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on Microeconomic European Issues |
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Issue of 2016‒11‒06
28 papers chosen by Giuseppe Marotta Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia |
| By: | Boll, Christina; Rossen, Anja (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]); Wolf, André |
| Abstract: | "This paper estimates size and impact factors of the gender pay gap in Europe. It adds to the literature in three aspects. First, we update existing figures on the gender pay gaps in the EU based on the Structure of Earnings Survey 2010 (SES). Second, we enrich the literature by undertaking comprehensive country comparisons of the gap components based on an Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition. Overall, we analyze 21 EU countries plus Norway, which clearly exceeds the scope of existing microdata studies. Third, we examine the sources of the unexplained gap. We find that about one third of the gap can be traced back to the role of the explanatory factors included in our analysis. The sectoral segregation of genders is identified as the most important barrier to gender pay equality in European countries. In addition, the fact that part-time positions are more frequent among women notably contributes to the gap. We conclude that policies aiming at closing the gender pay gap should focus more on the sector level than on the aggregate economy." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) |
| Keywords: | geschlechtsspezifischer Arbeitsmarkt, Lohnunterschied, erwerbstätige Frauen, erwerbstätige Männer, Lohndiskriminierung - internationaler Vergleich, geschlechtsspezifische Faktoren, Segregation, sektorale Verteilung, Wirtschaftssektoren, Arbeitsmarktsegmentation, Europäische Union, Belgien, Bulgarien, Dänemark, Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Estland, Finnland, Frankreich, Griechenland, Italien, Lettland, Litauen, Niederlande, Polen, Portugal, Rumänien, Schweden, Slowakei, Spanien, Tschechische Republik, Ungarn, Großbritannien, Kroatien, Norwegen |
| JEL: | J31 J16 J24 |
| Date: | 2016–10–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabdpa:201636&r=eur |
| By: | Philipp Biermann (University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses panel data on life satisfaction of about 40,000 individuals in Germany from 1994 to 2013 to analyze the relationship of subjective well-being and several measures of fuel poverty. We study fuel poverty and its effects on life satisfaction in terms of incidence, intensity and in comparison to income poverty. We find a negative and significant effect of fuel poverty and subjective well-being. The effects are comparable in magnitude to those of other important factors of life satisfaction. The impact we find is beyond the effect of mere income poverty. We classify measures of fuel poverty into several types and find that there is a difference with respect to the well-being effects depending on the type of measure. Our findings confirm the argument of the recent literature that fuel poverty is an important issue and should be on the agenda of policy makers. |
| Keywords: | fuel poverty; consumer welfare; subjective well-being; Germany |
| JEL: | I3 D12 C2 Q4 |
| Date: | 2016–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:old:dpaper:395&r=eur |
| By: | Dominique Lemmermann; Regina T. Riphahn |
| Abstract: | We investigate the causal effect of age at migration on subsequent educational attainment in the destination country. To identify the causal effect we compare the educational attainment of siblings at age 21, exploiting the fact that they typically migrate at different ages within a given family. We consider several education outcomes conditional on family fixed effects. We take advantage of long running and detailed data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, which entails an oversample of immigrants and provides information on language skills. We find significant effects of age at migration on educational attainment and a critical age of migration around age 6. The educational attainment of female immigrants responds more strongly to a high age at immigration than that of males. |
| Keywords: | immigration, education, integration, school attainment, Germany, causal estimation, family fixed effect |
| JEL: | I21 J61 C21 |
| Date: | 2016–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bav:wpaper:166_lemmermannriphahn&r=eur |
| By: | van Ham, Maarten (Delft University of Technology); Tammaru, Tiit (University of Tartu); de Vuijst, Elise (Delft University of Technology); Zwiers, Merle (Delft University of Technology) |
