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on Microeconomic European Issues |
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Issue of 2021‒07‒19
34 papers chosen by Giuseppe Marotta Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia |
| By: | Alessandra Casarico; Salvatore Lattanzio |
| Abstract: | We study the short- and long-run impact of motherhood on labour market outcomes and explore the individual and firm-level factors that influence it. Using matched employer-employee data for Italy over 1985-2018, through an event study methodology around childbirth, we show that the long-run child penalty in annual earnings is 57 log points and it largely depends on the change in labour supply along the intensive margin. The birth of a child increases the probability of transition to non-employment, reduces the likelihood of having executive roles and increases that of working in firms with lower productivity, sales, capital and wages, providing evidence of sorting into worse firms after childbirth. In the heterogeneity analysis, we find that the child penalty is higher for young, low-wage mothers and those taking longer leaves. It is larger in firms with less generous pay, worse peers, in more gender-conservative regions and where childcare services are scarcer. |
| Keywords: | child penalty, motherhood, labour-supply, heterogeneous effects, matched employer-employee data |
| JEL: | J13 J16 J31 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9155&r= |
| By: | Bedaso, Fenet |
| Abstract: | Using the panel data from 1995 to 2019, this paper investigates the labor market integration of non-EU immigrants in Germany. The existing evidence shows that the economic outcomes of migrants are far behind natives. However, immigrants are a heterogeneous group in terms of their motives for migration and skills composition. In this paper, I disentangle immigrants into refugees and other migrants and compare the employment probability gap between refugees, other migrants, and natives. I also examine whether refugees have a lower employment outcome than other migrants and to what extent the level of education, language proficiency, health status, years since migration, and cohort effects explain the employment gap between the refugees and other migrants. The result confirms that refugees and other migrants are less likely to be employed than natives and the employment gap is much higher for refugees. I also find evidence of heterogeneity across gender. Other migrant men do not significantly differ from native men in the probability of being employed. In contrast, refugee women have an economic disadvantage than other migrant women and native women. I find no evidence that health status differences attribute to the employment gap between refugees, other migrants, and natives. Finally, this paper highlights the importance of the migration category when assessing the integration of immigrants into the labor market. |
| Keywords: | Employment,Refugees,other Migrants,Labor Market,Integration |
| JEL: | J15 J21 J61 F22 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:884&r= |
| By: | Natalia Danzer; Mathias Huebener; Astrid Paper; C. Katharina Spiess; Nico A. Siegel; Gert G. Wagner |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the effects of Covid-19 related daycare and school closures on gender role attitudes toward maternal employment in Germany. We compare women and men with dependent children to those without children one year after the outbreak of the pandemic. Using data on gender role attitudes from 2008 through 2021, we find that fathers’ egalitarian attitudes toward maternal employment dropped substantially in 2021. This drop is observed for men in West Germany, who showed a steady progression toward more egalitarian attitudes in the pre-pandemic period. Attitudes by women are not affected. These findings suggest that the pandemic not only affected the short-term allocation of housework and childcare, but also reversed recent trends toward more egalitarian gender roles. |
| Keywords: | Covid-19, gender role attitudes, childcare, difference-in-difference, ALLBUS, COMPASS |
| JEL: | J13 J16 J18 J22 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9144&r= |
| By: | Devicienti, Francesco (University of Turin); Fanfani, Bernardo (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies firms' adjustment behavior to the growth in labor costs induced by Italian collective bargaining institutions. Our research design compares several firms' outcomes across collective agreements within the same sector and geographic location, exploiting discontinuities in contractual wages' growth as a source of variation in labor costs. Results show that on average employment and revenues fall, wages increase, while firms' productivity, workers' average quality, the profit margin and capital intensity do not change in response to higher labor costs. These effects are heterogeneous across the firms' productivity distribution. Employment, revenues, productivity and the profit margin are positively or not related to contractual wage growth among relatively more efficient firms, while they are negatively related to this shock at less productive companies. More efficient firms tend to substitute high- with low-skilled workers, which are instead more likely to be laid off by less efficient employers. These results suggest that more efficient companies adjust to the growth in labor costs through cost-saving strategies and they may benefit from cleansing effects that increase their product market shares. |
| Keywords: | collective bargaining, minimum wage, productivity, employment, matched employer-employee data |
| JEL: | J00 J23 J24 J31 J38 J58 L13 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14532&r= |
