|
on Microeconomic European Issues |
|
Issue of 2021‒01‒11
twenty-six papers chosen by Giuseppe Marotta Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia |
| By: | Sebastian Königs; Michael Förster |
| Abstract: | While income inequality in Austria is relatively low compared to many other OECD countries, social mobility lags behind. Socio-economic outcomes carry over strongly from one generation to the next: more than elsewhere, fathers’ earnings are a strong predictor of the earnings of their prime-age children. This reflects strong persistence across generations in occupational and educational outcomes, particularly for women and migrants. Relative income positions also tend to strongly persist over people’s lives, in particular at the top and bottom. Meanwhile, the middle-income group is polarising, with downward risks rising for the lower middle. Longer-term earnings trajectories (over 15 years) display marked gender differences, with women facing weaker chances of moving up and greater risks of sliding down.This paper identifies policies that promote or hamper social mobility in four domains. First, good-quality early childhood education and care can be a catalyst for upward mobility. Participation rates have significantly risen over the last decade, but still lag those in many OECD countries. Further investment is needed to improve quality and status of formal childcare. Second, tackling low educational mobility in Austria requires ensuring a successful school-to-work transition. Austria provides targeted support for those who struggle, but it could improve funding for disadvantaged schools and consider the appropriateness of "tracking" students at such a young age. Third, reducing gender inequality in the labour market would greatly improve social mobility. This requires raising incentives for a more equal sharing of family and work responsibilities in the areas of tax policy, parental leave and family and care benefits. Fourth, the Austrian tax and benefit system provides comparatively adequate protection against income shocks. The high concentration of household wealth, combined with the absence of inheritance taxation, however implies that inequalities of opportunity remain large. |
| JEL: | D31 I38 J62 |
| Date: | 2020–12–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:elsaab:251-en&r=all |
| By: | Matthias Krapf; Anja Roth; Michaela Slotwinski |
| Abstract: | We study the effect of institutional childcare on child penalties. Using Swiss administrative data, we exploit the staggered opening of childcare facilities across municipalities in the canton of Bern. We find that the presence of childcare facilities in the year of birth of the first child reduces the child penalty. The availability of childcare increases maternal earnings and decreases the compensating increase in fathers’ earnings in households with below median earnings, but not in households with above median earnings. Although childcare affects relative earnings contributions within the household, there is no effect on total household earnings. |
| Keywords: | child penalty, childcare, parental employment, gender wage gap |
| JEL: | D10 J00 J13 J16 H31 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_8764&r=all |
| By: | Hansson, Åsa (Department of Economics, Lund University); Kopsch, Fredrik (Department of Real Estate Science, Lund University) |
| Abstract: | It is well known that capital constraints can hinder individuals to set up a business. Many business owners rely on own capital or capital from friends, fools and family in order to acquire required capital. In this paper, we study the role property plays for starting a business or becoming self-employed. Specifically, we investigate how property values and changes in property taxes affect the likelihood that an individual is or becomes self-employed using rich Swedish individual panel data. The paper studies the probability that an individual is or becomes self-employed using detailed individual tax return data from Sweden. The property tax reform in 2008 is utilized as a “natural experiment” to analyze whether a lower property tax increased the probability of becoming self-employed. The reform in 2008 lowered the property tax for especially highly assessed property. Hence, the reform is predicted to reduce capital constraints for individuals with highly assessed property. Lower tax payments increase property values and consequently individual wealth, and in addition, increases disposable income as the recurrent yearly tax is reduced. The detailed data also allow us to control for many other important confounding factors. For example, we can control for other financial assets such as accumulated wealth, and capital as well as labor income. Results indicate that once we identify the effect of property value by the tax reform, property value is associated with higher probability of being self-employed but the result for becoming self-employed vanishes. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship; self-employment; property value |
| JEL: | M13 R33 R38 |
| Date: | 2020–12–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lunewp:2020_026&r=all |
| By: | Cederlöf, Jonas (School of Economics, The University of Edinburgh,) |