| Abstract: | Income inequality is increasing in European cities and this rising inequality has a spatial footprint in cities and neighbourhoods. Poor and rich people are increasingly living separated and this can threaten the social sustainability of cities. Low income people, often with an ethnic minority background, can get cut off from important social networks and mainstream society, and this can lead to social unrest. Increasing inequality and socio-economic segregation is therefore a major concern for local and national governments. Socio-economic segregation is the outcome of a combination of inequality and poverty, and the spatial organisation of urban housing markets. Poverty, and living in poverty concentration neighbourhoods is transmitted between generations and neighbourhood poverty is reproduced over time through to the residential mobility behaviour of households. Urban policy often focusses on reducing segregation through physical measures in cities, such as demolishing houses in deprived neighbourhoods and replacing them with housing for the middle classes. Such policies will not solve the underlying causes of segregation, but only redistribute poverty over cities. Policy initiatives should first of all focus on reducing inequality by creating equal opportunities for people and invest in education and training. Inclusive growth strategies should combine both people-based and area-based policy measures. |
| Keywords: | socio-economic segregation, neighbourhood change, cities, Europe, residential mobility, social mobility, intergenerational mobility |
| JEL: | D63 D64 I32 J62 P36 P46 R23 |
| Date: | 2016–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10277&r=eur |
| By: | Lopez Arceiz, Francisco; Solferino, Nazaria; Solferino, Viviana; Tortia, Ermanno C. |
| Abstract: | In order to devise a new cost-benefit function, in this work we apply in a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) context the electro-magnetism geometrical model of the Möbius Strip, which analyzes how the moves of electrons produce energy. Similarly to the case of electrons tunneling in the strip, we highlight three positive crossed effects on firm performance originating from: i) cooperation within the same group of stakeholders; ii) cooperation between different groups of stakeholders; iii) stakeholders' loyalty towards the company. By applying this new cost-benefit function to a firms' decision making processes we evidence that investing in CSR activities is always convenient depending on the number of stakeholder groups, on stakeholders' sensitivity to CSR investments and on the decay rate to alienation. We test these findings through Structural Equation Modelling by exploiting a unique dataset including data on 4135 workers in a matched sample of 320 Italian social enterprises. Results show that CSR is, in all specifications of the model, the strongest determinant of firm performance in terms of improvement in service quality and worker achieved professional and personal growth. Direct effects of CSR on performance are added to indirect effects mediated by cooperation and reduced worker alienation in terms of higher job satisfaction. |
| Keywords: | Corporate social responsibility, Econophysics, Firm Behavior, Structural Equations Modelling |
| JEL: | C3 D21 L13 Z1 |
| Date: | 2016–10–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:74776&r=eur |
| By: | Landini, Fabio (LUISS School of European Political Economy) |
| Abstract: | Recent evidence documents the weakness of market selection based on productivity differentials and the absence of cleansing during recessions. This paper argues that a possible explanation lies in the role of competitive rents, i.e., market advantages due to idiosyncrasies of the firm’s demand. Competitive rents allow firms to sustain profit independently of their internal efficiency, creating a selection advantage. During an economic recession, this advantage increases because competitive rents operate as a resilience factor. The process of firm selection can thus be distorted with relatively inefficient firms that manage to survive. These predictions are tested on a sample of French, Italian, and Spanish manufacturing firms, looking at the selection that took place during the Great Recession. Ceteris paribus, firms with competitive rents are less likely to exit than firms without competitive rents. This effect is stronger in countries more severely impacted by the downturn. The implications of these results for policy interventions to sustain aggregate productivity growth are discussed. |
| Keywords: | firm selection; profit; productivity; competitive rents; Great Recession |
| JEL: | D24 L11 L25 |
| Date: | 2016–10–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:sepewp:2016_004&r=eur |
| By: | Valerija Botric (The Institute of Economics, Zagreb) |
