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on Microeconomic European Issues |
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Issue of 2017‒12‒11
33 papers chosen by Giuseppe Marotta Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia |
| By: | Oliver Lipps; Daniel Oesch |
| Abstract: | The 1990s and 2000s were a gloomy period for Germany’s working class, hit by mass unemployment, welfare retrenchment and wage stagnation. We examine whether the growing economic disparity between the top and the bottom of Germany’s class structure was accompanied by a widening class gap in life satisfaction. We analyse whether there is a social class gradient in life satisfaction and whether, over the last decades, this class gradient increased in Germany, relative to the comparison case of Switzerland. We use panel data for Germany (1984-2014) and Switzerland (2000-2015) and check the robustness of our results by replicating our analysis with the pooled German and Swiss samples of the European Social Survey (2002-2014). In both countries, respondents in higher classes report substantially higher life satisfaction than those in lower classes. The class gap is twice as large in Germany than in Switzerland. In Germany, the class gap in life satisfaction narrowed between 1984 and 1990, strongly widened between 1990 and 2005 and then decreased again after 2010. In Switzerland, the class gap did not follow a clear time trend, but remained basically constant. In Germany, differences in unemployment risks and household income account for half of the class gap and its evolution over time. |
| Keywords: | Germany, inequality, life satisfaction, social class, Switzerland, unemployment, working class |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp940&r=eur |
| By: | Gabriella Berloffa; Eleonora Matteazzi; Paola Villa |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the intergenerational transmission of worklessness according the gender of parents and the gender of their children and across different groups of European countries. Based on EU-SILC 2005 and 2011 data, we document the existence of a positive intergenerational correlation of worklessness between mothers and daughters, which is quite stable over time and similar across country groups, except in Nordic countries. By contrast, maternal employment becomes important for their sons only in 2011, i.e. when youth labour market conditions are more stringent. The effects of fathers’ employment are less widespread, being systematically positive and significant only in Mediterranean countries. From a policy perspective, our findings call for new policy initiatives aimed at helping mothers of adolescents to enter, remain or reenter into paid work, but also helping children of non-working mothers to develop the necessary soft-skills and attitudes to be successfully included in the labour market. |
| Keywords: | youth, worklessness, intergenerational transmission, family background, gender, Europe |
| JEL: | J16 J62 J64 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:trn:utwprg:2017/04&r=eur |
| By: | Gabriella Berloffa; Eleonora Matteazzi; Alina Sandor; Paola Villa |
| Abstract: | This paper presents a new approach to evaluating individuals' employment quality, considering the evolution of individuals' employment conditions over a period of time, instead of the quality of jobs held at a certain point in time. In particular, we present a new definition of employment quality, based on four dimensions: employment security, income security, economic success and the successful match between education and occupation. Using EU- SILC data, we analyse the extent to which the achievement of employment quality five years after leaving education varies according to gender, education, country groups and time periods. Our findings suggest that there is still a pressing need to enhance women's chances to remain continuously in employment and to move up in the labour income distribution. Loosening the rules on the use of temporary contracts actually generates more difficulties for women and low-educated individuals and it also appears to worsen youth employment prospects in general. |
| Keywords: | Employment quality, Employment security, Income security, Young people, Employment protection legislation |
| JEL: | J81 J69 J13 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:trn:utwprg:2017/05&r=eur |
| By: | Martin Kolk; Kieron J. Barclay (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany) |
| Abstract: | We examine the relationship between cognitive ability and childbearing patterns in contemporary Sweden using administrative register data. The topic has a long history in the social sciences and has been the topic of a large number of studies, many arguing for a negative gradient between intelligence and fertility. We link fertility histories to military conscription tests with intelligences scores for all Swedish born men born 1951 to 1967. We find an overall positive relationship between intelligence scores and fertility and that is consistent across our cohorts. The relationship is most pronounced for transition to a first child, and that men with the lowest categories of IQ-scores have the fewest children. Using fixed effects models we additionally control for all factors that are shared across siblings, and after such adjustments we find a stronger positive relationship between IQ and fertility. Furthermore, we find a positive gradient within groups of different lengths of education. Compositional differences of this kind are therefore not responsible for the positive gradient we observe - instead the relationship is even stronger after controlling for both educational careers and parental background factors. In our models where we compare brothers to one another we find that relative to men with IQ 100, the group with the lowest category of cognitive ability have 0.58 fewer children, and men with the highest category have 0.14 more children. |
