|
on Microeconomic European Issues |
|
Issue of 2019‒05‒27
twenty-six papers chosen by Giuseppe Marotta Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia |
| By: | Sevak Alaverdyan; Anna Zaharieva |
| Abstract: | In this study we investigate the link between the job search channels that workers use to find employment and the probability of occupational mismatch in the new job. Our specific focus is on differences between native and immigrant workers. We use data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) over the period 2000-2014. First, we document that referral hiring via social networks is the most frequent single channel of generating jobs in Germany; in relative terms referrals are used more frequently by immigrant workers compared to natives. Second, our data reveals that referral hiring is associated with the highest rate of occupational mismatch among all channels in Germany. We combine these findings and use them to develop a theoretical search and matching model with two ethnic groups of workers (natives and immigrants), two search channels (formal and referral hiring) and two occupations. When modeling social networks we take into account ethnic and professional homophily in the link formation. Our model predicts that immigrant workers face stronger risk of unemployment and often rely on recommendations from their friends and relatives as a channel of last resort. Furthermore, higher rates of referral hiring produce more frequent occupational mismatch of the immigrant population compared to natives. We test this prediction empirically and confirm that more intensive network hiring contributes significantly to higher rates of occupational mismatch among immigrants. Finally, we document that the gaps in the incidence of referrals and mismatch rates are reduced among second generation immigrants indicating some degree of integration in the German labour market. |
| Keywords: | job search, referrals, social networks, occupational mismatch, immigration |
| JEL: | J23 J31 J38 J64 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp1033&r=all |
| By: | Soroush, G.; Cambini, C.; Jamasb, T.; Llorca, M. |
| Abstract: | It is generally accepted that institutions are important for economic development. However, whether the performance of regulated utilities within a country is affected by the quality of institutions is yet to be investigated thoroughly. We analyse how the quality of regional institutions impact performance of Italian electricity distribution utilities. We use a stochastic frontier analysis approach to estimate cost functions and examine the performance of 108 electricity distribution utilities from 2011 to 2015. This unique dataset was constructed with the help of the Italian Regulator for Energy, Networks, and Environment. In addition, we use a recent dataset on regional institutional quality in Italy. We present evidence that utilities in regions with better government effectiveness, responsiveness towards citizens, control of corruption, and rule of law, also tend to be more cost efficient. The results suggest that national regulators should take regional institutional diversity into account in incentive regulation and efficiency benchmarking of utilities. |
| Keywords: | Institutional quality; stochastic frontier analysis; electricity distribution in Italy; cost efficiency; inefficiency determinants |
| JEL: | D22 L51 L94 O43 |
| Date: | 2019–04–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:1942&r=all |
| By: | Berggren, Andrea (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University); Jeppsson, Louise (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the causal impact of an upper secondary curriculum reform in Sweden that increased students' course-taking flexibility in year 2000. In the most popular upper secondary program, it led to a significant decrease in mandatory mathematics requirements. Using administrative Swedish data, we estimate the causal impact of the reform on tertiary education outcomes and expected earnings using a differences-in-discontinuity identification strategy. The method compares students born immediately before and after the cutoff date. The inclusion of students born in neighboring non-reform cutoff years enables us to disentangle the school starting age effect from the unconfounded effect of the reform. We find no negative effects of the reduced mathematics requirements. Rather, we find a positive effect of the reform on students' probability of enrolling in, and earning a degree from, tertiary education. Our heterogeneity analysis suggests that relatively disadvantaged students were not negatively affected by the reform. |
| Keywords: | Educational Economics; Upper secondary school curriculum; Course selection; Tertiary education; Returns to education; Reform evaluation; Human Capital |
| JEL: | I21 I23 I28 |
| Date: | 2019–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0764&r=all |
| By: | Jimenez-Martin, Sergi (Universitat Pompeu Fabra); Nicodemo, Catia (University of Oxford); Redding, Stuart (University of Oxford) |