| Abstract: | Recent crisis in Croatia has more adversely affected private than public sector workers. However, the question is whether the pay schemes are more related to the nature of jobs in the public sector, where certain skills are in demand and consequently paid more than in the private sector. To shed some light on this issue, wages during the period 2008–2014 have been analysed in two sectors separately. For each sector wage skill premium was assessed by classifying workers into three skills groups: the first is related to abstract problem solving and organizational tasks, the second is relatively more routine-task intensive, while the third is primarily manual-task intensive. Additional emphasis is placed on the young workers (up to age 30). There are two reasons for this. The first is related to the adverse effects recent recession had on youth labour market outcomes throughout the European Union. Croatia, with the youth unemployment rate of 45.5 percent (age group 15–24) in 2014 is no exception to this problem. The second reason is related to the question of a specific active labour market policy (ALMP) measure design for inclusion of young people in the labour market by offering them internship/traineeship subsidized in the amount of an approximately minimum wage. The question remains whether such measure channels young workers into certain jobs and disrupts normal labour market competition due to its wide popularity. |
| Keywords: | public vs. private sector, wage differences, skill premia, Croatia |
| JEL: | J31 J33 J45 |
| Date: | 2016–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iez:wpaper:1607&r=eur |
| By: | Ferreira Sequeda, Maria (ROA, Maastricht University); Künn-Nelen, Annemarie (ROA, Maastricht University); de Grip, Andries (ROA, Maastricht University) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides more insight into the relevance of the assumption of human capital theory that the productivity of job-related training is driven by the improvement of workers' skills. We analyse the extent to which training and informal learning on the job are related to employee skill development and consider the heterogeneity of this relationship with respect to workers' skill mismatch at job entry. Using data from the 2014 European Skills Survey, we find – as assumed by human capital theory – that employees who participated in training or informal learning show greater improvement of their skills than those who did not. The contribution of informal learning to employee skill development appears to be larger than that of training participation. Nevertheless, both forms of learning are shown to be complementary. This complementarity between training and informal learning is related to a significant additional improvement of workers' skills. The skill development of workers who were initially underskilled for their job seems to benefit the most from both training and informal learning, whereas the skill development of those who were initially overskilled benefits the least. Work-related learning investments in the latter group seem to be more functional in offsetting skill depreciation than in fostering skill accumulation. |
| Keywords: | training, informal learning, skill development, skill mismatch, human capital |
| JEL: | J24 M53 |
| Date: | 2016–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10302&r=eur |
| By: | Franz Westermaier |
| Abstract: | In the 2000s, a major educational reform in Germany reduced the academic high school duration by one year while keeping constant the total number of instructional hours before graduation. The instructional hours from the eliminated school year shifted to lower grade levels, which increased the time younger students spend at school. This study explores the impact of the reform on youth crime rates and substance abuse using administrative police crime statistics, administrative student enrollment data, and a student drug survey. The staggered implementation of the reform in different Länder-age-groups allows for a difference-in-difference approach. I find that the reform resulted in a decline in crime rates, which is almost exclusively driven by a reduction in violent crime and illegal substance abuse. Regarding the latter, the rate of illegal cannabis consumption strongly declined; however, no significant effect is detected on cannabis dealers or the consumption of other illegal drugs. The survey evidence further suggests that decreased cannabis consumption was not driven by a shift of consumption into `school hours'. The results point to an `incapacitation' effect of schooling due to the increased instructional hours at lower grade levels. |
| Keywords: | illegal substance abuse, school reform, difference-in-difference |
| JEL: | I12 I28 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1616&r=eur |
| By: | Piet, Laurent |
| Abstract: | Over the last decades, the number of farms has been decreasing and the average operated area has been increasing all over the European Union. This paper aims at studying the distribution of farm sizes across the 27 EU Member states both at the national and regional levels, and how it evolved from 2005 to 2013. Using two indicators of farm size, namely the median size of farms and the hectare-weighted median size of farms, along with two indicators of farm-size inequality, the Gini coefficient and the Herfindahl-Hirschman index, it shows that a variety of situations exists across Europe but that the overall tendency is that of a general increase in farm sizes which most often results in an increase in farm-size inequality and concentration. |
