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on Microeconomic European Issues |
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Issue of 2022‒04‒04
twenty-six papers chosen by Giuseppe Marotta Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia |
| By: | Julius Ilciukas (University of Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | I study how retirement delays in one generation affect fertility in the subsequent generation. I use administrative Dutch data and exploit the 2006 Dutch pension reform. The reform induced individuals born from January 1, 1950 onward to de- lay retirement while exempting those born earlier. I find that this reduced fertility among women with reform-affected mothers. The reduction is likely permanent and economically significant. I supplement my analysis with survey evidence and argue that the fertility reduction is driven by reduced grandparental child care supply. My results suggest that delaying retirement may undermine the goal of balancing pension systems through a resulting fertility reduction. |
| JEL: | J13 H55 J22 |
| Date: | 2022–03–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20220021&r= |
| By: | Anja M. Hahn; Konstantin A. Kholodilin; Sofie R. Waltl; Marco Fongoni |
| Abstract: | In 2020, Berlin introduced a rigorous rent-control policy responding to soaring rents by setting a cap on rental prices: the Mietendeckel (rent freeze). The policy was revoked one year later by the German Constitutional Court. Although successful in reducing rents during its duration, the consequences for Berlin’s rental market and adjacent municipalities are not clear. In this paper we evaluate the short-term causal effect of the rent freeze on the supply-side of the market, both in terms of prices and quantities. We develop a theoretical framework capturing the key features of the rent freeze, and test its predictions using a rich pool of detailed rent adverts. In addition, we estimate hedonic-style Difference-in-Differences and Spatial Regression Discontinuity models comparing price trajectories of dwellings inside and outside the policy’s scope. Advertised rents drop significantly upon the policy’s enactment. A substantial rent gap across the administrative border emerges, with rapidly growing rents for Berlin’s (unregulated) adjacent municipalities. Moreover, we document a significant drop in the number of advertised properties for rent, a share of which appears to be permanently lost for the rental sector. |
| Keywords: | First-Generation Rent Control; Rent Freeze; Urban Policy; Local Political Economy; Supply Disruptions; Legal Uncertainty; Berlin |
| JEL: | C14 C43 O18 D04 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1999&r= |
| By: | Barbera, Alessandro; Gereben, Aron; Wolski, Marcin |
| Abstract: | We estimate heterogeneous treatment effects of the EIB financial support on European firms between 2008 and 2015. The relevant control groups are created with propensity score matching and the effects are estimated in a difference-in-differences framework, controlling for firm-level and country-sector-year fixed effects. We find that the positive effects of EIBsupported lending on job creation and investments were larger for smaller and younger firms. Moreover, we find evidence that longer maturities and more advantageous loan pricing are associated with larger employment and investment effects, while no larger impact is observed for larger loan volumes. Overall, the results suggest that benefits of the EIB support are rather observed on an intensive, rather than on an extensive, margin. |
| Keywords: | climate action and environment,economics |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:eibwps:202203&r= |
| By: | Federico Revelli (Department of Economics and Statistics "S. Cognetti de Martiis," University of Torino, Campus Luigi Einaudi); Tsung-Sheng Tsai (Department of Economics, National Taiwan University); Roberto Zotti (Department of Economics and Statistics "S. Cognetti de Martiis," University of Torino, Campus Luigi Einaudi) |
| Abstract: | This paper exploits the multi-tiered structure of personal income taxation in Italy to investigate within-tier (horizontal) and between-tiers (vertical and diagonal) fiscal externalities. Estimation of an unrestricted income tax reaction function on municipalities located at internal regional borders using off-border Wald-type grouping variables as well as the staggered schedule of mayoral elections as instruments for endogenous spatial lags reveals strong positive spatial dependence in municipal tax rates. On the other hand, there is no evidence of a response of municipal tax rates to regional tax policies, suggesting that border discontinuity estimators that rely on consolidated spatial specifications (lower-plus-upper-tier tax rates) impose restrictions on the parameters of the reaction function that are unwarranted in these circumstances. |
| Keywords: | fiscal externalities; income taxation; grouping instrumental variable; border discontinuity estimator |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ntw:wpaper:2201&r= |