| Abstract: | In England as elsewhere, policy makers are trying to reduce the pressure on costs due to rising hospital admissions by encouraging GPs to refer fewer patients to hospital specialists. This could have an impact on elective treatment levels, particularly procedures for conditions which are not life-threatening and can be delayed or perhaps withheld entirely. This study attempts to determine whether cost savings in one area of publicly funded health care may lead to cost increases in another and therefore have unintended consequences by offsetting the cost-saving benefits anticipated by policy makers. Using administrative data from Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) in England we estimate dynamic fixed effects panel data models for emergency admissions at Primary Care Trust and Hospital Trust levels for the years 2004–13, controlling for a group of area-specific characteristics and other secondary care variables. We find a negative link between current levels of elective care and future levels of emergency treatment. This observation comes from a time of growing admissions and there is no guarantee that the link between emergency and elective activity will persist if policy is effective in reducing levels of elective treatment, but our results suggest that the cost-saving benefits to the NHS from reducing elective treatment are reduced by between 5.6 per cent and 15.5 per cent in aggregate as a consequence of increased emergency activity. |
| Keywords: | emergency, hospital admissions, elective, NHS |
| JEL: | I10 I14 C10 B12 |
| Date: | 2019–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12340&r=all |
| By: | Juan A. Máñez Castillejo (Department of Economic Structure, University of Valencia, Avda. dels Tarongers s/n, 46022 Valencia (Spain).); M. Consuelo Mínguez Bosque (IVIE, Carrer de la Guàrdia Civil 22, 46020 València (Spain).); María E. Rochina-Barrachina (Department of Economic Structure, University of Valencia, Avda. dels Tarongers s/n, 46022 Valencia (Spain).); Juan A. Sanchis Llopis (Department of Economic Structure, University of Valencia, Avda. dels Tarongers s/n, 46022 Valencia (Spain).) |
| Abstract: | This work analyses the firms’ internationalization strategies of importing intermediates and exporting output, and the potential rewards of these activities in terms of total factor productivity (TFP), as a proxy for marginal costs, and markups. It further deepens into the study of the relationship between internationalization strategies and markups by disentangling whether it operates through affecting firms’ marginal costs and/or firms’ prices. The panel database employed in this paper is the Spanish Survey on Business Strategies (ESEE) for the period 2006- 2014. Results in the paper distinguish between SMEs and large firms and indicate that there is high persistence in the performance of these activities and in firms’ TFP and markups. In addition, the internationalization strategies are especially relevant for SMEs, as for this group we obtain rewards of the two activities in terms of both TFP and markups. Furthermore, we also find that these strategies allow SMEs to charge higher output prices. |
| Keywords: | Exports, imports of intermediates, total factor productivity, markups, output prices, manufacturing, firm-level data |
| JEL: | D24 F14 L11 |
| Date: | 2019–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eec:wpaper:1905&r=all |
| By: | Kyvik Nordås, Hildegunn (Örebro University School of Business); Lodefalk, Magnus (Örebro University School of Business); Tang, Aili (Örebro University School of Business) |
| Abstract: | We perform a granular analysis of Swedish labor market dynamics, using matched employer employee and firm level trade data for Sweden over a 15-year period. The employment share in firms that are directly exposed to international trade has decreased, due to a shift in employment towards personal and public services. Analyzing the dynamics, we find that workers in firms that change export status are slightly less likely to obtain the same wage rise as their peers. However, workers that stay in the same job in trading firms are less affected by changes in export and offshoring volumes, with the exception of high-skilled workers in manufacturing firms who face a downward pressure on wages from services offshoring, but higher wages from services exports. Finally, we find that exports and offshoring of goods and services stimulate labor demand. While exports and offshoring of services increase relative demand for skilled workers, exports and offshoring of goods stimulate relative demand for middle and low skilled workers. |
| Keywords: | Worker flows; Job flows; Trade; Wages; Labor Demand |
| JEL: | E24 F16 J63 P23 |
| Date: | 2019–05–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:oruesi:2019_002&r=all |
| By: | Christine Le Clainche (Lille University, Lille Économie Management, UMR CNRS 9221); Pascale Lengagne (IRDES Institut de recherche et documentation en économie de la santé) |
