancs, d’Artis; Swinnen, Jo |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the effects of the Single Payment Scheme (SPS) with and without farm structural change. Particular focus is placed on how income distributional effects and farm restructuring are impacted by the SPS under: alternative entitlement tradability, crosscompliance and CAP ‘greening’ requirements, different SPS implementation models, the entitlement stock, market imperfections and institutional regulations. The authors find that the SPS implication details are highly significant: farmers’ benefits can range from 100% of the SPS value to a negative policy incidence, and farm structural change may be hindered by the SPS. |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eps:fmwppr:134&r=eur |
| By: | Olper,Alessandro,; Raimondi,Valentina; Cavicchioli,Daniele; Vigani,Mauro |
| Abstract: | This paper deals with the determinants of labour out-migration from agriculture across 149 EU regions over the 1990–2008 period. The central aim is to shed light on the role played by payments from the common agricultural policy (CAP) on this important adjustment process. Using static and dynamic panel data estimators, we show that standard neoclassical drivers, like relative income and the relative labour share, represent significant determinants of the intersectoral migration of agricultural labour. Overall, CAP payments contributed significantly to job creation in agriculture, although the magnitude of the economic effect was rather moderate. We also find that pillar I subsidies exerted an effect approximately two times greater than that of pillar II payments. |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eps:fmwppr:133&r=eur |
| By: | Gregori Baetschmann |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the evolution of life satisfaction over the life course in Germany. It clarifies the causal interpretation of the econometric model by discussing the choice of control variables and the underidentification between age, cohort and time effects. The empirical part analyzes the distribution of life satisfaction over the life course at the aggregated, subgroup and individual level. To the findings: On average, life satisfaction is mildly decreasing up to age fifty-five followed by a hump shape with a maximum at seventy. The analysis at the lower levels suggests that people differ in their life satisfaction trends, whereas the hump shape after age fity-five is robust. No important differences between men and women are found. In contrast, education groups differ in their trends: highly educated people become happier over the life cycle, where life satisfaction decreases for less educated people. |
| Keywords: | Aging, life satisfaction, well-being, happiness methodology |
| JEL: | C23 I31 D91 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp472&r=eur |
| By: | Marianna Brunetti; Elena Giarda; Costanza Torricelli |
| Abstract: | In this paper we investigate household financial fragility and assess the role played by the composition of the household portfolio besides standard determinants of this condition (e.g. income, indebtedness, age, gender, financial literacy). We take the case of Italy, given the very peculiar portfolio composition (high level of housing and low level of indebtedness and portfolio diversification) and provide two main contributions. First, we propose a novel definition of financial fragility. Second, based on this new measure, we use data from the 1998-2010 Bank of Italy Survey on Household Income and Wealth to investigate the determinants of this condition. Our results confirm most usual markers of financial fragility and additionally highlight the role of homeownership, which is not related to the presence of mortgages but it is rather connected to specific socio-demographic features such as age and marital status. |
| Keywords: | financial fragility, household portfolios, housing |
| JEL: | D14 G11 C25 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mod:wcefin:12061&r=eur |
| By: | Filistrucchi, L.; Ozbugday, F.C. (Tilburg University, Tilburg Law and Economics Center) |
| Abstract: | Abstract: Using a newly constructed dataset on German hospitals, which includes 24 process and outcome indicators of clinical quality, we test whether quality has increased in various clinical areas since the introduction of mandatory quality reports and the online publication of part of the collected quality measures. Our results suggest that process indicators of clinical quality have increased significantly in 2008 compared to 2006. In addition, the hospitals underperforming in 2006 appear to have increased their clinical quality relatively more than the other hospitals. When instead quality is measured by outcome indicators, average clinical quality is estimated to have increased for underperforming hospitals and decreased for the best performing hospitals in 2006, so that on average across all hospitals the changes in outcome indicators are insignificant for just more than half of the outcome quality measures. We further show that the best performing hospitals in 2006 in terms of outcome quality measures experienced an increase in their share of patients in 2008, thus providing indirect evidence that patients react to disclosed quality. Interestingly, the best performing hospitals in 2006 in terms of process quality measures did not experience a significant change in their share of patients in 2008, thus suggesting that patients react more to output than to process measures of quality. Finally, for the subset of hospitals who offer services in obstetrics, we find that higher competitive pressure, measured as the number of competitors in a given radius, is associated with a higher increase in quality following quality disclosure. We argue that the latter effect is unlikely to be due to selection of patients by hospitals. |
| Keywords: | health care;hospitals;quality disclosure;quality competition;Germany. |
| JEL: | I11 I18 L15 C23 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:kubtil:2012031&r=eur |
