|
on Microeconomic European Issues |
|
Issue of 2018‒03‒12
thirty-six papers chosen by Giuseppe Marotta Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia |
| By: | Wapler, Rüdiger (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]); Wolf, Katja (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]); Wolff, Joachim (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]) |
| Abstract: | "While many studies estimated the effects of active labour market programmes (ALMPs) on the participants' labour market outcomes, much fewer studies are concerned with effects of these policies on the regional matching-process between job seekers and vacancies. An essential part of many reforms of the unemployment benefit system such as in Germany intended to activate unemployed job-seekers through an intense use of ALMPs. Therefore, it is crucial to understand whether such policies can improve the matching efficiency. We analyse quarterly panel data of German job centres in the period 2006 to 2011 and estimate the effects of the most important ALMPs on the regional exit rate from job-seeking into regular employment in a matching-function framework by applying the system generalized methods of moments estimator. Our results point to positive effects on the matching efficiency of a number of ALMPs, but the effects partly differ between high and low unemployment regions. Only for a few programmes does our evidence point to no or negative effects on the matching efficiency and this may be related to the implementation of these programmes on a very large scale." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) |
| JEL: | C23 H43 J64 J68 |
| Date: | 2018–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabdpa:201808&r=eur |
| By: | Timo Hener; Tanya Wilson |
| Abstract: | We investigate the impact of a compulsory schooling reform on marriage market matching using a regression discontinuity design. Our results imply that the formally gender-neutral educational reform has asymmetric impacts for men and women, owing to the pervasive marital age gap and the birthdate discontinuity. We show that treated women decrease the marital age gap to avoid marrying less qualified men. Treated men in contrast are able to marry similarly educated women without substantially changing the age gap. Our estimates indicate that the disruptions for cohorts around the introduction of the reform are economically significant. |
| Keywords: | Marital sorting, spousal age gap, compulsory schooling. |
| JEL: | I28 J12 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ifowps:_256&r=eur |
| By: | Fasani, Francesco; Frattini, Tommaso; Minale, Luigi |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we use repeated cross-sectional survey data to study the labour market performance of refugees across several EU countries and over time. In the first part, we document that labour market outcomes for refugees are consistently worse than those for other comparable migrants. The gap remains sizeable even after controlling for individual characteristics as well as for unobservables using a rich set of fixed effects and interactions between area of origin, entry cohort and destination country. Refugees are 11.6 percent less likely to have a job and 22.1 percent more likely to be unemployed than migrants with similar characteristics. Moreover, their income, occupational quality and labour market participation are also relatively weaker. This gap persists until about 10 years after immigration. In the second part, we assess the role of asylum policies in explaining the observed refugee gap. We conduct a difference-in-differences analysis that exploits the differential timing of dispersal policy enactment across European countries: we show that refugee cohorts exposed to these polices have persistently worse labour market outcomes. Further, we find that entry cohorts admitted when refugee status recognition rates are relatively high integrate better into the host country labour market. |
| Keywords: | Assimilation; asylum policies; asylum seekers; refugee gap |
| JEL: | F22 J15 J61 |
| Date: | 2018–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:12718&r=eur |
| By: | Konstantins Benkovskis (Bank of Latvia); Olegs Tkacevs (Bank of Latvia); Naomitsu Yashiro (OECD) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effects of EU regional support on firms' productivity, the number of employees and other firm performance indicators. For this purpose, a rich firmlevel dataset for Latvia, a country where investment activities are affected by the availability of EU funding, is used. The paper finds that participation in activities cofunded by the ERDF raises firms' input and output soon after they embark on them, while the effect on labour productivity and TFP appears only with a time lag of three years. However, this positive productivity premium is not homogenous across firms and is more likely to materialise in the case of initially less productive and medium-sized/large firms. Furthermore, statistical significance of positive productivity gains is not particularly robust across different estimation procedures. The study also shows that after controlling for investment expenditures, EU sponsored projects are as efficient as the privately financed ones, irrespective of where private financing comes from. |
| Keywords: | EU funds, productivity, firm-level data, propensity score matching |
| JEL: | C14 D22 R11 |
| Date: | 2018–02–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ltv:wpaper:201801&r=eur |
| By: | Haberfeld, Yitchak (Department of Labor Studies, Tel-Aviv University); Birgier, Debora Pricila (Department of Labor Studies, Tel Aviv University; Department of Econonomy and Society, University of Gothenburg); Lund, Christer (Department of Economy and Society, University of Gothenburg); Elldér, Erik (Department of Economy and Society, University of Gothenburg) |
