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on Microeconomic European Issues |
| By: | Fernandez, William |
| Abstract: | In the developed world, efforts are underway to extend working lives. However, discussions often overlook the potential implications of retirement for individual well-being. While the relationship between retirement and life satisfaction has been extensively studied, the effects of spousal retirement remain underexplored, particularly from a gender and timing perspective. This paper examines the impact of retirement on self-reported life satisfaction among couples in Germany. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), I employ standard fixed-effects (FE) models and fixed-effects individual slopes (FEIS) to estimate the causal effects of personal and partner retirement on life satisfaction. The findings show that retirement substantially increases life satisfaction, a result that remains robust across methodologies and specifications. For partner retireïment, accounting for heterogeneous trends by health status reveals an overall positive effect, driven by men. Moreover, women appear to be worse off when their husbands retire while they remain in the workforce, whereas the opposite holds for men. To my knowledge, this is the first study to examine the impact of both personal and spousal retirement on life satisfaction using the SOEP. The results provide robust evidence that partner retirement affects life satisfaction, highlighting the importance of understanding retirement as a life course event with intra-household spillover effects that extend beyond the retiring individual. |
| Date: | 2025–10–15 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:mk4tx_v1 |
| By: | Andrea Mina; Daniele Moschella; Julian Tiedtke |
| Abstract: | Institutions representing the workers' voice have long been a contentious topic in the economic literature. Against a backdrop of inconclusive evidence and limited use of credible identification strategies, we study the impact of the 2015 policy change that introduced mandatory board-level employee representation in firms with over 1, 000 employees in France. Using rich linked employer-employee data and two empirical strategies -a difference-in-differences and a difference-in-discontinuity approach- we examine how the reform affected firms and workers. Our results show a positive impact on job quality, with no evidence of adverse effects on firm performance, and heterogeneous effects between manufacturing and service sectors.Creation-Date: 2025-09-22 |
| Keywords: | Workers' Voice, Employee Representation, Job Quality, Corporate Governance, Difference-in-Discontinuity |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2025/29 |
| By: | Joern Block (Trier-University, Erasmus-University Rotterdam, University Witten/Herdecke); Miriam Gnad (Trier-University); Alexander S. Kritikos (DIW Berlin, University of Potsdam, IZA Bonn, GLO Essen, CEPA); Caroline Stiel (DIW-Berlin) |
| Abstract: | Despite substantial research on job satisfaction in self-employment, we know little about the specific consequences for the venture when job satisfaction declines after an external shock. Taking the COVID-19 pandemic as an example of an external shock and drawing on a sample of nearly 7, 000 self-employed individuals living in Germany, we investigate how declines in job satisfaction are related to investment decisions of self-employed individuals. Having separated job satisfaction into its financial and non-financial aspects, we build in our analysis on two complementary behavioral perspectives to predict how reductions in financial and non-financial job satisfaction relate to investments in venture development. Our results show that decreasing financial job satisfaction is positively related to time investments. This finding provides support for the performance feedback perspective, where negative performance, in terms of reduced financial job satisfaction, induces higher search efforts to improve the business situation. Moreover, we also observe that reductions in non-financial job satisfaction are negatively associated with both time and monetary investments. This supports the broadening-and-build perspective in that negative experiences – in the form of reduced non-financial job satisfaction – narrow the thought-action repertoire, thus hindering resource deployment. Implications of reduced job satisfaction on investment behavior are discussed. |
| Keywords: | job satisfaction, investment decisions, self-employment and entrepreneurship, performance feedback perspective, broadening-and-build perspective, behavioral economics, economic psychology, Germany |
| JEL: | L26 J28 G11 |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pot:cepadp:93 |
| By: | Anderberg, Dan (Royal Holloway, University of London); Andersen, Line Hjorth (Rockwool Foundation Research Unit); Daysal, N. Meltem (University of Copenhagen); Ejrnæs, Mette (University of Copenhagen) |
| Abstract: | We examine the impact of a 2002 Danish parental leave reform on intimate partner violence (IPV) using administrative data on assault-related hospital contacts. Using a regression discontinuity design, we show that extending fully paid leave increased mothers’ leave-taking and substantially reduced IPV, with effects concentrated among less-educated women. The reform also lengthened birth spacing, while separations remained unchanged and earnings effects were modest. The timing and heterogeneity of impacts point to fertility adjustments—rather than exit options or financial relief—as the key mechanism. Parental leave policy thus emerges as an underexplored lever for reducing IPV. |
| Keywords: | parental leave, intimate partner violence |
| JEL: | J12 I38 |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18194 |
| By: | Bassier, Ihsaan; Manning, Alan; Petrongolo, Barbara |
| Abstract: | We estimate the elasticity of vacancy duration with respect to posted wages, using data from the near-universe of online job adverts in the United Kingdom. Our research design leverages firm-level wage policies that are plausibly exogenous to hiring difficulties on specific job vacancies, and controls for job and marketlevel fixed-effects. Wage policies are defined based on external information on pay settlements, or on sharp, internally-defined, firm-level changes. In our preferred specifications, we estimate duration elasticities in the range −3 to −5, which are substantially larger than the few existing estimates. |
| JEL: | J1 R14 J01 C1 |
| Date: | 2025–03–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:129488 |
