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on Microeconomic European Issues |
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Issue of 2015‒12‒08
twenty-six papers chosen by Giuseppe Marotta Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia |
| By: | Berg, Gerard J. van den; Uhlendorff, Arne (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]); Wolff, Joachim (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]) |
| Abstract: | "With the introduction of a new welfare benefit system in 2005, Germany implemented quite strict benefit sanctions for welfare recipients aged younger than 25 years. For all types of non-compliance except for missing appointments, their basic cash benefit is withdrawn for three months. A second sanction of the same type within one year implies a complete benefit cut for three months. We analyze the impact of these sanctions on job search outcomes and on transitions out of the labor force. Our analysis is based on administrative data on a large inflow sample of young male jobseekers into welfare in West Germany. We estimate separate models for people living alone and people living with their family, as sanctioned welfare recipients living with other household members can partly rely on their support and might react less by increasing search intensity and lowering reservation wages. We estimate the parameters of multivariate duration models taking selection based on unobservables into account. Our results suggest that both the first and the second sanction increase the probability of finding a job, but that these jobs go along with lower earnings due to first but not the second sanction. Moreover, first sanctions significantly increase the transition rate out of the labor force of both groups of young men, while second sanctions amplify this effect only for young men living in single households." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) |
| JEL: | J64 J65 C41 C21 |
| Date: | 2015–11–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabdpa:201534&r=eur |
| By: | Carlo Cambini; Wolfgang Briglauer; Michał Grajek |
| Abstract: | Footnotes, references, and the technical annex can be found in the PDF version of this publication. Highlights Fibre-based next generation access (NGA) roll-out across the European Union is one of the goals of the European Commission’s Digital Agenda strategy. By enabling entirely new broadband services, NGA networks have the potential to trigger productivity gains on a massive scale. There remains considerable uncertainty, however, about how the roll-out goal can best be achieved. The underlying differences between the economics of copper-based and new fibre-based broadband infrastructures should lead to a revision of the regulatory framework for telecommunications markets. While the current regulatory measures have been useful in the past decade to sustain competition and facilitate entry into a market with already-existing infrastructures, the need to create new, much faster broadband networks calls for a rethink of the scope and strictness of regulation. 1 Introduction Next generation access (NGA) networks, a fibre-based high-speed broadband infrastructure, are a general purpose technology with the potential to trigger productivity gains on a massive scale. These gains might take years to accrue, because new applications and new organisational and production designs that use NGA networks need time to be developed. Nevertheless, we consider wide NGA infrastructure roll-out to be welfare enhancing and that it should therefore be an objective of the European Union. This is consistent with the view taken by the European Commission. The Commission’s Digital Single Market strategy, adopted on 6 May 2015, promises that in 2016 an ambitious overhaul of the telecoms regulatory framework will be proposed, and will focus, among other aims, on investment in high-speed broadband infrastructure (European Commission, 2015). EU markets for electronic communications networks and services are regulated according to the 2002 eCommunications framework. Among its main provisions is the mandated sharing of telecommunications infrastructure, which allows entrants to compete with incumbents. The eCommunications framework was created for copper-based legacy networks, but has been extended to cover NGA networks, which provide users with radically improved broadband access to data, based on fibre-optic cable technologies. Academic research shows that, among various cost and demand side factors that have an impact on the deployment of NGA networks, regulatory access policies play a crucial role. In this Policy Contribution, we discuss how these regulations – devised at EU level and implemented at national level – might affect the deployment of NGA networks. We start with an analysis of recent NGA trends in EU member states, and assess if the European Commission’s policy goals are being met1. We then review the experience with broadband deployment in the EU and other selected economies. We discuss the differences and similarities