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on Microeconomic European Issues |
| By: | Marion Leroutier (CREST-ENSAE Paris); Hélène Ollivier (Paris School of Economics, CNRS) |
| Abstract: | This paper shows that even moderate air pollution levels, such as those in Europe, harm the economy by reducing firm performance. Using monthly firm-level data from France, we estimate the causal impact of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) on sales and worker absenteeism. Leveraging exogenous pollution shocks from local wind direction changes, we find that a 10 percent increase in monthly PM2.5 exposure reduces firm sales by 0.4 percent on average over the next two months, with sector-specific variation. Simultaneously, sick leave rises by 1 percent. However, this labor supply reduction explains only a small part of the sales decline. Our evidence suggests that air pollution also reduces worker productivity and dampens local demand. Aligning air quality with WHO guidelines would yield economic benefits on par with the costs of regulation or the health benefits from reduced mortality. |
| Keywords: | Cost of air pollution, Absenteeism, Firm performance |
| JEL: | Q53 I1 J22 |
| Date: | 2025–02–15 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crs:wpaper:2025-05 |
| By: | Gerald J. Pruckner; Thomas Schober |
| Abstract: | Patient selection remains a major challenge in evaluating hospital perfor mance. We exploit the quasi-random assignment of patients to hospitals, based on a rotation schedule between hospitals in the Upper Austrian capital of Linz. In the instrumental variable (IV) framework, we use high-quality administrative data and estimate hospital performance on patient outcomes such as mortality and readmission. We contrast these results with those of traditional risk adjustment models based on patient observables. We find that the assessment of hospital performance is sensitive to the inclusion of patient observables and that increasing the number of socio economic covariates to better control for patient risk profiles does not always help bring risk-adjusted estimates closer to IV estimates. Our results sug gest that common risk adjustment does not adequately control for patient differences between hospitals and that hospital quality indicators based on common administrative data should be interpreted with caution. The trend toward personalized medicine may support the process of collecting more clinical information at the individual level, thus allowing for better quality comparisons between hospitals. |
| Keywords: | Hospital Crowding, Health Care Utilization |
| JEL: | I10 I12 I14 I31 J20 |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jku:econwp:2025-03 |
| By: | Filippo Biondi (Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics); Sergio Inferrera (Queen Mary University of London, School of Economics and Finance); Matthias Mertens (Massachusetts Institute of Technology); Javier Miranda (Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH), Friedrich-Schiller University, and CompNet) |
| Abstract: | We study changes in job reallocation in Europe after 2000 using novel micro-aggregated data that we collected for 19 European countries. In all countries, we document broad-based declines in job reallocation rates that concern most economic sectors and size classes. These declines are mainly driven by dynamics within sectors, size, and age classes rather than by compositional changes. Simultaneously, employment shares of young firms decline. Consistent with US evidence, firms’ employment has become less responsive to productivity shocks. However, the dispersion of firms’ productivity shocks has decreased too. To enhance our understanding of these patterns, we derive and apply a firm-level framework that relates changes in firms’ market power, labor market imperfections, and production technology to firms’ responsiveness and job reallocation. Using German firm-level data, we find that changes in markups and labor output elasticities, rather than adjustment costs, are key in rationalizing declining responsiveness. |
| Keywords: | Business dynamism, job reallocation, productivity, responsiveness of labor demand, market power, technology, European cross-country data |
| JEL: | D24 D43 J21 J23 J42 L11 L25 |
| Date: | 2025–03–20 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2025-0004 |
| By: | Gabriella Conti (University College London); Rita Ginja (University of Bergen); Petra Persson; Barton Willage (University of Delaware) |
| Abstract: | The motherhood penalty is well-documented, but what happens at the other end of the reproductive spectrum? Menopause—a transition often marked by debilitating physical and psychological symptoms—also entails substantial costs. Using population-wide Norwegian and Swedish data and quasi-experimental methods, we show that a menopause diagnosis leads to lasting drops in earnings and employment, alongside greater reliance on social transfers. The impact is especially severe for women with lower socioeconomic status. Increasing access to menopause-related health care can help offset these losses. Our findings reveal the hidden economic toll of menopause and the potential gains from better support policies. |
