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on Microeconomic European Issues |
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Issue of 2020‒02‒24
28 papers chosen by Giuseppe Marotta Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia |
| By: | Alessandra Venturini; Enrico Bertacchini; Roberto Zotti |
| Abstract: | The paper aims to explore the drivers of immigrants’ participation to cultural and leisure activities in host countries. First, we discuss how the main analytical approaches on cultural participation can be extended to incorporate factors specific to migrants’ characteristics and behaviour, namely dimensions of proximity to the native population’s culture and the level of integration in the host society. Secondly, we investigate migrants’ propensity for consumption of cultural and leisure activities using data of a special national survey on Income and Living conditions (2011-2012) on foreign households in Italy. Italy represents an interesting case because it is a recent immigration country, making the analysis particularly suitable for studying the behaviour of first-generation immigrants. Our findings suggest that language proficiency, duration of stay and intention to remain in the host country significantly increase the probability to access various types of leisure and cultural activities. Interestingly, after controlling for standard individual predictors, several dimensions of an immigrant’s cultural background and proximity with the culture of the host society still significantly explain variation in cultural participation rates, confirming that cultural differences play a role in migrants’ cultural consumption choice. |
| Keywords: | cultural participation, migrants, cultural proximity |
| JEL: | Z11 J15 J61 |
| Date: | 2020–02–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cel:dpaper:56&r=all |
| By: | Stuart Campbell (Department of Social Science, UCL Institute of Education, University College London); Lindsey Macmillan (Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, UCL Institute of Education, University College London); Richard Murphy (University of Texas at Austin & Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics and Political Science); Gill Wyness (Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, UCL Institute of Education, University College London & Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics and Political Science) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines inequalities in the match between student quality and university quality using linked administrative data from schools, universities and tax authorities. We analyse two measures of match at the university-subject (degree) level, based on student academic achievement, and graduate earnings. We find that students from lower socio-economic groups systematically undermatch for both measures across the entire distribution of achievement, with particularly stark socio-economic gaps for the most undermatched. This is in a setting with no up-front tuition fees and a generous financial aid system. We show that distance is not a driving factor, but that secondary schools play a key role in generating these gaps. While there are negligible gender gaps in academic match, high-attaining women systematically undermatch in terms of expected earnings, largely driven by subject choice. |
| Keywords: | higher education, educational economics, college choice, mismatch, undermatch |
| JEL: | I22 I23 I28 |
| Date: | 2020–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucl:cepeow:20-01&r=all |
| By: | Kuhn, Andreas (Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training); Wolter, Stefan C. (University of Bern) |
| Abstract: | We empirically test the hypothesis that adolescents' occupational aspirations are more gender-stereotypical if they live in regions where the societal norm towards gender equality is weaker. For our analysis, we combine rich survey data describing a sample of 1,434 Swiss adolescents in 8th grade with municipal voting results dealing with gender equality and policy. We find that occupational aspirations are strongly gender-segregated and that adolescents living in municipalities with a stronger norm towards gender equality are significantly less likely to aspire for a gender-stereotypical occupation, even after controlling for individual-level controls. At the same time, gender norms have virtually no power in explaining the gender stereotypicity of individual occupational aspirations - challenging the widespread conception that societal gender norms are one of the most important determinants of occupational gender segregation. Moreover, a more detailed analysis shows that the association may mainly reflect the intergenerational transmission of occupations from parents to their children and/or regional differences in the prevailing occupational structure. |
| Keywords: | occupational choice, occupational segregation, gender norms, preferences, intergenerational transmission, regional occupational structure |
| JEL: | J16 J24 |
| Date: | 2019–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12861&r=all |
| By: | Michael D. Krämer; Joseph L. Rodgers |
