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on Microeconomic European Issues |
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Issue of 2022‒08‒29
25 papers chosen by Giuseppe Marotta Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia |
| By: | Goerke, Laszlo; Huang, Yue |
| Abstract: | Using panel data from 1985 to 2019, we provide the first comprehensive investigation of the relationship between trade union membership and job satisfaction in Germany. Cross-sectional analyses reveal a negative correlation, while fixed effects estimates indicate an insignificant relationship. This is also true if we incorporate information on collective bargaining coverage or the existence of works councils in subsamples for which this data is available. To address the endogeneity of union membership, we generate information on the union density individuals faced in their industry and region. This time-variant IV suggests no causal impact of individual union membership on job satisfaction. Finally, using different estimation models, we investigate whether the effects vary by gender, age, birth year, and employment status. |
| Keywords: | Exit-Voice Framework,German Socio-Economic Panel,Instrumental Variable,Job Satisfaction,Sorting,Trade Union Membership |
| JEL: | I31 J28 J51 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1135&r= |
| By: | Christl, Michael; De Poli, Silvia; Ivaškaitė-Tamošiūnė, Viginta |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we use EUROMOD, the tax-benefit microsimulation model of the European Union, to investigate the impact of marriage-related tax-benefit instruments on the labour supply of married couples. For each married partner, we estimate their individual marginal effective tax rate and net replacement rate before and after marriage. We show that the marriage bonus, which is economically significant in eight European countries, decreases the work incentives for women and, particularly, on the intensive margin. In contrast, the incentives on the intensive margin increase for men once they are married, pointing to the marriage-biased and gender-biased taxbenefit structures in the analysed countries. Our results suggest that marriage bonuses contribute to a lock-in effect, where second earners, typically women, are incentivised to work less, with negative economic consequences. |
| Keywords: | marriage,cohabitation,marriage bonus,work incentives,gender,tax-benefit system,labour supply,Europe |
| JEL: | H31 J12 J22 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1142&r= |
| By: | Angelo Castaldo; Anna Rita Germani; Alessia Marrocco; Marco Forti (Università Sapienza di Roma - Dipartimento di Studi Giuridici, Filosofici ed Economici) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents an empirical investigation on the determinants of workplace accidents across Europe and focuses on the extent to which production-system characteristics (employment sectoral risk, size of firms, temporary contracts), business cycle and socio-economic factors (GDP, level of investments, unemployment, education) and other territorial controls (crime index) might account for cross-country heterogeneity. We use Eurostat data, and our panel is composed of 27 European countries over the period 2010-2018. Implementing, different functional forms/estimation methodologies (pooled OLS, panel fixed and random effects models, system-GMM and semiparametric fixed effects model), we find robust evidence that productive-system structural characteristics, business cycle controls and the other territorial variables are effective in explaining European cross-country heterogeneity. Moreover, we find evidence of a nonlinear relationship between GDP and occupational accidents. Finally, in a policy implication perspective, our results provide evidence that forms of direct financial support to SMEs investments in OSH (as implemented in Italy with the so-called ISI initiative, launched by the National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work from 2010 onwards) can represent a successful policy tool potentially applicable to other European countries. |
| Keywords: | occupational accidents, European productive-system, business cycle, European countries, system-GMM, semiparametric fixed effects model. |
| Date: | 2022–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gfe:pfrp00:00055&r= |
| By: | Stéphane Robin (UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, THEMA - Théorie économique, modélisation et applications - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - CY - CY Cergy Paris Université); Laurence Jacquet (THEMA - Théorie économique, modélisation et applications - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - CY - CY Cergy Paris Université) |
| Abstract: | We examine the R&D, innovation and productivity effects of R&D tax credits (R&DTC) in 8 EU countries, in the context of a proposed EU-wide "super deduction" on R&D expenditures. Our econometric analysis, performed on industry-level panel data, shows that past R&D feeds current R&D, whether it is conducted under an R&DTC or not. Our estimate of additionality during an R&DTC phase is generally close to 1. R&D intensity also affects patenting intensity positively in Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Spain and the UK, but this relationship is R&DTC-related only in Belgium, France and Spain. Only in France and the UK do we observe a full (yet fragile) R&D-innovation-productivity relationship. In the UK, this relationship is not affected by the R&DTC scheme. In France, a 1% increase in R&D conducted under the second to fourth phases of R&DTC (1999-2017) entails a cumulated 0.37% increase in patenting intensity, which translates to a 0.16% increase in productivity. The main policy implication of these results is that a "super-deduction" on R&D is likely to help the EU reach its "R&D at 3% of GDP" objective, but only time will tell how generous it must be to really spur innovation and productivity. |