| Abstract: | Migration across well-developed countries has been overlooked in the immigration literature. The present study is designed to evaluate the interplay between the effects of host countries' characteristics and self-selection patterns of immigrants from a highly developed country on their economic assimilation in other developed countries. We focus on immigrants originated from Germany during 1990–2000 who migrated to Sweden and the US. We use the 5 percent 2000 Public Use Microdata files (PUMS) of the US census and a pooled file of the 2005–2007 American Community Survey, and the 2000 and 2006 Swedish Registers. We analyze eight groups of German immigrants – by country of desti¬nation (the US/ Sweden), gender, and skill level (with/without an acade¬mic degree). The results show that almost all German immigrants reached full earnings assimilation with natives of similar observed attributes, and that the assimilation of highly skilled Germans was better than that of the low skilled. We also found that the skilled immigrants were compensated for their human capital acquired in Germany prior to their migration. Finally, we find that despite higher educational levels of the Germans that headed to Sweden, the better assimilation of German immigrants, especially the highly educated, took place in the US. The better assimilation of Germans in the US was probably the result of an interaction between the Germans’ pattern of self-selection (mainly on un¬observed attributes) and the US context of reception – mainly higher returns on their observed human capital in the US. |
| Keywords: | highly-skilled immigrants; immigrants self-selection; immigrants economic assimilation; highly-developed source countries |
| JEL: | J15 J16 J18 J31 J44 |
| Date: | 2017–12–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2017_026&r=eur |
| By: | Flèche, Sarah; Lekfuangfu, Warn N.; Clark, Andrew E. |
| Abstract: | To what extent do childhood experiences continue to affect adult wellbeing over the life course? Previous work on this link has been carried out either at one particular adult age or for some average over adulthood. We here use two British birth-cohort datasets (the 1958 NCDS and the 1970 BCS) to map out the time profile of the effect of childhood experiences on adult outcomes, including life satisfaction. We find that the effects of many aspects of childhood do not fade away over time but are rather remarkably stable. In both birth-cohorts, child non-cognitive skills are the strongest predictors of adult life satisfaction at all ages. Of these, emotional health is the strongest. Childhood cognitive performance is more important than good conduct in explaining adult life satisfaction in the earlier NCDS cohort, whereas this ranking is inverted in the more recent BCS. |
| Keywords: | life satisfaction,cohort data,childhood,adult outcomes |
| JEL: | A12 D60 I31 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:184&r=eur |
| By: | Birkeneder, Antonia; Brunow, Stephan; Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the link between innovation and the endowments of creative and science-oriented STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics - workers at the level of the firm and at the city-/regional-level in Germany. It also looks into whether the presence of these two groups of workers has greater benefits for larger cities than smaller locations, thus justifying policies to attract these workers in order to make German cities 'smarter'. The empirical analysis is based on a probit estimation, covering 115,000 firm-level observations between 1998 and 2015. The results highlight that firms that employ creative and STEM workers are more innovative than those that do not. However, the positive connection of creative workers to innovation is limited to the boundaries of the firm, whereas that of STEM workers is as associated to the generation of considerable innovation spillovers. Hence, attracting STEM workers is more likely to end up making German cities smarter than focusing exclusively on creative workers. |
| Keywords: | Creative workers; Germany; Innovation; Smart Cities; Spillover; STEM workers |
| JEL: | J24 R23 |
| Date: | 2018–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:12695&r=eur |
| By: | Serena Trucchi (Department of Economics, University Of Venice Cà Foscari); Elsa Fornero (University of Turin, CeRP-Collegio Carlo Alberto); Mariacristina Rossi (University of Turin, CeRP-Collegio Carlo Alberto; Netspar) |
| Abstract: | Our paper analyses the observed and desired labour supply of older workers and (recent) retirees in a country (Italy) with limited opportunities for exible work schedules. For this purpose, we use a unique dataset drawn from the Bank of Italy's Survey on Household Income and Wealth (SHIW) providing information on both desired and actual working hours. Our empirical analysis documents the gap between older individuals' desired and observed labour supply at both the extensive and the intensive margins and traces it back to gender, education and family composition. The paper provides useful insights into the potential effectiveness of policies such as gradual retirement and part-time work in increasing older workers' employment. |
| Keywords: | Retirement, desired labour supply, exible retirement |
| JEL: | J26 J14 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ven:wpaper:2018:05&r=eur |
| By: | Bruno Chiarini; Antonella D'Agostino; Elisabetta Marzano; Andrea Regoli |
| Abstract: | The main aim of this paper is to assess whether there is a statistically significant environmental impact of cities within European countries. Second, starting from the estimated environmental impact of cities within European countries, the paper investigates whether cross-country variation can be explained by macro-economic factors and government policies which can play a role in mitigating such an impact. We start from individual evidence (EU-SILC data) to obtain a measure of the environmental impact of cities within countries, and then correlate the latter with macro variables to explain European heterogeneity. These estimates confirm that the environmental risk for households is particularly perceived in more densely populated urban agglomerations, although the marginal effects are quite heterogeneous between countries. Macroeconomic factors such as inequality, wealth, taxation and public spending on the environment, and macroeconomic constraints such as the public finance disequilibrium produce a strong heterogeneity between countries in determining the marginal effects of urban metropolises on household environmental risk. |
| Keywords: | household environmental risk, sustainable cities, bivariate probit model, cross-country heterogeneity |
| JEL: | Q51 Q53 R21 I31 C35 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_6822&r=eur |