| Keywords: | Farm size distribution, inequality, parametric Lorenz curve, Gini coefficient, Herfindahl-Hirschman index, European Union., Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa149:245075&r=eur |
| By: | Hadjivassiliou, Kari P (Institute for Employment Studies (IES)); Tassinari, Arianna (University of Warwick); Eichhorst, Werner (IZA); Wozny, Florian (IZA) |
| Abstract: | The Great Recession that has engulfed Europe since 2008 has had a profound impact on the process of young people's school-to-work (STW) transition. Countries' institutional configurations considerably matter in shaping the structure of young people's STW transitions and mediating the impact of the Great Recession on youth unemployment. Drawing upon Pohl and Walther's concept of 'youth transition regime' (2007), we have assessed the performance of selected EU countries belonging to different clusters regarding the speed, ease and quality of STW transitions. Differences in performance across regimes exists, with some faring better than others, although at the same time a common, worrying trend can be identified across clusters, comprising a progressive deterioration of the quality of youth transitions across the board, despite the positive policy intentions to strengthen and improve the efficacy of transition regimes. |
| Keywords: | school-to-work, youth unemployment, transition regime, European Union |
| JEL: | I2 J23 J24 |
| Date: | 2016–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10301&r=eur |
| By: | Andersson Joona, Pernilla (SOFI, Stockholm University); Lanninger, Alma W. (SOFI, Stockholm University); Sundström, Marianne (SOFI, Stockholm University) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we evaluate the Swedish Establishment Reform, carried out in 2010 with the goal of speeding up the establishment of refugees and their family. From December 1, 2010 the reform transferred the responsibility for the integration of newly‐arrived refugees from the municipalities to the government funded Public Employment Service through which those eligible should get establishment talks, individual plans and coaches. The Reform was motivated by concern over the low employment level and slow integration of refugees. Our approach is to compare the outcomes of the Treatment group, which took part in establishment activities and arrived between December 1, 2010 and December 31, 2011, to those of the Comparison group, which arrived in the eleven months preceding the Reform and participated in municipal introduction programs, controlling for a rich set of observables, including country of birth and month of residence permit. Outcomes are measured in terms of employment and earnings in 2012, 2013 and 2014 for the Treatment group and in 2011, 2012 and 2013 for the Comparison group. Our data comes from registers held by Statistics Sweden and covers all immigrants. The results suggest positive and significant effects of the Reform. In the second year after program‐start the Treatment group had about 5.7 percent higher probability of employment and in the third year about 7.5 percent higher. The effects on earnings were larger, about 20 percent higher earnings for the Treatment group after the second year and about 22 percent higher after the third year. |
| Keywords: | integration, refugees, labor market policy, treatment effect, employment, earnings, caseworkers |
| JEL: | J15 J61 J68 |
| Date: | 2016–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10307&r=eur |
| By: | Devicienti, Francesco (University of Turin); Grinza, Elena (University of Turin); Manello, Alessandro (University of Turin); Vannoni, Davide (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | Using three waves of a uniquely rich survey on Italian private firms, we explore the impact of female managers on the use of part-time work. Building on a literature arguing that female leaders are more sensitive to their employees' needs and more self-transcendent than their male counterparts, we assess whether such attitudes manifest themselves also in relation to working time arrangements. Results indicate that female managers are indeed more responsive to their employees' needs: they heavily limit the employment of involuntary part-time work, correspondingly increasing full-time employment, and concede more part-time arrangements to employees asking for them. All in all, our results show that there are some hitherto unexplored benefits from increasing the number of female leaders: on the one hand, they strongly contain the widespread phenomenon of involuntary part-time employment and, on the other hand, they enhance the work-life balance of workers engaged in child care or elderly care activities. |
