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on Microeconomic European Issues |
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Issue of 2016‒07‒02
twenty papers chosen by Giuseppe Marotta Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia |
| By: | Henry Wüstemann; Dennis Kalisch; |
| Abstract: | Action 5 of the EU 2020 Biodiversity Strategy explicitly mentions that member states will map and assess the state of ecosystems and their services in their national territory by 2014 with the assistance of the Commission. Access to urban green is a key contributor to social and ecological functions in urban environments. However, in Germany - like in many other European countries - a national indicator measuring the provision of urban green on household and individual level is missing. This study develops a national indicator for urban green space provision and environmental inequalities in Germany on household and individual level. We investigate the provision of urban green by merging geo-coded household data from the German Socio- Economic Panel (GSOEP) and census population data with geo-coded data on land use from the European Urban Atlas (EUA) for German major cities with more than 100.000 inhabitants. Based on open green space standards applied in European urban city planning we de ne two variables measuring access to green: First, we estimate the distance to urban green measured as the Euclidean distance between the household and the nearest green-site in meters. Secondly, we calculate the coverage of urban green space around the households in square meters. Results of the distance analysis based on GSOEP data show a mean and median distance to public green space of 229:1m and 190:5m, respectively. The results further indicate that 93% of the German households have access to green space within a 500m and 74.1% within a 300m bu er around their location. The average green space provision in German major cities adds up to 8:1m2 per capita (median). Moreover, statistical analysis of the socio-economic background of the households shows di erences in urban green provision related to income, education, employment status, migration background and nationality. We also identify di erences in green space provision on the city level ranging from 10:6ha (city of Frankfurt/Oder) to 1:2ha (city of Schwerin) green space within 500m around the household. Distances to the nearest urban green also vary between cities ranging from 99m (city of Frankfurt/Oder) to 349m (city of Schwerin). The coverage of green space per capita ranges from 36m2 (city of Bergisch Gladbach) to 2:5m2 (city of Schwerin). We also provide a ranking of German major cities based on the green space provision on city level. The analysis further shows an unequal distribution of green within cities. The ndings provide helpful information for policy and planning to ensure an adequate green space provision and to eliminate related environmental inequalities in Germany. |
| Keywords: | Urban Green, Indicator, Household and individual level, Geocoded data, Environmental inequities |
| JEL: | Q56 Q58 R14 R20 R52 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2016-022&r=eur |
| By: | Murphy, Gavin; Siedschlag, Iulia |
| Abstract: | Financing constraints have been identified as an additional source of firm heterogeneity that affects export participation and export performance. This paper examines whether and to what extent financing constraints affect firms' exporting across different types of firms and industries. It uses comparable micro data from France, Germany, Italy and Spain and estimates the sensitivity of firms' extensive and intensive margins of exporting to financing constraints. The empirical results indicate that firms which were less constrained financially were more likely to export, while financing constraints did not affect the export intensity of existing exporters. It appears that financing constraints affect export participation via firms' productivity. The sensitivity of exporting to access to external financing appears to be most important for young, domestic-owned and firms in traditional industries. The sensitivity of the export propensity to financing constraints decreased with firm size. |
| Keywords: | data/exporters/Firm heterogeneity/Productivity |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esr:wpaper:wp530&r=eur |
| By: | Silvia Camussi (Bank of Italy); Anna Laura Mancini (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | This paper contributes to the literature on the determinants of social capital by investigating how the quality of local services influences individual’s generalized trust and trust in local government. Using data from the Italian National Statistic Office survey “Aspetti della vita quotidiana”, after building a measure for local services’ quality, we study its effect on individual’s social capital using linear regressions techniques. Our results suggest that good local public services affect positively individual’s social capital, the effect being stronger for trust in local institutions. To deal with possible endogeneity issues, the robustness of our results is tested using two-step GMM estimation, while the procedure proposed by Altonji et al. (2005) is used to study the sensitivity to omitted variables. Finally, the paper extends the analysis to further social capital measures (family ties, network social capital and trust in central government) and to alternative quality measures. We also test the existence of age related differences in the influence of public services’ quality on individual trust measures. |
