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on Microeconomic European Issues |
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Issue of 2016‒04‒30
25 papers chosen by Giuseppe Marotta Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia |
| By: | Schleicher, Stefan P.; Köppl, Angela; Zeitlberger, Alexander |
| Abstract: | Pursuing an evidence based approach we summarize the key elements of the European Commission’s proposal of July 2015 for a reform of the EU Emissions Trading System and offer facts about the current state of EU ETS that underline the needs for such a reform. We supply key data for understanding the current state of EU ETS and report in particular the share of freely allocated allowances in emissions for the various sectors since the start of EU ETS in 2005. This is the most relevant parameter for evaluating the stringency and cost impacts of the EU ETS on sectors and installations. We provide propositions for enhancing the allocation procedure of both free and auctioned allowances, the fundamental element in the cap and trade design of this system. We link this procedure closely to the relevant suggestions of the Commission proposal and offer extensions that can make in particular the allocation of free allowances more targeted and effective. We indicate how the impacts of free allowances can be calculated both for sectors and installations and conclude that these reform steps could reduce the administrative burden of the system. |
| Keywords: | EU Emissions Trading System, Reform Options, EU Commission’s Proposal, Environmental Economics and Policy, Q53, Q54, |
| Date: | 2016–04–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:feemei:234308&r=eur |
| By: | Diego Collado; Bea Cantillon; Karel Van den Bosch; Tim Goedemé |
| Abstract: | How can poverty reduction be improved and at what cost? Available evidence suggests that social investment strategies and employment policies are important but not sufficient. In order to reduce the number of people below the relative at-risk-of-poverty threshold of the EU, countries must develop not only effective employment policies but also ensure adequate social protection. This implies increasing social transfers for working and non-working households, while protecting work incentives. In this paper we show that this is not a cheap option. We calculate the hypothetical cost of closing the poverty gap while maintaining the existing average labour market participation incentives at the bottom of the income distribution in three of the most developed welfares states of the EU, namely Belgium, Denmark and the United Kingdom. Results show that this would require around two times the budget needed to just lift all disposable household incomes to the poverty threshold. The cost would obviously be lower in countries with smaller poverty gaps and with weaker participation incentives. The results suggest that anti-poverty strategies also have to look at the drivers of rising income inequalities, at the most appropriate magnitude of work incentives and at downward pressures on low wages. |
| Keywords: | poverty gap, tax-benefit system, minimum income, in-work benefit, work incentives, redistribution |
| JEL: | H23 H24 H53 I32 I38 |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdl:improv:1608&r=eur |
| By: | Yekaterina Chzhen; Sudhanshu Handa; Emilia Toczydlowska; UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre |
| Abstract: | While a long-standing literature analyses cross-country variation in the incidence of child poverty in rich countries in a single year, less is known about children’s individual movements into and out of low household income over a period of time. Using longitudinal data from the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC), the present study addresses this gap by analysing both income mobility and child poverty dynamics in the EU during the recent economic crisis. It finds that income growth among children has been generally pro-poor but not sufficiently so to put a brake on the increasing income inequality. There is substantial heterogeneity among the EU-SILC countries in the rates of child poverty entry and exit. Scandinavian countries tend to combine lower exit and entry rates, while Southern and Eastern European countries tend to have higher rates of both poverty exit and entry. |
| Keywords: | child poverty; household surveys; income distribution; |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucf:inwopa:inwopa840&r=eur |
| By: | Margareta Kreimer (University of Graz); Ricardo Mora (Universidad Carlos III) |
| Abstract: | Using micro data from the Austrian Labor Force Survey from 1996 to 2010, this paper explores the effects on gender segregation of two opposing trends in gender differentials: decreasing gender differentials in participation rates and increasing gender differentials in the incidence of part-time jobs. To do so, we propose an index for the gender division of labor and look at the contributions of gender differences in participation, the incidence of part-time jobs, and in occupational choices to its evolution. Our main results show that the gender division of labor is very stable over the 15-year period. This is because the positive effects from the rising female labor force participation rates are counterbalanced by the negative effects from increasing gender differences in the incidence of part-time jobs. We also find that occupational segregation is the most important source of the gender division of labor and that its contribution remains stable throughout the entire period. These results are robust to alternative definitions of economic activity and labor market involvement and are also found after controlling for educational levels and fields. |
