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on Microeconomic European Issues |
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Issue of 2014‒11‒01
25 papers chosen by Giuseppe Marotta Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia |
| By: | Frédéric Branger (CIRED et AgroParisTech ENGREF); Philippe Quirion (CNRS et CIRED) |
| Abstract: | We analyse variations of carbon emissions in the European cement industry from 1990 to 2011, at the European level(EU 27), and at the national level for six major producers (Germany, France, Spain, United Kingdom, Italy and Poland). We apply a Log-Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) method, crossing data from three databases: the Getting the Numbers Right (GNR) database developed by the Cement Sustainability Initiative, the European Union Transaction Log (EUTL), and the Eurostat International Trade database. Our decomposition method allows disentangling seven channels of emissions change: activity, clinker trade, clinker share, alternative fuels, thermal and electric energy efficiency, and electricity decarbonisation. We find that, apart from a slow trend of emissions reductions coming from technological improvements(first from a decrease in the clinker share, then from an increase in alternative fuels), most of the emissions changes can be attributed to the activity effect. Using counterfactual scenarios, we estimate that the introduction of the EU ETS brought small but positive technological abatement (2.0% ± 1.1% between 2005 and 2011). Moreover, we find that the European cement industry have gained 3.5 billion euros of “overallocation profits”, mostly due to the slowdown of production. Based on these findings, we advocate for output-based allocations, based on a stringent hybrid clinker and cement benchmarking. |
| Keywords: | Cement Industry, LMDI, EU ETS, Abatement, Overallocation, Windfall Profits, Overallocation Profits, Carbon Emissions, Energy Efficiency. |
| JEL: | Q58 Q54 |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fae:wpaper:2014.10&r=eur |
| By: | Tindara Addabbo; Rosa García-Fernández; Carmen Llorca-Rodríguez; Anna Maccagnan |
| Abstract: | The focus of this paper is on the analysis of the impact of the crisis on material deprivation in two South European countries: Italy and Spain. The countries chosen have been deeply hit by the economic downturn and the use of the available comparable microdata allows us to detect the most vulnerable collective in the crisis taking into account also gender differences. The microdata used are the Italian and Spanish Income and Living Conditions Surveys of 2007 and 2010. Our results confirm the growth of deprivation as a consequence of the economic crisis in both countries and show that women are more likely to face income poverty and deprivation. |
| Keywords: | income poverty, material deprivation, gender, unemployment. |
| JEL: | I32 J16 J65 |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mod:dembwp:0019&r=eur |
| By: | Jesús Peiró-Palomino (Department of Economics, University Jaume I, Castellón, Spain); Emili Tortosa-Ausina (IVIE, Valencia and Department of Economics, Universidad Jaume I, Castellón, Spain) |
| Abstract: | Recent literature has shown how relevant social capital may be as an important determinant of economic growth. However, the empirical evidence in contexts such as Europe, particularly at the regional level, is still scant, and its likely implications for income convergence are entirely unexplored. We analyze how social capital has influenced per capita income convergence for 216 European Union (EU) regions, a relevant context not only in light of the cohesion policies but also due to the remarkable disparate social capital endowments at the regional level. By using the distribution dynamics approach to convergence analysis, results generally support the relevant conditioning role of social capital for per capita income convergence, although the impact varies depending on the dimension considered—social trust, participation in associations, or the quality of social norms. |
| Keywords: | distribution dynamics,European regions,income convergence, social capital |
| JEL: | C14 D31 O47 R11 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jau:wpaper:2014/16&r=eur |
| By: | Joachim Wagner (Leuphana University Lueneburg, Germany) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses comparable firm level data from France, Italy and Spain to test a hypothesis derived by Bustos (AER 2011) in a model that explains the decision of heterogeneous firms to export and to engage in R&D. Using a non-parametric test for first order stochastic dominance it is shown that, in line with this hypothesis, the productivity distribution of firms with exports and R&D dominates that of exporters without R&D, which in turn dominates that of firms that neither export nor engage in R&D. These results are in line with findings for Argentina reported by Bustos, and with findings for Germany and Denmark. The model, therefore, seems to be useful to guide empirical work on the relation between exports, R&D and productivity. |
