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on Microeconomic European Issues |
| By: | Wagner, Joachim (Leuphana University Lueneburg and CESIS, Stockholm) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses a tailor-made newly available data set for enterprises from manufacturing industries in Germany to investigate for the first time the links between the extensive margins of imports (the number of imported goods and the number of countries imported from) and firm profitability. While both extensive margins are highly positively linked with firm productivity, profits are not higher in firms that import more goods and from more countries. This demonstrates that productivity advantages of importers are eaten up by extra costs related to buying more goods in more countries. |
| Keywords: | Imports; intensive margins; profitability; Germany |
| JEL: | F14 |
| Date: | 2014–05–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0363&r=eur |
| By: | Françoise Milewski (OFCE); Réjane Sénac (Centre de recherches politiques de Sciences Po) |
| Abstract: | Europe is seen as the engine of public policy on gender equality, particularly through Member States’ implementation of EU law into national law. Straddling legislative components and soft law instruments (such as a cross-cutting approach and promoting “best practices”), EU gender equality policies represent a vantage point for analyzing the Europeanization process. We shall begin by discussing the specificity of national situations before analyzing the transnational dimension of the EU law on non-discrimination. We shall then look at European equality policies by looking at current debate including: issues surrounding the European employment Strategy, connections between hard law and soft law, gender equality and Europeanization. In affirming the “principle of equal pay, without discrimination based on sex”, Article 119 of the Treaty of Rome embodies the founding dimension of gender equality in the European project. In this way, EU texts – from the Common Market to the internal market, and then to integration – place gender equality at the crossroads of economics, law and politics. After highlighting how diverse the situation is in different countries, we will present the ways in which European policy on equality addresses |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/1nh7s6unge8jnpmknht5ugs9di&r=eur |
| By: | Enkelejda Havari (University of Venice - Ca’ Foscari); Marco Savegnago (Bank of Italy and University of Rome “Tor Vergata”) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the causal effect of parental education on children’s education in 13 European countries, using representative data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). A novel instrumental variable approach is used to solve the endogeneity issue. We combine two instruments: parental birth order (indicator for being a first born) and Compulsory Schooling Laws (CSL). While CSL have been widely used in applied work, our contribution is to introduce parental birth order as instrument in the intergenerational mobility literature. We find that parental education has a positive, large and significant causal effect on children’s education. This finding is robust to the instrument chosen (birth order, CSL, or both), to sample selection and to several robustness checks. |
| Keywords: | intergenerational transmission, causality, birth order, education, Europe |
| JEL: | J01 J6 I2 I24 |
| Date: | 2014–05–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rtv:ceisrp:315&r=eur |
| By: | Eibhlin Hudson (Trinity College Dublin); David Madden (University College Dublin); Irene Mosca (Trinity College Dublin) |
| Abstract: | Smoking, low physical activity and frequent alcohol consumption may have substantial health risks in terms of disease, quality of life and mortality. Understanding inequality in relation to these behaviours among older people is important in the context of a rapidly ageing population. In this study, we examine income-related inequality in relation to these three key health behaviours using data on older adults from both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. We employ concentration indices and decompose them to determine the factors which contribute most to inequality. We then examine whether differences exist between the two regions. We find that smoking and low physical activity are more concentrated among those with lower incomes in both regions. In relation to physical activity, the magnitude of the inequality is higher for Northern Ireland. Frequent alcohol consumption is more concentrated among those with higher incomes in both regions. Self-assessed health and age tend to feature prominently for all behaviours in terms of contribution to inequality. Marital status and labour market status tend to play a less pronounced role. In terms of Northern Ireland/Republic of Ireland comparisons with respect to the decompositions, probably the biggest difference is to be observed in the greater role accorded to labour market status in the Republic. For the other factors, the orders of magnitude are reasonably similar. This suggests that in many cases it may be the same underlying factors which lie behind income related inequalities. |
| Keywords: | inequality; health behaviours; older adults; Republic of Ireland; Northern Ireland |
| JEL: | I14 J14 |
| Date: | 2014–02–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucn:wpaper:201402&r=eur |
| By: | Malina, Christiane; Fischer, Frauke |