| Keywords: | Gender Division of Labor; Sources of Gender Segregation; Segregation Indexes, Mutual Information |
| JEL: | J16 J24 J62 |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:grz:wpaper:2016-06&r=eur |
| By: | Jan Stede |
| Abstract: | The Italian white certificate scheme is the main national policy instrument to incentivise energy efficiency of the industrial sector. The mechanism sets binding energy-saving targets on electricity and gas distributors with at least 50,000 clients and includes a voluntary opt-in model for participation from other parties. This paper investigates and assesses the elements of the scheme that help overcome several barriers to deliver industrial energy efficiency. Results from a survey conducted among leading experts indicate that the Italian system provides a strong financial incentive to energy efficiency investments, covering a significant share of investment costs and thus reducing payback time. Moreover, the scheme fosters the development of energy service companies (ESCOs), which are key to developing, installing and arranging finance for projects on the ground. In conjunction with other policies, the mechanism also raises awareness of energy efficiency investment opportunities, thus helping overcome the market failure of insufficient information. Core challenges remain, including tackling regulatory uncertainty and improving access to finance. |
| Keywords: | White certificates, energy efficiency obligations, financial incentives, policy evaluation, ESCOs, industrial energy savings, market barriers |
| JEL: | D22 D82 L14 L97 Q48 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1565&r=eur |
| By: | Thomas Barnay (TEPP - Travail, Emploi et Politiques Publiques - UPEM - Université Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, ERUDITE - Equipe de Recherche sur l’Utilisation des Données Individuelles en lien avec la Théorie Economique - UPEM - Université Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée - UPEC UP12 - Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12) |
| Abstract: | Economists have traditionally been very cautious when studying the interaction between employment and health because of the two-way causal relationship between these two variables: health status influences the probability of being employed and, at the same time, working affects the health status. Because these two variables are determined simultaneously, researchers control endogeneity skews (e.g., reverse causality, omitted variables) when conducting empirical analysis. With these caveats in mind, the literature finds that a favourable work environment and high job security lead to better health conditions. Being employed with appropriate working conditions plays a protective role on physical health and psychiatric disorders. By contrast, non-employment and retirement are generally worse for mental health than employment, and overemployment has a negative effect on health. These findings stress the importance of employment and of adequate working conditions for the health of workers. In this context, it is a concern that a significant proportion of European workers (29%) would like to work fewer hours because unwanted long hours are likely to signal a poor level of job satisfaction and inadequate working conditions, with detrimental effects on health. Thus, in Europe, labour-market policy has increasingly paid attention to job sustainability and job satisfaction. The literature clearly invites employers to take better account of the worker preferences when setting the number of hours worked. Overall, a specific “flexicurity” (combination of high employment protection, job satisfaction and active labour-market policies) is likely to have a positive effect on health. |
| Keywords: | work, health, working conditions, employment |
| Date: | 2015–08–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01297538&r=eur |
| By: | Laszlo Goerke (Institute for Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the EU, University of Trier); Sabrina Jeworrek (Institute for Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the EU, University of Trier) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the relationship between co-determination at the plant level and paid vacation in Germany. From a legal perspective, works councils have no impact on vacation entitlements, but they can affect their use. Employing data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), we find that male employees who work in an establishment, in which a works council exists, take almost two additional days of paid vacation annually, relative to employees in an establishment without institution. The effect for females is much smaller, if discernible at all. The data suggests that this gender gap might bue due to the fact that women exploit vacation entitlements more comprehensively than men already in the absence of a works council. |
