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on Microeconomic European Issues |
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Issue of 2019‒02‒11
29 papers chosen by Giuseppe Marotta Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia |
| By: | Marianne Tenand (PSE - Paris School of Economics, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | Individuals having difficulties to perform the activities of daily living may benefit from public long-term care (LTC) support. France distinguishes between handicap benefits, accessible to individuals below 60, and dependence schemes, for individuals aged 60 and older. This paper assesses the effects of the age 60 threshold in the French LTC policies using the French Health and Disability Survey (HS 2008{2009) in two ways. First, we estimate the effect of being 60 and older on the probability to receive non-medical formal care and informal home care, controlling for a rich set of socio-demographic characteristics and age effects. Being a \dependent elderly" rather than a \handicapped adult" little affects the probability to receive home care; however, it increases formal care utilization and, to a lesser extent, decreases the probability to receive informal care. Second, we implement a Regression Discontinuity (RD) approach and provide evidence that the institutional age threshold affects living arrangements, as individuals above age 60 are more likely to be recorded as living in an institution. The architecture of LTC policies affects the way individuals' day-to-day difficulties are being compensated, thereby undermining horizontal equity in the use of formal LTC. |
| Keywords: | Long-term care,home care,public policies,regression discontinuity design,probit |
| Date: | 2018–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-01889452&r=all |
| By: | Maida, Agata (University of Milan); Weber, Andrea (Central European University) |
| Abstract: | Over the last decade, several countries have followed the Norwegian example and introduced laws mandating gender quota for corporate board membership. The main aim of these laws is breaking the "glass ceiling" which prevents women from advancing into top corporate positions. In this paper, we evaluate the Italian law of 2011, which installed a step-wise increase in gender quota that remain effective for three consecutive board renewals of listed limited liability firms. We link firm-level information on board membership and board election dates with detailed employment and earnings records from the Social Security registers. Exploiting the staggered introduction of the gender quota regulation and variation in board renewals across firms, we evaluate the effect of the board gender composition on measures of gender diversity in top positions over a period of 4 years. While the reform substantially raised the female membership on corporate boards, we find no evidence of spillover effects on the representation of women in top executive or top earnings positions. Our results confirm the findings by Bertrand et al. (2019) who study the introduction of a gender quota for board members in Norway. Given that Italy is a much less egalitarian society than Norway, with a larger scope of establishing gender equality, our results confirm that board quota policies alone are ineffective in raising female representation in top corporate positions, at least in the short run. |
| Keywords: | gender quota, corporate board reform, glass ceiling, female employment |
| JEL: | J24 J7 J78 |
| Date: | 2019–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12099&r=all |
| By: | Michele Battisti (Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Italy; Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis); Giovanni Bernardo (Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Italy); Andrea Mario Lavezzi (Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Italy); Giuseppe Maggio (Department of Geography, University of Sussex, UK) |
| Abstract: | In this work, we assess the role of a specific type of organized crime in influencing choices on where living within the city territory, and consequently, volatility in house prices. More specifically, we test how organized crime killing may influence house pricing behaviors. Firstly, we show evidences about how organized crime is associated with higher inequality of housing prices for Italian cities in 2011. Then, by collecting and geo referencing data on the city of Naples for the period 2002-2016, we test for the direct influence of homicides on the relevant territory, as on the neighboring districts. Results show a negative and significant impact of killing on the house prices either for sales or for rents and a positive effect in neighboring district, driving increases in within-city inequality. |
| Keywords: | organized crime, spatial interactions, panel data estimations |
| JEL: | C40 D01 O33 |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rim:rimwps:19-05&r=all |
| By: | Tomer Blumkin (Ben Gurion University and CESifo); Tuomas Kosonen (Labour Institute for Economic Research and CESifo); Kaisa Kotakorpi (VATT, University of Turku and CESifo) |