in the economics of the ‘old’ broadband (using legacy networks based on copper and coaxial cables) and the ‘new’ broadband (using NGA networks), and assess the extent to which lessons learned about regulation of legacy networks can be transferred to NGA networks. We then discuss the current regulatory framework for NGA networks and in Box 1 on page 9 highlight case studies of EU member states that did particularly well in terms of NGA deployment. This enables us to highlight the key trade-offs involved in regulation of NGA networks and to formulate a set of recommendations to policymakers. Our key finding is that the underlying differences between the economics of the ‘old’ and the ‘new’ broadband infrastructures should lead to a revision of the current regulatory framework for telecommunications markets. While the regulatory framework for copper-based networks was useful in the past decade to sustain competition in a market with already existing infrastructures, the need to create new broadband networks calls for a rethink. 2 NGA coverage, penetration and take-up rates Figure 1 shows NGA coverage and NGA penetration for 25 EU member states. NGA coverage is measured by the total number of lines that enable fast broadband internet access that are available to homes or businesses (‘homes passed’2) . Network coverage thus refers to the number of consumers that in principle have access to fast broadband. NGA penetration refers to the actual number of NGA subscribers. Figure 1 captures almost the entire period of NGA deployment in EU member states and shows that the coverage and the penetration follow a more or less dynamic diffusion process. Even though some EU member states do particularly well in terms of NGA deployment, as Figures 1 and 2 show, Europe lags behind a number of non-European nations, including Japan, Korea and the United States (FTTH Council Europe, 2015; Yoo, 2014; OECD, 2013). In order to stimulate greater NGA coverage and penetration, the European Commission’s Digital Agenda strategy, of which the Digital Single Market plan is a part, said that the EU should “ensure that, by 2020, (i) all Europeans have access to much higher internet speeds of above 30 Mbps and (ii) 50 percent or more of European households subscribe to internet connections above 100 Mbps” (European Commission, 2010). |
| Date: | 2015–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bre:polcon:9959&r=eur |
| By: | Andonio De Socio (Banca d'Italia); Valentina Michelangeli (Banca d'Italia) |
| Abstract: | We develop a model to assess the evolution of the Italian corporate sector’s financial vulnerability. We use micro data to take into account the heterogeneity of firms and their demography and we integrate them with macroeconomic forecasts in order to estimate EBITDA, interest expense and financial debt for each individual firm over a two-year horizon. In this way we obtain a projection of the share of vulnerable firms (those with negative EBITDA or whose interest expense-to-EBITDA ratio is above 50 per cent) and of their debt well in advance of the availability of actual data. By applying the model to the 2013 individual firm data (available only in early 2015), we estimate an increase in the share of vulnerable firms in 2014, followed by a sizeable decrease in 2015, mainly due to the reduction in interest rates and the economic recovery. The model is then used to evaluate stress scenarios for interest rates and profitability. |
| Keywords: | firms’ vulnerability, debt, stress test |
| JEL: | D22 G32 |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_293_15&r=eur |
| By: | Laurent Gobillon (EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics, PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - Institut national de la recherche agronomique (INRA) - École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC) - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CEPR - Center for Economic Policy Research - CEPR, University of Pennsylvania [Philadelphia]); Matthieu Solignac (University of Pennsylvania [Philadelphia]) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the difference in homeownership rates between natives and first-generation immigrants in France, and how this difference evolves over the 1975-1999 period, by using a large longitudinal dataset. We find that the homeownership gap is large and has increased. Entries into the territory have a large negative effect on the evolution of homeownership rates for immigrants. Although entrants have on average better education than people staying in the territory for the entire period (i.e. stayers), they are younger and thus at an earlier stage in the wealth accumulation process. They are also located in large cities, where the homeownership rate is lower, and the returns to their characteristics are lower than those for stayers. Leavers have a positive effect on the evolution of homeownership rates for immigrants because they have a low access to homeownership and they exit the country. But this effect is only one-third that of entrants. For stayers, we show that returns to characteristics change in favor of immigrants, which is consistent with assimilation theories. However, among stayers who access homeownership, immigrants end up in owned dwellings that are of lesser quality than natives. |
