|
on Microeconomic European Issues |
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Issue of 2021‒08‒09
33 papers chosen by Giuseppe Marotta Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia |
| By: | Simon Rabaté (CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis) |
| Abstract: | Having children can result in large earnings penalties for mothers. Using extensive administrative data from the Netherlands, we assess the magnitude and drivers of the effects of first childbirth on parents' earnings trajectories in the Netherlands. We show that mothers' earnings are 46% lower compared to their pre-birth earnings trajectory, whereas fathers' earnings are unaffected by child birth. We examine the role of two potential determinants of the unequal distribution of parents' labour market costs by gender: childcare policies and gender norms. We find that while child care availability is correlated with lower child penalty, the immediate short-term causal effect of increasing child care availability on the earnings penalty of becoming a mother is small. By taking advantage of variation in gender norms in different population groups, we show that gender norms are strongly correlated with child penalty for mothers. Having children can result in large earnings penalties for mothers. Using extensive administrative data from the Netherlands, we assess the magnitude and drivers of the effects of first childbirth on parents' earnings trajectories in the Netherlands. We show that mothers' earnings are 46% lower compared to their pre-birth earnings trajectory, whereas fathers' earnings are unaffected by child birth. We examine the role of two potential determinants of the unequal distribution of parents' labour market costs by gender: childcare policies and gender norms. We find that while child care availability is correlated with lower child penalty, the immediate short-term causal effect of increasing child care availability on the earnings penalty of becoming a mother is small. By taking advantage of variation in gender norms in different population groups, we show that gender norms are strongly correlated with child penalty for mothers. |
| JEL: | I26 I32 J13 |
| Date: | 2021–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpb:discus:424.rdf&r= |
| By: | Laszlo Goerke (Institute for Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU), Trier University); Markus Pannenberg (University of Applied Sciences Bielefeld) |
| Abstract: | The German law on co-determination at the plant level (Betriebsverfassungsgesetz) stipulates that works councilors are neither to be financially rewarded nor penalized for their activities. This regulation contrasts with publicized instances of excessive payments. The divergence has sparked a debate about the need to reform the law. This paper provides representative evidence on wage payments to works councilors for the period 2001 to 2015. We find wage premia of 2% to 6% in OLS-specifications, which are more pronounced for long-term works councilors. Moreover, we observe no wage premia in linear fixed-effects panel data specifications, suggesting that the OLS-results capture the effect of selection into works councillorship. We obtain no evidence for a delayed compensation or a special treatment of works councilors released from work. Hence, our results indicate that payments to works councilors are broadly in line with legal regulations. |
| Keywords: | Labor Law, Wages, Works Councils, Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). |
| JEL: | J30 J51 J53 J83 K31 |
| Date: | 2021–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iaa:dpaper:202101&r= |
| By: | Olof Ejermo; Katrin Hussinger; Basheer Kalash; Torben Schubert |
| Abstract: | We analyze the effect of the Öresund Bridge, a combined railway and motorway bridge between Swedish Malmö and the Danish capital Copenhagen, on inventive activity in the region of Malmö. Applying difference-in-difference estimation on individual-level data, our findings suggest that the Öresund Bridge led to a significant increase in the number of patents per individual in the Malmö region as compared to the two other major regions in Sweden, Gothenburg and Stockholm. We show that a key mechanism is the attraction of highly qualified workers to the Malmö region following the construction of the bridge. |
| Keywords: | Transportation infrastructure, innovation, Öresund Bridge, cross-border regions, patents; inventors, agglomeration effects |
| JEL: | O31 O33 R11 L91 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/7ell01j45s8loqtvgom5ci9i3h&r= |
| By: | Giorgia Casalone; Alessandra Michelangeli; John Östh; Umut Türk |
| Abstract: | During the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, different countries adopted different strategies in order to mitigate the effects of the pandemic. Regarding higher education, university studies were moved entirely to digital solutions in some countries, while other countries kept the universities open but restricted access. The sudden move to digital educational solutions affected students differently, and since different countries invented different mitigation strategies we got an opportunity to compare the effects of lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic on university students’ performance in Italy, Sweden and Turkey. We employ a difference-in-differences approach by exploiting the fact that Italy and Turkey experienced national lockdowns, while Sweden never applied nationwide mandatory restrictive measures. We use administrative data from universities in the three countries to estimate the probability to pass exams after the spread of COVID-19 pandemic (and the shift to distance education), with respect to the previous comparable period. We find that the pass rate decreased with the shift to online teaching. However, lockdown measures, especially if very restrictive as those applied in Italy, helped to compensate such negative effect. A possible explanation is that students took advantage of the huge increase in the time available for their studies, given the impossibility to carry out any activity outside the home. |