| Abstract: | We analyse to what extent the complexity of benefit rules affects take-up in a setting where the effects of complexity can be separated from other potential causes of non-take-up. The benefit we study is extensively used by individuals from all socioeconomic groups, namely the municipal supplement to the child homecare allowance in Finland. We use individual-level data on mothers of young children together with municipal-level data on the application rules for the benefit. Variation in the supplement rules between municipalities and over time is used to estimate the causal effect of complexity on take-up. We find in a differences-in-differences setting that complexity has a very large effect on take-up. Complex application procedures cause individuals to forego a benefit of approximately 200 \texteuro \ per month, potentially for 2 years. |
| Keywords: | benefit take-up, complexity, childcare |
| JEL: | I38 H31 H53 |
| Date: | 2018–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tkk:dpaper:dp123&r=all |
| By: | Francesco Savoia |
| Abstract: | Economic inequality has increased in many EU countries in the last decades. Yet, efforts assessing economic disparities across the EU regions mostly concentrate on convergence in average per capita incomes, offering much less evidence on how regional income is distributed. Using data from Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) over the 1989-2013 period, this study contributes to fill this gap, focusing on whether there has been convergence of income distribution among EU regions, and on to what extent regional initial conditions and the Cohesion Policy affect the convergence process. Crosssection and panel convergence regressions, after a number of robustness checks, indicate that NUTS 2 regions are converging to higher level of income inequality, so becoming equally more unequal. This process is significantly faster when regions share similar structural characteristics. Finally, the implementation of the Cohesion Policy seems to have significantly accelerated the pace of convergence. |
| JEL: | O52 D31 P48 |
| Date: | 2019–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lis:liswps:760&r=all |
| By: | Andrén, Daniela (Örebro University School of Business); Mudenda, Lackson Daniel (Örebro University School of Business); Pettersson, Nicklas (Örebro University School of Business) |
| Abstract: | There is an increasing emphasizes on the importance of allowing people as they grow older to continue to work according to their work capacity and preferences. This paper builds on earlier literature that shows that firms employ older workers, but they tend not to hire them, and provides an explorative analysis of the establishments that employ older workers. A special focus is on how sensitive are the findings when the definition of older workers become more restrictive. Using employer-employee data from Swedish administrative registers, we found that the difference in establishments’ employment is large enough to explain some of the observed difference across definitions. The retirement age in the guaranteed pension scheme, i.e., 65 years, seems to be one the institutional settings that affect both the employees and employers’ decision for work after 65, but also the establishment’s size, age and ownership. |
| Keywords: | active aging; older workers; establishments; firms |
| JEL: | J21 J22 J23 J24 J26 |
| Date: | 2019–01–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:oruesi:2018_014&r=all |
| By: | Thiess Büttner; Carolin Holzmann |
| Abstract: | This paper explores empirically whether and how FDI is affected if multinationals’ home countries change taxation of foreign earnings by switching from worldwide to territorial taxation. Our analysis employs data for German inbound FDI based on the ultimate investing country concept. We use a quasi-experimental approach and provide counterfactuals using the synthetic-control method. Our results confirm effects of the switch from worldwide to territorial taxation on FDI but point at the importance of the actual tax rate. For Japan, which charges a higher tax rate on corporate profits than Germany, we find a substantial increase of FDI in Germany after the switch from worldwide to territorial taxation. For the UK, which imposes a lower tax rate than Germany, the switch to territorial taxation is not found to exert any significant effects on investment in Germany. |
| Keywords: | FDI, double taxation, dividend exemption, tax competition, synthetic-control method, ultimate investor country |
| JEL: | H25 F23 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7462&r=all |
| By: | Vincent Vandenberghe (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES)) |
