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on Microeconomic European Issues |
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Issue of 2017‒04‒23
29 papers chosen by Giuseppe Marotta Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia |
| By: | Hendrik Jürges (Schumpeter School of Business and Economics, University of Wuppertal); Sophie-Charlotte Meyer (Schumpeter School of Business and Economics, University of Wuppertal) |
| Abstract: | We investigate sources of educational differences in smoking. Using a large German data set containing retrospective information on the age at smoking onset, we compare age-specific hazard rates of starting smoking between (future) low and high educated individuals. We find that up to 90% of the educational differences in smoking develop before the age of 16, i.e. before compulsory schooling is completed. This education gap persists into adulthood. Further, we examine the role of health-related knowledge (proxied by working in health-related occupations) and find it hardly explains smoking decisions. Our findings suggest that (unobserved) factors determining both the selection into smoking and education are almost exclusively responsible for educational differences in smoking. Only small parts of the education gap seem to be caused by general or health-specific education. The effectiveness of education policy to combat smoking is thus likely limited. |
| Keywords: | education, smoking initiation, health-related knowledge |
| JEL: | I12 J22 J13 |
| Date: | 2017–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bwu:schdps:sdp17001&r=eur |
| By: | Cim, Merve; Kind, Michael Sebastian; Kleibrink, Jan |
| Abstract: | Occupational mismatch is a wide-spread phenomenon among immigrants in many European countries. Mismatch, predominantly measured in terms of education, is often regarded as a waste of human capital. Such discussions, however, ignore the imperfect comparability of international educational degrees when comparing immigrants to natives. An accurate analysis of occupational mismatch requires looking beyond internationally incomparable educational degrees and considering more comparable skill measures. Using PIAAC data, it is possible to exploit internationally comparable cognitive skill measures to analyze the presence of mismatch disparities between immigrants and natives. This allows us to examine whether overeducation implies only an apparent phenomenon or rather a genuine overqualification observed also in the form of cognitive overskilling. In this study, we analyze differences in the incidence of being overeducated and being cognitively overskilled between immigrants and natives in 11 European countries. Results show that immigrants are more likely to be overeducated than natives, while the opposite is true for being cognitively overskilled. Furthermore, significant heterogeneity among immigrants in the incidence of overeducation and cognitive overskilling can be detected. |
| Keywords: | Occupational mismatch,migration,education,cognitive skills |
| JEL: | I21 J15 J24 J71 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:687&r=eur |
| By: | Jirjahn, Uwe; Mohrenweiser, Jens |
| Abstract: | Using German establishment data, we show that the relationship between intensity of performance pay and intensity of applicant screening depends on the nature of production. In establishments with increased multitasking, performance pay is positively associated with applicant screening. By contrast, in establishments without increased multitasking, performance pay is negatively associated with applicant screening. The findings fit the hypothesis that performance pay induces a positive self-sorting of employees if jobs are less multifaceted. In this case, employers with a high intensity of performance pay do not need intensive applicant screening to ensure a high quality of matches between workers and jobs. However, if jobs are more multifaceted, performance pay can entail problems of adverse self-sorting. In order to mitigate or overcome these problems, employers making intensive use of performance pay also screen applicants more intensively. |
| Keywords: | Performance pay,multitasking,self-sorting,applicant screening,non-managerial employees,managerial employees |
| JEL: | J33 J60 M51 M52 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:47&r=eur |
| By: | Léa Toulemon (AP-HP - Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris, ECON - Département d'économie - Sciences Po, Hospinomics - PSE - Paris School of Economics, PSE - Paris School of Economics); Lexane Weber-Baghdiguian (PSL - PSL Research University, Legos - Laboratoire d'Economie et de Gestion des Organisations de Santé - Université Paris-Dauphine) |