| By: | Böhm, Michael; Metzger, Daniel; Strömberg, Per Johan |
| Abstract: | Wages in the financial sector have experienced an extraordinary increase over the last few decades. A proposed explanation for this trend has been that the demand for skill has risen more in finance compared to other sectors. We use Swedish administrative data, which include detailed cognitive and non-cognitive test scores as well as educational performance, to examine the implications of this hypothesis for talent allocation and relative wages in the financial sector. We find no evidence that the selection of talent into finance has improved, neither on average nor at the top of the talent and wage distributions. A changing composition of talent or their returns cannot account for the surge in the finance wage premium. While these findings alleviate concerns about a "brain drain" into finance at the expense of other sectors, they also suggest that finance workers are capturing substantial rents that have increased over time. |
| Keywords: | Sectoral Wage Premia; Talent Allocation; Earnings Inequality; Compensation in Financial Industry |
| JEL: | G20 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2018–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:12711&r=eur |
| By: | Dina Pereira (University of Beira Interior (UBI), UBImedical, CEG-IST, University of Lisbon); João Leitão (University of Beira Interior (UBI), CEG-IST, University of Lisbon & C-MAST, UBI, Instituto Multidisplinar de Empresa, Universidad de Salamanca) |
| Abstract: | The firm’s absorptive capacity triggers its propensity to capture external knowledge, spurred by internal levers and cooperation liaisons, stimulating innovativeness. This paper revisits Zahra and George’s model of absorptive capacity and others, analysing the firm’s internal and liaison factors that affect its absorptive capacity, in order to predict their influence on innovation. Being the firm an open system, managers acknowledging such effects can design a more efficient open innovation business model in order to generate more innovation. We analyse firm-level internal indicators measuring firm’s absorptive capacity and a set of liaison factors, using a Portuguese sample of 571 service firms and 562 manufacturing firms that participated in the European Community Innovation Survey (CIS), 2010. Results reveal that internal R&D, acquisition of external R&D, acquisition of external knowledge (i.e., equipment, software, licenses and employee training) affect firms' generation of innovation, according to the different sub-samples, which provides several implications for science and innovation policy. |
| Keywords: | Absorptive Capacity; Innovation; Liaisons; Internal and External Knowledge |
| JEL: | M20 M21 L25 L26 O32 |
| Date: | 2018–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mde:wpaper:0096&r=eur |
| By: | , Pehr-Johan; Olsson, Martin; Persson, Lars |
| Abstract: | We analyse how the Bosman ruling changed the incentives for football clubs in the European Union (EU) to develop talents. We show that the stiffer bidding competition over star players after the Bosman ruling has spurred talent development primarily in EU countries without established top clubs. This, in turn, has had a positive impact on their junior and senior national teams' performance. However, the stiffer bidding competition has also led to a lower competitive balance in the Champions League, as non-established clubs prefer to sell their star players instead of challenging the top clubs. We provide empirical evidence consistent with these findings. |
| Keywords: | Bosman ruling; Champions League; Sports industry; star players |
| JEL: | J44 L50 L83 |
| Date: | 2018–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:12702&r=eur |
| By: | Philipp Lergetporer; Marc Piopiunik; Lisa Simon |
| Abstract: | In recent years, Europe has experienced an unprecedented influx of refugees. While natives’ attitudes toward refugees are decisive for the political feasibility of asylum policies, little is known about how these attitudes are shaped by refugees’ characteristics. We conducted survey experiments with more than 5,000 university students in Germany in which we exogenously shifted participants’ beliefs about refugees’ education level through information provision. Consistent with economic theory, we find that beliefs about refugees’ education significantly affect concerns about labor market competition. These concerns, however, do not translate into general attitudes because economic aspects are rather unimportant for forming attitudes toward refugees. |
| Keywords: | refugees, information provision, education, survey experiment, labor market |
| JEL: | H12 H53 I38 D83 D72 P16 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_6832&r=eur |
| By: | Konstantinos Angelopoulos; Spyridon Lazarakis; James Malley |
| Abstract: | This paper develops an incomplete markets model with state de- pendent (Markovian) stochastic earnings processes and ex ante skill heterogeneity corresponding to being university educated or not . Us- ing the Wealth and Assets Survey for Great Britain, we Önd that the university educated group has higher average wealth, higher earn- ings risk but lower within group wealth inequality. Using estimates of the earnings processes for each group to calibrate the model, we Önd wealth inequality within and between the groups that is consistent with the data. Moreover, the predictions for overall wealth inequality are closer to the data, compared to the benchmark model with ex ante identical households. In this framework, ex ante skill heterogeneity generates a between-group pecuniary externality which in turn leads to the predicted di§erences in wealth inequality between the groups and works as an ampliÖcation mechanism to increase overall wealth inequality. |
| Keywords: | incomplete markets, education di§erences, pecuniary externalities |
| JEL: | E21 E25 H23 |
| Date: | 2017–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gla:glaewp:2017_07&r=eur |
| By: | Alex Bryson; John Forth |
