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on Microeconomic European Issues |
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Issue of 2014‒08‒09
24 papers chosen by Giuseppe Marotta Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia |
| By: | Cristina Cattaneo (FEEM, Italy); Carlo V. Fiorio (University of Milano, Italy); Giovanni Peri (UC, Davis. USA) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we analyze the response of career, employment and wage of native Europeans to immigration. We then ask how individual country’s policies affect these responses. We use data on 11 EU countries, over the period 1995-2001. We also use the 1991 distribution of immigrants by nationality across European labor markets to construct a version of the enclave-based instrument to proxy for the flow of immigrants, that is exogenous to local demand shocks. We find that native Europeans are more likely to upgrade to more skilled and better paid occupations, when a larger number of immigrants enter their labor market. We find no evidence of an increased likelihood of non-employment or geographical mobility. We find that more flexible labor markets in a country are a key factor to have employment upgrading in response to immigration. |
| Keywords: | Immigrants, Europe, Occupation Upgrading, Mobility, Labor Market Policies |
| JEL: | J61 O15 |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2014.56&r=eur |
| By: | Casimir Lorenz; Clemens Gerbaulet |
| Abstract: | The European electricity system is undergoing significant changes, not only with respect to developments in generation and networks but also the arrangements for the operation of the system. These are specified in the Network Codes endorsed by regulators, network operators and the European Commission with the objective to create an \Internal Energy Market". In 2013, European network operators formulated the Network Code on Electricity Balancing (NC EB) which foresees arrangements to foster cross-border exchange of balancing services with the objective to lower overall costs and to increase social welfare. Assuming that Switzerland adopts the \Electricity Agreement" which would make EU Electricity rulings binding also in Switzerland, we perform an quantitative analysis of the region consisting of Switzerland, Austria, and Germany. To conduct our analysis, we use an electricity market model with a detailed representation of power plants, scheduled power withdrawals and localized imbalances leading to the need to reserve balancing capacity and activate balancing energy. We consider different levels of integration, as outlined in the NC EB. Our results show that coordinated procurement and activation of balancing services lead to cost decreases, but at the same time distributional effects, which might need to be compensated are incurred. |
| Keywords: | balancing energy markets, regional cooperation, network code electricity balancing |
| JEL: | C61 L94 Q40 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1400&r=eur |
| By: | Carrieri, V.;; Wuebker, A.; |
| Abstract: | We exploit regional variation in the availability of breast cancer screening policies and variations in age eligibility criteria across European regions to estimate the causal effect of home invitation on mammography uptake. We link administrative public data about regional breast cancer screening policies from various sources to individual Survey of Health Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) data. We find that home invitation increases mammography uptakes by around 24 percentage points. At the same time, we find that home invitation reduces education-related inequalities but increases gradient in the use related to cognitive functions. In addition, significant effects on mammography use are found only when at least 50 per cent of the population is reached by the home invitation. Our results suggest that an exogenous informational shock significantly affects preventive decisions especially among less informed individuals but the effectiveness of the informational shock is strongly reduced for women who are less able to process information. |
| Keywords: | home invitation; preventive health care; quasi-experiment; |
| JEL: | C10 I11 I14 I18 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:yor:hectdg:14/11&r=eur |
| By: | Bodo Knoll; Hans Pitlik |
| Abstract: | Which impact does government size have on life satisfaction, and how do effects of bigger government differ between income groups in society? Previous studies typically employed country averages and thus neglect possibly heterogeneous happiness effects between income groups. The paper addresses empirically the effects of government spending on subjective well-being of individuals belonging to different income groups. Our analysis is based on individual data from 25 European countries participating in the European Social Survey. In contrast to most previous studies we take account of the endogeneity between relative income position and reported life satisfaction by an instrumental variable approach. Our results suggest, first, that most government spending categories, including social protection, are on average negatively related to individual well-being. Secondly, estimated marginal effects of health, education and social protection spending at different income levels show that spending increases always have a stronger negative effect on high income groups’ well-being than on low income groups’ life satisfaction. For all government spending categories, marginal happiness effects of higher public spending are clearly negative for income groups at the top. |