| By: | Marion Leroutier (PSE - Paris School of Economics - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - 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, CIRED - Centre International de Recherche sur l'Environnement et le Développement - Cirad - Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AgroParisTech - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - Université Paris-Saclay - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | Decreasing greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation is crucial to tackle climate change. Yet, empirically little is known on the effectiveness of economic instruments in the power sector. This paper examines the impact of the UK Carbon Price Support (CPS), a carbon tax implemented in the UK power sector in 2013. Compared to a synthetic control unit built from other European countries, emissions from the UK power sector declined by 26 percent on an average year between 2013 and 2017. Bounds on the effects of potential UK confounding policies and several placebo tests suggest that the carbon tax caused at least 80% of this decrease. Three mechanisms are highlighted: a decrease in emissions at the intensive margin; the closure of some high-emission plants at the extensive margin; and a higher probability of closure than in the synthetic UK for plants at risk of closure due to European air quality regulations. This paper shows that a carbon tax on electricity generation can lead to successful decarbonisation. |
| Keywords: | Synthetic control method,Synthetic control method carbon tax,Electricity generation,Carbon tax |
| Date: | 2021–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:psewpa:halshs-03265636&r= |
| By: | Ernest Miguelez (GREThA UMR CNRS 5113 – Université de Bordeaux, France. AQR-IREA – University of Barcelona, Spain.); Andrea Morrison (ICRIOS & Department of Management and Technology - Bocconi University, Italy. Department of Human Geography and Planning – Utrecht University, The Netherlands.) |
| Abstract: | How do regions enter new and distant technological fields? Who is triggering this process? This work addresses these compelling research questions by investigating the role of migrant inventors in the process of technological diversification. Immigrant inventors can indeed act as carriers of knowledge across borders and influence the direction of technological change. We test these latter propositions by using an original dataset of immigrant inventors in the context of European regions during the period 2003-2011. Our findings show that: immigrant inventors generate positive local knowledge spillovers; they help their host regions to develop new technological specialisations; they trigger a process of unrelated diversification. Their contribution comes via two main mechanisms: immigrant inventors use their own personal knowledge (knowledge creation); they import knowledge from their home country to the host region (knowledge transfer). Their impact is maximised when their knowledge is not recombined with the local one (in mixed teams of inventors), but it is reused (in teams made by only migrant inventors). Our work contributes to the existing literature of regional diversification by providing fresh evidence of unrelated diversification for European regions and by identifying important agents of structural change. It also contributes to the literature of migration and innovation by adding fresh evidence on European regions and by unveiling some of the mechanisms of immigrants’ knowledge transmission. |
| Keywords: | Patents, Migration, Technological diversification, Relatedness, Europe. JEL classification: O30, F20, F60. |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ira:wpaper:202114&r= |
| By: | van den Berg, Gerard (University of Groningen); Gürtzgen, Nicole (IAB,University of Regensburg, ZEW); Lochner, Benjamin (UniversityofErlangen-N ̈urnberg,IAB); Pohlan, Laura (AB,ZEW) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the effects of the high-speed internet expansion on the match quality of new hires. We combine data on internet availability at the local level with German individual register and vacancy data.Results show that internet availability has no major impact on the stability of new matches and their wages. We confirm these findings using vacancy data, by explicitly comparing match outcomes of online and non-online recruits. Further results show that online recruiting not only raises the number of applicants and the share of unsuitable candidates per vacancy, but also induces employers to post more vacancies. |
| Keywords: | Matching; internet; informationalfriction; recruitingchannel; va-cancy; wage; jobduration |
| JEL: | C26 H40 J64 L96 |
| Date: | 2021–05–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2021_008&r= |
| By: | Srhoj, Stjepan; Zilic, Ivan |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the effect of a self-employment grant scheme for unemployed individuals-designed to ease the first 12 months of business operation-on firm growth, survival, and labor market reintegration in Croatia in the 2010-2017 period. Grants offered a moderate amount of finances (up to 50% of average annual gross salary) and absorbed only 5% of funds allocated to active labor market policies (ALMPs), but accounted for 10% of new firms opened throughout the years. We contribute to the literature on self-employment grants with several novel findings. Exploiting the longitudinal structure of the unemployment episodes dataset, we find that individuals who finish their spell with a grant have a significantly lower probability of returning to unemployment. The policy is particularly effective for individuals who would have otherwise had labor market opportunities (men, more educated, prime-age workers, previously employed), individuals who became unemployed after inactivity and lost their job due to a firm's closure-which demonstrates that self-employment subsidies can be effective in ameliorating unemployment. However, the policy was not effective for longer unemployed individuals. At the firm level, we find descriptive evidence that limited liability firms opened via a grant have lower growth potential and worse survival profile, while unlimited liability firms-even though a sizable portion of them closes after a required 12-month grant period-have a more favorable survival profile. Finally, we also find that the effectiveness of these grants has increased throughout the years, indicating toward the direction of institutional learning. |
| Keywords: | evaluation; firm performance; self-employment grant; unemployment |
| JEL: | R14 J01 N0 |
| Date: | 2021–06–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:110998&r= |