| By: | Baktash, Mehrzad B. (University of Trier); Heywood, John S. (University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee); Jirjahn, Uwe (University of Trier) |
| Abstract: | Using German survey data, we show conflicting influences of performance pay on overall life satisfaction. The overall influence reflects a strong positive influence through domains of life satisfaction associated with the job (job satisfaction, individual earnings satisfaction and household earning satisfaction) and a strong negative influence through domains away from the job (health satisfaction, sleep satisfaction and family life satisfaction). This trade-off between work and home generalizes and helps explain many previous studies examining much more specific consequences of performance pay. Finally, controlling for the mediating role of the domains, the direct influence on life satisfaction is positive for women and insignificantly different from zero for men. |
| Keywords: | well-being, life satisfaction, performance pay, satisfaction domains, gender |
| JEL: | D10 J22 J33 M52 |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18181 |
| By: | Höne, Sarah; Rehm, Miriam |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates whether workers' bargaining power, which extends beyond union membership to collective wage agreements in Germany, affects the level and distribution of wages at the regional level. We conduct fixed-effect regression analysis and a DFL decomposition on SOEP data from 2014 to 2021 and find, first, that both collective wage agreements and union membership statistically and economically significantly raise wage levels at the national level. Second, and importantly, this effect is regionally heterogeneous: Collective wage agreements continue to be linked to higher wages at the regional level, whereas the relationship is weakened or disappears altogether for union membership. Third, collective wage agreements go along with lower overall wage inequality, while union membership compresses wage inequality mainly at the lower end of the distribution. |
| Keywords: | trade unions, collective bargaining, union membership, income, income distribution |
| JEL: | D31 J51 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifsowp:329630 |
| By: | Grund, Christian (RWTH Aachen University); Nießen, Anna (RWTH Aachen University) |
| Abstract: | We explore the moderating role of job autonomy for the link between the use of performance appraisals and employees’ job satisfaction. Results based on German linked employer-employee panel data show that performance appraisals are linked to higher job satisfaction at moderate levels of job autonomy, whereas this positive relationship weakens at both low and high levels of autonomy. Moreover, the interplay between performance appraisals and job autonomy appears sensitive to broader institutional and contextual factors, such as the existence of employee representation, perceived job security, and design of the performance appraisals. Our findings highlight the complex role of job autonomy in shaping employee responses to performance management, underscoring the need for context-aware human resource practices. |
| Keywords: | job satisfaction, performance appraisals, job autonomy, German Linked Personnel Panel |
| JEL: | M12 M5 J28 |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18191 |
| By: | Felix Reichel |
| Abstract: | Single-use plastics (SUPs) create large environmental costs. After Directive (EU) 2019/904, Austria and Germany introduced producer charges and fund payments meant to cover clean-up work. Using a high-frequency panel of retail offer spells containing prices and a fixed-effects event study with two-way clustered standard errors, this paper measures how much these costs drive up consumer prices. We find clear price pass-through in Austria. When Austrian products are pooled, treated items are 13.01 index points higher than non-SUP controls within twelve months (DiD(12m); p |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2510.15617 |
| By: | Gregor, Leonard; Haucap, Justus |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the temporary reduction in energy taxes implemented by the German government between June and September 2022. We use pricing and quantity data from the wholesale market for crude oil, gasoline, and diesel and find an average pass through of 80% to 85% of the tax cut, which amounts to a 3.7 cents per liter increase in wholesale prices net of tax. We do, however, document significant treatment heterogeneity over time and across regions within Germany. When weighting price effects by quantities sold, the estimated pass-through of the tax cut decreases to about 70% for gasoline and 58% for diesel, suggesting that refinery margins increased significantly during times of higher demand. |
| Keywords: | Pass-through, Tax reduction, Fuel prices, Wholesale markets |
| JEL: | H22 L13 L71 Q48 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:dicedp:329637 |
| By: | Eiblmeier, Sebastian |
| Abstract: | This paper uses German microdata to test whether the ECB’s quantitative easing (QE) spurred bank lending to non-financial firms. Bank-firm loan data allow me to control for loan demand at firm level. The share of bonds in banks’ total assets before QE serves as treatment proxy. While the effects are positive and statistically significant, they are small: Increasing the bond/asset share in a firm’s lender bank by one standard deviation increases the de-trended outstanding bilateral loan volume by 3-5% of its within-sample mean. At firm level, no unambiguous effect can be observed. |
| Keywords: | Unconventional monetary policy, Germany, bank lending, portfolio rebalancing, panel regression. |
| JEL: | C23 E51 E52 G11 G21 |
| Date: | 2025–08–29 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:126431 |
| By: | Ortl, Aljoša; Sajinčič, Miha |
| Abstract: | Recent concerns about the German automotive slowdown and related US tariffs pose risks for small open economies. We focus on Slovenian companies integrated into these supply chains. Using comprehensive data-intensive analysis, we define “companies at risk” as companies operating in the automotive sector with at least 10% of revenues from German trade receivables. They account for approximately 2% of total bank exposures, 5.3% of value added, and 5% of operating revenues. At the municipal level, several clusters with higher concentrations of such firms are identified. To address data limitations and the arbitrariness of our classification, we conduct robustness checks. Using input–output tables, we also assess potential spillover effects across supply chains. Our granular company-level approach provides valuable insights for potential policy responses targeting the real economy, banking system, and/or local municipalities. |