| Abstract: | Previous studies estimating the effect of generosity of unemployment insurance (UI) on unemployment duration has found that as job seekers approach benefit exhaustion the probability of leaving unemployment increases sharply. Such “spikes” in the hazard rate has generally been interpreted as job seekers timing their employment to coincide with benefit exhaustion. Card, Chetty and Weber (2007b) argue that such spikes rather reflect flight out of the labor force as benefits run out. This paper revisits this debate by studying a 30 week UI benefit extension in Sweden and its effects on unemployment duration, duration on UI, as well as the timing of employment. As the UI extension is predicated upon a job seeker having a child below the age of 18 at the time of regular UI exhaustion this provides quasi-experimental variation which I exploit using a regression discontinuity design. I find that although increasing potential UI duration by 30 weeks increases actual take up by about 2.5 weeks, overall duration in unemployment and the probability of employment is largely unaffected. Moreover, I find no evidence of job seekers manipulating the hazard to employment such that it coincides with UI benefit exhaustion. This result is attributed to generous replacement rates offered in other assistance programs available to job seekers who exhaust their benefits. |
| Keywords: | Unemployment benefits; Unemployment duration; Hazard spike |
| JEL: | J64 J65 |
| Date: | 2020–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2020_025&r=all |
| By: | Potente, Cecilia |
| Abstract: | A growing number of people are diagnosed with cancer over time. A better understanding of educational inequalities in cancer is becoming increasingly important. However, only a few studies have focused the attention on the causal effect of education on cancer risk and mortality. This quasi-experimental design exploits the exogenous variation in compulsory schooling due to policy changes in 1947 and 1972 in England and Wales using data from the ONS Longitudinal Study (ONS LS). These educational reforms affected a large proportion of the population. The identification of the causal effect of education on cancer risk and survival is achieved using the regression discontinuity framework with categorical outcomes. Therefore, this work aims at studying the effect of education on the probability of developing, surviving and dying from cancer. Results show that the 1947 and 1972 educational reforms do not seem to be causally related to cancer incidence and mortality. This study suggests the absence of a causal role of one additional year of compulsory schooling on cancer outcomes. Among the reasons for the absence of causal evidence there are the heterogeneity by cancer site as well as the local effect of the compulsory school reforms. |
| Date: | 2021–01–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:nj7x2&r=all |
| By: | Marta Fana (European Commission - JRC); CIRILLO Valeria; GUARASCIO Dario; TUBIANA Matteo |
| Abstract: | The present study offers an original and unique database collecting information on task profiles using national data across five European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and UK) in order to assess the existence of cross country variability in terms of tasks content, methods of work and tools used at work. Overall, the comparative component contributes to better understanding nature of work, effects of technical change, institutional and cultural variations across countries, a dimension often neglected in the literature especially for limitation in data availability at the national level. The creation of task indicators follows the overall approach and methodology developed in Fernandez-Macias, Hurley and Bisello, 2016; Fernandez-Macias, Bisello, Sarkar, Torrejon, 2016 and its updated version by Fernandez-Macias and Bisello (2020). In order to provide consistent cross-country data enabling comparisons, we applied the weighted ranking method already established in the literature and often used in the job-based approach. Using the ordered ranking resulting from the standardisation adopted, we analysed national employment structures focusing on tasks profile as well as on the employment distribution by task-terciles. The descriptive analysis performed highlights two main patterns. First, a certain degree of similarity in employment structures by tasks content terciles emerges, especially once compared across occupational groups. The task content of jobs reflects the technical nature of the production process - which is directly related to the type of product or service that is produced – and, in principle, is less affected by national differences. Second, countries show more heterogeneity in terms of work organization, namely "methods of work". This can in turn be explained by the fact that work methods reflect (relatively more than content itself) the socio-organizational structure in which they are embedded and are affected by idiosyncratic behavioral patterns of routines, cultural values, institutional frameworks. |
| Keywords: | tasks, technical change, cross-country comparative analysis |
| Date: | 2020–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:laedte:202013&r=all |