| Abstract: | This article assesses the effects of mass layoffs on the mental health of workers remaining in plants after layoffs, using a French survey merged with administrative health insurance data covering the period 2010–2013. We rely on the consumption of psychotropic drugs prescribed by doctors as an indicator of mental health. Results show that mass layoffs induce a sizeable rise in the use of psychotropic drugs amongst job stayers: we measure an increase of 41% in psychotropic drug consumption rates amongst them after displacement, as compared with the pre-displacement period. We find evidence for a social gradient whereby employees belonging to the lowest socio-economic are more affected by the adverse effect of mass layoffs on their mental health, leading to psychotropic drug consumption, than those in the highest socio-economic groups. |
| Keywords: | Mass layoffs, Downsizing, Mental health, Psychotropic drug prescriptions |
| JEL: | J6 I10 |
| Date: | 2019–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:irh:wpaper:dt78&r=all |
| By: | Henrekson, Magnus (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)); Johansson, Dan (Örebro University School of Business); Stenkula, Mikael (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)) |
| Abstract: | Private foundations became a vehicle for the corporate control of large listed firms in Sweden during the post-war era, but in the 1990s, they were replaced by wealthy individuals who either directly own controlling blocks or who own them through holding companies. We study potential explanations for this change and propose two taxation-related candidates: shifts in the relative effective taxation across owner types and the dismantling of the inheritance taxation that prevented the generational transfer of the ownership of large controlling blocks. Our analysis exploits newly computed marginal effective capital income tax rates across capital owners, accounting for all relevant factors, including rules governing tax exemptions. We show that the 1990–91 tax reform, abolition of the wealth tax for controlling owners in 1997, 2003 tax exemption of dividends and capital gains on listed stock for holding companies with a voting or equity share of at least 10 percent, and abolition of the inheritance and gift taxes in 2004 reversed the rules of the game. Recently, control has largely been wielded through direct ownership, and the role of foundations is rapidly declining. These findings point to the importance of tax incentives for the use of foundations as the control vehicles of listed firms. |
| Keywords: | Corporate governance; Entrepreneurship; Family firms; Foundations; Owner-level taxation |
| JEL: | H20 K34 L26 N44 |
| Date: | 2019–05–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1279&r=all |
| By: | Bernhard Hammer; Sonja Spitzer; Lili Vargha; Tanja IsteniÄ |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the gender dimension of intergenerational transfers in European countries using National Transfer Accounts data on age- and gender-specific transfers in 2010. We combine data on public and private transfers with demographic information to estimate gender-specific net transfer benefits by life stage and over the whole life course. Furthermore, public old-age benefits are decomposed into yearly averages as well as the number of years that individuals can expect to be net recipients of public transfers. The results show remarkable differences between genders, especially in old age. Yearly net public benefits in old age are considerably smaller for women. However, the total public benefits over the whole retirement period are higher for women due to their higher life expectancy. |
| Keywords: | Gender inequalities, intergenerational transfers, National Transfer Accounts, unpaid work. |
| Date: | 2019–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vid:wpaper:1907&r=all |
| By: | Aria Ardolan; Sebastian G. Kessing |
| Abstract: | We study the pass-through of indirect taxes on beer prices in the European Union (EU). Exploiting the variation of value added tax rates, beer excise tax rates, and beer prices in a panel of monthly data from 1996 to 2016 of all current 28 EU member states, we estimate the tax pass-through of specific beer excise taxes and ad valorem value added taxes (VAT). VAT is under-shifted at a rate of approximately 70%. Specific excise taxes are almost fully shifted to prices in the EU, but, in contrast to the empirical findings for the US, there is no evidence of over-shifting. The difference between the two tax pass-through rates points towards the importance of imperfect competition in the European beer market. Excise tax increases are passed through faster and at a higher rate than excise tax decreases. |
| Keywords: | tax incidence, pass-through, VAT, excise taxes, EU, beer |
| JEL: | H22 H23 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7626&r=all |
| By: | Katharina Saunders; Christian Hagist; Alistair McGuire; Christian Schlereth |
