nep-eur New Economics Papers
on Microeconomic European Issues
Issue of 2022‒05‒23
23 papers chosen by
Giuseppe Marotta
Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia

  1. INCOME INEQUALITY AND INNER AREAS. A STUDY ON THE ITALIAN CASE By Graziella Bonanno; Filippo Domma; Lucia Errico
  2. INTAXMOD - Inheritance and Gift Taxation in the Context of Ageing By KRENEK Alexander; SCHRATZENSTALLER Margit; GRUNBERGER Klaus; THIEMANN Andreas
  3. Do Temporary Help Agencies Help? Temporary employment transitions for low-skilled workers By Carrasco, Raquel; Gálvez Iniesta, Ismael; Jerez, Belén
  4. EUROMOD baseline report By Sofia Maier; Mattia Ricci; Vanda Almeida; Michael Christl; Hugo Cruces; Silvia De Poli; Klaus Grunberger; Adrian Hernandez; Tine Hufkens; Daniela Hupteva; Viginta Ivaskaite-Tamosiune; Marta Jedrych; Alberto Mazzon; Bianey Palma; Andrea Papini; Fidel Picos; Alberto Tumino; Estefanía Vazquez
  5. The Origins of Gender Differences in Competitiveness and Earnings Expectations: Causal Evidence from a Mentoring Intervention By Teodora Boneva; Thomas Buser; Armin Falk; Fabian Kosse
  6. Nobody's gonna slow me down? The effects of a transportation cost shock on firm performance and behavior By Branco, Catarina; Dohse, Dirk; dos Santos, João Pereira; Tavares, José
  7. Parents’ Time Allocation in Different Phases of the Covid-19 Pandemic: Evidence from the UK and Implications for Gender Equality By Panayiota Lyssiotou; Ružica SavÄ ic
  8. Unregistered work among refugees: Evidence from a list experiment in Germany By Doerr, Annabelle; Hartmann, Carina; Sajons, Christoph
  9. Vocational Training for Female Job Returners - Effects on Employment, Earnings and Job Quality By Doerr, Annabelle
  10. Caregiving subsidies and spousal early retirement intentions By Costa-Font, Joan; Vilaplana-Prieto, Cristina
  11. Austerity Harmed Student Achievement By Caterina Pavese; Enrico Rubolino
  12. Worker well-being and quit intentions: is measuring job satisfaction enough? By Diane Pelly
  13. Child Penalties in Politics By Jon H. Fiva; Max-Emil M. King
  14. Wealth Survey Calibration: Imposing Consistency with Income Tax Data By Daniel Kolar
  15. Fertility and Family Labor Supply By Katrine M. Jakobsen; Thomas H. Jørgensen; Hamish Low
  16. Working from home during a pandemic – a discrete choice experiment in Poland By Piotr Lewandowski; Katarzyna Lipowska; Mateusz Smoter
  17. Does Informality Deter Tax Progressivity? By Enrico Rubolino
  18. Privatizing disability insurance By Seibold, Arthur; Seitz, Sebastian; Siegloch, Sebastian
  19. When populists deliver on their promises: the electoral effects of a large cash transfer program in Poland By Michał Brzeziński; Jan Gromadzki; Katarzyna Sałach
  20. Under-Reporting of Firm Size Around Size-Dependent Regulation Thresholds: Evidence from France By Philippe Askenazy; Thomas Breda; Vladimir Pecheu
  21. Personality-augmented MPC: Linking survey and transaction data to explain MPC heterogeneity by Big Five personality traits By Nemeczek, Fabian; Radermacher, Jan
  22. Green start-ups and the role of founder personality By Chapman, Gary; Hottenrott, Hanna
  23. Single Mothers’ Income in Twelve Rich Nations: Differences in Disadvantage Across the Distribution By Harkness, Susan

  1. By: Graziella Bonanno (Department of Economics and Statistics, University of Salerno, Fisciano (Italy)); Filippo Domma (Department of Economics, Statistics and Finance 'Giovanni Anania', University of Calabria, Rende (Italy)); Lucia Errico (Department of Economics, Statistics and Finance 'Giovanni Anania', University of Calabria, Rende (Italy))
    Abstract: This paper investigates the impact of ‘inner areas’ on income inequality of the Italian municipalities during the period 2012-2018. In doing so, we employ the Beta GLMM approach to overcome the limits arising from the use of the Gaussian distribution in the analysis of income, as suggested by the existing empirical literature. Our main results show that inner areas of Southern Italy seem to have a higher concentration index than the internal areas located in the North. However, in the South, the odds ratio of the average concentration of inner areas appears to be lower than that in central zones. This finding seems to be driven by the peripheral and ultra-peripheral municipalities, highlighting the importance of analysing the phenomenon under scrutiny at a more disaggregated level.