| By: | Ronny Freier; Christian Odendahl |
| Abstract: | The number of parties in government is usually considered to increase spending. We show that this is not necessarily the case. Using a new method to detect close election outcomes in multi-party systems, we isolate truly exogenous variation in the type of government. With data from municipalities in the German state of Bavaria, we show in regression discontinuity-type estimations that absolute majorities spend more, not less, and increase the property tax rate. We also find weakly significant results for increases in debt. Politically, our results show that the mayor that heads an absolute majority of his own party gains the most, but the party itself does not. |
| Keywords: | fiscal spending, local election, absolute majority, municipality data, regression discontinuity |
| JEL: | H11 H71 H72 H74 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1239&r=eur |
| By: | Luc Behaghel (PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - CNRS : UMR8545 - Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - Ecole des Ponts ParisTech - Ecole Normale Supérieure de Paris - ENS Paris - INRA, EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris, CREST - Centre de Recherche en Économie et Statistique - INSEE - École Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Administration Économique); Adrien Lorenceau (PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - CNRS : UMR8545 - Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - Ecole des Ponts ParisTech - Ecole Normale Supérieure de Paris - ENS Paris - INRA, EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris); Simon Quantin (INSEE - Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques - INSEE) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides quasi-experimental (RDD) estimates of the impact of a tax credit program targeted at less densely populated areas. The program was launched in the mid 1990s in rural France and includes corporate and payroll tax exemptions. Variations over time and across rm types allow un-bundling the overall program impact into three components: a quite restrictive, short-term (1-year) payroll tax exemption on new hires; permanent payroll tax exemptions in the non-pro t sector; and corporate tax exemptions for new rms. We nd no signi cant impact of the program on total employment or the number of plants, and no impact of the di erent program components on targeted subsets of rms. Large positive e ects can be statistically rejected. |
| Keywords: | Tax exemptions ; Rural Development ; Enterprise Zones |
| Date: | 2012–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:psewpa:halshs-00728195&r=eur |
| By: | Büchner Charlotte; Cörvers Frank; Traag Tanja; Velden Rolf van der (METEOR) |
| Abstract: | This study analyzes four different transmission mechanisms, through which father’s earnings affectson’s earnings: the educational attainment, cognitive skills, the cultural capital of the familyand the social capital in the neighborhood. Using a unique data set that combines panel data froma birth cohort with earnings data from a large nationwide income survey and national tax files,our findings show that cognitive skills and schooling of the son account for 50% of the father-sonearnings elasticity. Education by far accounts for the largest part, while cognitive skills mainlywork indirectly through educational attainment. Social capital of the neighborhood and culturalcapital of the parents account for an additional 6% of the intergeneration income persistence.From these two additional mechanisms, social capital appears to play a stronger role than thecultural capital of the parents. This means that 44% of the intergenerational persistence is dueto other unobserved characteristics for example personality traits or spillover effects of familyassets. |
| Keywords: | education, training and the labour market; |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:umamet:2012028&r=eur |
| By: | Graziella Bertocchi; Marianna Brunetti; Costanza Torricelli |
| Abstract: | We empirically study the determinants of intra-household decision power with respect to economic and financial choices using a direct measure provided in the 1989-2010 Bank of Italy Survey of Household Income and Wealth. Focusing on a sample of couples, we evaluate the effect of each spouse's characteristics, household characteristics, and background variables. We find that the probability that the wife is in charge is affected by household characteristics such as family size and total income and wealth, but more importantly that it increases with the difference between hers and her husband's characteristics in terms of age, education, and income. The main conclusion is that decision-making power over family economics is not only determined by strictly economic differences, as suggested by previous studies, but also by differences in human capital and experience. Finally, exploiting the time dimension of our dataset, we show that this pattern is increasing over time. |
| Keywords: | Family economics, intra-household decision power, gender differences |
| JEL: | J12 D13 E21 G11 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mod:wcefin:12062&r=eur |
| By: | Janne Niemi; Juha Honkatukia; Ville Kaitila; Markku Kotilainen |
| Abstract: | In this study we use the dynamic version of the GTAP model to analyse the effects of global trade policy changes and their interaction with different global climate policy regimes from Finland?s point of view, and in particular, implications for Finnish export sectors. Scenarios explore further trade liberalisation as well as effects of higher-than-current tariffs on world markets. As a complementary dimension we analyse the impact of a global climate agreement that will lead to an additional improvement in energy efficiency and impose limitations to GHG emissions.<br><br>We find a general trend towards a greater weight of services sector in Finland?s total exports volume, whilst the share of traditionally important heavy industry and electronics industries declines. These trends are amplified by further trade liberalisation and slowed down by new barriers for trade. The global coverage of climate policy is particularly significant for energy-intensive industries. |