| By: | Fassio, Claudio (CIRCLE, Lund University); Igna, Ioana (CIRCLE, Lund University) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the career paths of foreign students in Sweden, after graduation. Matching individual data on foreign graduates in Sweden with information about their employers, we analyze the sectors in which they start their career after graduation in Sweden, during the period 2000-2014. We propose that foreign graduates are attracted by firms operating in sectors employing a higher level of knowledge codification and in expanding sectors with a higher growth of demand for skilled workers. Our findings indicate that foreign graduates are more likely than Swedish ones to work in high-tech sectors, both in manufacturing and services, and in expanding industries, such as the services with low knowledge intensity. Foreign students from more culturally distant locations are more likely to work in high-tech or in expanding sectors. Finally, STEM foreign graduates are the main driver of the propensity to work in high tech manufacturing sectors, but not in high tech services. |
| Keywords: | foreign graduates; STEM; cultural distance; high tech; occupations |
| JEL: | J20 O39 |
| Date: | 2021–03–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2022_002&r= |
| By: | César Garcia-Gomez (University of Valladolid); Ana Pérez (University of Valladolid); Mercedes Prieto-Alaiz (University of Valladolid) |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes a graphical tool based on the copula function, namely the mul-tivariate tail concentration function, to represent the dependence structure on the tailsof a multivariate joint distribution. We illustrate the use of this function to measuredependence between poverty dimensions. In particular, we analyse how multivariate taildependence between the dimensions of the AROPE rate evolved in the EU-28 between2008 and 2018. We nd evidence of lower tail dependence in all EU-28 countries, al-though this dependence is time-varying over the period analysed and the e ect of theGreat Recession on this dependence is not homogeneous over all countries. |
| Keywords: | Multivariate tail dependence; Copula; Poverty; AROPE rate; Europe. |
| JEL: | D63 I32 O52 |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:inq:inqwps:ecineq2022-605&r= |
| By: | Flavio Calvino (OECD); Stefano DeSantis (Italian National Institute of Statistics); Isabelle Desnoyers-James (OECD); Sara Formai (Bank of Italy); Ilaria Goretti (OECD); Silvia Lombardi (Italian National Institute of Statistics); Francesco Manaresi (OECD); Giulio Perani (Italian National Institute of Statistics) |
| Abstract: | The study identifies the main factors that affect the diffusion of digital technologies and their returns among Italian firms, highlighting the crucial role of public policies. It uses a unique data infrastructure that integrates information on digital technology adoption, firm performance, and workers’ and managers’ skills. The analysis shows that the low digitalisation of Italian firms, especially of SMEs, can be traced back to the low levels of three factors: i) workers’ skills, ii) management capabilities, and iii) accumulation of intangible assets. These factors are also crucial to maximise the effectiveness of public policies supporting firm digitalisation, such as the deployment of broadband infrastructure and fiscal incentives to investments in digital technologies. Finally, the analysis shows that the COVID-19 crisis contributed to further widening the digital gap between Italian firms, favouring ex-ante more digitalised companies, suggesting that public policies play a crucial role for the post-COVID-19 recovery. |
| Date: | 2022–03–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:stiaac:126-en&r= |
| By: | Bosque-Mercader, L.; |
| Abstract: | Early childhood education programmes are expected to improve child conditions including educational attainment, labour, and health outcomes. This study evaluates the effect of a Spanish universal preschool programme, which implied a large-scale expansion of full-time high-quality public preschool for three-year-olds in 1991, on long-term health. Using a difference-in-differences approach, I exploit the timing of the policy and the differential initial speed of implementation of public preschool expansion across regions. I compare long-term health of cohorts aged three before to those aged three after the start of the policy residing in regions with varying initial implementation intensity of the programme. The results show that the policy does not affect long-term health outcomes and use of healthcare services, except for two outcomes. A greater initial intensity in public preschool expansion by 10 percentage points decreases the likelihood of being diagnosed with asthma by 2.1 percentage points, but hospitalisation rates increase by 2.7%. The findings indicate that the effect on asthma is larger for men, hospitalisation rates are higher for pregnant women, and disadvantaged children benefit the most in terms of a lower probability of taking medicines and being diagnosed with asthma and mental health disorders. |
| Keywords: | universal preschool programme; long-term effects; health outcomes; difference-in-differences; Spain; |
| JEL: | I10 I28 J13 |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:yor:hectdg:22/06&r= |
| By: | Simon Rabaté (CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis); Julie Tréguier (Ined) |