| Keywords: | Exports, R&D, productivity, EFIGE data, France, Italy, Spain |
| JEL: | F14 |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lue:wpaper:310&r=eur |
| By: | Schnitzlein, Daniel D. |
| Abstract: | Motivated by contradictory evidence on intergenerational mobility in Germany, I present a cross-country comparison of Germany and the US, reassessing the question of whether intergenerational mobility is higher in Germany than the US. I can reproduce the standard result from the literature, which states that the German intergenerational elasticity estimates are lower than those for the US. However, based on highly comparable data, even a reasonable degree of variation in the sampling rules leads to similar estimates in both countries. I find no evidence for nonlinearities along the fathers’ earnings distribution. In contrast, the analysis shows that mobility is higher for the sons at the lowest quartile of the sons’ earnings distribution in both countries. In Germany this result is mainly driven by a high downward mobility of sons with fathers in the upper middle part of the earnings distribution. The corresponding pattern is clearly less pronounced in the US. |
| Keywords: | intergenerational mobility, SOEP, CNEF, Germany, US |
| JEL: | J62 |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:han:dpaper:dp-538&r=eur |
| By: | Alzbeta Mullerova |
| Abstract: | Czech conciliation policies, i.e. social, family and employment policies affecting households’ fertility and employment choices, have gone through dramatic changes since the 1989 transition to market economy. After a brief presentation of conciliation policies and practices before and after the transition, we focus on the 1995 Czech Parental Benefit reform and we evaluate its impact on mothers’ labour supply. The payment of parental benefits was extended to 4 years instead of 3 without an equivalent extension of the job protected parental leave, leaving to mothers the choice of either guaranteed employment or additional twelve months of benefits. We use difference-in-differences strategy of identification to assess the net effect of this reform on mother’s labour market participation. We find a sizeable and negative impact on mothers’ probability of return to work at the end of the parental leave. |
| Keywords: | Female Labour Supply, Parental Leave and Benefit, Policy Evaluation |
| JEL: | J13 J16 J18 P30 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:drm:wpaper:2014-50&r=eur |
| By: | Frédéric Branger (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - Centre de coopération internationale en recherche agronomique pour le développement [CIRAD] : UMR56 - CNRS : UMR8568 - École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC) - AgroParisTech, AgroParisTech - AgroParisTech); Jean-Pierre Ponssard (Department of Economics, Ecole Polytechnique - CNRS : UMR7176 - Polytechnique - X); Oliver Sartor (IDDRI - Institut du Développement Durable et des Relations Internationales - Institut d'Études Politiques [IEP] - Paris); Misato Sato (London School of Economics - [-]) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates incentives for firms to increase output above the activity level thresholds (ALTs) in order to obtain more free allowances in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme. While ALTs were introduced in order to reduce excess free allocation to low-activity installations, for installations operating below the threshold, the financial gain from increasing output to reach the threshold may outweigh the costs. Using installation level data for 246 clinker plants, we estimate the effect of ALTs on output decisions. The ALTs induced 5.8Mt of excess clinker production in 2012 (4% of total EU output), which corresponds to 5.2Mt of excess CO2 emissions (over 5% of total sector emissions). As intended, ALTs do reduce overallocation (by 6.6million allowances) relative to a scenario without ALTs, but an alternative output based allocation would further reduce overallocation by 39.5million allowances (29% of total cement sector free allocation). Firms responded disproportionately to ALTs in countries with low demand, especially in Spain and Greece. The excess clinker output lead to increased EU clinker and cement exports, production shifting between plants and also an increase in clinker content of cement thus reducing the carbon efficiency of cement production. |
| Keywords: | Activity level thresholds, EU ETS, carbon trading, free allowance allocations, cement |
| Date: | 2014–10–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-01072736&r=eur |
| By: | Gallego, Nuria (Departamento de Análisis Económico (Teoría e Historia Económica), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.); Llano, Carlos (Departamento de Análisis Económico (Teoría e Historia Económica), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.) |