| Keywords: | German automotive industry; input–output analysis; supply chains; companies at risk; potential risks; risk evaluation for banks; credit and economic risk assessment |
| JEL: | F14 G32 L62 |
| Date: | 2025–08–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:126321 |
| By: | Wilhelmsson, Mats (Department of Real Estate and Construction Management, Royal Institute of Technology) |
| Abstract: | This study examines whether neighbourhoods in Stockholm that became more mixed in housing tenure between 2015 and 2023 also experienced increased income diversity. Using data for 1, 287 neighbourhoods, the analysis applies entropy-based diversity indices, two-way fixed-effects models, and staggered difference-in-differences estimators. The results show a small but statistically significant positive impact: neighbourhoods with increasing tenure diversity get small gains in income diversity. The effect is context-dependent and more pronounced in urban settings, areas dominated by home ownership, and lower-income neighbourhoods. Changes in educational and population diversity are more related to income diversity than to shifts in household type or citizenship. In general, the findings suggest that while tenure diversification can support income mixing, its impact remains limited without complementary housing and equity policies. |
| Keywords: | income diversity; housing tenure; mixed-tenure neighbourhoods; entropy |
| JEL: | R21 R23 R31 |
| Date: | 2025–10–20 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:kthrec:2025_012 |
| By: | Lemos, Sara (University of Leicester); Portes, Jonathan (King's College London) |
| Abstract: | We study the labour market impact of immigration to the United Kingdom, focusing on the large inflows following the 2004 EU enlargement. Using the Lifetime Labour Market Database (LLMDB)—a longitudinal 1% sample of National Insurance records—we provide the first analysis of immigration’s effects on employment and wages based on high-quality administrative microdata. Exploiting individual, area and time fixed effects, as well as area-time, individual-time and individual-area fixed effects, we reduce endogeneity concerns that have limited previous work. We find limited aggregate impacts, but distributional consequences: existing immigrants—particularly those who were young or low paid—experienced modest negative employment effects, while natives faced little evidence of displacement. For wages, impacts were mixed: existing immigrants overall gained, but low-paid immigrants lost. The results suggest labour market adjustment operated through both substitution and complementarities across groups. More broadly, we provide a methodological framework for analysing the much larger and more diverse post-2021 immigration flows. |
| Keywords: | wages, employment, immigration, Central and Eastern Europe, UK |
| JEL: | J22 C23 |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18199 |
| By: | Florian Englmaier (LMU Munich); Jose E. Galdon-Sanchez (Universidad Publica de Navarra); Ricard Gil (IESE Business School); Michael Kaiser (E.CA Economics); Helene Strandt (LMU Munich) |
| Abstract: | This paper empirically examines how management practices affect firm productivity over the business cycle. Using plant-level high-dimensional human resource policies survey data collected in Spain in 2006, we employ unsupervised machine learning to describe clusters of management practices (“management styles”). We establish a positive correlation between a management style associated with structured management and performance prior to the 2008 financial crisis. Interestingly, this correlation turns negative during the financial crisis and positive again in the economic recovery post-2013. Our evidence suggests firms with more structured management are more likely to have practices fostering culture and intangible investments such that they focus in long-run profitability, prioritizing innovation over cost reduction, while having higher adjustment costs in the short-run through higher share of fixed assets and lower employee turnover. |
| Keywords: | management practices; culture; unsupervised machine learning; productivity; great recession; |
| JEL: | M12 D22 C38 |
| Date: | 2025–10–15 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rco:dpaper:548 |
| By: | Gianmarco Daniele; Marco De Simoni; Domenico J. Marchetti; Giovanna Marcolongo; Paolo Pinotti |
| Abstract: | We show that credit constraints significantly increase the risk that firms are infiltrated by organized crime, defined as the covert involvement of criminal organizations in corporate decision-making. Using confidential data on criminal investigations, credit ratings, and loan histories for the universe of Italian firms, we find that a downgrade to substandard credit status reduces credit availability by 30% over five years and increases the probability of infiltration by 5%, relative to comparable firms. A local randomization design comparing firms just above and below the downgrade threshold confirms this result. The effect is pervasive across sectors and regions, but particularly strong in real estate, where the probability of infiltration rises by 10% following a downgrade. Infiltrated firms also display higher survival rates than other downgraded firms, despite similar declines in employment and revenues. These findings suggest that organized crime can serve as a financial backstop – sustaining non-viable businesses and potentially redirecting their strategies to serve criminal interests. |
| Keywords: | Organized crime, Firms, Bank Credit |
| JEL: | G32 K42 L25 O17 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:baf:cbafwp:cbafwp25255 |
| By: | Rok, Jakub; Grodzicki, Maciej; Podsiadło, Martyna |