| Abstract: | A common policy for reducing particulate matter concentrations in the European Union is the introduction of Low Emission Zones (LEZs), which may only be entered by vehicles meeting predefined emission standards. This paper examines the effectiveness of LEZs for reducing PM10 levels in urban areas in Germany and quantifies the associated health impacts from reduced air pollution within the zones. We employ a fixed effects panel data model for daily observations of PM10 concentrations from 2000 to 2009 and control, inter alia, for local meteorological conditions and traffic volume. We apply the regression outputs to a concentration response function derived from the epidemiological literature to calculate associated health impacts of the introduction of LEZs in 25 German cities with a population of 3.96 Mio. Associated uncertainties are accounted for in Monte-Carlo simulations. It is found that the introduction of LEZs has significantly reduced inner city PM10 levels. We estimate the total mean health impact from reduced air pollution in 2010 due to the introduction of stage 1 zones to be ~700 Mio. EUR in the 25 LEZ-cities in the sample, whereas total mean health benefits are ~2.4 Billion EUR for the more stringent stage 2 zones when applied to the same cities. -- |
| Keywords: | Environmental policy,Germany,low emission zones,road transport,particulate matter,health effects |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cawmdp:68&r=eur |
| By: | Hélène Périvier-Timbeau (OFCE) |
| Abstract: | The current economic crisis has deeply affected European labour markets. Employment has dropped more or less in all countries. Female employment was less affected by the recession phase of the crisis than male employment. The second stage, characterised by the implementation of stimulus packages, should have been more favorable to male employment. The third stage, during which austerity plans have been introduced, might be particularly harsh for female employment. These gendered effects of the crisis are basically explained by sectoral segregation based on gender. The aim of this paper is to describe and analyse the trend in employment for women and men during the different stages of current crisis in eight European countries. We break down the evolution of employment by sectors for men and women by using a shift-share analysis. In some countries, specifically in Spain, the impact of the crisis has led to a narrowing of the gender gap; this is mainly explained by gender sectoral segregation. In the UK and Denmark, women have been less protected by sectoral segregation, because they have experienced more job losses than they should have if their distribution across the different economic sectors had remained the same during the crisis. |
| Keywords: | Gender gaps; Economic cycles; Labour market |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/667s065gqe8qg8pre3e1kb7gb6&r=eur |
| By: | Rosina Moreno (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona); Jordi Suriñach (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | The idea in this paper is to provide an empirical verification of the relationship between innovation adoption and productivity growth. After a brief revision of the literature about the concept and main determinants of innovation adoption/diffusion, the paper provides empirical evidence of the above-mentioned relationship through means of descriptive statistics and subsequently, we study the impact that innovation adoption may have on productivity growth through a regression analysis. The analysis is made with the statistical information provided by the Community Innovation Survey in its third and fourth waves, which concern innovative activities carried out between 1998 and 2000 and between 2002 and 2004 respectively. The countries covered are the 25 EU Member States plus Iceland and Norway as well as Turkey. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, Innovation adoption, Productivity, Europe, Community Innovation Survey. JEL classification: C8, J61, O31, O33, R0 |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aqr:wpaper:201408&r=eur |
| By: | Gabriele Pellegrino (Barcelona Institute of Economics - University of Barcelona, Barcelona); Mariacristina Piva (DISCE, Università Cattolica) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the determinants of the choice of different types of innovative input (R&D and technological acquisitions) and their relationship with different innovative outputs (product and process innovation), distinguishing between firms of different ages (mature vs young). In order to do so we apply a nonlinear structural model estimated on the third and fourth waves of the Italian Community Innovation Survey (CIS). We find that firm and market characteristics play a distinct role in boosting different types of innovation activities for firms of different ages. In particular, while methods of appropriability and international market exposure are relevant for both forms of innovative input, cooperation in innovation activities appears to be important for increasing the level of investment in R&D but not for technological acquisition. Moreover, young firms show a higher level of sensitivity than their mature counterparts to sources of information regarding innovation when we consider the magnitude of their innovative effort. On the contrary, factors such as methods of appropriability and support for innovation appear to be more important for enhancing the level of investment in both R&D and technological acquisitions for the mature firms only. Finally, the two innovative inputs appear to be equally important in determining both forms of innovative output for the two sub-samples of firms. |