| Keywords: | Homeownership,Immigrants,Longitudinal data |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:psewpa:halshs-01233069&r=eur |
| By: | Rafael González-Val (Universidad de Zaragoza & IEB); Miriam Marcén (Universidad de Zaragoza) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we examine the role of the business cycle in divorce. To do so, we use a panel of 29 European countries covering the period from 1991 to 2012. We find the unemployment rate negatively affects the divorce rate, pointing to a pro-cyclical evolution of the divorce rate, even after controlling for socio-economic variables and unobservable characteristics that can vary by country, and/or over time. Results indicate that a one-percentage-point increase in the unemployment rate involves almost 0.025 fewer divorces per thousand inhabitants. The impact is small, representing around 1.2% of the average divorce rate in Europe during the period considered. Supplementary analysis, developed to explore a possible non-linear pattern, confirms a negative relationship between unemployment and divorce in European countries, with the inverse relationship being more pronounced in those countries with higher divorce rates. |
| Keywords: | Divorce, unemployment, business cycle |
| JEL: | C14 C23 J12 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ieb:wpaper:doc2015-34&r=eur |
| By: | Mario Izquierdo (Banco de España); Juan Francisco Jimeno (Banco de España) |
| Abstract: | This paper describes the main results from the third wave of the Wage Dynamics Network (WDN) survey. Its main goal is to provide information on demand, finance conditions and other factors determining economic activity, on wage, price and employment adjustments over the period 2010-2013, and on firms’ perceptions of institutional changes in the labour market. In Spain, the survey was conducted at the end of 2014, collecting information from a representative sample of 1,975 Spanish firms covering manufacturing, energy and market services sectors. The main results show that Spanish firms’ adjustment to falling demand and other negative conditions since 2010 relied heavily on the dismissal of employees under temporary contracts, although those firms most affected by the crisis also significantly reduced permanent employment. On the contrary, wage and hours adjustments remained limited even in those firms most severely affected by the negative shocks. Regarding institutional changes, Spanish firms perceive some easing in the conditions for economic layoffs, attributing the main source of this higher flexibility to legal changes since 2010. As to other labour conditions, including wages and hours, the share of firms perceiving higher flexibility is somewhat lower. |
| Keywords: | survey, wages, employment, shocks |
| JEL: | J23 J30 J50 |
| Date: | 2015–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bde:opaper:1503&r=eur |
| By: | John P. Weche (Monopolies Commission and Leuphana University Luneburg, Germany) |
| Abstract: | Empirical studies on the link between green investment and other business investment at the firm level either focus on innovation specific types of investment or fail to consider the simultaneity of investment decisions. The analysis to be presented here offers a broad focus on different types of environmental protection investment and explicitly considers simultaneity issues, using newly created panel data for German manufacturing firms. Germany is an ideal case for testing the crowding-out hypothesis, due to its high level of environmental regulation and a significant presence of command-and-control style measures, which are especially under debate as a source of crowding-out. The estimation of a behavioral investment model supports a crowdingout of other business investment through environmental protection investment in general as well as its subcategories of add-on measures and investments in renewable energy. However, only the latter subcategory causes a crowding-out at the industry level. |
| Keywords: | green investment; business investment; renewable energy; crowding-out; manufacturing; Germany |
| JEL: | O32 O33 Q42 Q55 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lue:wpaper:350&r=eur |
| By: | Hildegunn Ekroll Stokke (Department of Economics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology) |
| Abstract: | The empirical evidence on the incidence of payroll taxation is primarily based on the wage bill of firms. This paper applies matched employer-employee register data on individual wages for all private sector workers in Norway. Exploiting a payroll tax reform and using the difference-indifference approach, I find that 1% reduction in labor costs generates 0.5% wage increase. Among low educated workers the degree of tax shifting equals 50%, while the wage response for highly educated is insignificant. Lower payroll taxes have limited effects on employment. The findings imply that the absolute value of the labor demand elasticity decreases with the level of education. |