| Abstract: | The balance between environmental protection and socioeconomic development is a critical policy challenge. Conservation efforts may constrain local development but can also generate benefits beyond nature protection itself, with effects varying across protection regimes and spatial scales. Poland presents a compelling case to examine this trade-off, given its rapid economic growth and significant expansion of PAs in recent decades. This study assesses the relationship between nature protection regimes and local development across Polish municipalities from 2009 to 2022. Using spatial econometric modelling (Spatial Durbin Error Model), we analyse the direct and indirect effects of national parks, nature reserves, and Natura 2000 sites on three dimensions of local development: economic, social, and infrastructural. The most consistent positive effects are observed for economic development in municipalities with high share of national parks and Natura 2000 sites. The effects on infrastructure development are limited: only Natura 2000 sites show a positive direct effect, while negative indirect effects suggest regional competition for investment. The social impacts of protection are predominantly negative, especially for stricter protection regimes. Moreover, these effects extend beyond administrative boundaries, likely due to interlinked labour markets. These findings challenge the notion that conservation uniformly hinders economic development. Instead, they suggest that outcomes differ depending on the protection regime, and that benefits are unevenly distributed – supporting local economic growth while reinforcing social exclusion. The study underscores the need for policies that mitigate social costs and promote more just and integrated development under expanding conservation efforts. |
| Keywords: | conservation policy; protected areas; Local Development; Natura 2000; Protection regime; Spatial spillovers |
| JEL: | Q5 R14 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:126400 |
| By: | Salomé Baslandze; Simon Fuchs |
| Abstract: | We study the role of supply chain disruptions in shaping consumer prices, focusing on both firms' own import shocks and strategic responses to competitors' disruptions. Using a newly constructed microlevel dataset that links transaction-level US import data from bills of lading with high-frequency consumer prices and sales from a consumer panel, we develop a novel approach to estimate the price effects of cost shocks and product availability. Motivated by a model of delivery delays, cost shocks, and firm pricing, we implement a shift-share identification strategy based on delivery shortfalls, port congestion, and freight and import costs. We find sizable pass-through elasticities: firms raise prices in response to higher import costs and delivery delays, especially when disruptions persist. We also identify strategic pricing: firms—including non-importers—increase prices in response to competitors' supply chain disruptions. Using our estimates and back-of-the-envelope calculations from the model, we show that strategic interactions significantly amplified the direct effects of supply chain shocks on consumer prices during the pandemic. |
| Keywords: | supply chains; inflation; delivery delays; strategic interactions; pass-through; inventory |
| JEL: | E31 F14 |
| Date: | 2025–09–24 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedawp:101962 |
| By: | Damián Tojeiro-Rivero (University Rovira i Virgili); Rosina Moreno (AQR-IREA, University of Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | Prior literature has argued that, although both captive knowledge sourcing (CKS) and non-captive knowledge sourcing (NCKS) are effective strategies for enhancing firm innovativeness, the former plays a more defined role in determining the likelihood of a firm achieving product innovations. However, we contend that the focus should not only be on the decision to innovate but, more importantly, on the profitability firms derive from such innovations. Given that knowledge acquired from external sources can provide firms with ideas that differ from their existing competencies, NCKS may be more advantageous, as the resulting innovations are likely to exhibit higher levels of novelty. Additionally, we examine the complementarity or substitutability between CKS and NCKS in driving innovation. Our findings for Spanish firms suggest that NCKS yields greater benefits than CKS. Moreover, adopting both strategies simultaneously does not result in higher benefits; instead, a minimum threshold of NCKS, above the median, is necessary to realize observable gains. This indicates that firms must demonstrate a substantial level of commitment to NCKS to effectively exploit its potential for generating returns from their most novel innovations. |
| Keywords: | Radical Innovation, Captive Knowledge Sourcing; Non-Captive Knowledge Sourcing; Spanish firms; Panel data; Complementarity/Substitutability JEL classification: |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aqr:wpaper:202503 |
| By: | Alfredo D'Angelo; Marco Grazzi; Le Li; Daniele Moschella |
| Abstract: | The termination of an exporter-importer (E-I) relationship could challenge the company's export process. What are the consequences on the company's export performance in the foreign country? What role does export experience play in this relationship? The paper explores the overlooked phenomenon of E-I relationship termination and provides robust empirical evidence that the event has negative consequences on the firm's export performance in the foreign country. Despite this unsurprising, yet previously untested finding, our study shows a second important remark i.e., if the exporting firm has prior export experience, it is then able to cope with the negative effect of the termination event. Moreover, we find that the positive effect of prior export experience is only present in the early years of exporting. The results are based on a large longitudinal sample of French firms exporting to foreign buyers in EU countries. Findings are discussed along an in-depth case study to enhance robustness and comprehensiveness. |
| Keywords: | Exporter-Importer (E-I) relationship termination; Critical event; Export experience; Export performance |
| Date: | 2025–10–17 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2025/34 |
| By: | Jirjahn, Uwe (University of Trier); Rienzo, Cinzia (University of Brighton) |
| Abstract: | Previous studies on working from home (WFH) and employee well-being have produced conflicting results. We hypothesize that giving workers a choice over whether to use WFH plays a crucial role in the consequences for well-being. This has a series of testable implications for empirical work. Using panel data from the UK, our fixed effects estimates show that not only the actual use, but also the pure availability of WFH is linked with improved job-related and overall mental health. Not controlling for the pure availability of WFH implies that the positive influence of the actual use of WFH is underestimated. However, we find a positive link between the use of WFH and overall mental health only for the years before and after the pandemic. The link was negative during the COVID-19 crisis where WFH was largely enforced. Moreover, gender moderates the influence of WFH on mental health. For women, both the actual use and the pure availability of WFH are positively associated job-related and overall mental health. For men, we find a more mixed pattern where either only the pure availability or only the actual use has an influence on mental health. Men are more likely to over- or underrate the consequences of WFH than women. |
