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on Microeconomic European Issues |
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Issue of 2018‒05‒14
24 papers chosen by Giuseppe Marotta Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia |
| By: | Janna Bergsvik; Kenneth Aarskaug Wiik (Statistics Norway); Ragni Hege Kitterød |
| Abstract: | In the current paper, we investigate within-couple inequality in earnings using Norwegian register data on married and cohabiting couples. We are particularly interested in assessing whether the negative relation between children and women’s relative earnings changed during the study period 2005 to 2014. In this period, work-family policy measures meant to facilitate mothers’ employment and promoting fathers’ family involvement were strengthened, and there was a sharp increase in women’s level of education. Controlling for demographic and socioeconomic variables, results showed that women on average still earn less than their male partners and that the presence of small children in the household was negatively related to women’s earnings. However, results from interaction models showed that the negative association between having young children and women’s relative earnings was reduced during the study period. Additional analyses confirmed that this latter finding was mainly due to an income reduction among new fathers. |
| Keywords: | Women’s relative earnings; Parenthood; Cohabitation; Marriage; Family policy; Gender equality |
| JEL: | D13 J12 J13 J16 |
| Date: | 2018–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssb:dispap:873&r=eur |
| By: | Stefan Jestl (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw); Roman Römisch (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw) |
| Abstract: | This report focuses on investment in eight EU Member States and their lagging regions. Additionally, the analysis assesses the regional development strategies of the eight Member States and evaluates the main investment needs and complementary alternative support options of the lagging regions over the next ten years. The analysis is performed in two steps. The first step identifies the investment needs of the lagging regions from the countries’ own as well as from a European perspective. It analyses to what extent and in what form investments in the lagging regions have to be supported in order to satisfy the needs. The identification of investment needs is approached from two sides, a) the countries’ own assessments of investment needs and b) a comparative analysis of the lagging regions with more prosperous EU-28 regions that had similar economic development characteristics as the (Southern) lagging regions. The second step analyses the main national and regional investment trends over the last 10-15 years, and covers different types of investment, depending on whether they are seen from a National Accounts, European or international perspective. |
| Keywords: | regional economic development, EU, lagging regions, regional policy, economic challenges, investment, foreign direct investment, structural funds |
| JEL: | E22 F21 R11 R38 R58 |
| Date: | 2017–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wii:rpaper:rr:423&r=eur |
| By: | Karel Janda (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University in Prague, Smetanovo nabrezi 6, 111 01 Prague 1, Czech Republic; Department of Banking and Insurance, Faculty of Finance and Accounting, University of Economics, Namesti Winstona Churchilla 4, 13067 Prague, Czech Republic); Michaela Koscova (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University in Prague, Smetanovo nabrezi 6, 111 01 Prague 1, Czech Republic) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses Slovak electricity market with a focus on photovoltaic energy. It evaluates the impact of the solar energy penetration into energy mix on spot prices, seeks evidence of the merit order effect in the Slovak electricity market and quantifies it based on hourly data. The multivariate regression analysis covers the period 2011-2016. The rather small merit order effect estimated by an OLS time series model leads to the small decrease of Slovak electricity wholesale prices. This spot price reduction attributable to the photovoltaics does not outweigh the costs of the support scheme borne by end users what implies a consumer loss. |
| Keywords: | Slovakia; Photovoltaics; Energy policy; Merit order effect |
| JEL: | Q42 H23 M21 |
| Date: | 2018–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fau:wpaper:wp2018_02&r=eur |
| By: | Madureira-Lima, Joana; Reeves, Aaron; Clair, Amy; Stuckler, David |
| Abstract: | Unmet medical need (UMN) had been declining steadily across Europe until the 2008 Recession, a period characterized by rising unemployment. We examined whether becoming unemployed increased the risk of UMN during the Great Recession and whether the extent of out-of-pocket payments (OOP) for health care and income replacement for the unemployed (IRU) moderated this relationship. Methods We used the European Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) to construct a pseudo-panel (n = 135 529) across 25 countries to estimate the relationship between unemployment and UMN. We estimated linear probability models, using a baseline of employed people with no UMN, to test whether this relationship is mediated by financial hardship and moderated by levels of OOP and IRU. Results Job loss increased the risk of UMN [β = 0.027, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.022–0.033] and financial hardship exacerbated this effect. Fewer people experiencing job loss lost access to health care in countries where OOPs were low or in countries where IRU is high. The results are robust to different model specifications. Conclusions Unemployment does not necessarily compromise access to health care. Rather, access is jeopardized by diminishing financial resources that accompany job loss. Lower OOPs or higher IRU protect against loss of access, but they cannot guarantee it. Policy solutions should secure financial protection for the unemployed so that resources do not have to be diverted from health. |