| Keywords: | Gender Difference, German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), Paid Vacation, Works Councils |
| JEL: | J22 J32 J33 J53 M54 |
| Date: | 2016–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iaa:dpaper:201601&r=eur |
| By: | Lorena M. D'Agostino (AQR Research Group-IREA. University of Barcelona); Rosina Moreno (AQR Research Group-IREA. University of Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | During the recent economic recession, firms have been less willing to invest in innovation, which often is an uncertain and long-term process. This reduction did not occur equally for all firms, and recent literature has analysed the characteristics of those firms which maintain or even raise their innovative efforts during the crisis. Technological collaboration has been recognised as one of the most important external sources that affects innovation performance. However, how economic recession has changed the impact of R&D collaboration on innovation performance has received few attention. This paper investigates the effect of different external cooperation patterns of firms before and during the last economic recession. We highlight the role of geographical and organizational diversity of knowledge sources, as well as the effect of past experience. We find that R&D cooperation has a stronger effect on radical innovation performance during the economic recession than before, this being true irrespectively of the geographical location of the partners. This benefit from cooperation during the economic turmoil is higher in the case of firms having a diverse portfolio of partners. In addition, we also find that past experience in R&D cooperation positively affects innovation performance during the crisis. |
| Keywords: | R&D cooperation; innovation Performance; Spanish firms. JEL classification: L25; O31; O31; O33 |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ira:wpaper:201605&r=eur |
| By: | George Marbuah (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences) |
| Abstract: | The growing recognition of social capital as an important parameter necessary for shaping pro-environmental behaviour and attitudes is well established in the literature and continues to engage the attention of policymakers, academics and citizens in many jurisdictions. In this paper, we contribute to this strand of literature by investigating the extent to which various elements of social capital influences Swedish public’s tendency to contribute financially or through lifestyle changes in order to protect the environment. Using data from the latest wave of the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) on the environment in 2010, we explore empirically the link between individuals’ willingness to pay (WTP) and social capital influence using an ordered logistic model. The results show, that, individuals in Sweden are fairly willing to pay for the environment and that this decision is principally and significantly influenced by elements of social capital. In particular, we find quite robust results to show that social and institutional trust, environmental group membership among related civic participation activities and adherence to environmental norms significantly impacts the probability of individuals’ decision to sacrifice toward environmental sustainability by paying higher environmental taxes, prices or through standard of living adjustments. |
| Keywords: | Willingness to pay, Social capital, Environmental protection, Ordered logistic regression, Sweden |
| JEL: | A13 A14 Q50 Q51 |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fae:wpaper:2016.13&r=eur |
| By: | Gregory Verdugo (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, OFCE - OFCE - Sciences Po) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how a reform allowing immigrants with children in France access to public housing during the 1970s influenced their initial location choices across local labour markets. We find that cities with higher public housing supplies have a large 'magnetic effect' on the location choice. The estimated effect is substantial and quantitatively similar to the effect of the size of the ethnic group in the urban area. In cities with higher public housing supply, these immigrants tend to benefit from better housing conditions, but non-European immigrants are also more likely to be unemployed. |
| Keywords: | Public housing,Social housing,Logement social,Immigration |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:hal-01296731&r=eur |
| By: | Curdin Pfister (Department of Business Administration, University of Zurich); Miriam Rinawi (Department of Business Administration, University of Zurich); Dietmar Harhoff (Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition, Munich); Uschi Backes-Gellner (Department of Business Administration, University of Zurich) |