| Keywords: | Sweden, fertility, intelligence, men, military service |
| JEL: | J1 Z0 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2017-020&r=eur |
| By: | D'AMORE, Rosamaria (CELPE - Centre of Labour Economics and Economic Policy, University of Salerno - Italy); IORIO, Roberto (CELPE - Centre of Labour Economics and Economic Policy, University of Salerno - Italy); LUBRANO LAVADERA, Giuseppe (CELPE - Centre of Labour Economics and Economic Policy, University of Salerno - Italy) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we explore the relationship between the human capital “embodied” in the workforce and the innovative capabilities of the firm, adopting an international comparative perspective. In fact data come from a survey (EFIGE) run in seven European countries during the 2007-2009 period. They are analysed with several models of multivariate analysis also with the support of a semi-parametric model. Our results show a positive relationship between the ratio of graduated employees and the percentage of turnover from innovative products, being the share of personnel employed in R&D constant. This relationship is not linear: we find decreasing marginal returns for human capital and R&D. We then find a complementarity between human capital and R&D: the strength of the link between human capital and innovation is higher when the firm’s R&D increases. We also find some significant differences in the intensity of the human capital/innovation link across different countries. |
| Keywords: | Human capital; R&D; Innovation; |
| JEL: | D22 J24 O32 |
| Date: | 2017–04–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sal:celpdp:0144&r=eur |
| By: | Osea Giuntella (University of Pittsburgh, IZA); Catia Nicodemo (University of Oxford, CHSEO, IZA); Carlos Vargas Silva (University of Oxford, Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS)) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the effects of immigration on waiting times for the National Health Service (NHS) in England. Linking administrative records from Hospital Episode Statistics (2003-2012) with immigration data drawn from the UK Labour Force Survey, we find that immigration reduced waiting times for outpatient referrals and did not have significant effects on waiting times in accident and emergency departments (A&E) and elective care. The reduction in outpatient waiting times can be explained by the fact that immigration increases natives’ internal mobility and that immigrants tend to be healthier than natives who move to different areas. Conversely, we observe higher outpatient waiting times in places to which native internal migrants have moved. Finally, we find evidence that immigration increased waiting times for outpatient referrals in more deprived areas outside of London. The increase in average waiting times in more deprived areas is concentrated in the years immediately following the 2004 EU enlargement and disappears in the medium term (e.g., 3 to 4 years). |
| Keywords: | Immigration, waiting times, NHS, access to health care, welfare |
| JEL: | J61 I10 |
| Date: | 2017–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:xrp:wpaper:xreap2017-13&r=eur |
| By: | Sarah Kuypers (Universiteit Antwerpen); Francesco Figari (Università dell'Insubria); Gerlinde Verbist (Universiteit Antwerpen); Dorien Verckist (Universiteit Antwerpen) |
| Abstract: | The need for more comprehensive and integrated data on individual well-being is widely recognised. In order to identify better measures of economic performance in a complex economy and thus going Beyond GDP, Stiglitz, Sen and Fitoussi (2009) recommend to consider income, consumption and wealth and to give more prominence to their joint distribution. New household surveys as those developed as part of the Luxembourg Wealth Study and the Eurosystem Household Finance and Consumption Network (HFCS) represent a milestone in the ongoing process to better measure individual well-being. We explore the prospects for using the HFCS dataset as an underlying micro-database for the EU tax-benefit model, EUROMOD. The advantages of this process are twofold. On the one hand, as the HFCS only contains gross income amounts which are not suitable for redistributive analysis, we derive net incomes by simulating the gross-to-net transition with EUROMOD taking into account all important details of the social security and personal income system. On the other hand, we discuss the expansion of new policy domains introduced into the EUROMOD simulations such as wealth taxation, incentives for wealth accumulation and asset tests determining benefit eligibility. |
| Keywords: | Wealth taxation, EUROMOD, HFCS |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:taxref:201704&r=eur |
| By: | Inés P. Murillo (Universidad de Extremadura); José L. Raymond (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona); Jorge Calero (Universitat de Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | This study (i) compares the competence levels of the adult population in a set of OECD countries; (ii) assesses the comparative efficiency with which the education system in each country transforms schooling into competences, distinguishing by educational level, and (iii) tracks the evolution of this efficiency by birth cohorts. Using PIAAC data, the paper applies standard parametric frontier techniques under two alternative specifications. The results obtained under both specifications are similar and identify Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Japan as being the most efficient and Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy, Ireland and Poland as the least efficient. The evolution of the efficiency levels by age cohorts shows that higher education is more efficient for younger cohorts, while lower and upper secondary education present a stable trend over cohorts. |
