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on Microeconomic European Issues |
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Issue of 2014‒11‒17
24 papers chosen by Giuseppe Marotta Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia |
| By: | Wagner, Joachim (Leuphana University Lueneburg, Germany, and CESIS, KTH Stockholm, Sweden) |
| Abstract: | This note uses comparable representative data for manufacturing firms from five European countries (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom) to investigate the links between firm age and the participation of the firms in export, the share of exports in total sales, the number of countries exported to, and the participation in import. The big picture revealed is in line with the theoretical considerations. Older firms tend to be more often exporters and importers, they export to more different destination countries, and they export a higher share of their total sales in three out of five countries. |
| Keywords: | Exports; imports; firm age; trade margins; EFIGE data |
| JEL: | F14 |
| Date: | 2014–09–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0376&r=eur |
| By: | Erika Raquel Badillo (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona); Rosina Moreno (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to estimate the impact of research collaboration with partners in different geographical areas on innovative performance. By using the Spanish Technological Innovation Panel, this study provides evidence that the benefits of research collaboration differ across different dimensions of the geography. We find that the impact of extra-European cooperation on innovation performance is larger than that of national and European cooperation, indicating that firms tend to benefit more from interaction with international partners as a way to access new technologies or specialized and novel knowledge that they are unable to find locally. We also find evidence of the positive role played by absorptive capacity, concluding that it implies a higher premium on the innovation returns to cooperation in the international case and mainly in the European one. |
| Keywords: | Innovation cooperation; Technological partners; Geographical location; Performance; Absorptive Capacity; Spanish firms JEL classification: L25; O31; O33; R1 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ira:wpaper:201428&r=eur |
| By: | Yana Rubashkina (Catholic University of Milan); Marzio Galeotti (University of Milan and IEFE-Bocconi); Elena Verdolini (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei and CMCC) |
| Abstract: | This paper represents an empirical investigation of the “weak” and “strong” Porter Hypothesis (PH) focusing on the manufacturing sectors of European countries between 1997 and 2009. By and large, the literature has analyzed the impact of environmental regulation on innovation and on productivity generally in separate analyses and mostly focusing on the USA. The few existing studies focusing on Europe investigate the effect of environmental regulation either on green innovation or on performance indicators such as exports. We instead look at overall innovation and productivity impact that are the most relevant indicators for the “strong” PH. This approach allows us to account for potential opportunity costs of induced innovations. As a proxy of environmental policy stringency we use pollution abatement and control expenditures (PACE), which represent one of the few indicators available at the sectoral level. We remedy upon its main drawback, that of potential endogeneity of PACE, by adopting an instrumental variable estimation approach. We find evidence of a positive impact of environmental regulation on the output of innovation activity, as proxied by patents, thus providing support in favor of the “weak” PH in line with most of the literature. On the other front, we find no evidence in favor or against the “strong” PH, as productivity appears to be unaffected by the degree of pollution control and abatement efforts. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Regulation, Innovation, Productivity, Competitiveness, Porter Hypothesis |
| JEL: | Q50 Q52 Q55 Q58 O31 |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2014.80&r=eur |
| By: | Eva Hagsten (Statistics Sweden); Anna Sabadash (European Commission – Eurostat) |
| Abstract: | While unemployment in the EU is above 10%, the job vacancy rate also remains high around 1.5%. This suggests considerable unmet demand for skills, which is in the focus of the EU employment promotion policies. This paper studies the special role that schooled ICT experts in firms - an intangible input often neglected and difficult to measure – play for productivity. The effects are investigated both in isolation and in conjunction with the impact of ICT maturity on microdata in six European countries (UK, France, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland) for the period 2001-2009. We find that increases in the proportion of ICT-intensive human capital boosts productivity. This seems to confirm the case in favour of recruitment of highly skilled ICT employees. However, the gains vary across countries and industries, suggesting that the channels through which the effects operate are narrower for ICT-intensive human capital than for skilled human capital in general. Our findings provide an important message to the EU employment policy debate that currently revolves around the skill mismatch in general and the unmet demand for ICT skills in particular. |
| Keywords: | Employment, productivity, ICT skills |
| JEL: | J24 |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:decwpa:2014-02&r=eur |
| By: | Roberto Gómez-Calvet (Business Department, European University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain); David Conesa (Statistics and Operational Research Department, Universitat de València, Valencia, Spain); Ana Rosa Gómez-Calvet (Business Finance Department, Universitat de València, Valencia, Spain); Emili Tortosa-Ausina (IVIE, Valencia and Department of Economics, Universidad Jaume I, Castellón, Spain) |