| Keywords: | trust, quality of public services, IV estimation |
| JEL: | C26 Z10 H70 |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_1069_16&r=eur |
| By: | Sven Schreiber; Miriam Beblo |
| Abstract: | We revisit the alleged retirement consumption puzzle. According to the life-cycle theory, foreseeable income reductions such as those around retirement should not affect consumption. However, we first recall that given higher leisure endowments after retirement, the theory does predict a fall of total market consumption expenditures. In order not to mistake this predicted drop for a puzzle we focus on housing consumption which can be plausibly regarded as complementary to leisure, and we control for the leisure change in our empirical specifications, using micro data for Germany (SOEP), where housing expenditures are observable as rents for the majority (60%), as well as dwelling relocations. We still find significant negative impacts of the retirement status on housing consumption, which is hard to reconcile with the life-cycle theory. For retirees we also find significant effects of the income reduction at retirement on housing. However, the effects are small in quantitative terms, given the lock-in nature of past housing decisions. |
| Keywords: | consumption smoothing, retirement-consumption puzzle, SOEP |
| JEL: | D91 E21 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp849&r=eur |
| By: | Gianko Michailidis (Universitat de Barcelona); Concepció Patxot (Universitat de Barcelona); Meritxell Solé Juvés (Universitat de Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we examine the effect of the demographic transition on public education, pension spending and the interaction between them. In particular, we investigate the theoretical prediction that the structure of PAYG pension systems, alongside population ageing, offers incentives for the working-age generation to invest in the public education of the young in order to "reap" the benefits of their higher productivity in the future, translated into higher income tax/contributions. The empirical evidence resulting from the application of the fixed effects approach to panel data for OECD countries shows that the increasing share of elderly people has non-linear effects on both retirement and education spending. The former suggests that political pressure to increase benefits turns out to have no effect when the ageing process is strong enough to compromise the fiscal budget and the latter indicates a certain degree of generational conflict. Nevertheless, our results suggest that a positive link arises when examining the connection between education and pensions by using the projected old dependency ratio. A more detailed analysis of total education expenditure shows that only the non-mandatory educational levels benefit from the future population ageing. |
| Keywords: | Public Finance, Population ageing, Education, Pension Politics, PAYG, Macroeconomics. |
| JEL: | H52 H53 H55 I22 J11 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ewp:wpaper:344web&r=eur |
| By: | Annarosa Pesole (European Commission – JRC - IPTS) |
| Abstract: | This report presents an update of the ICT Innovation Output Indicator based on the latest available data, and provides a measure of the performance of the European Union (EU) and its Member States in ICT innovation. The ICT Innovation Output Indicator is the contribution of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to the Innovation Output Indicator elaborated by the European Commission in 2013. The contribution of ICT has been computed for each underlying component of the Innovation Output Indicator for all EU Member States. Depending on the indicator component analysed and data availability, the ICT contribution to innovation can refer either to innovation in the ICT sector as defined by the classification of economic activities, or to ICT use as a general purpose technology in the rest of the economy. The up-to-date ICT contributions for the EU aggregate are: 1. 28% in technological innovation as measured by patents; 2. 19% in absorption of skills as measured by employment in knowledge intensive activities; 3. 27% in competitiveness of knowledge goods as measured by exports of medium-high tech goods; 4. 20% in competitiveness of knowledge services as measured by exports of knowledge intensive services; 5. 23% in innovative firms’ dynamics as measured by employment of innovative fast-growing firms. All data refer to 2013 with the exception of data on patents which refer to 2011. The methodology to compute the ICT Innovation Output Indicator follows the one presented in "How much does ICT contribute to innovation output? An analysis of the ICT component in the innovation output indicator" (Pesole, 2015 ). The reader is referred to this report for more detail on the methodology. The 2013 EU aggregate ICT contributions are very similar to those in 2012 reported by Pesole (2015). The technological innovation component (i.e. ICT PCT patent) increased by two percentage points in 2011 (from 26% to 28%). Similarly, competitiveness of knowledge goods increased from 25% to 27% in 2013. The other contributions remain unchanged. The ICT Innovation Output Indicator delivers a measure of output-oriented ICT innovation that captures both the technological and non-technological aspects of innovation in ICT and ranks Member States' performance. The three top performing countries remain the same as in Pesole 2015: Finland, Ireland and Sweden. |
| Keywords: | ICT innovation output indicator, measurement of ICT innovation |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc100892&r=eur |