    Keywords: Inequality, Inner areas, Italy, Beta GLMM
    JEL: I30 O15 R10
    Date: 2022–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:clb:wpaper:202203&r=
  2. By: KRENEK Alexander; SCHRATZENSTALLER Margit; GRUNBERGER Klaus (European Commission - JRC); THIEMANN Andreas (European Commission - JRC)
    Abstract: Based on the most recent data from the ECB’s Household Finance and Consumption Survey, the project models the future household-level wealth distribution in five selected EU member countries (Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, and Italy) to derive inheritances based on different demographic and wealth projection scenarios. On this basis, various inheritance tax scenarios are simulated to estimate potential inheritance tax revenues for a projection period of 30 years. Our results indicate that multiple factors coincide in favouring a growing revenue potential for inheritance taxation in the medium-term. Wealth accumulation and appreciation lead to higher average wealth levels. The shift of the baby boomer generation out of the labour force results in an increase of the older population both in absolute and relative terms. Eventually, this will lead to a rise in the number of deaths and the number of inheritances. Additionally, low fertility rates lead to a reduction of the average number of successors and thereby decrease the importance of exemption thresholds, as individual inheritances become larger. Overall, our simulations show that the future revenue potential of inheritance taxes may be substantial. In practice, it can be expected that the theoretical revenue potential demonstrated by our simulations will be reduced by tax avoidance, real responses, and general equilibrium effects on other taxes. A review of the empirical evidence shows that behavioural responses to inheritance taxes are less pronounced compared to a net wealth tax.
    Keywords: inheritance taxation, wealth taxation, ageing, HFCS, behavioural effects
    Date: 2022–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:taxref:202204&r=
  3. By: Carrasco, Raquel; Gálvez Iniesta, Ismael; Jerez, Belén
    Abstract: We investigate how being employed by a Temporary Help Agency (THA) affects transition rates to alternative labor market states for low-skilled workers. Our approach is based on the estimation of competing risk discrete duration models, and reveals the importance of accounting for short duration dependence. We use Spanish administrative data for the period 2005-2017. We find that having a THA contract rather than a direct-hire temporary contract increases the probability of entering into unemployment or another agency job at all durations. Agency workers are more likely to transition to permanent employment than their direct-hire counterparts, but these transitions are very infrequent for both. The positive effect of THA employment on the probability of transitioning to a permanent job is procyclical. By contrast, the positive effect on the probability of entering unemployment (or another agency job) increased during the Great Recession relative to the previous economic expansion, and has remained high during the recovery. In words, agency jobs in Spain are characterized by higher unemployment risk and persistence than regular temporary jobs, and these differences have intensified in recent years. Accouting for unobserved heterogeneity does not alter our main results.
