nep-eur New Economics Papers
on Microeconomic European Issues
Issue of 2014‒05‒17
twenty-two papers chosen by
Giuseppe Marotta
University of Modena and Reggio Emilia

  1. Distributive Effects of the Crisis and Austerity in Seven EU Countries By Manos Matsaganis; Chrysa Leventi
  2. Innovation and Productivity in Services:Evidence from Germany, Ireland and the United Kingdom By Peters, Bettina; Riley, Rebecca; Siedschlag, Iulia; Vahter, Priit; McQuinn, John
  3. Knowledge Spillovers from Renewable energy Technologies, Lessons from patent citations By Joelle Noailly; Victoria Shestalova
  4. Accounting for Job Growth: Disentangling Size and Age Effects in an International Cohort Comparison By Anyadike-Danes, Michael; Bjuggren, Carl Magnus; Gottschalk, Sandra; Hölzl, Werner; Johansson, Dan; Maliranta, Mika; Myrann, Anja
  5. Fixing Europe's youth unemployment and skills mismatch, can public financial support to SMEs be effective? The case of the European Commission and European Investment Bank joint initiatives. By Floreani, Vincent Arthur
  6. Technology and costs in international competitiveness: from countries and sectors to firms By G. Dosi; M. Grazzi; D. Moschella
  7. Examiner amendments to applications to the european patent office: Procedures, knowledge bases and country specificities By Azagra-Caro,Joaquín M.; Tur,Elena M.
  8. Can education bridge the gap? Education and the employment position of immigrants in Belgium By Vincent Corluy; Gerlinde Verbist
  9. Components of income inequality and its change in EU countries, 2004-2010 By Márton Medgyesi
  10. Parental unemployment and child health By Mörk, Eva; Sjögren, Anna; Svaleryd, Helena
  11. Economic failure and the role of plant age and size : first evidence from German administrative data By Müller, Steffen; Stegmaier, Jens
  12. Migrant diversity, migration motivations and early integration: the case of Poles in Germany, the Netherlands, London and Dublin By Renee Luthra; Lucinda Platt & Justyna Salamonska
  13. Wage differentials between natives and cross-border workers within and across establishments By BROSIUS Jacques; RAY Jean-Claude; VERHEYDEN Bertrand; WILLIAMS Donald R.
  14. Access to universities’ public knowledge: Who’s more regionalist? By Acosta,Manuel; Azagra-Caro,Joaquín M.; Coronado,Daniel
  15. The hidden winners of renewable energy promotion : insights into sector-specific wage differentials By Antoni, Manfred; Janser, Markus; Lehmer, Florian
  16. Human capital, firm capabilities and productivity growth By Ilke Van Beveren; Stijn Vanormelingen
  17. The Impact of Expectations, Match Importance and Results in the Stock Prices of European Football Teams By Pedro Godinho; Pedro Cerqueira
  18. Employment status and perceived health condition: longitudinal data from Italy By Minelli, Liliana; Pigini, Claudia; Chiavarini, Manuela; Bartolucci, Francesco
  19. The behavioralist as tax collector: Using natural field experiments to enhance tax compliance By Michael Hallsworth; John List; Robert Metcalfe; Ivo Vlaev
  20. “What hurts the dominant airlines at hub airports?” By Xavier Fageda
  21. “Are traffic violators criminals? Searching for answers in experiences of European countries” By José I. Castillo-Manzano; Mercedes Castro-Nuño; Xavier Fageda
  22. Young people's labour market transitions: the role of early experiences By Paolo Lucchino; Dr Richard Dorsett

  1. By: Manos Matsaganis; Chrysa Leventi
    Abstract: European welfare states are under considerable stress. On the one hand, the recession has caused unemployment to rise and household incomes to fall, which both raise the demand for social protection. On the other hand, austerity policies and programme reforms affect the capacity of welfare states to provide social protection. This paper aims to provide an early assessment of the distributional implications of the economic developments in Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania in the period 2009-13. Using a microsimulation model, we attempt to disentangle the first-order effects of tax-benefit policies from the overall effects of the crisis. Moreover, we estimate how the burden of the crisis has been shared across income groups, and how the differential impact of the crisis may have altered the composition of the population in poverty. We conclude by discussing the methodological pitfalls and policy implications of our research.
