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on Microeconomic European Issues |
| By: | Lekfuangfu, Warn N. (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid); Olivera, Javier (National Bank of Belgium); Van Kerm, Philippe (University of Luxembourg) |
| Abstract: | Drawing on two data sources from across Europe, we show that both bequest motives of parents and children’s gender composition shape unequal divisions of bequests. First, the Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe reveals that observed bequests are divided unequally when children differ in sex, caregiving, or income, with bequest motives strongest among mixed-sex children. Second, in a vignette experiment featuring alternative bequest motive scenarios and randomised gender compositions for two fictitious children, hypothetical bequests are most unequally divided under the exchange motive while children’s gender composition matters more under the altruistic motive. Fictitious parents favour daughters regardless of deservingness, granting the highest bequest share to a deserving daughter with a brother. In return, these patterns reinforce traditional gender norms. |
| Keywords: | altruism, deservingness, vignette experiment, gender, intergenerational transfers, bequest, exchange, Europe, HFCS, SHARE |
| JEL: | H24 D31 D63 E62 H53 |
| Date: | 2025–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17833 |
| By: | Bertheau, Antoine (Norwegian School of Economics); Hoeck, Christian Philip (University of Copenhagen) |
| Abstract: | This paper yields new insights into why similar workers are paid differently by surveying a representative sample of Danish firms and linking responses to administrative data. We find that a substantial minority of firms, about 18 percent, have inaccurate beliefs about their position in the wage distribution. Inaccurate beliefs are more likely to occur in smaller firms. To study the implications of firms’ inaccurate beliefs, we build a simple model with monopsonistic firms. Using our survey, we elicit firms’ motives for setting high wages. The dominant motive aligns with wage-posting models, i.e., retaining and attracting new employees. The least common motive is compensating for negative job characteristics. |
| Keywords: | firm information frictions, wage dispersion, biased beliefs |
| JEL: | J01 J31 J42 D83 M52 |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17762 |
| By: | Frederik Almar; Benjamin Friedrich; Ana Reynoso; Bastian Schulz; Rune M. Vejlin |
| Abstract: | This paper revisits the link between education-based marriage market sorting and income inequality. Leveraging Danish administrative data, we develop a novel categorization of “ambition types” that is based on starting wages and wage growth trajectories associated with detailed educational programs. We find a substantial increase in assortative matching by educational ambition over time, and the marriage market explains more than 40% of increasing inequality since 1980. In contrast, sorting trends are flat with the commonly-used educational level categorization. We conclude that the mapping from education to types matters crucially for conclusions about how education-based marriage market sorting contributes to rising income inequality. |
| JEL: | D1 J12 |
| Date: | 2025–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33683 |
| By: | Adamecz, Anna (University College London); Prinz, Daniel (World Bank); Vujic, Suncica (University of Antwerp); Szabo-Morvai, Agnes (KRTK KTI; Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Institute of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the labor market impacts of a reform that universally lowered the school leaving age from 18 to 16 in Hungary. Using a difference-in-cross-cohort-comparisons approach and linked individual education-employment administrative panel data, we find that the policy led to an increase in the likelihood of dropping out from school and inactivity among individuals aged 16 to 18 but no corresponding increase in employment. Dropouts who were employed predominantly worked in low-skilled occupations. These effects were more pronounced among those from lower socioeconomic status, exacerbating existing inequalities. Our results suggest that the decrease in the school leaving age had adverse effects on school to work transition and did not yield the expected improvements in labor market integration. |
| Keywords: | school leaving age, employment, education reform |
| JEL: | I21 J13 J16 J24 |
| Date: | 2025–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17844 |
| By: | Leduc, Elisabeth (Erasmus University Rotterdam); Tojerow, Ilan (Université Libre de Bruxelles) |
| Abstract: | We partner with a Public Employment Service to examine whether jobseekers can be encouraged to reskill for shortage occupations. In a large-scale field experiment involving 100, 000 recently unemployed individuals, we provide information on shortage occupations and related training opportunities. The intervention increased participation in transversal training courses by 6%, but did not boost enrolment in occupational training for shortage jobs. Jobseekers also shifted their search towards high-demand occupations, yet employment remained unchanged. These findings suggest that while low-cost informational interventions can influence job search and training behaviour, different approaches are likely needed to drive substantial reskilling among jobseekers. |
| Keywords: | Labour shortages, Training, Job search, RCT, Unemployment |
| JEL: | J24 J62 J68 |
| Date: | 2025–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17731 |
| By: | Leonardo Ciambezi (Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, GREDEG, France); Alessandro Pietropaoli (Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, GREDEG, France) |
| Abstract: | Is inflation equal for all? Combining Italian Household Budget Survey (HBS), Survey on Household Income and Wealth (SHIW) and Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) data, we investigate the heterogeneity of Italian households’ inflation experiences over the period 2015-2023, conditional on their income and other observable characteristics. Following several years of distributional inflation neutrality, we find that the price surge that began in mid-2021 especially increased the cost of living of poorer households and more fragile socio-demographic groups, contributing therefore to increase overall inequality. After peaking in the second half of 2022, the aggregate inflation rate sharply declined in 2023 and so did the differential exposure of Italian households. In addition, by mapping each of the 480 HBS items into 90 ECOICOP 3- and 4-digit level categories, we show that between 2021 and 2022 more than 20% of the measured differential inflation between the top and the bottom income deciles comes from more granular information and would remain hidden by merely relying on 2-digit product-price data. Finally, the comparison over time between Laspeyres and Paasche average inflation rates reveals that while the two indices have generally coincided during normal times, the Paasche index-based inflation rate has consistently been higher than the Laspeyres measure since inflation began to rise. This puzzling result highlights the exceptional nature of the recent inflationary context - mostly driven by energy price shocks - where income effects rather than substitution effects seem to have prevailed across Italian households. |