| By: | Elinder, Mikael (Department of Economics at Uppsala University); Hagen, Johannes (IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy); Nordin, Mattias (Uppsala University, Department of Statistics); Säve-Söderbergh, Jenny (The Swedish Social Insurance Inspectorate) |
| Abstract: | Recent pension reforms have shifted a larger responsibility towards savers. Individuals therefore need better knowledge of the rules and incentives embedded in the pension system to adequately save and prepare for retirement. In this paper, we use a novel Swedish survey matched with high-quality administrative data to show that many lack, and feel that they lack, such pension-specific knowledge. We also show that the most economically vulnerable groups know the least. Linking pension knowledge to behavior, we find that knowing less is associated with lower preparedness for retirement, even after controlling for financial literacy and subjective knowledge. Moreover, a large majority state the complexity of the pension system, or that they have planned to learn more about pensions but that it just hasn’t happened, as reasons for why they do not have sufficient knowledge. That the complexity of the pension system and individuals’ proclivity to procrastinate are plausible causal factors for low pension knowledge is supported by analyses showing that individuals with low math skills and procrastination tendencies have lower pension knowledge. |
| Keywords: | bounded rationality; financial literacy; saving; pension system |
| JEL: | D80 D83 H55 |
| Date: | 2020–12–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2020_024&r=all |
| By: | José Ignacio Garcia-Pérez (Department of Economics, Universidad Pablo de Olavide & FEDEA;); Manuel Serrano-Alarcón (NOVA National School of Public Health, NOVA University of Lisbon Center for Research in Economics and Health, Universitat Pompeu Fabra;); Judit Vall Castelló (Department of Economics, Universitat de Barcelona & Institut D’economia De Barcelona (IEB), Center for Research in Economics and Health, Universitat Pompeu Fabra;) |
| Abstract: | We estimate the labour market and health effects of a long-term unemployment (LTU) subsidy targeted to middle aged disadvantaged workers. In order to do so, we exploit a Spanish reform introduced in July 2012 that increased the age eligibility threshold to receive the subsidy from 52 to 55. Using a within-cohort identification strategy, we show that men ineligible for the subsidy were more likely to leave the labour force. In terms of health outcomes, although we do not report impacts on hospitalizations when considering the whole sample, we do find significant results when we separate the analysis by main diagnosis and gender. More specifically, we show a reduction by 12.9% in hospitalizations due to injuries as well as a drop by 2 percentage points in the probability of a mental health diagnosis for men who were eligible for the LTU subsidy. Our results highlight the role of long-term unemployment benefits as a protecting device for the health (both physical and mental) of middle aged, low educated men who are in a disadvantaged position in the labour market. |
| Keywords: | disadvantaged workers, unemployment subsidies, health effects |
| JEL: | H52 I23 I28 J24 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pab:wpaper:20.11&r=all |
| By: | Troeger, Vera E. (University of Warwick and Universitat Hamburg); Di Leo, Riccardo (University of Warwick); Scotto, Thomas J. (University of Glasgow); Epifanio, Mariaelisa (University of Liverpool) |
| Abstract: | We use an original survey of academic women in the UK to investigate different dimensions of the motherhood penalty. Being a mother has no effect on salaries, but still slows down career progression even in such a high-skilled sector. Motherhood has an ambivalent impact on women’s perception of their working environment: improving satisfaction, but reducing perception of salary fairness relative to men. Our paper also explores how different policies can mitigate the motherhood penalties. We find that more generous maternity provisions are associated with higher salary, potentially because generosity reduces the crowding out of research activity. Better availability of childcare and an even distribution of responsibilities within the household correlate positively with earnings. Our findings also highlight the importance of a supportive work environment for mothers’ career and well-being at the workplace. Taken together, these findings suggest the necessity of a multi-faceted policy response to the motherhood penalties. |
| Keywords: | satisfaction, salary, career, exclusion, gender pay gap, academia JEL Classification: |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:519&r=all |
| By: | Krekel, Christian (London School of Economics); Rechlitz, Julia (DIW Berlin); Rode, Johannes (Darmstadt University of Technology); Zerrahn, Alexander (DIW Berlin) |