| Keywords: | R&D Tax Credits,Public Support to R&D,Science and Technology Policy,European Policy JEL codes: O38,H25,H54 |
| Date: | 2022–05–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03681433&r= |
| By: | Erling Barth (Institute for Social Research, Oslo); Alex Bryson (University College London, IZA, and NIESR); Harald Dale-Olsen (Institute for Social Research, Oslo, and IZA) |
| Abstract: | Using linked employer-employee data for Norway we estimate the impact of changes in tax subsidies for union membership on individuals’ membership probabilities. Increased subsidisation of the unions increases union take-up, while increased union fees reduce the demand for membership. The price elasticity of demand for union membership is -9 percent in 2012, though effects are heterogeneous across workers. In the absence of the hikes in tax subsidies and holding workforce composition constant aggregate private sector union membership density would have fallen by 5 percentage points between 2001 and 2012. But it would have fallen by 10 percentage points among those on temporary contracts, for instance. |
| Keywords: | trade unions; union membership; wages, tax subsidies |
| JEL: | J01 J08 J50 J51 |
| Date: | 2022–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qss:dqsswp:2205&r= |
| By: | Bart Cockx (: Department of Economics); Koen Declercq (CEREC, UCLouvain – SaintLouis Bruxelles); Muriel Dejemeppe (IRES/LIDAM, UCLouvain) |
| Abstract: | Providing income support to unemployed education-leavers reduces the returns to investments in education because it makes the consequences of unemployment less severe. We exploit in a difference-in-differences approach a two-part policy reform in Belgium to study whether conditioning the prospective entitlement to unemployment benefits for education-leavers on age, and schooling attainment can affect educational achievements. The first part of this reform disqualified labor market entrants over the age of 25 from benefits for which they were otherwise eligible if unemployed with little or no employment experience one year after leaving education. The second part conditioned the eligibility for this unemployment benefit for youth below the age of 21 on the attainment of a high school degree. While we find evidence that the prospect of financial loss in case of unemployment can significantly raise degree completion and reduce dropout in higher education, we find no evidence of an increase in the graduation rate in high school. |
| Keywords: | : Unemployment insurance, conditionality, degree completion, school dropout, behavioral biases |
| JEL: | H52 I21 I26 I28 J08 J18 J24 J65 J68 |
| Date: | 2022–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbb:reswpp:202205-410&r= |
| By: | Kabátek, Jan (University of Melbourne); Liang, Ying (Monash University); Zheng, Kun (Shandong University) |
| Abstract: | Temporary employment contracts are often regarded as 'stepping stones' for workers' careers, because they can help inexperienced workers secure a permanent contract. Our study evaluates whether this stepping-stone function is moderated by the contract duration, exploiting a Dutch policy reform that shortened the maximum duration of sequences of temporary contracts with the same employers from 3 years to 2 years. Leveraging a sharp regression discontinuity design and administrative register data, we show that the reform accelerated the transitions of temporary workers to permanent contracts with the same employers, with the effect being strongest among those working for the same employers for 1-2 years. We conclude that the reform brought more job security to temporary workers without impeding the stepping-stone function of their contracts. |
| Keywords: | temporary contracts, permanent contract, stepping stone, chain rule |
| JEL: | J28 J41 J42 |
| Date: | 2022–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15407&r= |
| By: | Blasco, Sylvie (GAINS, Université du Maine); Rochut, Julie; Rouland, Benedicte (University of Nantes) |
| Abstract: | Automation may destroy jobs and change the labour demand structure, thereby potentially impacting workers' health and well-being. Using French individual survey data, we estimate the effects of working in automatable jobs on mental health. Implementing propensity score matching to solve the issue of endogenous exposure to automation risk, we find that workers whose job is at risk of automation in the future are about 4 pp more likely to suffer at present from severe mental disorders. Fear of job loss within the year and fear of qualification or occupational changes seem relevant channels to explain our findings. |
| Keywords: | mental health, automation, job insecurity, propensity score matching |
| JEL: | I10 J24 |
| Date: | 2022–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15434&r= |
| By: | Bart Cockx; Koen Declercq; Muriel Dejemeppe |