| Abstract: | We know that existing professions in the health care sector value work environment and job conditions to a great extent. However, we are also witnessing an expansion of new roles into the health care sector, many of which substitutie the tasks of existing professions. This may be efficient, in that it releases professionals’ time. However, there is little understanding of what motivates these new professions in entering or remaining in these newly created roles. This study tries to evaluate the preference structure of one of these new staff groups, surgical technologist, through examining the preferences of trainees, defined over a number of attributes, in this group. The DCE study covers 80% of the target population. The results show a vigorous disfavour towards any perceived nursing job characteristics such as caring activities, hierarchical work environment or shift types. The results inform policy makers and hospital manager about the importance to focus not only on the nursing profession but also to take into account the existence of a group of people who is willing to work within the health care system however, associated with strong preferences against nursing activities, especially caring. Implementing and further development of new and specialised profession through reallocating former nursing tasks- should be considered while coping with labour shortage. |
| Keywords: | UDCE, labour shortage, specialised health care profession, job preferences |
| JEL: | I18 J08 J30 C93 C90 |
| Date: | 2019–05–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:whu:wpaper:19-02&r=all |
| By: | Arthur Turrell; Bradley J. Speigner; Jyldyz Djumalieva; David Copple; James Thurgood |
| Abstract: | Using a dataset of 15 million UK job adverts from a recruitment website, we construct new economic statistics measuring labour market demand. These data are ‘naturally occurring’, having originally been posted online by firms. They offer information on two dimensions of vacancies—region and occupation—that firm-based surveys do not usually, and cannot easily, collect. These data do not come with official classification labels so we develop an algorithm which maps the free form text of job descriptions into standard occupational classification codes. The created vacancy statistics give a plausible, granular picture of UK labour demand and permit the analysis of Beveridge curves and mismatch unemployment at the occupational level. |
| JEL: | E24 J63 |
| Date: | 2019–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:25837&r=all |
| By: | Katharina Janke; Carol Propper; Raffaella Sadun |
| Abstract: | We investigate whether top managers affect the performance of large and complex public sector organizations, using as a case study CEOs of English public hospitals (large, complex organizations with multi-million turnover). We study the extent to which CEOs are differentiated in terms of their pay, as well as a wide range of hospital production measures including inputs, intermediate operational outcomes and clinical outcomes. Pay differentials suggest that the market perceives CEOs to be differentiated. However, we find little evidence of CEOs’ impact on hospital production. These results question the effectiveness of leadership changes to improve performance in the public sector. |
| JEL: | H51 I11 L32 M12 M5 |
| Date: | 2019–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:25853&r=all |
| By: | Ingwersen, Kai; Thomsen, Stephan L |
| Abstract: | This study provides new evidence on the levels of economic integration experienced by foreigners and naturalised immigrants relative to native Germans from 1994 to 2015. We decompose the wage gap using the method for unconditional quantile regression models by employing a regression of the (recentered) influence function (RIF) of the gross hourly wage on a rich set of explanatory variables. This approach enables us to estimate contributions made across the whole wage distribution. To allow for a detailed characterization of labour market conditions, we consider a comprehensive set of socio-economic and labour-related aspects capturing influences of, e.g., human capital quality, cultural background, and the personalities of immigrants. The decomposition results clearly indicate a significant growing gap with higher wages for both foreigners (13.6 to 17.6 percent) and naturalised immigrants (10.0 to 16.4 percent). The findings further display a low explanation for the wage gap in low wage deciles that is even more pronounced within immigrant subgroups. Cultural and economic distances each have a significant influence on wages. A different appreciation of foreign educational qualifications, however, widens the wage gap substantially by 4.5 ppts on average. Moreover, we observe an indication of deterioration of immigrants’ human capital endowments over time relative to those of native Germans. |
| Keywords: | Immigration; wage gap; unconditional quantile regression; Germany |
| JEL: | J61 J31 J15 |
| Date: | 2019–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:han:dpaper:dp-653&r=all |
| By: | Kieron J. Barclay (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Martin Hällsten |