| Abstract: | The rising cost of old-age dependency in Europe and elsewhere invariably leads to reforms aimed at raising the effective age or retirement. But do older individuals have the health/cognitive capacity to work longer? Following Cutler et al. (2012), this paper asks how much older individuals could work if they worked as much as their younger (50-54) counterparts in similar health/with equal cognitive performance. Contrary to existing papers, this one uses international, European, comparable panel evidence available in the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). It considers both physical health and cognition; and health consists of subjective and objective measures. Also, it examines the extensive and intensive margins of work (employment and hours): existing papers only consider the former. Results are essentially fivefold. First, declines in health significantly affect employment. Second, the impact on hours is statistical significant but of much smaller magnitude. People suffering from ill health rarely adjust hours; they rather stop working altogether. Third, cognition is not fundamentally affected by ageing, and it adds little to our capacity to predict how work capacity evolves with age. Fourth, identification issues exist and must be addressed. They comprise unobserved heterogeneity across respondents, justification bias or proxying/measurement errors regarding health. Finally, declining health/cognition explain at most 31% of the actual labour supply reduction between 50 and 70. This confirms the existence of a, currently largely underused, work capacity among older individuals. |
| Keywords: | Ageing, Health, Cognition, Labour Supply, Work Capacity |
| JEL: | J22 I10 J26 |
| Date: | 2019–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctl:louvir:2019002&r=all |
| By: | Thonipara, Anita; Runst, Petrik; Ochsner, Christian; Bizer, Kilian |
| Abstract: | Despite a common EU directive on energy efficiency in residential buildings, levels of energy efficiency differ vastly across European countries. This article analyses these differences and investigates the effectiveness of different energy efficiency policies in place in those countries. We firstly use panel data to explain average yearly energy consumption per dwelling and country by observable characteristics such as climatic conditions, energy prices, income, and floor area. We then use the unexplained variation by sorting between-country differences as well as plotting within-country changes over time to identify better performing countries. These countries are analysed qualitatively in a second step. We conduct expert interviews and examine the legal rules regarding building energy efficiency. Based on our exploratory analysis we generate a number of hypotheses. First, we suggest that regulatory standards, in conjunction with increased construction activity, can be effective in the long run. Second, the results suggest that carbon taxation represents an effective means for energy efficiency. |
| Keywords: | carbon-taxation,energy efficiency,energy conservation,climate policy,residential buildings |
| JEL: | H23 K32 Q58 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifhwps:122018&r=all |
| By: | Pilar (P.) Garcia-Gomez (Erasmus University Rotterdam); Helena M Hernandez-Pizarro (Universitat Pompeu Fabra); Guillem Lopez-Casasnovas (Universitat Pompeu Fabra); Joaquim Vidiella-Martin (Erasmus University Rotterdam) |
| Abstract: | We investigate whether publicly subsidized long-term care (LTC) is allocated according to needs, independently from income, using administrative data from all applicants for public LTC in Catalonia, from 2011 to 2014. We measure the level of horizontal inequity in subsidies to compensate informal care costs, formal home care, and institutional care using objective detailed information on needs. Our findings suggest that the system is inequitable; cash transfers are distributed among the financially better-off, while the use of nursing homes is concentrated among the worse-off. Additionally, we assess the inequity in the form of provision (voucher versus in- kind) and its implications for the equity in the time to access. Our results show that while in-kind provision is concentrated among the worse-off, the better-off are more likely to receive a voucher to (partly) subsidize LTC expenses. However, this duality does not imply inequity in the time to access a nursing home. |
| Keywords: | long-term care; equity; public provision; voucher; in-kind |
| JEL: | I14 I38 J14 |
| Date: | 2019–02–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20190011&r=all |
| By: | Hundt, Christian; Holtermann, Linus; Steeger, Jonas; Bersch, Johannes |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we examine the macro-to-micro-transition of cluster externalities to firms and how it is affected by the macroeconomic instability caused by the recessionary shock of 2008/2009. Using data from 16,166 manufacturing and business services firms nested in 390 German regions, we employ within-firm regression techniques to estimate the impact of cross-level interactions between firm- and cluster-level determinants on phase-related differences in firm performance between a pre-crisis (2004-2007) and a crisis period (2009-2011). The empirical results validate the existence of a macro-to-micro-transition that evolves best in the case of broad firm-level