    Keywords: austerity, crisis, income distribution, microsimulation, European Union, EU-SILC, EUROMOD
    JEL: C81 D3 I3 H2 H31
    Date: 2014–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdl:improv:1404&r=eur
  2. By: Peters, Bettina; Riley, Rebecca; Siedschlag, Iulia; Vahter, Priit; McQuinn, John
    Abstract: We examine the links between innovation investment, innovation output and productivity in service enterprises. For this purpose, we use micro data from the Community Innovation Surveys 2006-2008 in Germany, Ireland, and the United Kingdom and estimate an augmented structural model which links innovation inputs, innovation outputs and productivity. Our estimates suggest that innovation in service enterprises was linked to higher productivity. In all three countries analysed, amongst the innovation types that we consider, the strongest link between innovation and productivity was found for marketing innovations. Successful innovation in service enterprises appears to be associated with enterprise size, innovation expenditure intensity (in Germany and the United Kingdom), foreign ownership (Ireland), exporting and engagement in co-operation for innovation activities. The determinants of innovation in service enterprises appear remarkably similar to the determinants of innovation in manufacturing enterprises.
    Keywords: Internationalisation of services; innovation; productivity
    Date: 2014–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esr:wpaper:wp480&r=eur
  3. By: Joelle Noailly; Victoria Shestalova (The Centre for International Environmental Studies, The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva)
    Abstract: This paper studies the knowledge spillovers generated by renewable energy technologies, unraveling the technological fields that benefit from knowledge developed in storage, solar, wind, marine, hydropower, geothermal, waste and biomass energy technologies. Using citation data of patents in renewable technologies at 17 European countries over the 1978-2006 period, the analysis examines the relative importance of knowledge flows within the same specific technological field (intra-technology spillovers), to other technologies in the field of power-generation (inter-technology spillovers), and to technologies unrelated to power-generation (external-technology spillovers). The results show significant differences across various renewable technologies. While wind technologies mainly find applications within their own technological field, a large share of innovations in solar energy and storage technologies find applications outside the field of power generation, suggesting that solar technologies are more general and, therefore, may have a higher value for society. Finally, the knowledge from waste and biomass technologies is mainly exploited by fossil-fuel power-generating technologies. The paper discusses the implications of these results for the design of R&D policies for renewable energy innovation.
    Keywords: Renewable energy, innovation, patents, knowledge spillovers, technology policy.
    Date: 2013–12–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gii:ciesrp:cies_rp_22&r=eur
  4. By: Anyadike-Danes, Michael (Aston Business School and Enterprise Research Centre, UK); Bjuggren, Carl Magnus (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)); Gottschalk, Sandra (ZEW, Germany); Hölzl, Werner (WIFO, Austria); Johansson, Dan (HUI Research); Maliranta, Mika (ETLA); Myrann, Anja (Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research, Norway)
    Abstract: The contribution of different-sized businesses to job creation continues to attract policymakers’ attention, however, it has recently been recognized that conclusions about size were confounded with the effect of age. We probe the role of size, controlling for age, by comparing the cohorts of firms born in 1998 over their first decade of life, using variation across half a dozen northern European countries Austria, Finland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and the UK to pin down size effects. We find that a very small proportion of the smallest firms play a crucial role in accounting for cross-country differences in job growth. A closer analysis reveals that the initial size distribution and survival rates do not seem to explain job growth differences between countries, rather it is a small number of rapidly growing firms that are driving this result.