| Abstract: | In this research, we investigate the long-term effects of job displacement on several dimensions of job quality and satisfaction, focusing only on individuals who lose their job because of plant closure. Using the German Socio-Economic Panel data from 1984 to 2012, we build a database containing 2,396 individuals who have lost their job because of plant closure. Our control group is created by finding workers who have similar characteristics to the displaced workers before their displacement. The matching method that we use is a coarsened exact matching on pre-treatment covariates and pre-treatment outcomes. We then compare the evolution of job quality in both groups to measure the causal impact of displacement. Our main findings indicate a large and long-lasting impact of displacement on employment prob- ability. The effects of displacement on earnings and hourly wages last until three or four years. As for job security, displaced workers report to be more likely to lose their job again. Indicators of quality of the working environment (working full time, long hours, distance to work), are all affected by displacement in the long run except the probability of working full time. These results are robust when we focus on individuals who do not experience a significant period out of employment. |
| Keywords: | job displacement, plant closure, job quality, coarsened exact,matching, panel data |
| Date: | 2016–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-01418183&r=eur |
| By: | Wallin, Tina (Centre for Entrepreneurship and Spatial Economics (CEnSE), Jönköping International Business School, Sweden) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to study the firms’ internal knowledge in combination with the external knowledge diversity in their region to examine their joint relation to export diversification. Using a data set of the full population of Swedish manufacturing exporters for the period 2003-2013, allows for identifying when firms introduce new products on the export market. The results indicate that firms in the medium-high tech and the medium-low tech manufacturing sectors only benefit from a larger external knowledge diversity if they themselves have some internal knowledge increasing their absorptive capacity. Changing spatial scale or increasing the time lag yields mostly the same results, but extending the external knowledge diversity to include all types of education subjects does not. This further supports the suggested importance of an absorptive capacity to facilitate the acquisition, assimilation and usage of related external knowledge in producing new products. |
| Keywords: | new product; export diversification; absorptive capacity; related knowledge |
| JEL: | C33 D22 D83 F14 J24 O31 |
| Date: | 2017–04–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0452&r=eur |
| By: | Niamh Moloney |
| Abstract: | The EU/UK negotiations on Brexit are now imminent following the formal notification by Prime Minister May of the UK’s intention to leave the EU in the ‘Article 50 letter’ delivered to European Council President Tusk on 29 March 2017. The treatment of financial services will be a critical element of these negotiations. Prime Minister May had previously indicated in her 17 January 2017 speech on the UK’s negotiating objectives that the UK is to leave the single market and confirmed this position in the Article 50 letter. Under current EU financial law the UK will accordingly become a ‘third country’ on Brexit. UK financial firms and actors will lose the ability to ‘passport’ into the single market in financial services from the UK – unless passporting rights are preserved under any new EU/UK arrangement, an outcome which is highly unlikely. This paper considers the risks to the EU from its oft-described ‘investment banker’ becoming a third country and explores the regulatory remedies which may be available and the preferences which may shape these remedies. The paper adopts a legal-institutionalist perspective, which draws on the insights of comparative/international political economy, to examine the implications of the UK’s future status as a ‘third country’ for the EU capital market and for its current flagship Capital Markets Union (CMU) agenda. The extent to which EU regulation is transformative is contested in relation to the development of the EU capital market. But the EU regulatory regime which governs third country access to the EU capital market is likely to be a significant determinant of the strength of the EU’s capacity to absorb the loss of the UK from the single EU capital market and to contain related stability, liquidity, and efficiency risks. Drawing on international experience with access arrangements and on EU preferences and incentives, the paper considers the likely future of the current third country regime and how it might be re-configured so that third country access is based on a more secure footing. |
| JEL: | F3 G3 |
| Date: | 2017–03–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:73429&r=eur |
| By: | Karla Münzel; Wouter Boon; Koen Frenken; Jan Blomme; Dennis van der Linden |