| Abstract: | Providing income support to unemployed education-leavers reduces the returns to investments in education because it makes the consequences of unemployment less severe. We evaluate a two-part policy reform in Belgium to study whether conditioning the prospective entitlement to unemployment benefits for education-leavers on age or schooling attainment can affect educational achievements. The results show that the prospect of financial loss in case of unemployment can significantly raise degree completion and reduce dropout in higher education, but not in high school. We argue that the higher prevalence of behavioral biases among lower educated and younger students could explain these contrasting findings. |
| Keywords: | unemployment insurance, conditionality, degree completion, school dropout, behavioural biases |
| JEL: | H52 I21 I26 I28 J08 J18 J24 J65 J68 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9852&r= |
| By: | Niklas Gohl (University of Potsdam, DIW Berlin, Berlin School of Economics); Philipp Schrauth (University of Potsdam) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides novel evidence on the impact of public transport subsidies on air pollution. We obtain causal estimates by leveraging a unique policy intervention in Germany that temporarily reduced nationwide prices for regional public transport to a monthly flat rate price of 9 Euros. Us-ing DiD estimation strategies on air pollutant data, we show that this intervention causally reduced a benchmark air pollution index by more than six percent. Our results illustrate that public transport subsidies – especially in the context of spatially constrained cities – offer a viable alterna-tive for policymakers and city planers to improve air quality, which has been shown to crucially affect health outcomes. |
| Keywords: | air pollution, public transport, transport subsidies |
| JEL: | Q53 Q58 R12 R48 |
| Date: | 2022–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pot:cepadp:50&r= |
| By: | Houmark, Mikkel Aagaard (Aarhus University); Jørgensen, Cecilie Marie Løchte (Aarhus University); Kristiansen, Ida Lykke (University of Copenhagen); Gensowski, Miriam (Rockwool Foundation Research Unit) |
| Abstract: | We study how children's socio-emotional skills and well-being in adolescence are affected by an increase in the duration of parental care during infancy. Exploiting a Danish reform that extended paid parental leave in 2002 and effectively delayed children's entry into formal out-of-home care, we show that longer leave increases adolescent well-being, conscientiousness and emotional stability, and reduces school absenteeism. The effects are strongest for children of mothers who would have taken short leave in absence of the reform. This highlights how time spent with a parent is particularly productive during very early childhood. |
| Keywords: | parental leave, early childhood, skill formation, parental investments, socio-emotional skills, personality, well-being, adolescence |
| JEL: | J13 J18 J24 I31 |
| Date: | 2022–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15421&r= |
| By: | Nils D. Steiner (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz); Lucca Hoffeller (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz); Yanick Gutheil (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz); Tobias Wiesenfeldt (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz) |
| Abstract: | Which classes vote for radical-left parties (RLPs) in Western Europe? Have these parties become the domain of highly educated socio-cultural professionals, or can they still attract support from the working class? Building on previous work on class voting in the two-dimensional policy space, this article show how class voting for RLPs is shaped these parties’ positions on the cultural dimension of political competition. Combining voter-level data from the European Social Survey (2002 to 2018) with information on RLPs’ positions for 12 Western European countries, we find evidence of a class trade-off: RLPs with more authoritarian positions receive relatively more support from production workers but relatively less support from socio-cultural professionals. These findings add to evidence that parties shape class voting. Ours is the first study to demonstrate that this is true for RLPs as well, showing how, in the early 21 st century, cultural positions matter for class voting. |
| Date: | 2022–11–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jgu:wpaper:2207&r= |
| By: | Kentaro Asai (PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the employment and productivity effects of the working hour reform in Portugal that reduced the standard hours from 44h to 40h in 1996-7. Using the variation across establishments in the intensity of treatment, I find that the establishments that were more treated experienced lower post-reform employment growth, although to a modest degree. Despite of the large reduction in the labor hour input, there is no statistically significant negative effect on sales, leading to a large improvement in labor efficiency measured by sales per hour. However, these overall effects mask substantial heterogeneity in responses: establishments in capital intensive sectors reduced employment without decline on sales, while those in labor intensive sector rather attempted to maintain employment, but their sales were negatively affected. These results provide indirect evidence consistent with the theories that highlight the role of scale effects and capital substitution effects. |
| Keywords: | Working Hour,Labor Demand,Productivity,Labor Market Working Hour,Labor Market Imperfections |
| Date: | 2022–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-03728157&r= |