| Abstract: | Previous research analyzing the importance of knowledge for firms’ innovation activities has focused on knowledge taught at universities, i.e., tertiary level academic education. So far, research has largely neglected a new type of knowledge taught at Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS), i.e., tertiary level vocational education, which is based on more applied research. In this paper, we exploit a unique institutional setting, the foundation of UAS in Switzerland, to estimate the causal effect of this new type of knowledge on firms’ innovation activity. We apply difference-in-differences estimation, comparing the innovation activity of firms in regions where UAS were founded with the innovation activity of firms in regions where no UAS were founded. In line with previous literature, we measure the innovation activity by the number of filed patents. Our results show that firms in regions with newly founded UAS increase their innovation activities by about 10 percent. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, Universities of Applied Science, Tertiary Vocational Education, Difference-in-Differences |
| JEL: | I26 O31 J24 |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iso:educat:0117&r=eur |
| By: | Tess Penne; Irene Cussó Parcerisas; Lauri Mäkinen; Bérénice Storms; Tim Goedemé |
| Abstract: | The most common indicator to measure and compare the extent of poverty within and across European countries is the well-known at-risk-of-poverty indicator. Although the relative income-based measure is widely used, over time it has been the target of considerable criticism. In this paper, reference budgets are introduced as a valuable complementary indicator, since they illustrate the cost of baskets of goods and services that are essential to participate adequately in society. When constructed in a comparable way, they show which standard of living can be achieved at the level of the at-risk-of-poverty threshold in different countries, taking account of out-of-pocket costs of public goods and services. In this paper, we draw on data from cross-nationally comparable reference budgets in three reference cities (Antwerp, Barcelona and Helsinki) to illustrate how RBs can be used to evaluate other poverty indicators and to construct complementary poverty thresholds. At the same time, we explain that there are important challenges to address, including (1) the limited number of specific household types for which reference budgets are developed, (2) problems of robustness and comparability, and (3) the lack of important information in the EU-SILC microdata for our purposes. Acknowledging these limitations, this paper provides a first illustrative attempt to estimate of the number of people with a disposable income below the RB threshold for densely populated areas in Belgium, Finland and Spain.The results show how the at-risk-of-poverty threshold does not represent the same level of living standard across EU Member States, and probably underestimates the out-of-pocket cost of an adequate living standard in Spain. First estimates indicate that families renting on the private market, families with children and young people are relatively worse off when poverty is measured with the reference budget indicator as compared to the at-risk-of-poverty indicator. If these results are confirmed in future research, this may have important implications for anti-poverty policies. |
| Keywords: | reference budgets, at-risk-of-poverty indicator, poverty, social participation, social inclusion |
| JEL: | I31 I32 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hdl:improv:1605&r=eur |
| By: | Emilia Toczydlowska; UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre |
| Abstract: | In the context of increasing child poverty, deprivation rates and the relative child income gap, and with the most economically vulnerable children hit extensively by the crisis (Chzhen 2014), this paper sets out to understand who are the most disadvantaged children. Analysis of the composition of the children at the bottom end of the income distribution illustrates that households with a lone parent, at least one migrant member, low work intensity, low education, or in large families are overrepresented in the first decile to different degrees in European countries. The analyses also reveal immense differences in living standards for children across Europe. In European countries included in the analyses, at least 1 in 5 children in the poorest decile lives in a deprived household. A closer look at the different dimensions of deprivation at the child-specific level, reveals what living in the poorest decile means for children’s everyday life. |
| Keywords: | child poverty; europe; income distribution; income household; |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucf:inwopa:inwopa838&r=eur |