| By: | Holmlund, Helena (IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy); Rainer, Helmut (University of Munich); Reich, Patrick (ifo Institute) |
| Abstract: | Although geographical and temporal variations in gender achievement gaps have received considerable attention, the role of culture in explaining this variation is not well understood. We exploit a large Swedish administrative data set to study gender gaps in education among second-generation immigrant youth with different cultural backgrounds. Guided by hypotheses we derive from the economics literature on gender differences and gender convergence, we explore the predictive power of a set of cultural dimensions including achievement orientation, acceptance of inequality, risk avoidance, and long-term orientation. Our empirical strategy relies on within-family, cross-gender sibling comparisons, identifying culture's differential impact on girls relative to boys while netting out unobserved family heterogeneity. We find that the central cultural dimension that matters for gender gaps in student achievement is the extent to which a society emphasizes ambition, competition, and achievement, which is strongly predictive of a relative achievement disadvantage of girls compared with boys. Exploring factors that may explain the results, we find that parents from achievement-oriented cultures choose higher quality schools for their children, and that boys benefit more from exposure to higher quality schools than girls do. Using PISA data to probe external validity, we find qualitatively and quantitatively remarkably similar results in a very different sample of second-generation immigrant youth. |
| Keywords: | Culture; Achievement Orientation; Gender Gaps in Education |
| JEL: | J16 Z10 |
| Date: | 2021–07–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2021_010&r= |
| By: | Yajna Govind (PSE - Paris School of Economics - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - 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) |
| Abstract: | Better integration is beneficial for both migrants and the host country. In this respect, granting citizenship could be an important policy to boost migrants' integration. In this paper, I estimate the causal impact of obtaining citizenship on migrants' labor market integration. I exploit a change in the law of naturalization through marriage in France in 2006. This reform amended the eligibility criteria for applicants by increasing the required number of years of marital life from 2 to 4, generating an exogenous shock and thus a quasi-experimental setting. Using administrative panel data, I first show evidence of the impact of the reform on naturalization rates. I then use a difference-indifferences model to estimate the labor market returns to naturalization. I find that, among those working, citizenship leads to an increase in annual earnings. This effect is driven by a significant increase in the number of hours worked, as well as a positive effect on hourly wages. While the gain in earnings is similar for both men and women, the effect for men is mostly driven by an increase in hours worked compared to an increase in hourly wages for women. I provide suggestive evidence that naturalization helps reduce informality, and discrimination. This paper thus provides strong evidence that naturalization acts as a catalyst for labor market integration. |
| Keywords: | Naturalization,Immigrants,Labor market,Mixed marriages |
| Date: | 2021–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:psewpa:halshs-03265055&r= |
| By: | Clemens Fuest; Florian Neumeier; Daniel Stöhlker |
| Abstract: | On 3 June 2020, the German government announced a temporary value added tax (VAT) rate reduction. VAT rates were reduced on 1 July 2020 and went back to their previous level on 1 January 2021. We study the price effects of the temporary VAT rate reduction using a web-scraped data set covering the daily prices of roughly 130,000 supermarket products. To identify the causal price effects, we compare the development of prices in Germany to those in Austria. Our findings indicate an asymmetric price response to the VAT rate cut and subsequent increase. The reduction of VAT rates led to a price decrease of roughly 1.3%, implying that about 70% of the tax cut were passed on to consumers. In contrast, the price effect of the VAT increase was only about half that size. We also study the link between tax incidence and the intensity of competition. Pass-through of the VAT reduction was higher in product groups with a large number of competing products. We rationalize this finding by analyzing consumption tax incidence in the ‘love of variety’ model of consumption. |
| Keywords: | value added tax, tax incidence, fiscal policy, price effects, competition |
| JEL: | E31 H22 H25 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9149&r= |
| By: | Holmberg, Johan (Department of Economics, Umeå University) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we present a model of earnings dynamics that includes transitions in and out of employment as well as business cycle fluctuations. The model is estimated using the method of indirect inference and a mix of Swedish register, survey, and macro data. We find that the business cycle has a larger effect on transitions from unemployment to employment than on the risk of becoming unemployed. By simulating data from the model, we find that the business cycle has a relatively small impact on earnings inequality in Sweden and that women’s labor market outcomes are less sensitive to business cycle fluctuations compared to men’s. Finally, we find that economic crises have a more severe impact on young workers. |
| Keywords: | Earning dynamics; Unemployment; Business cycles; Inequality |
| JEL: | D31 E32 J24 J64 |
| Date: | 2021–06–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:umnees:0991&r= |
| By: | Bijwaard, Govert (NIDI - Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute) |