| Abstract: | We analyze the diffusion of carsharing across 177 cities in five Western European countries (Belgium, France, Germany, The Netherlands, United Kingdom) and identify the influence of spatial, socio-demographic and institutional city characteristics. Carsharing can partially replace private ownership of vehicles with a service that allows the use of a car temporarily on an on-demand basis. It has the potential to satisfy individualized transportation demands in a sustainable and socially beneficial way and reduces urban problems like traffic and parking pressure in growing cities. We present the first study that explains the number of shared cars present in a city, while distinguishing between the traditional business-to-consumer (B2C) business model and the more recent peer-to-peer (P2P) business model. We find that carsharing per capita is highest in the largest cities. Moreover, carsharing is popular in cities with high educational level and many green party votes, and less popular in cities with many car commuters. Particularly striking are the differences between countries, with peer-to-peer carsharing being especially popular in French cities and business-to-consumer carsharing in Germany. We reflect on the findings in the light of (sustainable) mobility policy options. |
| Keywords: | sharing economy, carsharing, business-to-consumer, peer-to-peer, policy |
| Date: | 2017–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uis:wpaper:1703&r=eur |
| By: | Tommaso Frattini (Università degli Studi di Milano) |
| Abstract: | Integration of immigrants is at the forefront of policy concerns in many countries. This paper starts by documenting that in most European countries immigrants face significant labour market disadvantages relative to natives. Then it discusses how public policies may affect immigrants’ integration. First, we review the evidence on the effectiveness of language and introduction courses. Then, we discuss how different aspects of the migration policy framework may determine immigrants’ integration patterns. In particular, based on a review of the recent literature, we highlight the role of visa length and of predictability about migration duration in shaping migrants’ decisions on investments in country-specific human and social capital. Further, we discuss implications for refugee migration and also review the role of citizenship acquisition rules. The paper ends with an outlook of the consequences for sending countries. |
| Keywords: | migration policy, citizenship, refugee migration |
| JEL: | F22 J15 J61 |
| Date: | 2017–04–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csl:devewp:427&r=eur |
| By: | Dehos, Fabian; Paul, Marie |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the impact of a massive expansion of after-school programs (ASPs) on the labor market participation of mothers with primary school children in the West German context of relatively low full-time employment rates. Using an instrumental variables approach we exploit regional and temporal variation in the provision of federal ASP starting grants by a nationwide investment program. Results suggest that additional ASP places had no effect on working hours or the employment probability of mothers with primary school children. |
| Keywords: | Maternal employment,after-school programs,instrumental variables |
| JEL: | J13 J21 J22 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:686&r=eur |
| By: | Isabel Narbón-Perpiñá (Department of Economics, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain); Mª Teresa Balaguer-Coll (Department of Accounting and Finance, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain); Emili Tortosa-Ausina (IVIE and Department of Economics, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain) |
| Abstract: | In the recent years of international economic crisis, Spanish local governments have come under increasing pressure to accommodate severe economic restrictions while maintaining (or even increasing) their provision of local public services. This paper aims to analyse overall cost efficiency in Spanish local governments during the period of the economic crisis (2008–2013) which has scarcely been examined to date. To this end, we measure efficiency, for which we consider four different non-parametric methodologies. Moreover, given how problematic it is to precisely define the bundle of services and facilities that municipalities must provide, we compare three different output models in which we consider measures of quantity as well as quality. Our results suggest that Spanish local government efficiency improved over the crisis period 2008–2013 since budget expenditures (inputs or costs) fell while local public services and facilities (outputs) were maintained. We also find evidence of the possible implications of service quality when measuring local governments’ cost efficiency, and of structural differences in the average efficiency between municipalities located in different Spanish regions and provinces. Finally, our results confirm that the level and variation of efficiency scores are affected by the approach taken. |
| Keywords: | Efficiency, local government, non-parametric frontiers |
| JEL: | C14 H11 H70 R15 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jau:wpaper:2017/05&r=eur |
| By: | Wallin, Tina (Centre for Entrepreneurship and Spatial Economics (CEnSE), Jönköping International Business School, Sweden) |