| Abstract: | Longitudinal studies have documented improvements in parents’ life satisfaction due to childbearing, followed by postpartum adaptation back to baseline. However, the details underlying this process remain largely unexplored. Based on past literature, set-point theory, and results from an exploratory sample, we investigated empirically how first childbirth affected satisfaction with specific domains of life. In a preregistered study, we compared parents with matched childless respondents in their trajectories of life satisfaction, and also satisfaction with family life, health, sleep, work, housework, leisure, dwelling, household income, and personal income. First-time parents and childless respondents were matched in a procedure combining exact and propensity score matching. Using the population-representative German SOEP data (N = 3,370), longitudinal multilevel models revealed heterogeneous effects of childbirth on different domains of satisfaction: Both mothers’ and fathers’ satisfaction with family life increased temporarily in a similar fashion to life satisfaction before going back to baseline within five years after childbirth. However, only mothers experienced drastic losses to satisfaction with sleep and satisfaction with personal income. For the remaining domains, parents’ satisfaction largely resembled that of the matched childless respondents. These divergent domain trajectories underscore the need for multivariate analyses in life satisfaction research. |
| Keywords: | Life Satisfaction, Satisfaction Domains, Childbirth, Parents, Propensity Score Matching |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp1068&r=all |
| By: | Asma Benhenda (Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, UCL Institute of Education, University College London); Julien Grenet (Paris School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Using French administrative data on secondary school teachers, we analyze a non-pecuniary, "career-path oriented" centralized incentive scheme designed to attract and retain teachers in French disadvantaged schools. We rely on a major reform of the structure of this incentive scheme to identify its effect on teacher turnover, retention, and quality in disadvantaged schools. We find this incentive scheme has a statistically significant positive effect on the number of consecutive years teachers stay in disadvantaged schools and decreases the probability of in- experienced teachers in disadvantaged schools to leave the profession. However, we find no statistically significant effect on the teacher experience gap nor the student achievement gap between disadvantaged and non disadvantaged schools. |
| Keywords: | teachers, teacher mobility, teacher retention, educational inequalities, education prioritaire |
| JEL: | I21 I22 J20 |
| Date: | 2020–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucl:cepeow:20-03&r=all |
| By: | Konan Alain N’Ghauran (Univ Lyon, UJM Saint-Etienne, CNRS, GATE L-SE UMR 5824, F-42023 Saint-Etienne, France); Corinne Autant-Bernard (Univ Lyon, UJM Saint-Etienne, CNRS, GATE L-SE UMR 5824, F-42023 Saint-Etienne, France) |
| Abstract: | Despite the growing body of literature evaluating cluster policies, it still remains difficult to establish conclusively their structural effects on regional innovation networks. Focusing on the French cluster policy during the period 2005-2010, this study aims at evaluating how cluster policies influence the structure of local innovation networks following network topologies that may be beneficial for regional innovation. Based on a panel data of four periods and 94 NUTS3 French regions, we estimate spatial Durbin models, allowing us to identify direct, indirect and total effects of cluster policies. The results suggest that cluster policies can result in both positive and negative total effects on the structure of local innovation networks depending on regions’ technological specialisation. Beyond the heterogeneous effects, the results also highlight that cluster policies may lead to a regional competition for the strengthening of innovation networks. This finding echoed previous research pointing out the possible "beggar-thy-neighbour" effects of cluster policies. |
| Keywords: | Cluster, Regional innovation, Innovation network, Policy evaluation |
| JEL: | L52 O33 R58 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gat:wpaper:2005&r=all |
| By: | Gouveia, Filipe Rodrigues (Department of Economics, Lund University); Nilsson, Therese (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)); Berggren, Niclas (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)) |
| Abstract: | We measure and analyze discriminatory behavior against same-sex couples trying to rent an apartment in Portugal. This is the first correspondence field experiment investigating discrimination against this minority group in Portugal, adding to a literature using this method to ascertain discriminatory behavior in the housing market. In our experiment, four type of applicants varying in gender (male and female) and modality (same and opposite sex) reply to Internet ads to express interest in renting an apartment in the metropolitan areas of Porto and Lisbon. All applicant couples are presented as married, stable and professional. The main finding is that male same-sex couples face significant discrimination: The probability of getting a positive reply is 7–8 percentage points, or 26 percent, lower for them compared to opposite-sex couples. The effect is even more negative in parishes where the population