| Abstract: | High educated individuals are less frequently admitted to hospital for cardiovascular diseases and live longer than the lower educated. We address whether the educational gradient in the mortality rate can be explained by the educational difference in the timing of CVD hospitalisation. We account for possible selective hospitalisation, by using a correlated multistate hazard model (a 'Timing-of-events'- model) and, for selection into education, by using inverse propensity weighting based on the probability to attain higher education. We use Swedish Military Conscription Data (1951-1960), for males only, linked to administrative Swedish registers. Our empirical results indicate a clear educational gradient in mortality and in the impact of CVD hospitalisation on mortality. The implied educational gain in the number of months lost is, however, mainly due to other factors than CVD hospitalisation. Extending the analysis to cause specific mortality reveals that the largest educational differences exist in death due to external causes. |
| Keywords: | timing-of-events, CVD hospitalisation, mortality, education, inverse propensity weighting |
| JEL: | C41 I14 I24 |
| Date: | 2021–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14507&r= |
| By: | Salma Khedr; Katrin Rehdanz; Roy Brouwer; Hanna Dijkstra; Sem Duijndam; Pieter van Beukering; Ikechukwu C. Okoli |
| Abstract: | Plastic pollution is one of the most challenging problems affecting the marine environment of our time. Based on a unique dataset covering four European seas and eight European countries, this paper adds to the limited empirical evidence base related to the societal welfare effects of marine litter management. We use a discrete choice experiment to elicit public willingness-to-pay (WTP) for macro and micro plastic removal to achieve Good Environmental Status across European seas as required by the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive. Using a common valuation design and following best-practice guidelines, we draw meaningful comparisons between countries, seas and policy contexts. European citizens have strong preferences to improve the environmental status of the marine environment by removing both micro and macro plastic litter favouring a pan-European approach. However, public WTP estimates differ significantly across European countries and seas. We explain why and discuss implications for policymaking. |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2107.03957&r= |
| By: | Scandura, Alessandra; Iammarino, Simona |
| Abstract: | This work explores the role of university department characteristics in academic engagement with industry. In particular, we investigate the role played by research quality and previous experience in academic engagement across different scientific disciplines. We test our hypotheses on a dataset of public sponsored university-industry partnerships in the United Kingdom, combined with data from the UK Research Assessment Exercises 2001 and 2008. Our analysis reveals a negative link between academic quality and the level of engagement with industry for departments in the basic sciences and a positive relationship for departments in the applied sciences. Our results further show that the role of research quality for academic engagement strictly depends on the level of the department’s previous experience in university-industry partnerships, notably in the basic sciences, where experience acts as a moderating factor. The findings of this work are highly relevant for policy makers and university managers and contribute to the innovation literature focused on the investigation of the determinants of valuable knowledge transfer practices in academia. |
| Keywords: | academic engagement; academic quality; experience; university-industry collaboration; Springer deal |
| JEL: | I23 O30 |
| Date: | 2021–06–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:110854&r= |
| By: | Acciari, Paolo; Morelli, Salvatore |
| Abstract: | In this paper we describe a novel source of data on the full record of inheritance tax files in Italy, covering up to 63% of total deceased. The work documents a substantial rise in the total value of inheritance and gifts as a share of national income, from 8.4% in 1995 to 15.1% in 2016. Consistent with the increasing role of total personal net wealth in the economy, the weight of inheritance and gifts in Italy appears relatively high by international standards. Over the same period, total wealth left at death has also become increasingly concentrated. The estates valued at least €1 million were worth 18.7% of total estate in the mid 1990s and 24.8% in 2016. This paper also documents that revenues collected from the inheritance tax underwent a threefold decline from 0.15% to 0.05% of total tax revenue between 1995 and 2016. Data also allow a disaggregated analysis by demographic and geographic characteristics. (Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality Working Paper) |
| Date: | 2021–07–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:87nmv&r= |
| By: | Michel Beine (Department of Economics and Management, Université du Luxembourg); Silvia Peracchi (Department of Economics and Management, Université du Luxembourg); Skerdilajda Zanaj (Department of Economics and Management, Université du Luxembourg) |
| Abstract: | The theoretical impact of genetic diversity is ambiguous since it leads to costs and benefits at the collective level. In this paper, we assess empirically the connection between genetic diversity and the performance of sport teams. Focusing on football (soccer), we built a novel dataset of national teams of European countries that have participated in the European and the World Championships since 1970. Determining the genetic diversity of national teams is based on the distance between the genetic scores of every players’ origins in the team. Genetic endowments for each player are recovered using a matching algorithm based on family names. Performance is measured at both the unilateral and bilateral level. Identification of the causal link relies on an instrumental variable strategy that is based on past immigration at the country level about one generation before. Our findings indicate a positive causal link between genetic diversity and teams’ performance. We find a substantial effect, a one- standard increase in diversity leading to ranking changes of two to three positions after each stage of a championship. |