| Abstract: | After the seminal paper by McCallum, various authors have estimated the effect of regional and national borders on trade. This paper digs deeper into the matter, estimating how the internal and external border effect is affected by the non-linear relation between trade and distance at different spatial levels, and the econometric procedure used to control for it. Our paper uses a novel dataset that captures intra- and inter-national truck shipments between Spanish regions and regions in eight European countries. To deal with this non-linearity, we use three alternative strategies —segmented distance, piecewise regressions and semi-parametric approaches— that achieve similar results. |
| Keywords: | border effect; gravity equation; interregional trade; non-linearity; European integration. |
| JEL: | F14 F15 |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uam:wpaper:201406&r=eur |
| By: | Sara Colautti (CSIL Centre for Industrial Studies); Alessandra Tracogna (CSIL Centre for Industrial Studies); Donatella Cheri (CSIL Centre for Industrial Studies); Cecilia Pisa (CSIL Centre for Industrial Studies) |
| Abstract: | This Report offers a comparative analysis of home furniture distribution in 13 European countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The report provides trends in home furniture consumption, analysis of the furniture distribution system by channel, retail formats and leading players sales performances. The aim of this report is to provide information on the following topics: main structural changes affecting the sector; evolution of the market share of each distribution channel; country peculiarities in furniture retailing; new approach and strategies in furniture retailing; policies and initiatives affecting competition in the market; listing of the leading furniture retailers in each country, with contact details Home furniture import flows are analyzed by country of origin and by product segment (upholstered furniture, non-upholstered seats, kitchen furniture, dining and living room furniture, bedroom furniture). The furniture retail market is broken down by the following distribution channels: furniture chains, franchises, buying groups; independent furniture retailers; non-specialist distributors (department stores, multi-stores, hypermarkets, DIY, mail order); direct sales and craftsmen. The report includes addresses of about 540 furniture retailers and buying groups of which 245 with detailed profile. Among the products considered: home furniture, upholstered furniture, kitchen furniture, living room furniture, dining room furniture, bedroom furniture. CSIL worked on an extensive data gathering, including market data and detailed figures for over 200 retailers (all the main actors operating in Western Europe. |
| JEL: | L22 L81 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mst:csilre:eu9&r=eur |
| By: | Raul Ramos (AQR-IREA, Universitat de Barcelona); Esteban Sanromá (IEB, Universitat de Barcelona); Hipólito Simón (IEI, Universidad de Alicante, IEB) |
| Abstract: | The article examines public-private sector wage differentials in Spain using microdata from the Structure of Earnings Survey (Encuesta de Estructura Salarial). When applying various decomposition techniques, we find that it is important to distinguish by gender and type of contract. Our results also highlight the presence of a positive wage premium for public sector workers that can be partially explained by their better endowment of characteristics, in particular by the characteristics of the establishment where they work. The wage premium is greater for female and fixed-term employees and falls across the wage distribution, being negative for more highly skilled workers. |
| Keywords: | Public-private sector wage gap; wage distribution; matched employer-employee data; decomposition methods. |
| JEL: | C2 E3 J3 J4 |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:xrp:wpaper:xreap2014-08&r=eur |
| By: | Giovanni Marin (CERIS-CNR, Italy.); Francesco Nicolli (CERIS-CNR, Italy.); Roberto Zoboli (CERIS-CNR, Italy; Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Milano, Italy.) |