capabilities and variety-driven externalities. Furthermore, the results indicate that the transition strongly depends on the macroeconomic cycle. While the transition particularly benefits from a stable macroeconomic environment (2004-2007), its mechanisms are interrupted when being exposed to economic turmoil (2009-2011). Yet, the crisis-induced interruption of the transition is mainly restricted to the national recession in 2009. As soon as the macroeconomic pressure diminishes (2010-2011), we observe a reversion of the transmission mechanisms to the pre-crisis level. Our study contributes to the existing literature by corroborating previous findings that the economic performance of firms depends on a working macro-to-micro transition of external resources, which presupposes sufficient cluster externalities and adequate firm-level combinative capabilities. In contrast to previous studies on this topic, the transition mechanism is not modeled as time-invariant. Instead, it is coupled to the prevailing macroeconomic regime. |
| Keywords: | Macro-to-micro-transition, combinative capabilities, agglomeration economies, cluster-level externalities, unrelated variety, related variety, macroeconomic regimes, Great Recession, eco-nomic resilience |
| JEL: | C33 R11 R58 |
| Date: | 2019–01–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:91802&r=all |
| By: | Andrea Geraci (European Commission JRC); Mattia Nardotto (KU Leuven); Tommaso Reggiani (Masaryk University); Fabio Sabatini (Sapienza University of Rome) |
| Abstract: | We study how the diffusion of broadband Internet affects social capital using two data sets from the UK. Our empirical strategy exploits the fact that broadband access has long depended on customers’ position in the voice telecommunication infrastructure that was designed in the 1930s. The actual speed of an Internet connection, in fact, rapidly decays with the distance of the dwelling from the specific node of the network serving its area. Merging unique information about the topology of the voice network with geocoded longitudinal data about individual social capital, we show that access to broadband Internet caused a significant decline in forms of offline interaction and civic engagement. Overall, our results suggest that broadband penetration substantially crowded out several aspects of social capital. |
| Keywords: | ICT, broadband infrastructure, networks, Internet, social capital, civic capital |
| JEL: | C91 D9 D91 Z1 |
| Date: | 2018–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mub:wpaper:19&r=all |
| By: | Andrea Garnero; Francois Rycx; Isabelle Terraz |
| Abstract: | How do firm-level collective agreements affect firm performance in a multi-level bargaining system? Using detailed Belgian linked employer-employee panel data, our findings show that firm agreements increase both wage costs and labour productivity (with respect to sector-level agreements). Relying on a recent approach developed by Bartolucci (2014), they also indicate that firm agreements exert a stronger impact on wages than on productivity, so that on average profitability is hampered. However, this rent-sharing effect only holds in sectors where firms are more concentrated. Firm agreements are thus mainly found to raise wages beyond labour productivity when the rents to be shared between workers and firms are relatively big. Overall, this suggests that firm-level agreements benefit both employers and employees – through higher productivity and wages – without being detrimental to firms’ gross profits. |
| JEL: | C33 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2019–02–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:elsaab:223-en&r=all |
| By: | Eoin Broin (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - CIRAD - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AgroParisTech - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Jens Ewald (GU - University of Gothenburg); Franck Nadaud (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - CIRAD - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AgroParisTech - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Érika Mata (IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute); Magnus Hennlock (IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute); Louis-Gaëtan Giraudet (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - CIRAD - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AgroParisTech - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Thomas Sterner (GU - University of Gothenburg) |
| Abstract: | We evaluate the impact of a variety of energy efficiency policies on residential energy demand in six major EU economies (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK and Sweden) from 1990 to 2015. We find that both financing policies, such as loan facilities and subsidies, and building codes, as approximated by U-Values, have been effective at reducing energy demand for space heating. We additionally find the short term price and income effects to be inelastic, with elasticity coefficients of-0.2 and 0.2 respectively. |