| Keywords: | trade policy, climate policy, general equilibrium model |
| JEL: | Q58 C68 F13 |
| Date: | 2012–09–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fer:wpaper:37&r=eur |
| By: | P. Buonanno; R. Durante; G. Prarolo; P. Vanin |
| Abstract: | This study explains the emergence of the Sicilian mafia in the XIX century as the product of the interaction between natural resource abundance and weak institutions. We advance the hypothesis that the mafia emerged after the collapse of the Bourbon Kingdom in a context characterized by a severe lack of state property-right enforcement in response to the rising demand for the protection of sulfur - Sicily's most valuable export commodity - whose demand in the international markets was soaring at the time. We test this hypothesis combining data on the early presence of the mafia and on the distribution of sulfur reserves across Sicilian municipalities and find evidence of a positive and significant effect of sulphur availability on mafia's diffusion. These results remain unchanged when including department fixed-effects and various geographical and historical controls, when controlling for spatial correlation, and when comparing pairs of neighboring municipalities with and without sulfur. |
| JEL: | K42 N33 N54 O13 O43 |
| Date: | 2012–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bol:bodewp:wp844&r=eur |
| By: | Borowiecki, Karol Jan (Department of Business and Economics) |
| Abstract: | I investigate the consequences of long-run persistence of a societies’ preference towards cultural goods. Historical cultural activity is approximated with the frequency of births of classical composers during the Renaissance and is linked with contemporary supply of cultural activities in Italian provinces. Areas with a one-standard-deviation higher number of composer births expose nowadays up to 0.4 standard deviations higher supply of cultural activities (such as concerts or theater performances). Those provinces seem to exhibit today also a somewhat lower supply of non-cultural activities. The results point at a tantalising divergence in societies’ cultural preferences which is attributable to events rooted long in the past. Furthermore, the findings imply a remarkable persistency of the geography of artistic activity. While human capital is found to be potentially a driver for spill-over effects across different cultural disciplines over time, other unobservable factors, such as societies’ preference traits, determine the persistency within most closely related cultural areas. |
| Keywords: | Economic development; culture; institutions; path dependence; endogenous preferences |
| JEL: | N33 N34 O10 Z10 |
| Date: | 2012–08–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:sdueko:2012_015&r=eur |
| By: | Yinqiu Lu |
| Abstract: | Since the start of the 2008 - 09 financial crisis, the Polish Overnight Index Average (POLONIA) has persistently been below the policy rate, suggesting a limited influence of the NBP’s open market operations on the short-term interbank rate. In this regard, this paper analyzes the behavior of the POLONIA spread and explore several potential factors that could influence the spread. An empirical analysis confirms that the negative POLONIA spread is related to a few factors, which include the existence of the structural liquidity in the banking system; bank’s unwillingness to lock up liquidity in the NBP bills; the frontloading of banks’ fulfillment of the reserve requirements; and external market sentiment. The analysis also shows the effectiveness of the NBP’s responses to the financial crisis and structural liquidity surplus. |
| Date: | 2012–08–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:12/215&r=eur |
| By: | Stéphanie Chatelain-Ponroy (LIRSA-CRC - Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire de Recherche en Sciences de l'Action - Centre de recherche en comptabilité - Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (CNAM)); Stéphanie Mignot-Gérard (IRG - Institut de Recherche en Gestion - Université Paris XII - Paris Est Créteil Val-de-Marne : EA2354 - Université Paris Est Marne-la-Vallée); Christine Musselin (CSO - Centre de sociologie des organisations - Sciences Po - CNRS : UMR7116); Samuel Sponem (LIRSA-CRC - Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire de Recherche en Sciences de l'Action - Centre de recherche en comptabilité - Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers (CNAM)) |
| Abstract: | La massification de l'enseignement, la multiplication des classements, la transformation des modes de financement et, plus généralement, l'internationalisation constituent quelques-uns des bouleversements profonds auxquels est confronté l'enseignement supérieur dans la plupart des pays de l'OCDE. Ces bouleversements se sont traduits par des réformes importantes des universités dans les années récentes, notamment en France. Dans ce contexte, la gouvernance universitaire et, plus généralement, les liens entre les États et les institutions d'enseignement supérieur ont généré de nombreux débats. En la matière, plusieurs rapports ont été publiés au niveau mondial (Fielden, 2008), européen (Estermann et al., 2011) ou français (Aghion, 2010 a et b). Cependant, la plupart d'entre eux se limite à caractériser la gouvernance à un niveau institutionnel, sans interroger les acteurs sur leurs perceptions et leurs pratiques. Le présent rapport vise à donner un panorama des pratiques de gouvernance des universités françaises. Il est issu d'un premier traitement des données obtenues par la passation d'un questionnaire en ligne auprès de toutes les universités françaises. |
| Keywords: | université; gouvernance; LRU; gestion publique |
| Date: | 2012–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-00729058&r=eur |