| Keywords: | COVID-19 pandemic; Students’ outcomes; Student’s integration; Time-to-study; Difference-in-Differences. |
| JEL: | I21 I28 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mib:wpaper:473&r= |
| By: | Abrahamsen, Signe A.; Ginja, Rita; Riise, Julie |
| Abstract: | This paper provides new evidence that preventive health care services delivered at schools and provided at a relatively low cost have positive and lasting impacts. We use variation from a 1999‐reform in Norway that induced substantial differences in the availability of health professionals across municipalities and cohorts. In municipalities with one fewer school nurse per 1,000 schoolage children before the reform there was an increase in the availability of nurses of 35% from the pre‐ to the post‐reform period, attributed to the policy change. The reform reduced teenage pregnancies and increased college attendance for girls. It also reduced the take‐up of welfare benefits by ages 26 and 30 and increased the planned use of primary and specialist health care services at ages 25‐35, without impacts on emergency room admissions. The reform also improved the health of newborns of affected new mothers and reduced the likelihood of miscarriages. |
| Keywords: | School Health Services, Teenage Pregnancy, Welfare Dependency, Utilization of Health Services, Health Status |
| Date: | 2021–07–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ajt:wcinch:74644&r= |
| By: | Cristina Borra; Ana Costa-Ramón; Libertad González Luna; Almudena Sevilla |
| Abstract: | We investigate the causal impact of a generous unconditional cash transfer at birth on children's later health outcomes and academic performance. Using rich administrative data, we take advantage of the unexpected introduction of a "baby bonus" in Spain in 2007, and implement a difference-in-discontinuity approach comparing children born in the surrounding months in different years. We find that the subsidy did not have a significant effect on health outcomes during childhood, nor on test scores in primary school. In line with this result, we show that the benefit did not affect the main potential mechanisms that could in turn have affected children's health and academic performance. Our results contribute to understanding which interventions are effective at improving children's health and human capital formation. |
| Keywords: | children, health, education, income shock, Child benefit, Spain |
| JEL: | I12 J13 H31 H24 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upf:upfgen:1789&r= |
| By: | Jake Anders (UCL Centre for Education Policy & Equalising Opportunities); Lindsey Macmillan (UCL Centre for Education Policy & Equalising Opportunities); Patrick Sturgis (LSE Department of Methodology); Gill Wyness (UCL Centre for Education Policy & Equalising Opportunities) |
| Abstract: | While the health risks of Covid-19 for young people are low, they have borne a heavy cost of the pandemic through intense disruption to their education and social lives. These effects have not been experienced equally across social and demographic groups. Using data from a nationally representative survey of 4,000 young people linked to their education records, we study inequalities in young people's experiences of the Covid-19 pandemic. We find particularly stark inequalities by socio-economic status, with young people from poorer families facing disadvantage on multiple fronts, particularly in their experiences of home learning, returning to school, and exam cancellations compared to more advantaged young people. Gender and ethnic inequalities were more mixed, though young females reported significantly lower wellbeing scores than males. This evidence suggests that the pandemic has exacerbated existing inequalities, meaning policymakers concerned with increasing equity and social mobility now face an even bigger task than before. |
| Keywords: | Covid-19; socio-economic status; gender; ethnicity; wellbeing; inequality. |
| JEL: | I24 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucl:cepeow:21-08&r= |
| By: | Thierry Kamionka (CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CREST - Centre de Recherche en Économie et Statistique - ENSAI - Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Analyse de l'Information [Bruz] - X - École polytechnique - ENSAE Paris - École Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Administration Économique - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris); Guy Lacroix (Département d'Economique, Université Laval - ULaval - Université Laval [Québec]) |
| Abstract: | The paper investigates the links between homeownership, employment and earnings for which no consensus exists in the literature. Our analysis is cast within a dynamic setting and the endogeneity of each outcome is assessed through the estimation of a flexible panel multivariate model with random effects. The data we use are drawn from the French sample of the EU Survey on Income and Living Conditions for the years 2004-2013. The error terms are both correlated across equations and autocorrelated. Individual random effects are also correlated across equations. The model is estimated using a simulated maximum likelihood estimator and particular care is given to the initial conditions problem. Our results show that while homeowners have longer employment and unemployment spells, they must contend with lower earnings than tenants upon reemployment. They also stress the importance of unobserved heterogeneity in explaining the transitions on the labour and housing markets, and the relationship between earnings and the latter two. Failure to properly account for this is likely to yield biased parameter estimates. |