| Keywords: | Genetic diversity, Football, Sports team, Performance, Family names, Migration. |
| JEL: | F22 F66 O15 O47 Z22 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:luc:wpaper:21-11&r= |
| By: | Stephan Geschwind; Felix Roesel |
| Abstract: | Do citizens legislate different tax policies than parliaments? We provide quasi-experimental evidence for causal effects of direct democracy. Town meetings (popular assemblies) replace local councils in small German municipalities below a specific population threshold. Difference-in-differences, RD and event study estimates consistently show that direct democracy comes with sizable but selective tax cuts. Property tax rates, which apply to all residents, decrease by some 10 to 15% under direct democracy. We do not find that business tax rates change. Direct democracy allows citizens to design tax policies more individually than voting for a high-tax or low-tax party in elections. |
| Keywords: | direct democracy, town meeting, popular assembly, constitution, public finance, taxation |
| JEL: | D71 D72 H71 R51 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9166&r= |
| By: | Waldenström, Daniel (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)); Angelov, Nikolay (The Swedish Tax Agency and Uppsala Center for Fiscal Studies (UCFS)) |
| Abstract: | We measure the distributional impact of the COVID-19 pandemic using newly released population register data in Sweden. Monthly earnings inequality increased during the pandemic, and the key driver is income losses among low-paid individuals while middle- and high-income earners were almost unaffected. The pandemic had a larger negative impact on private-sector workers and on women. Using data on individual take-up of government COVID-19 support, we show that policy significantly dampened the inequality increase, but did not fully offset it. Annual total market income inequality, which also includes capital income and taxable transfers, shows similar patterns of increasing inequality during the pandemic. |
| Keywords: | Pandemic; Income inequality; Earnings; Government policy |
| JEL: | D31 H12 H24 J22 |
| Date: | 2021–07–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1396&r= |
| By: | Daniel Müller; Elisabeth Gsottbauer |
| Abstract: | We conduct a representative survey experiment in Germany to understand why people support inecient policies. In particular, we measure beliefs about and preferences for rent control - a policy that is widely regarded as harmful by experts. To tease out causal mechanisms, we provide randomly selected subsets of participants with empirical estimates about the e ects of rent control on rent prices and housing supply and with information about the consensus among economists against rent control. We find that people update their beliefs and that this leads to lower demand for rent control. Left-wingers update their beliefs more strongly, which reduces the ideological gap in support for rent control by about one-third. Providing information about economists' rejection of this policy leads to the largest reduction in support. However, the main drivers of support for rent control are fairness considerations and profit motives. Our study also highlights the importance of trust in expert advice since treatment effects are consistently larger among those who indicate trust in expert advice. Finally, an obfuscated follow-up survey conducted three weeks later reveals that the effects, both on support for rent control and on beliefs, persist only for those who trust. |
| Keywords: | beliefs, demand for bad policies, housing supply, rent control, survey experiment, trust in experts |
| JEL: | H10 H30 H31 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:inn:wpaper:2021-20&r= |
| By: | Francesconi, Marco (University of Essex); James, Jonathan (University of Bath) |
| Abstract: | Reducing drink drive limits is generally regarded an effective strategy to save lives on the road. Using several new administrative data sources, we evaluate the effect of a stricter limit introduced in Scotland in 2014. This reduction had no effect on drink driving and road collisions. Estimates from a supply-of-offenses function suggests that the reform did not have much ex-ante scope for sizeable effects. The unavailability of cheaper alternative means of transportation and weak law enforcement seem to have been the main channels behind the lack of an impact. We find no externality on a wide range of domains, from alcohol consumption to criminal activities other than drink driving. |
| Keywords: | driving under the influence, road collisions, health, alcohol, crime |
| JEL: | I12 I18 D62 K42 |
| Date: | 2021–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14499&r= |
| By: | Bonakdar, Said Benjamin |
| Abstract: | The rising concentration of low-income households and ethnic minorities has become an important policy issue in Germany. The Ruhr Area is particularly interesting, because it is one of the largest conurbations in Europe and experienced radical structural changes in the past, which are connected to the boom and the deindustrialization of the coal mining and steel industry. Since there is no empirical evidence about the extent of residential segregation within the cities of the Ruhr Area, I use micro data on house-coordinates levels to investigate the urban structure of Bochum, which is located in the center of the conurbation. The results show that Bochum can be characterized by four different clusters under consideration of socioeconomic variables, dwelling rents and psychological indicators, e.g. captured by the so-called Sinus Milieus and Limbic Types. With a CHAID decision tree on dwelling rents I learned that especially dwelling size is a key separator between higher and lower dwelling prices in Bochum. The variables identified in the decision tree, like e.g. number of rooms or construction year, are used for hedonic price estimations within all clusters and show positive effects on dwelling rents. Finally, I found that, across all clusters, a rise in different satisfaction types also increase the odds of houses to be located in neighbourhoods with positive moving balance, which is a proxy for a high willingness-to-stay. |