| By: | Garcia-Clemente, Javier; Congregado, Emilio |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the aggregated survival rates of more than a million employers followed quarterly from April 1st, 2020 to April 1st, 2021, using the Company Demographic Profile database, a new experimental statistic provided by the Spanish National Statistics Institute. Our approach makes use of fractional regression methods to explain the survival rate by region, sector, size and whether or not a Temporary Workforce Reduction Scheme (also Short-Time Work Scheme) had been used within the firm. These public schemes, known as ERTEs in Spain, were widely used during the pandemic and temporarily subsidised employee ́s wages, relieving labour adjustment costs to the employers. Our main results, based on the omputed average marginal effects, show that the survival rate was significantly higher for those firms which take up ERTE programs among their employees. Nevertheless, this effect was not homogeneous, particularly benefiting the most vulnerable firms. These firms were, as expected, the smallest –from 1 to 5 employees– and the ones which operate in some service sectors as leisure, education, tourism and hospitality. |
| Keywords: | Firm survival, Covid19, ERTE, STW, business closings. |
| JEL: | E65 J08 J38 J65 L10 |
| Date: | 2022–07–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:113885&r= |
| By: | Arntz, Melanie (ZEW Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research ; University of Heidelberg); Ivanov, Boris (ZEW Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research ; University of Heidelberg); Pohlan, Laura (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg, Germany ; IZA ; LASER ; ZEW) |
| Abstract: | "Routine-intensive occupations have been declining in many countries, but how does this affect individual workers’ careers if this decline is particularly severe in their local labor market? This paper uses administrative data from Germany and a matched difference-in-differences approach to show that the individual costs of job loss strongly depend on the task-bias of regional structural change. Workers displaced from routine manual occupations have substantially higher and more persistent employment and wage losses in regions where such occupations decline the most. Regional and occupational mobility partly serve as an adjustment mechanism, but come at high cost as these switches also involve losses in firm wage premia. Non-displaced workers, by contrast, remain largely unaffected by structural change." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) |
| Keywords: | Bundesrepublik Deutschland ; Westdeutschland ; IAB-Open-Access-Publikation ; Auswirkungen ; berufliche Mobilität ; Berufsgruppe ; Berufsverlauf ; Beschäftigungseffekte ; Betriebsstilllegung ; Einkommenseffekte ; IAB-Beschäftigtenhistorik ; IAB-Betriebs-Historik-Panel ; Massenentlassungen ; regionale Mobilität ; regionaler Arbeitsmarkt ; Routine ; technischer Wandel ; Arbeitslosigkeit ; Wirtschaftsstrukturwandel ; 1990-2010 |
| JEL: | J24 J63 J64 J65 O33 R11 |
| Date: | 2022–08–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabdpa:202217&r= |
| By: | Jirjahn, Uwe; Le, Thi Xuan Thu |
| Abstract: | While works councils provide a highly developed mechanism to promote workplace democracy, research on their consequences has been dominated by economic aspects. This study brings a new perspective to the understanding of works councils by examining their influence on workers' political behavior. Political spillover theory suggests that participation in the firm's decision making has the potential to foster workers' political participation in civic society. Our study for Germany indeed finds a positive association between the presence of a works council and workers' interest in politics. This holds in panel data estimations including a large set of controls and accounting for unobserved individual-specific factors. However, separate estimations by gender show a positive association between works councils and political interest only for men, but not for women. Traditional gender roles and disproportionate responsibility for family may make it difficult for women to be politically engaged even when a works council is present. |
| Keywords: | Works council,works councilor,union member,gender,political interest |
| JEL: | J51 J52 J53 J58 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1141&r= |
| By: | Laura Abrardi; Elena Grinza; Allessandro Manello; Flavio Porta |
| Abstract: | We use survey data on Italian small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) collected during the COVID-19 pandemic to explore the relationship between the adoption of work from home (WFH) practices and organizational performance. In so doing, we investigate the possible underlying mechanisms, including measures of labor productivity and workers’ concentration and motivation, the level of absenteeism, the organization of work through management by objectives (MBO), and the presence of coordination and communication costs. We obtain several results. First, we find a significantly enhanced capability of firms that adopted WFH during the pandemic to sustain the overall organizational performance, particularly when such work practice is used intensively. Second, increased labor productivity and workers’ concentration and motivation, decreased absenteeism, and a substantial rise in the adoption of MBO seem to be the main drivers behind the detected benefits related to WFH. Third, when WFH is used at medium levels of intensity, it is associated with augmented coordination and communication costs, which nonetheless do not appear to overcome the benefits associated with WFH. |