| Abstract: | We examine the impact of management practices on firm performance among SMEs in Britain over the period 2011-2014, using a unique dataset which links survey data on management practices with firm performance data from the UK’s official business register. We find that SMEs are less likely to use formal management practices than larger firms, but that such practices have demonstrable benefits for those who use them, helping firms to grow and increasing their productivity. The returns are most apparent for those SMEs that invest in human resource management practices, such as training and performance-related pay, and those that set formal performance targets. |
| Keywords: | SMEs, small and medium-sized enterprises, employment growth, high-growth firms, productivity, workplace closure, management practices, HRM, recession |
| JEL: | L25 L26 M12 M52 M53 |
| Date: | 2018–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nsr:niesrd:488&r=eur |
| By: | Florian Fizaine (Université de Savoie Mont Blanc – IREGE); Sondès Kahouli (Université de Bretagne Occidentale, Ifremer, CNRS, UMR 6308 AMURE, IUEM) |
| Abstract: | We propose a critical analysis of fuel poverty indicators and demonstrate that choosing a given fuel poverty indicator and, in particular, its threshold level, is central to the identification of the fuel-poor population. First, we conducted an inter-indicator analysis to show how profiles of fuel-poor households vary depending on the indicator selected. More specifically, after identifying groups of affected house- holds using a set of objective and subjective measures, we designed a multidimensional approach based on a combination of complementary methods, namely, a multiple correspondence analysis and a hierarchical and partitioning clustering analysis to analyse their characteristics. Through this framework, we highlight the difficulty of identifying a “typical profile” for fuel-poor households because of the significant variability in their characteristics and we show that the composition of the population depends on the choice of the indicator. Second, we applied an intra-indicator analysis using two objective expenditure-based indicators with thresholds. In particular, we conducted a sensitivity analysis based on a logit model including variables describing household and dwelling characteristics. We show that the profiles of fuel-poor households as well as the drivers of fuel poverty vary considerably with the chosen threshold level. Given these findings, we stress the need to review how we currently rely on conventional fuel poverty indicators to identify affected groups and give some recommendations. |
| Keywords: | Fuel poverty, Groups identification, Measures dismantling, Multidimensional analysis, Sensitivity analysis |
| JEL: | C20 Q40 Q48 |
| Date: | 2018–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fae:ppaper:2018.01&r=eur |
| By: | Katalin Bodnar (European Central Bank); Ludmila Fadejeva (Bank of Latvia); Stefania Iordache (Banca Nationala a Romaniei,); Liina Malk (Eesti Pank); Desislava Paskaleva (Bulgarian National Bank); Jurga Pesliakaite (Bank of Lithuania); Natasa Todorovic Jemec (Banka Slovenije); Peter Toth (Narodna banka Slovenska,); Robert Wyszynski (Narodowy Bank Polski) |
| Abstract: | We study the transmission channels for rises in the minimum wage using a unique firm-level dataset from eight Central and Eastern European countries. Representative samples of firms in each country were asked to evaluate the relevance of a wide range of adjustment channels following specific instances of rises in the minimum wage during the recent post-crisis period. The paper adds to the rest of literature by presenting the reactions of firms as a combination of strategies, and evaluates the relative importance of those strategies. Our findings suggest that the most popular adjustment channels are cuts in non-labour costs, rises in product prices, and improvements in productivity. Cuts in employment are less popular and occur mostly through reduced hiring rather than direct layoffs. Our study also provides evidence of potential spillover effects that rises in the minimum wage can have on firms without minimum wage workers. |
| Keywords: | minimum wage, adjustment channels, firm-level survey |
| JEL: | D22 E23 J31 |
| Date: | 2017–12–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ltv:wpaper:201704&r=eur |
| By: | Lars-Erik Borge; Jørn Rattsø |
| Abstract: | Recent analyses of intergenerational mobility show that investments in children pay big dividends. The priority of resources in early childhood also affects the working of the local economy. Geographic variation in child care services motivates location of families and thereby influences housing markets. In this paper we analyze this local dimension of universal child care during a period of national reform to raise and equalize the child care coverage across Norway. We apply a rich dataset of housing transactions and characteristics for six years (2001-2006) and combine them with local government level data about quantity and quality of child care and various community controls. Given a reform driving the expansion of child care coverage with central government financing, we investigate the relationship between child care and housing prices using a variety of panel models. The robustness of the results are studied under the stronger assumption that only changes in coverage were mandated. The results show that housing prices respond to child care and are consistent with the recent literature on capitalization of schooling. In the first difference model, 10% increase in child care coverage, about one standard deviation, raises house prices by 3%. We conclude that child care reform initiates adjustments at housing markets and confirms the role of geographic sorting as part of local fiscal allocations. |
| Keywords: | capitalization, child care, housing prices, local government |
| JEL: | H71 H75 R21 R23 R32 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_6809&r=eur |
| By: | Alessandra Casarico (Bocconi University, Department of Policy Analysis and Public Management); Mirco Tonin (Free University of Bolzano‐Bozen, Faculty of Economics and Management) |
| Abstract: | Pay-what-you-want schemes can be a useful tool to finance high quality and independent news media without restricting readership, therefore guaranteeing maximum diffusion. We conduct a field experiment with the Italian information site lavoce.info to explore how to structure a campaign in a way that maximises readers' willingness to contribute. We compare messages stressing two possible motivations to contribute, namely the public good component of the news or the importance of the individual contributions. We also test the effect of including information about the tax allowance associated with donations. While the particular motivation stressed does not have a significant impact, information about tax allowances surprisingly reduces overall donations, due to a reduction in the number of (small) donors. Stable unsubscriptions from the newsletter suggest that the campaign does not have an adverse effect on readers. |