| Keywords: | adult population competences; efficiency; PIAAC; parametric frontier techniques. |
| JEL: | I21 C13 |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:xrp:wpaper:xreap2017-11&r=eur |
| By: | Isabel Correia Dias (Universidade do Minho, NIMA); Priscila Ferreira (Universidade do Minho, NIMA); Lígia Costa Pinto (Universidade do Minho, NIMA); Marieta Valente (Universidade do Minho, NIMA); Paula Veiga (Universidade do Minho, NIMA) |
| Abstract: | In this study we provide evidence on the health status and the role of gender and socioeconomic inequality in self-reported health and morbidity status amongst the elderly in Portugal. We find a negative self-perception of health status amongst the elderly; high prevalence of chronic diseases since an earlier age; high level of depression problems reported by women; and high levels of disability amongst the oldest old. There are, nonetheless, substantial differences in health status between age groups that suggest a potential for health gains in the future. The prevalence of chronic diseases, mental problems and high disability requires an adequate (re)organization of healthcare delivery to the elderly. Moreover, the evidence presented clearly calls for a gendered perspective on health policy, particularly in mental health policy. |
| Keywords: | ageing, health status, inequality |
| JEL: | I1 I14 I18 |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nim:nimawp:67/2017&r=eur |
| By: | Cattan, Sarah (Institute for Fiscal Studies, London,); Kamhofer, Daniel A. (Paderborn University); Karlsson, Martin (CINCH); Nilsson, Therese (Lund University) |
| Abstract: | Instructional time is seen as an important determinant of school performance, but little is known about the effects of student absence. Combining historical records and administrative data for Swedish individuals born in the 1930s, we examine the impacts of absence in elementary school on short-term academic performance and long-term socio-economic outcomes. Our siblings and individual fixed effects estimates suggest absence has a moderate adverse effect on academic performance. The detrimental effect fades out over time. While absence negatively correlates with final education, income and longevity, we only find robust evidence that it lowers the probability of employment at age 25–30. |
| Keywords: | Absence in school; Educational performance; Long-term effects; Register data |
| JEL: | C23 I14 I21 |
| Date: | 2017–11–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1188&r=eur |
| By: | Giovanni Ferri (LUMSA University); Pierluigi Murro (LUMSA University); Marco Pini (Unioncamere) |
| Abstract: | We investigate whether family businesses (FBs) suffer stiffer credit rationing in the post-crisis Italian economy. FBs are, in fact, typically more opaque than other firms, possibly deterring bank lending to them. Moreover, regulatory changes may lead many banks to abandon relationship lending, weakening their ability to evaluate opaque firms. Using detailed firm data, our estimates reach nuanced conclusions. First, credit rationing is not more intense at FBs. However, it systematically intensifies if FBs engage in firm-bank arrangements less able to overcome information asymmetries either coupling with a main bank that uses transactional lending or diluting relationships across various banking partners. |
| Keywords: | Family firms, Firm-bank relationship, Bank lending technologies, Credit Rationing |
| JEL: | D22 G32 |
| Date: | 2017–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lsa:wpaper:wpc24&r=eur |
| By: | Giuseppe Attanasi; Alessandro Bucciol; Simona Cicognani; Natalia Montinari |
| Abstract: | We present novel data on the perception of dishonesty in the public sector in Italy, from a survey we carried out in August 2017. They concern a sample of about 1,000 attendees at a mass-gathering music festival in Southern Italy, whose audience includes a relevant fraction of subjects residing in North Italy. The survey includes questions on perceived dishonesty at both an institutional and social dimension. We measure whether regional differences in the perception of dishonesty persist even when controlling for generalized trust, the quality of institutions at the regional level, as well as socio-demographic characteristics. We find that respondents from the North or living abroad perceive lower level of dishonesty in the public sector compared to respondents from the South. Once objective measures of corruption and governance at the regional level are accounted for, the geographical gap disappears, while generalized trust still matters. This evidence suggests that individual and geographic differences in generalized trust must be taken into account as they can affect the support for policy interventions aimed at reducing dishonesty in the public sector. |
| Keywords: | Cultural event; Corruption; Dishonest behavior; Generalized Trust; Italy. |
| JEL: | A13 D73 K42 Z13 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulp:sbbeta:2017-32&r=eur |
| By: | David Haugh |
