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on Microeconomic European Issues |
| By: | Maria Tsouri; Ron Boschma; ; |
| Abstract: | Studies show that local capabilities contribute to the green transition, yet little attention has been devoted to the role of scientific capabilities. The paper assesses the importance of local scientific capabilities and the inflow of scientific knowledge from elsewhere for the ability of regions in Europe to diversify into photovoltaic (PV) segments during the period 1998 to 2015, employing a combined dataset on patents and scientific publications. We find that local scientific capabilities matter, but not so much the inflow of relevant scientific knowledge from other regions, as proxied by scientific citations of patents in PV segments. Regions are also likely to diversify into a PV segment when they have technological capabilities related to other PV segments. Finally, we found that European regions are less likely to lose an existing PV segment specialization when they have intra-regional and extra-regional scientific capabilities in this PV segment. |
| Keywords: | relatedness, photovoltaic technologies, green diversification, regional diversification, scientific capabilities, related scientific capabilities, inter-regional linkages, Europe |
| JEL: | O25 O38 R11 |
| Date: | 2024–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:2410&r=eur |
| By: | Serdar Ozkan; Joachim Hubmer; Sergio Salgado; Elin Halvorsen |
| Abstract: | We use Norwegian administrative panel data on wealth and income between 1993 and 2015 to study lifecycle wealth dynamics, focusing on the wealthiest households. On average, the wealthiest start their lives substantially richer than other households in the same cohort, own mostly private equity, earn higher returns, derive most of their income from dividends and capital gains, and save at higher rates. At age 50, the excess wealth of the top 0.1% group relative to mid-wealth households is accounted for in about equal terms by higher saving rates (34%), higher initial wealth (32%), and higher returns (27%), while higher labor income (5%) and inheritances (1%) account for the small residual. There is significant heterogeneity among the wealthiest: one-fourth of them—which we dub the “New Money”—start with negative wealth but experience rapid wealth growth early in life. Relative to the quartile of top owners that already started their life rich—the “Old Money”—the New Money are characterized by even higher saving rates and returns and also by higher labor income. Their excess wealth is mainly explained by higher saving rates (46%), higher returns (34%), and higher labor income (16%). |
| Keywords: | Wealth inequality, lifecycle wealth dynamics, rate of return heterogeneity, bequests, saving rate heterogeneity |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bbq:wpaper:0007&r=eur |
| By: | Bergemann, Annette (University of Groningen); Brunow, Stephan; Stockton, Isabel (Institute for Fiscal Studies, London) |
| Abstract: | We estimate female and male workers' marginal willingness to pay to reduce commuting distance in Germany, using a partial-equilibrium model of job search with non-wage job attributes. Commuting costs have implications not just for congestion policy, spatial planning and transport infrastructure provision, but are also relevant to our understanding of gender differences in labour market biographies. For estimation, we use a stratified partial likelihood model on a large administrative dataset for West Germany to flexibly account for both unobserved individual heterogeneity and changes dependent on wages and children. We find that an average female childless worker is willing to give up daily €0.27 per kilometre (0.4% of the daily wage) to reduce commuting distance at the margin. The average men's marginal willingness to pay is similar to childless women's over a large range of wages. However, women's marginal willingness to pay more than doubles after the birth of a child contributing substantially to the motherhood wage gap. A married mixed-sex couple's sample indicates that husbands try to avoid commuting shorter distances than their wives. |
| Keywords: | commuting, marginal willingness to pay for job attributes, on-the-job search, Cox relative risk model, partial likelihood estimation, gender and parenthood in job search models, heterogeneity in job mobility, gender wage gap |
| JEL: | C41 J13 J16 J31 J62 |
| Date: | 2024–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16890&r=eur |
| By: | Guendalina Anzolin; Chiara Benassi; Armanda Cetrulo |
| Abstract: | A large body of research has investigated the impact of industrial relations on workplace innovation. Econometric research based on U.S. data suggests that unions are detrimental to innovation, while evidence from Europe is more mixed. This points to the importance of "contextualized" theorizing about the effects of industrial relations on firm-level innovation. Such an approach is common in qualitative research but is infrequently seen in quantitative studies. To address this gap, our article investigates the link between industrial relations and innovation at the firm level using establishment-level surveys from Germany (IAB establishment data) and Italy (INAPP-RIL establishment data). Our findings point to significant cross-country differences in how industrial relations institutions, including workplace representation and firm/sectoral agreements, can influence firm-level innovation. This cross-country variation underscores that similar institutions may serve different functions depending on the specificities of the national context. |
| Keywords: | Germany, Italy, collective bargaining, unions, innovation |
| Date: | 2024–04–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2024/12&r=eur |
| By: | OECD; Orsetta Causa; Maxime Nguyen; Emilia Soldani |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a novel classification of high-polluting occupations for a large sample of European countries. Unlike previous efforts in the literature, the classification exploits country-level data on air polluting emission intensity by industry. The country-level data allows to capture important cross-country differences, due to differences in technology and in production focus. Applying the new classification to European Labour Force Survey data shows that, on average across the countries covered, about 4% of workers are employed in high-polluting jobs, ranging from 9% in Czechia and the Slovak Republic to around 2% in Austria. These shares do not exhibit any clear decreasing trend over the past decade. High-polluting jobs are unequally distributed, being over-represented among men, workers with lower and medium educational attainment and those living in rural areas. |