| Abstract: | Studies from a multitude of countries suggest that women become self-employed after having children to facilitate the work-family balance. In Sweden, generous parental leave and heavily subsided childcare is available, facilitating for parents to hold salaried jobs. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether having children increases the likelihood of individuals being self-employed. One major contribution is that this study covers the whole population, including men, with a quantitative analysis, instead of a sample through interviews and/or surveys. The results suggest that most individuals are less likely to be self-employed after having children, thus contrasting most other studies. |
| Keywords: | self-employment; parenthood; children |
| JEL: | D19 J13 J24 |
| Date: | 2017–04–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0453&r=eur |
| By: | Ohinata, Asako; Picchio, Matteo |
| Abstract: | We analyse how the financial support for long-term elderly care affects the household’s propensity to save. Using the difference-in-differences estimator, we investigate the 2002 Scottish reform, which introduced free formal personal care for all the Scottish elderly aged 65 and above. We find that the policy reduced the household saving rate by 1:9 percentage points. This amounts to an annual reduction in the flow of saving of £503. Moreover, the estimated effect is heterogeneous across the age of the head of household. The largest effect is observed when the household head is in his/her 40s, with the reduction in the saving rate of 3:5 percentage points or £1; 213 per year. |
| Keywords: | Long-term elderly care,ageing,means tested financial support,saving rate,difference-in-differences |
| JEL: | C21 D14 I18 J14 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:43&r=eur |
| By: | Katharina Böhm (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz); Claudia Landwehr (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz); Nils Steiner (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz) |
| Abstract: | In times of increasing cost pressures public health care systems in the OECD countries face the question whether and to which extent new high-tech drugs are to be financed within their public health care systems. Systematic empirical research that tries to explain across-country variation in these coverage decisions is, however, almost non-existent. We analyze an original dataset that contains coverage decisions for 11 controversial drugs in 25 OECD countries via multilevel modeling. Our results indicate that regulations to what extent a pharmaceutical is publicly financed are unrelated to wealth and general expenditure levels for health care, while societal health care systems tend to be more generous. By taking into account that rationing decisions have been (at least partially) delegated to specialized agencies in all of the countries under investigation, we also uncover suggestive evidence that institutional characteristics of the underlying decision processes matter systematically for coverage decisions. |
| Keywords: | Delegation; independent regulatory agencies; health care; priority setting; multilevel analysis |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jgu:wpaper:1708&r=eur |
| By: | Heinrich, Nils; Wübker, Ansgar; Wuckel, Christiane |
| Abstract: | Long waiting lines are a common feature and a major concern in many public health care delivery systems. The waiting lines are often characterized as inefficient, because they are a burden to patients without generating any gains for providers. There is an ongoing debate in Germany regarding the preferential treatment given to private health insurance (PHI) holders while statutory health insurance (SHI) holders face continuously increasing waiting times. In order to tackle this problem in the outpatient sector, in 2015 Germany introduced a reform that was aimed at providing SHI holders with appointments within an acceptable time frame. We exploited longitudinal experimental data to examine waiting times for six elective outpatient treatments in Germany and assessed the reform's impact on this issue. We found a sizeable difference in waiting times favoring private patients. For SHI holders, waiting times remained stable over time (27.5 days in 2014; 30.7 days in 2016; ? 3.2 days, p-value = 0.889), while PHI holders experienced a significant improvement (13.5 days in 2014; 7.8 days in 2016; ? 5.7 days, p-value = 0.002). The results indicate that there is an unequal access to elective outpatient treatment depending on the patient's insurance status. Our conclusion is that, the reform did not repair the existing inequalities. The gap has rather widened. |
| Keywords: | Waiting times,outpatient care,Germany,public health insurance,private health insurance |
| JEL: | I10 I11 I18 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:683&r=eur |
| By: | Casimir Lorenz |