| By: | Lange, Mirjam R. J.; Saric, Amela |
| Abstract: | Developments in the EU telecommunications markets require a recurrent redesign of the regulatory framework for telecommunications services. In this regard, the analysis of the substitution effects between different types of telephony is the cornerstone of market definition and therefore of effective regulation. This paper explores the access substitution between fixed-lines, mobiles, and managed VoIP in a unified EU cross-country framework. We employ a half-yearly dataset for 20 EU countries for the 2008-2011 period and apply dynamic panel data methods. Our analysis demonstrates strong access substitution between fixed-lines and mobiles and provides indicative evidence on the substitution between fixed-lines and VoIP. Overall, we find evidence in favor of access substitution and therefore of joint market definition. Regulatory obligations imposed on the market for access to fixed telephone networks might therefore be redundant. |
| Keywords: | Fixed-mobile-VoIP substitution,Telecommunications markets,(De)regulation,Market definition,Dynamic panel data analysis |
| JEL: | C23 L43 L51 L96 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:dicedp:221&r=eur |
| By: | Victor Ginsburgh; Juan D. Moreno-Ternero; Shlomo Weber |
| Abstract: | This article presents a stylized framework to rank languages in multilingual societies. We consider several ranking methods, reflecting principles such as mini-mal disenfranchisement, communicative benefits, or utilitarianism, as well as gametheory-based rankings referring to the Shapley Value. We use data from the Special Eurobarometer survey in order to apply these methods to rank languages within the European Union. Although the methods largely differ on their normative grounds, they lead to very close results. |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eca:wpaper:2013/231809&r=eur |
| By: | Bratti, Massimiliano (University of Milan); Frattini, Tommaso (University of Milan); Scervini, Francesco (Istituto Universitario di Studi Superiori di Pavia (IUSS)) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we exploit pension reform-induced changes in retirement eligibility requirements to assess the role of grandparental child care availability in the employment of women who have children under 15. We focus on Italy for two reasons: first, it has low rates of female employment and little formal child care provision, and second, it has undergone several pension reforms in a relatively short time span. Our analysis shows that, among the women studied, those whose own mothers are retirement eligible have a 13 percent higher probability of being employed than those whose mothers are ineligible. The pension eligibility of maternal grandfathers and paternal grandparents, however, has no significant effect on the women's employment probability. We also demonstrate that the eligibility of maternal grandmothers mainly captures the effect of their availability for child care. Hence, pension reforms, by potentially robbing households of an important source of flexible, low-cost child care, could have unintended negative consequences for the employment rates of women with children. |
| Keywords: | grandparental child care, maternal employment, pension reform, retirement |
| JEL: | J13 J22 |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9979&r=eur |
| By: | Massimo Anelli; Giovanni Peri |
| Abstract: | Mobility within the European Union (EU) brings great opportunities and large overall benefits. Economically stagnant areas, however, may be deprived of talent through emigration, which may harm dynamism and delay political, and economic, change. A significant episode of emigration took place between 2010 and 2014 from Italy following the deep economic recession beginning in 2008 that hit most acutely countries in the southern EU. This period coincided with significant political change in Italy. Combining administrative data on Italian citizens who reside abroad and data on characteristics of city councils, city mayors and local vote, we analyze whether emigration reduced political change. The sudden emigration wave interacted with the pre-existing networks of emigration from Italian municipalities allow us to construct a proxy for emigration that is municipality-specific and independent of local political and economic trends. Using this proxy as an instrument, we find that municipalities with larger emigration rates had smaller shares of young, college educated and women among local politicians. They were also more likely to have had municipal councils dismissed due to inefficiency or corruption, a larger share of vote for status-quo-supporting parties and lower political participation. Migration was also associated with lower firm creation. |
| JEL: | H7 J61 |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22350&r=eur |
| By: | Sankar Ramasamy |
| Abstract: | This paper is part of the joint project between the Directorate General for Migration and Home Affairs of the European Commission and the OECD’s Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs on “Review of Labour Migration Policy in Europe”. This document has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union. Grant: HOME/2013/EIFX/CA/002 / 30-CE-0615920/00-38 (DI130895). A previous version of this paper DELSA/ELSA/MI(2015)8 was presented and discussed at the OECD working party on migration in June 2015. The paper examines the ways in which employers are protagonists in international labour migration, and what can be done to ensure that they are partners in increasing European attractiveness for internationally mobile talent. Facilitating movement of Intra-Corporate Transfer (ICT) workers in multinational companies, improving the ability of SMEs to access foreign workers, as well as attracting entrepreneurs and investors in the EU single market, are the three principal channels examined in the report. The paper provides recommendations for policy development in these three areas. |