| Date: | 2019–01–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:ciredw:hal-01985269&r=all |
| By: | ALIEVA Aigul; HILDEBRAND Vincent; VAN KERM Philippe |
| Abstract: | This paper documents the change in educational achievement differences between native and foreign background students between the ages of 10 and 15, as they progress from primary to secondary education. We examine three cohorts of students in a number of Western European and traditional English-speaking immigration countries using combinations of PIRLS, TIMSS and PISA survey data. While the performance of students with mixed parents is not markedly different from native students?, foreign background children?both first- and second-generation?exhibit a large achievement gap at age 10 in continental Europe, even when accounting for observable differences in socio-economic characteristics. The gap tends to narrow down by age 15 in reading, but no catching up is observed in mathematics. By contrast, we do not find significant differences between the academic achievements of immigrant children and their native-born peers in traditional immigration countries. |
| Keywords: | Achievement gap; foreign-born students; primary education; secondary education; test scores comparability; Europe; Traditional Immigration Countries; TIMSS; PIRLS; PISA |
| JEL: | C14 D63 |
| Date: | 2018–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:irs:cepswp:2018-20&r=all |
| By: | Alex Bryson (University College London, National Institute of Social and Economic Research and Institute for the Study of Labor); Lucy Stokes (National Institute of Social and Economic Research and Institute for the Study of Labor); David Wilkinson (University College London and National Institute of Social and Economic Research and Institute for the Study of Labor) |
| Abstract: | Linking the Workplace Employment Relations Surveys 2004 and 2011 to administrative data on pupil attainment in England we examine whether secondary and primary schools who deploy more intensive human resource management (HRM) practices have higher pupil attainment. We find intensive use of HRM practices is positively and significantly correlated with higher labour productivity and quality of provision, and with better financial performance, most notably in primary schools, but it is not associated with higher pupil attainment as indicated by assessment scores at Key Stage 2, Key Stage 4 and value-added measures based on assessments at these points. |
| Keywords: | school performance; pupil attainment; value-added; human resource management |
| JEL: | I21 |
| Date: | 2018–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qss:dqsswp:1809&r=all |
| By: | Louis-Gaëtan Giraudet (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - CIRAD - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AgroParisTech - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech); Cyril Bourgeois (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - CIRAD - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AgroParisTech - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech, CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Philippe Quirion (CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - CIRAD - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AgroParisTech - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | Using an energy-economy model that integrates behavioural and technological detail, we evaluate the impact of key policies-energy efficiency subsidies (tax credits, zero-interest loans, reduced VAT, white certificates), the carbon tax and building codes-on residential energy demand for space heating in France. We find that the carbon tax is the most effective, yet most regressive, instrument. Taking into account all possible interactions among instruments, we find that they imply on average a 10% variation in policy effectiveness. Subsidies save energy at a cost of 0.05-0.08 euro per lifetime discounted kilowatt-hour, with a leverage of 0.9 to 1.4 in 2015, decreasing over time as the potential for energy-saving opportunities is being exhausted. Targeting subsidies towards low-income households, who tend to live in energy inefficient dwellings, increases leverage, thus reconciling economic efficiency and equity. The public cost of subsidies-3 billion euros in 2013-is outweighed by carbon tax receipts from 2025 onwards. Meeting the long-term energy saving targets set by the French Government however requires increasing subsidy rates and maintaining them through 2050. In particular, an order-of-magnitude discrepancy between simulated and observed numbers of zero-interest loans points to cognitive or strategic barriers that need to be removed to increase policy effectiveness. |
| Keywords: | residential buildings,space heating,energy-economy modelling,energy efficiency subsidies,carbon tax,fuel poverty |
| Date: | 2018–10–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-01890642&r=all |
