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on Microeconomic European Issues |
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Issue of 2014‒08‒25
twenty-two papers chosen by Giuseppe Marotta Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia |
| By: | Caroli, Eve; Godard, Mathilde |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the causal effect of perceived job insecurity – i.e. the fear of involuntary job loss – on health in a sample of men from 22 European countries. We rely on an original instrumental variable approach based on the idea that workers perceive greater job security in countries where employment is strongly protected by the law, and relatively more so if employed in industries where employment protection legislation is more binding, i.e. in industries with a higher natural rate of dismissals. Using cross-country data from the 2010 European Working Conditions Survey, we show that when the potential endogeneity of job insecurity is not accounted for, the latter appears to deteriorate almost all health outcomes. When tackling the endogeneity issue by estimating an IV model and dealing with potential weak-instrument issues, the health-damaging effect of job insecurity is confirmed for a limited subgroup of health outcomes, namely suffering from headaches or eyestrain and skin problems. As for other health variables, the impact of job insecurity appears to be insignificant at conventional levels. |
| Keywords: | job insecurity; health; instrumental variables |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpm:docweb:1410&r=eur |
| By: | Crass, Dirk; Licht, Georg; Peters, Bettina |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the role intangible capital plays for economic growth in different sectors in Germany. It consists of two major parts. In the first part, we aim at measuring investment in intangibles at the sector level. We shed light on differences across sectors but also compare these figures with investment in physical capital and with investment in intangibles in the UK as European benchmark. The second part explores the role of intangible assets for stimulating growth at the sector level by performing growth accounting analyses. We find that German firms have boosted investments in intangible capital from 1995-2006 by 30%. Furthermore, results reveal differences in the investment patterns among the UK and Germany. In nearly all sectors investments in design and computerized information are larger in the UK. In contrast, German firms invest a higher proportion of gross output in R&D in all sectors, and advertising is also more common except for the sector trade & transport. Intangible assets have stimulated labour productivity growth in all sectors. The contribution varies between 0.17 (construction) and 0.59 (manufacturing) percentage points. In manufacturing, financial and business services innovative property capital is the most influential type of intangible capital for labour productivity, followed by economic competencies and computerized information. In all other sectors, economic competencies play the most prominent role for labour productivity growth. -- |
| Keywords: | intangible assets,economic growth,sector |
| JEL: | E22 O47 L60 L80 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:14049&r=eur |
| By: | Francesco Nicolli (Facoltà di Economia (Faculty of Economics)); Francesco Vona (OFCE) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates empirically the effect of market regulation and renewable energy policies on innovation activity in different renewable energy technologies. For the EU countries and the years 1980 to 2007, we built a unique dataset containing information on patent production in eight different technologies, proxies of market regulation and technology-specific renewable energy policies. Our main findings show that lowering entry barriers is a more significant driver of renewable energy innovation than privatisation and unbundling, but its effect varies across technologies, being stronger in technologies characterised by the potential entry of small, independent power producers. Additionally, the inducement effect of renewable energy policies is heterogeneous and more pronounced for wind, which is the only technology that is mature and has high technological potential. Finally, the ratification of the Kyoto protocol – determining a more stable and less uncertain policy framework - amplifies the inducement effect of both energy policy and market liberalisation. |
| Keywords: | renewable energy technology; environmental innovation; heterogenous policy effect; feedin tariff; renewable energy certificates; entry barrier |
| JEL: | Q34 Q42 Q48 Q51 Q58 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/4b9o704lm99vm9u7s9e6fdpp6r&r=eur |
| By: | Edmark, Karin (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)); Frölich, Markus (University of Mannheim); Wondratschek, Verena (Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW)) |