| Abstract: | Although there is strong support for renewable energy plants, they are often met with local resistance. We quantify the externalities of renewable energy plants using wellbeing data. We focus on the example of biogas, one of the most frequently deployed technologies besides wind and solar. To this end, we combine longitudinal household data with novel panel data on more than 13,000 installations in Germany. Identification rests on a spatial difference-in-differences design exploiting exact geographical coordinates of households, biogas installations and wind direction and intensity. We find limited evidence for negative externalities: impacts are moderate in size and spatially confined to a radius of 2,000 metres around plants. We discuss implications for research and regional planning, in particular minimum setback distances and potential monetary compensations. |
| Keywords: | renewables, biogas, externalities, social acceptance, wellbeing, spatial analysis |
| JEL: | C23 Q42 Q51 R20 |
| Date: | 2020–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13959&r=all |
| By: | Caterina Pavese (Department of Economics, University Of Venice Cà Foscari); Enrico Rubolino (HEC Lausanne) |
| Abstract: | Most countries discipline their public budget through a set of fiscal rules aiming at limiting public debt accumulation. Yet, apart from the direct effect on public finance outcomes, there is limited evidence on whether these policies affect broader socio-economic outcomes. This paper provides regression discontinuity estimates of fiscal rules-induced school spending drops on test scores of Italian students. We show that school spending per-pupil is around 102 euros lower in municipalities subject to fiscal restraints. Using longitudinal data on pupils’ attainment in national test at the beginning and the end of primary school, we find that spending differences lead to a gap in standardized test score gains of nearly 12 percent of a standard deviation. The impact is particularly strong for lower socio-economic groups. We find that both the lack of several basic instructional tools and limited investments in school facilities explain most of the observed achievement gap. Our results reveal how fiscal restraints can create “unintended” consequences for younger generations and exacerbate cross-generation inequalities when governments need to reduce public spending. |
| Keywords: | School spending, test scores, fiscal rules, regression discontinuity design |
| JEL: | I22 I24 H52 H75 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ven:wpaper:2021:02&r=all |
| By: | Eva Coll-Martinez (Sciences Po, Toulose); Malia Kedjar (Normandie University); Patricia Renou-Maissant (EconomiX, CNRS, University of Paris Nanterre)) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the location determinants of eco-innovative firms in France. The analysis is based on a dataset obtained after merging firm-level microdata on the location of new firms from DIANE Mercantil Register (Bureau van Dijk) and patents information from the OECD REGPAT (2018) database for the period 2003 and 2013. This paper departs from previous contributions on the location determinants of eco-innovation in three main ways. First, it analyses the effects of the regional technological knowledge base and its composition focusing on environmental-based innovations. Second, it introduces spatial econometrics techniques to capture any potential spatial spillovers arising from the location of eco-innovative firms. And third, it focuses on the French case which is of special interest in view of the relevance of regional eco-innovation policies. Main results show that unrelated knowledge variety for environmental technologies and the political support in terms of investments for the protection of the environment are the main factors explaining the location of eco-innovative firms. Indeed, by applying spatial econometrics we found that there is a clear spatial dependence on the creation. However, our results also show that the impact of the knowledge composition is quite local. These results may have many implications for French departments’ environmental performance and sustainable growth. |
| Keywords: | eco-innovative firms’ entry, industrial location, knowledge spillovers, environmental technologies, France |
| JEL: | L |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:inf:wpaper:2020.02&r=all |
| By: | Andrés-Cerezo, D., Fabra, N.; Fabra, N. |
| Abstract: | We asses how firms' incentives to operate and invest in energy storage depend on the market structure. For this purpose, we characterize equilibrium market outcomes allowing for market power in storage and/or production, as well as for vertical integration between storage and production. Market power reduces overall efficiency through two channels: it induces an inefficient use of the storage facilities, and it distorts investment incentives. The worst outcome for consumers and total welfare occurs under vertical integration. We illustrate our theoretical results by simulating the Spanish wholesale electricity market for different levels of storage capacity. The results are key to understand how to regulate energy storage, an issue which is critical for the deployment of renewables. |
| Keywords: | Storage, electricity, market structure, investment, vertical relations |
| JEL: | L22 L94 |
| Date: | 2020–12–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:20122&r=all |
| By: | Troeger, Vera E. (University of Warwick and Universitat Hamburg); Di Leo, Riccardo (University of Warwick); Scotto, Thomas J. (University of Glasgow); Epifanio, Mariaelisa (University of Liverpool) |