    Keywords: Temporary Help Agency; Temporary Employment; Competing Risk Duration Models; Unobserved Heterogeneity
    JEL: J2 J4 J24 J62 C34
    Date: 2022–05–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cte:werepe:34756&r=
  4. By: Sofia Maier (European Commission - JRC); Mattia Ricci (European Commission - JRC); Vanda Almeida (European Commission - JRC); Michael Christl (European Commission - JRC); Hugo Cruces (European Commission - JRC); Silvia De Poli (European Commission - JRC); Klaus Grunberger (European Commission - JRC); Adrian Hernandez (European Commission - JRC); Tine Hufkens (European Commission - JRC); Daniela Hupteva (European Commission - JRC); Viginta Ivaskaite-Tamosiune (European Commission - JRC); Marta Jedrych (European Commission - JRC); Alberto Mazzon (European Commission - JRC); Bianey Palma (European Commission - JRC); Andrea Papini (European Commission - JRC); Fidel Picos (European Commission - JRC); Alberto Tumino (European Commission - JRC); Estefanía Vazquez (European Commission - JRC)
    Abstract: This paper presents baseline results from the latest public version (I4.0+) of EUROMOD, the tax-benefit microsimulation model for the EU. We begin by briefly discussing the process of updating EUROMOD. We then present indicators for income inequality and at-risk-of-poverty using EUROMOD and discuss the main reasons for the differences between these and their correspondent from the EU Statistics on Incomes and Living Conditions (EU-SILC). We further compare EUROMOD distributional indicators across all EU 27 countries and over time between 2018 and 2021. Finally, we provide estimates of marginal effective tax rates (METR), an indicator which captures the effect of tax-benefit systems on work incentives at the intensive margin. Throughout the paper, we highlight both the potential of EUROMOD as a tool for policy analysis and the caveats that should be borne in mind when using it and interpreting results.
    Keywords: taxes, benefits, inequality, poverty, EUROMOD
    JEL: H24 H53 I32 I38
    Date: 2022–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:taxref:202201&r=
  5. By: Teodora Boneva; Thomas Buser; Armin Falk; Fabian Kosse
    Abstract: We present evidence on the role of the social environment for the development of gender differences in competitiveness and earnings expectations. First, we document that the gender gap in competitiveness and earnings expectations is more pronounced among adolescents with low socioeconomic status (SES). We further document that there is a positive association between the competitiveness of mothers and their daughters, but not between the competitiveness of mothers and their sons. Second, we show that a randomized mentoring intervention that exposes low-SES children to predominantly female role models causally affects girls' willingness to compete and narrows both the gender gap in competitiveness as well as the gender gap in earnings expectations. Together, the results highlight the importance of the social environment in shaping willingness to compete and earnings expectations at a young age.
    Date: 2022
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9509&r=
  6. By: Branco, Catarina; Dohse, Dirk; dos Santos, João Pereira; Tavares, José
    Abstract: This paper takes a deep and comprehensive look into the firm-level behavioral reactions to a massive transportation cost shock. Exploiting rich data encompassing the universe of Portuguese private firms and a natural experiment we find that the introduction of tolls on previously toll-free highways caused a substantial decrease of turnover and firm profits. In response to the tolls, firms reduced expenses, cutting employment-related expenses and purchases of other inputs in a similar magnitude. Labor costs were reduced by employment cuts rather than by wage cuts. We find evidence for increased firm exit in treated municipalities, but not for increased re-location.
    Keywords: road tolls,infrastructure,firm performance,firm behavior,location,Portugal
    JEL: R48 L25 R12
    Date: 2022
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:949&r=
  7. By: Panayiota Lyssiotou; Ružica SavÄ ic
    Abstract: We exploit the changes in the distancing measures instituted by the UK government in the different phases of the pandemic to identify the impact on the daily lives of couples with children and gender equality within the household. We estimate a weighted tobit simultaneous system of market, housework and child care hours of parents and correct for possible endogeneity of the wages. We find that once the restrictive measures were lifted there was a significant increase in the hours of paid work and decrease in the hours of housework and childcare of both parents. The changes were not significantly different among the two parents. These findings confirm previous evidence that access to market childcare services increases the working hours of mothers. They also indicate that the initial pandemic shock did not eliminate pre-pandemic inequalities in the labour market and division of housework and childcare among parents with underage children. The evidence tends to suggest that changes in gender norms for more equality within the family are more likely to occur when the shock is enforced by law or has a long enough duration to change the behaviour of men and women and shape the norms of the next generation.