| Keywords: | Homeownership,Unemployment,Earnings,Heterogeneity,Simulation based estimation,Panel data. |
| Date: | 2021–07–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03290646&r= |
| By: | Ruth Patrick; Aaron Reeves; Kitty Stewart |
| Abstract: | Child poverty in the UK has seen rapid change over the last two decades, broadly falling from the late 1990s until 2012/13 and rising since then. As a result, child poverty rates converged with rates of poverty for working-age non-parents before diverging again. This paper examines these changes through the lens of family size, asking how horizontal inequalities have changed over this period between larger families - those with three or more children - and smaller families with one or two. Focusing on data from before the pandemic, we look at trends in poverty rates for the two groups and explore alternative explanatory factors - including changes in the composition of larger families, differential employment rates, and differences in the impact of social security support. |
| Keywords: | child poverty, family size, social security, benefits |
| JEL: | I31 I32 I38 J12 J13 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:sticas:/224&r= |
| By: | Fausta Ongaro (Dipartimento di Scienze Statistiche, Università degli Studi di Padova); Valentina Tocchioni (Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni "G. Parenti", Università degli Studi di Firenze) |
| Abstract: | BACKGROUND: The literature has analysed the effect of problem behaviours on the timing of first sexual intercourse, showing a positive association between them, but scant information is available about the effect on the other circumstances of sexual debut, such as the use of protection and having a casual partner, with few studies on Southern European countries. OBJECTIVE: This study addresses whether and how the initiation and the timing of some risky behaviours (problem drinking and marijuana, ecstasy and other drug use) are associated with the timing of sexual debut, the use of protection and the type of first sexual partner. METHODS: Event history analyses for the transition to first sexual intercourse – also in their competing risk form – are performed on data referring to Italian university students aged 18-26, collected in 2000-2001 and 2017. RESULTS: The risk of having first sexual intercourse steadily increases as the number of first-time risky behaviours increases. The negative effect of the accumulation of risky behaviours seems to be accentuated at very early ages; for those having their first intercourse with a casual partner; for young women having their first intercourse without any form of protection; and for young men having their first intercourse irrespective of the use of protection. CONTRIBUTION: Our results show that even in a country such as Italy, where family and sexual norms are relatively traditional, young people confident with alcohol, marijuana and ecstasy use are more likely to experience risky sexual intercourse. This provides evidence for the political agenda on educating safe sex. |
| Keywords: | First sexual intercourse; risky behaviour; substance use; survival models; university students; Italy |
| JEL: | J13 C41 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fir:econom:wp2021_14&r= |
| By: | Alexander Daminger |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the effects of German homeownership subsidies on the intra-city rent structure. Using a large-scale micro data set on German rent offerings, I first construct novel city rent indexes that include various rings around cities’ CBDs. Using triple differences (TD) frameworks, I then estimate the introduction of the homeownership subsidies’ effects on rent for the cities that received varying subsidy rates. The empirical results indicate that subsidies to homeownership lower central apartment rent premiums in those cities, where they give the “biggest bang for the buck”. Consequently, I find that homeownership subsidies contribute to an increase in housing affordability through the price changes in the rental market: an increase in the subsidies leads potential homeowners to move away from the CBD, resulting in a decrease in the rental demand and lowering the rent. |
| Keywords: | homeownership, housing subsidies, homeownership subsidy, triple differences |
| JEL: | H22 H71 R31 R38 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bav:wpaper:210_daminger&r= |
| By: | Gert Bijnens (Economics and Research Department, NBB); Emmanuel Dhyne (Economics and Research Department, NBB) |