| Keywords: | Urban housing,housing prices,rent,neighbourhood characteristics,segregation |
| JEL: | R21 R23 R31 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:914&r= |
| By: | Kuypers, Sarah; Marx, Ive |
| Abstract: | Despite clear limitations, poverty research in the rich world overwhelmingly relies on income-based measures. Households may have significant savings and assets that they can draw on to boost their living standards, but may also have debts that depress the living standard they can actually achieve with their disposable income. Using data from the Eurosystem Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS) this paper offers a picture of poverty in 17 EU countries that takes into account assets and debt, using various approaches. While earlier studies have found that poverty rates tend to be lower when wealth is accounted for, this study highlights the situation of those who become or remain poor even when savings and assets are included. It focusses both on within country patterns of joint income-wealth poverty as on cross-country differences. It is shown that the elderly are generally less prone to being poor once assets are accounted for. However, for renter households with a young, female, low educated, unemployed or inactive and single head, the risk of being poor when assets and debt are accounted for remains high and in some cases even increases. That is generally the case because they have few assets, rather than because of high debts. The substantial variation in poverty rates observed across countries can to some extent be accounted for by socio-demographic factors but a lot of variation still remains unaccounted for. (Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality Working Paper) |
| Date: | 2021–07–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:6e5b4&r= |
| By: | Drilo, Boris; Stojcic, Nebojsa; Vizek, Maruska |
| Abstract: | We explore how improvements in digital infrastructure contribute to digital transformation of the Croatian economy. More specifically, we investigate under what conditions improvements in broadband speed are conductive for firm entry in digitally intensive sectors at the local level (cities and municipalities; LGUs) during the period 2014–2017. The results of the benchmark random effects panel data model suggest a 10 percent increase in broadband speed increases the number of new digitally intensive firms by 0.68. Two-way interactions between explanatory variables suggest improvements in broadband infrastructure yield the greatest number of new firm entries in densely populated LGUs, and in LGUs with a higher quality of human capital and greater public investment in physical infrastructure. Using the spatial Durbin panel method, we find improvements in broadband infrastructure exhibit positive firm entry effects both within and between cities and municipalities. |
| Keywords: | firm entry; digitally intensive sectors; broadband speed; digital transformation; Croatia; spatial spillovers |
| JEL: | D22 L26 M13 O33 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:108717&r= |
| By: | Albanese, Andrea; Fallucchi, Francesco; Verheyden, Bertrand |
| Abstract: | Over the first half of March 2021, the majority of European governments suspended Astrazeneca's Vaxzevria vaccine as a precaution following media reports of rare blood clots. We analyse the impact of the European Medicines Agency's (EMA) March 18th statement assuring the public of the safety of Vaxzevria and the immediate reinstatement of the vaccine by most countries on respondents' intention to get vaccinated. By relying on survey data collected in Luxembourg and neighbouring areas between early March and mid-April, we observe that the willingness to be vaccinated was severely declining in the days preceding the EMA statement. We implement a regression discontinuity design exploiting the time at which respondents completed the survey and find that the vaccine reinstatement substantially restored vaccination intentions. |
| Keywords: | COVID-19,vaccine hesitancy,supranational regulation,public health,regression discontinuity design |
| JEL: | I12 I18 C21 H12 H40 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:878&r= |
| By: | Di Foggia, Giacomo; Beccarello, Massimo |
| Abstract: | In light of the organizational dynamics of services of economic interest, the regulation of municipal solid waste management is a critical issue to deal with so as to achieve sustainability goals in the coming decades. The European circular economy targets limit the share of municipal waste in landfills to a maximum of 10% by 2035. Consequently, waste-to-energy plants may temporarily become the primary option for residual unsorted waste. The municipal waste management chain comprises two consequential stages: collection and transport, and the treatment and disposal stage, which characterizes as an oligopolistic market structure. After defining the relevant market and calculating market concentration measures, we analyze market power in the treatment and disposal of non-recyclable mixed waste, also known as residual waste. Our analyses are based on empirical data using well-known market concentration indices such as the Herfindahl–Hirschman index and concentration ratios. We report the results of three different market concentration scenarios based on alternative geographic and product market definitions. Considering only waste-to-energy as a product market, we present a situation of moderate concentration, typically involving the attention of competition authorities. On the contrary, considering both options as a single product market, no relevant evidence emerges due to the significant share of waste sent to landfills in 2019, i.e., 20.1% of the total municipal solid waste generated in Italy. Implications for future studies consist of new detailed information on the municipal waste treatment market structure in one of the leading European countries that may prompt comparative studies. Policy implications are derived from the possibility of taking cues from this paper to envisage appropriate regulatory models for an evolving sector in which market spaces are increasing. |
| Date: | 2021–07–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:fwk6d&r= |