| Keywords: | air polluting emissions, classification, climate change, green transition, high-polluting jobs, labour markets |
| JEL: | J21 Q51 Q53 Q56 |
| Date: | 2024–04–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1795-en&r=eur |
| By: | Carlo Jaeger (Global Climate Forum (GCF)); Jonas Teitge (Global Climate Forum (GCF)); Jan-Erik Thie (Macroeconomic Policy Institute (IMK) and Global Climate Forum (GCF)); Antje Trauboth (Global Climate Forum (GCF)) |
| Abstract: | Long after the debates about tertiarisation and post-industrial society, deindustrialisation is a hot topic again. An important example is the future of the German car industry. Some people believe that the forces of climate policy and digitalisation will lead to a smooth shift from selling internal combustion cars to battery electric ones. We show that things are much more difficult by distinguishing three different futures. First, a pink scenario of global industrial expansion based on electric cars and renewable electricity (1), then, a black scenario of a shrinking market for German cars and a global car fleet far from reaching climate neutrality by 2050 (2), finally a green scenario where carbon neutral self-driving robotaxis and shuttles on demand help realise the goals of the Paris accord and where the German car industry embraces digitalisation to sell mobility as a service, bridging the divide between private and public transport (3). Moreover, the pattern of incremental innovations the German innovation system is locked in is a problem. Germany needs to renew the creative capacity it had when the invention of the automobile planted the seed of the German car industry. This will require patient research able to analyse and foster an unprecedented economic transition. We explain and propose the multisectoral approach to economic dynamics developed at the interface of mathematics and economics by John von Neumann because it offers an adequate starting point for this indispensable effort. |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imk:wpaper:221-2023&r=eur |
| By: | Alessia Lo Turco (Department of Economics and Social Sciences, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (UNIVPM)); Alessandro Sterlacchini (Department of Economics and Social Sciences, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we consider firms involved in two waves (2019 and 2021) of the French ICT survey to distinguish between early and late adopters of AI technologies and to highlight some relevant antecedents that facilitated the former to keep and the latter to start adopting them. The implementation of data security systems, the training and recruitment of employees for ICT, and the use of websites and social media for collecting information on customers, increase the probability of keeping and starting the AI adoption. We also show that the impact of these factors differs according to the business function AI technologies are used for. They appear to be more relevant for the administration and marketing functions. Furthermore, the usage of AI for marketing is also fostered by the antecedent use of e-commerce and CRM applications. These findings support the hypothesis that the AI adoption by firms is shaped by a hierarchical trajectory, from less to more complex and demanding technologies in terms of complementary investments in ICT and skills. |
| Keywords: | Artificial Intelligence, Digital technologies and skills, IT security systems, French firms. |
| JEL: | O31 O33 |
| Date: | 2024–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anc:wpaper:486&r=eur |
| By: | Adamopoulou, Effrosyni; Manaresi, Francesco; Rachedi, Omar; Yurdagul, Emircan |
| Abstract: | Minimum wages generate an asymmetric pass-through of rm shocks across workers. We establish this result leveraging employer-employee data on Italian metalmanufacturing rms, which face dierent wage oors that vary within occupations. In response to negative rm productivity shocks, workers close to the wage oors experience higher job separations but no wage loss. However, the wage of high-paid workers decreases, and more so in rms with higher incidence of minimum wages. A neoclassical model with complementarities across workers with dierent skills rationalizes these ndings. Our results uncover a novel channel that tilts the welfare gains of minimum wages toward low-paid workers. |
| Keywords: | Firm productivity shocks, pass-through, employer-employee data, skill complementarities, incomplete-market model |
| JEL: | E24 E25 E64 J31 J38 J52 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:290403&r=eur |
| By: | HARDING Richard; NAUWELAERS Claire |
| Abstract: | The aim of this report is to investigate the potential for harnessing key features of Transformative Innovation to improve the design and the implementation of Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) strategies, based on empirical analyses. The study draws on the conceptual framework on this question previously defined for the JRC (European Commission, 2024), and the methodology for case studies, also articulated in the same report. The case study research covered several territories from across the EU and beyond, representing a diversity of approaches to CCA and transformative innovation. The framework takes the form of an analytical grid, structured into seven sections, each of them representing a key feature of the ‘transformative innovation’ approach – features understood as essential conditions for the design and implementation of CCA strategies with this high level of ambition. Each section sets out the main question(s) to be addressed in relation to its respective transformative innovation feature. This Report provides the findings for Turku and Southwest Finland, and is the result of a collaboration between the Joint Research Centre (JRC), DG CLIMA and DG RTD. |
| Date: | 2024–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc137315&r=eur |
| By: | Jan Behringer (Macroeconomic Policy Institute (IMK)); Lukas Endres (Macroeconomic Policy Institute (IMK)); Till van Treeck (University of Duisburg-Essen) |