| Abstract: | Legislation over the past two decades enhanced the availability and quantity of statutory maternity leave in the United Kingdom. In high-skilled sectors, many employers top up this maternity leave in an effort to retain and develop the careers of women. As leave provision became more generous, debates emerged as to the role, if any, these enhanced benefits have in retaining women in high status occupation and facilitating their career growth. Further, individual situations and employment status may prevent women from taking advantage of enhanced benefits. This paper presents findings from a comprehensive survey of thousands of women in the UK Higher Education sector and documents how the lives of academic mothers changed over the past quarter century. Contract status and the partner’s participation in parenting has significant effects on the types of maternity leave taken. We reflect on these findings and discuss future research in the area of labour market equity and productivity the availability of this comprehensive quantitative survey of academic women can facilitate. |
| Keywords: | motherhood, gender gap, maternity leaves, academia JEL Classification: |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:518&r=all |
| By: | Hupkau, Claudia; Petrongolo, Barbara |
| Abstract: | We explore the effects of the COVID-19 crisis and the associated restrictions to economic activity on paid and unpaid work for men and women in the United Kingdom. Using data from the COVID-19 supplement of Understanding Society, we find evidence that labour market outcomes of men and women were roughly equally affected at the extensive margin, as measured by the incidence of job loss or furloughing. But, if anything, women suffered smaller losses at the intensive margin, experiencing slightly smaller changes in hours and earnings. Within the household, women provided on average a larger share of increased childcare needs, but in an important share of households fathers became the primary childcare providers. These distributional consequences of the pandemic may be important to understand its inequality legacy over the longer term. |
| Keywords: | childcare; Covid-19; gender gaps; time use; coronavirus; WEL/43603 |
| JEL: | D13 J13 J16 J22 J30 |
| Date: | 2020–11–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:107829&r=all |
| By: | René Böheim; Michael Topf |
| Abstract: | We study the effect of lower unearned income on labor supply. To identify the causal effect of an unexpected reduction in unearned income, we exploit a policy reform that lowered survivor pensions in Austria. Men widowed after the survivor pension reform received an approximately 34% lower survivor pension than men widowed before the reform. We follow the employment history of both groups for 150 months and estimate the reform’s effect on labor supply using a regression discontinuity design. The effect of the lower pension is evident immediately after the death of their spouse, is persistent over time, becomes more pronounced over time, and is robust across model specifications. Our baseline result suggests a 3.5 to 5.4 percentage point higher employment rate for survivors in the low pension regime in the long run. The estimated effect corresponds to a labor supply elasticity at the extensive margin with respect to the changes in total income of about -0.9 to -1.3. |
| Keywords: | labor supply, unearned income, regression discontinuity design. |
| JEL: | I38 J22 J48 |
| Date: | 2020–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jku:econwp:2020-27&r=all |
| By: | Guilhem Cassan (University of Namur, DEFIPP, CRED, CEPREMAP); Marc Sangnier (University of Namur. Aix-Marseille University) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the extent to which March 15, 2020 municipal elections contributed to the COVID-19 epidemics in France. We first predict each departement’s own dynamics using information up to the election to calibrate a standard logistic model. We then take advantage of electoral turnout differences between departements to identify the impact of the election on prediction errors in hospitalizations. We report a detrimental effect of the election in locations that were at relatively advanced stages of the epidemics by the time of the election. Estimates suggest that elections accounted for about 15% of all hospitalizations by the end of March. |
| Keywords: | COVID-19, Hospitalizations, Electoral turnout, Municipal elections, Prediction errors. JEL Classification: |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:524&r=all |
| By: | Anders Bondemark (Lund University [Lund]); Henrik Andersson (TSE - Toulouse School of Economics - UT1 - Université Toulouse 1 Capitole - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Anders Wretstrand (Lund University [Lund]); Karin Brundell-Freij (Lund University [Lund]) |