| Keywords: | Life satisfaction, government size, health spending, education spending, social protection, instrumental variables |
| JEL: | I31 H40 H11 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:feu:wfeppr:y:2014:m:7:d:0:i:14&r=eur |
| By: | Schlomann, Barbara; Reuter, Matthias; Lapillonne, Bruno; Pollier, Karine; Rosenow, Jan |
| Abstract: | The increasing number of energy and climate targets both at national and international level induces a rising demand for regular monitoring. In this paper, we analyse the possibilities and limits of using energy efficiency indicators as a tool for monitoring these targets. We refer to the energy efficiency targets of the German Energiewende and calculate and discuss several energy efficiency indicators for Germany both at the level of the overall economy and the main energy consumption sectors. We make use of the energy efficiency indicator toolbox that we have developed within the ODYSSEE database in recent years and find that there is still a considerable gap to close to achieve the overall energy efficiency targets in Germany by 2020. We also show that progress in energy efficiency slowed down between 2008 and 2012, i.e. compared to the base year of most of the German energy efficiency targets and find that energy efficiency progress in the industrial sector during the last decade has been especially slow. We conclude that improvements in energy efficiency have to speed up considerably in order to achieve the targets for 2020. Although the use of energy efficiency indicators is limited by data constraints and some methodological problems, these indicators give a deep insight into the factors determining energy consumption and can therefore complement the official monitoring process of the German Energiewende which only relies on highly aggregated indicators for energy efficiency. -- |
| Keywords: | energy efficiency targets,target monitoring,energy efficiency indicators,decomposition analysis,German "Energiewende" |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fisisi:s102014&r=eur |
| By: | Lopez-Rodriguez, Jesus; Martinez, Diego |
| Abstract: | Although non-R&D innovation activities account for a significant portion of innovation efforts carried out across very heterogeneous economies in Europe, how to incorporate them in to economic models is not always straightforward. For instance, the traditional macro approach to estimating the determinants of total factor productivity (TFP) does not handle them well. To counter these problems, this paper proposes applying an augmented macro-theoretical model to estimate the determinants of TFP by jointly considering the effects of R&D and the impact of non-R&D innovation activities on the productivity levels of firms. Estimations from a model of a sample of EU-26 countries covering the period 2004-2008 show that the distinction between R&D and non-R&D effects is significant for a number of different issues. First, the results show a sizeable impact on TFP growth, as the impact of R&D is twice that of non-R&D. Second, absorptive capacity is only linked to R&D endowments. And third, the two types of endowments cannot strictly been seen as complementary, at least for the case of countries with high R&D intensities or high non-R&D intensities. |
| Keywords: | TFP; R&D; non-R&D expenditures; EU countries |
| JEL: | O0 O3 O4 |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdf:wpaper:2014/5&r=eur |
| By: | Leilanie Basilio. Thomas K. Bauer; Anica Kramer |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the transferability of human capital across countries and the contribution of imperfect human capital portability to the explanation of the immigrant-native wage gap. Using data for West Germany, our results reveal that, overall, education and in particular labor market experience accumulated in the home countries of the immigrants receive signifiantly lower returns than human capital obtained in Germany. We further find evidence for heterogeneity in the returns to human capital of immigrants across countries. Finally, imperfect human capital transferability appears to be a major factor in explaining the wage differential between natives and immigrants. |
| Keywords: | Human Capital, Rate of Return, Immigration, Assimilation |
| JEL: | J61 J31 J24 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp671&r=eur |
| By: | Patrizia Ordine; Giuseppe Rose (Dipartimento di Economia, Statistica e Finanza, Università della Calabria) |
| Abstract: | This study aims at investigating whether wage of workers entering positions entitled to employment protection may be affected by the introduction of a two-tier labor market regime. By using repeated cross-sections microdata, we apply difference-in-differences estimators - also combined with propensity score matching techniques - to evaluate the impact of the Italian labor market reform of 2003. The results are robust and show that after the policy implementation protected entrants experienced a reduction in earnings ranging between -3.0% and -6.0%. |
| Keywords: | EPL, Flexibility-at-the-Margin, Difference-in-Differences, Propensity Score, Matching Estimators |