| JEL: | J1 |
| Date: | 2018–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:87740&r=eur |
| By: | Epifanio, Mariaelisa (University of Liverpool); Troeger, Vera E. (University of Warwick) |
| Abstract: | Statutory parental leave provisions in the UK are amongst the least generous as compared to other EU and OECD countries2 . That is why most companies and other institutions, such as universities, top these legal provisions up with more generous occupational parental leave packages (OMPs). Yet, they don’t do so uniformly. Indeed, the generosity of OMPs offered by HEIs across the UK differ greatly. This paper examines both theoretically and empirically why this is the case. We find that income of HEIs doesn’t make a difference but size in terms of number of employees as well as the student-to-staff ratio do. Our results also show that more research intense universities with a higher previous share of female professors and female academics at child-bearing age provide more generous maternity pay. We offer a range of explanations for these findings. |
| Keywords: | JEL Classification: |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:365&r=eur |
| By: | Joan Costa-Font; Laurie Perdikis |
| Abstract: | Some European countries have devolved health care services to subnational units. This is especially the case in unitary states that are organised as a national health service, where choice is not 'built into' the health care system. We argue that there are different models of devolving authority to subnational jurisdictions which have repercussions for regional health care inequalities and the amount of policy interdependence across regions. We examine broad trends in two institutional models of devolution: a 'federacy model', where only a few territories obtain health care responsibilities (such as in the United Kingdom), and a 'systems model', where the whole health system is devolved to a full set of subnational units (such as in Spain). This paper briefly discusses the impact of these two models of devolution on the regional diversity of the health system. Our findings suggest that a 'systems model' of decentralisation, unlike a 'federacy model', gives rise to significant policy interdependence. Another finding indicates that geographical dispersion of health care activity is larger in the 'federacy model'. |
| Keywords: | regional dispersion, models of devolution, federacy, policy interdependence, systems model, Spain, UK |
| Date: | 2018–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eiq:eileqs:130&r=eur |
| By: | Emmanuele Bobbio (Bank of Italy); Henning Bunzel (Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University, Denmark) |
| Abstract: | The Danish data constitutes a unique source of information: it covers and links together the universe of persons, establishments and firms for more than 30 years. In addition workers’ histories are constructed at the weekly level. The data has the potential to become a benchmark in social research, but access has been limited by the lack of systematic documentation. The chapter provides an introduction, with a particular emphasis on those portions more commonly used in labor market research. We establish a wide variety of descriptive statistics that can serve as a reference for future studies. The second part is dedicated to a more detailed analysis of wages and flows, for which the data is uniquely well suited. Returns to seniority are low on average and even lower for workers coming from unemployment; wage changes between jobs are large, but often negative and in these cases the wage remains persistently lower. Labor market turnover is high, the unconditional job and unemployment hazard display strong negative duration dependence. Also, higher wages are associated with a lower probability and duration of unemployment. Finally, we use the data to revisit the recent debate on the “ins and outs” of unemployment: the reduced form decomposition assigns 2/3 of unemployment volatility to the ue rate; the ue rate is procyclical, while the eu rate countercyclical and leads unemployment; the ee rate is procyclical, so the separation rate is essentially acyclical. These results are remarkably consistent with findings from U.S. data. |
| Keywords: | Danish MEE data, wage dispersion, job flows, personal wage dynamics, turnover, ins and outs of unemployment |
| JEL: | J21 J31 Y1 |
| Date: | 2018–05–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aah:aarhec:2018-03&r=eur |