| Abstract: | Abstract This paper expands the discussion about future balancing reserve provision to the long-term perspective of 2050. Most pathways for a transformation towards a decarbonized electricity sector rely on very high shares of fluctuating renewables. This can be a challenge for the provision of balancing reserves, although their influence on the balancing cost is unclear. Apart from the transformation of the generation portfolio, various technical and regulatory developments within the balancing framework might further influence balancing costs: i) dynamic dimensioning of balancing reserves, ii) provision by fluctuating renewables or new (battery) storage technologies, and iii) exchange of balancing reserves between balancing zones. The first part of this paper discusses and transforms these developments into quantitative scenario definitions. The second part applies these scenarios to dynELMOD (dynamic Electricity Model), an investment model of the European electricity system that is extended to include balancing reserve provision. In contrast to other models applied in most papers on balancing reserves, this model is capable of evaluating the interdependencies between developments in balancing reserve provision and high shares of fluctuating renewables jointly. The results show that balancing reserve cost can be kept at current levels for a renewable electricity system until 2050, when using a dynamic reserve sizing horizon. Apart from the sizing horizon, storage capacity withholding duration and additional balancing demand from RES are the main driver of balancing costs. Renewables participation in balancing provision is mainly important for negative reserves, while storages play an important role for the provision of positive reserves. However, only on very few occasions, additional storage investments are required for balancing reserve provision, as most of the time sufficient storage capacities are available in the electricity system. |
| Keywords: | balancing reserves, electricity sector modeling, investment model, renewable participation, cross-border cooperation, dynamic sizing |
| JEL: | Q42 Q47 Q48 C61 L94 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1656&r=eur |
| By: | BOUSSELIN Audrey |
| Abstract: | The economic literature provides mixed evidence of the relationship between local childcare provision and maternal employment. We document this question further by focusing on the role of the provision of childcare services close to the family?s residential location. We use a simultaneous equations approach to estimate the employment and childcare decisions of mothers of children aged 0-3, conditional on their residential location. Our estimates are based on a rich data set, which matches household and individual level microdata for Luxembourg in conjunction with municipality level data (provision of childcare services and other local amenities) and travel time distances for the year 2011. In line with the evidence provided by the recent literature, we find that, in a context where the female employment rate and the availability of childcare have increased over the last years, policies that make childcare services more widely accessible have no effect on maternal employment. |
| Keywords: | childcare; labour supply; residential location; simultaneous equations model |
| JEL: | J13 J18 J22 |
| Date: | 2017–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:irs:cepswp:2017-05&r=eur |
| By: | Fátima Herranz González (Banco de España); Carmen Martínez-Carrascal (Banco de España) |
| Abstract: | Using a large sample of Spanish companies, this paper investigates the impact that firms’ financial health has on their investment and employment decisions. The results indicate that firms’ financial position is important for explaining firms’ capital expenditures and their employment levels, since cash flow, indebtedness and the debt burden appear to be relevant for explaining investment and employment dynamics. Likewise, the results obtained point to a non-linear impact of financial position on these decisions, this being larger for companies in a less sound financial situation, and suggest that the role of financial factors in explaining investment and employment dynamics is likely to be greater in recessionary periods. |
| Keywords: | financial position, investment, employment, panel data |
| JEL: | C33 E22 E24 E44 G32 J23 |
| Date: | 2017–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bde:wpaper:1714&r=eur |
| By: | Sebastian Dörr; Mehdi Raissi; Anke Weber |
| Abstract: | The Italian economy has been struggling with low productivity growth and bank balance sheet strains. This paper examines the implications for firm productivity of adverse shocks to bank lending in Italy, using a novel identification scheme and loan-level data on syndicated lending. We exploit the heterogeneous loan exposure of Italian banks to foreign borrowers in distress, and find that a negative shock to bank credit supply reduces firms' loan growth, investment, capital-to-labor ratio, and productivity. The transmission from changes in credit supply to firm productivity relates to labor market rigidities, which delay or distort the adjustment of firms' desired labor and capital allocations, and thereby reduce firms' productivity. Effects are stronger for firms with higher capital intensity and external financial dependence. |