| Abstract: | The ANW reform of 1996 in the Netherlands reduced the eligibility to survivor benefits for cohorts born after 1950. We find an increase in personal income (+23%) and labor force participation (+16%) for the widowers three years after spousal death. We also find an increase in the take up of welfare and disability benefits (+1.5pp +6pp and +6pp, respectively) as a result of the reform. These are the key findings of recent research on the impact of survival insurance on labor market outcomes for widows. In this Discussion Paper, we evaluate the effect of changes in (public) survivor insurance on surviving spouses’ labor supply. We use a natural experiment to estimate the effect: the cut in eligibility for first pillar survivor insurance benefits on the labor supply of widowers, implemented in 1996. The reform considerably reduced eligibility to survivor benefits for individuals born after January 1st, 1950. This provides a clean quasi-experimental setting as it induced a large and discontinuous drop in survivor benefits for adjacent birth cohorts. Using a regression discontinuity approach and high quality administrative data on the full universe of Dutch widows, we estimate the causal effect of survivors benefits on female income and labor force participation, as well as substitution towards other forms of social insurance. |
| JEL: | D3 |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpb:discus:437&r= |
| By: | Joachim Wagner (Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses firm level data from the Flash Eurobarometer 421 survey conducted in June 2015 in 34 European countries to investigate the link between having a website and international firm activities in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). We find that firms which are present in the web do more often export, import, engage in research and development cooperation with international partners, work as subcontractors for firms from other countries, use firms in other countries as subcontractors, and perform foreign direct investments – both inside and outside the European Union. The estimated website premia are statistically highly significant after controlling for firm size, country, and sector of economic activity. Furthermore, the size of these premia can be considered to be large. Internationally active firms tend to have a website. |
| Keywords: | Website premia, international firm activities, Flash Eurobarometer 421 |
| JEL: | D22 F14 F23 L25 |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lue:wpaper:410&r= |
| By: | Agostina Brinatti; Nicolas Morales |
| Abstract: | We use a detailed establishment-level dataset from Germany to document a new dimension of firm heterogeneity: large firms spend a higher share of their wage bill on immigrants than small firms. We show analytically that ignoring this heterogeneity in the immigrant share leads to biased estimates of the welfare gains from immigration. To do so, we set up and estimate a model where heterogeneous firms choose their immigrant share and then use it to quantify the welfare effects of an increase in the number of immigrants in Germany. Two new adjustment mechanisms arise under firm heterogeneity. First, native workers reallocate across firms, which mitigates the competition effect between immigrants and natives in the labor market. Second, the gains are largely concentrated among the largest and most productive employers, which induces an additional aggregate productivity gain. If we ignore the heterogeneity in the immigrant share across firms, we would underestimate the welfare gains of native workers by 11%. |
| Keywords: | Heterogeneous Firms; Migration; International Trade |
| JEL: | F16 F22 J24 J61 |
| Date: | 2021–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedrwp:93834&r= |
| By: | Goncalo Lima; Luis Catela Nunes; Ana Balcao Reis; Maria do Carmo Seabra |
| Abstract: | Being the youngest in a cohort entails many penalties. Using administrative data of every public-school student in Portugal, we show that although performance gains from being 1-year older fade quickly from primary education to high school, age-related penalties persist through a combination of grade retention, educational tracking and testing policies. Those that start school younger are more likely to repeat grades and ultimately drop out from school. Older entrants are more likely to enroll in scientific curricula in high school, are more successful at accessing public higher education and enroll in more selective undergraduate courses. |
| Keywords: | School starting age, education, student achievement |
| JEL: | H75 I21 J13 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unl:unlfep:wp639&r= |
| By: | Bas Scheer (CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis); Wiljan van den Berge (CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis); Maarten Goos; Alan Manning; Anna Salomons |
| Abstract: | The rising incidence of alternative work arrangements raises questions about worker outcomes in non-standard labor contracts. However, causal evidence on the effects of flexible contracts on labor market outcomes of individual workers is scarce. We study this question using data on payrolling, a work arrangement where employees are on the payroll of one company while performing their job duties at another firm. Like employment agencies, payroll companies can offer flexible employment contracts. Payrolling is a growing phenomenon on the Dutch labor market, and is particularly prevalent in low-wage jobs in the service sector. We show that employees who receive a payrolling contract subsequently have a reduced chance of employment, a lower incidence of permanent contracts, lower pension contributions, and lower growth in hourly wages. Some of this effect disappears in the three years after payrolling as employees switch jobs. These findings are based on payrolling prior to the 2020 enactment of new labor law in the Netherlands (Wet Arbeidsmarkt in Balans WAB). This law equates the legal protection of employees on payrolling contracts to that of standard contracts, including pension accrual. Future research could consider whether adverse effects for individual employees have indeed been remedied since the introduction of this law. |