| By: | Vikström, Johan (IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy); Söderström, Martin (IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy); Cederlöf, Jonas (University of Edinburgh,) |
| Abstract: | How do caseworkers affect job finding and what characterizes a productive caseworker? To answer these questions we exploit variation coming from the fact that many local employment offices in Sweden assign job seekers to caseworkers based on their date of birth. We couple this identification strategy with fine-grained administrative data on both caseworkers and job seekers. Estimation of caseworker fixed effects reveals sizable variation in overall caseworker value-added. Female caseworkers perform better than male caseworkers and caseworkers with two years of experience outperform caseworkers with less experience. Cognitive ability and personal experience of unemployment are not related to caseworker performance. Based on the actions taken by the caseworkers we show that caseworker strategies are important. Analyses of caseworker–job seeker matching show that matching based on previous labor market experiences or gender leads to better outcomes. |
| Keywords: | unemployed workers; labor market policy; caseworkers |
| JEL: | J64 J68 |
| Date: | 2021–06–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2021_009&r= |
| By: | Mikulić, Josip; Vizek, Maruska; Stojcic, Nebojsa; Payne, James E.; Čeh Časni, Anita; Barbić, Tajana |
| Abstract: | Although researchers have confirmed the impact of tourism on housing prices in many destinations affected with overtourism, they do not consider housing affordability in relation to the population’s income levels. This study explores the relationship between tourism activity and housing affordability, using a sample of Croatian municipalities. Specifically, the study investigates how tourist accommodation, concentration, seasonality and overall vulnerability to tourism influence housing affordability in this emerging tourism-driven European country. The results obtained reveal tourism intensification’s deteriorating effect on local residents’ abilities to afford housing. The findings indicate a particularly strong tourism seasonality impact, suggesting the presence of common negative externalities, such as employment fluctuations, difficulties in maintaining economic status, and revenue instabilities, in localities prone to seasonal tourism fluctuations. |
| Keywords: | tourism intensity; housing affordability; dynamic panel model; Croatia |
| JEL: | L83 R2 R31 |
| Date: | 2021–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:108688&r= |
| By: | Simona Bratkova (University of Economics in Bratislava); Miroslav Sipikal (University of Economics in Bratislava); Valeria Nemethova (University of Economics in Bratislava) |
| Abstract: | Public support can flow to different areas of the economy and can have several dimensions. Frequent recipients of subsidies are firms, whose support can have specific effects. Such an undesirable effect occurs if these projects are supported that would be carried out without this subsidy. In this case, we are talking about the so-called deadweight effect, which has been discussed and investigated in several studies in the scientific literature. The present article tries to shift knowledge about this effect through a study of supported companies in Slovakia. The aim of the research is to find out whether deadweight effect had an impact on the short-term or long-term results of investigated companies by analysing economic results of the supported firms. Changes in several firm indicators were monitored as profit, sales and value added for individual years (2010, 2013, 2018). Results present changes in size categories of firms according to the number of employees. Firm groups were distinguished based on the extent of deadweight effect. The results showed that in cases when deadweight effect occurred, the profitability of supported firms increased, which ultimately means inessentiality of subsidy that spilled over into the profits of surveyed companies. |
| Keywords: | Entrepreneurship, structural funds, deadweight effect, firm support evaluation |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:smo:lpaper:0014&r= |
| By: | Poulissen, Davey (RS: GSBE other - not theme-related research, ROA / Health, skills and inequality); de Grip, Andries (ROA / Health, skills and inequality, RS: GSBE Theme Learning and Work, RS: SBE - MACIMIDE); Fouarge, Didier (RS: GSBE Theme Learning and Work, RS: GSBE Theme Data-Driven Decision-Making, ROA / Labour market and training); Künn, Annemarie (RS: GSBE Theme Learning and Work, ROA / Labour market and training) |
| Abstract: | Various studies have shown that temporary workers participate less in training than those on permanent contracts. Human resources practices are considered to be an important explanation for this difference. We develop a theoretical framework for employers’ provision of training that explicitly incorporates the costs and benefits associated with training investments in employees with different types of employment contracts. Our framework not only predicts employers to be less willing to invest in temporary workers due to the shorter time horizon associated with such an investment, but it also provides insights into how this willingness depends on characteristics of the training that are related to the expected costs and benefits of the training investment. A discrete choice experiment is used to empirically test the predictions from our theoretical framework. In line with our theoretical framework, we find that employers are less likely to invest in the training of temporary workers. This particularly holds when temporary workers do not have the prospect of a permanent contract with their current employer. Furthermore, we show that employers’ likelihood of investing in temporary workers indeed depends on aspects related to the costs and benefits of training, that is, a financial contribution to the training costs made by employees, a repayment agreement that applies when workers leave the organisation prematurely, and the transferability of the skills being trained. Our findings can be used to increase employers’ willingness to invest in temporary workers. However, similar effects are observed when looking at employers’ willingness to invest in permanent workers, suggesting that it will be difficult to decrease the gap in employers’ willingness to invest between temporary and permanent workers. |