| Keywords: | Financial crises;Europe;Italy;Productivity;credit-supply shocks, labor market rigidities, Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy |
| Date: | 2017–03–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:17/67&r=eur |
| By: | Isabel Narbón-Perpiñá (Department of Economics, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain); Mª Teresa Balaguer-Coll (Department of Accounting and Finance, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain); Marko Petrovic (LEE and Department of Economics, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain); Emili Tortosa-Ausina (IVIE and Department of Economics, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain) |
| Abstract: | We analyse overall cost efficiency in Spanish local governments during the crisis period (2008–2013). To this end, we first consider some of the most popular methods to evaluate local government efficiency, DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) and FDH (Free Disposal Hull), as well as recent proposals, namely the order-m partial frontier and the non-parametric estimator proposed by Kneip, Simar and Wilson (2008), which are also non-parametric approaches. Second, we compare the methodologies used to measure efficiency. In contrast to previous literature, which has regularly compared techniques and made proposals for alternative methodologies, we follow recent proposals (Badunenko et al., 2012) with the aim of comparing the four methods and choosing the one which performs best with our particular dataset, that is, the most appropriate method for measuring local government cost efficiency in Spain. We carry out the experiment via Monte Carlo simulations and discuss the relative performance of the efficiency scores under various scenarios. Our results suggest that there is no one approach suitable for all efficiency analysis. We find that for our sample of 1,574 Spanish local governments, the average cost efficiency would have been between 0.54 and 0.77 during the period 2008–2013, suggesting that Spanish local governments could have achieved the same level of local outputs with about 23% to 36% fewer resources. |
| Keywords: | OR in government, efficiency, local government, nonparametric frontiers |
| JEL: | C14 C15 H70 R15 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jau:wpaper:2017/06&r=eur |
| By: | Renaud Bourlès (Aix-Marseille Univ. (Aix-Marseille School of Economics), CNRS, EHESS and Centrale Marseille); Anastasia Cozarenco (Montpellier Business School, Montpellier Research in Management, and Centre for European Research in Microfinance (CERMi)) |
| Abstract: | This article examines the link between entrepreneurial motivation and business performance in the French microfinance context. Using hand-collected data on business microcredits from a Microfinance Institution (MFI), we provide an indirect measure of entrepreneurial success through loan repayment performance. Controlling for the endogeneity of entrepreneurial motivation in a bivariate probit model, we find that "necessity entrepreneurs" are more likely to have difficulty repaying their microcredits than "opportunity entrepreneurs". However, type of motivation does not appear to make a difference to business survival. We build a stylized model to develop formal arguments supporting this outcome. We test for the robustness of our results using parametric duration models, and show that necessity entrepreneurs experience difficulties in loan repayment earlier than their opportunity counterparts, corroborating our initial findings. |
| Keywords: | opportunity and necessity entrepreneurs, business microcredit, loan repayment, business survival |
| JEL: | C30 C41 G21 L26 M13 |
| Date: | 2017–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aim:wpaimx:1701&r=eur |
| By: | Pilny, Adam; Wübker, Ansgar; Ziebarth, Nicolas R. |
| Abstract: | To equalize differences in health plan premiums due to differences in risk pools, the German legislature introduced a simple Risk Adjustment Scheme (RAS) based on age, gender and disability status in 1994. In addition, effective 1996, consumers gained the freedom to choose among hundreds of existing health plans, across employers and state-borders. This paper (a) estimates RAS pass-through rates on premiums, financial reserves, and expenditures and assesses the overall impact on market price dispersion. Moreover, it (b) characterizes health plan switchers and their annual and cumulative switching rates over time. Our main findings are based on representative enrollee panel data linked to administrative RAS and health plan data. We show that sickness funds with bad risk pools and high pre-RAS premiums lowered their total premiums by 42 cents per additional euro allocated by the RAS. Consequently, post-RAS, health plan prices converged but not fully. Because switchers are more likely to be white collar, young and healthy, the new consumer choice resulted in more risk segregation and the amount of money redistributed by the RAS increased over time. |
| Keywords: | Employer-based health insurance,free health plan choice,risk adjustment,health plan switching,adverse selection: German sickness funds,SOEP |