| JEL: | J63 J64 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:clb:wpaper:201410&r=eur |
| By: | Anna-Elisabeth Thum; Miroslav Beblavy |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the relationship between social capital and adult learning. We test this association empirically using measures of various types of social capital and adult learning based on the German Socioeconomic Panel. We use predetermined measures of social capital to exclude social skills or friends encountered during the adult education class. Fixed e¤ects for latent underlying factors such as deep personality traits and instrumental variables account for changing personality traits. We …find that most of our social capital measures have a signi…cant and positive impact on the probabilities for investing in various types of adult learning. The size of the effect varies across the different measures between increasing the probability of participating in adult learning by 0.04% to increasing the probability by 17%. We find evidence that acquaintances are more likely to increase participation in adult learning than friends. |
| Keywords: | social capital, lifelong learning, informal learning, trust, reciprocity, sociability |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp673&r=eur |
| By: | Laura Bianchini (University of Torino & CeRP, Collegio Carlo Alberto); Margherita Borella (University of Torino, CeRP, Collegio Carlo Albero & NetSpar) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the effect of retirement on cognitive functioning using the Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). The availability of a panel dataset allows to use a fixed effect estimator which is crucial to estimate the effect of individual transitions into retirement on our memory measure, word recall. Our main finding is that, conditional on the memory average age path of the typical individual, time spent in retirement has a positive effect on word recall. College educated or highly skilled workers benefit more than average from retirement, as do those individuals who declare to spend time reading books. |
| Keywords: | cognitive functioning, retirement, panel estimation |
| JEL: | I12 J24 J26 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crp:wpaper:139&r=eur |
| By: | Elise Coudin (CREST); Anne Pla (DREES); Anne-Laure Samson (Université Paris Dauphine) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses a French reform to evaluate the impacts of price regulation on general practitioners (GP) care provision, fees, and income. This reform has restricted, since 1990, the conditions self-employed GPs have to fulfill to be allowed to over-bill. We exploit 2005 and 2008 Public Health insurance administrative data on GPs activity and fees. We use regression discontinuity techniques in a fuzzy design to estimate causal impacts for GPs who set up practice in 1990 and were constrained to charge regulated prices. Our results suggest that GPs react to income effects. Under price regulation, facing prices lower of 42%, GPs provide 50% of more care than if they could overbill. Male GPs react more than female GPs, which leads to opposite effects on their labor income. GPs are more accessible to patients but may also induce demand. They reduce aside salaried activities, use more lump-sum payment schemes, and occupy more often gate-keeper positions. A complementary analysis at dates closer to the reform suggests that these figures may underestimate the short-term effects of price regulation |
| Keywords: | extra-billings, fee-for-service, GPs’ activity, causal evaluation, regression discontinuity |
| JEL: | I11 C21 H51 |
| Date: | 2014–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crs:wpaper:2014-14&r=eur |
| By: | Ana Santos Pinto |
| Abstract: | The global economic and financial crisis, which broke out in 2008, had a significant impact on European countries and, consequently, on its fiscal and budgetary decisions in the various policy areas. Security and Defence were no exception. Although the fact that the international security context continues to require a proper response to a set of transnational and sub-national risks and threats, the European countries decided to adapt their budgets to an environment of economic crisis, namely by applying austerity measures to its defence structures. This article analysis the impact of these austerity measures in four southern European countries – Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece – arguing that, despite national particularities, there are some common trends regarding the Defence and Armed Forces sector: the decline in Defence expenditure; an overall reduction in manpower, both civilian and military; the decrease of investment, procurement and R&D; and a reduction of military peacekeeping deployments. In order to overcome the consequences that the economic crisis had in the European Union Defence dimension, this article argues that the current context should be taken as an opportunity. At the national level, through the promotion of structural reforms of the Defence and Armed Forces that allow to maintain the same level of ambition, but with optimizing resources. At the European Union level, Defence cooperation should be seen as the better way to improve capabilities in any level of spending, either through overall common instruments or through sub-regional security and defence cooperation mechanisms. |