| Keywords: | Payroll tax cut, individual wages, heterogeneous effects, education |
| JEL: | H22 J23 J31 J38 |
| Date: | 2015–11–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nst:samfok:16815&r=eur |
| By: | Michela Braga (Università Bocconi, Milano); Francesco Scervini (Università di Pavia) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates whether the gender of elected politicians af- fects the political municipal outcomes. Relying on Italian administra- tive data from 1991 to 2009, we are able to instrument the gender of elected politician using an institutional exogenous change: a gender quota in the candidacy list enforced only in a subsample of municipali- ties and for a short period of time. While the gender of politicians does not affect the general `quality of life', proxied by the internal migration rate, it does affect significantly both the efficacy of policies targeted to women and households, proxied by the fertility rate, and the efficiency of municipal administration, proxied by the size of administrative bod- ies. These results are robust to several specifications and robustness checks. Affirmative actions enhancing gender equality in political rep- resentation may be then beneficial not only in terms of social justice, but also from a political outcome perspective. |
| Keywords: | Gender, Municipal government, Political outcomes, Fertility |
| JEL: | D72 J13 J16 R23 |
| Date: | 2015–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipu:wpaper:35&r=eur |
| By: | Fabrizio Colonna (Banca d'Italia); Giulia Giupponi (London School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The political and economic debate in Italy accompanying the labour market reforms of recent decades has often focused on the use of fixed-term contracts. Fears have frequently been raised about the possible use of temporary contracts not to satisfy short-term productive requirements (�buffer-stock� motive) or to screen suitable candidates for permanent positions, but rather to manage worker turnover by avoiding the higher costs associated with open-ended contracts (especially those related to dismissals). While it is very difficult to separate out the various economic rationales for using fixed-term contracts, this paper aims to assess to what extent Italian firms use fixed-term contracts to meet monthly production needs. A simple correlation analysis shows that firms in sectors with the strongest variations in monthly production levels make more extensive use of temporary contracts: almost one third of fixed-term hiring is attributable to seasonality. Using two behavioural models where firms choose whether to hire and on what contract, it is estimated that monthly production peaks account for a non-negligible share (at least 25 per cent) of fixed-term hires. |
| Keywords: | temporary jobs, fixed term contracts, seasonality |
| JEL: | J23 J41 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_297_15&r=eur |
| By: | Bütikofer, Aline (Norwegian School of Economics); Løken, Katrine V. (Department of Economics, University of Bergen); Salvanes, Kjell G. (Norwegian School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | A growing literature documents the positive long-term effects of policy-induced improvements in early-life health and nutrition. However, there is still scarce evidence on early-life health programs targeting a large share of the population and the role of such programs in increasing intergenerational mobility. This paper uses the rollout of mother and child health care centers in Norway, which commenced in the 1930s, to study the long-term consequences of increasing access to well-child visits. These well-child visits included a physical examination and the provision of information about adequate infant nutrition. Our results indicate that access to mother and child health care centers had a positive effect on education and earnings: access in the first year of life increased the completed years of schooling by 0.15 years and earnings by two percent. The effects were stronger for children from a low socioeconomic background. In addition, we found that individuals suffer from fewer health risks at age 40 and positive effects on adult height, which support the fact that better nutrition within the first year of life is the likely mechanism behind our findings. While there is increasing knowledge on the benefits of various types of early childhood programs, the costs are often neglected, making it hard to compare different programs. We add to this by showing that investments in mother and child health care centers pass a simple cost-benefit analysis. |
| Keywords: | Well-child visits; early-life interventions; health and inequality |
| JEL: | I14 I15 I18 I20 J30 |
| Date: | 2015–12–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:bergec:2015_009&r=eur |