| Abstract: | In this work we test for the presence of convergence in the main municipal solid waste-related indicators across EU countries over the years 1995-2009. We analyse in particular both sides of the waste sector: generation, considering waste collected per capita, and the main disposal choices, i.e. landfilling, recycling and incineration. We believe this is a relevant exercise, considering that in the last two decades the waste sector has experienced a profound transformation at European level. Landfill is losing its primary role as the main disposal technology, and other activities, like recycling and incineration, are becoming increasingly important. In this context, beta and sigma tests of convergence can tell us more about the distribution of the three different rival choices of waste disposal, as well as about waste generation, by assessing the presence of convergence and its main drivers. With convergence we mean here testing, on the one hand, if countries which are lagging behind are actually catching up more virtuous countries (in term of use of preferred waste management technologies, like recycling and incineration) and, on the other hand, testing if the disparities between countries are decreasing over time. We believe in particular that several factors may have influenced this trend, like consumption per capita, the presence of environmental policy and the level of a country innovative activities measure by a coherent stock of patent applications in waste related sectors. |
| Keywords: | Waste management, Beta-convergence, Sigma-convergence |
| JEL: | Q53 Q58 O47 |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:srt:wpaper:2614&r=eur |
| By: | Daniel Arnold; Tobias Brändle; Laszlo Goerke |
| Abstract: | Using both household and linked employer-employee data for Germany, we assess the effects of non-union representation in the form of works councils on (1) individual sickness absence rates and (2) a subjective measure of personnel problems due to sickness absence as perceived by a firm's management. We find that the existence of a works council is positively correlated with the incidence and the annual duration of absence. We observe a more pronounced correlation in western Germany which can also be interpreted causally. Further, personnel problems due to absence are more likely to occur in plants with a works council. |
| Keywords: | Absenteeism, LIAB, personnel problems, sickness absence, SOEP, works councils |
| JEL: | J53 I18 M54 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp691&r=eur |
| By: | Vassilis Monastiriotis; Dimitris Kallioras; George Petrakos |
| Abstract: | The Eastern Enlargement of the EU saw a proliferation of association agreements with countries in the Ônear abroadÕ under EUÕs European Neighbourhood Policy framework. Although such agreements are considered to be strictly welfare-enhancing, there is very little evidence to show their economic effects, including their distributional consequences across space, separately from other concurrent processes (transition, internationalisation, capital deepening, etc). This paper draws on the experience of pre-accession agreements in Central and Eastern Europe to estimate the effect that such agreements had on regional growth, and thus on the long-run evolution of regional disparities, in the associated countries. We apply an event-analysis and exploit the country variation in the timing of these agreements to identify their distinctive effect on regional growth, using regional data at the NUTS3 levels covering the period from the early transition phase (1991/92) until the eruption of the financial crisis (2008). Our results provide strong evidence that EU association agreements accelerate growth; but show that this is far from evenly distributed across space Ð with denser, larger and more diversified regional economies gaining the most. We discuss what these findings imply for regional growth and spatial imbalances in the new wave of associated countries under the ENP. |
| Keywords: | association agreements, event analysis, regional growth, Central Eastern Europe |
| JEL: | F15 F55 R11 R15 O43 |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eiq:eileqs:80&r=eur |
| By: | Rainer Winkelmann |
| Abstract: | In 2004, the German Social Health Insurance introduced a co-payment for the first doctor visit in a calendar quarter. I combine a structural model of health care demand and a difference-in-differences strategy to estimate the effect of that reform on the number of visits. In the model, the implied incentive to delay a first visit also affects subsequent visits, as the expected remaining time to the end of quarter is reduced. This effect has been ignored by the prior literature using standard hurdle count models. Data are from the German Socio-Economic Panel. Results show no statistically significant reduction in visits due to the reform. |
| Keywords: | Count data, Poisson process, co-payment, hurdle model |
| JEL: | C25 I10 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp688&r=eur |
| By: | Florian Umlauf (University of Bremen) |
| Abstract: | The granting of publicly subsidized joint projects has become a popular policy instrument in Germany and other developed countries. However, little is known about how an emerging subsidization network affects the overall allocation process of further project grants. Employing a database that contains all funded R and D projects of the German federal government, this paper analyzes the extent to which the funding network tends to reproduce itself. The results of an empirical model show that participation within a collaborative project does not raise, per se, the chance of an enterprise obtaining another project grant. Rather, it is important to hold central positions within the network or have access to a diverse external knowledge base to receive anew project grant. |