| Keywords: | female managers, part-time work, involuntary part-time work, work-life balance, meeting employees' needs, self-transcendence |
| JEL: | J23 J41 M51 |
| Date: | 2016–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10314&r=eur |
| By: | Moffat, John; Roth, Duncan (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]) |
| Abstract: | "Using data from 49 European regions covering 2005-2012, this paper finds that the estimated effect of cohort size on employment and unemployment outcomes is very sensitive to the age range of the sample. We argue that this is because the identification strategy commonly used in this literature is unable to eliminate the bias caused by measurement error in the cohort-size variable. The latter arises because large shares of the young choose to acquire education and consequently the size of an age group provides a poor measure of age-specific labour supply. In our view older age groups provide a more suitable sample to test the implications of cohort crowding since the former will have largely entered the labour market. Using a sample aged 25 - 29, which has relatively low rates of participation in education, we find robust evidence that an increase in cohort size increases employment and reduces unemployment." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) |
| JEL: | J10 J21 R23 |
| Date: | 2016–10–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabdpa:201637&r=eur |
| By: | Aslan Zorlu (University of Amsterdam, IZA, NIMA); Ruben van Gaalen (Statistics Netherlands) |
| Abstract: | This study examines ethnic differences in leaving home and the choice of destination accommodation. Using unique individual administrative panel data, we study the mobility of the entire birth cohort 1983 living in the Netherlands. In contrast to previous studies, this paper includes the geographical location and quality of destination living arrangement in the analysis in an attempt to explain ethnic differences in parental home leaving. We show that ethnic minority youth, in particular Turkish and Moroccan young adults, improve their housing quality when leaving the parental home. This improvement clearly outweighs the effects of more family-oriented attitudes among Turkish and Moroccan households resulting in even earlier home-leaving than youth of Dutch origin. Our results on the early home leaving behaviour of ethnic minority youth are robust with regard to the geographical distance of nest-leavers from the parental home. |
| Keywords: | migrants, transition to adulthood, housing quality, location choice |
| Date: | 2016–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nim:nimawp:63/2016&r=eur |
| By: | Silvia Fedeli; Vito Mariella; Marco Onofri |
| Abstract: | On the basis of a newly built regional panel data set that considers, not only the evolution of employment in the Italian regions, but also indicators of counterfeiting activities and criminality, we empirically explore the link between employment performance and criminality during the period of a deep economic and financial crisis. We consider both unemployment and inactivity rates in order to check whether and to what extent, in a period of widely recognized economic crisis, criminal activities of counterfeit and other forms of crime have affected the labour market. We present results of GMM regressions showing a positive/peculiar effect of criminal activities on both the components of joblessness. |
| Keywords: | Inactivity rate, unemployment rate, criminality counterfeit, joblessness |
| JEL: | E24 J6 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sap:wpaper:wp176&r=eur |
| By: | Devicienti, Francesco (University of Turin); Fanfani, Bernardo (University of Turin); Maida, Agata (University of Milan) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we study the evolution of the Italian wage inequality, and of its determinants, using two decades of matched employer-employee data covering the entire population of private-sector workers and firms in the Veneto region. We find that wage inequality has increased since the mid-1980s at a relatively fast pace, and we decompose this trend by means of wage regression models that account for both worker and firm fixed effects. We show that the observed and unobserved heterogeneity of the workforce has been a major determinant of the overall wage dispersion and of its evolution. Instead, we find that the importance of the dispersion in firm-specific wage policies has declined over time. Finally, we show that the growth in wage dispersion has almost entirely occurred between job titles (livelli di inquadramento) for which a set of minimum wages is bargained at the nation-wide sectoral level. We conclude that, even in the presence of the underlying market forces, trends in wage inequality have been channelled through the rules set by the country's fairly centralized system of industrial relations. |
| Keywords: | wage inequality, collective bargaining, two-way fixed effects, employer-employee data |