| Abstract: | One of the reasons to subsidise public transport is to improve the mobility of low-income groups by providing affordable public transport; however, the literature describes a situation whereby those with a low income are unable to afford the cheapest tickets per trip, i.e. travelcards, as they usually require a considerable up-front cost. In this study, we use a large dataset from the Swedish National Travel Survey to investigate whether, and if so how, income explains monthly travelcard possession among individuals for whom this would have been the least expensive option. We find a robust positive relationship between income and travelcard possession among low-income earners, indicating that those with a low income pay more to use public transport than more affluent individuals. As the accessibility of low-income groups is an important motivation for public transport subsidies, the findings from this study have important policy implications. |
| Keywords: | Fares,Public transport,Income,Liquidity constraints |
| Date: | 2020–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03044001&r=all |
| By: | Yashiro, Naomitsu (OECD); Kyyrä, Tomi (VATT, Helsinki); Hwang, Hyunjeong (OECD); Tuomala, Juha (VATT, Helsinki) |
| Abstract: | There are two major barriers to increasing employment of older workers. First, older workers engaged in codifiable, routine tasks are particularly prone to the risk of being displaced by computers and robots. Second, several countries have in place various labour market institutions that encourage early retirement, such as exceptional entitlements or looser criteria for unemployment and disability benefits applied to older individuals. We present evidence that these two factors reinforce each other to push older workers out of employment. We find that older workers who are more exposed to digital technologies are more likely to leave employment, and that this effect is significantly magnified when they are eligible to an extension of unemployment benefits until the earliest age for drawing old age pension. Furthermore, our findings imply that a policy reform that tightens the eligibility for the benefit extension would increase mostly the employment of older workers that are more exposed to digital technologies. |
| Keywords: | technological change, disability benefits, unemployment benefits, early retirement |
| JEL: | H55 J26 J65 O33 |
| Date: | 2020–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13990&r=all |
| By: | Giulia Martina Tanzi (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | In this paper I analyse whether non-employment periods at the initial stages of an individual’s career may increase workers’ propensity to experience non-employment also in subsequent years. The study is based on data on young individuals in Italy. The paper uses an instrumental variables approach to separate the effect of early non-employment from any residual unobserved heterogeneity. The results provide strong evidence of negative effects induced by early non-employment, but the size of these effects depends on individual and regional labour market characteristics. The negative repercussions of early non-employment are smaller during economic downturns or in regions with high unemployment rates. |
| Keywords: | non-employment, labor market conditions, instrumental variables |
| JEL: | J64 C26 C34 |
| Date: | 2020–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_1312_20&r=all |
| By: | Francesca Modena (Bank of Italy); Giulia Martina Tanzi (Bank of Italy); Santiago Pereda Fernandez (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | One of the main goals of grants is to reduce dropout rates. In this paper, we assess how different assignment rules target different students and how they affect dropout rates in the first year of enrollment. The analysis uses administrative data from all Italian universities for the period 2003-13. We find that awarding the grant to all eligible students would significantly increase public expenses, with only a slight reduction in the dropout rate. Since we find that the grants have a heterogeneous effect according to students’ characteristics, assignment rules keeping the number of grants constant have an impact on dropout rates. In particular, targeting high-performing students would minimize dropout rates amongst grant recipients, but it would slightly increase the overall dropout rate. On the other hand, targeting those who benefit the most achieves the maximum reduction in dropout rates at the cost of increasing the number of grant recipient dropouts. |
| Keywords: | grants, treatment assignment, university dropouts |
| JEL: | C25 I21 I22 |
| Date: | 2020–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_1307_20&r=all |
| By: | José Ignacio Garcia-Pérez (Department of Economics, Universidad Pablo de Olavide & FEDEA ;); Antonio Villar (Department of Economics, Universidad Pablo de Olavide;) |