| By: | Fudickar, Roman; Hottenrott, Hanna; Lawson, Cornelia (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | Academic consulting is recognised as an important and effective means of knowledge transfer with the public and private sectors. These interactions with external sectors offer opportunities for research application but also raise concerns over their potentially negative consequences for academic research and its dissemination. For a sample of social, natural and engineering science academics in Germany, we find consulting to be widespread, undertaken by academics at all seniority levels and in all disciplines, with academics in the social sciences more likely to provide advice to the public sector and those in engineering to the private sector. Controlling for the selection into consulting, we then investigate its effect on research performance. While previous research suggested that consulting activities might come at the cost of reduced research output, our analysis does not confirm this concern. The results, however, suggest that stronger engagement in consulting increases the probability to cease publishing research altogether. This may point to a flight of consulting-active academics from active research. Moreover, public sector consulting comes with lower average citations which may suggest a move towards context-specific publications that attract fewer citations. We draw lessons for research institutions and policy about the promotion of academic consulting. |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uto:dipeco:201603&r=eur |
| By: | Hippolyte d’Albis (PSE); Carole Bonnet (Ined); Julien Navaux (Ined) |
| Abstract: | The National Transfer Accounts method is used to quantify economic transfers between ages. During their working years, individuals usually produce more than they consume. The opposite occurs during their youth and retirement, when their consumption is financed by a redistribution of resources between ages. From 1979 to 2011, the period of life when income from work is higher than consumption grew shorter in France. Consumption profiles shifted to the advantage of the elderly, who now consume more in relative terms than younger cohorts. |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idg:posocf:529&r=eur |
| By: | Zheng, Yannu (CIRCLE, Lund University) |
| Abstract: | Children of immigrants inherit human capital attainment from their parents that impact on their innovative performance. Some of this stem from their migrant parents’ positive and negative selection traits, part from their physical or cognitive proximity of country of origin to the host society. In this paper, I examine how second-generation immigrants (with at least one foreign-born parent), taking into consideration their parents’ region of origin, perform in inventive activity compared with native Swedes (with two native-born parents) and how this is related to their parents’ background. The study is based on a new Swedish database of inventors, which matched with the entire population between 1985 and 2007. The results show that, in terms of probability of becoming an inventor and number of forward citations to their patents, second-generation immigrants with non-Nordic European backgrounds perform better than native Swedes. Their better performance is related to the positive selection of their foreign-born parents and a certain distance of proximity to Sweden. The study indicates that there is a trade-off effect between the selection and proximity of foreign-born parents on second-generation immigrants’ patenting performance, but that differs between groups. For second-generation immigrants with other Nordic backgrounds, their less well performance is mainly attributed to their lower education level, which is further related to their less positively selected parents. However, for second-generation immigrants with one native-born parent and one parent from another non-European country, their large distance of proximity to Sweden seems to impede their performance. |
| Keywords: | Native Swedes; Foreign-born; Innovation; Human capital; Selection |
| JEL: | J15 J24 N30 O31 |
| Date: | 2016–04–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2016_011&r=eur |
| By: | Evgenii Monastyrenko |
| Abstract: | European electricity industry has recently come through liberalization. Surge of intakes with high share of cross-border deals was market players’ response. Measuring of post-merger performance alterations is a central question of M&A literature. EU energy sector is responsible for significant part of global greenhouse gas emissions. Its efficiency should be regarded with respect to ecological dimension. This study addresses combined economic and environmental performance of 15 biggest European energy producers in 2005-2013. I exploit Data envelopment analysis (DEA) with CO2 as an undesirable output. Panel fractional regression model with financial controls is used to isolate effects of completed mergers. Results suggest that in short term firms profit from selling their subsidiaries to foreign counter-parties. This effect doesn’t sustain over time. Same-type domestic deals are detrimental in short run, but performance-enhancing in long term. Domestic and cross-border acquisitions immediately damage performance. Later ones stimulate efficiency in the long run. |
| Keywords: | Mergers and acquisitions, Firm performance, Data envelopment analysis, Fractional regression model, Electric power industry, Carbon dioxide emissions |
| JEL: | F21 G34 L25 L94 D24 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wsr:wpaper:y:2016:i:169&r=eur |
| By: | Gustafsson, Björn Anders (University of Gothenburg); Katz, Katarina (Karlstad University); Österberg, Torun (University of Gothenburg) |