| Abstract: | This study analyses whether the Swedish school choice reform, enacted in 1992, had different effects on students from different socio-economic backgrounds. We use detailed geographical data on students’ and schools’ locations to construct measures of the degree of potential choice. This allows us to study the effects of choice opportunities among public schools, whereas previous studies have focused on newly opened private schools. Our results suggest small positive or no effects of choice opportunities, depending on specification and outcome. We find no strong evidence of differences between subgroups; if anything, effects tend to be slightly more positive for disadvantaged groups, such as students from low-income families. Taken together, the results indicate that students from a socio-economically disadvantaged or immigrant background were not harmed by the reform. |
| Keywords: | School choice; school competition; treatment evaluation; cognitive and non-cognitive skills |
| JEL: | C21 I24 |
| Date: | 2014–08–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2014_016&r=eur |
| By: | Alexander Tübke (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); Fernando Hervás (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); Jörg Zimmermann (European Commission – JRC - IPTS) |
| Abstract: | This report presents the findings of the eigth survey on trends in industrial R&D investment. These are based on 172 responses of mainly larger companies from the 1000 EU-based companies in the 2012 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard. These 172 companies are responsible for R&D investment worth € 62 billion, constituting around 41% of the total R&D investment by the 1000 EU Scoreboard companies. The main conclusion is that, between 2013-15, the responding companies expect to increase their R&D investments by 2.6 % on average per year. Due to decreased expectations in the automobiles & parts sector, this is a third lower than in the previous survey. The responding companies carry out a quarter of their R&D outside the EU. Their expectations for R&D investment for the next three years show continued participation of European companies in the global economy, in particular growth opportunities in emerging economies, while maintaining an R&D focus in the EU. Two thirds of the European companies in the sample chose their home country as the most attractive location for R&D, and identified the US, Germany, China and India as the most attractive locations outside their home country. Knowledge-sharing, human resources, proximity to other company sites and market demand make countries attractive for R&D activities. Comparing the attractiveness for R&D activities of the surveyed companies among eight EU countries, quality of R&D personnel and knowledge-sharing opportunities with universities and public organisations are most frequently stated among the top three. Comparing the attractiveness of the EU to the US, the proximity factor is leading before knowledge sharing opportunities and R&D personnel. Comparing the attractiveness of the EU to the one of China and India, for the EU geographic proximity to other company sites and technology poles & incubators is a factor for attractiveness. |
| Keywords: | R&D investment expectations, EU Scoreboard, internationalisation, knowledge-sharing |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc85328&r=eur |
| By: | José I. García Pérez; Ioana Marinescu; Judit Vall Castello |
| Abstract: | Fixed-term contracts have low firing costs and can thus help low skilled youth find a first job faster. But do these workers get a more rewarding career? Using Spanish social security data, we compare the careers of native male high-school dropouts who entered the labor market just before and just after a large liberalization in the use of fixed-term contracts in 1984. Using a cohort regression discontinuity design we find that the reform raised the likelihood of working before age 20. However, by substantially increasing the number of employment spells it reduced workers' accumulated employment up to 2006 by almost 200 days and accumulated wages by 22%. These effects are concentrated during the first 5-10 years of these young workers' career. We conclude that widespread fixed-term contracts have harmed the careers of low-skilled workers. |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fda:fdaddt:2014-08&r=eur |
| By: | Don J. Webber (University of the West of England, Bristol); Min-Hua Jen (Imperial University); Eoin O'Leary (University College Cork) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines productivity dynamics at different spatial scales across European countries. Application of non-parametric simultaneous estimation techniques to a hierarchical dataset permits us to consider explicitly the extent to which the national-level is important for understanding regional-level productivity variation. The results show considerable national and regional level productivity variation which is not constant and evolves over time. There is divergence at all spatial scales and groups of regions that follow different growth trajectories with group membership not being confined by national borders. The results imply that policymakers need to take cognizance of the multi-layered economic geographies in which they are located. There are also group dynamics that challenge the dominance of the national economic positions and should be considered when shaping policy. |
| Keywords: | Multi-level modelling; Regional productivity; Groups |
| JEL: | R11 O47 |
| Date: | 2014–01–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uwe:wpaper:20141408&r=eur |
| By: | Evers, Maria Theresia; Finke, Katharina; Matenaer, Sebastian; Meier, Ina; Zinn, Benedikt |