| Abstract: | The personal tax system has a large influence on incentives to work, save and invest and hence growth. At the same time it is a key policy lever for income redistribution. This paper analyses how income distribution patterns changed in Spain before and after the crisis using the personal income tax samples constructed by the Spanish Institute of Fiscal Studies for the period 2002 to 2011. We find that the top and bottom of the income distribution gained the most from the boom period, and the bottom suffered proportionally more in the subsequent bust. Although Spain's average personal tax rates were above the OECD average, personal tax revenue as a share was below the OECD average. One reason for this is substantial fiscal benefits that significantly reduce total tax received by the government. We examine the distribution of the tax burden, and especially how income deciles benefit from the different fiscal benefits, namely tax exemptions, reductions and tax credits. This reveals that Spain's personal income tax system is progressive, especially for labour income, but far less so for capital income. Some fiscal benefits, notably the tax credit on maternity, are highly progressive. Other fiscal benefits, mainly exemptions and reductions, are regressive. These include the exemptions on renting and on the interest from investing in dwellings and the reduction for contributions to personal pension plans. |
| Keywords: | capital income, Income taxes, labour income, tax expenditures, tax rates |
| JEL: | D31 H23 H24 |
| Date: | 2017–12–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1427-en&r=eur |
| By: | Barslund, Mikkel; Di Bartolomeo, Anna; Ludolph, Lars |
| Abstract: | The integration of refugees and migrants in general into the labour market – and into society at large –stands at the forefront of current policy debate. And rightly so: better integration enriches not only the migrant, but also the host country’s population and its public finances. A number of recent noteworthy publications have therefore studied the labour market integration process and how to improve it. While the diverse background of new arrivals is often acknowledged in these studies, on-the-ground labour market integration programmes too often follow a one-size-fits-all approach. In this Policy Insights study, we argue that there is a particularly strong case for labour market integration measures specifically geared towards female migrants. The primary reason is the traditionally low female labour market participation in the majority of source countries, which translates into a large excess gender gap in labour market integration among non-EU migrants in Europe. This gap is further mirrored by other important aspects of societal integration. We argue that this lack of labour market integration inhibits wider societal integration of female migrants. Hence, integration efforts need to more explicitly take the gender dimension into account and further analyse the determinants of the gender gap in integration. A mapping of successful initiatives targeting migrant women, as has been done in recent best-practice guidelines, is therefore essential. However, these studies mainly stress that the number of targeted measures is currently insufficient. |
| Date: | 2017–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eps:cepswp:12262&r=eur |
| By: | Giuseppina Gianfreda (Università della Tuscia); Giovanna Vallanti (LUISS "Guido Carli") |
| Abstract: | Compliance with labour law has costs and benefits which may depend on the institutional environment in which firms operate. Although several studies have documented a negative effect of informality on firms productivity and growth it is a fact that firms may resort to undeclared employment to escape excessive tax or regulatory burden. We argue that firms may respond to strict employment protection legislation through accrued informality thus (partially) offsetting the negative effect of informality on productivity. We exploit the Italian dismissal legislation imposing higher firing costs for firms with more than 15 workers and show that informality reduces the turnover of formal jobs for firms above the 15 workers threshold; furthermore, while the overall effect of informality on firms productivity is negative, the differential effect for firms above the threshold as compared to smaller firms is positive and significant. |
| JEL: | D02 D22 D24 |
| Date: | 2017–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csn:wpaper:2017-01&r=eur |
| By: | NESE, Annamaria (CELPE - Centre of Labour Economics and Economic Policy, University of Salerno - Italy); TROISI, Roberta (CELPE - Centre of Labour Economics and Economic Policy, University of Salerno - Italy) |
| Abstract: | This analysis addresses the corruption of Italian mayors, and it is carried out by analyzing the sentences of the Italian Supreme Court in the last decade. The research questions are as follows: Is corruption effectively prosecuted and punished in Italy? Are there signs of social stigma or reputational damage for corrupt politicians? To this aim, we focus on i) justice efficiency and ii) social tolerance of corruption. The results reported here reveal that the probability of re-election increases in small urban areas, when the mayor is a strong leader and when he colludes with entrepreneurs external to the council, thus reinforcing the hypotheses that people vote for corrupt leaders because they receive favors from those leaders or because they perceive that those leaders are efficient in delivering public goods. The judicial system works well against organized crime, probably because of the special proceedings against "mafiosi"; however, it is more inefficient when a mayor colludes with his staff: evidently, higher efficiency may be pursued through the implementation of a stricter legal institutional framework. |