| Abstract: | This article evaluates the evolution of environmental performance in the context of the European Union (EU), over the period 1993–2010. The context is particularly relevant, due to the traditionally high concerns of the EU about these issues, which has triggered off several initiatives and regulations on environmental protection. In this setting, we conduct a two-stage analysis which develops environmental performance indicators in the first stage for each pair country-year, and evaluates its evolution in the second. More specifically, in the first stage we estimate specific efficiencies for three air-pollutants (CO2e, SO2, NOx), along with an eco-efficiency indicator, for which we use the slack-free directional distance functions in the Data Envelopment Analysis framework (as opposed to the more extended intensity ratios), whereas in the second stage we propose using a model of explicit distribution dynamics which takes into account how the entire distributions of these indicators evolve. Our results indicate that the dynamics underlying the evolution of the indicators analyzed are indeed remarkable. Although the eco-efficiency indicator has improved over the last two decades, it has been during the last decade when performance has shown a more convergent path. However, in the case of the more traditional indicators (CO2e, SO2, NOx) the abatement opportunities are still remarkable, especially in the case of SO2e. |
| Keywords: | distribution dynamics, efficiency, energy, environmental performance, European Union |
| JEL: | Q4 Q43 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jau:wpaper:2014/20&r=eur |
| By: | Francesco Bogliacino (Fundación Universitaria Konrad Lorenz, Bogotá - Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá); Mariacristina Piva (DISCE, Università Cattolica; DISCE, Università Cattolica) |
| Abstract: | After discussing theory regarding the consequences of technological change on employment, our aim is to test the possible job creation effect of business R&D expenditures, using a unique longitudinal database covering 677 European firms (1990-2008). The main outcome from the dynamic LSDVC (Least Squared Dummy Variable Corrected) estimate is the labour-friendly nature of companies’ R&D, the coefficient of which turns out to be statistically significant. However, the positive impact of R&D on employment is only detectable in services and high-tech manufacturing. This is something that should be borne in mind by European policy makers having employment as one of their aims. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, Employment, Manufacturing, Services, LSDVC |
| JEL: | O33 |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctc:serie5:ispe0069&r=eur |
| By: | Martin Micheli (RWI Essen, Germany); Jan Rouwendal (VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands); Jasper Dekkers (VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands) |
| Abstract: | We estimate the effect of the Dutch-German border on house prices. In the last 40 years the development of house prices in the Netherlands and Germany has been substantially different. While the Netherlands have been hit by two real estate cycles, prices in Germany have been extraordinary stable. We develop a model for studying house prices and the impact of the border. Then we study the development of Dutch house prices close to the German border in the period 1985-2013. Next, combining German and Dutch real estate datasets, we study the jump in the housing price occurring at the border. Using different estimation strategies, we find that ask prices of comparable housing drop by about 16% when one crosses the Dutch-German border. Given that price discounts from the last observed asking price are substantially larger in Germany, we interpret our findings as indicating the willingness of Dutch households to pay up to 26% higher house prices to live among the Dutch. |
| Keywords: | house prices, European integration, border effects |
| JEL: | R31 F15 R21 |
| Date: | 2014–10–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20140141&r=eur |
| By: | Lars-H. R. Siemers (University of Siegen) |
| Abstract: | The sales taxes in the EU|and in several other countries|are practiced as value-added tax of the consumption type with invoice method. Literature on microsimulation models (MSM) for this type of VAT is rare, though the importance of VAT has continuously increased. We discuss the issues of VAT-MSM in detail and develop a basic general VAT-MSM, applicable to the EU member states (and beyond). To illustrate the functioning of the general model, we apply it in detail to the specific case of Germany. We provide comprehensive estimation results for the distributional and fiscal effects of the German VAT. Finally, we simulate the effects of a small VAT reform in 2010, comparing static and behavioral response simulations. |
| Keywords: | VAT microsimulation VAT exemption RWI-VAT-SIM EU |
| JEL: | C6 D12 D31 D63 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mar:magkse:201445&r=eur |
| By: | Eva U. B. Kibele (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Sebastian Klüsener (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Rembrandt D. Scholz (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany) |
| Abstract: | While regional mortality inequalities in Germany tend to be relatively stable in the short run, over the course of the past century marked changes have occurred in the country’s regional mortality patterns. These changes include not only the re-emergence of stark differences between eastern and western Germany after 1970, which have almost disappeared again in the decades after Germany’s unification in 1990; but also substantial changes in the patterns in northern and southern Germany. By the end of the 19th century, the northern regions in Germany had the highest life expectancy levels, while the southern regions had the lowest. Today, this mortality pattern is reversed. In this paper, we study these long-term trends in spatial mortality disparities in Germany since 1900, and link them with theoretical considerations and existing research on the possible determinants of these pattern. Our findings support the view that the factors which contributed to shape spatial mortality variation have changed substantially over time, and suggest that the link between regional socioeconomic conditions and mortality outcomes strengthened over the last 100 years. |