    Keywords: Birth cohort; Firm age; Firm size; Firm survival; Firm growth
    JEL: E24 L25 M13
    Date: 2014–04–24
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1019&r=eur
  5. By: Floreani, Vincent Arthur
    Abstract: “We risk having a generation that hasn’t held a job. Personal dignity comes from working [...] Young people are in a crisis". Pope Francis - July the 22nd, 2013. Youth unemployment is a critical issue across the European Union with 5.5 million people unemployed among the 18-24 years age group (23.3% unemployment rate). Evidence reveals that youth unemployment in the EU mainly arises from two sources. Firstly, young people lack some of the relevant skills for the labor market.Secondly, firms’ ability to hire them is challenged by a constrained access to finance. In reaction, European leaders have implemented “offensive” programs (F. Hollande). Among them, leading initiatives sponsored by the European Commission(EC) and the European Investment Bank (EIB), aim to provide subsidized loans to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) for hiring and training young people. This approach seems relevant and sustainable as it addresses the two sources of youth unemployment and ought to combine jobs opportunities with skills development. This thesis assesses the relevance and scope for effectiveness of concessional loans provision to SMEs as a strategy to bolster youth employment and training opportunities.Starting with a comprehensive analysis of the EU youth unemployment, it outlines the rationale for a public intervention supporting SMEs based vocational training programs for youth. In addition, it exposes the main instruments mobilized in this field by the EU institutions. Through a deep demand-driven firm level and regional analysis, it determines both the needs and expected returns of such initiatives.Eventually, these results associated with a review of some successful case studies, set out the most effective programmatic, policy and financing intervention types, which ought to be scaled up within the EU.
    Keywords: SMEs financing Youth unemployment Skills mismatch Financial support European Investment Bank European Commission European Central Bank SAFE dataset EFIGE dataset Unemployment Alternative economic financing
    JEL: G23 H23 H32 H43 H52 H53 H81 I22 I25 I28 J08 J24 J60 J68 O12 O15
    Date: 2014–02–17
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:55849&r=eur
  6. By: G. Dosi; M. Grazzi; D. Moschella
    Abstract: This paper examines the determinants of international competitiveness at the level of sectors and firms. First, we address the relation between cost-related and technological competition in a sample of fifteen OECD countries. Results suggest that the countries' sectoral market shares are indeed mainly shaped by technological factors (proxied by investment intensity and patents) while cost advantages/disadvantages do not seem to play any significant role. Next, we attempt to identify the underlying dynamics at the firm level. We do that for a single country, Italy, using a large panel of Italian firms, over nearly two decades. Results show that also at micro level in most sectors investments and patents correlate positively both with the probability of being an exporter and with the capacity to acquire and to increase export market shares. The evidence on costs is more mixed. A simple measure like total labour compensation is positively correlated with the probability of being an exporter, while unit labour costs show a negative correlation only in some manufacturing sectors.
    JEL: D22 F10 F14 F19 L25 O32
    Date: 2014–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bol:bodewp:wp941&r=eur
  7. By: Azagra-Caro,Joaquín M.; Tur,Elena M.
    Abstract: The geography of knowledge flows has shown that the probability of a patent applicant rather than the examiner originating a citation depends on differences between citing and cited countries. How the characteristics of the citing country affect that probability has received less attention. Using European Patent Office (EPO) data of over 3,500,000 citations (1997-2007), we find that the probability of applicant citation is higher as national economic and scientific strengths increase, if applicants and examiners come from the same country and if the country belongs to EPO. This ‘country club’ effect is comparable to that found for US Patent and Trademark Office.