| Abstract: | The German Accounting Law Modernization Act (BilMoG) represents a change in paradigm with regard to the traditionally close relationship between financial and tax accounting in Germany. At the same time, requirements on the disclosure of deferred taxes were revised considerably. We make use of these new disclosure provi-sions to disaggregate firms' deferred tax position and to analyze the components of temporary book-tax differences that add to the reporting gap in Germany. To this end, we apply a unique dataset of hand-collected information from individual financial statements for the fiscal year 2010. We find considerable differences between financial and tax accounting and observe that temporary book-tax differences are mainly associ-ated with mandatory differences in accounting for provisions. The scope and quality of tax-related disclosures vary substantially and the overall disclosure quality is low. In order to identify the determinants of the heterogeneity of disclosure quality, we con-struct an index for voluntary and mandatory disclosure of deferred tax information and conduct multivariate analyses to explain firms' disclosure decisions. We show that the recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities on the face of the balance-sheet is sig-nificantly and positively related with disclosure quality in the notes to the financial statements. Further, our results suggest that larger firms are more likely to have high-quality tax disclosures and that high implementation costs could also explain the ob-served shortfalls in disclosure quality. Moreover, we find that different reporting incen-tives might apply if reporting on losses is assessed in isolation. We use these insights to derive implications for the discussion about whether and how to reform disclosure re-quirements under German GAAP. -- |
| Keywords: | book-tax conformity,book-tax differences,deferred taxes,disclosure quality,tax reporting |
| JEL: | H20 H25 K34 M41 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:14047&r=eur |
| By: | Sa, Filipa (King's College London) |
| Abstract: | This article exploits variation in university tuition fees over time and across countries in the UK to examine the effect of fees on applications to higher education. It focuses on two policy changes: the removal of upfront tuition fees in Scotland in 2001 and the increase in fees in England in 2012. The findings suggest that the 2001 reform increased applications by 24.4%, while the 2012 reform reduced applications by 30.3%. The 2012 reform had a larger negative effect for applicants aged 20 and over and for courses with lower expected earnings after graduation. |
| Keywords: | tuition fees, university applications |
| JEL: | I21 J24 |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8364&r=eur |
| By: | Andreas Georgiadis; Alan Manning |
| Abstract: | The first contribution of this paper is to use UK monthly firm-level data to show that there is a large amount of transitory volatility in firm-level average earnings from month to month. We conclude that this cannot all be explained away as the consequence of measurement error, composition effects or variation in remunerated hours i.e. we suggest this volatility is real. The second contribution of the paper is to argue that this volatility cannot be interpreted as high flexibility in the shadow cost of labour to employers because of sizeable frictions in the labour market. Indeed we point out that it is the existence of frictions that allow the volatility to exist. Consequently we argue that this volatility would be expected to have only small allocational consequences and that measures of base wages are more useful in drawing conclusions about wage flexibility. |
| Keywords: | Wages, wage flexibility |
| JEL: | E24 J30 |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1290&r=eur |
| By: | Ferguson, Shon (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)); Sanctuary, Mark (Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the intensive and extensive margins of carbon leakage. The analysis uses an increase in the Swedish electricity price to identify the impact on imports at the firm and product level. Our model of heterogenous firms predicts that higher domestic electricity prices lead firms to substitute towards imports of electricity-intense products. |
| Keywords: | Firm heterogeneity; Carbon leakage; Energy; Importing |
| JEL: | D21 F18 |
| Date: | 2014–08–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1035&r=eur |
| By: | Gerritzen, Berit C.; Martínez, Isabel Z.; Ramsden, Alma |
| Abstract: | We study health care premium subsidies in the Swiss cantons in order to understand the reasons behind the substantial cross-cantonal variation in households' premium load, i.e., the share of disposable income that is spent on premiums after the subsidy. Cantons' financial situation is of particular interest in this regard, because the premium subsidies aim at reducing the premium load for lower income groups in order to ensure universal access to health care at affordable costs. Thus, variation in premium load is meant to reflect underlying differences between cantons in health care and overall living costs, or different preferences of the electorate with regards to social policy, but not budgetary considerations of cantons. We develop a premium subsidy calculation model based on cantonal regulations and apply it to households in the Swiss Household Panel to assess the effect of cantonal budget tightness on households' premium load from 2004-2012. Our analysis is based on panel regression methods and a difference-in- differences model in order to take into account unobserved heterogeneity and simultaneity concerns. The results indicate that there is a significant and negative relationship between the budget of a canton and the premium load of households |