| Keywords: | R&D; Technological acquisition; Innovative outputs; Young firms |
| JEL: | O31 |
| Date: | 2014–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctc:serie2:dises1497&r=eur |
| By: | Backman, Mikaela (Centre for Entrepreneurship and Spatial Economics (CEnSE) Center for Science and Innovation Studies (CESIS), Jönköping International Business School, Jönköping, Sweden); Karlsson, Charlie (Centre for Entrepreneurship and Spatial Economics (CEnSE) Center for Science and Innovation Studies (CESIS), Jönköping International Business School, Jönköping, Sweden) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we analyse the determinants of the decision to become self-employed among commuters and non-commuters. In the entrepreneurship literature it is claimed that the rich-ness and quality of an individual’s business, professional and social networks play an im-portant role for the decision to become self-employed. People that commute between localities in the same region or between localities in different regions will most proba¬bly be able to develop richer personal networks than non-commuters, since they can develop network links both in the locality where they live and in the locality where they work. In this paper, we test this hypothesis using micro-data for around three million individuals in Sweden. As far as we know, this is the first time this hypothesis is tested. In our empirical analysis, we make a distinction between three groups of individuals: non-com¬muters, intra-regions commuter and inter-region commuters. For each of this groups we test how the probability of becoming self-employed is influenced by a number of characteristics of individuals, characteristics of home and work localities and regions. Our results indicate a significant difference between non-commuters and commuters in terms of the role of networks for becoming self-employed. On the one hand, we find for non-commuters that living and working in a locality with rich business networks reduce the probability of becoming self-employed. For commuters, on the other hand we find that working in a locality with rich business networks increase the probability to become self-employed. In this latter case, living in a municipality with rich business networks has a non-significant effect on the probability of becoming self-employed. Our results indicate that it is the business networks where people work, rather than where they live that exerts a positive influence on the probability of becoming self-employed. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship; individual attributes; regional attributes; networks; micro-level data |
| JEL: | C21 J24 L26 R12 |
| Date: | 2014–05–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0365&r=eur |
| By: | Andrea Bonaccorsi (Department of Energy and Systems Engineering, University of Pisa, Italy); Cinzia Daraio (Department of Computer, Control and Management Engineering, Universita' degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza"); Leopold Simar (Institute of Statistics, Biostatistics et Actuarial Sciences, Universite' Catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we investigate economies of scale and scope of European universities.The proposed approach builds on the notion that university production is a multi-input multi-output process different than standard production activity. The analyses are based on an interesting database which integrates the main European universities data on inputs and outputs with bibliometric data on publications, impact and collaborations. We pursue a cross-country perspective; we include subject mix and introduce a robust modeling of production trade-offs. Finally, we test the statistical significance of scale and scope and find that size and specialization have a statistical significant impact both jointly and separately, showing an inverted u-shape effect on efficiency. |
| Keywords: | efficiency; national academic systems; disciplinary specialization; research performance;teaching and research;nonparametric and robust frontier estimation; bootstrap |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aeg:report:2014-08&r=eur |
| By: | Sarbu, Miruna |
| Abstract: | Flexible work arrangements such as allowing employees to work at home are used in firms, especially since information and communication technologies have become so widespread. Using individual-level data from 10,884 German employees, this paper analyses the determinants of working at home as a form of flexible work arrangements. The analysis is based on descriptive analyses and a discrete choice model using a probit estimation approach. The results reveal that men have a higher probability to work at home but women are more likely to work at home intensively. Education, tenure and the use of computers increase the probability of working at home while firm size and a young age of employees reduce it. Having children less than six years old, overtime and work time have a positive impact on both working at home and on working at home intensively. -- |
| Keywords: | work at home,telecommuting,home office,workplace organisation |
| JEL: | J01 J10 J20 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:14028&r=eur |
| By: | Bernt Bratsberg (The Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research, Oslo, Norway); Oddbjørn Raaum (The Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research, Oslo, Norway); Knut Røed (The Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research, Oslo, Norway) |