| Abstract: | Whilst overall productivity growth is stalling, firms at the frontier are still able to capture the benefits of the newest technologies and business practices. This paper uses linked employer-employee data covering all Belgian firms over a period of almost 20 years and investigates the differences in human capital between highly productive firms and less productive firms. We find a clear positive correlation between the share of high-skilled and STEM workers in a firm's workforce and its productivity. We obtain elasticities of 0.20 to 0.70 for a firm's productivity as a function of the share of high-skilled workers. For STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) workers, of all skill levels, we find elasticities of 0.20 to 0.45. More importantly, the elasticity of STEM workers is increasing over time, whereas the elasticity of high-skilled workers is decreasing. This is possibly linked with the increasing number of tertiary education graduates and at the same time increased difficulties in filling STEM-related vacancies. Specifically, for high-skilled STEM workers in the manufacturing sector, the productivity gain can be as much as 4 times higher than the gain from hiring additional high-skilled non-STEM workers. To ensure that government efforts to increase the adoption of the latest technologies and business practices within firms lead to sustainable productivity gains, such actions should be accompanied by measures to increase the supply and mobility of human (STEM) capital. Without a proper supply of skills, firms will not be able to reap the full benefits of the digital revolution. |
| Keywords: | : human capital, skills, education, productivity, linked employer-employee data |
| JEL: | E24 I26 J24 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbb:reswpp:202107-401&r= |
| By: | Lafférs, Lukáš; Schmidpeter, Bernhard |
| Abstract: | We explore the impact of successful job search after childbirth on mothers' labor market careers. Using a bounding approach and administrative data, we find strong heterogeneity in the returns to leaving the pre-birth employer. Moving to a new employer after childbirth leads to an increase in re-employment earnings only for mothers at the upper part of the earnings distribution. For these mothers, initial job search also increases long-term earnings. We provide evidence that earnings gains are the result of higher geographical mobility and longer commutes to work. Successful mothers are also more likely to move to faster growing firms and firms offering better opportunities to women. Our results do not suggest that husbands play an important role in supporting successful job search of mothers. |
| Keywords: | Parental leave,return-to-work,job search,earnings,earnings gaps |
| JEL: | C21 J13 J31 J62 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:915&r= |
| By: | Želinský, Tomáš; Mysíková, Martina; Garner, Thesia I. |
| Abstract: | When developing anti-poverty policies, policy makers need accurate data on the prevalence of poverty. In this paper, we focus on subjective poverty, a concept which has been largely neglected in literature, yet remains a conceptually appealing way to define poverty. The primary goal of this study is to re-examine the concept of subjective poverty measurement and to estimate trends in subjective poverty rates in the European Union. Our estimations are based on a minimum income question using data from a representative survey, EU-SILC, and we find a decreasing trend in subjective poverty in 16 of 28 countries. Conversely, the official relative income poverty indicator exhibits increasing trends in eleven countries, with decreasing trends in only four countries. We believe that these trends may reflect changes in societies which have not been previously captured, and our results thus enrich the existing data on general poverty trends in the EU. |
| Keywords: | Subjective poverty,Minimum Income Question,intersection approach,EU-SILC,European Union |
| JEL: | I31 I32 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:892&r= |
| By: | Hagen, Johannes; Hallberg, Daniel; Sjögren Lindquist, Gabriella |
| Abstract: | We study the effects of two exogenous modifications in the Swedish pension system application form nudging individuals towards a fixed-term payout. Meanwhile, the set of available options and the default option - life annuity - were unchanged during the period under study. We examine the effects on individuals' payout decisions and the spillover effects on labour supply and other pensions using a difference-in-difference framework and detailed administrative data on actual payout decisions and a wide range of individual-level outcomes. Each modification increased the demand for the nudged payout by around 30 percentage points. The first modification also induced individuals to work less. |
| Keywords: | annuity,pension,nudge,decision framing |
| JEL: | D91 G41 J26 J32 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:209pre&r= |
| By: | Martinez-Jimenez, M.; Hollingsworth, B.; Zucchelli, E. |
| Abstract: | We explore the effects of retirement on both physical and mental ill-health and whether these change in the presence of economic shocks. We employ inverse probability weighting regression adjustment to examine the mechanisms influencing the relationship between retirement and health and a difference-in-differences approach combined with matching to investigate whether the health effects of retirement are affected by the Great Recession. We estimate these models on data drawn from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) and find that retirement leads to a deterioration in both mental and physical health, however there seems to be considerable effect heterogeneity by gender and occupational status. Our findings also suggest that retiring shortly after the Great Recession appears to improve mental and physical health, although only among individuals working in the most affected regions. Overall, our results indicate that the health effects of retirement might be influenced by the presence of economic shocks. |
| Keywords: | retirement; health; Great Recession; ELSA; |
| JEL: | J14 J26 I10 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:yor:hectdg:21/11&r= |
| By: | Lukáš Lafférs (Matej Bel University); Bernhard Schmidpeter (Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz) |