| Abstract: | In high-income countries, not completing secondary school often entails a high risk of social exclusion. Using data on young adults born in 1985 that grew up in metropolitan Sweden, we study factors associated with not graduating from upper secondary school at age 21. Our hypothesis is that if a young person sees examples of people who are not able to earn a living despite having a long education, such negative examples are influential. Results from estimated logistic models are consistent with the hypothesis. |
| Keywords: | secondary schooling, Sweden, social exclusion, neighbourhoods |
| JEL: | D64 I24 R23 |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9886&r=eur |
| By: | Pikos, Anna Katharina (Leibniz University of Hannover); Thomsen, Stephan L. (NIW Hannover, Leibniz Universität Hannover) |
| Abstract: | Work complexity can be an important factor contributing to the observed employment and wage developments. Using German data, we find that it increased substantially between 1986 and 2012. Work complexity was higher for high-educated employees in the past but differences have leveled out in 2012 due to a steeper increase in complexity among lower educated. Although complexity is associated with higher wages, expected returns have decreased substantially since 1986. Lower education was associated with higher returns to complexity but these decreased over time, too. Thus, the more complexity becomes "normal", the less it is important in determining the wage. |
| Keywords: | task-based approach, work complexity, returns to work complexity |
| JEL: | J21 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9878&r=eur |
| By: | Krieger-Boden, Christiane |
| Abstract: | In 2015, the EU regional / cohesion policy has passed its 40th anniversary. During this time, it has undergone various manifestations with ever-changing objectives. It started as a mixture of structural and regional policy aimed at reducing regional economic disparities within the Union. Since 2000 at latest, however, cohesion policy has been subordinated to a growth and competitiveness strategy and has undergone a substantial re-definition of objectives and principles. At the background of a potential conflict between growth and cohesion objectives, i.e., between efficiency and equality, the paper finds discrepancies between asserted intentions and actual practise of cohesion policy. On this ground, the paper argues for a return to a less ambitious, more basic-needs oriented cohesion policy. |
| Keywords: | cohesion,regional policy,growth policy,EU Structural Funds |
| JEL: | H7 R5 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwkwp:2037&r=eur |
| By: | Rieger, Jorg; Kuhlgatz, Christian |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the effect of media coverage on the consumer demand for pork chops and chicken filet in the course of the German dioxin scandal in 2011. A media index is constructed to account for the dynamics of the media coverage for the first nineteen calendar weeks in 2011. The response of the German households is estimated with a dynamic correlated random effect Tobit model based on weekly panel data provided by the GfK and data on media coverage provided by Lexis Nexis. Our dataset contains detailed information on purchasing transactions and socio-economic characteristics of the consumer households. The empirical results show that unobserved heterogeneity is important to consider when analyzing the determinants of demand in times of a scandal. For both meat products, media had a significant negative effect on the propensity to consume as well as the quantity purchased. |
| Keywords: | Dynamic correlated random effects Tobit model, consumer demand, media, food scandal, panel data, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, L15, Y90, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae15:212197&r=eur |
| By: | Hrvoje Butkovič; Ivana Čavar; Višnja Samardžija; Ivana Skazlić |
| Abstract: | This report was financed by European Comission grant no. VS/2014/0534. |
| Date: | 2016–04–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cel:report:15&r=eur |
| By: | Karoline Rogge (SPRU – Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9SL, UK; Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (Fraunhofer ISI), Karlsruhe, Germany) |
| Abstract: | The Paris Climate Agreement calls for decarbonization of the economy in the second half of this century. This requires a radical redirection and acceleration of technological change towards low- and particularly zero-carbon solutions. Global carbon pricing is seen as a key enabler for such decarbonization, with the European Union’s Emission Trading System (EU ETS) serving as an important pillar. In this paper, I therefore re-view the evidence on the innovation impact of the EU ETS. The review shows a very limited effect of the scheme on technological innovation, but there are clear signs of it having stimulated organizational innovation, with the impact being more pronounced for the electricity sector than for industry. The initially high expectations of the EU ETS regarding technological innovation largely dissipated once the scheme’s lack of strin-gency became apparent and prices collapsed accordingly. Also, for many of the rather incremental innovations that have taken place, the EU ETS was shown to be only one contributing factor among others, with the broader policy mix and long-term targets