    Keywords: time allocation; COVID-19; gender equity; labour supply; housework; childcare
    JEL: D13 J16 J21 J22
    Date: 2022–05–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucy:cypeua:03-2022&r=
  8. By: Doerr, Annabelle; Hartmann, Carina; Sajons, Christoph
    Abstract: The integration of refugees in host countries' labor markets is complicated by structural barriers, missing formal qualification and language deficiencies. This leads to widespread concern that refugees may end up in informal and precarious employment relationships. Empirical evidence on the prevalence of unregistered work is missing, however, due to the sensitive and illegal nature of this phenomenon. In this paper, we conduct a list experiment to measure unregistered work among refugees in Germany. Our results indicate that 31% have had experience with an unregistered job since their arrival. Refugees who report that they do not have work permission show a significantly higher likelihood of experiencing unregistered work. Furthermore, the lack of post-secondary education and vocational degrees, and a low German proficiency predict the risk to work without registration.
    Keywords: Unregistered work, Informal employment, List experiment, Refugees, Germany, Survey experiment
    JEL: J46 J61 C83
    Date: 2022–01–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bsl:wpaper:2022/01&r=
  9. By: Doerr, Annabelle
    Abstract: This paper studies how training vouchers increase the employment prospects of women with interrupted employment histories. Using the population of female job returners who receive a training voucher to participate in training programs and a randomly selected control group from German administrative data, I analyze the effectiveness of training on various labor market outcomes. The results suggest that receiving a training voucher translates into substantial gains in employment and earnings and increases job quality and stability. Analyzing the heterogeneity effects reveals that the effectiveness of training increases with the provided human capital. Several robustness checks support a causal interpretation of the results.
    Keywords: Job Return, Active Labor Market Policies, Treatment Effects, Program Evaluation, Training Voucher, Return to work
    JEL: J68 H43 C21
    Date: 2022–01–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bsl:wpaper:2022/02&r=
  10. By: Costa-Font, Joan; Vilaplana-Prieto, Cristina
    Abstract: Balancing caregiving duties and work can be both financially and emotionally burdensome, especially when care is provided to a spouse at home. This paper documents that financial respite for caregivers can influence individuals’ early retirement decisions. We examine the effect of a reform extending long-term care (LTC) benefits (in the form of subsidies and supports) in Spain after 2007 on caregiving spouse’s early retirement intention. We subsequently examine the effect of austerity spending cuts in 2012 reducing such publicly funded benefits, and we compare the estimates to the effects of an early retirement reform among private sector workers in 2013. We document evidence of a 10pp reduction in the early retirement intentions after the LTC reform even though the effect is heterogeneous by type of benefit. Consistently, austerity spending cuts in benefits are found to weaken retirement intentions. Our estimates suggest that cuts in caregiving subsidies exert a much stronger effect on early retirement intentions than actual early retirement reforms.
    Keywords: long-term care; employment; retirement; informal care; caregiving subsidies; home care
    JEL: I18 J14
    Date: 2022–04–20
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:114908&r=
  11. By: Caterina Pavese; Enrico Rubolino
    Abstract: This paper shows that austerity-induced spending cuts harmed student performance in standardized national tests. To identify this relationship, we use cross-municipality variation in the timing of eligibility for the Italian Domestic Stability Pact as an exogenous shifter of local public spending. We then compare test scores for students that were from the same municipality but were exposed to different levels of austerity spending cuts, based on their birth year. Combining administrative data on public spending and test scores with an instrumental variable model, we show that the implied test score impact of austerity is between 2.1-2.4 (1.7- 1.9) percent of a standard deviation per 1,000 euros per-pupil reduction in current (capital) spending. The effects are more pronounced for children with limited resources at home. By contrast, effects are substantially dampened in municipalities with high-skill politicians and school principals, which are more likely to allocate the marginal spending cut toward less productive spending categories.