| Keywords: | Norway, Sweden, quasi-experimental variation, social transfers, low socioeconomic status |
| JEL: | H72 I00 I30 J21 |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hka:wpaper:2025-002 |
| By: | Schmidt, Tobias |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the pivotal role of journalists in shaping economic narratives, focusing on inflation coverage in Germany in 2022. While the media's influence on disseminating economic narratives is widely acknowledged, little research has focused on journalists, the agents responsible for content production. Using a mixed-method approach combining survey data with media content analysis, this study investigates how economic journalists explain inflation causes and persistence compared to professional economists. The results from surveys conducted during peak inflation (10.4%) show that journalists hold less optimistic views on inflation persistence than experts and that they are more likely to attribute inflation to specific protagonists, particularly the European Central Bank (ECB) and corporate profit-seeking. The ECB's role emerges as an especially contentious issue among journalists, revealing significant disagreement within the profession. Analysis of media coverage reveals notable alignment between journalists' perceptions and actual content, especially regarding the emphasis placed on the ECB's role-despite experts considering monetary policy a relatively minor factor. While this might suggest that journalists' personal narratives influence media coverage, the study's design precludes causal claims. The findings underscore the need for further research into how journalists' personal narratives impact public discourse on economic matters. |
| Keywords: | media, narratives, journalism, inflation |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:docmaw:313658 |
| By: | Marta Marzi; Alessandra Marini; Ludovica Cherchi; Francesco Cenedese |
| Keywords: | Gender-Gender and Social Development Governance-E-Government Social Protections and Labor-Labor Management and Relations Social Protections and Labor-Labor Markets Macroeconomics and Economic Growth-Income Social Development-Social Inclusion & Institutions |
| Date: | 2024–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:42088 |
| By: | Andrén, Daniela (Örebro University School of Business); Andrén, Thomas (Sveriges akademikers centralorganisation); Kahanec, Martin (Central European University (CEU)) |
| Abstract: | When economic crises destabilize labor markets, they offer unique opportunities to explore welfare dynamics and the interplay between partnership formation and social assistance. Using data from Sweden's 1990s economic crisis, characterized by high unemployment, expanding budget deficit, and a large inflow of war refugees from the former Yugoslavia, we examine state dependence in social assistance, which refers to the increased likelihood that households will receive benefits in the future if they have previously received them. Because Swedish social assistance eligibility depends on household-level resources and that partnership formation may correlate with unobserved factors, we focus on individuals who were single in 1990, prior to the recession, tracking their social assistance receipt and household composition over the subsequent decade. This approach allows us to compare individuals who remain single throughout the decade with those who form partnerships, assessing how gender, country of birth, and partnership choices affect state dependence in social assistance. Using a dynamic discrete choice model that addresses both unobserved heterogeneity and initial conditions, we found differences in structural state dependence both between and within the samples of Swedish-born (SB) and foreign-born (FB) individuals. Among singles, SB women exhibit lower structural state dependence than SB men, whereas FB women display slightly higher structural state dependence than FB men but lower than SB men. For FB individuals, the structural state dependence decreases when they partner with a SB individual but increases when they partner with another FB individual, suggesting that partnering with an SB individual may reduce the structural impact of prior welfare dependency, while partnering with an FB individual may reinforce it. |
| Keywords: | welfare persistence; social assistance; structural state dependence; unobserved heterogeneity; dynamic discrete choice model; GHK simulator |
| JEL: | I30 I38 J18 |
| Date: | 2025–03–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:oruesi:2025_005 |