| Keywords: | R&D subsidies, project allocation, network determinants, cooperation, R and D |
| JEL: | H32 L53 L60 O38 |
| Date: | 2014–10–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esi:evopap:2014-03&r=eur |
| By: | Otello Ardovino; Luca Pennacchio |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the drivers of inter-firm R&D collaborations in a particular type of innovation network, the technological districts created in Italy under a specific public policy to promote innovation. The empirical analysis used an original database containing information on research projects activated by the districts and on the characteristics of participating firms. The main results show that districts with governance oriented towards market logic and districts that include several universities foster a stronger cooperation among firms than other districts. In addition, network effects such as structural embeddedness and interlocking directorate greatly influence the propensity to cooperate. Lastly, knowledge transfer and absorptive capacity of firms also play an important role in shaping collaboration strategies. Some considerations about the effectiveness of public policy also emerge from the analysis. In particular technological districts foster research collaborations among small firms and between small and large firms. The latter type of cooperation could be very important to enhance the innovation capabilities of small firms and their performance. |
| Keywords: | R&D cooperation, innovation networks, firm behaviour, dyadic regession. |
| JEL: | L14 O31 O32 |
| Date: | 2014–10–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eei:rpaper:eeri_rp_2014_09&r=eur |
| By: | Aleksandra Parteka (Gdansk University of Technology, Gdansk, Poland); Joanna Wolszczak-Derlacz (Gdansk University of Technology, Gdansk, Poland) |
| Abstract: | This paper assesses the impact of international outsourcing/offshoring practices on the process of wage equalization across manufacturing sectors in a sample of EU27 economies (1995-2009). We discriminate between heterogeneous wage effects on different skill categories of workers (low, medium and high skill). The main focus is on the labour market outcomes of vertical integration, so we augment a model of conditional wage convergence through the inclusion of sector-specific broad and narrow outsourcing/offshoring indices based on input-output data (World Input Output Database, April 2012 release). Two-way relations between trade and wages are addressed through the use of a gravity-based sector-level instrument. We find no evidence supporting unconditional skill-specific wage convergence in EU sectors. In a conditional setting, (slow) wage convergence takes place, but international outsourcing plays a negligible role in wage equalization. Moreover, even though regression results indicate that offshoring reduces the wage growth of domestic medium- and low-skilled workers, we show that this negative effect is economically small. |
| Keywords: | wage, convergence, international outsourcing, offshoring, input-output |
| JEL: | F14 F16 C67 |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gdk:wpaper:24&r=eur |
| By: | Valter di Giacinto (Bank of Italy); Giacinto Micucci (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides an empirical evaluation of the main determinants of hotel prices in the Italian tourism industry. We pool information from two datasets: i) a database on hotel prices and attributes based on the Touring Club Italia Guide and providing information on about 1,100 hotels located in almost 300 towns in the entire Italian coastal region; and ii) a set of neighbourhood characteristics indicators that assess local environmental quality and artistic and cultural attractiveness. On the basis of the results of a hedonic analysis of hotel price differentials, we show that tourists place a high value on both marine environmental quality and local access to artistic and cultural amenities. The contribution to consumer utility is sizeable in both cases, but that of artistic and cultural amenities appears to be more stable across seasons. On the whole, our results suggest that the widespread availability of an extraordinarily rich artistic and cultural endowment, as is the case of Italy, may strongly complement environmental attributes in supporting the non-price competitiveness of the coastal tourism industry. |
| Keywords: | tourism; environment; artistic and cultural attractiveness |
| JEL: | L83 Q53 R11 Z11 |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_975_14&r=eur |