| Keywords: | pandemic, COVID-19, freedom of choice, remote work, mental well-being, gender |
| JEL: | I10 I31 J16 J22 M50 |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18187 |
| By: | Tiziana Assenza (TSE-R - Toulouse School of Economics - UT Capitole - Université Toulouse Capitole - Comue de Toulouse - Communauté d'universités et établissements de Toulouse - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Alberto Cardaci (Goethe University Frankfurt = Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main); D. Delli Gatti (Unicatt - Università cattolica del Sacro Cuore [Milano]) |
| Abstract: | Existing evidence suggests that individuals often misperceive the value of their wealth. We examine the existence, direction, and magnitude of these misperceptions through a laboratory experiment. Our findings indicate that variations in the leverage ratio (the ratio of liabilities to assets) influence how individuals rank financial profiles, even when net wealth remains constant. Most subjects perceive a given net worth as greater than its true value, and this misperception becomes more pronounced in financial profiles with lower leverage ratios. We further explore how cognitive sophistication and behavioral/economic attitudes shape wealth misperception. Experimental evidence shows that misperception is associated with lower cognitive sophistication and inattentive thinking. Moreover, it correlates with greater impatience, lower debt aversion, and higher marginal propensities to consume following positive (transitory) income shocks. |
| Keywords: | Perception, Metacognition, Market Psychology, Economic Psychology, Cognition, Behavioral Finance |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05300791 |
| By: | Lillebø, Otto Sevaldson (Nordic Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research, and Education); Markussen, Simen (Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research); Røed, Knut (Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | We provide a full reexamination of the effects of a maternity leave extension implemented in Norway in 1977. Previous research reporting large favorable long-term effects on mothers' health and on offspring's educational and labor market outcomes relied on an incorrect description of the reform and an invalid identification strategy. In the present paper, we show that the previously reported results are misleading. Building on an accurate description of the reform and its implementation, we document that it had no noticeable long-term effects on mothers' health or on offspring's education and labor market outcomes. |
| Keywords: | maternity leave, family policies, replication |
| JEL: | C52 J13 J18 |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18193 |
| By: | Alejandro Casado (BANCO DE ESPAÑA); David Martínez-Miera (UC3M AND CEPR) |
| Abstract: | We document the geographical and sectoral specialization of banks’ lending activities using comprehensive data on the universe of loans to corporate borrowers in Spain. Our analysis highlights how specific sources of specialization are more relevant for evaluating different types of borrowers. Specifically, loans to micro- and small firms exhibit reduced probabilities of default in local markets where banks specialize, whereas loans to medium-sized and large firms experience lower probabilities of default in sectors in which banks specialize. Crucially, we provide the first evidence of a direct link between bank specialization and better quality private information held by banks, by leveraging confidential data on banks’ private risk assessments reported to regulators. We corroborate and benchmark our findings by comparing them to those obtained analyzing relationship lending, a well-established proxy for firm-specific private information. |
| Keywords: | bank lending, bank specialization, financial stability, probability of default, private information |
| JEL: | D82 E58 G21 G32 L10 |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bde:wpaper:2539 |
| By: | Badalyan, Sona (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg, Germany ; CERGE-EI) |
| Abstract: | "This paper studies how labor demand factors - specifically worker substitutability and job-specific skills - shape employment responses to a rise in the early retirement age. Using a regression discontinuity design, I exploit a 1999 German reform that eliminated the option for women to retire at age 60. Before the reform, older workers could exit voluntarily, thereby imposing turnover costs on firms. Afterward, firms were better able to retain less substitutable workers for whom turnover costs are higher. At the same time, the loss of early pension eligibility reduced workers’ outside options, allowing firms to offer lower wages, often through partial retirement." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) |
| Keywords: | IAB-Open-Access-Publikation |
| JEL: | H32 H55 J21 J24 J26 |
| Date: | 2025–10–14 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabdpa:202514 |
| By: | Rakesh Banerjee (University of Exeter Business School); Tushar Bharati (Economics Programme, University of Western Australia); Adnan Fakir (University of Sussex Business School); Yiwei Qian (Southwestern University of Finance and Economics) |
| Abstract: | We conducted an experiment on a major international online freelancing platform to examine how increased flexibility in daily work hours affects female participation. We post identical job advertisements (for 320 jobs) covering a wide range of tasks (80 distinct tasks) that differ only in flexibility and the wage offered. Comparing the numbers of applicants for these jobs, we find that, while both men and women prefer flexibility, the elasticity of response for women is twice that for men. Flexible jobs attracted 24% more women and 12% more men than inflexible ones. Importantly, these increases did not compromise the quality of the applications. In contrast, there is suggestive evidence that flexible jobs attracted higher-quality female candidates. Our findings have significant implications for understanding gender disparities in labor market outcomes and for shaping equity-focused policies of organizations. |