| Keywords: | Field experiment; Pay-what-you-want; Tax allowances; Media |
| JEL: | C93 D64 H41 |
| Date: | 2018–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bzn:wpaper:bemps48&r=eur |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | While the benefits of early childhood education and care (ECEC) services to better learning are now widely acknowledged, a widespread and accessible provision for these services also helps support gender equality in the workforce. In particular, the availability, intensity, reliability and affordability of ECEC play an important role in engaging women full time in the labour market. While ECEC has experienced a surge of policy attention over the last decades, wide variations still exist across countries and its costs remains a barrier to accessing paid work for poor families and lone parents, mostly mothers. More efforts are needed to increase the provision and accessibility of free ECEC services, especially for children under the age of 3. |
| Date: | 2018–03–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduaaf:59-en&r=eur |
| By: | Ornstein, Petra (Department of statistics, Uppsala University) |
| Abstract: | The connection between violence victimization and long term ill-health is well documented, but evidence is lacking on the causal effects of victimization beyond the time of the immediate injury. The aim of this study is to identify and estimate the longer term consequences of interpersonal violence on victims. Using rich administrative population data for Sweden, I compare individuals who visited a hospital in the years 1998 to 2002 due to assault with individuals who did not experience assault, but who were statistically indistinguishable from the cases of interest in the four years prior to the incident. The results suggest that violent crime has large and persistent effects on mortality, suicide, earnings, work status, disposable income, as well as on the number of days on sick leave. Specifically, an assault leading to a hospital visit is estimated to convey losses amounting to 1.4 million SEK per victimized woman and 1.5 million SEK per victimized man, whereof more than 80 percent result from excess mortality. Estimates on socio-economic outcomes show robustness against selection on unobserved characteristics. Estimates on mortality and suicides are very robust. |
| Keywords: | suicide; mortality; domestic abuse; value of statistical Life; violent crime |
| JEL: | I12 I14 J12 J17 K42 |
| Date: | 2017–12–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2017_022&r=eur |
| By: | Osikominu, Aderonke; Pfeifer, Gregor |
| Abstract: | We estimate gender differences in elicited wage expectations among German University students applying for STEM and non-STEM fields. Descriptively, women expect to earn less than men and also have lower expectations about wages of average graduates across different fields. Using a two-step estimation procedure accounting for self-selection, we find that the gender gap in own expected wages can be explained to the extent of 54-69% by wage expectations for average graduates across different fields. However, gender differences in the wage expectations for average graduates across different fields do not contribute to explaining the gender gap in the choice of STEM majors. |
| Keywords: | college major choice; Gender Gap; STEM; wage expectations |
| JEL: | I21 J16 J31 |
| Date: | 2018–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:12719&r=eur |
| By: | Laura Alfaro (Harvard Business School And Nber); Manuel García-Santana (Upf, Barcelona Gse, and Cepr); Enrique Moral-Benito (Banco de España) |
| Abstract: | We consider the real effects of bank lending shocks and how they permeate the economy through buyer-supplier linkages. We combine administrative data on all fi rms in Spain with a matched bank-fi rm-loan dataset incorporating information on the universe of corporate loans for 2003-2013. Using methods from the matched employer-employee literature for handling large data sets, we identify bank-specifi c shocks for each year in our sample. Combining the Spanish Input-Output structure and fi rm-specifi c measures of upstream and downstream exposure, we construct fi rm-specifi c exogenous credit supply shocks and estimate their direct and indirect effects on real activity. Credit supply shocks have sizable direct and downstream propagation effects on investment and output throughout the period but no signifi cant impact on employment during the expansion period. Downstream propagation effects are comparable or even larger in magnitude than direct effects. The results corroborate the importance of network effects in quantifying the real effects of credit shocks and show that real effects vary during booms and busts. |
| Keywords: | bank-lending channel, employment, investment, output, matched employeremployee, input-output linkages |
| JEL: | E44 G21 L25 |
| Date: | 2018–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bde:wpaper:1809&r=eur |
| By: | Aurora Teixeira (CEF.UP, Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Porto; INESC Tec; OBEGEF); André Monteiro (Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Porto) |
| Abstract: | Studies on the efficiency of TTOs have mainly focused on well-developed countries (US and UK), whereas intermediate technology countries have been rather neglected. This study intends to complement existing empirical work on this matter by providing evidence on Portugal, an intermediate technology country, which has invested quite heavily in technological support infrastructures (including TTOs) in the last decade. Using the Data Envelopment Analysis approach to 18 Portuguese TTOs over the period 2007-2011, we found that TTOs had improved their efficiency especially in the more upstream stages of the technology transfer process (invention disclosures and priority filings). Additionally, based on econometric models, we found that universities characteristics do matter, with universities with a large number of accumulated patents and publications being associated to more efficient TTOs in terms of invention disclosures and priority filings. Moreover, the regional industrial basis, most notably the weight of the manufacturing industry and new high- and medium-tech firms in regions where the university is located, contributes significantly to the efficiency of TTOs, in both the more upstream (invention disclosure and priority filings) and downstream (start-ups) phases, reflecting the importance of strong business regional spillovers for TTOs efficiency. |