| Keywords: | Health care premium subsidies, equity, health care financing, fiscal federalism, budget constraint, Switzerland. |
| JEL: | H51 H72 H75 I14 I18 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usg:econwp:2014:20&r=eur |
| By: | Spyros Arvanitis (KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich, Switzerland); Euripidis N. Loukis (University of the Aegean, Department of Information and Communication Systems Engineering, Greece) |
| Abstract: | Hospitals are making big investments in various types of ICT, so it is important to investigate their effects on innovation and performance. In this paper is presented an empirical study in this direction, based on data for 743 hospitals from 18 European countries, which were collected in the course of the e-Business Survey of the European Union. We specified and estimated econometrically five equations: one for product innovation, one for process innovation and three equations for the three different dimensions of (ICT-enabled) hospital performance that are taken into consideration in this study. All five equations included various ICT-related variables reflecting ICT infrastructure and a series of important ICT applications, some of them hospital-specific, and some others of general business use, and also ICT personnel (viewed as a kind of ‘soft’ ICT investment), as right-hand variables, while the performance equations also included the two innovation measures. The study contributes threefold to literature. First, it is to our knowledge the first comprehensive study of this kind for European hospitals. Second, it analyzes the effects of various types of ICT on innovation and (ICT-enabled) economic performance of hospitals in an integrated framework. Third, it is based on relatively detailed information on ICT infrastructure and specific ICT applications, both health-specific and general, and also ICT personnel, examining and comparing their effects on innovation and economic performance. |
| Keywords: | hospitals, innovation, performance, ICT use |
| JEL: | O31 |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kof:wpskof:14-366&r=eur |
| By: | Hélène Périvier-Timbeau (OFCE); Anne Eydoux (Centre d'études de l'emploi); Antoine Math (Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales) |
| Abstract: | The crisis that began in 2008 has hit European countries diversely, causing economic and labour market disequilibria of more or less magnitude. As with past global crises, the current one has gendered implications. While women’s employment is said to have been preserved relative to men’s in the early stage of a recession, austerity plans implemented in several countries to limit public deficits and debts are deemed to affect female workers more deeply. How gendered are labour market changes in recession and austerity and how should cross-country differences be analysed? |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/4vmtkid6a69efp76sn4f2dmjvk&r=eur |
| By: | Richard Tol (Department of Economics, University of Sussex, Falmer, United Kingdom; Institute for Environmental Studies and Department of Spatial Economic, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Tinbergen Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; CESifo, Munich, Germany) |
| Abstract: | I estimate the cost of meeting the EU 2030 targets for greenhouse gas emission reduction, using statistical emulators of ten alternative models. Assuming a first-best policy implementation, I find that total and marginal costs are modest. The statistical emulators allow me to compute the risk premiums, which are small because the EU is rich and the policy impact is small. The ensemble of ten models allows me to compute the ambiguity premium, which is small for the same reason. I construct a counterfactual estimate of recent emissions without climate policy, and use that test the predictive skill of the ten models. The models that show the lowest cost of emission reduction also have the lowest skill. |
| Keywords: | Climate policy, European Union, carbon price, forecast skill, uncertainty |
| JEL: | Q54 |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sus:susewp:7114&r=eur |
| By: | Garcia-Gomez, Pilar (Erasmus University Rotterdam); Gielen, Anne C. (Erasmus University Rotterdam) |
| Abstract: | We exploit an age discontinuity in a Dutch disability insurance (DI) reform to identify the health impact of stricter eligibility criteria and reduced generosity. Women subject to the more stringent rule experience greater rates of hospitalization and mortality. A €1,000 reduction in annual benefits leads to a rise of 4.2 percentage points in the probability of being hospitalized and a 2.6 percentage point higher probability of death more than 10 years after the reform. There are no effects on the hospitalization of men subject to stricter rules but their mortality rate is reduced by 1.2 percentage points. The negative health effect on females is restricted to women with low pre-disability earnings. We hypothesize that the gender difference in the effect is due to the reform tightening eligibility particularly with respect to mental health conditions, which are more prevalent among female DI claimants. A simple back-of-the-envelope calculation shows that every dollar reduction in DI is almost completely offset by additional health care costs. This implies that policy makers considering a DI reform should carefully balance the welfare gains from reduced moral hazard against losses not only from less coverage of income risks but also from deteriorated health. |