playing a particularly pivotal role in stimulating innovation. In contrast, there is clear evidence that the EU ETS has been a key driver of various organizational innovations, including making climate change a top management issue. However, so far, these or-ganizational innovations have only had limited effects on shifting corporate strategies towards low-carbon solutions because of low carbon prices, the relatively high share of free allocations in industry, and more pressing business concerns. Despite this, the scheme’s positive impact on organizational innovations should not be underestimated, as these constitute a necessary precondition for future technological innovations. The findings suggest that the Commission’s proposal for the fourth trading period of the EU ETS points in the right direction, but further efforts will be needed to significantly in-crease the scarcity of EU allowances and the share of auctioning in order to fully un-leash the scheme’s transformative power. If the identified shortcomings are not ad-dressed, the EU ETS cannot play its foreseen role in guiding the decarbonization of the European economy, for which innovations in low-carbon solutions are a fundamental requirement. |
| Keywords: | climate policy, emission trading, EU ETS, innovation |
| JEL: | O31 O38 Q54 Q55 Q58 |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sru:ssewps:2016-09&r=eur |
| By: | Raul Ramos (AQR Research Group-IREA. University of Barcelona); Vicente Royuela (AQR Research Group-IREA. University of Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | This work studies the impact that the Great Recession has had on the migration of graduates in Spain, a country with low international mobility for graduates but where push factors associated to the crisis have probably changed their mobility patterns. Our empirical analysis first adopts a macro approach by estimating a gravity model taking advantage of the recent publication of the IAB brain-drain data. This dataset covers information for 20 OECD destination countries by gender, country of origin and educational level, for the period 1980-2010. Next, we use individual data from different surveys addressed to Catalan graduates and recent Ph.D. holders carried out by AQU in order to provide new evidence on the drivers and impacts of changing trends in their migration behaviour. Our hypothesis is that internal mobility has been replaced by international migration for recent graduates for two reasons: first, due to the generalized increased in unemployment across the whole country (push factor), and second, due to the better skill and educational matches in other European labour markets (pull factor) than in the Spanish one, where the incidence of overeducation is among the highest of OECD countries. |
| Keywords: | Graduate migration; overeducation; international migration; great recession. JEL classification: F22; J61; R23; I25 |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ira:wpaper:201608&r=eur |
| By: | Kroll, Henning; Meyer, Niclas |
| Abstract: | [Introduction] The Seventh EU Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP7) was one of the world's largest support programmes for research and development even though the sum of national research budgets in the EU is still higher. More than € 55bn, the third largest section of the European budget, have been invested in knowledge, innovation and human capital with the declared objective to increase the potential for economic growth and to improve European competitiveness. In this effort, FP7 covered not only different themes and disciplines but addressed different stages of the innovation process and multiple, heterogeneous stakeholders. In the most general terms, the 7th Framework Programme, as its predecessor, was adopted as an instrument to support the integration of a "European Research Area" (ERA) (Chou, 2012), a "system of research programmes integrating the scientific resources of the European Union", one "in which researchers, scientific knowledge and technology circulate freely" and suitable to "strengthening [the Union's] scientific and technological bases" (European Commission, 2000). It is defined as a clear complement to national research policy while at the same time addressing the same resources and people - to build a robust, overarching innovation system of strong players with complementary capacities, well networked across national borders. In recent years, following FP7's formal conclusion, various evaluation studies have been published, which come to an overall favourable assessment of the programme's achievements. Without doubt, these are relevant, valid and this very paper builds substantially on the many findings that they have established. Until now, however, the internal structure of what we refer to as "the Seventh Framework Programme" remains underexplored. Despite the fact that it has now already been notably adapted for Horizon 2020, little empirical evidence is available on the extent to which its different lines sub-programmes complemented each other, resonated with national efforts and, in so doing, led to satisfaction or frustration among their consortiums of beneficiaries. [...] |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fisifr:r32016&r=eur |