| Keywords: | Technology Transfer Offices, Efficiency, Data Envelopment Analysis, Universities, Portugal |
| JEL: | O34 O39 C14 |
| Date: | 2018–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mde:wpaper:0093&r=eur |
| By: | Drahs, Sascha (DIW Berlin); Haywood, Luke (DIW Berlin); Schiprowski, Amelie (IZA Bonn and DIW Berlin) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes how subjective expectations about wage opportunities influence the job search decision. We match data on subjective wage expectations with administrative employment records. The data reveal that unemployed individuals over-estimate their future net re-employment wage by 10% on average. In particular, the average individual does not anticipate that wage offers decline in value with their elapsed time out of em- ployment. How does this optimism affect job finding? We analyze this question using a structural job search framework in which subjective expectations about future wage offers are not constrained to be consistent with reality. Results show that wage optimism has highly dynamic effects: upon unemployment entry, optimism decreases job finding by about 8%. This effect weakens over the unemployment spell and eventually switches sign after about 8 months of unemployment. From then onward, optimism prevents un- employed individuals from becoming discouraged and thus increases search. On average, optimism increases the duration of unemployment by about 6.5%. |
| Keywords: | job search; subjective expectations; structural estimation; |
| JEL: | J64 D83 |
| Date: | 2018–03–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rco:dpaper:75&r=eur |
| By: | Cinzia Di Novi (Department of Economics and Management, University of Pavia); Anna Marenzi (Department of Economics, University Of Venice Cà Foscari) |
| Abstract: | This study examines whether the temporal variations in smoking habits across generations and gender and among groups with differing levels of education fit the pattern proposed by the theory of the diffusion of innovations (TDI) (Rogers, 2003). We focus on the Italian case and employ a pseudo-panel derived from repeated cross-sections of the annual household survey, “Aspects of Daily Life,” that is part of the Multipurpose Survey carried out by the Italian National Statistical Office (ISTAT) for the period 1997 to 2012. The results confirm Rogers’ TDI and show that smoking prevalence has declined over time and across age cohorts: younger men of all educational levels and women with higher education are less likely to smoke than are those in other cohorts. On the other side, less-educated women, who entered the smoking-diffusion process later that others are more likely to smoke. Hence, socio-economic differences in smoking continue to persist, especially for women. According to Rogers’ TDI, smoking prevalence is expected to decline further, particularly among little-educated women. |
| Keywords: | Smoking habit, theory of diffusion, generations |
| JEL: | J1 I1 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ven:wpaper:2018:04&r=eur |
| By: | João Martins (University of Minho and NIPE, Escola de Economia e Gestão; United Nations University-Operating Unit on Policy Driven Electronic Governance (UNU-EGOV)); Linda Veiga (University of Minho and NIPE, Escola de Economia e Gestão; United Nations University-Operating Unit on Policy Driven Electronic Governance (UNU-EGOV)) |
| Abstract: | Administrative and regulatory burden reduction is considered nowadays a priority to improve governmental efficiency and economic competitiveness. Innovations in government through Information Communication Technology (ICT) are seen as key tools in designing policies to achieve those goals. Using a large panel dataset, covering 174 countries from 2004 to 2016, we investigate a possible contribution of innovations in digital governments to facilitate business, and extract implications for Portugal. Progress in digital government is proxied by the United Nations’ e-gov index, while the business environment is proxied by the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business indicators. Empirical results suggest that progress in e-gov may contribute to the creation a more business-friendly environment in several areas, particularly at starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, paying taxes, getting credit, trading across borders, and protecting minority investors. Although Portugal has been evolving positively both in the Doing Business and e-gov rankings, it is still far from the top performers in several aspects, and gains could be obtained from improvements in digital government intended to facilitate business. Among the variables used in the construction of the Ease of Doing Business indicators, Portugal is always below the best performing countries in those that measure the number of procedures, time, costs and transparency. These are aspects where we can easily foresee a positive role of e-gov. Creating a favourable environment for business is particularly relevant for a country whose economy has been growing slowly over the last decades, has a GDP per capita that represents 80% of the EU average, and a public debt level of 130% of GDP. We believe that in a constantly evolving world, in which only the most innovative remain competitive, governments can play a strategic role as business facilitators |
| Keywords: | Doing business, digital government, Portugal |
| JEL: | O3 D2 H5 |
| Date: | 2018–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mde:wpaper:0097&r=eur |
| By: | Bergantino, Angela Stefania; Di Liddo, Giuseppe; Porcelli,Francesco |
