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on Microeconomic European Issues |
| By: | Gagliardi, Nicola (Free University of Brussels); Grinza, Elena (University of Turin); Rycx, François (Free University of Brussels) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the impact of rising temperatures on firm productivity using longitudinal firm-level balance-sheet data from private sector firms in 14 European countries, combined with detailed weather data. Our findings, based on control-function techniques and fixed-effects regressions, reveal that global warming significantly and negatively impacts firms' TFP. Labor productivity declines markedly as temperatures rise, while capital productivity remains unaffected – indicating that TFP is primarily affected through the labor input channel. Sensitivity tests show that firms involved in outdoor activities, such as agriculture and construction, are more adversely impacted. Manufacturing, capital-intensive, and blue-collar-intensive firms also experience significant productivity declines. Geographically, the negative impact is most pronounced in temperate and mediterranean climate areas. |
| Keywords: | climate change, global warming, firm productivity, Total Factor Productivity (TFP), semiparametric methods to estimate production functions, longitudinal firm-level data |
| JEL: | D24 J24 Q54 |
| Date: | 2024–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17241 |
| By: | Antonio Cutanda (Universidad de Valencia, Valencia, Spain); Juan A. Sanchis (Universidad de Valencia and ERICES, Valencia, Spain) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we estimate the intertemporal substitution for consumption and leisure in Spain. We use the standard intertemporal optimisation consumption model with an intratemporally separable utility function, using different population groups: employees, self-employed, unemployed or retired people. Further, we analyse if the elasticity of intratemporal substitution for leisure is affected by the individual labour status (temporary workers vs fixed-term contract workers). For this purpose, we use the panel of the Spanish Survey on Household Finances (Encuesta Financiera de las Familias, SHF), covering the period 2002- 2017. The results we obtain confirm that both intertemporal substitution elasticities for consumption and leisure are different depending on individuals’ labour status and the labour contract’s characteristics, such as the duration of the contract (temporary versus fixed-term) or the degree of uncertainty about the future. |
| Keywords: | Euler Equation, Instrumental variables, Intertemporal Substitution for consumption and leisure, Panel data |
| JEL: | C23 C26 D12 D15 J22 |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eec:wpaper:2408 |
| By: | Görg, Holger; Lehr, Jakob |
| Abstract: | This paper, for the first time, investigates the impact of foreign acquisitions on German manufacturing firms using, newly available unique administrative micro data spanning 25 years. Based on an event study design combined with propensity score matching techniques, we find that foreign acquisitions significantly increase labor productivity and average wages in acquired firms. A reduction in employment drives both effects. |
| Keywords: | Foreign direct investment, Foreign acquisitions, Firm behavior, Ex-post evaluation |
| JEL: | F23 F61 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwkie:302104 |
| By: | Demirtaş, Gül; Strenger, Christian; Tröger, Tobias |
| Abstract: | Not only institutional investors are increasingly demanding to know more about the sustainability skills of the boards they elect. These skills demonstrate a company's capability to navigate new regulations and meet self-imposed targets. Consequently, they also serve as a significant proxy for a firm's commitment to pursuing transition strategies, providing a bonding mechanism. In response to the growing demand for transparency, Germany has recently set itself apart with its German Corporate Governance Code (GCGC) recommendation that companies show their boards' sustainability expertise by disclosing a skills matrix. We analyze the board skills disclosures for the supervisory boards of the leading German listed companies for 2022, the first year after the adoption of the recommendation. We compare these disclosures with those of companies from France, a country that has long expressed sustainability-related expectations for company boards but has yet to make any recommendations for the disclosure of sustainability skills. We observe that German companies follow a more uniform approach to reporting directors' sustainability skills. However, the lack of a standardized definition of sustainability expertise in both countries has resulted in significant variations in how companies define this essential disclosure item, thereby reducing the comparability of the reported data. We recommend that policymakers specify skills disclosure rules for directors and director nominees more granularly, including a standardized definition of sustainability expertise, and that they support them with effective enforcement mechanisms, reinforced by external audits and government oversight. |
| Keywords: | coporate governance, corporate boards, sustainability skills, disclosure, ESG |
| JEL: | G34 G39 K2 M14 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:safewp:302568 |