| By: | Jorge Calero (Universidad de Barcelona & IEB); Álvaro Choi (Universidad de Barcelona & IEB) |
| Abstract: | The most painful effect of the Great Recession in European countries has been the surge in unemployment rates during a period that has been characterised most notably by an increase in income inequality and the heterogeneous pattern of this inequality by educational level. Thus, workers with low levels of educational attainment were among the first to lose their jobs. This paper addresses two main research questions: first, it estimates the importance of the level of skills and education on the probability of being unemployed; and, second, it provides evidence of the impact of inequalities in the previous socioeconomic and cultural background of individuals on the probability of being unemployed. These two objectives are assessed using data for 24 jurisdictions participating in the first round of the OECD’s Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). Skill levels play a central role in explaining unemployment in Europe and act as an indirect channel via which a family’s sociocultural background has an impact on its labour market status. |
| Keywords: | Human capital, labour market, PIAAC |
| JEL: | J24 J62 I24 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ieb:wpaper:doc2015-35&r=eur |
| By: | Max Coveney (Erasmus University Rotterdam); Pilar Garcia Gomez (Erasmus University Rotterdam); Eddy Van Doorslaer (Erasmus University Rotterdam); Tom Van Ourti (Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands) |
| Abstract: | Little is known about what the economic crisis has done to health disparities by income. We apply a decomposition method to unravel the contributions of income growth, income inequality and differential income mobility across socio-demographic groups to changes in health disparities by income in Spain using longitudinal data from the Survey of Income and Living Conditions (SILC) for the period 2004-2012. We find a modest rise in health inequality by income in Spain in the five years of economic growth prior to the start of the crisis in 2008, but a sharp fall after 2008. The drop mainly derives from the fact that loss of employment and earnings has disproportionately affected the incomes of the younger and healthier groups rather than the (mainly stable pension) incomes of the over 65s. This suggests that unequal distribution of income protection by age may reduce health inequality in the short run after an economic recession. |
| Keywords: | economic crisis; health inequality; Spain |
| JEL: | D30 D63 I14 I15 |
| Date: | 2015–12–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20150130&r=eur |
| By: | Lucia Rizzica (Bank of Italy); Marco Tonello (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | We analyse the impact of exposure to corruption news on individuals’ perceptions about the extent of the phenomenon. To this purpose, we take information on individuals’ perceptions of the likelihood that corruption events may occur in everyday life and combine it with a dataset containing the number of news items related to corruption that appeared on the homepages of the websites of the 30 most widely read national and local newspapers on the day on which the individual was interviewed. Results show that increasing potential exposure to corruption news by one standard deviation causes an increase in corruption perception of about 3.5 per cent and a decrease in trust in justice effectiveness of about 5.2 per cent. We suggest that these effects are mainly driven by a persuasive mechanism rather than by a learning process so that individuals’ perceptions about corruption appear to be biased by media content. |
| Keywords: | corruption perceptions, media, newspapers |
| JEL: | D84 K42 K49 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_1043_15&r=eur |
| By: | Alan Matthews (Department of Economics, Trinity College Dublin); |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the possible impact of the EU’s common agricultural policy (CAP) and its common fisheries policy (CFP) (particularly its external dimension) on the migration of third country nationals to the EU. First, the expected impacts of both policies are discussed taking into account that both policies have undergone considerable changes in recent years. Data on irregular migration (as an imperfect proxy for economic migration driven mainly by ‘push’ factors) are used to identify those countries which are the principal sources of irregular migrants to the EU. The likely contribution of the CAP and CFP to these migration flows is discussed. For both policies, detailed case-study work in individual countries would be necessary to discover if either policy does have discernible effects and, if so, the nature of those effects. |
| Keywords: | EU common agricultural policy, EU common fisheries policy, migration |
| JEL: | F22 Q18 Q22 |
| Date: | 2015–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tcd:tcduee:tep0715&r=eur |