| Date: | 2014–07–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:erp:euirsc:p0398&r=eur |
| By: | Daniela Del Boca; Daniela Piazzalunga; Chiara Daniela Pronzato |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we focus on the impact of early grandparents’ care on child cognitive outcomes, in the short and medium term, using data from the Millennium Cohort Study (UK). Compared with children looked after in a formal care centre, children cared by grandparents (as well as parents) are better in naming objects, but worse in tests concerning basic concepts development, problem-solving, mathematical concepts and constructing ability. These results hide strong heterogeneities: on the one hand, the positive association between family care and child outcomes is stronger for children in more advantaged households; on the other hand, the negative association is significant only for children in more disadvantaged households. In order to assess a causal link between early care and child outcomes, we employ panel methods and instrumental variables techniques. The results we obtain confirm the cross section results. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cca:wchild:24&r=eur |
| By: | Stephen Roper (Warwick University Business School); Helen Xia (Loughborough University) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we explore the relationship between two key aspects of open innovation in small firms – absorptive capacity and external relationships – and their effects on growth in the US and European biopharmaceutical sectors. Results from an international sample of 349 biopharmaceutical firms surveyed in the US, UK, France and Germany suggest that realized absorptive capacity plays an important role in determining firms’ growth. In terms of the interaction between firms’ absorptive capacity and external relationships, we find that engagement with exploratory relationships depends strongly on the continuity of R&D, while participation in exploitative relationships is more conditional on firms’ realized absorptive capacity. |
| Keywords: | alliances, absorptive capacity, bio-technology, US, Europe |
| JEL: | O31 L25 L65 |
| Date: | 2014–05–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:enr:rpaper:0019&r=eur |
| By: | Jonas Egerer; Wolf-Peter Schill |
| Abstract: | We analyze distinctive investment scenarios for the integration of fluctuating renewables in the German power system. Using a combined model for dispatch, transmission, and investment, three different investment options are considered, including gas-fired power plants, pumped hydro storage, and transmission lines. We find that geographically optimized power plant investments dominate in the reference scenarios for 2024 and 2034. In scenarios with decreasedrenewable curtailment, storage and transmission requirements significantly increase. In an alternative scenario with larger investments into storage, system costs are only slightly higher compared to the reference; thus, considering potential system values of flexible pumped hydro storage facilities that are not included in the optimization, a moderate expansion of storage capacities appears to be a no-regret strategy from a system perspective. Additional transmission and storage investments may not only foster renewable integration, but also increase the utilization of emission-intensive plants. A comparison of results for 2024 and 2034 indicates that this is only a temporary effect. In the long run, infrastructure investments gain importance in the context of an ongoing energy transition from coal to renewables. Because of long lead times, planning and administrative procedures for large-scale projects should start early. |
| Keywords: | German energy transformation, integrated planning, renewable integration, transmission, storage |
| JEL: | C61 H54 L94 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1402&r=eur |
| By: | Hiller, Norbert; Lerbsy, Oliver |
| Abstract: | This paper extends existing research on regional quality of life in Germany by newly estimating the role of region-specific (dis-)amenities in the determination of regional housing rents and wages. Different from previous studies, the empirical analysis draws on functional labor market areas recently delineated by Kosfeld and Werner [Raumf Raumordn (2012) 70: 49-64] rather than administrative jurisdictions, circumventing problems of spatial autocorrelation. Consistent with cross-region spatial equilibrium, the results indicate that labor market area heterogeneity in housing rents and wages is closely related to differences in non-market attributes that affect household utility. The results enable the construction of a comprehensive ranking of regional quality of life which can be directly compared to the findings of previous studies. -- |
| Keywords: | Functional labor market areas,Non-market (dis-)amenities,Spatial equilibrium analysis,Quality of Life,Spatial autocorrelation |
| JEL: | R13 R21 R23 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cawmdp:71&r=eur |
| By: | Stephen Roper (Warwick University Business School); Helen Xia (Loughborough University) |