| JEL: | F21 F22 J61 |
| Date: | 2016–06–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:elsaab:178-en&r=eur |
| By: | Srinivasan, C. S.; Nocella, Guiseppe |
| Abstract: | Voluntary reformulation of food products by the industry is one of the key pillars of the EU Salt Campaign aimed at reducing the daily salt intake in the population. Using the National Diet and Nutrition Surveys in the UK a decade apart, this paper applies regression-based counterfactual decomposition methods to quantify the contribution of product reformulation to reduction in the salt intake observed in the UK. We find that ongoing product reformulation efforts have made a significant contribution to a reduction in the salt intake of the UK population. The significant contribution of reformulation to reduction in salt intakes is in sharp contrast to the results for calories and macronutrients such as fats and sugars where reformulation appears to have a very limited impact on population level intakes. The contribution of different product groups to reduction in salt intake varies substantially across the quantiles of salt intakes. We find that certain product groups which are usually not perceived as being major contributors to excessive salt intakes (e.g., cereals and egg dishes) are important drivers of salt consumption across all segments. However, the differences in the food-product preference across population segments suggests that product-reformulation efforts may have to be targeted at different product groups to influence the salt intakes of different segments. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc16:236327&r=eur |
| By: | Lavric, Lucia |
| Abstract: | Using simple indexes of consumption alongside GHG emissions trends can help understand how trade may affect emissions and whether short term fluctuations in emissions are sustainable. An illustration for the old EU Member States based on Prodcom and EU ETS data is presented here. |
| Keywords: | sustainable consumption, consumption-based GHG accounting |
| JEL: | Q5 |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:71895&r=eur |
| By: | Paweł Strawiński (Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw); Paulina Broniatowska (Warsaw School of Economics); Aleksandra Majchrowska (University of Lodz) |
| Abstract: | Vocational education in upper-secondary school has been perceived for many years as being inferior to general education, in spite of the fact that vocational education graduates enjoy a faster transition from school to work and are more likely to have a permanent first job. As a consequence of the reform of the educational system that took place in Poland in 1999, the enrolment ratio in vocational schools has fallen dramatically. The empirical evidence in the literature on the returns to vocational education is limited. This study fills that gap and looks into wage premium for workers with vocational education in Poland before and after the reform of the educational system. The relative returns to different types and levels of education were estimated using a standard Mincerian wage equation framework. The empirical analysis concentrated on a comparison of the relative benefits of vocational and non-vocational education. The results showed that vocational education graduates have, on average, a higher probability of finding a permanent job, and secondary-vocational education graduates receive higher earnings than secondary general education graduates in Poland. However, wages of vocational education graduates are lower than those of secondary general education. In spite of this, the decreasing number of vocational education graduates post-reform has contributed to reducing this gap. |
| Keywords: | educational economics, wages, wage differentials, returns to education, vocational education, general education, tertiary education, Poland |
| JEL: | I21 I26 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:war:wpaper:2016-16&r=eur |
| By: | Tor Korneliussen; Michael Greenacre |
| Abstract: | This study investigates which information sources European tourists use when making decisions about their travel/ holiday plans. Using survey data based on national representative samples of tourists from 27 member countries of the European Union allows generalizable conclusions to be drawn. The data were analysed using correspondence analysis of overall country data. The findings indicate that there are systematic differences in how information sources are related to one another and that the various national cultures within the European Union have influence on tourists' use of information sources. Six segments of information source behaviour are revealed. These segments reflect economic development and the national cultures of European nations. Management implications are highlighted. The findings of this study can be used to segment tourists' use of information sources according to economic development and national culture. |
| Keywords: | Cross-cultural, information search, European Union, economic development, national culture, tourism. |
| JEL: | Z32 C19 C38 C55 |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upf:upfgen:1527&r=eur |