is older, and discrimination increases in magnitude over the rental value and the square meter price of apartments. However, and perhaps surprisingly, the risk of discrimination decreases with religiosity (up to a point) and the distance to the metropolitan center (up to a point). The results for female same-sex couples also show a sizable negative effect, with a 3 percentage-point, or 10 percent, lower probability of a positive response compared to opposite-sex couples, even though this difference is less precisely estimated. The present study extends the literature to a southern European setting and validates previous research documenting worse treatment of same-sex couples in the housing market. Interestingly, in spite of less positive attitudes to same-sex couples among the Portuguese public, the level of discrimination is comparable to that found in Sweden and lower than on the Irish short-term rental market. This arguably illustrates that attitudes and discriminatory behavior need not be closely aligned. |
| Keywords: | Same-sex couples; Discrimination; Portugal; Field experiment; LGBT; Housing |
| JEL: | C93 D91 J15 R30 |
| Date: | 2020–02–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1318&r=all |
| By: | Adam Whittle; Balázs Lengyel; Dieter F. Kogler |
| Abstract: | The diversification of regions into new technologies is driven by the degree of relatedness to existing capabilities in the region. However, in such case where the necessary skills for diversification are missing, the importation of external knowledge from neighbouring regions or from further away is necessary. Despite the importance of interregional knowledge flows through collaborative work, we still have a very limited understanding of how collaboration networks across regions facilitate diversification processes. The present study investigates the diversification patterns of European NUTS2 regions into new knowledge domains via CPC technology classes reported in patent applications to the European Patent Office. The findings indicate that externally oriented inventor collaboration networks increase the likelihood that a new technology enters a region. The influence of interregional ties is higher if the external knowledge sourcing is based on a diverse set of regions and if collaboration is intense within entities located in distinct regions. Further, the results demonstrate that interregional collaboration networks in general provides the final push into related diversification activities. At the same time, internal collaboration promotes entry into knowledge domains that are weakly related to already present technologies in the region. Finally, evidence shows that diverse external connections and intense collaboration within companies across distant sites compensate for missing related skills in the region. |
| Keywords: | Economic Diversification, Regional Knowledge Networks, Inventor Collaboration Networks, Firm Linkages, Knowledge Sourcing, Specialisation, Patent Data Analysis |
| JEL: | O33 O52 R11 |
| Date: | 2020–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:2006&r=all |
| By: | Orazio Giancola (Department of Social Sciences and Economics, Sapienza University of Rome); Luca Salmieri (Department of Social Sciences and Economics, Sapienza University of Rome) |
| Keywords: | education inequalities, social origins, schooling tracking, Italy, regional divides |
| JEL: | I21 I28 J24 |
| Date: | 2020–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:saq:wpaper:4/20&r=all |
| By: | Julia Hellstrand; Jessica Nisén (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Vitor Miranda; Peter Fallesen; Lars Dommermuth; Mikko Myrskylä (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany) |
| Abstract: | With their historically similar patterns of high and stable cohort fertility and high levels of gender equality, the Nordic countries of Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland are seen as forerunners in demographic behavior. Furthermore, Nordic fertility trends have strongly influenced fertility theories. However, the period fertility decline that started around 2010 in many countries with relatively high fertility is particularly pronounced in the Nordic countries. This raises the question of whether Nordic cohort fertility will also decline and deviate from its historically stable pattern. Using harmonized data across the Nordic countries, we comprehensively describe this period decline, and analyse to what extent it is attributable to tempo or to quantum effects. Two key results stand out. First, the decline is mostly attributable to first births, but can be observed across all ages from 15 to the mid-thirties. Large-scale fertility declines at ages above 30 have not been previously documented in these countries. Second, tempo explains only part of the decline. Forecasts indicate that the average Nordic cohort fertility will decline from two children for the 1970 cohort to around 1.8 children for the late 1980s cohorts. Finland diverges from the other countries in terms of its lower expected cohort fertility, below 1.6, and Denmark and Sweden diverge from Finland, Iceland, and Norway in terms of their slower cohort fertility decline. These findings suggest that the Nordic model of high and stable fertility may need to be updated, and call into question the broader theories linking fertility and gender equality. Keywords: Nordic fertility regime, period fertility, cohort fertility, fertility timing, forecasting |