| Abstract: | Innovation has a recognised effect on survival. Undertaking more risky innovation, for example, may increase the risk of business failure, while more incremental innovation may reduce failure risk. Here, we investigate how firms’ innovation strategy choices – which may reduce the riskiness or costs of innovation and/or increase the innovation rewards – moderate the innovation-survival relationship. Our analysis is based on UK Community Innovation Survey data matched with survival data from firms’ published accounts. We are able to match nearly 80 per cent of UK CIS respondents. Contrary to expectations we find that innovation partnering and intellectual property protection have little or no moderating effect on the innovation-survival relationship. However, receiving public support for innovation has significant positive moderating effects. This suggests the notion of “survival additionality”, i.e. firms receiving public support derive more persistent benefits from innovation than firms which did not receive public support. Specifically, firms which receive public support for innovation are 2.7 per cent more likely to survive for eight years than firms which innovate but without public support. This result is strongest for product and service rather than process change, with implications for innovation policy design and evaluation. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, survival, strategy, public support, additionality, UK |
| JEL: | O32 L1 O38 Q34 L26 |
| Date: | 2014–02–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:enr:rpaper:0017&r=eur |
| By: | Salvador Barrios (Joint Research Center of the European Commission); Gaetan Nicodeme (European Commission); Antonio Jesus Sanchez Fuentes (Universidad Complutense Madrid) |
| Abstract: | The present study provides estimates of the Effective Marginal Tax Rates (EMTRs) for a sample of 17 OECD countries and 11 manufacturing sectors in a single framework encompassing capital, labour and energy taxes. Our cross-country/cross-sector approach allows us comparing the incentives provided by the tax systems and gauging the effects of tax changes taking explicitly into account the possible substitution between factors as well as their tax incidence. Our results suggest that the OECD tax systems provide different incentives for manufacturing activity across countries and that tax systems are relatively neutral with respect to the sectoral composition of manufacturing activities. The impact of potential tax increases on firms´ activity is found to be most attenuated when shifted towards consumers and/or employees rather than energy consumption and/or capital investors. These results are robust to alternative hypotheses regarding the tax incidence parameters, elasticity of substitution between factors and mark-up on final prices. In addition, policy strategies favouring tax increases on energy consumption and lowering taxes on labour can substantially reduce the EMTRs and thus yield substantial efficiency gains for firms. These reforms should in some instances be ambitious enough to produce desired effects on firms’ EMTRs, however. |
| Keywords: | Taxation; Tax incidence; Effective Taxation |
| JEL: | H20 H22 H24 H25 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tax:taxpap:0045&r=eur |
| By: | Patrizia Ordine; Giuseppe Rose (Dipartimento di Economia, Statistica e Finanza, Università della Calabria) |
| Abstract: | State- and Wealth-dependence of individual risk preferences are investigated using Italian panel data. To elicit risk aversion, a social security policy reform occurred in Italy in 2008 is exploited. This law asks private sector employees to invest their accruing severance pay in three alternative pension funds strongly heterogeneous in terms of risk. The determinants of this choice are analyzed and the focus is posed on the effect of wealth and job-status. These are investigated considering i) the behavior of workers changing job contract; ii) the presence of different income prospects associated to labor contracts'?length; iii) the exogenous threshold provided by fi?rm size in terms of Employment Protection Legislation. Fixed-Effects estimates show that preferred funds - and consequently risk preferences - are not affected by wealth modi?cations pointing out for the presence of Constant Relative Risk Aversion. Conversely, job contract characteristics in terms of job protection from the risk of layoff appear to signifi?cantly affect risk attitude pointing for the existence of a State Dependent Constant Relative Risk Aversion. |
| Keywords: | Relative Risk Aversion, Pension Funds, Panel Data, Job Movers |
| JEL: | D10 D80 D81 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:clb:wpaper:201407&r=eur |
| By: | Rob Euwals; Anja Deelen |
| Abstract: | In this study, we investigate the anatomy of older workers’ wages. The central question is whether the wage cushion—i.e., the difference between actual wages and collectively agreed-upon (maximum) contractual wages—contributes to the fact that wages continue increasing at older ages. We follow the wages of individual workers in twenty-two sectors of industry in the Netherlands using administrative data for the period 2006 – 2010. In the public sector, we find no evidence of a wage cushion. Wage scale ceilings set in collective agreements are guiding for older workers’ wages, and workers earning a contractual wage equal to a wage scale ceiling are not compensated with higher additional wages. In the private sector, we do find evidence of a wage cushion. Wage scale ceilings are less restrictive and workers earning a contractual wage exceeding the highest wage scale ceiling experience higher contractual wage growth. The private sector wage cushion enhances wage differentiation and allows for wages that continue increasing at older ages. |