| Abstract: | We explore the impact of successful job search after childbirth on mothers' labor market careers. Using a bounding approach and administrative data, we find strong heterogeneity in the returns to leaving the pre-birth employer. Moving to a new employer after childbirth leads to an increase in re-employment earnings only for mothers at the upper part of the earnings distribution. For these mothers, initial job search also increases long-term earnings. We provide evidence that earnings gains are the result of higher geographical mobility and longer commutes to work. Successful mothers are also more likely to move to faster growing firms and firms offering better opportunities to women. Our results do not suggest that husbands play an important role in supporting successful job search of mothers. |
| Keywords: | parental leave, return-to-work, job search, earnings, earnings gaps |
| JEL: | C21 J13 J31 J62 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jku:econwp:2021-13&r= |
| By: | Filip Premik (Group for Research in Applied Economics (GRAPE)) |
| Abstract: | We investigate immediate effects of a large scale child benefit program introduction on labor supply of the household members in Poland. Due to nonrandom eligibility and universal character of the program standard evaluation estimators are likely to be inconsistent. In order to address this issues we propose a novel approach which combines difference-in-difference (DID) propensity score based methods with covariate balancing propensity score (CBPS) by Imai and Ratkovic (2014). The DID part solves potential problems with non-parallel outcome dynamics in treated and non-treated subpopulations resulting from non-experimental character of the data, whereas CBPS is expected to reduce significantly bias from the systematic differences between treated and untreated subpopulations. We account also for potential heterogeneity among households by estimating a range of local average treatment effects which jointly provide a reliable view on the overall impact. We found that the program has a minor impact on the labor supply in periods following its introduction. There is an evidence for a small encouraging effect on hours worked by treated mothers of children at school age, both sole and married. Additionally, the program may influence the intra-household division of duties among parents of the youngest children as suggested by simultaneous slight decline in participating mothers' probability of working and a small increase in treated fathers' hours worked |
| Keywords: | child benefits, labor supply, program evaluation, difference-in-difference estimation, covariate balancing propensity score |
| JEL: | C21 C23 I38 J22 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fme:wpaper:53&r= |
| By: | Loles Añón Higón (Department of Applied Economics II and ERI-CES, Faculty of Economics, Universitat de València, Avda. Tarongers, s/n, 46022 Valencia (Spain).); Alfonso Díez-Minguela (Department of Economic Analysis, Faculty of Economics, Universitat de València, Avda. Tarongers, s/n, 46022 Valencia (Spain).) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the extent to which the regional Higher Education System (HES) influences the location of foreign R&D. To do so, we use a dataset with information on the location choices of new foreign R&D establishments within Spain from 2005 to 2013. Likewise, we use a multiple measure of the university three missions, distinguishing between research capacity training, scientific research and technology transfer. We find that the probability of a foreign R&D establishment being located in a region is positively affected by the strength of the region’s HES missions, and more specifically by the quality of its scientific research, while its research training capacity and knowledge transfer activities do not seem to play a significant role. |
| Keywords: | Foreign R&D, universities, location, research activities, development |
| JEL: | F21 F23 O32 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eec:wpaper:2109&r= |
| By: | Jonas Cederlöf; Peter Fredriksson; Arash Nekoei; David Seim |
| Abstract: | We investigate a prevalent, but understudied, employment protection policy: mandatory advance notice (MN), requiring employers to notify employees of forthcoming layoffs. MN increases future production, as notified workers search on the job, but reduces current production as they supply less effort. Our theoretical model captures this trade-off and predicts that MN improves production efficiency by increasing information sharing, whereas large production losses can be avoided by worker-firm agreements on side-payments – severance pay – in lieu of MN. We provide evidence of such severance increases in response to an extension of MN using novel Swedish administrative data. We then estimate the production gain of MN: extending the MN period leads to shorter non-employment duration and higher reemployment wages, plausibly driven by on-the-job search. Using variation in notice duration across firms, we estimate the productivity loss of notice. The estimates of benefits and costs suggest that MN has a positive net impact on production, offering an empirically-grounded efficiency argument for mandating notice. |
| Keywords: | unemployment, advance notice, job mobility, job quality |
| JEL: | J31 J33 J63 J68 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9208&r= |