| Keywords: | Germany, mortality, socio-economic conditions, spatial analysis |
| JEL: | J1 Z0 |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2014-009&r=eur |
| By: | Odolinski , Kristofer (VTI); Smith , Andrew S.J. (University of Leeds, UK) |
| Abstract: | This is the first paper in the literature to formally study the cost impact of competitive tendering in rail maintenance. Sweden progressively opened up the market for rail maintenance services, starting in 2002. We study the cost impacts based on an unbalanced panel of contract areas between 1999 and 2011, using econometric techniques. We conclude that competitive tendering reduced costs by around 12%. This cost reduction was not associated with falling quality as measured by track quality class, track geometry or train derailments. We conclude that the gradual exposure of rail maintenance to competitive tendering in Sweden has been beneficial. |
| Keywords: | Railway; Infrastructure; Maintenance; Tendering; Contract; Cost |
| JEL: | H54 L92 |
| Date: | 2014–09–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ctswps:2014_017&r=eur |
| By: | Andersson, Elvira (Department of Economics, Lund University); Lundborg, Petter (Department of Economics, 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 using data on variation in paydays 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 on 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: | 2014–08–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lunewp:2014_032&r=eur |
| By: | Luisa Gagliardi; Giovanni Marin; Caterina Miriello |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the link between environment related innovation and job creation at firm level. Employing Italian data on 4,507 manufacturing firms, matched with patent records for the period 2001-2008, we test whether “green” innovation, measured using the number of environment related patents, has a positive effect on long run employment growth that is specific with respect to non environmental innovation. Results show a strong positive impact of “green” innovation on long run job creation, substantially bigger than the effect of other innovations. Our findings are robust to a number of additional tests including controls for cost differential between generic and “green” innovation and endogeneity. |
| Keywords: | Technological Change, Eco-Innovation, Employment |
| JEL: | O33 Q55 J21 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bcu:iefewp:iefewp60&r=eur |
| By: | Jacques J.F. Commandeur (VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands); Suncica Vujic (University of Antwerp, Belgium); Siem Jan Koopman (VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands); Barbara Kasprzyk-Hordern (University of Bath, United Kingdom) |
| Abstract: | We analyze the illicit drug usage by inhabitants and visitors of European cities. Our statistical analyses are by means of linear mixed models. The data on illicit drug usage of cocaine, ecstasy, amphetamines, methamphetamines, and cannabis are collected through wastewater samples from the inlet of 21 sewage treatment plants spread over 11 European countries. The data set represents nineteen cities, services a population of approximately 15 million inhabitants and covers a one-week period in 2011. The patterns of illicit drug usage are examined with respect to temporal (daily) and spatial variations, as well as in relation to economic wealth (gross domestic product) and criminological (drug offenses recorded by police) factors. In a joint statistical analysis, we find that cocaine and ecstasy are typically recreational drugs that are consumed during the weekend. Inhabitants of Western European countries consume more cocaine than inhabitants of Eastern European countries. This finding cannot be explained by political divisions between West and East. We also find evidence that higher usage of ecstasy is associated with medium-sized cities, economic prosperity, and a lower number of drug offenses.On the other hand, higher usage of methamphetamine is associated with medium-sized cities and low economic wealth. |
| Keywords: | Sewage biomarker analysis, ANOVA, Linear mixed models, Wastewater-based epidemiology |
| JEL: | C33 I15 |
| Date: | 2014–10–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20140135&r=eur |
| By: | Elmar A. Janssen (University of Paderborn); Rene Fahr (University of Paderborn) |
| Abstract: | We investigate wage effects of deviations from peer group body mass index (BMI) to evaluate the influence of social norms on wages. Our approach allows to show the existence of the influence of the social norm and to disentangle it from any (anticipated) productivity effects associated with deviations from a clinically recommended BMI in certain sections of the weight distribution. Estimates of between-effects models for 9 European countries for the years 1998 to 2001 suggest that the influence of the social norm varies considerably between countries, and wage penalties are rather found for upward deviations from the norm and for men. |
| Keywords: | social norms, discrimination, body mass index, cross-country evidence, wage effects |
| JEL: | I10 J30 J70 M51 |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pdn:dispap:04&r=eur |
| By: | Marvao, Catarina (Trinity College Dublin) |