| By: | Kunze, Astrid (Norwegian School of Economics); Liu, Xingfei (University of Alberta, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores whether the expansion of childcare leads to an increase in the maternal labour supply. Exploiting a large nationwide reform that expanded childcare for 1–2-year-olds to 80 percent coverage, we find a significant increase in employment of mothers with young children, but only weak evidence of an increase in contracted hours of work. The adjustments are short-term effects of the reform. We also find substantial heterogeneity. The effects are relatively large for mothers post maternity leave, noteworthy on actual working hours. For mothers with more than one child, effects are strong in the long-term of the reform. |
| Keywords: | childcare; female labour supply; contracted hours; actual hours; causal effects |
| JEL: | J08 J13 J22 |
| Date: | 2019–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:albaec:2019_001&r=all |
| By: | Jongen, Egbert L. W. (CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis); Stoel, Maaike (Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy) |
| Abstract: | We study the elasticity of taxable labour income in the Netherlands. We use a large and rich data set, including both financial and demographic variables, for the period 1999–2005. The 2001 tax reform generates large exogenous variation in marginal tax rates at different segments of the income distribution. For all workers, we find an elasticity of 0.10 in the short run, 1 year after the reform, rising to 0.24 in the medium to longer run, 5 years after the reform. Furthermore, we find that the elasticity is higher for higher incomes and women. Also, we find that the elasticity of taxable labour income is higher than the elasticity of (contractual) annual hours worked. |
| Keywords: | elasticity of taxable income, hours worked, Netherlands |
| JEL: | H24 H31 J22 |
| Date: | 2019–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12090&r=all |
| By: | Pastore, Francesco (Università della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli); Pompili, Marco (Ismeri-Europa) |
| Abstract: | This evaluation study aims to assess the impact of PIPOL, an integrated program of active labor policies, on the employment integration of benefit recipients. To address the issue, we have resorted to a counterfactual approach with data from two main sources: the program administration and compulsory communications on employment and unemployment spells. We found a net impact of 5% on average for on-the-job training, but no impact for off-the-job training. On-the-job training also affects the probability to find permanent work (+3%). This is consistent with the view that young people have excellent theoretical, but very little work-related competences. Off-the-job training does affect the probability to experience at least one labor contract after 2016. These results are partly due to a lock-in effect, namely the tendency of those who attend training programs to delay their job search. Interestingly, we found that the program has a different impact for different typologies of recipients and different types of intervention. In a nutshell, active labor policy works when it generates work-related competences. |
| Keywords: | youth unemployment, school-to-work transition, professional training, on-the-job training, matching, evaluation |
| JEL: | D04 J48 |
| Date: | 2019–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12074&r=all |
| By: | Carlén, Ola (CERE - the Center for Environmental and Resource Economics); Bostedt, Göran (CERE - the Center for Environmental and Resource Economics); Brännlund, Runar (CERE - the Center for Environmental and Resource Economics); Persson, Lars (CERE - the Center for Environmental and Resource Economics) |
| Abstract: | Data from a unique nationwide recreational fishing survey in Sweden is used to estimate benefits of recreational fishing in Sweden, differences between regions and age groups, and how they relate to expected catch. The data targets the whole Swedish population, and as a consequence a large fraction of zero fishing days exists in the sample. To consider this, a zero-inflated Poisson model was used. Swedes fished around 16 million days in 2013, of which two-thirds was spent on inland fishing, and one third was spent on marine and costal fishing. Expected consumer surplus per fishing day vary over the season, from about SEK 23 for winter fishing, to SEK 148 for summer fishing. The highest consumer surplus values are found among the youngest and the oldest age groups that were surveyed. Expected catch is an important determinant for number of fishing days, but catch increases mainly influence summer fishing. |
| Keywords: | Consumer surplus; Recreational fishing; TCM; ZIP-model |
| JEL: | Q22 Q26 Q51 |
| Date: | 2019–02–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:slucer:2019_002&r=all |
| By: | Andrén, Daniela (Örebro University School of Business); Clark, Andrew E. (Paris School of Economics); D’Ambrosio, Conchita (Université du Luxembourg); Karlsson, Sune (Örebro University School of Business); Pettersson, Nicklas (Örebro University School of Business) |