| JEL: | J00 J5 J31 J40 |
| Date: | 2016–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10293&r=eur |
| By: | Hampf, Franziska (Ifo Institute for Economic Research); Woessmann, Ludger (Ifo Institute for Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | It has been argued that vocational education facilitates the school-to-work transition but reduces later adaptability to changing environments. Using the recent international PIAAC data, we confirm such a trade-off over the life-cycle in a difference-in-differences model that compares employment rates across education type and age. An initial employment advantage of individuals with vocational compared to general education turns into a disadvantage later in life. Results are strongest in apprenticeship countries that provide the highest intensity of industry-based vocational education. |
| Keywords: | vocational education, apprenticeship, employment, life-cycle, PIAAC |
| JEL: | J24 J64 I20 |
| Date: | 2016–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10298&r=eur |
| By: | Heim, Sven |
| Abstract: | Recent theories suggest that consumers' search efforts are a function of prices and prices changes, respectively. This may help to explain the 'rockets and feathers' phenomenon often assigned to collusion - prices rise like rockets when costs increase and fall like feathers when costs decrease. This paper empirically investigates the relation between cost pass-through and consumer search intensity for the German electricity retail market utilizing a unique panel dataset on retail electricity prices and consumer search intensity at online comparison sites for retail electricity, both at the zip code level. The main findings are 1) consumers search non-linear with regard to prices and price changes. They search more when prices are high and they decrease search efforts substantially when prices fall but only increase search efforts slightly when prices rise, 2) costs are passed-through asymmetrically with positive cost shocks causing higher pass-through rates than cost decreases and 3) search intensity significantly impacts price adjustments and controlling for search intensity eliminates large parts of the asymmetry. I compare this finding with a counterfactual - the entrants - where all consumers are fully informed. In this case consumer search does not affect cost pass-through. |
| Keywords: | Information,Cost Pass-through,Consumer Search,Rockets and Feathers |
| JEL: | D83 L11 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:16070&r=eur |
| By: | Dorothea Schäfer (German Institute for Economic Research DIW Berlin); Andreas Stephan (Jönköping International Business School) |
| Abstract: | Using the Mannheim innovation panel, we investigate whether family firms have higher financial need and how this affects both innovation input and innovation outcomes such as firm or market novelties, or process innovation. Applying the CDM framework, we find that family firms are more likely to have a latent financial need for innovation, which means that they have innovation ideas which they have not implemented yet. We find that family firms have a significantly lower marginal innovation productivity in particular for innovations with radical character, i.e., market novelties. We conclude from this evidence that family firms have a comparative disadvantage in innovation projects that imply high risk and require high innovation capability. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, Capability, Funding gaps, Financing Restrictions, Family Firms, CDM |
| JEL: | D21 D22 G31 O30 O31 O32 |
| Date: | 2016–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lsa:wpaper:wpc14&r=eur |
| By: | Xavier Jara; Erik Schokkaert |
| Abstract: | Most studies using microsimulation techniques have considered the effect of potential reforms, but only regarding income distribution. However, it has become increasingly recognised, both at the academic and political level, that focusing purely on income provides a limited picture of social progress. We illustrate how ex-ante policy evaluation can be performed in terms of richer concepts of individual well-being, such as subjective life satisfaction and equivalent incomes. Our analysis makes use of EUROMOD, the EU-wide tax-benefit microsimulation model, along with 2013 EU-SILC data for Sweden, which for the first time provides information on subjective well-being. Our results show that the effect of potential reforms varies widely depending on the well-being concept used in the evaluation. We discuss the normative questions that are raised by this finding. |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ete:ceswps:553932&r=eur |