| Keywords: | Work from home (WFH); teleworking; agile working; smart working; organizational performance; labor productivity; management by objectives (MBO); COVID-19; small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); survey data |
| JEL: | D23 D24 M54 |
| Date: | 2022–08–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sol:wpaper:2013/346683&r= |
| By: | Djinovic, Vladana; Giannakopoulos, Nicholas |
| Abstract: | In this paper we investigate whether human capital accumulation, during adolescence, depends on home investments in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) equipment. Using micro-level data, for children aged 17-18 years old, drawn from the Greek part of the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EUSILC) for the period 2003-2019 we measure school dropout for individuals residing in households with and without access to home computer. We found that adolescents with access to ICT have better educational outcomes compared to their peers without access to such equipment (almost 5 percentage points lower probability of school dropout). These estimates are robust to different model specifications and data restrictions. Our results support the hypothesis that technology diffusion promotes educational outcomes and provides additional evidence regarding the formation of human capital during adolescence. |
| Keywords: | Education,Technology Diffusion,Human Capital |
| JEL: | I24 O33 J24 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1143&r= |
| By: | Gøril L. Andreassen; Jo Thori Lind |
| Abstract: | We investigate empirically whether the market value of electric vehicles, which have rapid technological progress, decline faster over their lifetime than gasoline vehicles, which is a mature technology. We use novel data from the market with the highest market shares for electric vehicles in the world, Norway, from the largest web platform for secondhand vehicles for 2011-2021. The price path of electric vehicles declines faster than gasoline vehicles. This seems to be driven by the electric vehicles with below median driving range. We hypothesize that the large price drop is mainly due to the fast technological improvement of electric vehicles. |
| Keywords: | energy transition, price, technological progress, low-carbon technologies, electric vehicles, secondhand market, climate policy |
| JEL: | D12 L60 L62 O33 Q55 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9814&r= |
| By: | Thijs Brouwer (Department of economics, Tilburg University - Tilburg University [Netherlands]); Fabio Galeotti; Marie Claire Villeval (GATE Lyon Saint-Étienne - Groupe d'analyse et de théorie économique - ENS Lyon - École normale supérieure - Lyon - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - UCBL - Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 - Université de Lyon - UJM - Université Jean Monnet [Saint-Étienne] - Université de Lyon - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | We examine the educative role played by parents in social norm transmission. Using a field experiment, we study whether parents enforce and comply more with norms when their children are present compared to when they are not. We compare similar parents when or after they bring or pick up their children at school. We find that parents accompanying children, in contrast to parents alone, are more likely to punish norm violators and to provide help to strangers when there is no violation. They also tend to substitute more direct punishment with withholding help as a means of indirect punishment. |
| Keywords: | Field Experiment,Social Norms,Transmission,Parenting |
| Date: | 2022–07–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03725575&r= |
| By: | Buda, G.; Carvalho, V. M.; Hansen, S.; Mora, J. V. R.; Ortiz, Ã .; Rodrigo, T. |
| Abstract: | This paper provides the first proof of concept that naturally occurring transaction data, arising from the decentralized activity of millions of economic agents, can be harnessed to produce national accounts-like objects. We deploy comprehensive transaction-level data and its associated metadata arising from the universe of Spanish retail accounts of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA). We organize the resulting 3 billion individual transactions by 1.8 million bank customers in a large and highly detailed representative consumption panel to show (i) that the aggregation of such data, once organized according to national accounting principles, can reproduce current official statistics on aggregate consumption in the national accounts with a high degree of precision and, as a result of the richness of transaction data, (ii) produce novel, highly detailed distributional accounts for consumption. Finally, exploiting the panel nature of our data, we (iii) offer a non-parametric analysis of individual consumption dynamics across the consumption distribution. |
| Date: | 2022–07–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:2244&r= |
| By: | Pauline Charousset (PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Marion Monnet (INED - Institut national d'études démographiques) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies how student gender influences the feedback given by teachers, and how this affects the student's performance in school. Using the written feedback provided to the universe of French high school students by their math teachers over a five-year period, we show that teachers use different words to assess the performance of equally able male and female students. Teachers highlight the positive behavior and encourage the efforts of their female students while, for similarly-performing males, they criticize the students for unruly behavior and praise them for their intellectual skills. To understand how this relates to the student's subsequent educational outcomes, we then match these data to records from French national examinations, as well as these students' higher education application behavior and ultimate institution of enrollment. Using the quasi-random allocation of teachers to classes, we estimate that being assigned to a teacher with feedback that is one standard deviation more gendered improves student math performance by 1.6 percent of a standard deviation on average, but does not affect students' enrollment in higher education in the following year. |