| Abstract: | In this study we use Swedish population register data to examine whether parental death differentially affects educational and occupational attainment according to the socioeconomic status of the parent who dies, and the socioeconomic status of the surviving parent and extended kin. That is, we examine whether parental death has an equalizing or exacerbating effect on offspring socioeconomic attainment, and also whether the socioeconomic status of the rest of the family plays a meaningful role in compensating for parental death. Using data on cohorts born 1973 to 1982 we examine five different outcomes, which are grade point average (GPA) at age 16 in high school, the transition from lower to upper-secondary education, the transition to tertiary education, overall educational attainment, and occupational status by age 30. We match families based upon antemortem parental socioeconomic trajectories. Overall we find mixed results in our between-family regression analyses adjusting for observables, with inconsistent evidence suggesting that losing a parent with very high socioeconomic resources is worse, and some evidence for a protective effect if the socioeconomic resources of the surviving parent and extended family members are at the top of the distribution. Using sibling fixed effects models that adjust for unobservable factors shared within the family, we see zero results for moderation by parents’ SES, but find consistent evidence that it is worse to lose a father at a younger age if grandparents have higher ranked occupations. We discuss possible interpretations of our findings. |
| Keywords: | Sweden, education, mortality, parents |
| JEL: | J1 Z0 |
| Date: | 2019–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2019-008&r=all |
| By: | Nordin, Martin (Department of Economics, Lund University); Grenestam , Erik (Department of Economics, Lund University); Gullstrand , Joakim (Department of Economics, Lund University) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the relationship between super-fast broadband and firms’ sales and employment level in Sweden. It is important to learn more about this recent technological change and few studies has explored the impact of super-fast broadband on firm outcomes. We use the previous roll-out of second-generation internet access to identify the effect of third-generation internet access. The early investments in optic fiber where largely core broadband network investments paving the way for later investments in third-generation broadband technology. Municipalities choosing providers who prioritized cheap technology (broadband over telephone lines, DSL) targeting the many, thus fell behind municipalities choosing providers investing in optic fiber. We find heterogeneity in the broadband effect, but the overall effect is negative. This effect may be associated with the roll-out of 4G mobile broadband in 2011; mobile broadband services are a byproduct of optic fiber because mobile broadband is transmitted from the same high capacity fiber-optic base stations. We suggest that the negative effect found is related to internet use at work and the mixing of private and work related internet use. |
| Keywords: | broadband; optic fiber; firm output; employment; regional analysis |
| JEL: | D22 J23 O30 R50 |
| Date: | 2019–05–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lunewp:2019_008&r=all |
| By: | Sophie Dantan; Nathalie Picard (Université de Cergy-Pontoise, THEMA) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the determinants of residential segregation using a nested logit model to disentangle household preferences for local amenities, for dwelling type and for homeownership. The model is extended to account for unobservable borrowing constraints which might prevent some households from purchasing a dwelling. A counterfactual distribution of socio-demographic characteristics across the Paris region is then built by relaxing those constraints. The comparison of the actual and counterfactual distributions suggests that if their credit constraints were alleviated, households would tend to locate further from Paris. In particular if constraints were relaxed only on the poorest households, they would not be likely to mix with the richest households. |
| Keywords: | Homeownership, Tenure choice, Borrowing constraints, Residential segregation, Suburbanization, Urban sprawl, Location choice model, Endogenous choice sets. |
| JEL: | R21 R23 R31 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ema:worpap:2019-05&r=all |
| By: | Marianna Battaglia (Dpto. Fundamentos del Análisis Económico); Marisa Hidalgo Hidalgo (Universidad de Alicante) |
| Abstract: | Growing evidence shows that skills other than cognitive are crucial to understand labor market and other outcomes in life and that these skills are more malleable than the cognitive ones at later ages. However, little is known about the role of education in improving these abilities for disadvantaged teenagers in developed countries. In this paper we address two questions: (i) Can educational interventions aimed at teenagers improve skills other than cognitive? (ii) Can we expect heterogeneous e¿ects depending on the students’ gender? We take advantage of a remedial education program for under-performing students implemented in Spain between 2005 and 2012, and, following recent literature, we consider testing and survey behaviors as measures of non-cognitive skills. We use external evaluations of the schools (PISA 2012) and exploit the variation in the question ordering of the test to compute students’ ability to sustain performance throughout it. We ¿nd that the program had a positive e¿ect on girls’ ability to sustain test performance but no impact for boys. |
| Keywords: | remedial education, test performance, program evaluation, PISA |