| By: | Sandro Montresor; Francesco Quatraro, (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the move of regions towards sustainable growth through their specialisation in new green technologies. In particular, we analyse the role that smart specialisation strategies (S3) can have in this respect by addressing two research questions. First of all, we investigate whether the environmental diversification of regional technologies is, according to the S3 logic, driven by their “relatedness” to existing knowledge of green and non-green nature. Second, we analyse the role of the Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) that S3 policies recommend regions to prioritise, not only in fostering the adoption of environmental technologies, but also in affecting its dependence on the pre-existing knowledge-base. Combining regional patent and economic data for a 34-year panel (1980-2013) of 180 European regions, we find that the relatedness to the existing technological-base of the region actually makes the acquisition of a new green-tech specialisation more probable. This holds true with respect to both the green and non-green extant knowledge, pointing to a regional diversification that also benefits from the “hybridisation” of non-environmental technologies. The latter however requires a higher degree of relatedness than a “pure” green branching process. Regional KETs also help the transition towards sustainable technologies. What is more, they negatively moderate the green impact of the relatedness to pre-existing technologies, of both green and non-green nature, and thus attenuate the boundaries the latter could pose to regions in their environmental specialisation. These results confirm that S3 policies can actually boost the intertwining of a smart and sustainable kind of growth, and that the KETs inclusion within S3 can amplify the virtuous interaction between these two objectives. |
| Date: | 2018–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uto:dipeco:201808&r=eur |
| By: | Crudu, F.;; Neri, L.;; Tiezzi, S.; |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the influence of overweight family members on weight outcomes of Italian children aged 6 to 14 years. We use a new dataset matching the 2012 cross sections of the Italian Multipurpose Household Survey and the Household Budget Survey. Endogenous peer groups within the family are accounted for using a set of instrumental variables. We find evidence of a strong, positive effect of both overweight adults and peer children in the family on children weight outcomes. The impact of overweight peer children in the household is larger than the impact of adults. These findings can help identifying the main factors driving the rise in Italian children obesity in the past few decades. |
| Keywords: | children obesity; family ties; IV probit; heteroskedasticity; |
| JEL: | I12 |
| Date: | 2018–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:yor:hectdg:18/09&r=eur |
| By: | Becht, Marco; Kamisarenka, Yuliya; Pajuste, Anete |
| Abstract: | French listed companies can issue shares that confer two votes per share after a holding period of at least two years (loyalty shares with tenure voting rights). In 2014 the default rule changed from one-share-one-vote to loyalty shares. The Coase theorem predicts that ceteris paribus shareholders rewrite the corporate charter to preserve the pre-reform structure. The theorem also predicts that the proportion of loyalty shares in initial public offerings is unchanged. The paper shows that most one-share-one-vote companies reverted to the pre-reform contract. The exception were firms with a stake held by the French state. In initial public offerings, the new default rule had an impact; the proportion of loyalty share statutes increased from about forty to fifty percent after the passage of the law. Companies that kept the same statutes have a significantly higher market to book ratio than companies forced into a different regime. The evidence is broadly consistent with the predictions of the Coase theorem, but only in the absence of conflicted parties with veto power. |
| Keywords: | Coase theorem; dual-class shares; Loyalty shares; one-share-one- vote; tenure voting; time-phased voting |
| JEL: | D23 G32 G34 K22 |
| Date: | 2018–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:12892&r=eur |
| By: | Ferraro, Simona |
| Abstract: | This paper assesses how the integration of ICT in education has affected the mathematics test scores for Italian students measured by the Programme for International Student Assessment 2012 data. The problem of endogeneity that affects survey data in this area, is addressed by applying the Bayesian Additive Regression Trees (BART) methodology as in Cabras & Tena Horrillo (2016). The BART methodology needs a prior and likelihood functions using the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm to obtain the posterior distribution. Controlling for socioeconomic, demographic and school factors, the predicted posterior distribution implies an increase, on average, of 16 points in the test scores. The result indicates that the use of ICT at school has a positive and strong impact on mathematic test scores. |
| Keywords: | ICT Bayesian additive regression tree Posterior distribution, PISA |
| JEL: | C25 I20 O33 |
| Date: | 2018–04–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:86175&r=eur |
| By: | Karel Janda (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University in Prague, Smetanovo nabrezi 6, 111 01 Prague 1, Czech Republic; Department of Banking and Insurance, Faculty of Finance and Accounting, University of Economics, Namesti Winstona Churchilla 4, 13067 Prague, Czech Republic); Martin Strobl (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University in Prague, Smetanovo nabrezi 6, 111 01 Prague 1, Czech Republic) |
| Abstract: | We model the future tobacco consumption, size of smoking population and governmental tax revenues in the Czech Republic. The main assumption of our model states that smokers determine their future tobacco consumption behavior as adolescents. Further assumptions make the model applicable to the data from the Czech National Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. Future teenage smoking rates and average consumption are the inputs to the model; consumption growth coeffcients for each age category are estimated using zero-inflated negative binomial regression. Several scenarios are built to model possible developments, including extreme cases. All our scenarios show that all model outcomes are going to grow until 2028 in a very similar pattern. In particular, the projected number of smokers in 2028 is by 4-8% higher than in 2013, the total daily tobacco consumption and tax revenue by 7-26%. This increase is induced by aging of large birth cohorts. |