| By: | Lukas Hack; Davud Rostam-Afschar |
| Abstract: | How do firms respond to macroeconomic shocks? To study this question, we construct novel daily time series that measure firms’ plans and expectations based on surveys from Germany. Daily variation allows us to estimate the short-run aggregate responses of firms in short samples. This allows us to analyze the post-pandemic inflation surge without relying on pre-pandemic data. We find that firms’ plans, notably price-setting plans, respond within days to oil supply and monetary policy shocks but not to forward guidance shocks. The effects are especially strong for small and non-tradeable sector firms. Finally, expectations respond strongly and swiftly, but only to monetary policy. |
| Keywords: | Daily data, firms, monetary policy, oil supply, inflation surge |
| JEL: | E31 E43 E52 E58 C83 |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bon:boncrc:crctr224_2024_593 |
| By: | Gaelle Lenormand (UR - Université de Rennes); Hoang Nguyen (Huế University); Lionel Touchais (UR - Université de Rennes) |
| Abstract: | The discretionary nature of alternative performance measures raises the question of their information content, particularly in the European Union where, unlike the United States, there is no specific regulation but only a recommendation without coercive power. Based on hand-collected data in press releases of French and UK firms, we show that non-GAAP earnings measures are more informative compared with GAAP counterparts. However, the alternative performance measures may be used opportunistically when firms fall short of certain accounting earnings benchmarks. |
| Abstract: | L'objectif de l'article est d'analyser le contenu informationnel des indicateurs alternatifs de performance publiés dans le contexte européen au travers d'une analyse comparée de la France et du Royaume-Uni. À partir de données collectées manuellement dans les communiqués de presse, nous constatons que les mesures de résultat non-GAAP aboutissent à une information financière de meilleure qualité que les mesures comptables correspondantes. Ce résultat est plus prononcé pour les firmes britanniques que les entreprises françaises. Ces indicateurs alternatifs de performance peuvent toutefois être utilisés de manière opportuniste dans des situations à risque lorsque les groupes n'atteignent pas certains seuils de résultats comptables. |
| Keywords: | informativeness, alternative performance measures, accounting earnings benchmarks, non-GAAP earnings, indicateurs alternatifs de performance, contenu informationnel, seuils de résultats comptables, résultat non-GAAP |
| Date: | 2023–12–14 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04672673 |
| By: | Krieger, Bastian |
| Abstract: | The access to foreign knowledge via service imports fosters the success of innovations in Germany. The probability of firms in- troducing new or significantly improved products, services, or processes is more than twice as high for those that import knowl- edge services than for non-importers (68 per cent vs. 33 per cent). Furthermore, knowledge importers experience a greater av- erage percentage reduction in their unit costs due to new processes (three per cent vs. one per cent), and a larger revenue share from new products and services (18 per cent vs. eight per cent). Over the course of the previous decade, Germany witnessed a notable surge in the importation of knowledge services, with the value of such imports more than doubling from $16, 949 million in 2010 to $46, 392 million in 2022. Moreover, Germany's focus on the European Union as a trade partner significantly increased. The European Union's share of Germany's total imports of knowledge services rose from 35 per cent in 2010 to 44 per cent in 2019. This trend follows the proposed strategy of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) to focus on a specific selection of countries as knowledge sources to enhance Germany's technological sovereignty and resilience to global challeng- es. However, to compensate for rising protectionism worldwide, trade barriers between Germany and its selected countries - in particular the EU single market - have the potential to be further reduced. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, trade in services, knowledge, service, import, Germany |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewpbs:302801 |
| By: | António Afonso; Ana Patricia Montes Caparrós; José M. Domínguez |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we estimate the potential tax burden in a panel data set comprising OECD countries over the period 2000-2021. To this end, we use non-parametric and parametric techniques: Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA). In this way, it will be possible for us to identify which countries are close to their potential tax capacity and which are far from it. Moreover, we can determine whether they may sustain an increase (decrease) in their actual tax burden depending on whether the tax effort ratio is lower or higher relatively to other similar countries in the sample. Non-parametric and parametric results coincide rather closely on the positioning of the countries vis-à-vis the production possibility frontier and on their relative distances to the frontier. Efficient countries most of the times are: Belgium, Colombia, Finland, France, Italy, Latvia, Slovak Republic, and Sweden. |