| JEL: | H52 I23 I28 J24 |
| Date: | 2019–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ivi:wpasad:2019-01&r=all |
| By: | Kahle, Christoph; Seifert, Stefan; Hüttel, Silke |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the role of information and search cost in the price formation in thin farmland markets. Using a comprehensive data set with more than 10,000 transactions between 2014–2017 in one of the eastern German Federal States, we estimate a two-tier model to capture deviations from the efficient price due to search costs asymmetrically distributed between buyers and sellers. Relating these costs to the degree of professionalism, we find institutional sellers relying on public tenders to achieve the lowest losses from being information deficient. No differences can be related to farmer compared to non-farmer buyers. |
| Keywords: | Land Economics/Use |
| Date: | 2019–05–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:eaa165:288628&r=all |
| By: | Waterson, Michael (University of Warwick); Xie, Jian (University of Warwick) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the London bus market, a large market with regular procurement of bus services, for possible collusion using a wide variety of techniques, making use of the data at our disposal. There is little evidence of collusion in bidding for contracts apparent from our data, despite some features of the market that might lead to collusive behaviour. |
| Keywords: | Cartel behaviour ; Procurement ; Detecting Cartels ; Bus market |
| JEL: | D44 L41 L92 D22 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wrk:warwec:1195&r=all |
| By: | Nagler, Markus (LMU Munich); Sorg, Stefan (MPI for Innovation and Competition) |
| Abstract: | We study the causal impact of invalidating marginally valid patents during post-grant opposition at the European Patent Office on affected inventors\' subsequent patenting. We exploit exogenous variation in invalidation by leveraging the participation of a patent\'s original examiner in the opposition division as an instrument. We find a disciplinary effect of invalidation: Affected inventors file 20% fewer patent applications in the decade after the decision. This effect is entirely driven by a reduction in low-quality filings, i.e., filings that examiners associate with prior art that threatens the application\'s novelty or inventive step. We do not observe shifts into national patenting. |
| Keywords: | inventors; marginal patents; patent invalidation; patent opposition; postgrant review; epo; innovation; |
| JEL: | O31 O34 |
| Date: | 2019–05–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rco:dpaper:155&r=all |
| By: | Dorinth van Dijk |
| Abstract: | The average time on market (TOM) of sold properties is frequently used by practitioners and policymakers as a market liquidity indicator. This figure might be misleading as the average TOM only considers properties that have been sold. Furthermore, traded properties are heterogeneous. Since these features differ over the cycle, the average TOM could provide wrong signals about market liquidity. These problems are more severe in markets where properties trade infrequently. In this paper, a methodology is provided that allows for the construction of constant-quality housing market liquidity indices in thin markets that can be estimated up to the end of the sample. The latter is particularly important since market watchers are generally interested in the most recent information regarding market liquidity and less in historical information. Using individual transactions data on three different types of Dutch municipalities (small, medium, and large) it is shown that the average TOM overestimates market liquidity in bad times and underestimates market liquidity in good times. The option to withdraw is the most important reason why the average TOM is misleading. Furthermore, constant-quality liquidity leads the average TOM and price changes. The indices not only show that illiquidity is higher during busts, but also that liquidity risk is higher. Additional results suggest that setting a high list price relative to the estimated value results in a higher TOM, but this effect differs over time. Both the list price premium and the effect on sale probability are higher during busts. Differences in housing quality over the cycle, however, also play a significant role. Finally, the method allows for the construction of indices that are more robust to revisions, especially in thinner markets. |
| Keywords: | Liquidity; Housing; Quality; Index; Thin markets |
| JEL: | R30 C11 C41 |
| Date: | 2019–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dnb:dnbwpp:637&r=all |
| By: | Laszlo Lorincz (Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences and Corvinus University of Budapest); Brigitta Nemeth (Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences) |