    Keywords: public spending, test scores
    JEL: I22 I24 H52 H75
    Date: 2022–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lau:crdeep:22.09&r=
  12. By: Diane Pelly (UCD School of Economics & UCD Geary Institute for Public Policy, University College Dublin)
    Abstract: While the links between worker well-being and quit intentions have been well researched, most studies to date rely on a very narrow conceptualisation of well-being, namely job satisfaction, thus ignoring the documented multidimensionality of subjective well-being. This paper explores whether this approach is justified. Using novel survey data, I compare the extent to which hedonic (job satisfaction and affect) and eudemonic (disengagement and basic psychological needs) well-being indicators individually and jointly explain variation in the quit intentions of 994 full-time UK workers. Well-being indicators perform well, explaining four to nine times more variation in quit intentions than wages and hours combined, with the disengagement measure performing best. I find systematic differences in the hedonic and eudemonic well-being profiles of workers who report positive quit intentions and those who do not. A composite model containing all seven well-being indicators offers the best fit, explaining 29.4% of variation in quit intentions versus 24.0% for job satisfaction on its own. My findings suggest that the standard single-item job satisfaction indicator is probably good enough for organisations who are looking for a quick and easy way to identify workers who may be most at risk of forming positive quit intentions. For organisations seeking to develop effective preventative quit strategies however, supplementing single-item job satisfaction with multifaceted well-being indicators is likely to yield valuable additional insights.
    Keywords: voluntary turnover; quit intentions; employee retention; worker well-being; experienced utility; decision utility; job satisfaction; engagement; affect
    JEL: I31 J28 J22 J26 M5
    Date: 2022–05–17
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucd:wpaper:202204&r=
  13. By: Jon H. Fiva; Max-Emil M. King
    Abstract: Women tend to experience substantial declines in their labor income after their first child is born, while men do not. Do such “child penalties” also exist in the political arena? Using extensive administrative data from Norway and an event-study methodology, we find that women drop out of local politics to a larger extent than men after their first child is born. Parenthood also seems to have a differential long-term effect on women and men's political careers, which may explain why women, especially women with children, are underrepresented at higher levels of the political hierarchy.
    Keywords: gender gap, child penalties, political selection
    JEL: D63 D72 J13 J16
    Date: 2022
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9611&r=
  14. By: Daniel Kolar (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic)
    Abstract: Wealth surveys tend to underestimate wealth concentration at the top due to the "missing rich" problem. We propose a new way of improving the credibility of wealth surveys: We make them consistent with tabulated income tax data. This is possible with the Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS), which takes place in most European countries every three years and collects data on both income and wealth. Consistency is achieved by calibrating survey weights using the income part of HFCS. We apply the calibration method of Blanchet, Flores and Morgan (2022), but propose a new way to determine the merging point where the calibration starts. Calibrated weights are then used with HFCS wealth values. We test the method on Austrian data and find that calibration increases the top 1 % wealth share from 26 % to 37 % in 2014 and from 23 % to 27 % in 2017. The effect is small and negative in the 2011 HFCS wave, even though the net worth of the top 1 % increases. We also highlight a strong downward bias in the Austrian HFCS income distribution, which begins even before the 80th percentile. Following the calibration, we test other top tail adjustments: replacing the survey top tail with a Pareto distribution and combining the data with a magazine rich list.
    Keywords: inequality, wealth surveys, calibration, Household Finance and Consumption Survey
    JEL: D31 C83
    Date: 2022–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fau:wpaper:wp2022_06&r=
  15. By: Katrine M. Jakobsen (Department of Economics, University of Oxford); Thomas H. Jørgensen (CEBI, Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen); Hamish Low (Department of Economics, University of Oxford and IFS)
    Abstract: We study the role of fertility adjustments for the labor market responsiveness of men and women. First, we use longitudinal Danish register data and tax reforms from 2009 to provide new empirical evidence on asymmetric fertility adjustments to tax changes of men and women. Second, we quantify the importance of these fertility adjustments for understanding the labor supply responsiveness of couples through a life-cycle model of family labor supply and fertility. Allowing fertility adjustments increases the labor supply responsiveness of women by 28%. These adjustments affect human capital accumulation and has permanent implications for the gender wage gap within couples.