| JEL: | C23 J14 J31 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpb:discus:282&r=eur |
| By: | European Commission |
| Abstract: | This report contains a detailed statistical and economic analysis of the tax systems of the Member States of the European Union, plus Iceland and Norway, which are Members of the European Economic Area. The data are presented within a unified statistical framework (the ESA95 harmonised system of national and regional accounts), which makes it possible to assess the heterogeneous national tax systems on a fully comparable basis. |
| Keywords: | European Union, taxation |
| JEL: | H23 H24 H25 H27 H71 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tax:taxtre:2014&r=eur |
| By: | Schneck, Stefan; May-Strobl, Eva |
| Abstract: | This paper utilizes German tax data to present evidence about the direct and indirect effects of new firm formation. Cohort analysis is applied to investigate survival, sales, inputs, and value added of start-up firms. Most drop-outs occur in the early years. We show that start-up microenterprises increase economic vitality directly. Turnover and value added are in an approximate proportion of 3:1. With respect to the indirect effects of new firms, we find that one Euro of sales induce considerable indirect effects because 66 Cents are used to buy products and services from incumbents. For this reason, new firms substantially promote economic prosperity of incumbents. Sectoral differences are also indicated, with the manufacturing industry generating highest sales and relying on most inputs in the early periods. -- Dieser Beitrag stellt direkte und indirekte Effekte des Gründungsgeschehens in Deutschland dar. Mit Hilfe des Umsatzsteuerpanels werden Kohortenanalysen angestellt, um die Bestandsfestigkeit, den Umsatz und die Wertschöpfung von Existenzgründungen zu beschreiben. Es wird gezeigt, dass viele Unternehmen in frühen Jahren ausscheiden. Umsatz und Wertschöpfung stehen in einem Verhältnis von etwa 3:1. Neben diesen direkten ökonomischen Effekten gehen auch indirekte Effekte von neuen Unternehmen aus. Der Vorleistungsbezug von Existenzgründungen zeigt, dass rund 66 Cent eines umgesetzten Euros für Waren und Dienstleistungen von Bestandsunternehmen eingesetzt werden. Aus diesem Grund tragen Existenzgründungen auch in beachtlichem Maße zur Prosperität von bereits bestehenden Unternehmen bei. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship,direct effects,indirect effects,sales |
| JEL: | L26 L29 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifmwps:0214&r=eur |
| By: | Rana Tadvji (Bangor University, UK); Azhdar Karami (Bangor University, UK) |
| Abstract: | The main objective of this paper is to investigate the effecto of international networking on the performance of British small and medium sized enterprises (SME). The international networking capabilities have been recognized as a vital element of growth and survival. In tnis research data has been collected using online questionnaries and mail survey for a sample of 118 SMEs operating in manufacturing, service providing and R&D sectors in the UK. The research hypotheses have been tested by applying the Structural Equation Model (SEM) methodology. The Lisrel software was used to test and analyse the relationship among variables. The collected data has been analysed using SEM. The data analysis illustates a positive and significant relationship between international networking activities of the SMEs and their performance. Learning, synergy of combined resources and knowledge sharing all were positively associated with profitability and to a lesser extent on sales growth. |
| Keywords: | International networking, performance, SME, UK |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bng:wpaper:14002&r=eur |
| By: | Kholodilin, Konstantin A.; Thomas, Tobias; Ulbricht, Dirk |
| Abstract: | In an uncertain world, decisions by market participants are based on expectations. Thus, sentiment indicators reflecting expectations are proven at predicting economic variables. However, survey respondents largely perceive the world through media reports. Typically, crude media information, like word-count indices, is used in the prediction of macroeconomic and financial variables. Here, we employ a rich data set provided by Media Tenor International, based on sentiment analysis of opinion-leading media in Germany from 2001 to 2014, transformed into several monthly indices. German industrial production is predicted in a real-time out-of-sample forecasting experiment using more than 17,000 models formed of all possible combinations with a maximum of 3 out of 48 macroeconomic, survey, and media indicators. Media data are indispensable for the prediction of German industrial production both for individual models and as a part of combined forecasts, particularly during the global financial crisis. -- |
| Keywords: | forecast combination,media data,German industrial production,reliability index,R-word |
| JEL: | C10 C52 C53 E32 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:dicedp:149&r=eur |