| Keywords: | Corruption; Public management |
| JEL: | C35 D02 D23 I38 |
| Date: | 2017–10–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sal:celpdp:0145&r=eur |
| By: | Kareem, Fatima Olanike |
| Abstract: | We investigate the implications of EU non-tariff barriers in the form sanitary and phyto-sanitary (SPS) measures and technical barriers to trade (TBT) on gender relations in the agricultural labour market between 1995 and 2012. Our results indicate that women are disproportionately disadvantaged in the agricultural sector not only because of the inimical effect of the non-tariff measure, but more so because of their unequal access to opportunities such as gender inequality in secondary schooling the heavy burden of reproduction actives which makes them less available for gainful employment. However, gender parity achieved in primary education and increased access to time saving infrastructure increases their share of employment in the agricultural sector. Thus, proactive measures aimed at infrastructure investment that reduces women care burdens and building the educational capacity of women to effectively deal with such non-tariff barriers, could work to remove these gender specific obstacles, enable women respond to employment opportunities and minimise any gender disparity caused by trade. |
| Keywords: | Non-tariff measures,Sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures,Technical barriers to trade,Employment,Gender,European Union |
| JEL: | F13 F14 F16 J16 J43 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esprep:171726&r=eur |
| By: | Alessandro Bucciol (Department of Economics (University of Verona)); Alessio Hu (University of Verona); Luca Zarri (Department of Economics (University of Verona)) |
| Abstract: | A growing empirical literature documents that managerial risk taking is linked to an individual’s history of relevant shocks. Using male soccer data on 32 teams and 2160 matches covering eight seasons of the Italian premier league (“Serie A”), we provide clean evidence that change in managerial risk taking – proxied by a team coach’s decision to alter the initial system of play in a match – significantly depends on having experienced wins or defeats in the recent past. In particular, we show that prior shocks matter, as change in risk taking strongly and positively depends on prior defeats. Single defeats and heavy defeats make the coaches more risk seeking (opting for more offensive systems of play). In contrast, passing through multiple defeats in a row and experiencing single wins are associated with more cautious risk-taking behavior. Changing risk taking, though, does not seem to pay off in terms of match outcomes. Finally, we interestingly document that in top teams managerial risk taking is not sensitive at all to prior shocks, regardless of their positive or negative direction. |
| Keywords: | Managerial Risk Taking, Prior Shocks, Field Data, Soccer |
| JEL: | D81 D91 |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ver:wpaper:17/2017&r=eur |
| By: | Maximilian Goethner (Friedrich Schiller University Jena, School of Economics and Business Administration); Michael Wyrwich (Friedrich Schiller University Jena, School of Economics and Business Administration) |
| Abstract: | Over the past decades, entrepreneurial activity has started to be considered a third mission of higher education institutions. Our study examines the extent to which entrepreneurship at universities is driven by spatial proximity between university faculties. To this end, we use a new dataset that links information on business idea generation by faculties of German universities between 2007 and 2014 with comprehensive data on structural characteristics of these universities and faculties (e.g., number of academic staff, students, industry funding). Our analysis shows that the emergence of entrepreneurial ideas in natural sciences is positively affected by proximity to business schools. This pattern suggests the presence of knowledge flows between university faculties as an important source of science-based and technology-oriented business ideas. |
| Keywords: | Academic entrepreneurship, Knowledge Spillover, Spatial Proximity, Entrepreneurial Human Capital |
| JEL: | D24 L26 M13 O31 O32 |
| Date: | 2017–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2017-017&r=eur |
| By: | Ekaterina S. Mitrofanova (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this study is to compare the sociodemographic events marking the transition to adulthood in France, Estonia and Russia: first leaving parents, completion of education, first partnership, first marriage and first childbirth. We used the first waves of the Generations and Gender Survey for these three countries and an advanced method – Sequence Analysis. According to the Second Demographic Transition Theory, we expected a convergence in the sequencing, timing and tempo of the occurrence of target events. The results showed the slow convergence of sequences, but not of timing and tempo. Estonia and Russia are still close in the timing of the occurrence of events, but in tempo Estonia and France are more alike. The ages at which people start families in Estonia and Russia have decreased in younger generations in comparison with older ones, despite our expectation that they would increase. For the youngest generation (1970s), the time between leaving parents and becoming a parent is 5-7 years in France, 4-6 years in Estonia and 2-3 years in Russia. The sociodemographic behaviour of Estonians clearly positions them between Europe and Russia. Thus, the comparison of France, Estonia and Russia only partially confirms the Second Demographic Transition Theory |