    Keywords: Fertility, Labor supply, Human capital accumulation, Gender inequality, Tax reform, Life-Cycle
    JEL: J22 J13 D15 H24
    Date: 2022–05–18
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kud:kucebi:2204&r=
  16. By: Piotr Lewandowski; Katarzyna Lipowska; Mateusz Smoter
    Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed working from home from a rarity to a widely adopted job amenity. We study workers’ willingness to pay for working from home, and how it may be affected by subjective and objective assessments of COVID-19-related risks. We conducted a discrete choice experiment with more than 10,000 workers in Poland. We randomised wage differences between otherwise identical home- and office-based jobs. We also randomised an information provision treatment in which we informed 50% of workers about the level of exposure to contagion in their occupation, and how it may be reduced by working from home. We found that the demand for working from home was substantial – the majority of participants would prefer to work from home if they were offered the same wage for a home-based job as they would earn in an office-based job. On average, workers would sacrifice 5.1% of their earnings for the option to work from home, especially for 2-3 days a week (7.3%) rather than 5 days a week (2.8%). We also found that the perception of COVID-19 mattered, as workers who perceived it as a threat were willing to give up a much higher share of their earnings than those who did not. However, the willingness to pay did not differ significantly between individuals depending on whether their occupation had a high or a low level of exposure, or between individuals treated in the information experiment and those in the control group.
    Keywords: labour market, homeoffice, pandemic, others
    JEL: J21 J44
    Date: 2022–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ibt:wpaper:wp032022&r=
  17. By: Enrico Rubolino
    Abstract: In contexts with weak enforcement and widespread informality, the threat of tax evasion may constrain policy makers’ power to set tax policies optimally. This paper studies whether reducing informality by tackling tax evasion leads policy makers to increase statutory tax progressivity. I take advantage of an Italian policy that generated cross-municipality variation in the scope for tackling income and property tax evasion through stricter tax enforcement. Combining an event study design with municipality-level panel data on statutory tax rates, I show that the ability of the government to change the size of the informal sector tips the balance in favor of higher marginal tax rates for middle and top earners, lower for the poor. The tax hike was larger in places with higher pre-program inequality and where intrinsic tax compliance attitudes were weaker. As a result of larger tax collections, municipalities hired more workers and raised public spending. These results suggest that policies enforcing legal rules and payment of taxes have not only the power to foster tax capacity, but also to enhance the ability to pursue redistributive policies.
    Keywords: tax evasion, informality, tax enforcement, local taxes, tax progressivity
    JEL: H26 H71 H72
    Date: 2022–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lau:crdeep:22.07&r=
  18. By: Seibold, Arthur; Seitz, Sebastian; Siegloch, Sebastian
    Abstract: Public disability insurance (DI) programs in many countries face pressure to reduce their generosity in order to remain sustainable. In this paper, we investigate the welfare effects of giving a larger role to private insurance markets in the face of public DI cuts. Exploiting a unique reform that abolished one part of the German public DI system for younger cohorts, we find that despite significant crowding-in effects, overall private DI take-up remains modest. Private DI tends to be concentrated among high-income, high-education and low-risk individuals. We do not find any evidence of adverse selection on unpriced risk. Finally, we estimate individual insurance valuations via a revealed preferences approach, a key input for welfare calculations. We find that observed willingness-to-pay of many individuals is low, such that providing coverage partly via a private DI market improves welfare. However, we show that distributional concerns as well as individual risk misperceptions can provide grounds for justifying a full public DI mandate.
    Keywords: disability insurance,privatization,welfare,microdata
    JEL: H55 G22 G52
    Date: 2022
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:22010&r=
  19. By: Michał Brzeziński; Jan Gromadzki; Katarzyna Sałach
    Abstract: We estimate the effects of the introduction of a large cash transfer program on support for the ruling populist party in Poland. We exploit the variation at the municipal level in the annual cash transfer amount received per capita, and use a difference-in-differences research design to study the electoral effects of the transfer. Our results show that a cash transfer amount of $100 per capita translated into an increase in the vote share for the ruling party of nearly two percentage points. We also find that these effects were largely due to the recruitment of previously non-voting individuals. We conclude that without the transfer program, all else being equal, the populist party would not have remained in power.