| Keywords: | OECD; tax burden; tax efficiency; Stochastic Frontier Analysis; Data Envelopment Analysis. |
| JEL: | C14 C23 H20 H21 H30 |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ise:remwps:wp03392024 |
| By: | Costa, Rui; Dhingra, Swati; Machin, Stephen |
| Abstract: | This paper studies consequences of the large exchange rate depreciation occurring when the UK electorate unexpectedly voted to leave the European Union. Sterling plummeted, recording the biggest one-day depreciation of any of the world's four major currencies since Bretton Woods. The prospect of Brexit happening generated sizable differences in how much sterling depreciated against different currencies. Coupled with pre-referendum cross-country trade patterns, this generated variations in exchange rates facing businesses in different industries. The paper offers evidence of a cost shock from the prices of intermediate imports rising by more in higher depreciation industries, but with no revenue offset from exports. Workers were impacted by these increased cost pressures, not in terms of job loss but through relative real wage declines in higher depreciation, larger cost shock industries. This resulted in an aggregate fall in real wage growth of 3 to 3.6% cumulatively over the three years after the referendum. |
| Keywords: | Brexit; exchange rate depreciation; trade prices; Labour outcomes |
| JEL: | J1 |
| Date: | 2024–11–30 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:124542 |
| By: | Möckel, Stefan; Baaken, Marieke; Bartkowski, Bartosz; Beckmann, Michael; Strauch, Michael; Stubenrauch, Jessica; Volk, Martin; Witing, Felix; Wolf, André |
| Abstract: | With months of drought, hot summers and flooding, global warming has also become increasingly apparent in Germany over recent years. The Climate Protection Act, which was amended in 2021, therefore aims to achieve climate neutrality by 2045. At the same time, a favourable conservation status for habitats, species and water bodies are still the exception in cultivated landscapes, in spite of obligations under European law to achieve this. In this article, we estimate the potential impacts of various landscape designs and integrated landuse measures in terms of climate change mitigation and adaptation, favourable conservation status as well as long-term food security and profitable land use. Based on these impact assessments, we then identify priority measures to be taken. The comparative assessment of effectiveness is intended to help prioritise the most suitable measures in view of limited financial and human resources. |
| Keywords: | design of cultivated landscapes, agriculture, forestry, integrated measures, prioritisation, climate change, climate adaptation, security of food, water and biomass supply, biodiversity |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ufzdps:302565 |
| By: | Khalid Alhadhrami; Ahmed Al-Balawi; Shahid Hasan; Amro Elshurafa (King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center) |
| Abstract: | With over seventy countries setting net-zero commitments by or around mid-century, low-carbon hydrogen (H2) is expected to play a pivotal role in the decarbonization of the global economy, especially sectors less dependent on electricity, which are often termed as hard-to-abate industries. |
| Date: | 2024–03–25 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:prc:dpaper:ks--2024-dp04 |
| By: | Martín Almuzara (Federal Reserve Bank of New York); Víctor Sancibrián (CEMFI, Centro de Estudios Monetarios y Financieros) |
| Abstract: | We study panel data regression models when the shocks of interest are aggregate and possibly small relative to idiosyncratic noise. This speaks to a large empirical literature that targets impulse responses via panel local projections. We show how to interpret the estimated coefficients when units have heterogeneous responses and how to obtain valid standard errors and confidence intervals. A simple recipe leads to robust inference: including lags as controls and then clustering at the time level. This strategy is valid under general error dynamics and uniformly over the degree of signal-to-noise of macro shocks. |
| Keywords: | Panel data, local projections, impulse responses, aggregate shocks, inference, signal-to-noise, heterogeneity. |
| JEL: | C22 C23 C32 C33 |
| Date: | 2024–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cmf:wpaper:wp2024_2412 |
| By: | Frisell, Oskar (IHE - The Swedish Institute for Health Economics); Steen Carlsson, Katarina (IHE - The Swedish Institute for Health Economics) |