| By: | Gorecki, Paul |
| Abstract: | The successful implementation of free GP care for all private patients in Ireland requires an estimate of the likely change in the number of GP visits occasioned by this policy so as: (i) to set the capitation fee; and (ii) to ensure adequate supply of GPs is in place. The paper examines two methodologies to derive such estimates: retrospective patient self-reporting or recall (e.g. Growing Up in Ireland, The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing); and, GP practice records. Estimates based on six GP practices by Behan (2013, 2014) substantial overestimate of the likely impact of free GP care. McGovern’s (2015) more recent estimates for the HSE, based on patient recall, used in forecasting future demand for GPs to 2025 also appear to be biased upward. The underlying studies, assumptions and papers are not, however, cited. This should be corrected. A proper debate and discussion can then take place concerning the optimal phasing in of free GP care. |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esr:wpaper:wp534&r=eur |
| By: | Schwientek, Caroline |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates determinants and wage effects of educational mismatch for both natives and immigrants in Germany. Using the GSOEP panel data from 1991 to 2013, I find that conditional on educational attainment immigrants face a higher incidence of overeducation compared to their native counterparts. Among immigrants German language skills as well as education and experience gained in Germany are negatively correlated with the risk of overeducation. Results from the wage regression indicate that required education is equally rewarded for natives and immigrants, whereas immigrants suffer from a higher penalty from overeducation, but face a lower penalty from undereducation. |
| Keywords: | educational mismatch,wages,immigrants |
| JEL: | I21 I26 J15 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:iwqwdp:072016&r=eur |
| By: | Norbäck, Pehr-Johan (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)); Olsson, Martin (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)); Persson, Lars (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)) |
| Abstract: | We analyze how the Bosman ruling affected the market for star players and talent development in the European football market. We develop a model with sports competition and endogenous ownership of star players in which we show how the stiffer bidding competition over star players after the Bosman ruling has spurred talent development foremost in EU nations lacking established top clubs. This has a positive impact on their national teams’ performance. However, the stiffer bidding competition has also lead to less competition in the Champions League, as non-established clubs prefer to sell their star players instead of challenging the top clubs. We provide empirical evidence consistent with these findings. |
| Keywords: | Sports industry; Star players; Champions League; Bosman ruling |
| JEL: | J44 L50 L83 |
| Date: | 2016–05–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1126&r=eur |
| By: | Cristian Barra (Università di Salerno); Ornella Wanda Maietta (Università di Napoli Federico II and CSEF); Roberto Zozzi (Università di Salerno) |
| Abstract: | In National Innovation Systems (NIS), knowledge is generally understood to be produced and accumulated through an interactive innovation process that is embedded in a national context which in turn may help determine propensity for innovation. This paper aims to verify how product and process innovation in the European food and drink industry are affected by: i) NIS structure ii) NIS output in terms of WoS indexed publications and the supply of graduates iii) NIS fragmentation and coordination and iv) NIS scientific impact and specialisation. The main source of data on innovation by firms is the EU-EFIGE/Bruegel-UniCredit dataset. This is supplemented by information from the International Handbook of Universities, Eurostat and the bibliometric analysis of academic research output. The results obtained suggest that large research institutions in the public sector may well be detrimental to interaction between university and industry and that the indicators used for public research assessment are not necessarily the most appropriate proxies of local knowledge spillovers. |
| Keywords: | university–industry interaction, firm R&D collaboration, product and process innovation, academic research quality, university education |
| JEL: | O3 I23 D22 R1 |
| Date: | 2016–06–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sef:csefwp:447&r=eur |
| By: | Robin Jessen (Freie Universitaet Berlin); David Rostam-Afschar (Freie Universitaet Berlin); Sebastian Schmitz (Freie Universitaet Berlin) |
| Abstract: | We quantify the importance of precautionary labor supply using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) for 2001-2012. We estimate dynamic labor supply equations augmented with a measure of wage risk. Our results show that married men choose about 2.5% of their hours of work or one week per year on average to shield against unpredictable wage shocks. This implies that about 26% of precautionary savings are due to precautionary labor supply. If self-employed faced the same wage risk as the median civil servant, their hours of work would reduce by 4%. |
| Keywords: | Wage Risk, Labor Supply, Precautionary Saving, Life Cycle, Dynamic Panel Data |
| JEL: | D91 J22 C23 |
| Date: | 2016–06–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdp:wpaper:2016004&r=eur |