| Keywords: | Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden |
| JEL: | J1 Z0 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2020-007&r=all |
| By: | Clément Brébion (PSE - Paris School of Economics, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, CEET - Centre d'études de l'emploi et du travail - CNAM - Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers [CNAM] - M.E.N.E.S.R. - Ministère de l'Education nationale, de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche - Ministère du Travail, de l'Emploi et de la Santé) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides new insight into the quality of cooperation between employers and workers in Germany by estimating the impact of works council membership on wages between 2001 and 2015. It falls within a stream of research on collective organisations that has shifted focus away from the perspective of covered firms and their average worker to concentrate on the actors leading the negotiations. To my knowledge, this is the first economic analysis of a non-unionised form of representation to adopt this orientation. The main model of identification is an OLS with time and individual fixed effects conducted on a subsample of the German Socio-Economic Panel. I find that for individuals switching status without changing firm, being a works councilor increases the hourly gross wage by 4.5% in the manufacturing sector, while a penalty of 4% is evidenced in the service sector. I present several types of evidence showing that the impact is causal. Finally, I show that politically active representatives receive most of the (negative or positive) premium. Turning back to the context, I explain why this is likely to reflect a strategic behaviour of employers and a decline in the quality of cooperation in the country. |
| Date: | 2020–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:psewpa:halshs-02436686&r=all |
| By: | Paolo Liberati (Università degli Studi Roma Tre, Dipartimento di Economia); Giuliano Resce (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Fisiologia Clinica - Pisa); Francesca Tosi Tosi (Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Dipartimento di Scienze Statistiche Paolo Fortunati) |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates multidimensional poverty in European countries introducing two main novelties compared with the previous literature: first, the dimensions of poverty are selected on the basis of the shared values included in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union; second, the whole space of feasible weights is used to summarise the multidimensional information, in order to remain agnostic about the importance given to the different deprivations. Using data from four waves of EU-SILC, the methodological innovations introduced here have allowed to produce a family of measures that capture the individual probability of being multidimensionally poor. Individual probabilities are then used to analyse the within and between distribution of multidimensional poverty in ten countries. Finally, they get combined with the generalised Lorenz dominance techniques in order to derive socially preferred distributions with the minimum load of value judgments. The novel methods proposed in this analysis allow to move from a dual definition of poverty, where poor and non-poor individuals are classified in a mutually exclusive context, to a continuous measure of deprivation, which allows to capture both the extensive and intensive margin of multidimensional poverty. |
| Keywords: | Multidimensional Poverty; Charter of Fundamental Rights; Hierarchy Stochastic Multicriteria Acceptability Analysis; Povertà multidimensionale; Carta dei Diritti Fondamentali; Analisi Stocastica di Accettabilità Multicriterio |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bot:quadip:wpaper:140&r=all |
| By: | Stips, Felix (University of Göttingen); Kis-Katos, Krisztina (University of Goettingen) |
| Abstract: | Using novel registry data on the population of asylum seekers in Germany for the period from 2010 to 2016, and quasi-experimental variation induced by German allocation policies, we identify causal effects of the size and composition of local co-national networks on formal labor market access of asylum seekers. While the individual employment probability is not linked to network size, it increases with the number of employed local co-national asylum seekers and decreases with the number of non-employed network members, thereby underlining the central importance of network quality. |
| Keywords: | social networks, refugees, employment, Germany, dispersal policies |
| JEL: | F22 J61 R23 |
| Date: | 2020–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12903&r=all |
| By: | Claudiu Albulescu (CRIEF) |