| JEL: | J31 J32 J41 J42 |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpb:discus:435&r= |
| By: | Elizabeth Casabianca (Joint Research Centre (JRC),Ivrea); Matija Kovacic (Department of Economics, University Of Venice CÃ Foscari; Joint Research Centre (JRC), Ivrea) |
| Abstract: | We estimate the direct causal effect of loneliness on a variety of health outcomes using a sample of second-generation immigrants drawn from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. In an effort to account for the endogeneity of self-declared loneliness, we explore the link between loneliness and a specific cultural trait strongly associated with quality of relations and use maternal cultural background as an instrument for loneliness. We thus also assess the importance of cultural heritage in shaping individuals' perceptions of loneliness. Additionally, we investigate one pathway by which some specific ancestral factors may influence the formation of cultural traits in the modern era. Our results suggest that loneliness has a significant impact on health, both mental and physical. Notably, our identification strategy allows us to uncover a more severe effect of loneliness on health than that found in an OLS setting. These findings are robust to a battery of sensitivity checks. |
| Keywords: | Loneliness, relationship quality, culture, mental health, physical health |
| JEL: | I12 I14 J14 D91 Z13 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ven:wpaper:2022:01&r= |
| By: | Mario Tirelli; Stefano Castaldo (University of Padua) |
| Abstract: | Econometric studies have produced conflicting results on the relevance of precautionary saving. This ambiguity has been often ascribed to i) the difficulty of measuring key variables, like households’ subjective risk in income and permanent income; ii) the occurrence of certain kinds of endogeneity bias associated to the unobservability of individual characteristics, like preferences and trade opportunities. In the present work we investigate these estimation problems exploiting a particular wave of the Italian Survey of Household Income and Wealth which contains both type of information. Our results quantify the average precautionary saving as 4-6 percent of total net wealth. Robustness check are carried out considering two more liquid measures of wealth, and alternative sample definitions. Finally, we use our data set to assess the relevance of the endogeneity bias related to the omission of preference characteristics, like patience and risk-aversion, and of indicators of the households’ insurance possibilities, like those signaling the presence of various forms of liquidity and credit constraints. |
| Keywords: | Precautionary saving; wealth accumulation; preferences; liquidity constraints; credit constraints |
| JEL: | C21 D12 D91 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rtr:wpaper:0267&r= |
| By: | Kruse, Mirko; Wedemeier, Jan |
| Abstract: | There is currently a massive methodological gap in the spatial analysis of the Circular Economy (CE) performance in general and in Germany particularly. The authors present a methodology to assess this performance in German regions. The methodology consists of 26 indicators in seven dimensions, namely Policy, Innovation, Circular Employment, Consumption and Production, Waste Management, Socio-economic Development, Municipal Sustainability. Data was obtained from different sources and focuses on the base year 2018. The analysis reveals that Germany does not show a clear core-periphery pattern when it comes to regional CE performance. Instead, the pattern is more differentiated with both urban and rural regions of different sizes being able to rank high in CE performance. |
| Keywords: | Circular Economy,Germany,Regional Assessment,Sustainability,NUTS3 |
| JEL: | O18 P48 R1 R11 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:hwwirp:199&r= |
| By: | Luca Coraggio (Università di Napoli Federico II); Marco Pagano (University of Naples Federico II, CSEF and EIEF.); Annalisa Scognamiglio (Università di Napoli Federico II and CSEF); Joacim Tåg (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)) |
| Abstract: | Does the matching between workers and jobs help explain productivity differentials across firms? To address this question we develop a job-worker allocation quality measure (JAQ) by combining employer-employee administrative data with machine learning techniques. The proposed measure is positively and significantly associated with labor earnings over workers’ careers. At firm level, it features a robust positive correlation with firm productivity, and with managerial turnover leading to an improvement in the quality and experience of management. JAQ can be constructed for any employer-employee data including workers’ occupations, and used to explore the effect of corporate restructuring on workers’ allocation and careers. |
| Keywords: | jobs, workers, matching, mismatch, machine learning, productivity, management. |
| JEL: | D22 D23 D24 G34 J24 J31 J62 L22 L23 M12 M54 |
| Date: | 2022–03–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sef:csefwp:641&r= |
| By: | Paige N. Park |