| Keywords: | sequence analysis, transition to adulthood, life course, France, Estonia, Russia. |
| JEL: | J12 J13 N3 P46 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:78/soc/2017&r=eur |
| By: | Bernhard Enzi |
| Abstract: | Information about teachers’ effectiveness at the hiring stage is particularly scarce despite its importance for personnel decisions. Using the German setting of teacher training, I investigate the relationship of teachers’ pre-service cognitive and pedagogical skills as measured by two state examinations and the high-school GPA on later effectiveness. I apply standard value-added models to rich German student-achievement panel data and find that being in the top quartile in these skill domains is linked with significantly higher teacher effectiveness. Better teacher skills are associated with a more efficient way of classroom management. |
| Keywords: | Teacher, value-added, cognitive skills, student achievement |
| JEL: | I21 J24 J45 H75 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ifowps:_243&r=eur |
| By: | Heyman, Fredrik (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)); Norbäck, Pehr-Johan (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)); Persson, Lars (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines employment and productivity dynamics in the Swedish business sector during the period 1996–2013. In order to analyze employment and productivity in a consistent way we apply a novel implementation of a method, which previously has been used extensively to analyze job dynamics, on both job and productivity dynamics. Our results, based on detailed matched employer-employee data for Sweden, indicate substantial heterogeneity in terms of job and productivity dynamics for different types of firms. We find that most of the net jobs were created in young, small firms, but at the same time we also find that most of the productivity gains were created in large old incumbent firms, thus suggesting a division of labor between the two. Our analysis provides new insights into the importance of age and size of firms in the restructuring process, stressing the dichotomy between employment growth and productivity growth in different types of firms. |
| Keywords: | Job dynamics; Productivity; Matched employer-employee data; Industrial structure and structural change |
| JEL: | E24 J23 L16 L25 L26 |
| Date: | 2017–11–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1189&r=eur |
| By: | Berlingieri, Francesco |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effect of the size of the local labor market on skill mismatch. Using survey data for Germany, I find that workers in large cities are both less likely to be overqualified for their job and to work in a different field than the one they are trained for. Different empirical strategies are employed to account for the potential sorting of talented workers into more urbanized areas. Results on individuals never moving from the place of childhood and fixed-effects estimates obtaining identification through regional migrants suggest that sorting does not fully explain the existing differences in qualification mismatch across areas. This provides evidence of the existence of agglomeration economies through better matches. However, lower qualification mismatch in larger cities is found to explain only a small part of the urban wage premium. |
| Keywords: | agglomeration,labor matching,qualification mismatch,urban wage |
| JEL: | I21 J24 J31 R23 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:17055&r=eur |
| By: | Lundin, Erik (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)); Tangerås, Thomas (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)) |
| Abstract: | Horizontal shifts in bid curves observed in wholesale electricity markets are consistent with Cournot competition. Quantity competition reduces the informational requirements associated with evaluating market performance because the markups of all producers then depend on the same inverse residual demand curve instead of one for each firm. We apply the model to the day-ahead market of the Nordic power exchange, Nord Pool, for the years 2011–2013. Results suggest that mark-ups were 8–11 percent. We find some support for the hypothesis that the division of Sweden into price areas in 2011 increased the exercise of market power. |
| Keywords: | Cournot competition; Market design; Market performance; Nord Pool; Walrasian auction; Wholesale electricity market |
| JEL: | D22 D40 D43 D44 |
| Date: | 2017–11–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1191&r=eur |
| By: | Munford, L.A.; Fichera, E.; Sutton, M.; |
| Abstract: | Little is known about the causal effects of home ownership on health. We exploit the 'Right to Buy' policy in England as a source of exogenous variation in the ownership decision. The policy gave secure long-term tenants of publicly rented housing a discount in order to encourage them to buy their home. We assess the health and well-being impacts of this ownership decision by considering a macro and micro level analysis. In both analyses, home ownership is associated with higher levels of health and well-being. At the macro-level, local authorities with higher ownership rates had lower rates of people reporting having a longstanding health condition and also lower average counts of the number of health conditions reported by individuals. At the micro-level, becoming a homeowner reduced the number of self-reported health conditions by 0.65, increased self-assessed health by 0.19 points on a ve-point scale, and increased General Health Questionnaire scores by 1.46 points on a 37-point scale. These results are robust to a number of assumptions. Further models suggest that the mechanisms through which home ownership aects health may operate via the labour markets with new job opportunities, extra time saved travelling and resources available for healthy leisure activities. |