| Abstract: | This paper assesses the role of financial performance in explaining firms' investment dynamics in the wine industry from the three European Union (EU) largest producers. The wine sector deserves special attention to investigate firms' investment behavior given the high competition imposed by the latecomers. More precisely, we investigate how the capitalization, liquidity and profitability influence the investment dynamics using firm-level data from the wine industry from France (331 firms), Italy (335) firms and Spain (442) firms. We use data from 2007 to 2014, drawing a comparison between these countries, and relying on difference-and system-GMM estimators. Specifically, the impact of profitability is positive and significant, while the capitalization has a significant and negative impact on the investment dynamics only in France and Spain. The influence of the liquidity ratio is negative and significant only in the case of Spain. Therefore, we notice different investment strategies for wine companies located in the largest producer countries. It appears that these findings are in general robust to different specifications of liquidity and profitability ratios, and to the different estimators we use. |
| Date: | 2020–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2001.10432&r=all |
| By: | Nikolaos Theodoropoulos (University of Cyprus); John Forth (Cass Business School, City University of London); Alex Bryson (University College London, National Institute of Social and Economic Research and Institute for the Study of Labor) |
| Abstract: | Using matched employer-employee data from the 2004 and 2011 Workplace Employment Relations Surveys (WERS) for Britain we find a raw gender wage gap (GWG) in hourly wages of around 0.18-0.21 log points. The regression-adjusted gap is around half that. However, the GWG declines substantially with the increasing share of female managers in the workplace. The gap closes because women’s wages rise with the share female managers in the workplace while men’s wages fall. Panel and instrumental variables estimates suggest the share of female managers in the workplace has a causal impact in reducing the GWG. The role of female managers in closing the GWG is more pronounced when employees are paid for performance, consistent with the proposition that women are more likely to be paid equitably when managers have discretion in the way they reward performance and those managers are women. These findings suggest a stronger presence of women in managerial positions can help tackle the GWG. |
| Keywords: | gender wage gap; female managers; performance pay |
| JEL: | J16 J31 M52 M54 |
| Date: | 2019–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qss:dqsswp:1907&r=all |
| By: | Philip Hemmings; Christopher Prinz |
| Abstract: | In Norway, sick-leave compensation and disability benefit is comprehensive and an important component of employee rights and benefits. However, despite policy attention, use of these systems is excessive; sickness absence and disability benefit recipiency levels remain extraordinarily high compared with other countries. This paper compares Norway’s reform experience and policy settings with those of three countries that also have comprehensive support and that have faced similar problems: Sweden, the Netherlands and Switzerland. All four countries have made a number of changes to sick leave and disability benefit systems. However, it appears that Norway’s reforms have so far been rather less successful. A broad impression in comparing the reforms is that Norway has conducted fewer measures involving reductions to entitlements and improvements in work incentives compared with the other countries. |
| Keywords: | disability benefit, Norway, sick leave, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands |
| JEL: | I38 |
| Date: | 2020–02–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1601-en&r=all |
| By: | Bart Cockx; Koen Declercq; Muriel Dejemeppe; Leda Inga; Bruno Van der Linden (-) |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the impact on the transition to work of a policy reform in Belgium that restricted the access to a specific unemployment insurance scheme for young labor market entrants. This scheme entitles youths with no or little labor market experience to unemployment benefits after a waiting period of one year. As of 2015, the Belgian government unexpectedly scrapped benefit eligibility for youths who start the waiting period at the age of 24 or older. The reform implied a change from an inclining to a flat rate (zero-level) benefit profile. We use a difference-in-differences approach to identify the causal impact of this reform on fresh university graduates. Our main finding is that this reform only increases the transition to very short-lived jobs. |
| Keywords: | Youth unemployment, Unemployment insurance, Policy evaluation, Difference-indifferences |
| JEL: | J64 J65 J68 |
| Date: | 2020–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rug:rugwps:20/991&r=all |
| By: | Moens, Eline (Ghent University); Baert, Stijn (Ghent University); Verhofstadt, Elsy (Ghent University); Van Ootegem, Luc (Ghent University) |
| Abstract: | This research contributes to the limited literature concerning the determinants of loneliness at work, as well as to the literature on psychological outcomes associated with temporary work. More specifically, we are adding to the literature by exploring whether there is an association between working temporarily and loneliness at work and whether loneliness at work partly explains the association between working temporarily and job satisfaction. To this end, we analyse – by means of a mediation model – a unique sample of Flemish employees in the private sector. We find that employees with a temporary contract experience more loneliness at work as opposed to employees with a permanent contract. In addition, we discover that loneliness at work mediates the association between working temporarily and job satisfaction. |