| Keywords: | disability insurance, moral hazard, health, mortality, regression discontinuity |
| JEL: | I14 H53 I38 |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8386&r=eur |
| By: | Andersson, Elvira (Lund University); Lundborg, Petter (Lund University); Vikström, Johan (IFAU) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we study the short-run effect of salary receipt on mortality among Swedish public sector employees. By exploiting variation in pay-days across work-places, we completely control for mortality patterns related to, for example, public holidays and other special days or events coinciding with paydays and for general within-month and within-week mortality patterns. We find a dramatic increase in mortality on the day salaries arrive. The increase is especially pronounced for younger workers and for deaths due to activity-related causes such as heart conditions and strokes. Additionally, the effect is entirely driven by an increase in mortality among low income individuals, who are more likely to experience liquidity constraints. All things considered, our results suggest that an increase in general economic activity upon salary receipt is an important cause of the excess mortality. |
| Keywords: | income, mortality, health, consumption, liquidity constraints, permanent income hypothesis |
| JEL: | D91 H31 H55 I10 I12 I38 |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8389&r=eur |
| By: | Bergh, Andreas (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)) |
| Abstract: | In most OECD-countries, immigrants have lower employment and higher unemployment than natives. This paper compares nine potential explanations of these gaps. Results are obtained for 21–28 countries using bivariate correlations, OLS-regressions and Bayesian model averaging over all 512 theoretically possible model specifications. Two robust patterns are found. The unemployment gap is bigger in countries where collective bargaining agreements cover a larger share of the labor market. The employment gap is bigger in countries with more generous social safety nets. Five variables have explanatory value in some specifications: Xenophobia, employment protection laws, social expenditure, asylum applications, and the share of immigrants in the population. The education of immigrants and migrant integration policies have no explanatory value. A trade-off seems to exist such that countries with smaller labor market gaps have higher income inequality. |
| Keywords: | Labor market segregation; Immigration; Insider-outside hypothesis |
| JEL: | E24 J51 J60 J71 |
| Date: | 2014–08–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1036&r=eur |
| By: | Schlömer-Laufen, Nadine; Kay, Rosemarie; Holz, Michael |
| Abstract: | Works councils are an inherent part of the German economic and social system. An analysis of the prevalence of works councils in Germany reveals that they are not uniformly distributed across all types of businesses. Works councils occur less frequently in owner-managed businesses - regardless of their size - than in companies run by employed managers. The reasons for this low prevalence are still largely unknown as there has been practically no discussion of this phenomenon in the literature so far. This paper delivers first answers to this question by conducting an exploratory study. Based on a literature analysis and an empirical analysis of a secondary dataset, we found some explanations why works councils are so rarely established in family businesses. These explanations refer to special characteristics of the owner-manager (i. e. eagerness for independence) as well as to special characteristics of family businesses as a whole (i. e. performance and organizational changes). -- Betriebsräte sind ein inhärenter Bestandteil des deutschen Wirtschafts- und Sozialsystems. Sie sind allerdings nicht gleichermaßen über alle Unternehmenstypen verbreitet. So sind sie - unabhängig von ihrer Größe - seltener in eigentümergeführten Unternehmen vorzufinden als in managementgeführten. Die Gründe für diesen geringeren Verbreitungsgrad müssen als weitgehend unbekannt gelten, da sich weder die Familienunternehmen- noch die Mitbestimmungsforschung nennenswert damit befasst hat. Die vorliegende, explorative Studie liefert auf Basis einer Literatur- und einer Sekundärdatenanalyse erste Erklärungen. So scheinen besondere Charakteristika des Eigentümer-Unternehmers wie z. B. Unabhängigkeitsstreben und besondere Charakteristika des Familienunternehmens wie z. B. Unternehmenserfolg oder organisationale Veränderungen die Etablierung eines Betriebsrates zu beeinflussen. |
| Keywords: | works councils,family business,exploratory study |
| JEL: | G32 J53 L20 M54 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifmwps:0314&r=eur |