| JEL: | D12 H51 I11 I13 I18 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:682&r=eur |
| By: | Maximilian Stockhausen |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the redistributive impact of private and public childcare provision and education on children's resources in Germany between 2009 and 2013. It takes account of the multidimensionality of children's needs and access to economic resources by applying an extended income approach. Combining survey data from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) with administrative data from the German Federal Statistical Office, extended disposable income inequality is found to be significantly lower than disposable cash income inequality at the five percent level across all years. However, the extension does not significantly change distributional trends. At the same time, publicly provided childcare and schooling notably decrease inequality among children such that it cushions cash income inequality. One major reason for this effect is that public in-kind benefits profit children living with single parents, which are deprived in terms of cash incomes, most. This gives additional evidence on the importance of publicly provided childcare and schooling as a policy instrument to equalize economic resources and opportunities in children's lives. |
| Keywords: | In-kind Benefits, Opportunity Costs, Non-cash Incomes, Extended Income, Economic Inequality |
| JEL: | D13 D31 H52 I24 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp901&r=eur |
| By: | Armando Rungi (IMT Lucca); Davide Del Prete (IMT Lucca) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we analyze where value is added along supply chains on a sample of more than 2 million of firms in the European Union. We detect a non-linear U-shaped relationship between the value added generated by firms and their position on a productive sequence, for which tasks at the top and at the bottom show higher value added. Our findings are in line with previous hypotheses on the existence of a so-called 'smile curve', resumed by both business and economic studies and discussed at length in international fora. Our results are robust to different empirical strategies for flexible functional forms. As far as we know, ours is the first firm-level successful attempt to test for value generation along supply chains. Further, we find empirical support for a phenomenon of domestic retention of value added by MNEs, which may prefer keeping at home the tasks at higher potential to safeguard present and future competitive advantages. By country, intermediate stages of production are at higher value when performed by foreign affiliates, whereas domestic producers retain higher value at the very top and at the very bottom of the supply chain, organized either as independent suppliers or as domestic affiliates. Although an economic theory is still missing for explaining how and why value generation is non-linear along a typical technological sequence, here we argue that a microfoundation with firm-level data is useful for understanding the growth potential of countries' specialization patterns along different segments of supply chains. |
| Keywords: | global value chains, global supply chains, downstreamness, smile curve, downstreamness, value added, heterogeneous firms, multinational enterprises |
| JEL: | F23 F15 F14 L23 L25 L22 |
| Date: | 2017–04–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csl:devewp:428&r=eur |
| By: | Amélie Adeline; Eric Delattre (Université de Cergy-Pontoise, THEMA) |
| Abstract: | Income-related health inequalities have gained much attention. Using the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), this paper tests three hypotheses concerning the link between health, income and income inequalities. The Absolute Income Hypothesis states that income has a positive and concave effect on health. The second hypothesis, the strong version of Income Inequality Hypothesis, states that income inequalities affect all members in a society equivalently. The last one is the weak version of Income Inequality Hypothesis which assumes that income inequalities may hurt the health of only the least well off in a society. Results show strong evidence for the three hypotheses on the self-perceived health status, a subjective measure, using a set of income inequalities indexes and robust methods to consider the subjective nature of this health measure. |
| Keywords: | Health inequalities, income inequalities, self-reported health, Europe. |
| JEL: | I14 D31 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ema:worpap:2017-01&r=eur |
| By: | Jinkins, David (Copenhagen Business School); Morin, Annaig (CEBR, Copenhagen) |
| Abstract: | We measure the contribution of match quality to the wage growth experienced by job movers. We reject the exogenous mobility assumption needed to estimate a standard fixed-effects wage regression in the Danish matched employer-employee data. We exploit the sub-sample of workers hired from unemployment, for whom the exogenous mobility assumption is not rejected, to estimate firm fixed effects. We then decompose the variance of wage growth of all job movers. We find that 66% of the variance of wage growth experienced by job movers can be attributed to variance in match quality. Expected match quality growth is higher for higherskilled occupations. |