| Abstract: | In many OECD countries, women are underrepresented in the highest status, highest paying positions and overrepresented in the lowest status, lowest paying positions. One potential reason for this inequity is the “motherhood penalty,” where women with children face more roadblocks in hiring and promotions. This research investigates occupational segregation among mothers and fathers and analyzes whether gender gaps in occupational status are more extreme for immigrant populations. Using data from the Luxembourg Cross-National Data Center (Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) Database), I compare changes in gender occupational segregation from 2000 to 2016 in Germany and the United States among immigrant and native-born parents. Multinomial logistic regression models and predicted probabilities show that despite instituting policies intended to reduce gender inequality in the workforce, Germany fares worse than the US in their gendered occupational outcomes overall. While the gap between mothers’ and fathers’ probabilities of employment in the highest status jobs is shrinking over time in Germany, particularly for immigrant mothers, Germany’s gender gaps in professional occupations are consistently larger than gaps in the US. Likewise, gender gaps in unskilled work participation are also larger in Germany, with immigrant mothers having a much higher likelihood of working in labor/elementary occupations than any other group—including US immigrant women. These findings suggest that work-family policies—at least those implemented in Germany—are not cure-all solutions for entrenched gender inequality. Results also demonstrate the importance of considering the interaction between gender and other demographic characteristics—like immigrant status—when determining the potential effectiveness of proposed work-family policies. |
| Date: | 2022–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lis:liswps:827&r= |
| By: | Bollinger, Christopher R.; Tasseva, Iva Valentinova |
| Abstract: | We use a unique panel of household survey data – the Austrian version of the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) for 2008-2011 – which have been linked to individual administrative records on both state unemployment benefits and earnings. We assess the extent and structure of misreporting across similar benefits and between benefits and earnings. We document that many respondents fail to report participation in one or more of the unemployment programmes. Moreover, they inflate earnings for periods when they are unemployed but receiving unemployment compensation. To demonstrate the impact of income source confusion on estimators we estimate standard Mincer wage equations. Since unemployment is associated with lower education, the reports of unemployment benefits as earnings bias downward the returns to education. Failure to report unemployment benefits also leads to substantial sample bias when selecting on these benefits, as one might in estimating the returns to job training. |
| Date: | 2022–02–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ese:iserwp:2022-04&r= |
| By: | Enrico Rubolino |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the labor market effects of a large employer-borne payroll tax cut for unemployed women, introduced in Italy since 2013. I combine social secu- rity data with several empirical approaches, leveraging the time-limited applica- tion of the tax scheme and discontinuities in eligibility criteria across municipali- ties, cohorts, and occupations. I find that the payroll tax cut generates long-lasting growth in female employment, reduces the time spent on welfare, and spurs busi- ness growth, without crowding out male employment. By contrast, the tax cut does not raise net wages, suggesting that tax incidence is mostly on firms. A cost- benefit analysis implies that the net cost of the policy is nearly half of the budgetary cost. These findings suggest that employer-borne payroll tax cuts are an efficient strategy to raise demand for female labor and tackle the gender employment gap, but they are not sufficient for reducing the gender pay gap. |
| Keywords: | gender gap, female employment, payroll tax, tax incidence |
| JEL: | H22 J21 J31 |
| Date: | 2022–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lau:crdeep:22.01&r= |
| By: | Angelov, Nikolay (Uppsala Center for Fiscal Studies (UCFS); Johansson, Per (Uppsala University (UCLS and Statistics)); Pihl, Ariel (Department of Economics, University of Gothenburg); Lindahl, Mikael (Department of Economics, University of Gothenburg) |
| Abstract: | We estimate means and distributions of ex-ante treatment effects for obtaining university education relative to high school. To achieve this, we conducted a survey which elicited earnings expectations associated with counterfactual educational choices for a sample of high-school students in Stockholm. We find average ex-ante returns to university to be 36%, with higher returns for females, those with high SES backgrounds, and high math scores. The returns vary considerably and are highest for those that choose university, but also positive and sizable for those who do not. Our results imply that students sort into education based on their comparative advantage. Nevertheless, our results suggest that an OLS estimator of the returns to university education should be expected to be quite similar to the average treatment on the treated effect for university education. Additionally, we find evidence that the positive ex-ante earnings returns to high paying fields, among those that do not choose these fields, can (partly) be reconciled by individuals expecting to be compensated through higher non-pecuniary returns to those fields. |