| Abstract: | Precision medicine is often cited for its expected potential to revolutionise health care. The rapid evolution of diagnostics, treatments, and methods to deliver care based on the individual’s unique characteristics promises to increase health gains. These advances also bring new challenges on how to determine whether new and innovative methods are cost-effective in relation to the current standard of health care delivery. Cost-effectiveness information of new medicines is required in many countries across Europe and globally to be included on lists of accepted therapies. The reimbursement decisions then rely in part on the information on costs in relation to health outcomes provided from a cost-effectiveness analysis but also other aspects including equity, affordability, and health care infrastructure. <p> This report reviews challenges to standard methods for cost-effectiveness analyses raised in health-economic and clinical oncology literature. It also discusses further considerations and challenges when estimating the value of precision medicine interventions. The report concludes that the methods used in health economics are not dependent on the availability of rigorous phase 3 data to be able to assess cost-effectiveness and support decision-makers by sorting out the consequences of uncertainty in the evidence. Indeed, cost-effectiveness analysis and other economic evaluation methods have several tools to deal with uncertainty about effect sizes such as sensitivity analysis and scenario analyses. In that sense, the challenges of precision medicine in terms of greater statistical uncertainty of results can be dealt with using already available tools. |
| Keywords: | precision medicine; oncology; cancer; cost-effectiveness |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ihewps:2024_011 |
| By: | Möckel, Stefan; Baaken, Marieke; Bartkowski, Bartosz; Beckmann, Michael; Henn, Elisabeth; Strauch, Michael; Stubenrauch, Jessica |
| Abstract: | The global increase in greenhouse gases is also changing the climate conditions more severely in Germany. This particularly affects local cultivated landscapes, which cover large parts of Germany and are already experiencing a wide range of ecological problems. Although agricultural land use characterises cultivated landscapes, their sustainability does not only depend on a change in farming methods. The creation of sustainable cultivated landscapes requires an approach that goes beyond individual actions, which is rather a task for society as a whole that extends well beyond the responsibility and possibilities of individual landowners and managers. Based on the common ecological problems and the specific challenges of climate change described in more detail in the article, we therefore analyse what sustainability means and which social goals and requirements can be identified for cultivated landscapes. The article aims to create a basis for developing practical concepts for measures, government regulations and state subsidies. |
| Keywords: | climate change, cultivated landscape, agriculture, forestry, sustainability, international law, European law, constitutional law, nature conservation, ecosystems, biodiversity |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ufzdps:302564 |
| By: | Xiao, Jing (CIRCLE, Lund University); Lindholm Dahlstrand, Åsa (CIRCLE, Lund University) |
| Abstract: | Recently, acqui-hiring, which refers to the acquisitions driven by gaining access to target human capital, has emerged as a proliferating phenomenon in acquisitions of small technology firms. However, we still know little about this phenomenon, particularly outside the community of Silicon Valley. This study sheds new light on the nature of acqui-hiring by focusing on what drives acqui-hiring. Using a sample of 213 technological acquisitions of Swedish technology firms, our results show that firms tend to be acqui-hired when they are younger and when they are based on the development of deep tech, a group of emerging disruptive technologies, of which the technological base involves high levels of technological newness and complexity. The results show a support to our initial idea that acqui-hiring could be driven by the acquiring firm’s need to acquire complex knowledge and/or new capabilities that are embodied in target key employees or engineering teams. In addition, we develop a typology and identify four types of acqui-hiring. We use case illustrations of deep-tech acqui-hiring to demonstrate four differentiated acquisition strategies, including technology strengthening, product expansion, product experimentation and technology experimentation. |
| Keywords: | Acqui-hiring; deep tech; technological acquisitions; technological newness and complexity; combined methods; Sweden |
| JEL: | G34 L26 O32 O33 |
| Date: | 2024–09–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2024_011 |
| By: | Ana Cristina Saraiva (https://www.cienciavitae.pt/portal/pt/9E1F-3F96-35A3) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the relation of Artificial Intelligence (AI), ethics, and responsibility in the contemporary era. It investigates global AI regulatory frameworks, particularly focusing on Portugal's approach, and considers the urgent need for ethical considerations in AI development. The paper aims to answer the three key research questions: 1 - How do global AI regulatory frameworks influence ethical considerations and responsibilities in AI development, and how does Portugal's approach compare?; 2 - What is the role of Chief Ethical Officers (CEOs) in promoting ethical AI practices within organizations, contributing to risk mitigation and user trust?; 3 - Where does the responsibility lie in ensuring the ethical development and use of AI, and how can a distributed responsibility model be established among AI stakeholders and organizations?. It also emphasizes the importance of AI regulation and its implications for both organizations and consumers. It seeks to provide insights into Portugal's regulatory approach, considering economic factors and the broader global context, and highlights the opportunities and challenges presented by AI regulation. Ultimately, the paper aims to contribute on AI governance, making a comparison between innovation and responsibility, with a focus on ethics. In order to support these findings, it was conducted a small case study to Portuguese AI users, working in a portuguese organization. |