| Keywords: | Home ownership; Health and Well-being; Right to Buy; |
| JEL: | H70 I10 I31 I38 |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:yor:hectdg:17/28&r=eur |
| By: | Liwiński, Jacek; Pastore, Francesco |
| Abstract: | We test for the signalling hypothesis versus human capital theory using the Wiles test (1974) in a country which has experienced a dramatic increase in the supply of skills. For this purpose, we construct a job match index based on the usefulness of the school-provided skills and the relevance of the job performed to the field of study. Then we regress the first earnings of graduates on this index using OLS and Heckit to control for omitted heterogeneity of the employed. The data we use come from a representative tracer survey of Poles who left secondary schools or graduated from HEIs over the period of 1998-2005. We find that only the HEI graduates obtain a wage premium from skills acquired in the course of formal education. This finding is robust to a large number of robustness checks with different indicators of the educational mismatch and instrumental variables. |
| Keywords: | education,skills,signalling,job matching,wages,Heckman correction |
| JEL: | J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:151&r=eur |
| By: | Marina De Angelis; Marcella Corsi; Daniele Frigeri |
| Abstract: | This research aims to contribute to the literature on migrants’ entrepreneurship by investigating the determinants of self-employment for migrants in Italy. The analysis is carried out using a data set by the National Observatory for the Financial Inclusion of Migrants in Italy, developed and managed by the Centre of International Political Studies (CeSPI).Controlling for the macroeconomic context and for the migration plan, we find out that the main determinants of migrant entrepreneurship in Italy are related to migrants’ nationality, length of stay, ownership of a current account, gender, proximity of partner, and education. Moreover, our data show that, despite the aftermath of the crisis, the decision of starting a business is for men a matter of opportunity and not of necessity, and that being married increases the negative effect of being a woman on the probability of being an entrepreneur. Furthermore, data shows that the causal relation between risk taking and being an entrepreneur holds true for migrant entrepreneurs in Italy and that the difficulties faced in having qualifications and competences recognised push migrants into self-entrepreneurship. |
| Keywords: | Migration; Entrepreneurship,; Development; Remittances |
| JEL: | J60 L26 O15 F22 |
| Date: | 2017–11–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sol:wpaper:2013/261361&r=eur |
| By: | Dorothée Allain-Dupré (OECD); Claudia Hulbert (OECD); Margaux Vincent (OECD) |
| Abstract: | Public investment is one of the fiscal tools with the strongest impacts on growth over the long term. However, public investment is in decline compared to the period prior to the 2008 global financial crisis in many OECD countries, and particularly in the EU. The main explanation for the decreased resources available for investment comes from the expenditure side. Subnational governments (SNGs)—defined as all levels of government (regional and local) below the national level, are responsible for a large share of public investment: on average, around 60 per cent in the OECD. Most of this public investment goes to infrastructure. This particular role of SNGs poses specific challenges for both the financing and governance of infrastructure investment. This paper focuses on subnational public investment in OECD countries and the EU, and shows that subnational governments have decreased their capital expenditures after 2010. This adjustment has been larger than at the central government level. The paper argues that only a limited diversification of public investment financing has occurred since 2010. The paper also argues that, beyond the sheer volume of investment spending, the governance of subnational investment is essential to efficient public investment. Based on a 2015 survey of 255 subnational governments in the EU, this paper explores specific challenges that subnational governments encounter in managing capital expenditures, , and possible ways to improve the quality of governance of subnational investments. |
| Keywords: | Cities, Governance, Infrastructure, Investment, Regional, Regional Economics, Territorial |
| JEL: | H7 |
| Date: | 2017–12–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:govaab:2017/05-en&r=eur |
| By: | Jirjahn, Uwe |
| Abstract: | From a theoretical viewpoint the relationship between foreign ownership and unionization is ambiguous. On the one hand, foreign owners have better opportunities to undermine workers’ unionization. On the other hand, workers of foreign-owned firms have an increased demand for the protection provided by unions. Which of the two opposing influences dominates can vary according to moderating circumstances. This study shows that firm size and industry-level bargaining play a moderating role. The relationship between foreign ownership and unionization is negative in larger firms whereas it is positive in smaller firms. Coverage by industry-level collective bargaining makes a positive relationship both stronger and more likely. |