| Abstract: | We present an evaluation model that aims at developing a synthetic index of non-employment that combines incidence and severity. This index considers, besides conventional unemployment rates, unemployment duration, discouraged workers and workers with suspended jobs. We have applied this methodology to the analysis of the impact of the Covid-19 in the Spanish labour market. The impact of the epidemics on the job market has been very asymmetric by regions and types of workers. Compared to the situation in the third quarter of 2019 we find that one year later the non-working index arrived to more than 150 in regions in the south whereas it is below 75 in regions like Navarra, Catalunya or Madrid. The dynamics of this indicator, though, shows that the larger increments have occurred among the regions with lower initial values, so that the variability is now smaller. Regarding age and education, we find that the young (and among them the less educated) are the population subgroup that suffers more intensely the impact of this new economic crisis. On the contrary, older workers seem to improve for all education subgroups during 2020. The main reason behind this is the asymmetric concentration of temporary collective redundancy scheme measures among older workers, what is very much connected with the dual character of the Spanish labour market regarding contract types and job security. |
| Keywords: | Unemployment, Severity, Incidence, Unemployment Duration, Inequality, Covid-19. |
| JEL: | J01 J21 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pab:wpaper:20.12&r=all |
| By: | Caselli, Francesca; Grigoli, Francesco; Sandri, Damiano; Spilimbergo, Antonio |
| Abstract: | Overall mobility declined during the COVID-19 pandemic because of government lockdowns and voluntary social distancing. Yet, aggregate data mask important heterogeneous effects across segments of the population. Using unique mobility indicators based on anonymized and aggregate data provided by Vodafone for Italy, Portugal, and Spain, we find that lockdowns had a larger impact on the mobility of women and younger cohorts. Younger people also experienced a sharper drop in mobility in response to rising COVID-19 infections. Our findings, which are consistent across estimation methods and robust to a variety of tests, warn about a possible widening of gender and inter-generational inequality. |
| Keywords: | COVID-19,lockdown,mobility,gender,age |
| JEL: | E1 I1 H0 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:753&r=all |
| By: | Tania Burchardt; Eleni Karagiannaki |
| Abstract: | In most research on living standards, material deprivation is measured using household-level material deprivation indicators. However, if resources are not shared equally within households, conventional material deprivation indicators may mask important variations in individual living standards. In this paper we make use of individual adult-level deprivation data included in the 2014 European Union Statistics on Incomes and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) ad-hoc material deprivation module to examine the implications of intra-household inequality for material deprivation measurement. Results from a series of regression models which examine how adult deprivation indicators vary by various household and individual characteristics suggest that the share of total household income brought in by an individual (our proxy of individuals' bargaining power within households) has a significant negative effect on the individual's deprivation risk in most countries, pointing to the incomplete sharing of household resources. |
| Keywords: | deprivation, intra-household inequality, multi-family households |
| JEL: | D13 D31 I31 I32 |
| Date: | 2020–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:sticas:/218&r=all |
| By: | Ottoz, Elisabetta; Pavese, Piermassimo; Sella, Lisa (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | Hedonic regression technique has often been used to study the effect of road, railway and airport noise on property prices. However European cities are experiencing a particular type of noise pollution originated by nighttime recreational activities mainly located in the city centers, the so called “Movida†, which hasn’t been properly investigated yet. The aim of the paper is to examine the effect of recreational noise on residential property prices. We used an original highly detailed housing transactions dataset from the City of Turin covering the period 2017 to 2018 and built an indicator of recreational noise based on the proximity of dwellings to the night recreational activities. The results obtained employing hedonic modelling show that the adverse environment for an apartment located in a “Movida†district will result in a lower market value as compared to an apartment with similar characteristics, except for recreational noise. This occurs because potential buyers reduce their demand, as they discount present value of the costs of annoyance, loss of tranquility and health effects due to sleep deprivation. |
| Date: | 2020–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uto:dipeco:202027&r=all |
| By: | Matteo Pelagatti |
| Abstract: | On 4 November 2020 the Italian government introduced a new policy to address the second wave of Covid-19. Based on a battery of indicators, the 21 administrative regions of Italy were assigned a risk level among yellow, orange, red, and, starting on 6 November 2020, different type of restrictions were applied accordingly. In this work, we extract the daily growth rate of new cases, hospitalizations and patients in ICU from official data using an unobserved components model and assess if the different restrictions had different effects in reducing the speed of spread of the virus. |
| Date: | 2020–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mib:wpaper:457&r=all |