| Keywords: | Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, Responsibility, Regulation |
| JEL: | M10 O32 |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mde:wpaper:186 |
| By: | Héloïse Berkowitz (LEST - Laboratoire d'Economie et de Sociologie du Travail - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Rachel Bocquet (IREGE - Institut de Recherche en Gestion et en Economie - USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry] - Université Savoie Mont Blanc); Hélène Delacour (CEREFIGE - Centre Européen de Recherche en Economie Financière et Gestion des Entreprises - UL - Université de Lorraine); Benoît Demil (LUMEN - Lille University Management Lab - ULR 4999 - Université de Lille) |
| Abstract: | In this introduction to the special issue of M@n@gement for the 30th anniversary of the AIMS, dedicated to complex societal problems, we examine issues of scale and non-scalability, inspired by Tsing's work and recent calls for an ethics of care and responsiveness, thus highlighting the need to develop more care and relationality in the study of complex problems and grand challenges. This means questioning scale, recognizing the agency and value of human and nonhuman beings, prioritizing local knowledge, mutual respect, solidarity and coexistence. |
| Keywords: | grand challenges, complex problems, sustainability, scale, non-scalability, social orders, grand challenges complex problems sustainability scale non-scalability social orders |
| Date: | 2024–05–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04688169 |
| By: | Cristiano Salvagnin |
| Abstract: | This study aims to map the scientific production on the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) market from 2004 to 2024. By analyzing research articles collected from the Scopus database, this bibliometric review provides a comprehensive overview of the academic landscape surrounding the EU ETS. Utilizing the Bibliometrix package in R, we conducted an in-depth analysis of publication trends, key research themes, influential authors, and prominent journals in the field. Our findings reveal significant growth in scholarly interest, with notable peaks corresponding to major policy updates and economic events. The analysis highlights the most cited works and collaborative networks, offering insights into the evolution of research topics over the past two decades. This review serves as a valuable resource for researchers and policymakers, providing a detailed understanding of the academic contributions to the EU ETS market and identifying emerging trends and gaps in the literature. Through this bibliometric approach, we offer a nuanced perspective on the development and impact of the EU ETS in the context of global carbon markets and climate policy. |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2409.01739 |
| By: | Matthias Firgo |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the price effects and tax pass-through of a VAT increase from 7% to 19% on restaurant services in Germany as of January 1, 2024. The Synthetic Control Method (SCM) is used to identify the causal effects of this reform using prices of goods and services unaffected by the tax change as a counterfactual for restaurant prices. Immediately in January, 31% of the tax increase was passed on to consumer prices. Pass-through increased to 58% in the following six months, which corresponds to a causal consumer price increase of about 6.5%. The presumed increase in demand for gastronomy services due to hosting the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament did not alter the path of price adjustments compared to previous months. |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2409.01180 |
| By: | Sara Calligaris; Chiara Criscuolo; Josh De Lyon; Andrea Greppi; Oliviero Pallanch |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a taxonomy of 151 industries, mainly defined at the 3-digit level, indicating at which geographical level competition takes place. It classifies 40 industries as competing at the domestic level, 85 at the European level, and 26 at the global level. First, this paper creates a novel dataset that combines production and international trade data for both goods and services industries, defined at a detailed level of industry aggregation for 15 European countries (based on data availability). Then, by comparing domestic sales with international trade flows, and their source/destination, it identifies the geographic level of competition of each industry. The proposed classification can be used in numerous applications, from the design of trade policies to the assessment of competition by antitrust authorities. The paper shows that the taxonomy is broadly consistent with external data sources that provide alternative ways of inferring the degree of internationalisation of each industry. |
| Keywords: | Competition, International Trade, Market Boundaries, Trade Costs |
| JEL: | F14 F60 L11 |
| Date: | 2024–09–13 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:stiaaa:2024/05-en |