| Keywords: | job mobility, fixed-effect wage models, panel data models, assortative matching |
| JEL: | J62 J63 C23 |
| Date: | 2017–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10601&r=eur |
| By: | Gilles Duruflé; Thomas Hellmann; Karen E. Wilson |
| Abstract: | We examine the challenge entrepreneurial companies face in going beyond the start-up phase and growing into large successful companies. We examine the long-term financing of these so-called scale-up companies, focusing on the United States, Europe and Canada. We first provide a conceptual framework for understanding the challenges of financing scale-ups. We then show some data about the various aspects of financing scale-ups in the US, Europe and Canada. Finally we raise the question of long-term public policies to support the creation of a better scale-up environment. |
| Date: | 2017–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bre:wpaper:20035&r=eur |
| By: | Katharina Böhm (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz); Claudia Landwehr (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz) |
| Abstract: | The paper presents two cases of Europeanization in health policy an area that has so far been viewed as hardly affected by European integration. We show that even in the less likely case of coverage decision-making, some traces of Europeanization can be found. This is possible because the Commission has a strong interest in further integration in this field and all other relevant actors have motives to at least engage in cooperation. Our first case deals with the EU’s transparency directive and shows that this has forced member states to establish formal decision-making procedures, but did not result in a harmonization of decision-making processes and institutions, which is why the Commission has fostered cooperation and networking. The second case looks at the Europeanization of health technology assessment, demonstrating how cooperation and policy learning take place and how the Commission has successfully promoted the emergence of a new policy field. |
| Keywords: | Europeanization, policy convergence, health care reimbursement, health technology assessment |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jgu:wpaper:1707&r=eur |
| By: | Schäfer, Dorothea (DIW Berlin, JIBS and CERBE); Stephan, Andreas (Linnæus University, Ratio Institute and JIBS); Trung Hoang, Khanh (DIW Berlinn) |
| Abstract: | We examine whether monetary transmission during the financial and sovereign debt crisis was dominated by the cost channel or by the demand-side channel effect. We use two approaches to track down the potential passthrough of changes in the monetary policy rate to those in consumer prices. First, we utilize panel data from the German manufacturing industry. Second, we conduct time series analyses for Germany, Italy, and Spain. We find that when manufacturing firms’ interest costs drop, the changes in their respective industry’s price index are smaller one year later. This finding is consistent with the cost channel theory. Taken together, the results of both panel data and time series analyses imply that the ECB’s low interest rate policy has worked better for boosting inflation in Italy and Spain than in Germany. |
| Keywords: | Inflation; cost channel; monetary transmission |
| JEL: | E31 E43 E43 G01 G01 |
| Date: | 2017–03–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ratioi:0287&r=eur |
| By: | Brice Fabre (Paris School of Economics, Institut des Politiques Publiques); Marc Sangnier (Aix-Marseille Univ. (Aix-Marseille School of Economics), CNRS, EHESS and Centrale Marseille) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses the detailed curricula of French ministers and the detailed accounts of French municipalities to identify governmental investment grants targeted to specific jurisdictions. We distinguish between municipalities in which a politician held office before being appointed as a government’s member and those in which current ministers lived during their childhood. We provide evidence that municipalities in which a minister held office during her career experience a 45% increase in the amount of discretionary investment subsidies they receive during the time the politician they are linked to serves as minister. In contrast, we do not find any evidence that subsidies flow to municipalities from which ministers originate. Additional evidence advocate in favour of a key role of network and knowledge accumulated through connections, illustrated by a persistence of the impact of intergovernmental ties. |
| Keywords: | pork-barrel economics, distributive politics, political connections, private connections |
| JEL: | D72 D73 H50 H77 |
| Date: | 2017–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aim:wpaimx:1705&r=eur |