| Keywords: | loneliness at work, temporary work, job satisfaction |
| JEL: | J28 J41 I31 |
| Date: | 2019–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12865&r=all |
| By: | Forchini, Giovanni (Department of Economics, Umeå University); Hauck, Katharina (Medical School, Imperial College, London, UK); Steventon, Adam (The Health Foundation, London, UK) |
| Abstract: | There is a profusion of evidence on the population and supply side factors explaining demand for emergency care, but surprisingly very little evidence about how seasonal patterns of demand vary across regions. Such information is crucial to help hospitals manage fluctuations in demand and ease capacity constraints. The objective of this study is to analyse the patterns of weekly attendances to Accident and Emergency departments in England, controlling for a wide range of determinants. The study uses both panel and common trend methods on data for 135 English hospitals and their catchment areas merged from a variety of sources over 156 weeks from 2012 to 2015. Modelling of unobservable factors with common trend models shows systematic patterns in the data related to season and the location of providers. Coastal areas experience more attendances in summer than urban areas, and this trend is reversed in winter, possibly due to temporary population movements. Internal reorganizations between major A&E departments and minor injury units within hospitals lead to structural breaks in attendances. In the panel models, only the share of the working population, weather and socioeconomic deprivation are statistically significant predictors of attendances in the panel models. The forecasting ability of both panel and common trends methods is similar. Fine-tuning funding allocations across trusts and seasons according to temporary population movements could be a promising avenue to help alleviate existing capacity constraints emergency departments. |
| Keywords: | accident and emergency attendances; seasonal and regional fluctuations; internal migration; common trend analysis; demand/utilization of emergency healthcare |
| JEL: | I12 I18 |
| Date: | 2020–02–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:umnees:0970&r=all |
| By: | Carole Bonnet; Fanny Godet; Anne Solaz |
| Abstract: | Couple formation over 50 has been largely unexplored until now. The lack of literature on this topic especially in France lies in the low number of events for this age group, even if it is increasing. From the Fideli 2016 two-year panel which combines comprehensive income and housing tax returns, we study the determinants of the union between women and men after 50 years (logistic regression), the type of union chosen: marriage, PACS or common-law union (multinomial regression), and the degree of homogamy within these new couples. The probability to form an union is higher for men than for women but sharply decreases with age for both. Previous marital status and income play different roles depending on the sex. Compared to never-married men, widowers are more likely to form a new couple. It is the opposite for women. Divorced men and women more often form a new union than others. While a high income increases the chances of repartnering for men, it decreases them for women. However, the effects of supply (less opportunity on the marriage market) cannot be disentangled from the effects of demand (less willingness and need to form a couple). For low income, forming a couple is one way to increase one's standard of living, at ages when it is difficult to increase the labor market participation. The type of union chosen also differs according to previous marital status and income. Over 50, the ex-spouses are more likely to marry, except for the widows who are the least likely to marry. Income plays positively on the fact of contracting an union for men. For women, the probability to contractualize theirs unions is highest at both ends of the income distribution. Over 50, men enter new unions with younger women and women who have similar levels of income. Women form new partnership with men who earn more than them. |
| Keywords: | couple, union formation, seniors, elderly, age group over 50, marriage, Pacs, income distibution, PERSONNE AGEE / AGED, COUPLE / COUPLE, REMISE EN COUPLE / REPARTNERING, FORMATION DES COUPLES / UNION FORMATION |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idg:wpaper:aw-kzxjl8al0cp9yca5j&r=all |
| By: | Janssen, Aljoscha (Singapore Management University) |
| Abstract: | This article examines the market power of branded prescription drugs faced with generic competition. Using prescription-level and matched socioeconomic panel data of the entire Swedish population between 2010 and 2016, I provide evidence for the key role of switching costs. A discontinuity surrounding patent expirations establishes that the effect is causal. Further, by comparing patients with and without medical education, I show that those without medical education experience higher brand premia. A unique feature of the Swedish market allows me to rule out patients’ inattention due to information costs as a source of market power. Therefore, switching costs and perceived quality differences are the key determinants of market power. I then estimate a dynamic oligopoly model with forward-looking firms which is used in counterfactual studies of the effect of switching costs and perceived quality differences on prices. First, an increase in the length of procurement mimics a reduction of switching costs and increases prices. While the effect of switching costs on prices in theory is ambiguous, moderate switching costs and sufficient competition for new patients increase competitive pressure. Second, if everyone acts as a medical expert and experiences fewer brand premia, prices decrease. |