| By: | Hanousek, Jan; Shamshur, Anastasiya; Tresl, Jiri |
| Abstract: | We study the effects of corruption on firm efficiency using a unique comprehensive dataset of private firms from 14 Central and Eastern European countries for the period from 2000 to 2013. We find that an environment characterized by a high level of corruption has an adverse effect on firm efficiency. This effect is amplified for firms with a lower propensity to behave corruptly, i.e. foreign-controlled firms and firms managed by female CEOs, while domestically-owned firms and firms with male CEOs are not penalized. At the same time, an environment characterized by considerable heterogeneity in perception of corruption is associated with an increase in firm efficiency. This effect is particularly strong for foreign firms from low-corruption countries, while no effect is observed for firms managed by female CEO. |
| Keywords: | CEO; corruption; efficiency; Europe; ownership structure; panel data; stochastic frontier |
| JEL: | C33 D24 G32 L60 L80 M21 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:10951&r=eur |
| By: | Andor, Mark; Frondel, Manuel; Vance, Colin |
| Abstract: | Using detailed data originating from several hundred households of the German Residential Energy Survey (GRECS), this paper empirically investigates the returns on investment in home-equipped photovoltaics (PV) installations. We find that these returns were particularly high in the years 2009 to 2011, when large subsidies for solar electricity coincided with plummeting module prices. While our empirical analysis demonstrates that such investments also incur substantial risks, there is evidence that, above all, wealthy households tend to benefit from the solar subsidies, whereas the costs of financing these subsidies are borne by electricity consumers at large, not least poverty-endangered households. The resulting redistribution of financial resources raises the question of whether the burden-sharing of Germany's transition to an alternative energy system is fair. |
| Abstract: | Auf Basis der Erhebungen zum Energieverbrauch der privaten Haushalte von RWI und forsa analysieren wir für mehrere hundert Haushalte, die über eine Photovoltaik-Anlage verfügen, die Renditen der Investitionen in PV-Anlagen. Unsere Ergebnisse verdeutlichen, dass diese Renditen mitunter sehr lukrativ waren, besonders bei Installation in den Jahren 2009 bis 2011, in denen hohe Vergütungssätze für Solarstrom mit stark gesunkenen Anlagekosten einhergingen. Unsere Sensitivitätsanalysen zeigen allerdings auch die nicht unerheblichen Risiken auf, die mit derartigen Investitionen verbunden sind. Zudem sind es tendenziell eher die wohlhabenderen Haushalte, die derartige Investitionen tätigen. Finanziert werden die damit erzielten Renditen von der großen Masse der übrigen Stromverbraucher über die EEG-Umlage, nicht zuletzt auch von den armutsgefährdeten Haushalten. Angesichts dieser Umverteilung finanzieller Ressourcen stellt sich bei der Förderung des Ausbaus der Erneuerbaren in Deutschland mit Hilfe des Erneuerbaren-Energien-Gesetzes (EEG) die Frage nach einer gerechten Lastenverteilung. |
| Keywords: | solar subsidies,redistribution effects,German Residential Energy Consumption Survey |
| JEL: | Q28 Q42 Q48 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:590&r=eur |
| By: | Kampkötter, Patrick; Mohrenweiser, Jens; Sliwka, Dirk; Steffes, Susanne; Wolter, Stefanie (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]) |
| Abstract: | "This paper introduces a new data source available for HRM researchers and personnel economists, the Linked Personnel Panel (LPP). The LPP is a longitudinal and representative employer-employee data set covering establishments in Germany and designed for quantitative empirical HR research. The LPP offers a unique structure. First, the data set combines employer and employee surveys that can be matched to each other. Second, it can also be linked to a number of additional administrative data sets. Third, the LPP covers a wide range of firms and workers from different backgrounds. Finally, because of its longitudinal dimension, the LPP should facilitate the study of causal effects of HR practices. The LPP employee survey uses a number of established scales to measure job characteristics and job perceptions, personal characteristics, employee attitudes towards the organisation and employee behaviour. This paper gives an overview of both the employer and employee survey and outlines the definitions, origins and statistical properties of the scales used in the individual questionnaire." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) |
| JEL: | J24 J81 M12 M51 M52 M53 M54 M55 |
| Date: | 2015–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabdpa:201535&r=eur |
| By: | Olympia Bover (Banco de España) |