| Abstract: | At the local level, the lower the urban density, the higher the per-capita length of collector roads and the area covered by buildings and infrastructures. It follows that the lower the urban density, the higher the municipal luminosity. For this reason, night-time light is often used in order to evaluate the degree of urbanization and urban sprawl in a specific territory by means of specific indicators. However, to the best of our knowledge, these indicators are based on an absolute evaluation of the urban sprawl, without taking into account the peculiar economic and demographic characteristics of the urban centres. In this paper we propose a regression-based measure of urban sprawl “relative” to the economic activity and to other socio-demographic characteristics of municipalities. We apply this methodology to the Italian context, considering all Italian municipalities inside the 15 ordinary regions over the period 2004-2012. The measure we propose, thus, takes into account also a time element. |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sit:wpaper:18_3&r=eur |
| By: | Castagnetti, Carolina; Rosti, Luisa; Töpfer, Marina |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the effect of public-contest recruitment on earnings for men and women using Italian microdata over a time period of ten years. We find that the gender pay gap vanishes and even reverses among the young, when employees are selected through public contests. The results suggest that selection mechanisms such as public contests may offer a way for merit-based and gender-fair wage setting. However, since public contests and the public sector are highly correlated, we analyze the gender pay gap taking the interconnection between the public and private sector as well as the open contest issue into account. By decomposing our results by sector we find that public contests represent a necessary but not sufficient condition for merit-based and gender-fair recruitment. Similarly, the institutional environment of the public sector is a necessary but not sufficient condition for making public contests merit-based and gender-fair screening devices. These two factors taken together, cause the disappearance of the gender pay gap. |
| Keywords: | Gender Pay Gap,Public-Contest Recruitment,Double Sample Selection |
| JEL: | J7 J13 J31 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:faulre:103&r=eur |
| By: | Catherine Fuss (Economics and Research Department, National Bank of Belgium, Brussels, Belgium); Angelos Theodorakopoulos (VIVES - Research Centre for Regional Economics, KU Leuven,Waaistraat 6 - Box03550, 3000 Leuven, Belgium) |
| Abstract: | We demonstrate that common modeling assumptions underlying micro-unit productivity indices induce biases in the evolution and decomposition of standard aggregate productivity measures. After controlling for such biases, we decompose aggregate productivity based on groups of economically significant firm types. We show that large incumbent firms that both export and import determine the evolution of aggregate productivity for the Belgian manufacturing sector. Over time, the increase in average productivity outweighs the decline in the covariance between market shares and productivity of this group. The former result stems from stronger learning-by-doing effects for granular firms. The latter suggests an increase in resource misallocation due to market distortions. This pattern intensifies after the 2008 financial crisis. All other firm types, if anything, contribute negatively to aggregate productivity and productivity growth. |
| Keywords: | Aggregate Productivity, Decomposition, Globalisation, Trade, Granularity, Learning. |
| JEL: | D24 F14 L25 O47 |
| Date: | 2018–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbb:reswpp:201802-336&r=eur |
| By: | van den Berg, Gerard J. (IFAU; University of Bristol; IZA; ZEW, CEPR); Arni, Patrick (University of Bristol; IZA; CAFE; DEEP (University of Lausanne)); Lalive, Rafael (University of Lausanne; CESifo; CEPR; IFAU; IZA) |
| Abstract: | Public Employment Service (PES) agencies and caseworkers (CW) often have substantial leeway in the design and implementation of active labor market policies (ALMP) for the unemployed, resulting in variation in the intensity of usage per policy. This paper presents a novel framework in which this variation is included to achieve a comprehensive assessment of different ways in which ALMPs can operate and interact. In addition to treatment effects, we consider regime effects which capture how CW and PES affect outcomes through different policy intensities and interactions with job seekers. We propose a novel method to jointly estimate regime effects for two sets of programs, supportive (carrots) and restrictive (sticks) programs. We apply this to contrast regime and treatment effects on unemployment durations, employment, and postunemployment earnings using register data that contain PES and caseworker identifiers for about 130,000 job spells. The results show that “carrots” increase earnings whereas “sticks” decrease them. We find regime effects of a similar order of magnitude. More intensive carrots and sticks regimes each reduce unemployment durations, but with carrots regimes this raises earnings whereas with sticks regimes it decreases them. We also find complementarity between carrots and sticks regime effects. The regime effects are economically substantial. Our comprehensive cost-benefits analyses show that modest increases in the intensity of the carrots and sticks regimes reduce the total cost of an unemployed individual by up to 10%. |
| Keywords: | Active labor market programs; policy regime; treatment effect; employment; earnings; unemployment; caseworkers |
| JEL: | J64 J65 J68 |
| Date: | 2017–12–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2017_025&r=eur |
| By: | Natália Barbosa (School of Economics and Management, University of Minho); Ana Paula Faria (School of Economics and Management, University of Minho) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the role of different entrepreneurial origin on firms’ performance by comparing academic spinoff firms with their non-academic counterparts and using alternative growth measures. Estimates based upon dynamic panel-data models reveal that academic spinoffs grow through resources accumulation and internationalization. However, comparatively to non- academic counterparts, they fail to translate these advantages into productivity gains. Also, despite younger academic spinoff outperform, in terms of sales growth, firms from different entrepreneurial origin, they fail to retain these scale effects, as they grow older. Portuguese academic spinoffs are contributing to economic development by creating new jobs, yet their relevance as a source of sustained economic value is limited so far. Policy implications are discussed in light of these findings. |