| Keywords: | Switching Costs; Brand Premia; Behavioral Pricing; Pharmaceuticals |
| JEL: | D12 I11 L13 |
| Date: | 2020–02–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1317&r=all |
| By: | Joanna Piechucka |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of different regulatory designs on the cost efficiency of operators providing a public service, exploiting data from the French transport industry. The distinctive feature of the study is that it considers regulatory regimes as endogenously determined choices, explained by economic, political, and institutional variables. Our approach leans on a positive analysis to study the determinants of regulatory contract choices, which, in turn, affect the costs of operating urban public transport. Our results show that given similar network characteristics, networks operated under fixed-price contracts exert lower costs than those regulated under cost-plus contracts. This finding is in line with the theoretical prediction of new regulatory economics that fixed-price contracts provide more incentives for efficiency. Importantly, ignoring the endogeneity of contractual choices would lead to significantly underestimating the impact of contract type on cost efficiency. Our findings provide useful policy implications suggesting that the move toward more high-powered incentive schemes is indeed associated with significant cost efficiencies. Moreover, they highlights the importance of accounting for the endogeneity of regulatory contract choices. |
| Keywords: | Cost-efficiency; Endogenous contract choices; Transport industry |
| JEL: | L51 L92 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1851&r=all |
| By: | Adamecz-Völgyi, Anna; Scharle, Ágota |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effects of an increase in the compulsory school leaving age on the teenage fertility of Roma women, a disadvantaged ethnic minority in Hungary. We use a regression discontinuity design identification strategy and show that the reform decreased the probability of teenage motherhood among Roma women by 13.4-26.0% and delayed motherhood by two years. We separate the incapacitation and human capital effects of education on fertility by exploiting a database that covers live births, miscarriages, abortions and still births, and contains information on the time of conception precise to the week. We find that longer schooling decreases the probability of getting pregnant during the school year but not during summer and Christmas breaks, which suggests that the estimated effects are generated mostly through the incapacitation channel. |
| Keywords: | Education,Compulsory school leaving age,Teenage fertility,Disadvantaged ethnic minorities,Regression discontinuity design |
| JEL: | J13 C21 I26 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:474&r=all |
| By: | Jaanika Merikull; Tairi Room |
| Abstract: | This paper uses administrative data from registers and survey data from interviews to analyse unit and item non-response in a wealth survey. It draws on the Estonian Household Finance and Consumption Survey dataset, where the survey data on income and wealth are complemented by information on the same variables from administrative sources for all the people sampled. The results show that the non-response contributes to the underestimation of wealth inequality in the survey data, as the Gini coefficient is underestimated by 6 percentage points and also the top wealth shares are substantially underestimated. The downward bias is originating from item non-response and not from unit non-response. Imputation can address the problems caused by item non-response across most of the net wealth distribution, but does not eliminate the downward bias at the top of the wealth distribution. |
| Keywords: | wealth distribution, unit non-response, item non-response, participation bias, wealth survey, income survey, Household Finance and Consumption Survey, Estonia |
| JEL: | D31 E21 |
| Date: | 2019–10–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eea:boewps:wp2019-05&r=all |
| By: | Esposito, Piero; Scicchitano, Sergio |