| Abstract: | I analyse new data on subjective probabilistic expectations on house prices collected in the Spanish Survey of Household Finances. Households are asked to distribute ten points among five different scenarios for the change in the price of their homes over the next 12 months. This paper is the first empirical study to document the beliefs of a representative sample of households about the future value of their homes. It also reviews the methodology of expectation measurement and recent work on household subjective probabilities. I model individual subjective probability densities using splines, construct quantiles from those densities, and analyse how the heterogeneity in the individual distributions relates to differences in housing and household characteristics. An important result of the paper is that women are more optimistic about the evolution of house prices than men. Location at the postal code level accounts for a large fraction of the variation in the subjective distributions across households. Finally, I provide some results on how subjective expectations matter for predicting spending behaviour. Housing investment and car purchases are negatively associated with pessimistic expectations about future house price changes and with uncertainty about those expectations. |
| Keywords: | household subjective probabilistic expectations, house price expectations, gender bias, consumption, portfolio decisions |
| JEL: | C81 D84 D12 D14 R21 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bde:wpaper:1535&r=eur |
| By: | Johansson, Per (Uppsala University); Laun, Lisa (Institute for Evaluation of Labor Market and Education Policy (IFAU)); Palme, Marten (Dept. of Economics, Stockholm University) |
| Abstract: | Following an era of a development towards earlier retirement, there has been a reversed trend to later exit from the labor market in Sweden since the late 1990s. We investigate whether or not there are potentials, with respect to health and work capacity of the population, for extending this trend further. We use two different methods. First, the Milligan and Wise (2012) method, which calculates how much people would participate in the labor force at a constant mortality rate. Second, the Cutler et al. (2012) method, which asks how much people would participate in the labor force if they would work as much as the age group 50-54 at a particular level of health. We also provide evidence on the development of self-assessed health and health inequality in the Swedish population. |
| Keywords: | SHARE; Health inequality |
| JEL: | I10 J26 |
| Date: | 2015–11–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:sunrpe:2015_0008&r=eur |
| By: | Rita Lourenço; Paulo M.M. Rodrigues |
| Abstract: | The real estate market plays a crucial role in a country's economy. Since residential property is the most important component of households' wealth, real estate markets price trends can affect households' consumption and investment decisions via wealth effects. As real estate is often used as collateral for loans, changes in real estate prices affect households' debt and their ability to repay loans, and consequently also impact on the banking sector. As housing covers a basic human need, analyzing fluctuations in residential property prices is also important from a social perspective. Furthermore, since the construction industry is a main employer, investment in construction has a major influence on economic activity. Thus, developments in the real estate market have far-reaching implications on the economy as a whole as well as on financial stability. In this paper we use different methodologies with the objective of providing evidence regarding potential bubble/exuberant behaviour of economic agents in several European countries and the US, over the last four decades. |
| JEL: | C12 C22 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ptu:wpaper:w201517&r=eur |
| By: | Clark, Ken (University of Manchester); Drinkwater, Stephen (University of Roehampton); Robinson, Catherine (University of Kent) |
| Abstract: | Self‐employment constitutes a vital part of the economy since entrepreneurs can provide not only employment for themselves but also for others. The link between self‐employment and immigration is, however, complex since self‐employment can be viewed as both a haven from the paid labour market or as a source of economic growth. Moreover, the nature of self-employment has changed considerably in recent decades, especially with regards to providing a flexible form of employment for many demographic groups. We investigate the evolving relationship between self‐employment and immigration in the UK using recently released microdata from the 2011 Census for England and Wales. Our findings indicate large variations, with high self‐employment rates observed for some groups with a long established history of migration to the UK (especially men born in Pakistan) and also for some groups who have arrived more recently (such as from the EU's new member states). We further explore the differences, analyse variations by gender and identify key determining factors. In addition to certain socio‐economic characteristics, it is found that migration‐related influences, such as English language proficiency and period of arrival in the UK, play an important role for some groups. |