| Keywords: | workplace flexibility, online freelancing jobs, female labor force participation |
| JEL: | J22 O14 J16 L86 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uwa:wpaper:25-09 |
| By: | Guy Gellatly; Helen Foran; Lauren Pinault |
| Abstract: | The prevalence of Canadians who report high levels of life satisfaction has trended lower since inflationary pressures began to build in 2021. In early 2024, 48.6% of Canadians aged 15 years and older reported that they were highly satisfied with their lives, a decline of more than 5 percentage points from three years earlier. The gradual deterioration in life satisfaction has been unevenly felt, with more sizable reductions among young adults, racialized Canadians and those living in larger urban centres.Note Cumulative declines among younger Canadians over the past three years, which occurred against a backdrop of deteriorating housing affordability and large increases in rental prices, have totalled about 11 percentage points, with about one in three reporting high levels of life satisfaction by early 2024. |
| Keywords: | life satisfaction, Canada, young families |
| JEL: | J23 M21 |
| Date: | 2024–12–19 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:stc:stcp8e:202401200001e |
| By: | Baranski, Andrzej (New York University, Abu Dhabi); Reuben, Ernesto (New York University, Abu Dhabi); Riedl, Arno (Maastricht University) |
| Abstract: | In a laboratory experiment, we study the role of fairness ideals as focal points in coordination problems in homogeneous and heterogeneous groups. We elicit the normatively preferred behavior about how a subsequent coordination game should be played. In homogeneous groups, people share a unique fairness ideal how to solve the coordination problem, whereas in heterogeneous groups, multiple conflicting fairness ideals prevail. In the coordination game, homogeneous groups are significantly more likely than their heterogeneous counterparts to sustain efficient coordination. The reason is that homogeneous groups coordinate on the unique fairness ideal, whereas heterogeneous groups disagree on the fairness ideal to be played. In both types of groups, equilibria consistent with fairness ideals are most stable. Hence, the difference in coordination success between homogeneous and heterogeneous groups occurs because of the normative disagreement in the latter types of group, making it much harder to reach an equilibrium at a fairness ideal. |
| Keywords: | cooperation, coordination, focal points, fairness ideals, experiment |
| JEL: | H41 C92 D63 |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18200 |
| By: | Zhang, Zhongxia |
| Abstract: | Real estate is an attractive investment asset because it provides positive cash flows from rents and prospects of valuation gains. This paper studies the housing market breakeven vacancy, the extent to which an investor needs to rent a property to equalize its costs and benefits. As a metric in rental property investment screening, investors are more likely to buy when the breakeven vacancy is high such that the transaction has a promising prospect of breakeven or better. An original asset pricing model is developed to define the housing market breakeven vacancy. The theoretical model reveals that the breakeven vacancy is not static but nonlinearly determined by housing price growth, price-to-rent ratios, interest rates, operating expenses, and rental income taxes. While higher housing price growth, lower interest rates, and smaller operating expenses lead to larger breakeven vacancies, price-to-rent ratios and rental income taxes hold theoretically ambiguous effects. Furthermore, housing market breakeven vacancies are estimated using country-level data from 12 developed nations and regional data from 30 U.S. metropolitan areas. Empirical analysis suggests that declining interest rates and rising price-to-rent ratios have fueled the ascent of breakeven vacancies until 2022, while house price collapses around crises have led to slumps in breakeven vacancies. Lastly, the housing market breakeven vacancy estimates are highly correlated with actual investment home purchases in the United States at national and regional levels, highlighting the practical relevance of this metric for income-producing property investments. |
| Keywords: | Housing market breakeven vacancies, rental property investments, investment home purchases, buy-to-let properties, real estate finance, housing economics. |
| JEL: | E43 G12 O18 R21 R51 |
| Date: | 2025–09–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:126187 |
| By: | Ugo Albertazzi; Lorenzo Burlon; Tomas Jankauskas; Nicola Pavanini |
| Abstract: | After the Great Financial Crisis, the European Central Bank (ECB) extended its monetary policy toolbox to include the use of long-term loans to banks at interest rates close to zero or even negative. These central bank interventions were aimed at supporting the transmission of expansionary monetary policy and likely played a crucial role in bolstering the financial stability of the euro area, namely by reducing the chance of bank runs. However, quantitative evidence on the effects of these interventions on financial stability remains scant. In this post, we quantify the effectiveness of central bank lending programs in supporting financial stability through the lens of a novel structural model discussed in this paper. |
| Keywords: | central bank policies; bank runs; Imperfect Competition; structural estimation |
| JEL: | E44 E52 E58 G01 G21 L13 |
| Date: | 2025–10–16 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fednls:101970 |
| By: | Kevin D. Tran; Leonardo Madio; Michelangelo Rossi; Mark J. Tremblay |
| Abstract: | We examine how greater price transparency affects pricing behavior in peer-to-peer markets. When Airbnb began displaying cleaning fee-inclusive prices to European users in response to EU regulation, hosts who had not charged fees raised their base prices by 67%, especially when competitors used cleaning fees. These adjustments arise because transparency changes how sellers perceive competitors’ prices: when fees are hidden, inattentive hosts benchmark only visible base prices; once fees are unshrouded, they realize competitors were effectively charging more. In contrast, hosts already charging cleaning fees reduce them by about 1.5%, particularly when serving more EU travelers. Transparency thus reduces price obfuscation for consumers but can increase prices for previously transparent sellers, revealing that regulatory efforts to enhance transparency may have unintended redistributive effects in decentralized markets. |