| Abstract: | The EU Leniency Programme (LP) aims to encourage the dissolution of existing cartels and the deterrence of future cartels, through spontaneous reporting and/or significant cooperation by cartel members during an investigation. However, the European Commission guidelines are rather vague in terms of the factors that influence the granting and scale of fine reductions. As expected, the results shown that the first reporting or cooperating firm receives generous fine reductions. More importantly, there is some evidence that firms can “learn how to play the leniency game”, either learning how to cheat or how to report, as the reductions given to multiple offenders (and their cartel partners) are substantially higher. These results have an ambiguous impact on firms’ incentives and major implications for policy making. |
| Keywords: | Cartels; competition policy; Leniency Programme; self-reporting |
| JEL: | K21 K42 L40 L51 |
| Date: | 2014–09–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:hasite:0027&r=eur |
| By: | Judit Temesváry (Department of Economics, Hamilton College) |
| Abstract: | Foreign currency-based loans and deposits became very popular in Central-Eastern European countries (CEECs) over the 2000-2011 period. This paper employs a structural approach to simultaneously examine the demand-side (consumer-related) and supply-side (bank-related) determinants of the quick spread of FX-based banking. The econometric analysis uses a unique newly constructed dataset on FX and domestic currency loans, deposits and interest rates, covering 16 CEECs overtime. Results show that deregulation and cheap funding from parents abroad helped fuel FX lending. There is substantial heterogeneity across market segments, currencies and maturities. Corporate sector FX lending is fundamentally different from retail and mortgage markets. |
| Keywords: | Bank lending, Interest rate choices, Discrete choice, Simultaneous equations, Cross-country analysis |
| JEL: | E44 F31 G21 G28 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:has:discpr:1405&r=eur |
| By: | Stefan P.T. Groot (Centraal Planbureau, The Hague, the Netherlands); Henri L.F. de Groot (VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands) |
| Abstract: | This paper employs a unique set of micro-data covering almost one third of the Dutch labor force, to estimate the relationship between agglomeration externalities and the level of education. While the positive relationship between economic density and productivity and wages has long been established in the economic literature, less is known about the effects of density on the productivity of different types of workers. This paper shows that there is substantial heterogeneity in the relationship between density and productivity for workers with different types of education. Apart from estimating the impact of aggregate density, we also estimate whether the composition of the local labor market in terms of education is related to the productivity of different types of workers. Using the presence of universities as an instrument, we estimate the effect of the supply of university graduates on wages, i.e. the social return to education. |
| Keywords: | agglomeration, education, knowledge-spillovers, wages, local labor markets |
| Date: | 2014–07–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20140088&r=eur |
| By: | Raul Ramos (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona); Vicente Royuela (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | The evolution of income inequality is becoming a great concern all over the World, particularly since the start of the Great Recession. In this work we analyse the main trends of income inequality in Europe over the last decade, both at the national and regional level. Our results point to a large diversity in inequality patterns, as we observe both increases and decreases in inequality both at the regional and at the national level. The EU2020 Strategy aims achieving an inclusive economic growth, benefitting the largest possible number of people. We briefly analyse the main factors impacting inequality and finally derive several policy implications. |
| Keywords: | Inequality, Globalisation, Technological change, European regions. JEL classification: R11, R12, O15, O3, F61 |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ira:wpaper:201425&r=eur |
| By: | Morescalchi, Andrea |
| Abstract: | Oswald's thesis posits that workers who own their own home should have longer unemployment spells due to restricted mobility, but repeatedly the reverse is found. We contribute to shed light on this puzzle in two key ways. First, we show that the thesis holds when stated in terms of search intensity instead of unemployment. In a job search model with moving costs we show that unemployed homeowners search less than renters. We confirm this result empirically using UK LFS data. Second, we provide evidence that homeowners select search methods associated with shorter unemployment spells, suggesting that they search more effciently. |
| Keywords: | job search, search methods, housing tenure, homeownership, Oswald effect. |
| JEL: | J61 J64 R21 R23 R29 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:59079&r=eur |
| By: | Jan Behringer; Thomas Theobald; Till van Treeck |
| Abstract: | Household surveys like the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) notoriously underestimate the degree of income and wealth inequality at the upper end of the distribution. A new approach developed by Thomas Piketty and co-authors therefore analyses tax return data in an attempt at better measuring top incomes and wealth. In the case of Germany, however, this approach faces a number of difficulties. Since 2009, capital incomes are subject to a flat rate withholding tax, levied at source. Moreover, Germany abandoned the wealth tax in 1997. This makes it difficult to measure the distribution of wealth and capital incomes. Moreover, at the conceptual level, top household income shares underestimate the rise of inequality in Germany because much of the shift in income distribution since the early 2000s has taken the form of rising corporate profits, which in large part have been retained by firms and hence are not counted as household income. Despite these problems, measures of income and wealth inequality can be developed by combining information from household surveys and national accounts data. The article also argues that reducing inequality would contribute to reducing Germany's export surplus and thereby enhance macroeconomic stability. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imk:report:99e-2014&r=eur |