| By: | Bastian Schulz (University of Munich and Ifo Institute); Benjamin Lochner (University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Institute for Employment Research) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes how workers are allocated to jobs in Germany. Our main contribution is to show how labor market sorting has evolved over time across worker types and how this developments are related to wages and wage inequality. We show direct empirical evidence that wages are not necessarily increasing in the productivity of the firm a worker is matched with. This feature of the data is predicted by theoretical models of labor market sorting (Shimer and Smith, 2000; Eeckhout and Kircher, 2011), but is at odds with two-way fixed-effect models (Abowd et al., 1999), the most common empirical tool to analyze wage dispersion. We use a structural search model and the identification procedure proposed by Hagedorn et al. (2014) to empirically identify worker and firm rankings as well as the bivariate density of matches in Germany. We compute rank correlations and find that low-type workers have become increasingly sorted into low-type firms in our period of observation (1998-2008), especially out of unemployment. Sorting of high-type workers into high-type firms has, if anything, slightly decreased during our period of observation. |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:red:sed016:1298&r=eur |
| By: | Del Boca, Daniela (University of Turin); Piazzalunga, Daniela (IRVAPP); Pronzato, Chiara D. (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | The objective of this research is to explore the impact of early childcare on child cognitive outcomes. We utilize the Millennium Cohort Survey (MCS) for the United Kingdom, which provides very detailed information about several modalities of childcare as well as several child outcomes. In our empirical analysis, we estimate the association between formal childcare and child cognitive outcomes, allowing the effect of formal childcare to be different for children from different family backgrounds, controlling for a large number of variables (regarding the child, the mother, the father, the household). In a second step, we simulate how an increase in formal childcare attendance can affect inequalities across children. Our results show that childcare attendance has a positive impact on child cognitive outcomes, which are stronger for children from low socio–economic background. |
| Keywords: | child care, child outcomes, inequalities |
| JEL: | J13 H75 |
| Date: | 2016–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10287&r=eur |
| By: | Johannes VAN DER POL |
| Abstract: | The focus of this paper is on the link between network structure and the financial performance of the individual firm. Under the hypothesis that firms access diverse and valuable knowledge through collaboration we analyse how firms pick their collaborators and how knowledge flows impact the financial performance of the firm. \r\nFirst, the evolution of the structure of the collaboration network of the French aerospace sector is analysed between 1980 and 2013. The global structure is identified and, using an ERGM and clustering identification, the structure of the network is explained. Second, a panel regression identifies a link between the position of the individual firm inside the network and their financial performance. |
| Keywords: | Network analysis ; Innovation network ; ERGM ; Performance ; Small World ; Scale-free |
| JEL: | L25 C23 D85 L14 C20 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:grt:wpegrt:2016-24&r=eur |
| By: | Philippe Bracke (Bank of England; Spatial Economics Research Centre (SERC) London School of Economics (LSE)); Silvana Tenreyro (London School of Economics (LSE); Centre for Macroeconomics (CFM)) |
| Abstract: | Using the universe of housing transactions in England and Wales in the last twenty years, we document a robust pattern of history dependence in housing markets. Sale prices and selling probabilities today are affected by aggregate house prices prevailing in the period in which properties were previously bought. We investigate the causes of history dependence, with its quantitative implications for the post-crisis recovery of the housing market. To do so we complement our analysis with administrative data on mortgages and online house listings, which we match to actual sales. We find that high leverage in the pre-crisis period and anchoring (or reference dependence) both contributed to the collapse and slow recovery of the volume of housing transactions. We find no asymmetric effects of anchoring to previous prices on current transactions; in other words, loss aversion does not appear to play a role over and above simple anchoring. |
| Keywords: | Housing market, Fluctuations, Down-payment effects, Reference dependence, Anchoring, Loss aversion |
| Date: | 2016–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cfm:wpaper:1635&r=eur |
| By: | Brenøe, Anne Ardila (University of Copenhagen); Lundberg, Evelina (Uppsala University) |