| Date: | 2025–04–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bri:uobdis:25/798 |
| By: | Chahreddine Abbes; Amélie Lafrance-Cooke; Danny Leung |
| Abstract: | This study compares the performance of businesses owned by women (majority or equal ownership) that patent with that of majority men-owned businesses and businesses where gender of ownership cannot be assigned. It finds that women-owned firms have higher survival rates, but lower revenue growth rates, after filing for a patent than businesses where gender of ownership cannot be assigned, even after controlling for observable firm characteristics. The differences between women-owned businesses and businesses where gender of ownership cannot be assigned are greater than those between women-owned and majority men-owned businesses. Women-owned businesses have lower revenue growth rates than majority men-owned businesses, but only have higher survival rates in the fifth year after filing for a patent and after controlling for observable firm characteristics. When the possibility of exit through an acquisition is taken into account, differences in survival between women-owned businesses and other businesses disappear. This suggests that women-owned businesses that patent may have different exit strategies than other businesses. The differences in revenue growth suggest that there may be differences in the quality of the invention, or that some previously documented differences in favour of men-owned businesses (i.e., access to financing and knowledge-building opportunities) may affect the type of inventions developed by women-owned businesses and their ability to successfully commercialize them. Overall, the findings support the need for policies that take gender into account. |
| Keywords: | business performance, ownership, patents, intellectual property |
| JEL: | J23 M21 |
| Date: | 2024–09–25 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:stc:stcp8e:202400900003e |
| By: | Komatsubara, Takashi |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates whether sports experience changes adolescents’ preferences. For this purpose, we conducted a survey of Japanese university students about their sports experiences, time preferences, and risk aversion. Our regression analysis shows that students’ sports experience does not significantly change their time preferences or risk aversion. This result implies that although students devote a lot of time to sports in Japan, sports still do not have a significant impact on students’ attitudes towards time and risk. |
| Keywords: | Sports Experience, Time Preferences, Risk Aversion, Student Survey |
| JEL: | D81 I21 |
| Date: | 2025–09–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:126001 |
| By: | Marc Ivaldi (TSE-R - Toulouse School of Economics - UT Capitole - Université Toulouse Capitole - Comue de Toulouse - Communauté d'universités et établissements de Toulouse - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Nicolas Petit (EUI - European University Institute - Institut Universitaire Européen); Selçukhan Unekbas (EUI - European University Institute - Institut Universitaire Européen) |
| Abstract: | The killer acquisitions theory states that established firms buy new businesses to pre-empt future competition, particularly in the pharmaceutical and digital industries. The theory fuels demand to make merger policy more restrictive. But is the theory of killer acquisitions supported by empirical facts? Focusing on past investigations by the European Commission in information technology industries, this article studies whether acquisitions by large technology companies reduce competition by eliminating future rivalry. Despite the small sample size, the findings suggest that none of the reviewed transaction was followed by the disappearance of the target's products, a weakening of competing firms, and/or a post-merger lowering or absence of entry and innovation. |
| Keywords: | killer acquisitions, case study, dynamic competition, innovation, mergers and acquisitions, nascent competitors |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05308625 |
| By: | Coleman Drake; Mark K. Meiselbach; Daniel Polsky |
| Abstract: | Enrollment in the Health Insurance Marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act reached an all-time high of approximately 25 million Americans in 2025, roughly doubling since enhanced premium tax credit subsidies were made available in 2021. The scheduled expiration of enhanced subsidies in 2026 is estimated to leave over seven million Americans without health insurance coverage. Ten states have created supplemental Marketplace subsidies, yet little attention has been paid to how to best structure these subsidies to maximize coverage. Using administrative enrollment data from Maryland's Marketplace, we estimate demand for Marketplace coverage. Then, using estimated parameters and varying budget constraints, we simulate how to optimally allocate supplemental state premium subsidies to mitigate coverage losses from enhanced premium subsidy expiration. We find that premium sensitivity is greatest among enrollees with incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, where the marginal effect of an additional ten dollars in monthly subsidies on the probability of coverage is approximately 6.5 percentage points, and decreases to roughly 2.5 percentage points above 200 percent FPL. Simulation results indicate that each 10 million dollars in annual state subsidies could retain roughly 5, 000 enrollees, though the cost-effectiveness of these subsidies falls considerably once all enrollees below 200 percent of the federal poverty level are fully subsidized. We conclude that states are well positioned to mitigate, but not stop, coverage losses from expanded premium tax credit subsidy expiration. |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2510.13791 |
| By: | Yunqi Liu |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) adoption on job loss rates using the Global AI Content Impact Dataset (2020--2025). The panel comprises 200 industry-country-year observations across Australia, China, France, Japan, and the United Kingdom in ten industries. A three-stage ordinary least squares (OLS) framework is applied. First, a full-sample regression finds no significant linear association between AI adoption rate and job loss rate ($\beta \approx -0.0026$, $p = 0.949$). Second, industry-specific regressions identify the marketing and retail sectors as closest to significance. Third, interaction-term models quantify marginal effects in those two sectors, revealing a significant retail interaction effect ($-0.138$, $p |