| By: | Simona De Rosa; Filippo Randelli; Luca Salvati |
| Abstract: | Strategic alliances are considered to be a way for private sector firms to fill production gaps and to improve performance through collaboration with partners. The creation of such alliances is indeed shown to increase the competitiveness of firms in national and international frameworks. Recently, such alliances have also been seen as one response of small and medium enterprises to the global economic crisis. This study aims to analyse the dynamics of recent Italian strategic alliances of this type by using a recent database of 333 alliances involving 1,800 companies. The companies and their alliances have been classified according to attributes including specialisation (classified using NACE-REV nomenclature) and location (administrative region and province). The spatial distribution of strategic alliances was studied, taking into account factors such as technological intensity, geographical distribution of companies, and agglomeration factors and networks, at both provincial and regional levels uusing descriptive, correlative and multivariate statistics. We show that the effects of various factors vary spatially, and the descriptors of the spatial distribution of strategic alliances across Italy extend beyond the traditional north/south divide. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:frz:wpaper:wp2014_19.rdf&r=eur |
| By: | Johansson, Per (IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy); Laun, Lisa (IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy); Palme, Mårten (Department of Economics, Stockholm University) |
| Abstract: | We study how economic incentives affect labor force exit through different income security programs, old-age pensions as well as income taxes in Sweden. We use the option value for staying in the labor force as a measure of economic incentives and estimate an econometric model for the choice of leaving the labor market. Besides old-age pension, we focus on the Disability Insurance (DI), which is the most important exit path before age 65. By simulating the effect of different probabilities to be admitted DI we show how changes in the stringency of DI admittance affects labor supply among older workers through economic incentives. |
| Keywords: | Disability Insurance; option value; labor market exit; labor supply |
| JEL: | H55 J14 J26 |
| Date: | 2014–08–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2014_020&r=eur |
| By: | Stephen Martin (Department of Economics and Related Studies, University of York, UK); Andrew Street (Centre for Health Economics, University of York, UK); Lu Han (Department of Health Sciences, University of York, UK); John Hutton (Department of Health Sciences, University of York, UK) |
| Abstract: | We assess the impact of the English version of prospective payment, termed Payment by Results (PbR), on hospital quality, as measured by in-hospital mortality and 28-day emergency readmission. To do this, we exploit the phased introduction of PbR across hospitals and across three treatments (hip replacement, hernia repair and stroke) which were exposed to PbR at different times. We estimate regression models to analyse factors associated with patient survival and readmission for all those admitted for hip replacement (n=499,555), hernia repair (n=414,959) or following stroke (n=487,040) between 2002/3 and 2007/8. Factors include patient and hospital characteristics and the proportion of hospital income derived from PbR. We find that the probability of survival improved over time while changes in crude readmission rates varied by condition. Patient characteristics are important at explaining survival and readmission, and hospital size and specialisation also appear significant, though not consistently so across conditions or time. The probability of surviving stroke is lower for those admitted over the weekend. Given the high mortality rate for stroke, it is critical to account for the probability of surviving the initial admission when evaluating readmissions. PbR does not appear to have influenced the probability of survival or readmission. |
| Keywords: | hospital financing, quality, inpatient care, mortality, readmission |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chy:respap:105cherp&r=eur |
| By: | Drago, Carlo; Millo, Francesco; Ricciuti, Roberto; Santella, Paolo |
| Abstract: | We analyze the effects of corporate governance reforms on interlocking directorship (ID), and we assess the relationship between interlocking directorships and company performance for the main Italian firms listed on the Italian stock exchange over 1998-2007. We use a unique dataset that includes corporate governance variables related to the board size, interlocking directorships and variables related to companies’ performances. The network analysis showed only some effectiveness of these reforms in slightly dispersing the web of companies. Using a diff-in-diff approach, we then find in the period considered a slight reduction in the returns of those companies where interlocking directorships were used the most, which confirms our assumption on the perverse effect of ID on company performance in a context prone to shareholder expropriation such as the Italian one |
| Keywords: | Corporate Governance, Interlocking Directorships, Social Network Analysis, Empirical Corporate Finance |
| JEL: | C33 G34 G38 L14 |
| Date: | 2014–10–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:59217&r=eur |