    Keywords: citations, Knowledge flows, knowledge spillovers, national biases
    JEL: O30 O33 O34
    Date: 2014–05–15
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ing:wpaper:201406&r=eur
  8. By: Vincent Corluy; Gerlinde Verbist
    Abstract: The employment rates of non-EU immigrants compared to natives in Belgium continue to be low. In this chapter we examine whether differences in educational attainments offer an adequate explanation for these persisting labour market disadvantages. We decompose the gap in labour market outcomes between immigrants and natives, using the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition method. The decomposition shows that for EU born immigrants three quarters of the gap can be attributed to differences in the observed, socio-economic characteristics between the two populations. For non-EU born immigrants, the differences in observed characteristics with natives can account for around one third of the gap. Although the explanatory power of our model remains limited for this group, substantial increases in the effect of observed characteristics are found over the last fifteen years. A detailed decomposition shows that lower educational levels, larger families and diverse regional settlement can, at least partly, explain the lower labour market attachment of non-EU born immigrants. Over the period in focus, the impact of differences in educational level between immigrants and natives has significantly grown, indicating a declining socio-economic profile of more recent immigrants as compared with natives.
    Keywords: Employment rate gap, education, immigrants, Belgium
    JEL: I32 J21 J68
    Date: 2014–03
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdl:improv:1402&r=eur
  9. By: Márton Medgyesi
    Abstract: This paper aims to assess the contribution of different income sources and population characteristics to income inequality and it’s change during the 2004-2010 period in EU Member States. The analysis uses EU-SILC data to study the components of income inequality and its change both during years of economic growth (2004-2007) and during years of economic slowdown (2007-2010). The study analyses the contribution of different income sources by using the Shorrocks decomposition method and the role of different population characteristics using a regression-based method. The analysis shows that between 2004 and 2007 inequality of market income declined, most importantly in countries with important gains in employment, while between 2007 and 2010 market income inequality was rising in the majority of the countries. During the years of economic growth inequality of disposable income was also on the decline in most of the countries, while during the crisis years it increased more moderately pointing to an important redistributive effect of government taxes and transfers. Market income had an inequality increasing effect during the 2007-2010 period in Denmark, Cyprus, France and the UK, but in most of these countries (except France) government taxes and transfers moderated this effect. During the years of economic growth Poland and Estonia experienced the largest fall in inequality of disposable income. Changes in income differences by levels of work intensity contributed to inequality decline in both countries. The role of education level proved to be different however, having an inequality decreasing effect in Estonia and an inequality increasing effect in Poland. Between 2007 and 2010, the largest increases in inequality of disposable income were found in Ireland, Spain and Slovakia. In the case of Spain and Ireland the variables studied in the analysis did not contribute to explain this increase, while in the case of Slovakia almost the entire increase in inequality is the result of the inequality increasing effect of increasing income differences by levels of household work intensity.
    Keywords: inequality, decomposition, income sources, population subgroups, EU-SILC
    JEL: D31 D33 D60 H20
    Date: 2014–03
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdl:improv:1401&r=eur
  10. By: Mörk, Eva (Department of Economics); Sjögren, Anna (IFAU); Svaleryd, Helena (Department of Economics)
    Abstract: We analyze to what extent health outcomes of Swedish children are worse among children whose parents become unemployed. To this end we combine Swedish hospitalization data for 1992-2007 for children 3-18 years of age with register data on parental unemployment. We find that children with unemployed parents are 17 percent more likely to be hospitalized than other children, but that most of the difference is driven by selection. A child fixed-effects approach suggests a small effect of parental unemployment on child health.