| Date: | 2025–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2509.15885 |
| By: | Ginger Zhe Jin; Hsienming Lien; Xuezhen Tao |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how hospital competition and insurance reimbursement policy shape the diffusion of medical innovations. Using patient-level data from Taiwan's drug-eluting stent (DES) market in the Taipei metropolitan area, we estimate a structural model of hospital behavior, incorporating patient demand and hospitals' endogenous portfolio and pricing decisions. Our analysis reveals a fundamental trade-off: intense competition lowers prices but weakens hospitals' incentives to adopt new technologies, with total welfare peaking at an intermediate level of concentration. We then evaluate policy solutions. Selective contracting—where the government insurer negotiates exclusive wholesale discounts—can achieve a ``quadruple-win'' for consumers, hospitals, participating manufacturers, and the payer. In contrast, increasing the insurer's DES-specific reimbursement encourages hospitals to expand DES technology adoption and lower patient payment per DES, but creates a substantial fiscal burden for the insurer. Alternatively, a patient coupon program targeting low-income patients improves equity but has limited market-wide impact, as hospitals barely modify their price or portfolio decisions in response. These findings highlight that effective technology diffusion policies must account for downstream hospitals' strategic responses and their market competition. |
| JEL: | D4 I18 L13 O33 |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34374 |
| By: | Charles Hodgson; Shilong Sun |
| Abstract: | How do vertically integrated firms' pricing and product provision decisions change with upstream and downstream competition? We answer this question in the context of the Chinese film industry. Theaters allocate significantly fewer showings to non-integrated films. This foreclosure effect is particularly pronounced in two scenarios: when an integrated theater faces limited spatial competition, and when an integrated film is similar to competing films. To measure welfare effects, we estimate a model of consumer preferences and theater showings choice using a novel method that combines standard demand data with film ratings data. Our results show that integrated theaters internalize a substantial portion of their upstream profits, driving foreclosure behavior that distorts showings. Counterfactual simulations show that vertical integration increases consumer welfare by 2.4% in the median market, but reduces consumer welfare in 7% of markets. The welfare effects of foreclosure vary with upstream competition between films and downstream competition between theaters, and we show that targeted antitrust policy that removes of integration based on measures of market competition can substantially increase welfare. |
| JEL: | L0 L13 L40 L42 L82 |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34390 |
| By: | Ambre Nicolle; Christos Genakos; Tobias Kretschmer (Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge) |
| Abstract: | Can entire markets strategically confuse consumers to raise market prices? Using a detailed dataset covering virtually all mobile phone tariffs and their handsets in the United Kingdom between January 2010 and September 2012, we study the evolution of quality-adjusted prices and find that they increased until December 2010, even though the industry was mature, technologically homogeneous, and competitive. Upon exploring the role of several salient factors, such as differentiation and product proliferation by firms that may have affected this evolution, we argue that the primary driver is the implementation of obfuscation strategies by firms. The observed price increase is significantly correlated with the rate at which operators implemented dominated tariffs (ie tariffs for which there is a cheaper alternative from the same operator), indicating that firms use obfuscation strategies to reduce product transparency, thereby elevating overall prices. Importantly, the presence of dominated tariffs raises not only the prices of these contracts but also those of efficient ones, distinguishing our findings from a behavioral price discrimination strategy that would only affect inattentive consumers. Our exploratory study is one of the first to offer suggestive evidence of obfuscation as an industry-wide supply-side phenomenon. |
| Date: | 2025–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jbs:wpaper:202503 |
| By: | Fasheng Xu; Xiaoyu Wang; Wei Chen; Karen Xie |
| Abstract: | The strategic choice of model "openness" has become a defining issue for the foundation model (FM) ecosystem. While this choice is intensely debated, its underlying economic drivers remain underexplored. We construct a two-period game-theoretic model to analyze how openness shapes competition in an AI value chain, featuring an incumbent developer, a downstream deployer, and an entrant developer. Openness exerts a dual effect: it amplifies knowledge spillovers to the entrant, but it also enhances the incumbent's advantage through a "data flywheel effect, " whereby greater user engagement today further lowers the deployer's future fine-tuning cost. Our analysis reveals that the incumbent's optimal first-period openness is surprisingly non-monotonic in the strength of the data flywheel effect. When the data flywheel effect is either weak or very strong, the incumbent prefers a higher level of openness; however, for an intermediate range, it strategically restricts openness to impair the entrant's learning. This dynamic gives rise to an "openness trap, " a critical policy paradox where transparency mandates can backfire by removing firms' strategic flexibility, reducing investment, and lowering welfare. We extend the model to show that other common interventions can be similarly ineffective. Vertical integration, for instance, only benefits the ecosystem when the data flywheel effect is strong enough to overcome the loss of a potentially more efficient competitor. Likewise, government subsidies intended to spur adoption can be captured entirely by the incumbent through strategic price and openness adjustments, leaving the rest of the value chain worse off. By modeling the developer's strategic response to competitive and regulatory pressures, we provide a robust framework for analyzing competition and designing effective policy in the complex and rapidly evolving FM ecosystem. |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2510.15200 |