| Keywords: | Ex-ante treatment effects; returns to university; educational sorting; subjective expectations; |
| JEL: | I26 J24 |
| Date: | 2022–03–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2022_005&r= |
| By: | Köppl-Turyna, Monika; Kantorowicz, Jarosław |
| Abstract: | This work looks at the impact of electoral rules on female participation in local legislative bodies using a natural experiment involving a series of changes to electoral law in Poland. Using an exogenous population threshold dividing municipalities into ones with proportional and ones with majoritarian elections, we estimate the effect of each electoral system on female representation. Contrary to the literature on the national elections, we ftnd that more females are elected to local councils under a majoritarian system. We link this observation to countering party bias in list placements and lower costs of electoral participation in the majoritarian system. |
| Keywords: | electoral rules,forms of government,female representation,regression discontinuity |
| JEL: | D72 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ecoarp:18&r= |
| By: | Cattan, Sarah; Kamhöfer, Daniel A.; Karlsson, Martin; Nilsson, Therese |
| Abstract: | Despite the relatively uncontested importance of promoting school attendance in the policy arena, little evidence exists on the causal effect of school absence on long-run socio-economic outcomes. We address this question by combining historical and administrative records for cohorts of Swedish individuals born in the 1930s. We find that primary school absence significantly reduces contemporaneous academic performance, final educational attainment and labor income throughout the life-cycle. The findings are consistent with a dynamic model of human capital formation, whereby absence causes small immediate learning losses, which cumulate to larger human capital losses over time and lead to worse labor market performance. |
| Keywords: | school absence,educational attainment,long-term effects,register data |
| JEL: | C23 I14 I21 I26 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:dicedp:383&r= |
| By: | Behringer, Jan; Gonzalez Granda, Martin; van Treeck, Till |
| Abstract: | We ask why working hours in the rich world have not declined more sharply or even risen at times since the early 1980s, despite a steady increase in productivity, and why they vary so much across rich countries. We use an internationally comparable database on working hours (Bick et al., 2019) and conduct panel data estimations for a sample of 17 European countries and the United States over the period 1983-2019. We find that high or increasing top-end income inequality, decentralized labor relations, and limited government provision of education and other in-kind services contribute to long working hours. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that upward-looking status comparisons in positional consumption ("Veblen effects") contribute to a "rat race" of long working hours that is more or less pronounced in different varieties of capitalism. |
| Keywords: | working hours,Veblen effects,income inequality,varieties of capitalism |
| JEL: | D31 J20 P16 P50 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifsowp:17&r= |
| By: | Cobb-Clark, Deborah A.; Dahmann, Sarah Christina; Kamhöfer, Daniel A.; Schildberg-Hörisch, Hannah |
| Abstract: | This paper demonstrates that structural factors can shape people's self-control. We study the determinants of adult self-control using population-representative data and exploiting two sources of quasi-experimental variation|Germany's division and compulsory schooling reforms. We find that former East Germans have substantially higher levels of self-control than West Germans and provide evidence for suppression as a possible underlying mechanism. An increase in compulsory schooling had no causal effect on self-control. Moreover, we find that self-control increases linearly with age. In contrast to previous findings for children, there is no gender gap in adult self-control and family background does not predict self-control. |
| Keywords: | determinants of self-control,quasi-experiments,German division,compulsory schooling reforms,population-representative evidence,Brief Self-Control Scale |
| JEL: | D90 C26 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:dicedp:385&r= |
| By: | Halse, Askill H. (Institute of Transport Economics); Hauge, Karen E. (Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research); Isaksen, Elisabeth T. (Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research); Johansen, Bjørn G. (Institute of Transport Economics); Rauum, Oddbjørn (Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | We study how the adoption of battery electric vehicles – a key technology for decarbonizing transportation – responds to two local privileges: road toll exemption and bus lane access. Combining rich Norwegian microdata with a quasi-experimental research design where we exploit household-level variations in incentives on work commutes, we find sizable and positive effects on electric vehicle ownership. The increase in electric vehicles from having road tolls and bus lanes on work commutes is offset by a similar decline in conventional vehicles. Road tolls also reduce brown driving, but lower CO2 emissions are largely explained by the existence of fewer conventional vehicles. |
| Keywords: | electric vehicles; local incentives; road tolls; bus lanes |
| JEL: | H23 Q55 Q58 R41 R48 |
| Date: | 2022–03–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:osloec:2022_001&r= |