| Abstract: | We examine the differential effects of family disadvantage on the education and adult labor market outcomes of men and women using high-quality administrative data on the entire population of Denmark born between 1966 and 1995. We link parental education and family structure during childhood to male-female and brother-sister differences in teenage outcomes, educational attainment, and adult earnings and employment. Our results are consistent with U.S. findings that boys benefit more from an advantageous family environment than do girls in terms of the behavior and grade-school outcomes. Father's education, which has not been examined in previous studies, is particularly important for sons. However, we find a very different pattern of parental influence on adult outcomes. The gender gaps in educational attainment, employment, and earnings are increasing in maternal education, benefiting daughters. Paternal education decreases the gender gaps in educational attainment (favoring sons) and labor market outcomes (favoring daughters). We conclude that differences in the behavior of school-aged boys and girls are a poor proxy for differences in skills that drive longer-term outcomes. |
| Keywords: | gender gap, parental education, family structure, education, labor market outcomes |
| JEL: | I20 J1 J2 J3 |
| Date: | 2016–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10313&r=eur |
| By: | Luísa Andreia Serra Costa (FEP-UP, School of Economics and Management, University of Porto); António de Melo da Costa Cerqueira (FEP-UP, School of Economics and Management, University of Porto); Elísio Fernando Moreira Brandão (FEP-UP, School of Economics and Management, University of Porto) |
| Abstract: | This study examines the relationship between the financial crisis and earnings management of non-financial listed companies from 25 countries which belonged to the EU in 2006, over the period 2006-2014. Also, I intend to study whether the dividend distribution is motivation for companies to earnings management. In this empirical work, we use the discretionary accruals as a proxy of earnings management and the results were obtained using the OLS model. Our results suggest that earnings management by firms is lower in periods of financial crisis and firms that pay dividends have no tendency to earnings management. |
| Keywords: | Earnings management; Financial crisis; Dividend distribution; Accruals |
| JEL: | G01 M41 |
| Date: | 2016–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:por:fepwps:578&r=eur |
| By: | Heger, Dörte; Korfhage, Thorben |
| Abstract: | Growing long-term care (LTC) needs represent a major challenge for our ageing societies. Understanding how utilization patterns of different types of care are influenced by LTC policies or changes in the population composition such as age patterns or health can provide helpful insight on how to adequately prepare for this situation. To this aim, this paper explores how individuals choose between different forms of LTC. We exploit variation between countries as well as between individuals within countries using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Using nonlinear decomposition techniques, we break down the difference in utilization rates between countries into differences based on observed sociodemographic and need related characteristics and differences in the impacts of these characteristics, which allows us to identify the drivers behind differences in the formal-informal care mix. Our results show that a substantial fraction of the observed country differences can be explained by the different features of the LTC systems. |
| Abstract: | Der zunehmende Bedarf an Langzeitpflege stellt eine große Herausforderung für unsere alternden Gesellschaften dar. Ein besseres Verständnis darüber, wie die Inanspruchnahme der verschiedenen Pflegearten durch das Pflegesystem oder Veränderungen der Bevölkerungsstruktur, wie z.B. der Altersstrukturen oder dem Gesundheitszustand, beeinflusst wird, ermöglicht es sich auf diese Situation besser vorzubereiten. Um diese Fragen zu beantworten, untersuchen wir wie Individuen zwischen den verschiedenen Formen von Langzeitpflege wählen. Wir analysieren Unterschiede zwischen den Ländern sowie zwischen Individuen innerhalb einzelner Länder anhand Daten des Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement (SHARE). Mit Hilfe nicht-linearer Dekompositionstechniken untergliedern wir die Unterschiede in Nutzungsraten zwischen den Ländern in Unterschiede aufgrund von beobachtbaren soziodemografischen und bedarfsbezogenen Charakteristiken und in Unterschiede in den Auswirkungen dieser Charakteristiken auf die Wahl der Pflegeart. Diese Methodik ermöglicht es die Treiber hinter den Differenzen in dem formellen-informellen Pflegemix zu identifizieren. Unsere Ergebnisse zeigen, dass ein wesentlicher Anteil der beobachteten Unterschiede in Pflegequoten durch die verschiedenen Eigenschaften der Pflegesysteme zu erklären ist. |
| Keywords: | Long-term care,informal care,international comparison,decomposition |
| JEL: | I11 J14 J18 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:649&r=eur |