| Abstract: | Based on individual longitudinal data, we examine the evolution of employment and earnings of postâ€EU accession Eastern European labour immigrants to Norway for a period of up to eight years after entry. We find that the migrants were particularly vulnerable to the negative labour demand shock generated by the financial crisis. During the winter months of 2008/09, the fraction of immigrant men claiming unemployment insurance benefits rose from below 2 to 14 per cent. Some of this increase turned out to be persistent, and unemployment remained considerably higher among immigrants than natives even three years after the crisis. Although we find that negative labour demand shocks raise the probability of return migration, the majority of the labour migrants directly affected by the downturn stayed in Norway and claimed unemployment insurance benefits. |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:1419&r=eur |
| By: | Thomas Barnay; Sandrine Juin; Renaud Legal |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tep:teppwp:wp14-01&r=eur |
| By: | Cueto, Begona; Miguel Á., Malo |
| Abstract: | In this article, we estimate the total earnings losses of male workers with a partial disability, i.e., they are able to work in a different occupation after disability onset. We use a Spanish administrative dataset (Muestra Continua de Vidas Laborales) from a specific partial disability pension scheme (Incapacidad Permanente Total). Using propensity score estimators combined with difference-in-differences, the estimation of the causal effect of the disability onset shows earnings losses to be approximately €400 per month for the first two years. For male workers over 54, total earnings losses are greater even though they receive greater benefits. |
| Keywords: | disability pensions; earnings losses; older workers. |
| JEL: | H24 H55 J14 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:55920&r=eur |
| By: | Hackbarth, André (E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN)); Madlener, Reinhard (E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN)) |
| Abstract: | In the light of European energy efficiency and clean air legislations, as well as an ambitious electric mobility goal of the German government, we examine consumer preferences for alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs), based on a Germany-wide discrete choice experiment among 711 potential car buyers. We estimate consumers’ willingness-to-pay (WTP) and contingent variation (CV) for improvements in vehicle purchase price, fuel cost, driving range, refueling infrastructure, CO2 emissions and governmental monetary and non-monetary incentives, hereby accounting for diminishing marginal returns for some of the attributes and taking taste differences in the population into account by applying a latent class model with 6 distinct consumer segments. Our results indicate that almost 36% of the consumers are open-minded towards at least one AFV option, with 15% being AFV-affine insomuch that they show a high probability of choosing AFVs despite their current shortcomings. Our results suggest that German car buyers’ WTP for improvements of the various vehicle attributes varies considerably across consumer segments and that the vehicle features have to meet some minimum requirements so that AFVs are shortlisted. Furthermore, the CV values show that decision-makers in the administration and industry should focus on the most promising consumer group of ‘AFV aficionados’ and their needs, that some vehicle attribute improvements could increase AFV demand rather cost-effectively, and that consumers would accept surcharges for some vehicle attributes at a level, which could enable their economic provision and operation (e.g. fast-charging infrastructure), while others might need governmental subsidies to substitute the insufficient consumer WTP (e.g. battery capacity). |
| Keywords: | Discrete choice; Stated preferences; Latent class model; Alternative fuel vehicles; Germany; Electric mobility; Willingness-to-pay; Contingent variation |
| JEL: | C25 D12 M38 Q58 R48 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:fcnwpa:2013_020&r=eur |
| By: | Jonathan Wadsworth |
| Abstract: | During periods of strong economic growth, migration is and has always been important for filling gaps in the labour market. On balance, the evidence for the UK labour market suggests that fears about adverse consequences of rising immigration in general and EU immigration in particular have still not, on average, materialised. It is hard to find evidence of much displacement of UK workers or lower wages, on average. Immigrants, especially in recent years, tend to be younger and better educated than the UK-born and less likely to be unemployed. Future migration trends will, as ever, depend on relative economic performance and opportunity. But we still need to know more about the effects of rising immigration beyond the labour market in such areas as prices, health, crime and welfare. |
| Keywords: | immigration, European Union, UK, government policy, education, labour market, jobs, wages |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:ceppap:015&r=eur |