| Keywords: | smoking, tobacco, cigarettes, consumption, taxation, forecasting |
| JEL: | D12 I12 |
| Date: | 2018–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fau:wpaper:wp2018_01&r=eur |
| By: | Laure de Batz (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University in Prague, Smetanovo nabrezi 6, 111 01 Prague 1, Czech Republic; Laboratory of Excellence for Financial Regulation (LabEx-ReFi), Centre d’Economie de la Sorbonne (CES), University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne) |
| Abstract: | This paper assesses the information content of sanctions of listed companies pronounced by the French Financial Market Authority, through reactions from financial markets over the period 2004 to 2016. We answer whether, for a listed company, being named in a sanction report, as an offender, an acquitted, or a victim of others’ financial misconduct conveys information to the market using an event-study methodology, complemented with cross-sectional regression analysis: do investors react to such news, and if so, at which stage of the procedure, to what extent, and why? We find that the markets do react accordingly to the information content of the sanctions. Guilty listed companies experience significant negative abnormal returns after both the sanction decision, and its publication (respectively -0.9% and -1.1% from the day preceding the event until 3 days after), though to a limited extent in absolute and relative terms. Some factors will contribute to stronger underperformances such as being investigated, longer procedures, being a smaller company possibly from financial or technological sectors, stronger media coverage of the sanctions, and better economic activity. The markets also incorporate the information content of the decision: no statistically significant abnormal reaction follows the publication of anonymized sanctions; market reactions vary depending on the regulatory breaches, being stronger for third party offenses; and, to some extent, the severity of the decision influences the magnitude of abnormal returns. Settlements do not convey information to the market, being a lighter and shorter procedure, associated with lower sanctions. Being sentenced non-guilty implies a mixed correction on the market, depending on the step of the procedure. Finally, companies named in a sanction report as victims of others’ regulatory breaches also suffer negative abnormal returns after the sanction, suggesting double punishment. |
| Keywords: | Sanction, Financial Markets, Event Study, Regulation, Fraud, Information and Market Efficiency, Listed Companies |
| JEL: | G14 G18 K42 N24 |
| Date: | 2018–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fau:wpaper:wp2018_10&r=eur |
| By: | Benjamin Volland; Ivan Tilov |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we use data from a new household-level panel survey to estimate short- and long-run price elasticities of residential electricity demand in Switzerland. We exploit Switzerland's unique local variation in topography-related grid maintenance costs and electricity taxation, to address endogeneity of average prices in our models. Using first difference and gradual adjustment models, we find short-run elasticities of -0.3 and long-run elasticities in excess of negative unity. Results thus suggest that a tax on electricity, as initially foreseen as a part of Switzerland's Energy Strategy 2050, is likely to have a moderate effect in the short run, but an important one in the long run. |
| Keywords: | Residential electricity demand, price elasticity, panel data, Switzerland |
| JEL: | C23 D12 Q41 Q48 |
| Date: | 2018–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:irn:wpaper:18-03&r=eur |
| By: | Jewell, Sarah; Kazakis, Pantelis |
| Abstract: | The aim of this study is to disentangle the role of international migration on the job satisfaction of academic researchers. Using a relatively novel database, MORE2, that tracks the migratory behaviour of European researchers, and correcting for potential sorting behaviour of individuals via a multinomial treatment model, we find that more migratory groups tend to demonstrate higher levels of satisfaction regarding pecuniary outcomes. They also present higher levels of satisfaction regarding career advancement and social status, both crucial components in the lives of PhD holders. Our results survive in a battery of robustness checks, corroborating our main findings. |
| Keywords: | subjective-well-being; high-skilled migration; job satisfaction; European researchers |
| JEL: | J28 J61 R23 |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:86149&r=eur |
| By: | Kieron Barclay; Torkild Lyngstad; Dalton Conley |