    Keywords: Parental unemployment; child Health; human capital
    JEL: I12 J13
    Date: 2014–03–03
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:uunewp:2014_002&r=eur
  11. By: Müller, Steffen; Stegmaier, Jens (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany])
    Abstract: "This paper introduces a large-scale administrative panel data set on corporate bankruptcy in Germany that allows for an econometric analysis of involuntary exits where previous studies mixed voluntary and involuntary exits. Approximately 83 percent of all bankruptcies occur in plants with no more than 10 employees, and 61 percent of all bankrupt plants are not older than 5 years. The descriptive statistics and regression analysis indicate substantial negative age dependence with respect to bankruptcy risk but confirm negative size dependence for mature plants, only. Our results corroborate hypotheses stressing increasing capabilities and positional advantage, both predicting negative age dependence with respect to bankruptcy risk due to productivity improvements. The results are not consistent with the theories explaining age dependence via imprinting or structural inertia." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
    Keywords: Insolvenz, Betriebsstilllegung, Unternehmensalter, Beschäftigtenzahl, Betriebsgröße, Unternehmenserfolg, IAB-Betriebs-Historik-Panel
    JEL: L1 L2
    Date: 2014–05–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabdpa:201413&r=eur
  12. By: Renee Luthra; Lucinda Platt & Justyna Salamonska
    Abstract: The expansion of the European Union eastwards in 2004, with an ensuing massive increase in East-West migration from the accession countries has been represented as a new migration system of a kind unique in recent migration history, with its specific features of rights of movement and low mobility and information costs accompanying persistent East-West wage differentials. In principle, it provides an ideal context in which to develop understandings of the ‘new migration’ reflecting complex motivations and migration trajectories as well as chain migration and transnational lives. Despite a rapid expansion of research in this area, new insights into the complexities of mixed migration motivations and migrant heterogeneity have tended to be focused on country-specific qualitative studies.In this paper we utilise a unique, four-country data source covering over 3,500 Poles migrating to Germany, the Netherlands, London and Dublin in 2009-2010, to enable the quantitative characterization of the new migration. Exploiting information on pre-migration experience as well as expressed migration motivations and post-migration structural, subjective and social measures of integration in the receiving country, we conduct a three-stage analysis. First we employ latent class analysis to allocate the migrants to six migrant types. Second, we link these migrant types to pre-migration characteristics and estimate multinomial logit models for class membership. Third, controlling for these pre-migration characteristics we are able to explore how the migrant types are associated with measures of integration.We reveal substantial heterogeneity among migrants and some evolving ‘new’ migrant types alongside more traditional labour migrants. We show how these types are associated with differences in pre-migration human capital, region of origin and employment experience and with post-migration social and subjective integration in receiving societies.
    Date: 2014–05–02
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:erp:leqsxx:p0074&r=eur
  13. By: BROSIUS Jacques; RAY Jean-Claude; VERHEYDEN Bertrand; WILLIAMS Donald R.
    Abstract: Luxembourg has a very unusual labor market, with only 29% of Luxembourgish nationals. The remaining workforce is composed of immigrants (27%) and cross- border workers (44%) who live in one of the three surrounding countries which are France, Germany and Belgium. Research on economic outcomes of immigrants has been a major focus of labor market research in many countries, but the cross-border population has only attracted scarce attention. Even though this topic is of limited relevance in most countries at the national level, similar situations as in Luxembourg can be found in regional and local labor markets in most other countries, around ma- jor cities for example. In this paper we use the example of Luxembourg to investi- gate the determinants of the wage gap between natives and cross-border workers. We first analyze whether this specific commuting workforce is concerned, like the non na- tional population in many other labor markets, by segregation into low-wage firms. We then use a matched employer-employee dataset to investigate the role that firm-specific characteristics play in determining the wage gap. This approach opens interesting per- spectives for expanding the literature on the native-immigrants wage gap.
    Keywords: wage gap; cross-border labor market; segregation; multilevel modeling
    JEL: J31 J61 J71 R23
    Date: 2014–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:irs:cepswp:2014-04&r=eur
  14. By: Acosta,Manuel; Azagra-Caro,Joaquín M.; Coronado,Daniel
    Abstract: This paper tracks university-to-firm patent citations rather than the more usual patent-to-patent or paper-to-patent citations. It explains regional and non-regional citations as a function of firms’ absorptive capacity and universities’ production capacity in the region rather than explaining citations as a function of distance between citing and cited regions. Using a dataset of European Union regions for the years 1997-2007, we find that fostering university R&D capacity increases the attractiveness of the local university’s knowledge base to firms in the region, but also reduces wider searches for university knowledge. Increasing the absorptive capacity of local business encourages firms to access university knowledge from outside the region.