| Keywords: | Household-specific inflation rates, Energy price shocks, Inflation inequality, Italy |
| JEL: | D31 E31 |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gre:wpaper:2025-18 |
| By: | Rafik Abdesselam (ERIC - Entrepôts, Représentation et Ingénierie des Connaissances - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - UCBL - Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 - Université de Lyon, COACTIS - COnception de l'ACTIon en Situation - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - UJM - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne); Malia Kedjar (LARSH - Laboratoire de Recherche Sociétés & Humanités - UPHF - Université Polytechnique Hauts-de-France - INSA Hauts-De-France - INSA Institut National des Sciences Appliquées Hauts-de-France - INSA - Institut National des Sciences Appliquées); Patricia Renou-Maissant (EconomiX - EconomiX - UPN - Université Paris Nanterre - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to identify the drivers of eco-innovation in start-ups. Firstly, a discriminant analysis (DA) is applied to study what is distinctive about eco-innovative start-ups as compared to non-eco-innovative start-ups. Secondly, a typology of eco-innovative start-ups is developed using a hierarchical ascendant clustering (HAC). Analyses are carried out using original data from a survey of 120 eco-innovative and non-ecoinnovative French start-ups.Discriminant analyses reveal that the founders of eco-innovative start-ups are differentiated by characteristics related to their environmental education and professional experience. Furthermore, eco-innovative start-ups are distinguished from the non-eco-innovative start-ups by voluntary environmental practices, such as the adoption of corporate social responsibility policies. Finally, we show that there is a diversity of profiles of eco-innovators. In fact, firms cluster into five main profiles and exhibit different eco-innovation drivers. We highlight that the different types of eco-innovators do not face the same difficulties in accessing funds. These findings have important implications for the implementation of public policy designed to promote eco-innovative activity, and they highlight the need to design policies that take into account the distinctive character of each profile. |
| Keywords: | Eco-innovation Start-ups typology Data analysis methods |
| Date: | 2024–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05019865 |
| By: | McGuinness, Seamus (Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin); Redmond, Paul (ESRI, Dublin); Pouliakas, Konstantinos (European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop)); Kelly, Lorcan (Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin); Brosnan, Luke (Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin) |
| Abstract: | Using the second wave of the European Skills and Jobs survey, this paper measures the relationship between technological change that automates or augments workers’ job tasks and their participation in work-related training. We find that 58 per cent of European employees experienced no change in the need to learn new technologies in their jobs during the 2020-21 period. Of those exposed to new digital technology, 14 per cent did not experience any change in job tasks, 10 per cent reported that new tasks had been created while 5 per cent only saw some of their tasks being displaced by new technology. The remaining 13 per cent simultaneously experienced both task displacement and task creation. Our analysis shows that employees in jobs impacted by new digital technologies are more likely to have to react to unpredictable situations, thus demonstrating a positive link between technologically driven task disruption and job complexity. We show a strong linear relationship between technologically driven job task disruption and the need for job-related training, with training requirements increasing the greater the impact of new technologies on task content. |
| Keywords: | upskilling, technological change, digitalisation, tasks, automation, training, complexity |
| JEL: | J24 O31 O33 |
| Date: | 2025–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17753 |
| By: | Angelos Alexopoulos; Ilias Kostarakos; Christos Mylonakis; Petros Varthalitis |
| Abstract: | This paper quantifies the causal effect of cohesion policy on EU regional output and investment focusing on one of its least studied instruments, i.e., the Cohesion Fund (CF). We employ modern causal inference methods to estimate not only the local average treatment effect but also its time-varying and heterogeneous effects across regions. Utilizing this method, we propose a novel framework for evaluating the effectiveness of CF as an EU cohesion policy tool. Specifically, we estimate the time varying distribution of the CF's causal effects across EU regions and derive key distribution metrics useful for policy evaluation. Our analysis shows that relying solely on average treatment effects masks significant heterogeneity and can lead to misleading conclusions about the effectiveness of the EU's cohesion policy. We find that the impact of the CF is frontloaded, peaking within the first seven years after a region's initial inclusion in the program. The distribution of the effects during this first seven-year cycle of funding is right skewed with relatively thick tails. This indicates positive effects but unevenly distributed across regions. Moreover, the magnitude of the CF effect is inversely related to a region's relative position in the initial distribution of output, i.e., relatively poorer recipient regions experience higher effects compared to relatively richer regions. Finally, we find a non-linear relationship with diminishing returns, whereby the impact of CF declines as the ratio of CF funds received to a region's gross value added (GVA) increases. |
| Date: | 2025–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2504.13223 |