| Abstract: | There has long been interest in the extent to which effects of social stratification extend and persist across generations. We take a novel approach to this question by asking whether birth order and sibling group size in the parental generation influences the educational attainment of their children. To address this question we use Swedish population data on cohorts born 1960-1982. To study the effects of parental birth order and family size we apply a cousin fixed effects design and exploit information on twin births in the parents generation. Relative to having a first-born mother, having a second-born or fifth-born mother is associated with educational attainment at age 30 being 4% and 8% of a standard deviation lower, respectively. After adjusting for attained parental education and social class, the parental birth order effect is heavily attenuated. Nevertheless, we do find that children who share the same birth order and gender as their parents attain slightly more education, and this is particularly pronounced when the parents have higher levels of education themselves. We do not find clear or consistent evidence for parental sibling group size effects. Overall our results suggest that birth order and family size effects operate through a Markovian process of transmission. |
| JEL: | D1 I24 J1 J13 |
| Date: | 2018–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:24530&r=eur |
| By: | David Staubli |
| Abstract: | I estimate the tax elasticity of corporate income. The analysis is based on panel variation o ered by decentralized corporate taxation in Switzerland. According to the baseline estimate, an increase in a municipality's corporate tax rate by 1% results in a decrease of aggregate corporate income (defined as the sum of corporate taxable incomes in that municipality) by about 0.43%. The elasticity is fairly stable across municipality types regarding population size, centrality of location, and average income. Furthermore, I find evidence that a significant part of the aggregate-level elasticity is attributable to firm mobility across jurisdictions. |
| Keywords: | Corporate Income Tax; Tax Elasticity; Fiscal Federalism |
| JEL: | H21 H25 H32 |
| Date: | 2018–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lau:crdeep:18.01&r=eur |
| By: | Coles, Anne-Marie; Peters, S. R. |
| Abstract: | Transitions management identifies broad national efforts that attempt to govern socio-technical change along more environmentally sustainable pathways. Although the complexity of such endeavours is generally acknowledged, it is not yet clear how governance practices work at an international level. This paper utilises the transitions management concept to compare three countries in their attempts to increase the adoption and use of renewable energy technologies. It notes that analysis at a micro-level needs to focus on the actions and requirements of particular user groups for a deeper elucidation of transition management processes. Furthermore, the complexity of socio-technical change processes implies that transitions management is a more useful concept when focused at the micro-level of change rather than at the macro-level of strategy formulation over the longer term. |
| Keywords: | Renewable energy; transitions management; energy users; inter-country comparison; |
| JEL: | O33 O57 Q42 |
| Date: | 2018–05–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gpe:wpaper:20230&r=eur |
| By: | Anabela Santos (Université Libre de Bruxelles, iCite); Michele Cincera (Université Libre de Bruxelles, iCite and ECARES); Paulo Neto (Universidade de Évora – Departamento de Economia, UMPP, CEFAGE-UÉ and CIEO-UALG); Maria Manuel Serrano (Universidade de Évora – Departamento de Sociologia, UMPP and SOCIUS-CSG/ISEG-UL) |
| Abstract: | The aim of the present paper is to assess the effect of competition on innovation (patent applications) and on productivity (Total Factor Productivity and Labour Productivity), using data from 654 Portuguese firms, according to 208 NACE 4-digits sectors, and over the period 2007 to 2015. For this purpose, two different methodological approaches were used, a Poisson regression model for the patent function and a log-log fixed effect model for the productivity function. The results reveal that, on average, competition has a negative, U-shaped form effect on innovation in the short term, and a positive effect in the medium-long term. Nevertheless, the model focusing only on manufacturing sectors shows some differences from the model considering all economic activities, namely a linear positive effect of competition on innovation. Concerning the effect of competition on productivity, a positive effect on Total Factor Productivity emerged from the analysis, while for labour productivity a negative one prevails. |
| Keywords: | Competition, Innovation, Productivity. |
| JEL: | L10 O31 D24 |
| Date: | 2018–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mde:wpaper:0102&r=eur |
| By: | Dudley Cooke (University of Exeter); Ana P. Fernandes (University of Exeter); Priscila Ferreira (University of Minho, NIMA) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents novel empirical evidence for the prediction from Becker’s (1957) famous theory, that competition will drive discrimination out of the market. We use a comprehensive firm entry deregulation reform in Portugal as a quasi-natural experiment to study the effect of increased product market competition on gender discrimination. We use employer-employee data for the universe of private sector firms and workers, and exploit the staggered implementation of the reform across municipalities for identification. Increased competition following the deregulation reduces the gender pay gap for medium- and high-skill workers but not for the low-skilled. The gender pay gap is also reduced for workers in managerial positions, except for the CEO. We also find that the share of females in managerial positions increased in affected municipalities. Existing evidence has shown that gender discrimination reduces output; our findings suggest that deregulation can contribute to reduce inefficiencies arising from gender discrimination. |