| By: | Oscar Claveria (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona); Enric Monte (Department of Signal Theory and Communications, Polytechnic University of Catalunya); Salvador Torra (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | This study compares the performance of different Artificial Neural Networks models for tourist demand forecasting in a multiple-output framework. We test the forecasting accuracy of three different types of architectures: a multi-layer perceptron network, a radial basis function network and an Elman neural network. We use official statistical data of inbound international tourism demand to Catalonia (Spain) from 2001 to 2012. By means of cointegration analysis we find that growth rates of tourist arrivals from all different countries share a common stochastic trend, which leads us to apply a multivariate out-of-sample forecasting comparison. When comparing the forecasting accuracy of the different techniques for each visitor market and for different forecasting horizons, we find that radial basis function models outperform multi-layer perceptron and Elman networks. We repeat the experiment assuming different topologies regarding the number of lags used for concatenation so as to evaluate the effect of the memory on the forecasting results, and we find no significant differences when additional lags are incorporated. These results reveal the suitability of hybrid models such as radial basis functions that combine supervised and unsupervised learning for economic forecasting with seasonal data. |
| Keywords: | forecasting; tourism demand; cointegration; multiple-output; artificial neural networks. JEL classification: L83; C53; C45; R11 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ira:wpaper:201417&r=eur |
| By: | Gunther Capelle-Blancard; Olena Havrylchyk |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we assess the impact of the securities transaction tax (STT) introduced in France in 2012 on market liquidity and volatility. To identify causality, we rely on the unique design of this tax that is imposed only on large French firms, all listed on Euronext. This provides two reliable control groups (smaller French firms and foreign firms also listed on Euronext) and allows using difference-in-difference methodology to isolate the impact of the tax from other economic changes occurring simultaneously. We find that the STT has reduced trading volume, but we find no effect on theoretically based measures of liquidity, such as price impact, and no significant effect on volatility. The results are robust if we rely on different control groups (German stocks included in DAX and MDAX), analyze dynamic effects or construct a control group by propensity score matching. |
| Keywords: | Financial transaction tax, Securities transaction tax, Tobin tax, Volatility,Liquidity, Euronext. |
| JEL: | G21 H25 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:drm:wpaper:2014-27&r=eur |
| By: | Eliasson, Tove (Uppsala University, Department of Economics,); Nordström Skans, Oskar (Uppsala University, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the impact of a collective agreement stipulating a one shot increase in establishment-specific wage levels in a public-sector setting where wages otherwise are set according to individualized wage bargaining. The agreement stipulated that wages should increase in proportion to the number of low-paid females within each establishment. We find that actual wages among incubents responded to the share of females with a wage below the stipulated threshold, conditional on the separate effects of the share of low wage earners, and the share of females. We find clear evidence of path-dependence in wages, covered workers remained on higher wage levels 4 years after the agreement took effect. The increase in wages resulted in a reduced probability of exit among young workers with relatively good grades and a lower frequency of new hires at the establishment level. |
| Keywords: | Collective bargaining; wage growth; turnover; wage rigidity; hours of work; labor costs |
| JEL: | J23 J31 J52 J63 |
| Date: | 2014–05–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2014_010&r=eur |
| By: | Suzanne Ruwaard; Rudy Douven |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of quality on patient volume and hospital choice for cataract treatments. Our dataset covers the period 2006-2011 and includes all 854,613 patients who underwent a cataract treatment in the Netherlands. At the aggregate-level we find that, a one-point quality increase, on a scale of one to a hundred, would raise patient volume for the average hospital by 2-4%. This effect is mainly due to the performance of the top performing hospital. This effect halves after excluding this hospital from the dataset. Also at the individual-level, we find, all else being equal, that patients are willing to travel an additional 11km or more for the top performing as opposed to other hospitals. Our results suggest that the impact of quality on patient volume and willingness to travel is non-linear. Only the top performing hospital is able to attract significantly more patients. |
| JEL: | I11 D12 C25 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpb:discus:272&r=eur |
| By: | Rey Dang; Duc Khuong Nguyen |
| Abstract: | The under-representation of female directors in the boardroom where corporate strategic decisions are made has recently become not only an ethical business case but also a public pressure to improve this gender imbalance. While there is some practical evidence to suggest that gender-diverse corporate boards have a positive impact on performance, the results from elaborate academic research are not always conclusive and vary across samples and countries. This article examines the relationship between board gender diversity and firm performance from a dynamic perspective through using quantile regression. This method allows us to capture the potential impact of female representation at different points of the distributions of the performance measure. Using a panel of French listed companies (SBF 120) over the period 2009-2011, we uncover that the impact of board gender di- versity on firm performance is not alike over different points of the conditional distribution, and that this impact depends on the measure of performance under consideration. Typically, board gender diversity affects negatively the Tobin’s Q and positively the return on asset when these variables are high and low, respectively. Finally, we show that using traditional OLS and fixed- random-effect estimations may mask the true effect of board gender diversity. |