| Abstract: | In this article, we investigate the role of several types of educational mismatch in explaining labour market transitions of workers with secondary and higher education. We focus on transitions from employment to unemployment and on job changes, to assess whether mismatch is a temporary or a permanent phenomenon. In the first case, as suggested by matching models, mismatch will be eliminated through job-to-job transitions. In the second case, it might be permanent and caused by employment discontinuity and deskilling processes. By using information from the Italian Survey of Professions (ICP) and the Survey on Labour Participation and Unemployment (PLUS), we calculate three measures of vertical mismatch. This allows comparing the outcomes from self-reported and revealed match measures in order to assess the robustness of the results. In addition, we use a measure of horizontal mismatch and evaluated the effect of Routine Bias Technical change (RBTC) in terms of unemployment risk, through a Routine Task Index (RTI) calculated on Italian data. Results indicate that mismatched workers are at risk of long-term unemployment. More specifically, among workers with higher education, the risk is due to mismatches in the field of studies whereas for secondary educated workers, over-education is the main cause of unemployment risk. The effect of the RTI is often not significant. This adds evidence to the problem of skill gap in Italy, as educational choices are not aligned to market needs. In this respect, both demand side and supply side policies are needed to allow firms to better use this human capital. |
| Keywords: | higher education,over-education,educational mismatch,routine bias technical change,unemployment,Italy |
| JEL: | D91 J24 J64 J82 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:465&r=all |
| By: | Heather Joshi (University College London); Alex Bryson (University College London, National Institute of Social and Economic Research and Institute for the Study of Labor); David Wilkinson (University College London); Kelly Ward (University College London) |
| Abstract: | Using data tracking all those born in a single week in Great Britain in 1958 through to their mid-50s we observe an inverse U-shaped gender wage gap (GWG) over their life-course: an initial gap in early adulthood widened substantially during childrearing years, affecting earnings in full-time and part-time jobs. In our descriptive approach, education related differences are minor. Gender differences in work experience are the biggest contributor to that part of the gender wage gap we can explain in our models. Family formation primarily affects the GWG through its impact on work experience. Family composition is similar for male and female workers but attracts opposite wage premia. Not all of the GWG however is linked to family formation. There was a sizeable GWG on labour market entry and there are some otherwise unexplained gaps between the pay of men and women who do not become parents. |
| Keywords: | family formation, gender wage gap; work experience; life course; NCDS birth cohort |
| JEL: | J16 J31 |
| Date: | 2019–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qss:dqsswp:1909&r=all |
| By: | Blien, Uwe (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg); Dauth, Wolfgang (University of Würzburg); Roth, Duncan (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses how differences in the degree of occupational routine-intensity affect the costs of job loss. We use worker-level data on mass layoffs in Germany between 1980 and 2010 and provide causal evidence that workers who used to be employed in more routine-intensive occupations suffer larger and more persistent earnings losses after the mass layoff. Furthermore, we are able to show that, at least initially, earnings losses are primarily due to a reduction in the number of days in employment, suggesting that routine-intensive workers face considerable frictions in the adjustment to job loss. Conditional on finding a new job, routine-intensive workers are more likely to change their occupations but end up systematically in the lower end of their new occupation's wage distribution. |
| Keywords: | routine-replacing technological change, routine-intensity, labour market biographies, mass layoffs, Germany, difference-in-differences |
| JEL: | J24 J63 O33 |
| Date: | 2019–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12851&r=all |
| By: | Mª Teresa Balaguer-Coll (Department of Accounting and Finance, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain); Isabel Narbón-Perpiñá (Department of Business, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain); Jesús Peiró-Palomino (INTECO and Department of Economic Structure, Universitat de València, Spain); Emili Tortosa-Ausina (IVIE and Department of Economics, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the relationship between quality of government and economic growth at the municipal level in 1,820 Spanish municipalities during the period 2008–2015. At this level of dis- aggregation, the literature is virtually non-existent due to severe data constraints. To address this limitation, we proxy institutional quality with a measure of local government efficiency, which provides an accurate indicator of how good local authorities are at managing their budgets. This variable is expected to be highly correlated with other more traditional quality of government indicators such as corruption. After computing our measure, we then use it in a growth regression framework. We find a preponderant positive effect for local government quality on income per capita growth, which is robust to a wide variety of scenarios. Our findings also suggest that increases in local government quality are particularly rewarding for the poorest municipalities and in crisis times. |
| Keywords: | economic growth; efficiency; quality of government; municipalities |
| JEL: | D04 E02 H7 H11 O43 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jau:wpaper:2020/04&r=all |