| Keywords: | Deregulation, Discrimination, Entry, Gender Pay Gap, Product Market Competition, Wage Structure. |
| JEL: | J16 J31 J71 |
| Date: | 2018–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mde:wpaper:00105&r=eur |
| By: | Federico Quaresima (Universita' Politecnica delle Marche, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali); Fabio Fiorillo (Universita' Politecnica delle Marche, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali); Raffaella Santolini (Universita' Politecnica delle Marche, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali) |
| Abstract: | Research on post-parliamentary careers has so far neglected the effect of political affiliation on the appointment of ex-members of Parliament to public firms boards of director. This article intends to fill this gap by conducting an empirical analysis on a sample of 1,419 deputies of Italian Parliament elected over the period 1994-2001. The regression discontinuity estimates show that the probability of being appointed to the board of public enterprises of center-left ex-deputies is about 15 percentage points higher than that of center-right ex-deputies. This result brings to light the politicization of Italian public firms, put in place through the appointment of ex-deputies in managerial positions. |
| Keywords: | party affiliation, political appointment, public enterprises, regression discontinuity design, Italy |
| JEL: | D70 H82 J45 L32 |
| Date: | 2018–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anc:wpaper:429&r=eur |
| By: | Quatraro, Francesco; Scandura, Alessandra (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | This work investigates the generation of green technologies (GTs) in Italian NUTS 3 regions across time, by focusing on the knowledge generation mechanisms underlying the creation of green patents. Firstly, we hypothesize that inventions in non-green technological domains positively influence the generation of GTs, because the latter occur as the outcome of a recombination process among a wide array of technological domains. Secondly, we hypothesise that the involvement of academic inventors in patenting activity bears positive effects on the generation of GTs, because they are able to manage the recombination across different technological domains. Thirdly, we explore the interaction effect between academic inventors’ involvement and non-green technologies to investigate whether the former are especially relevant in presence of higher or lower levels of the latter. We estimate zero-inflated negative binomial, spatial durbin and logistic regressions on a dataset of 103 Italian NUTS 3 regions for which we collected patent and regional data for the time span 1998-2009. The results suggest that both academic inventors and spillovers from polluting technologies bear positive direct effects on the generation of GTs; moreover, we find that academic inventors compensate for low levels of spillovers. |
| Date: | 2018–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uto:labeco:201802&r=eur |
| By: | Adermon, Adrian (IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy); Lindahl, Mikael (Department of Economics, University of Gothenburg); Waldenström, Daniel (Paris School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This study estimates intergenerational correlations in mid-life wealth across three generations, and a young fourth generation, and examines how much of the parent-child association that can be explained by inheritances. Using a Swedish data set we find parent-child rank correlations of 0.3–0.4 and grandparents-grandchild rank correlations of 0.1–0.2. Conditional on parents’ wealth, grandparents’ wealth is weakly positively associated with grandchild’s wealth and the parent-child correlation is basically unchanged if we control for grandparents’ wealth. Bequests and gifts strikingly account for at least 50 per cent of the parent-child wealth correlation while earnings and education are only able to explain 25 per cent. |
| Keywords: | multigenerational mobility; bequests; mid-life wealth |
| JEL: | D31 J62 |
| Date: | 2018–05–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2018_008&r=eur |
| By: | Garcia, Sebastian Camarero |
| Abstract: | Over the 2000s, many federal states in Germany shortened the duration of secondary school by one year while keeping the curriculum unchanged. Exploiting quasi-experimental variation due to the staggered introduction of this reform allows me to identify the causal effect of increased learning intensity on Inequality of Educational Opportunity (IEOp), the share in educational outcome variance explained by predetermined circumstances beyond a student's control. The reform-induced increase in learning intensity had no short-term effect on IEOp. In the medium term, however, IEOp increased as differences in parental resources gained importance through support opportunities like private tuition adapting to the intensified educational process. The effect is stronger for mathematics/science than for reading, implying the existence of subject-dependent curricular flexibilities. My findings point to the importance of accounting for distributional consequences when evaluating reforms aimed at increasing the efficiency of educational systems and to the role of learning intensity for explaining changes in educational opportunities influencing social mobility. |
| Keywords: | (In)Equality of Opportunity,Educational/Learning Intensity,shortening school duration,G-8 education reform,Education & Social Mobility,Germany |
| JEL: | D04 D63 H75 I21 I24 I28 J18 J24 J62 O52 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:18021&r=eur |