| Keywords: | Board of Directors; Gender; Diversity; Corporate Governance |
| JEL: | G30 G34 J16 |
| Date: | 2014–05–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipg:wpaper:2014-297&r=eur |
| By: | David Candon (School of Economics and Geary Institute, University College Dublin) |
| Abstract: | The continued rise in overall cancer survival rates has ignited a field of research which examines the effect that cancer has on survivors’ employment. Previous estimates of the effect of cancer on labour market outcomes, using U.S. data, show a significant reduction in employment and hours of work in the first 6 months after diagnosis. However, this impact has been found to dissipate after 2 years. I use data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) and find that, not only does cancer have a negative impact in the first 6-month period following diagnosis, but also in the second 6-month period. I estimate that, in the second 6-month period after diagnosis, respondents with cancer are 20.7 percentage points less likely to work and work 24% less hours a week when compared to matched, healthy controls. This suggests that the negative effects from cancer can persist for longer than the 6 months identified in previous studies. Results are significant at the 1% level. These results have implications for government policy and employers, because it increases both the length of time that survivors may be on government supported sick pay and the expected time that workers will be absent from work due to illness. |
| Keywords: | Labour market; Cancer; Employment; Hours worked |
| JEL: | I10 J21 J22 |
| Date: | 2014–05–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucd:wpaper:201408&r=eur |
| By: | MArco Bee; Massimo Riccaboni; Stefano Schiavo |
| Abstract: | The proper characterization of the size distribution of business firms represents an important issue in economic literature, with the most common reference distribu- tions being the lognormal and the Pareto varieties. This analysis is related to some methodological issues that are rarely properly addressed in applied work, and may significantly affect the results: the major difficulties arise from low power of the tests caused by limited sample size and the common practice of binning the data. In this paper we contribute to this body of literature by analyzing the size distribu- tion of all French companies, strongly rejecting the hypothesis that it is a Pareto distribution. Moreover, we argue that the lognormal distribution is a more reason- able first-cut benchmark for the entire population of firms. This is especially true for single-product firms, while we show the emergence of a Zipf tail for the class of multi-product companies. Our findings are in strong agreement with some recent theoretical contributions, which predict that the size distribution depends on a set of industry specific determinants. |
| Keywords: | Firm size distribution, multi-product firms, Pareto, ZipfÕs law, lognormal |
| JEL: | C46 L11 L25 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:trn:utwpem:2014/03&r=eur |
| By: | Geraldine Henningsen (Department of Management Engineering, Technical University of Denmark); Arne Henningsen (Department of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen); Sascha T. Schröder (Department of Management Engineering, Technical University of Denmark); Simon Bolwig (Department of Management Engineering, Technical University of Denmark) |
| Abstract: | The Danish “Klima 2020” plan sets an ambitious target for the complete phasing-out of fossil fuels by 2050. The Danish energy sector currently accounts for 40% of national CO2 emissions. Based on an extended Farrell input distance function that accounts for CO2 as an undesirable output, we estimate the environmental productivity of individual generator units based on a panel data set for the period 1998 to 2011 that includes virtually all fuel-fired generator units in Denmark. We further decompose total productivity into technical efficiency, best practice ratio, and scale efficiency and use a global Malmquist index to calculate the yearly changes. By applying time series clustering, we can identify high, middle, and low performance groups of generator units in a dynamic setting. Our results indicate that the sectoral productivity only slightly increased over the fourteen years. Furthermore, we find that there is no overall high achiever group, but that the ranking, although time consistent, varies between the different productivity measures. However, we identify steam turbines and combustion engines for combined heat and power production as potential high performers, while combustion engines that only produce electricity are clearly low performers. |
| Keywords: | Environmental productivity, energy sector, productivity analysis, CO2 mitigation, renewable energy, transition |
| JEL: | C50 D22 D24 O30 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:foi:wpaper:2014_04&r=eur |