| Keywords: | Corporate Globalization,Foreign Direct Investment,Union Membership,Firm Size,Centralized Collective Bargaining |
| JEL: | F23 J51 J52 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:149&r=eur |
| By: | Lundberg, Jacob (Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Labour income taxation is a central policy topic because labour income makes up the majority of national income and most taxes are in the end taxes on labour. In order to quantify how behavioural responses of labour income earners affect tax revenue, the Swedish Labour Income Microsimulation Model (SLIMM) is constructed and used to evaluate tax reforms. The model simulates taxable income responses, participation responses and income effects. Elasticities are calibrated to match midpoints of estimates found in the quasiexperimental literature. SLIMM is solidly microfounded and uses administrative register data. The model is used to analyze changes to the earned income tax credit (EITC), municipal income taxes and the central government income tax paid by high-income earners. The simulations indicate that the EITC has increased employment by 128,000 and has a degree of self-financing of 21 percent. Almost half of the revenue increase from higher municipal tax rates would disappear due to behavioural responses. Tax cuts for the richest fifth of working Swedes are completely self-financing. |
| Keywords: | income taxation; behavioural responses; dynamic scoring; microsimulation; tax reform |
| JEL: | H21 H24 |
| Date: | 2017–11–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:uunewp:2017_012&r=eur |
| By: | Liwiński, Jacek |
| Abstract: | Purpose: This paper tries to identify the impact of international student mobility on the first wages of tertiary education graduates in Poland. Design/methodology/approach: The author uses data from the nationwide tracer survey of Polish graduates (Graduate Tracer Study 2007) and regresses the hourly net wage rate in the first job after graduating from a higher education institution (HEI) on a rich set of individuals' characteristics. In order to reduce the bias due to selection to international student mobility the author includes a set of variables representing abilities and skills, characteristics of studies and international experience as control variables. The author addresses the possible selection to employment bias by using the Heckman correction with various exclusion restrictions. Findings: After controlling for observed heterogenity the author finds that Polish graduates who studied abroad for at least one month earn on average 18% more on their first job than those who studied in Poland only. However, the author also finds that this wage premium is partly explained by international economic migration after graduation. Studying abroad brings a wage premium only if it is followed by working abroad. Those who perform their first job in Poland do not obtain any wage premium from international student mobility. Originality/value: The main contribution of the paper is that it identifies international economic migration after graduation as another mechanism explaining why those, who studied abroad, earn more. |
| Keywords: | international student mobility,wages,wage premium,Heckman correction |
| JEL: | I29 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:150&r=eur |
| By: | Rita Ginja (Uppsala Universitet); Jenny Jans (Uppsala University); Arizo Karimi (Uppsala University) |
| Abstract: | We study how parental resources early in life affect children’s health and education exploiting the so-called speed premium (SP) in the Swedish parental leave system. The SP grants mothers higher parental leave benefits for the subsequent child without re-establishing eligibility through pre-birth market work if the two births occur within a pre-specified interval. This allow us to use a Regression Discontinuity framework. We find that the SP improves the educational outcomes of the first-born child, but not of the second-born. Impacts are driven by a combination of a positive income shock, and substitution from informal care to maternal time. |
| Keywords: | parental leave, Earnings, time investments, child outcomes |
| JEL: | J13 J22 J18 |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hka:wpaper:2017-085&r=eur |
| By: | Benoît Tarroux (Université de Rennes 1, CREM UMR CNRS 6211, France) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to investigate how people value tax progressivity. More precisely, I study the potential trade-off between improvement of the final income distribution and progressivity of the tax schedule. To do this, I designed survey experiments, in which respondents are asked to rank different taxation-redistribution schemes in different treatments differing in terms of information availability: (1) when only information about final incomes is provided; (2) when information about average tax rates is also available. Using a within-subject design, the instability of ranking between (1) and (2) indicates whether or not they value tax progressivity. The main result is that respondents have a strong preference for tax progressivity, that is, they accept to worsen the final income distribution in exchange for tax progressivity. This finding is robust to two experimental variations: First, the mere fact of providing a new information can not account for this finding; Second, providing information pieces about pre-tax incomes and tax liabilities does not affect the preference for progressive taxation. |
| Keywords: | Tax progressivity, Optimal taxation, Survey experiment |
| JEL: | D63 H21 C9 |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tut:cremwp:2017-13&r=eur |