    Keywords: Elections, Voting Behavior, Populism, Unconditional Cash Transfer
    JEL: D72 H23 H53 I38 J18
    Date: 2022–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ibt:wpaper:wp022022&r=
  20. By: Philippe Askenazy (Centre Maurice Halbwachs, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and ENS); Thomas Breda (Paris School of Economics, CNRS); Vladimir Pecheu (Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, AMSE, Marseille, France)
    Abstract: The existence of a peak at 49 employees in the firm size distribution in France, followed by a permanent decrease in the number of firms has been the starting point of political discourses and academic studies on the cost of size-dependent regulations at 50-employee. These features of the distribution are visible when firm size is declared by employers in fiscal data but not when it is reconstructed from individual-level social security data. This working paper explores these differences both from statistical and institutional viewpoints. It provides evidence showing that a large proportion of employers manipulate the firm size they declare in their fiscal documents. This manipulation generates the particular shape of the size distribution in the fiscal data. We discuss the rationale for such behavior: the key point is that the under-declaration in fiscal data is not subject to substantial sanctions and it can allow firms not to comply with the labor law. Event studies and comparisons of firms below and above the 50-employee threshold suggest that this threshold may only have limited effects on firm performance or growth potential. Consequently the welfare costs of the regulations at 50-employee might be smaller than what was found by some of the studies that assume a perfect compliance with the law.
    Keywords: regulations, firm size, firm dynamics, economic cost, non-compliance
    JEL: L11 L51 J8
    Date: 2022–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aim:wpaimx:2211&r=
  21. By: Nemeczek, Fabian; Radermacher, Jan
    Abstract: We investigate the link between Big Five personality traits and the marginal propensity to consume (MPC) for users of a German financial account aggregator app. We use 1,700 survey responses and transaction data of 56,000 app users to assess whether Big Five personality traits help explain MPC heterogeneity. We find that extraversion corresponds to an increase in consumption whereas agreeableness and neuroticism correspond to a decrease in consumption. We test this with trust and risk preferences and find that risk indicates more explanatory power in consumption response than the Big Five. Our findings help policy makers target individuals more efficiently.
    Keywords: Marginal Propensity to Consume,Big Five Personality,Survey Data,Transaction Data
    Date: 2022
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:safewp:348&r=
  22. By: Chapman, Gary; Hottenrott, Hanna
    Abstract: Green start-ups play a vital role in the needed transition towards more environmentally sustainable economies. Yet our understanding of why some founders start green ventures and others do not remains incomplete. We build on the cognitive and decision-making perspectives on start-ups proenvironmental engagement to shed light on the role of founders' personality traits - focusing on the 'Big 5' and risk tolerance - in explaining whether founders' start new ventures with environmentally friendly products. Our analysis of a large, representative, manufacturing and service sector sample of German start-ups illustrates the important role of founder personality traits. Specifically, openness and extraversion promote environmentally friendly products while neuroticism inhibits it. We discuss the implications of these insights.
    Keywords: emission reduction,environmentally friendly products,green innovation,Big Fivepersonality traits,sustainability
    JEL: G24 L26 O25 O31
    Date: 2022
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:22009&r=
  23. By: Harkness, Susan
    Abstract: I examine how single motherhood affects income at different quantiles of the distribution in twelve rich countries. Using harmonised data from the Luxembourg Income Study, I show how the distribution of income for single-mother headed households differs to that of coupleheaded households with children. Using unconditional quantile treatment effect models, I assess the influence of single motherhood on income at different points of the distribution. There are striking variations across countries in how single motherhood affects income at different points of the distribution. In some countries, such as the United Kingdom, single motherhood has a greater effect on income at the top of the distribution than the bottom. In others, such as the United States, effects are largest at the bottom of the distribution. I discuss the role of employment and social policies in driving differences in the income gradient associated with single motherhood across the distribution across countries.
    Date: 2022–05–16
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ese:iserwp:2022-06&r=

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