| By: | Adrien Matray (Princeton University); Charles Boissel (HEC-Paris) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how the 2013 three-fold increase in the dividend tax rate in France affected firms’ investment and performance. Using administrative data covering the universe of firms over 2008–2017 and a quasi-experimental setting, we find that firms swiftly cut dividend payments. Firms use this tax-induced increase in liquidity to invest more, particularly when facing high demand and return on capital. For every euro of undistributed dividends, firms increase their investment by 0.3 euro, leading to higher sales growth. Heterogeneity analyses show that no group of firms cut their investment, thereby rejecting models in which higher dividend taxes increase the cost of capital. Overall, our results show that the tax-induced increase in liquidity relaxes credit constraints and can reduce capital misallocation. |
| Keywords: | France; Financing Policy; Business Taxes; Capital and Ownership Structure |
| JEL: | G11 G32 H25 O16 |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pri:cepsud:276&r= |
| By: | Davillas, Apostolos; Burlinson, Andrew; Liu, Hui-Hsuan |
| Abstract: | This paper uses data from Understanding Society: the UK Household Longitudinal Study to explore the association between fuel poverty and a set of well-being outcomes: life-satisfaction, self-reported health measures and more objectively measured biomarker data. Over and above the conventional income–fuel cost indicators, we also use more proximal heating deprivation indicators. We create and draw upon a set of composite indicators that concomitantly capture (the lack of) affordability and thermal comfort. Depending on which fuel deprivation indicator is used, we find heterogeneous associations between fuel poverty and our well-being outcomes. Employing combined fuel deprivation indicators, which takes into account the income–fuel cost balance and more proximal perceptions of heating adequacy, reveals the presence of more pronounced associations with life satisfaction and fibrinogen, one of our biological health measures. The presence of these strong associations would have been less pronounced or masked when using separately each of the components of our composite fuel deprivation indicators as well as in the case of self-reported generic measures of physical health. Lifestyle and chronic health conditions plays a limited role in attenuating our results, while material deprivation partially, but not fully, attenuates our associations between fuel deprivation and well-being. These results remain robust when bounding analysis is employed to test the potential confounding role of unobservables. Our analysis suggests that composite fuel deprivation indicators may be useful energy policy instruments for uncovering the underlining mechanism via which fuel poverty may get “under the skin”. |
| Keywords: | Fuel poverty,biomarkers,health,well-being |
| JEL: | I12 I31 I32 Q4 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:903&r= |
| By: | Emanuela Sirtori (CSIL Centre for Industrial Studies); Alessandra Caputo (CSIL Centre for Industrial Studies); Domenico Scalera (Department of Law and Economics. University of Sannio, Italy) |
| Abstract: | This paper aims at identifying geographical patterns of Biopharma transformation trends in the EU over the period 2000-2016 through an analysis of cross-regional and cross-sectoral linkages. To this purpose, information on co-patenting, mergers and acquisitions, and joint ventures and alliances is used to carry out a network analysis at region level. Results show an increasing involvement of European regions in cross-sectoral Biopharma operations. However, while the network displays a tendency to enlarge toward the East (Poland) and West (Spain), a significant reduction in the activity of peripheral nodes in the Southern and Northern borders of the network is observed. More recently, the overall interconnectedness of the network slightly decreases; the network becomes sparser, showing a propensity toward regionalisation of cross-sectoral linkages. Finally, by exploiting information on the location of companies and inventors involved in cross-sectoral operations, the investigation allows pinpointing regional communities and their evolution throughout the yearsClassification-JEL: O18, R11, R58 |
| Keywords: | Biopharmaceutical industry, Cross-sectoral linkages, Emerging Industries, Network analysis |
| JEL: | R11 R12 L14 L65 |
| Date: | 2021–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mst:wpaper:202101&r= |
| By: | Sam Parsons (Social Research Institute, UCL); Alex Bryson (Social Research Institute, UCL); Alice Sullivan (Social Research Institute, UCL) |
| Abstract: | Using data from two British birth cohorts born in 1958 and 1970 we investigate the impact of teenage conduct problems on subsequent employment prospects through to age 42. We find teenagers with conduct problems went on to spend fewer months both in paid employment, and in employment, education and training (EET) between age 17 and 42 than comparable teenagers who did not experience conduct problems. Employment and EET disadvantages were greatest among those with severe behavioural problems. The ‘gap’ in time spent in employment or EET by conduct problem status was similar for men and women across cohorts, with only a small part of the gap being attenuated by differences in social background, individual characteristics and educational attainment in public examination at age 16. We discuss the implications of our findings. |
| Keywords: | behavioural problems, Rutter, labour market, employment, education, training, disadvantage, educational attainment |
| JEL: | I12 J20 J64 |
| Date: | 2021–08–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qss:dqsswp:2122&r= |
| By: | J. James Reade (Department of Economics, University of Reading); Jan van Ours (Erasmus School of Economics, Tinbergen Institute) |