| By: | Jan Behringer (Macroeconomic Policy Institute (IMK)); Till van Treeck (University of Duisburg-Essen); Vincent Victor (University of Duisburg-Essen) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the role of family firms in the fall of the labor share and rise in corporate saving in Germany from 1993 to 2019. Combining a new Family Ownership and Governance (FOG) database with financial data, we analyze 929 publicly listed firms. Our findings show that firm-level labor share declines are widespread in Germany, contrasting with findings from the U.S. that link this trend to a few fast-growing superstar firms. Family firms, particularly in manufacturing, experienced sharper decreases in the labor share and stronger increases in corporate saving compared to non-family firms. The level of family involvement in Germany's two-tier board system (management and supervisory board) further affects these outcomes. Despite paying lower wages, we find no evidence that family firms provide greater employment stability. Our results challenge global generalizations about the drivers of the labor share and corporate saving, while emphasizing the macroeconomic relevance of family firms, especially in Germany's corporate sector. |
| Keywords: | Labor share, corporate saving, family firms |
| JEL: | D22 D33 G32 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imk:fmmpap:115-2025 |
| By: | Eichenauer, Vera; Köppl, Stefan; Köppl-Turyna, Monika |
| Abstract: | In this paper we analyze the effects of investment screening on cross-border venture capital investments in Europe between 2007 and 2022. The data we work with is originally based on PRISM data which has been extended by Eichenauer and Wang and which we combine with deal data from Preqin to assess investment activity. Our results point to unintended negative effects: while the number of actually blocked deals has remained very low, the associated uncertainty and an increase in transaction costs have led to a significant decline in cross-border deals. The effects are stronger in the case of financial (i.e. "non-strategic") investors, for late-stage venture capital deals, and for deals with investors from non-OECD countries. Moreover, we observe changes in the size of deals and their structure. This has profound policy implications for the financing of innovation in Europe. |
| Keywords: | cross-border venture capital, investment screening, Europe, transaction costs |
| JEL: | F55 F21 G24 L14 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwkwp:313651 |
| By: | Kaitila, Ville |
| Abstract: | Abstract We analyse the development of labour productivity in five service industries in Europe, the United States, and Japan. Vis-à-vis a group of peer countries, labour productivity in service industries is relatively low in Finland. We further find that the respective gap in capital intensity (capital stock to hours worked) is even greater. Using the growth accounting framework and panel estimations, we find that in 1995–2023 overall capital intensity was positively associated with the level of labour productivity in European countries. This is also the case if the capital stock is disaggregated into four parts with ICT, R&D, software and database, and all other capital analysed separately. Furthermore, the annual change in overall capital intensity, or capital deepening, is positively associated with the change in labour productivity in service industries. The association is weaker when capital is disaggregated into parts, with the strongest association found for the traditional capital stock, while the results for ICT and IPP capital deepening depend on the service industry analysed. |
| Keywords: | Service industries, Productivity, Capital intensity, ICT, R&D, Software and databases |
| JEL: | C23 O14 O30 O47 |
| Date: | 2025–03–27 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rif:wpaper:127 |
| By: | Cuong, Nguyen Manh; Mutai, Noah C.; Ibeh, Lawrence |
| Abstract: | The Ukraine conflict has profoundly affected global trade and international relations, particularly for Germany, a major player in Europe and the European Union. This study utilizes a Gravity Model analysis to explore Germany’s trade network and assess the impact of the conflict on its trade partnerships. |
| Date: | 2023–11–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:p672w_v1 |
| By: | Athanasia Chalari |
| Abstract: | One of Brexit’s aftermaths, has affected those UK residents who had been identified as ‘EU citizens’ prior Brexit, and re-identified as ‘immigrants’ after Brexit. Based on the case of 30 indepth interviews with Greeks (European citizens), residing in UK between 5 and 20 years, this study explores identity transition as participants negotiate their citizenship and immigration identities. The main findings of this phenomenological study depict four aspects of identity negotiations (primarily involving ethnic, citizenship and immigration identities): a) erroneous resemblance between civic and cultural European identity, b) tendencies of prejudice towards non-European identities, c) coherent albeit unproblematic lack of belonging towards the host culture and d) underlying conflicting identity perceptions and experiences signalling ongoing identity(ies) in transition. |
| Keywords: | Brexit, transitional, citizenship, immigration, ethnic identities |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hel:greese:206 |