| Abstract: | Our study is, to our knowledge, the first joint analysis of subjective and objective measures of well-being. Using a rich longitudinal data from the mothers pregnancy until adulthood for a birth cohort of children who attended school in Örebro during the 1960s, we analyse in a first step how subjective (self-assessed) and objective (cortisol-based) measures of well-being are related to each other. In a second step, life-course models for these two measures are estimated and compared with each other. Despite the fact that our analysis is largely exploratory, our results suggest interesting possibilities to use objective measures to measure well-being, even though this may imply a greater degree of complexity. |
| Keywords: | subjective and objective well-being; general life satisfaction; cortisol; birth-cohort data; adult; child and birth outcomes; multivariate imputation |
| JEL: | A12 D60 I31 |
| Date: | 2019–01–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:oruesi:2018_013&r=all |
| By: | Olivier Guillot; Magali Jaoul-Grammare; Isabelle Terraz |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this study is to examine the determinants of unionisation among French employees. Special emphasis is placed on the impact of contextual factors relating to the sector and workplace. The analysis, based on two different datasets, is carried out using two-level (individual and sector) logistic regression models. Beyond the effects of individual factors such as age, education or type of job contract, the results indicate that the probability of being a union member is significantly higher in sectors with high proportions of mature and large establishments, and whose volume of activity is increasing (or at least stable). The workplace context also clearly matters. The presence of unions in the establishment and a tense social climate are both factors which increase membership. |
| Keywords: | Trade Unions, Union Membership, Economic Sectors, Workplace Context, France. |
| JEL: | J5 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulp:sbbeta:2019-04&r=all |
| By: | Joelle Noailly; Roger Smeets |
| Abstract: | The objective of this study is to examine the impact of firms’ financing constraints on innovation activities in renewable (REN) versus fossil-fuel (FF) technologies. Our empirical methodology relies on the construction of a firm-level dataset for 1,300 European firms over the 1995-2009 period combining balance-sheet information linked with patenting activities in REN and FF technologies. We estimate the importance of the different types of financing (e.g. cash flow, long-term debt, and stock issues) on firms’ patenting activities for the different samples of firms. We use count estimation techniques commonly used for models with patent data and control for a large set of firm-specific controls and market developments in REN and FF technologies. We find evidence for a positive impact of internal finance on patenting activities for the sample of firms specialized in REN innovation, while we find no evidence of this link for other firms, such as firms conducting FF innovation or large mixed firms conducting both REN and FF innovation. Hence, financing constraints matter for firms specialized in REN innovation but not for other firms. Our results have important implications for policymaking as the results emphasize that small innovative newcomers in the field of renewable energy are particularly vulnerable to financing constraints. |
| Keywords: | R&D;.; Financing constraints; renewable energy |
| JEL: | O14 O33 Q41 Q42 |
| Date: | 2019–01–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gii:ciesrp:cies_rp_58&r=all |
| By: | Bijwaard, G.E.;; Jones, A.M.; |
| Abstract: | We investigate the causal impact of education on life-expectancy using data for England and Wales from the Health and Lifestyles Survey and how that impact is mediated through changes in health behaviour (smoking, exercise, having breakfast). For identification of the educational gain in mortality we employ a Regression Discontinuity Design implied by an increase in the minimum school leaving age in 1947 (from 14 to 15) together with a principal stratification method for the mortality hazard rate. This method allows us to derive the direct and indirect (through one or more mediators) effect of education on the implied life-expectancy. Basic maximum likelihood estimation of a standard Gompertz hazard model for the mortality rate suggests that staying in school beyond age 15 years significantly increases life-expectancy by more than 14 years, with large indirect effects running through smoking and exercise. In contrast, estimates from the principal strata method indicate that the educational gain is much smaller (and statistically insignificant) for those who were induced to remain in school beyond age 15. The direct effect of education is even negative for females (but statistically insignificant). Neither, do we find statistically significant indirect effects of education on mortality running through health behaviour. |
| Keywords: | regression discontinuity design; education; mortality; principal strata; |