| Abstract: | We analyze attendance of professional football matches in England finding that it is related to unemployment over a very long period of time. More unemployment leads to lower attendances. Distinguishing between leagues, we find that the relationship is larger for lower leagues, i.e. attendance of lower quality football events are more sensitive to fluctuations in unemployment. |
| Keywords: | Stadium attendance, football, unemployment |
| JEL: | C23 Z21 D12 |
| Date: | 2021–06–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rdg:emxxdp:em-dp2021-12&r= |
| By: | Cristina Borra; Libertad González Luna; David Patiño |
| Abstract: | We study the effects of maternal age on infant health. Age at birth has been increasing for the past several decades in many countries, and correlations show that health at birth is worse for children born to older mothers. In order to identify causal effects, we exploit school entry cutoffs and the empirical finding that women who are older for their cohort in school tend to give birth later. In Spain, children born in December start school a year earlier than those born the following January, despite being essentially the same age. We show that as a result, January-born women finish school later and are (several months) older when they marry and when they have their first child. We find no effect on educational attainment. We then compare the health at birth of the children of women born in January versus the previous December, using administrative, population-level data, and following a regression discontinuity design. We find small and insignificant effects on average weight at birth, but the children of January-born mothers are more likely to have very low birthweight. We interpret our results as suggestive of a causal effect of maternal age on infant health, concentrated in the left tail of the birthweight distribution, with older mothers more likely to give birth to (very) premature babies. |
| Keywords: | Maternal age, infant health, school cohort. |
| JEL: | I12 J12 J13 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upf:upfgen:1791&r= |
| By: | Mohrenweiser, Jens |
| Abstract: | Recent studies on the economic effects of works councils in Germany using the European Company Survey estimate a significant negative effect of works councils on establishment productivity and profitability. These results are in stark contrast to studies using the IAB Establishment Panel estimating a significant positive effect of works councils on establishment productivity and profitability. This article scrutinises these empirical approaches. While sample selection and control variables have a substantial impact on the magnitude of marginal effects, the definition of the dependent variable as an objective or subjective measure causes the opposing signs. Beyond that, similar measures in both datasets lead to comparable marginal effects highlighting the relevance of the definition of the dependent variable for inferences and interpretation of studies about the effectiveness of industrial relations institutions and raising questions about the validity of the performance measures. |
| Keywords: | works councils,codetermination,profitability |
| JEL: | J53 M54 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:895&r= |
| By: | Viktor Slavtchev (Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH)); Michael Wyrwich (University of Groningen, Faculty of Economics and Business) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes empirically whether individuals’ decisions to start an own business can be influenced via television (TV). To identify its effect, we utilize exogenous regional variation in the availability of TV that conveyed images conducive to entrepreneurship and the notion that self-reliance, self-determination and proactive behavior are desirable from individual and social point of view. We use both regional-level as well as geo-referenced individual level data and show that the entrepreneurship incidence is higher among the residents of regions that had TV signal than in regions without TV, indicating a first-order effect on the directly exposed individuals. We find that the effect would fade out if only directly treated individuals are more likely to become entrepreneurs and the last exposed cohort becomes ‘too old’. However, we also find that non-directly exposed successive cohorts and descendants of directly exposed individuals also wish to become entrepreneurs more often. We provide evidence that is consistent with second-order effects due to the intergenerational transmission of entrepreneurial mindset and suggests a formation of a self-sustaining entrepreneurial culture, which can cause long lasting differences between treated and non-treated population groups or regions. |
| Keywords: | Entrepreneurship, TV, Culture, Occupational choice |
| JEL: | L26 J24 M13 P20 P30 O30 D02 D03 Z10 |
| Date: | 2021–07–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2021-010&r= |
| By: | Stefano Basilico (Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Economics Department); Uwe Cantner (Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Economics Department, and University of Southern Denmark, Odense); Holger Graf (Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Economics Department) |
| Abstract: | Cluster policies aim at improving collaboration between co-located actors to address systemic failures. As yet, cluster policy evaluations are mainly concerned with effects on firm performance. Some recent studies move to the system level by assessing how the structure of actor-based knowledge networks is affected by such policies. We continue in that direction and analyze how technology-based regional knowledge spaces structurally respond to the introduction of a cluster policy. Taking the example of the German BioRegio contest, we examine how such knowledge spaces in winning and non-winning regions evolved before, during and after the policy. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we identify treatment effects of increased knowledge space embeddedness of biotechnology only in the post-treatment period. Our findings imply that cluster policies can have long-term structural effects typically not accounted for in policy evaluations. |