| Abstract: | We analyse the decline of household saving rates in the bottom half of the income distribution in Germany since the 2000s, which allowed for only moderately increasing consumption inequality, despite sharply rising income inequality. We combine survey data on household consumption with our own representative survey on the visibility and status relevance of various spending categories to test for upwards directed social status comparisons as an explanation of these trends. We find that non-rich households shift their income allocations towards more visible and status relevant areas of consumption when incomes at the top rise relative to their own. Renter households offset higher status consumption by reducing expenditures on other consumption components. In contrast, homeowners maintain higher status-oriented expenditures, particularly regarding housing, by considerably reducing their saving rates. |
| Keywords: | Personal Income Distribution, Status Concerns, Household Consumption, Homeownership |
| JEL: | D1 D31 E21 R21 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imk:wpaper:219-2023&r=eur |
| By: | Rodolfo G. Campos; Benedikt Heid; Jacopo Timini |
| Abstract: | The Cold War was the defining episode of geopolitical fragmentation in the twentieth century. Trade between East and West across the Iron Curtain (a symbolical and physical barrier dividing Europe into two distinct areas) was restricted, but the severity of these restrictions varied over time. We quantify the trade and welfare effects of the Iron Curtain and show how the difficulty of trading across the Iron Curtain fluctuated throughout the Cold War. Using a novel dataset on trade between the two economic blocs and a quantitative trade model, we find that while the Iron Curtain at its height represented a tariff equivalent of 48% in 1951, trade between East and West gradually became easier until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Despite the easing of trade restrictions, we estimate that the Iron Curtain roughly halved East-West trade flows and caused substantial welfare losses in the Eastern bloc countries that persisted until the end of the Cold War. Conversely, the Iron Curtain led to an increase in intra-bloc trade, especially in the Eastern bloc, which outpaced the integration of Western Europe in the run-up to the formation of the European Union. |
| Keywords: | international trade, Cold War, Iron Curtain, geopolitical fragmentation, trade costs of borders |
| JEL: | F13 F14 N74 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11057&r=eur |
| By: | Altavilla, Carlo; Gürkaynak, Refet S.; Quaedvlieg, Rogier |
| Abstract: | We establish basic facts about the external finance premium. Tens of millions of individual loan contracts extended to euro area firms allow studying the determinants of the external finance premium at the country, bank, firm, and contract levels of disaggregation. At the country level, the variance in the premium is closely linked to sovereign spreads, which are important in understanding financial amplification mechanisms. However, country-level differences only explain half of the total variance. The rest is predominantly attributed to variances at the bank and firm levels, which are influenced by the respective balance sheet characteristics. Studying the response of the external finance premium to monetary policy, we find that balance sheet vulnerabilities of banks and firms strengthen the transmission of policy measures to financing conditions. Moreover, our findings reveal an asymmetrical effect contingent upon the sign and type of the policies. Specifically, policy rate hikes and quantitative easing measures exert a more pronounced impact on lending spreads, further magnified through their repercussions on the external finance premium. JEL Classification: E44, E58, F45, G15, G21 |
| Keywords: | euro area, external finance premium, financial accelerator, loan pricing |
| Date: | 2024–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20242934&r=eur |
| By: | Jan Priewe |
| Abstract: | This paper compares living and working conditions in the U.S. and Germany for the year 2022 with a focus on economic, social and environmental standards. Twelve dimensions of comparison are used, split into 15 themes, which are examined with 80 indicators. Subjective indicators based on polls or surveys, such as happiness or quality of life in general, are explicitly avoided. A special emphasis is placed on median values instead of mean values if data allow. Emphasis is also placed on income and wealth inequality. The methodology, which focuses on only two countries in a granular approach, provides much more detailed information than methodologies used in other studies. This paper is, to the knowledge of the author, the only comprehensive comparison of living conditions in the U.S. and Germany. The result of the comparison shows that Germany scores 23 and the U.S. only 6. The framing of the comparison is the analysis of two different types of capitalism. It underlines the limited role of GDP per capita for the living conditions of the majority of the population while highlighting the impact of institutions and the type of the welfare state. |
| Keywords: | living conditions, quality of life, international comparisons, inequality, National Accounting |
| JEL: | P10 P16 P50 P51 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imk:studie:91-2024&r=eur |
| By: | EGLE Lukas (European Commission - JRC); PIERRI Erika (European Commission - JRC); GAUDILLAT Pierre (European Commission - JRC); GALLO Federico; MATHIEUX Fabrice (European Commission - JRC); SAVEYN Hans (European Commission - JRC) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this study is to develop technical recommendations for possible elements and parameters of a methodology to assess recyclability of packaging, referred to in Article 6 of the EC proposal for a Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, to support the co-decision process. The main objective is to identify relevant functionalities of the packaging materials (listed in Table 1 of Annex II of the proposal) that could be considered in a design-for-recycling (DfR) methodology. A mapping exercise of available DfR guidelines was carried out to build up an extensive database for each packaging material. The outcomes of this study are based on data and evidence provided by experts in the written stakeholder consultation. The proposal consists of a list of elements and parameters, a detailed description of each parameter and the relevance for recyclability. |
| Date: | 2024–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc136777&r=eur |