| By: | Ida, Tomoya (Faculty of Economics); Wilhelmsson, Mats (Centre for Banking and Finance) |
| Abstract: | We empirically reexamine the dominance of tax externalities in Sweden for the period of 2000 through 2011. Where hierarchical governments share a mobile tax base, a tax externality can arise not only horizontally across the same level of government but also vertically between different levels of government. A horizontal externality shifts tax rates toward a level that is too low, whereas a vertical externality pushes them toward a level that is too high. The net outcome of these competing effects is theoretically unclear within benevolent federal government systems. Brülhart and Jametti (2006) implemented a pioneering empirical test of the issue using Swiss data. Their empirical setting, however, assumes a single tax instrument, which contradicts the fiscal system in Switzerland. This inconsistency would theoretically distort their estimation. By contrast, our study investigates the pure dominance of tax externality in a sample of Swedish jurisdictions that can tax only personal income. We find a vertical externality to be relatively dominant. |
| Keywords: | Interregional tax competition; Horizontal and vertical tax externalities; Benevolent governmental systems; Personal income taxes; Swedish tax system; Housing market |
| JEL: | H21 H24 H71 R39 |
| Date: | 2014–04–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:kthrec:2014_005&r=eur |
| By: | Trippl, Michaela (CIRCLE, Lund University); Sinozic, Tanja (Institute for Multilevel Governance and Development, Vienna University of Economics and Business); Lawton Smith , Helen (Department of Management; Birkbeck, University of London) |
| Abstract: | The literature on universities’ contributions to regional development is broad and diverse. A precise understanding of how regions can potentially draw advantages from various university activities and the role of public policy institutions (imperatives and incentives) in promoting such activities is still missing. The aim of this paper is to advance a more nuanced view on universities’ contributions to regional economic and societal development. We identify and review four conceptual models: (i) the entrepreneurial university model, (ii) the regional innovation system model, (iii) the mode 2 university model, and (iv) the engaged university model. The paper demonstrates that these four models emphasise very different activities and outputs by which universities are seen to benefit their regions. We also find that these models differ markedly with respect to the policy implications that can be drawn. Analysing public policy imperatives and incentives in the UK, Austria and Sweden the paper highlights that in the UK national policies encourage and have resulted in all four university models. In Sweden and Austria policy institutions tend to privilege in particular the RIS university model, whilst at the same time there is some evidence for increasing support of the entrepreneurial university model. |
| Keywords: | universities; regional development; public policy; UK; Sweden; Austria |
| JEL: | I28 R10 R58 |
| Date: | 2014–07–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2014_013&r=eur |
| By: | Adele Menniti (Institute for Research on Population and Social Policy); Pietro Demurtas (Institute for Research on Population and Social Policy); Serena Arima (Department of Methods and Models for Economics, Territory and Finance MEMOTEF, Sapienza University of Rome (Italy)); Alessandra De Rose (Department of Methods and Models for Economics, Territory and Finance MEMOTEF, Sapienza University of Rome (Italy)) |
| Abstract: | This article focuses on the gender gap in housework and childcare in Italian couples, one of the widest in Europe. Italian women still carry out three-quarters of domestic work and two-thirds of childcare. Following a considerable amount of literature, we focus on three possible theoretical explanations for the persistence of the gendered division of labor: time availability, relative resources, and conformity with traditional gender ideology. Time Use data from the 2008/09 Survey edition have been used: we considered couples, married or in consensual unions, with at least one child under 14 years of age and with the mother employed. The amount of time spent by men and women on, respectively, domestic tasks and on caring for children has been modeled as a function of several couples and household characteristics. Similarly, we analyzed the women’s share of total time for housework and childcare, respectively, as dependent variables. In order to take into account the truncated nature of the dependent variables a Tobit model has been used. Results show that the family division of work is heavily biased towards women, and it is only when they take on the role of breadwinner that the amount of time their unemployed male partners spend on domestic tasks increases. Generally, when the financial resources of women are greater than those of men, they reduce the time spent on housework and gender asymmetry decreases. With regard to childcare, the gender gap is significantly reduced only when the man is unemployed and in territorial contexts where the gender system and ideology are less traditional. |
| Keywords: | Time use, Housework, Childcare, Gender, Tobit model. |
| JEL: | D13 C34 J7 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rsq:wpaper:29/14&r=eur |