    Keywords: Knowledge flows, patent citations, spillovers, regions
    JEL: O31 O33 R12
    Date: 2014–05–15
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ing:wpaper:201405&r=eur
  15. By: Antoni, Manfred (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]); Janser, Markus (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]); Lehmer, Florian (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany])
    Abstract: "In light of Germany´s transition approaches towards a sustainable energy system this paper examines differences of employment structure and wage differentials between renewable energy establishments and their sector peers. To do so, we have developed a novel data set by linking company-level information from the German Renewable Energy Federation with establishment-level data of the IAB Establishment History Panel. According to our descriptive evidence, there are significant differences in wages and in several other characteristics. Looking at the top-four renewable energy sectors, our estimates show that human capital and other establishment- level characteristics mostly explain the wage differential among manufacturers and energy providers. However, we find a persistent 'renewable energy wage premium' of more than ten percent in the construction installation activities and the architectural and engineering services. We interpret this premium as a positive indirect effect of the promotion of renewable energies for the benefit of employees in renewable energy establishments within these two sectors." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
    JEL: J31 P48 Q42 Q52 C81
    Date: 2014–05–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabdpa:201412&r=eur
  16. By: Ilke Van Beveren (Lessius Department of Business Studies, KU Leuven); Stijn Vanormelingen (HU Brussels, KU Leuven)
    Abstract: This paper determines the relative importance of technical efficiency and reallocation for aggregate productivity growth in a small open European economy. To this end we use a dataset containing all Belgian firms active in the private sector, both services and manufacturing. We observe at the firm level a number of factors that have been shown to be drivers of productivity differences across firms. More precisely, we have information on human capital such as the level of education and the amount of on-the-job training received by the employees. Moreover we observe the international activities of the firms such as imports and exports. This allows us to make a careful analysis of the micro foundations of aggregate productivity growth by applying the decomposition introduced by Petrin and Levinsohn (2012). The outcome of this exercise will not only provide us with a better understanding of the slowdown of productivity growth in Europe over the past decades, but also give an indication on the role of different productivity drivers in this process.
    Keywords: Productivity, Productivity Decomposition
    JEL: D24 O47 C23
    Date: 2014–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbb:reswpp:201405-257&r=eur
  17. By: Pedro Godinho (Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra and GEMF, Portugal); Pedro Cerqueira (Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra and GEMF, Portugal)
    Abstract: In this study we analyse the link between stock returns and results in national league matches for 13 clubs of six different European countries. We assume that the stock prices should only respond to the unexpected component of match results, and we use betting odds to separate the expected component of the results from the unexpected one. We consider both the unweighted results (each match having the same weight in the model) and the results weighted by a new measure of match importance that we develop. We conclude that, when this measure is used to weight the unexpected component of the results, there is a significant link between the results and stock performance for 12 out of the 13 considered clubs. So, this link can be considered to be quite consistent. We also conclude that using this measure of match importance to weight the unexpected component of the match outcomes leads to an improvement in the results we achieve.
    Keywords: Stock returns; Football results; Football teams; Information in stock markets; MGARCH.
    JEL: G14 C30
    Date: 2014–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gmf:wpaper:2014-09.&r=eur
  18. By: Minelli, Liliana; Pigini, Claudia; Chiavarini, Manuela; Bartolucci, Francesco
    Abstract: The considerable increase of non-standard labor contracts, unemployment and inactivity rates raises the question of whether job insecurity and the lack of job opportunities affect physical and mental well-being differently from being employed with an open-ended contract. In this paper we offer evidence on the relationship between Self Reported Health Status (SRHS) and the employment status in Italy using the Survey on Household Income and Wealth; another aim is to investigate whether these potential inequalities have changed with the recent economic downturn (time period 2006-2010). We estimate an ordered logit model with SRHS as response variable based on a fixed-effects approach which has certain advantages with respect to the random-effects formulation and has not been applied before with SRHS data. The fixed-effects nature of the model also allows us to solve the problems of incidental parameters and non-random selection of individuals into different labor market categories. We find that temporary workers, unemployed and inactive individuals are worse off than permanent employees, especially males, young workers, and those living in the center and south of Italy. Health inequalities between unemployed/inactive and permanent workers widen over time for males and young workers, and arise in the north of the country as well.