| Keywords: | BioRegio contest, network analysis, knowledge space, difference in differences, patents |
| JEL: | O31 O38 R11 |
| Date: | 2021–08–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2021-011&r= |
| By: | Dennis Tamesberger (Department for Economic, Welfare and Social Policy, Chamber of Labour, Linz, Austria); Simon Theurl (Department for Labour Market and Integration, Chamber of Labour, Vienna, Austria) |
| Abstract: | Short-time work was frequently used in the EU during the COVID-19 pandemic to minimize crisis-related layoffs. This paper focuses on the short-time work (STW) scheme in Austria by exploring the characteristic features of the Austrian Coronavirus STW model and examining how it was utilized. We first give a historical overview of how STW developed in Austria before focusing specifically on the country’s STW scheme – one of the most generous among the EU27 – during the course of the coronavirus pandemic. By analyzing relevant data, we identified three key periods in which STW was reformed and slightly modified. We also aim to show how STW take-up rates differ according to gender and sector. Moreover, we consider STW payments alongside sectors and are able to identify those sectors that see a greater benefit from STW. We conclude that the pandemic offered learning effects, thus allowing STW to be used more efficiently in the future by employers in times of crisis. |
| Keywords: | COVID-19 crisis, unemployment, short-time work (STW), labor hoarding, ALMPs |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ico:wpaper:127&r= |
| By: | Remco van Eijkel (CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we study to what extent employment generates spillover effects on other life domains for persons with a work disability. We find that that paid work reduces the probability of using mental health care by 7 percentage points, engaging in criminal activity by 3 percentage points and using non-medical home care by 8 percentage points. Relative to the baseline prevalence in our sample of disabled persons, these effects range between 30 and 60 percent. Increasing labor participation of disabled workers thus generates beneficial effects on other important life domains like health and social behavior. This not only benefits disabled workers in the form of a higher quality of life and lower out-of-pocket payments on health care, but also society as a whole in the form of lower public expenditures on health care and crime. Our paper therefore contributes to a better understanding of the full benefits of activation policies targeted at disabled people. |
| JEL: | J68 H75 I18 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpb:discus:425.rdf&r= |
| By: | Barili, Emilia; Bertoli, Paola; Grembi, Veronica; Rattini, Veronica |
| Abstract: | Relying on a unique survey of more than 15,000 respondents conducted from June to August 2020 in Italy, we show that priming religiosity in healthcare workers decreases the level of self‐assessed mental distress experienced during the first wave of the COVID‐19. We show that priming religiosity decreases self‐assessed mental distress by 9.5%. Consistent with the idea that religiosity serves as a coping mechanism, this effect is stronger for the more impacted categories (e.g., hospital workers) and for respondents facing more stressful situations, such as being reassigned due to the COVID‐19 emergency or working in a COVID‐19‐related specialty (e.g., emergency care), among others. Moreover, higher effects occurs also among physicians who self‐classify as religious, while this distinction does not apply for nurses. |
| Keywords: | Healthcare Workers, COVID‐19, Mental Health, Coping Mechanisms, Religiosity |
| Date: | 2021–07–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ajt:wcinch:74583&r= |
| By: | Emilia Barili (University of Genoa); Veronica Grembi (University of Milan); Anna Rosso (University of Milan, Centro Studi Luca d’Agliano and CEP) |
| Abstract: | Using a new measure of the strength of gender stereotypes defined at the individual level and based on responses to a survey conducted with more than 4,500 Italian women in July 2020, we show that women with stronger stereotypes are more likely to state that they know a victim of violence but are not more likely to state that violence (physical or psychological) is widespread in their area of residence. They are also more likely to rank behaviours meant to control a victim’s interpersonal contacts and access to financial resources as more serious than physically and sexually violent behaviours and to justify violent acts using distressing, event-specific circumstances (e.g., a period of economic distress) rather than the deep-seated psychological issues of the attackers. Finally, when personal stereotyping is stronger, respondents are more likely to suggest that a hypothetical victim of violence either not react to or deal directly with the partner rather than look for formal help. Using different controls for the impact of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic on the respondents’ personal and economic lives does not affect our main findings. |
| Keywords: | Gender Stereotypes, Domestic Violence Perceptions, Justifications for Violent Behaviour, COVID-19 |
| JEL: | J12 I18 |
| Date: | 2021–06–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csl:devewp:474&r= |