| JEL: | C41 I14 I24 |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:yor:hectdg:19/05&r=all |
| By: | Ole Henning Nyhus (Department of Economics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology); Bjarne Strøm (Department of Economics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology) |
| Abstract: | Changes in population age composition is challenging in modern welfare states. Intergenerational conflicts may have important consequences for provision of services directed towards specific age groups as schooling and care for elderly. A relevant question is to what extent the supply side responds to changes in the age composition of the electorate in terms of actual spending policies. This paper exploits a novel experiment that took place in Norway in the 2011 local elections to estimate the causal relationship between local government school spending and the age composition of the electorate. We exploit that the voting age was reduced from 18 to 16 years in local elections in selected local governments (experimental governments), while voting age was kept at 18 in the rest (control governments). Using a difference in differences strategy, we find that compulsory school spending decreased by approximately 2% in the experimental governments. The results are robust across a number of econometric specifications and robustness checks. Since all the newly enfranchised voters had just finished compulsory school and receive no direct benefits from local government school spending, the result is consistent with selfish voter behavior. |
| Keywords: | Youth voting franchise; Compulsory school spending; Local governments |
| JEL: | D72 H10 H70 |
| Date: | 2019–01–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nst:samfok:17719&r=all |
| By: | Christl, Michael |
| Abstract: | The Austrian Beveridge curve shifted in 2014, leading to ongoing academic discussions about the reasons behind this shift. While some have argued that the shift was caused by a supply shock due to labour market liberalization, others have stated that matching efficiency decreased. Using a new decomposition method, combined with detailed labour market flow data, we are the first to disentangle supply-side, demand-side and matching factors, which could potentially cause a shift in the Beveridge curve in Austria. We find empirical evidence to confirm that the increase in the unemployment rate in Austria after 2011 can indeed be attributed to a supply-side shock. But, contrary to other research, our analysis shows that the shift in the Beveridge curve after 2014 was mainly caused by a decrease in matching efficiency, indicating a rising mismatch problem in the Austrian labour market. |
| Keywords: | Beveridge curve,crisis,mismatch,unemployment,structural unemployment,vacancies |
| JEL: | J62 J63 E24 E32 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:agawps:17&r=all |
| By: | Carrieri, V.;; Madio, L.;; Principe, F.; |
| Abstract: | The spread of fake news and misinformation on social media is blamed to be one of the main causes of vaccine hesitancy, one of the ten threats to global health according to World Health Organization. This paper studies the effect of diffusion of fake news on immunization rates in Italy by exploiting a quasi-experiment occurred in 2012, when the Court of Rimini officially recognized a causal link between MMR vaccine and autism and awarded injury compensation. To this end, we exploit virality of fake news following the 2012 Italian Court’s ruling along with the intensity in the exposure to non-traditional media driven by regional infrastructural differences in Internet broadband coverage. Using a Difference-in-Difference (DiD) regression on regional panel data, we show that the spread of fake news caused a drop in children immunization rates for all types of vaccines. |
| Keywords: | fake news; vaccine hesitancy; children immunization rates, social media, internet; |
| JEL: | I12 I18 L82 L86 |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:yor:hectdg:19/03&r=all |
| By: | Huttunen, Kristiina (VATT, Helsinki); Pekkarinen, Tuomas (VATT, Helsinki); Uusitalo, Roope (University of Jyväskylä); Virtanen, Hanna (ETLA - The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy) |
| Abstract: | We study the effect of post-compulsory education on crime by exploiting a regression discontinuity design generated by admission cut-offs to upper secondary schools in Finland. We combine data on school applications with data on criminal convictions and follow individuals for 10 years. Our results show that successful applicants are less likely to commit crimes during the first five years after admission. Crime is reduced both during and outside the school year, indicating that the channel through which schooling affects crime cannot be explained by incapacitation alone. We find no effect on crime committed after 6 years from admission. |
| Keywords: | crime, education, school admission, incapacitation, human capital |
| JEL: | K42 I2 |
| Date: | 2019–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12084&r=all |