| Keywords: | self‐employment, immigrants, United Kingdom |
| JEL: | J61 F22 J21 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9539&r=eur |
| By: | Brenda Gannon (University of Manchester); David Harris (Monash University); Mark. N. Harris (Curtin University); Leandro M. Magnusson (University of Western Australia); Bruce Hollingsworth (University of Lancaster); Brett lnder (Monash University); Pushkar Maitra (Monash University); Luke Munford (University of Manchester) |
| Abstract: | This paper exploits two new alternative approaches to estimate the child health-parental income gradient, using both a threshold model and a more parsimonious random parameters model, applied to the Health Survey for England data 2008-2012. We build on previous research and test the appropriateness of the usual standard age categories (0-3, 4-8, 9-12 and 13-17) exploited in the literature and for policy intervention. Our threshold method estimates different age categories and higher income gradient for children aged between 6 and 8 years old. We further extend our analysis to allow for cohort effects. We and that a higher income is required to improve young children’s health aged 0-2 post 2010. We discuss the relevant reasons and policy implications ?most notably that there are socioeconomic child health inequalities exasperated by the recent recession and inequity in the distribution of health interventions towards those most in financial need. |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uwa:wpaper:15-31&r=eur |
| By: | Clougherty, Joseph A.; Duso, Tomaso; Lee, Miyu; Seldeslachts, Jo |
| Abstract: | We estimate the deterrence effects of European Commission (EC) merger policy instruments over the 1990-2009 period. Our empirical results suggest that phase-1 remedies uniquely generate robust deterrence as – unlike phase-1 withdrawals, phase-2 remedies, and preventions – phase-1 remedies lead to fewer merger notifications in subsequent years. Furthermore, the deterrence effects of phase-1 remedies work best in high-concentration industries; i.e., industries where the HHI is above the 0.2 cut-off level employed by the EC. Additionally, we find that phase-1 remedies do not deter clearly pro-competitive mergers, but do deter potentially anti-competitive mergers in high-concentration industries. |
| Keywords: | competition policy; deterrence; European Commission; merger policy |
| JEL: | K21 K40 L40 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:10959&r=eur |
| By: | Robin Naylor; Jeremy Smith; Shqiponja Telhaj |
| Abstract: | We investigate the extent to which graduate returns vary according to the class of degree achieved by UK university students and examine changes over time in estimated degree class premia. Using a variety of complementary datasets for individuals born in Britain around 1970 and aged between 30 and 40, we estimate an hourly wage premium for a 'good' (relative to a 'lower') class of degree of 7% to 9%, implying a wide spread around the average graduate premium. We also estimate the premium for a good relative to a lower degree for different cohorts (those born between the mid-1960s and early-1980s) and find evidence that the premium for a good degree has risen over time as the proportions of cohorts participating in higher education have increased. |
| Keywords: | Graduate returns, higher education participation, ability composition |
| JEL: | J31 J24 I23 D82 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1392&r=eur |
| By: | Antoine Berthou; Emmanuel Dhyne; Matteo Bugamelli; Ana-Maria Cazacu; Calin-Vlad Demian; Peter Harasztosi; Tibor Lalinsky; Jaanika Meriküll; Filippo Oropallo; Ana Cristina Soares |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a new cross-country evaluation of competitiveness, focusing on the linkages between productivity and export performance among European economies. We use the information compiled in the Trade module of CompNet to establish new stylized facts regarding the joint distributions of the firm-level exports performance and productivity in a panel of 15 countries, 23 manufacturing sectors during the 2000’s. We confirm that exporters are more productive than non-exporters. However, this productivity premium is rising with the export experience of firms, with permanent exporters being much more productive than starters. At the intensive margin, we show that both the level and the growth of firm-level exports rise with firm productivity, and that the bulk of aggregate exports in each country are made by few highly productive firms. Finally, we show that during the crisis, the growth of exports by high productive firms sustained the current account adjustment of European “stressed” economies. This last result confirms that the shape of the productivity distribution within each country can have important consequences from the point of view of the dynamics of aggregate trade patterns. |
| JEL: | F10 F14 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ptu:wpaper:w201513&r=eur |