| Keywords: | teacher feedback,text mining,gender,student performance,higher education |
| Date: | 2022–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-03733956&r= |
| By: | Liu, Li (International Monetary Fund); Lockwood, Ben (University of Warwick); Tam. Eddy (King's College london) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the effect of the VAT threshold on firm growth in the UK, using exogenous variation over time in the threshold, combined with turnover bin fixed effects, for identification. We find robust evidence that annual growth in turnover slows by about 1 percentage point when firm turnover gets close to the threshold, and weaker evidence of higher growth when the threshold is passed. Growth in firm costs shows a similar pattern, indicating that the response to the threshold is likely to be a real response rather than an evasion response. Firms that habitually register even when their turnover is below the VAT threshold (voluntary registered firms) have growth that is unaffected by the threshold, whereas firms that select into the Flat-Rate Scheme have a less pronounced slowdown response than other firms. Similar patterns of turnover and cost growth around the threshold are also observed for non-incorporated businesses. Finally, simulation results clarify the relative contribution of "noncrossers" ( firms who eventually register for VAT) and "non-crossers" (those who permanently stay below the threshold) in explaining our empirical findings. JEL Classification: H22 ; H25 ; H26 |
| Keywords: | VAT ; size-based threshold ; firm growth |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wrk:warwec:1418&r= |
| By: | Dante Donati |
| Abstract: | Asymmetric information can distort market outcomes. I study how the online disclosure of information affects consumers’ behavior and firms’ incentives to upgrade product quality in markets where information is traditionally limited. I first build a model of consumer search with firms’ endogenous quality decisions. In this model, lower search costs reallocate demand toward higher-quality producers, raising firms’ incentives to upgrade quality, and more so for firms selling ex-ante lower-quality products. I then use the access to online reviews to proxy for reductions in consumers’ search costs and estimate its impact on the restaurant industry in Rome, exploiting the abolition of mobile roaming charges in the EU in 2017 for identification. Based on a unique dataset combining monthly information from Tripadvisor with administrative social-security records, I find that, after the policy, revenues and total employment in mid- and high-rating restaurants grow by 3-10%. In turn, the probability for low-rating restaurants to exit the market doubles compared to the pre-policy period, while surviving low- and mid-rating establishments hire workers with higher wages and better curricula, eventually improving their Tripadvisor ratings. Overall, the share of low-rating restaurants in the most tourist areas decreases by 2.5 pp. My findings have implications for the role of review platforms in the performance of offline industries under asymmetric information. |
| Keywords: | review platforms, asymmetric information, search costs, service industry, quality |
| JEL: | D82 D83 L15 L80 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9834&r= |
| By: | Drydakis, Nick |
| Abstract: | This study examines whether an association exists between parental unemployment and health-related quality of life and mental health for adolescents aged 15-18 in Athens, Greece. The gathered dataset covers the same upper high schools in two periods, 2011-2013 and 2017-2019. The study finds that parental unemployment bears an association with decreased health-related quality of life and increased adverse mental health symptoms for adolescents. Moreover, the 2011-2013 period, a period of increased parental unemployment, saw a decrease in health-related quality of life and increased adverse mental health symptoms for adolescents. In addition, parental unemployment proved more detrimental to adolescents' health-related quality of life and mental health in 2011-2013 than in 2017-2019. The present research ranks among the first studies to examine whether parental unemployment could be associated with worse health-related quality of life and mental health for adolescents during periods of increased parental unemployment. Public policies that can reduce the adverse effects of parental unemployment on adolescents' health-related outcomes require consideration. This approach proves critical because deteriorated health-related quality of life and mental health can negatively impact on adolescents' human capital, progression, income, and future health. |
| Keywords: | Parental unemployment,adolescents,health-related quality of life,mental health,recession,economic crisis |
| JEL: | E24 J13 I10 I14 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1134&r= |