| By: | Juan A. Máñez (Universitat de València and ERI-CES, Departamento de Economía Aplicada II, Avda. dels Tarongers s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain); María E. Rochina-Barrachina (Universitat de València and ERI-CES, Departamento de Economía Aplicada II, Avda. dels Tarongers s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain); Amparo Sanchis-Llopis (Universitat de València and ERI-CES, Departamento de Economía Aplicada II, Avda. dels Tarongers s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain); Juan A. Sanchis-Llopis (Universitat de València and ERI-CES, Departamento de Economía Aplicada II, Avda. dels Tarongers s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the sources of persistence in conducting R&D activities by SMEs. The data used is a panel of Spanish manufacturing firms drawn from the Survey of Business Strategies (ESEE), for the period 1990-2011. We estimate discrete time proportional hazard models accounting for firm observed and unobserved heterogeneity. Our results are consistent with a process of learning associated with the accumulation of R&D capital and with a self-sustained effect of engagement in R&D activities. In addition, we obtain that persistence in R&D in SMEs is also related to the success-breeds-success, sunk costs and demand-pull hypotheses. Finally, our findings also uncover some interesting differences in the underlying drivers of R&D persistence of SMEs as compared to their larger counterparts. |
| Keywords: | SMEs, R&D activities, persistence, learning, success-breeds-success, sunk costs, demand-pull, discrete time survival models |
| JEL: | C41 L60 O31 |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eec:wpaper:1410&r=eur |
| By: | Claus Michelsen; Sebastian Rosenschon; Christian Schulz |
| Abstract: | The energy efficiency of the residential housing stock plays a key role in strategies to mitigate climate change and global warming. In this context, it is frequently argued that private investment and the quality of thermal upgrades is too low in the light of the challenges faced and the potential energy cost savings. While many authors address the potential barriers for investors to increase energy efficiency, studies on the capabilities different investors have to reduce energy requirements of their property are scarce. This study investigates potential advantages of housing company's size, i.e. economies of scale, economies of scope and institutional learning in thermal upgrades of residential housing. Based on unique data on energy consumption in 102,307 apartment houses in Germany, we present new evidence for advantages and disadvantages of housing company's size in "green" retrofitting projects. Our estimations show, that large housing companies outperform private landlords by far in high effort refurbishment projects. In contrast, private landlords appear to have advantages in low effort, incremental refurbishment activities. The results offer new options for policy makers to refine the support schemes towards a low carbon housing stock. |
| Keywords: | "green" real estate, energy efficiency, refurbishment, economies of scale, economies of scope |
| JEL: | R31 R32 Q48 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1410&r=eur |
| By: | Beat Hintermann; Sonja Peterson; Wilfried Rickels |
| Abstract: | Since 2005, the EU ETS has provided a market-based price signal for European carbon emissions, accompanied by increasing economic research related to this policy instrument. In this paper, we carry out a review of the empirical literature examining allowance price formation. A consensus has emerged that allowance prices are significantly related to fuel prices and to variables affecting the expected amount of necessary abatement, such as economic activity or changes in the cap. However, the relationship is not robust, probably because the relevant abatement technologies change with the economic conditions they operate in. There is evidence that models explicitly accounting for uncertainty about future demand and supply of abatement are better at explaining allowance price variation during certain periods. Yet, our understanding of the level of the allowance price remains poor. We cannot say with any degree of confidence whether the price is “right,” in the sense that it reflects marginal abatement costs, or whether there is a price wedge caused by transaction costs, price manipulation, or other sources of inefficiency. Nevertheless, the market has matured compared to Phase I, and the banking provision has induced it to incorporate future scarcity of allowances and to smooth the effect of transient shocks as intended |
| Keywords: | EU Emission trading, allowance Prices, market efficiency |
| JEL: | Q56 Q58 |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kie:kieliw:1962&r=eur |
| By: | Davide fiaschi; Lisa Gianmoena; Angela Parenti |