| JEL: | J24 J41 J62 |
| Date: | 2021–05–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:umaror:2021003&r= |
| By: | Jacobs, Madelon (ROA / Education and transition to work, RS: GSBE other - not theme-related research); van der Velden, Rolf (RS: GSBE Theme Learning and Work, ROA / Education and transition to work); van Vugt, Lynn (RS: GSBE Theme Learning and Work, ROA / Education and transition to work) |
| Abstract: | In many countries, high-stakes tests play an important role in the allocation of pupils to prestigious tracks or schools in secondary education or students to prestigious programs or colleges in tertiary education. It is not clear what would happen if the standards for these tests were systematically raised or lowered. Would that affect the subsequent educational career? This paper exploits a unique natural experiment in the Netherlands using the market entrance of two new suppliers of high-stakes tests in primary education. In the first year of introduction, these new tests were not yet properly calibrated: For one test the standards were too low, while for the other test they were too high, compared to the standards of the traditional test that continued to be the main supplier. We use high-quality register data and a within-schools-across-cohorts design to model the short- and long-term outcomes (i.e., change in teacher advice and actual track three years later) for the students that were affected by the new tests. We find evidence for short-term effects, but no evidence for long-term effects. This implies that the Dutch educational system is sufficiently flexible to allocate pupils to the appropriate track, even if a high-stakes test advice does not recommend the right track. At the same time, it also implies that lowering the bar is not a simple way to increase the share of students going to prestigious tracks. |
| JEL: | J24 |
| Date: | 2021–06–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:umaror:2021004&r= |
| By: | Omar Martin Fieles-Ahmad (Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg); Matthias Huber (Friedrich Schiller University Jena) |
| Abstract: | Using data on the presence of the Goethe Institutes (GI) in 134 importer countries between 1978 and 2014, we study the effect that language learning opportunities abroad have on German exports. We employ a gravity model of trade with a single exporter and use the Poisson-Pseudo Maximum Likelihood (PPML) estimator to measure the relationship of interest. To gauge the importance of potential reverse causality, we also estimate the effect that institutes have on Swiss exports. Our findings for both Germany and German-speaking Swiss cantons show that institutes do stimulate exports to GI-hosting countries, but that this effect is confined to institutes offering language training services, which suggests that language requirements and acquisition underlie the positive link found between institutes and exports. This reading of our findings receives further support in additional explorations, where we study exports differentiated by Rauch (1999) product categories to account for differing communication requirements in trading. |
| Keywords: | gravity model, foreign trade, language, cultural institute |
| JEL: | C23 F14 Z10 |
| Date: | 2021–07–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2021-008&r= |
| By: | Ziegler, Lennart (University of Vienna) |
| Abstract: | This study provides new evidence on skill requirements in the labor market and shows to what extent skill demand is associated with wages and vacancy duration. Using more than 1.5 million job postings administered by the Austrian public employment service, I identify the most common skill requirements mentioned in job descriptions. Because employers in Austria are legally required to state the minimum remuneration for advertised positions, it is possible to relate the skill content of jobs to wage postings. Moreover, I estimate skill associations with starting wages for a subset of vacancies which can be matched to administrative data on employment spells of eventual hires. Accounting for education, work experience, and firm and occupation fixed-effects, there exists a robust association between the number of skill requirements and wages. In particular, jobs with many skill requirements pay substantially higher wages. While I estimate large effects for managerial and analytical skills, associations with most soft skills are small. Employers also need longer to fill vacancies with many skill requirements. Robustness tests show that measurement error is unlikely to explain these results and that the estimates can be replicated using vacancy postings from another job board. |
| Keywords: | job advertisements, job boards, skills, wage differentials, vacancy duration |
| JEL: | J23 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2021–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14511&r= |
| By: | Amez, Simon; Vujić, Sunčica; Abrath, Margo; Baert, Stijn |
| Abstract: | University students' smartphone use has recently been shown to negatively affect their academic performance. Surprisingly, research testing the empirical validity of potential mechanisms underlying this relationship is very limited. In particular, indirect effects of negative health consequences due to heavy smartphone use have never been investigated. To fill this gap, we investigate, for the first time, whether deteriorated sleep quality drives the negative impact on academic performance. To this end, we examine longitudinal data on 1,635 students at two major Belgian universities. Based on a combination of a random effects approach and seemingly unrelated regression, we find no statistically significant mediating effect of sleep quality in the relationship between smartphone use and academic performance. |
| Keywords: | smartphone use,academic performance,sleep quality,mediation analysis |
| JEL: | I21 I23 J24 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:879&r= |