| Keywords: | Academic Spinoff, firm growth, dynamic estimators |
| JEL: | L21 L25 M13 H32 |
| Date: | 2018–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mde:wpaper:0095&r=eur |
| By: | Bachmann, Rüdiger; Zorn, Peter |
| Abstract: | The ifo Investment Survey asks firms in the German manufacturing sector about the importance of sales, technological factors, finance, return expectations, and macroeconomic policy for their investment activity in a given year. We show that these subjective investment determinants 1) capture economically what their labels suggest, and 2) have strong explanatory power for aggregate manufacturing investment growth fluctuations. In a second step, we use these determinants to identify aggregate demand and aggregate technology shocks and argue that the bulk of the variance of both aggregate manufacturing investment and output growth fluctuations (as much as approximately two thirds in both cases) is explained by aggregate demand shocks. Consistent with neoclassical views, however, technological factors are the most important investment determinant on average. |
| Keywords: | aggregate demand shocks; investment determinants; investment dynamics; narrative approach; sentiment shocks; survey data |
| JEL: | D90 D91 E20 E22 E30 E32 |
| Date: | 2018–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:12710&r=eur |
| By: | Martin, Jesus; Branas, Pablo; Espín, Antonio M.; Gamella, Juan; Herrmann, Benedikt |
| Abstract: | Humans differ greatly in their tendency to discount future events, but the reasons underlying such inter-individual differences remain poorly understood. The evolutionary framework of Life History Theory predicts that the extent to which individuals discount the future should be influenced by socio-ecological factors such as mortality risk, environmental predictability and resource scarcity. However, little empirical work has been conducted to compare the discounting behavior of human groups facing different socio-ecological conditions. In a lab-in-the-field economic experiment, we compared the delay discounting of a sample of Romani people from Southern Spain (Gitanos) with that of their non-Romani neighbors (i.e., the majority Spanish population). The Romani-Gitano population constitutes the main ethnic minority in all of Europe today and is characterized by lower socio-economic status (SES), lower life expectancy and poorer health than the majority, along with a historical experience of discrimination and persecution. According to Life History Theory, Gitanos will tend to adopt “faster” life history strategies (e.g., earlier marriage and reproduction) as an adaptation to such ecological conditions and, therefore, should discount the future more heavily than the majority. Our results support this prediction, even after controlling for the individuals’ current SES (income and education). Moreover, group-level differences explain a large share of the individual-level differences. Our data suggest that human inter-group discrimination might shape group members’ time preferences through its impact on the environmental harshness and unpredictability conditions they face. |
| Keywords: | Romani, delay discounting, impatience, adaptation, evolutionary psychology, life history |
| JEL: | C93 D91 J71 |
| Date: | 2018–02–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:84591&r=eur |
| By: | Ejermo, Olof (Department of Economic History, Lund University); Toivanen, Hannes (Teqmine) |
| Abstract: | In 2007 Finland changed ownership rights to inventions from its employees – "the professor’s privilege" – to universities. We investigate how this change affected academic patenting using new data on inventors and patenting in Finland for the period 1995- 2010. Matched sample panel data regressions using difference-in-differences show that patenting by individuals dropped by at least 29 percent after 2007. Unlike other countries studied, in Finland the reform was known before implementation. Adding the period after announcement to the reform period increases the drop in academic patenting to 46 percent. Our and others’ results call into question whether the European reform of the professor’s privilege were good innovation policy. |
| Keywords: | academic patenting; Finland; professor’s privilege; university ownership |
| JEL: | I23 I28 O31 O32 O34 O38 |
| Date: | 2018–03–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2018_006&r=eur |
| By: | Elias, Ferran; Monras, Joan; Vázquez Grenno, Javier |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the consequences of the legalization of around 600,000 immigrants by the unexpectedly elected Spanish government of Zapatero following the terrorist attacks of March 2004 (Montalvo, 2011). Using detailed data from payroll-tax revenues, we estimate that each newly legalized immigrant increased local payroll-tax revenues by 4,189 euros on average. This estimate is only 55 percent of what we would have expected from the size of the influx of newly documented immigrants, which suggests that newly legalized immigrants probably earned lower wages than other workers and maybe affected the labor-market outcomes of those other workers. We estimate that the policy change deteriorated the labor-market outcomes of some low-skilled natives and immigrants and improved the outcomes of high-skilled natives and immigrants. This led some low-skilled immigrants to move away from high-immigrant locations. Correcting for internal migration and selection, we obtain that each newly legalized immigrant increased payroll-tax revenues by 4,801 euros, or 15 percent more than the estimates from local raw payroll-tax revenue data. This shows the importance of looking both at public revenue data and the labor market to understand the consequences of amnesty programs fully. |
| Keywords: | Immigration; public policy; undocumented immigrants |
| JEL: | F22 J31 J61 R11 |
| Date: | 2018–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:12726&r=eur |