| Abstract: | In this paper we analyze the determinants of growth rate volatility (GRV) of per capita GDP of 257 regions belongs to 25 EU coun- tries in the period 1992 − 2008. Among the determinants at regional level the growth rate of employment has a negative impact on GRV, while investment rate, the shares of agriculture, construction, finance and manufacturing, the share of household expenditure on GDP (the latter only for GRV due to positive shocks) have a positive impact; among the determinants at country level, government expenditure has a negative impact on GRV, while share of credit to private sector on GDP and inflation have a positive impact on GRV; finally, among the aggregate determinants, the volatility of the oil price has an asymmet- ric effect on GRV by increasing the volatility generated by negative shocks and reducing the volatility in case of negative shocks, while the participation to EMU only reduces the volatility due to positive shocks. |
| Keywords: | Asymmetric fluctuation, spatial panel model, generalized spatial two stage least squares, output composition, government ex- penditure. |
| JEL: | C23 E32 N14 O40 |
| Date: | 2013–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pie:dsedps:2013/170&r=eur |
| By: | Pasi Moisio; Kirsi-Marja Lehtelä; Susanna Mukkila |
| Abstract: | The poverty risk rate increased in Finland from 7 to 14 per cent between 1993 and 2010. We have estimated the counterfactual poverty rates for the year 2010 in order to evaluate the impact of changes in tax and benefit systems on the increase of the poverty risk rate. Household disposable incomes are simulated by using the same households of the year 2010 data, but varying the annual taxation and benefit legislation covering the years 1993-2013. The method used is inspired by the Shorrocks-Shapley decomposition method. The benefit cuts after the 1990s depression had a rather modest impact on poverty risk rates and the impact was nullified during 2000s by series of benefit raises. Changes in taxation had a considerably larger impact on the poverty risk rate. The poverty risk rate would be 2.5 percentage points lower if the tax legislation were the same in 2010 as it was in 1993. Furthermore, the level of benefits has decreased compared to the average income level. If the level of benefits would have remained at the same level compared to the average earnings in 2010 as in 1993, the poverty risk rate would be four percentage points lower in 2010. The policy of non-action with social transfers can have a major impact on the relative adequacy and on the poverty reduction effect of social transfers in the long-run. |
| Keywords: | tax-benefit policy, social policy, poverty, microsimulation, counterfactual, decomposition, Finland |
| JEL: | C81 D3 I3 H2 H31 |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdl:improv:1406&r=eur |
| By: | Joanna Clifton-Sprigg (The University of Edinburgh) |
| Abstract: | Impact of parental emigration on educational outcomes of children is theoretically ambiguous. Using novel data I collected on migration experience and its timing, family background and school performance of lower secondary pupils in Poland, I analyse the question empirically. Migration is mostly temporary in nature, with one parent engaging in employment abroad. As many as 63% of migrant parents have vocational qualifications, 29% graduated from high school, 4% have no qualifications and the remaining 4% graduated from university. Almost 18% of children are affected by parental migration. Perhaps surprisingly, estimates suggest that parental employment abroad has a positive immediate impact on a pupil's grade. Parental education appears pivotal; children of high school graduates benefit most. Longer term effects appear more negative, however, suggesting that a prolonged migration significantly lowers a child's grade. Interestingly, siblings' foreign experiences exert a large, positive impact on pupils' grades. |
| Keywords: | education of adolescents, migration |
| JEL: | F22 I29 J13 |
| Date: | 2014–10–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:edn:esedps:251&r=eur |
| By: | Elvis Oltean; Fedor Kusmartsev |
| Abstract: | We extend the exploration regarding dynamic approach of macroeconomic variables by tackling systematically expenditure using Statistical Physics models (for the first time to the best of our knowledge). Also, using polynomial distribution which characterizes the behavior of dynamic systems in certain situations, we extend also our analysis to mean income data from the UK that span for a time interval of 35 years. We find that most of the values for coefficient of determination obtained from fitting the data from consecutive years analysis to be above 80%. We used for our analysis first degree polynomial, but higher degree polynomials and longer time intervals between the years considered can dramatically increase goodness of the fit. As this methodology was applied successfully to income and wealth, we can conclude that macroeconomic systems can be treated similarly to dynamic systems from Physics. Subsequently, the analysis could be extended to other macroeconomic indicators. |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1410.3851&r=eur |