    Keywords: self-reported health status, employment status, economic crisis, fixed-effects ordered logit model
    JEL: I10 J60 J70
    Date: 2014–03
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:55788&r=eur
  19. By: Michael Hallsworth; John List; Robert Metcalfe; Ivo Vlaev
    Abstract: Tax collection problems date back to the earliest recorded history of mankind. This paper begins with a simple theoretical construct of paying (rather than declaring) taxes, which we argue has been an overlooked aspect of tax compliance. This construct is then tested in two large natural field experiments. Using administrative data from more than 200,000 individuals in the UK, we show that including social norms and public goods messages in standard tax payment reminder letters considerably enhances tax compliance. The field experiments increased taxes collected by the Government in the sample period and were cost-free to implement, demonstrating the potential importance of such interventions in increasing tax compliance.
    Date: 2014
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:feb:natura:00391&r=eur
  20. By: Xavier Fageda (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona)
    Abstract: This paper estimates a frequency equation to explain the determinants of network airline service levels at their hub airports. Drawing on European data for 2002-2013, we find that network airlines reduce frequencies when the share of low-cost airlines increases both on the route and at the hub airport. On the contrary, frequency choices of network airlines are not affected by competition from low-cost airlines operating in nearby secondary airports. We also find some evidence that mergers in Europe may result in a re-organization of the route structure in favor of the hubs of the larger airline.
    Keywords: hub airports, competition, network airlines, low-cost airlines JEL classification:
    Date: 2014–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ira:wpaper:201414&r=eur
  21. By: José I. Castillo-Manzano (Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, University of Seville (Spain)); Mercedes Castro-Nuño (Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, University of Seville (Spain)); Xavier Fageda (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona)
    Abstract: The connection between road traffic safety and criminal behavior has recently become a topic of interest in the literature, although little emphasis placed on the relationship with road accidents. Evidence worldwide shows that people who commit other offences characteristic of antisocial attitudes, are more prone to suffer road traffic accidents and infringe traffic laws. Here we examine the records of the 28 current member states of the European Union over the period 1999-2010. Our aim is to test the hypothesis that crime rates (and specifically, motor vehicle-related crimes) may be considered as predictors of fatal road traffic accidents. If they may, this could justify, at least prima facie, the tendency in several countries to consider traffic offences as crimes in their penal codes and to toughen the punishment imposed on those who commit them. We also analyze the effect of the severity of the legal system applied to traffic offences. Our results reveal that road traffic fatality rates are higher in countries whose inhabitants have more aggressive behavior, while the rates are lower in countries with more severe penal systems.
    Keywords: Road fatalities, Motor Vehicle Crime, Law enforcement, Panel Data, European Union JEL classification: C33, I18, K42, R41.
    Date: 2014–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ira:wpaper:201415&r=eur
  22. By: Paolo Lucchino; Dr Richard Dorsett
    Abstract: We investigate young people's labour market transitions beyond compulsory schooling and, in particular, the dynamic effects of early experiences. We use a UK longitudinal survey to model transitions between four states: employment, unemployment, education and a residual category of those neither in education nor economically active. The results provide new evidence on the causal impact of prior experience and show the importance of distinguishing between unemployment and inactivity among non-students. A simulation exercise illustrates the evaluation potential of the model and provides some clues for the design of interventions aimed at improving young people's employment prospects.
    Date: 2013–12
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nsr:niesrd:11735&r=eur

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