| Abstract: | Previous studies have shown the impact of family, community, and ethnic networks on migration. Our research focuses on the role of social networks in Hungarian internal migration. We examine the factors determining out-migration rate from municipalities, and the factors influencing location choice by analysingmigration volumes on the municipality-municipality level. We measure social network effects by the migration rate of previous years, and by the intensity of user-user connections on the iWiW online social network (representing3.7million users) between two municipalities. The migration volumes and the characteristics of the municipalities are included in the analysis based on administrative data, and the distance between municipalities are indicated by the travel time. We analyselongitudinal data for the2000-2014 period, and cross-sectional models for the year 2014. Based on multilevel and fixed-effect regression models we show that both leaving and choosing municipalities is associated with network effects: the migration of previous years, and also the connections on iWiW social network influence the current migration rate, even after controlling for each other. |
| Keywords: | chain migration, internal migration, network effects, online social networks, social networks |
| JEL: | R23 |
| Date: | 2019–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:has:discpr:1913&r=all |
| By: | Hovhannisyan, Nune; Keller, Wolfgang |
| Abstract: | Access to new foreign technology is often central to countries' development strategies. However, we know very little about the quantitative impact of technology sourcing. In this paper, we study the role of outward international business travel for technology sourcing and innovation by examining whether patenting in European regions is affected by the number of business travelers heading to the United States. Using European regional patent data for the years 1996 to 2010 from Eurostat and information on incoming business travelers from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Survey of International Air Traveler, we find that controlling for a region's R&D spending and size, innovation is increasing in the number of business travelers of the region to the United States. Technology sourcing through in-person business travel is not only statistically but economically significant accounting, for example, it accounts for 20% of the higher patenting in Germany's Greater Stuttgart area, compared to Portugal's Algarve region. |
| Keywords: | European Regions; Innovation; patenting; R&D |
| JEL: | F2 O22 |
| Date: | 2019–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:13739&r=all |
| By: | Thomas Barnay (ERUDITE - Equipe de Recherche sur l’Utilisation des Données Individuelles en lien avec la Théorie Economique - UPEC UP12 - Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 - UPEM - Université Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée, TEPP - Travail, Emploi et Politiques Publiques - UPEM - Université Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Éric Defebvre (TEPP - Travail, Emploi et Politiques Publiques - UPEM - Université Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne) |
| Abstract: | We measure gender differences in the causal impact of the 2006 self-assessed mental health status (anxiety disorders and depressive episodes) on job retention in 2010. We use data from the French Health and Professional Career Path survey. To control for endogeneity biases, we use bivariate probit models to simultaneously explain employment status and mental health. Anxiety disorders reduce men's job retention capacity by up to 12 percentage points (pp). Depressive episodes affect both genders almost equally (around 11pp). More severe cases of both mental health conditions are relevant in determining the capacity of individuals to remain in employment. |
| Keywords: | Mental health,Employment,Instrumental variables,Gender differences,France |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:hal-02112904&r=all |
| By: | De Neve, Jan-Emmanuel (University of Oxford); Imbert, Clement (University of Warwick); Spinnewijn, Johannes (London School of Economics); Tsankova, Teodora (University of Warwick); Luts, Maarten (FPS Finance) |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of deterrence, tax morale, and simplifying information on tax compliance. We ran five experiments spanning the tax process which varied the communication of the tax administration with all income taxpayers in Belgium. A consistent picture emerges across experiments: (i) simplifying communication increases compliance, (ii) deterrence messages have an additional positive effect, (iii) invoking tax morale is not effective. Even tax morale messages that improve knowledge and appreciation of public services do not raise compliance. In fact, heterogeneity analysis with causal forests shows that tax morale treatments backfire for most taxpayers. In contrast, simplification has large positive effects on compliance, which diminish over time due to follow-up enforcement. A discontinuity in enforcement intensity, combined with the experimental variation, allows us to compare simplification with standard enforcement measures. Simplification is far more cost-effective, allowing for substantial savings on enforcement costs, and also improves compliance in the next tax cycle |
| Keywords: | Tax Compliance ; Field Experiments ; Simplification ; Enforcement |
| JEL: | C93 D91 H20 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wrk:warwec:1194&r=all |