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on Microeconomic European Issues |
| By: | Mariia Vasiakina (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Christian Dudel (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany) |
| Abstract: | The ongoing economic transformation driven by automation has significant social implications, particularly for the health and well-being of workers who face the risk of job displacement and the pressure to acquire new skills and qualifications. However, the specific pathways through which exposure to automation risk affects health outcomes remain poorly understood, and the relative contribution of each potential mechanism is still unclear. In this study, we examine the nature of the relationship between high workplace exposure to automation risk and a range of subjective health outcomes – including self-reported health, anxiety, and both physical and mental component summary scores from the SF-12 Health Survey – among workers in Germany. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) linked with administrative records from the Occupational Panel for Germany (2014–2022), we apply the Karlson-Holm-Breen (KHB) mediation analysis method to assess whether broader indicators of economic uncertainty, alongside automation-specific factors, mediate the relationship between high automation risk and workers’ health. Our results indicate that the negative impact of high automation risk on health in Germany primarily operates through indirect pathways (related to mediators) for both genders, with the exception of physical health among male workers, where a direct negative effect is also evident. Economic concerns – particularly job insecurity and worries about one’s future financial situation – emerge as more significant mediators than automation-specific factors. Overall, our findings suggest that the mechanisms linking high automation risk to health are gender- and context-sensitive, and are shaped by broader economic conditions and workplace environments. |
| Keywords: | Germany, automation, health, risk exposure, technological change |
| JEL: | J1 Z0 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2025-032 |
| By: | Han Ye; Cristina Bellés Obrero; Sergi Jiménez-Martín |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the mortality effects of delaying retirement by leveraging the 1967 Spanish pension reform, which exogenously increased the earliest voluntary claiming age from 60 to 65 based on individuals' date of first contribution. Using Spanish administrative data, we find that removing access to early retirement delays age at last employment by 4 months and increases the probability of death between ages 60 and 69 by 11 percent. The mortality effects are concentrated among workers in physically demanding, high-psychosocial-burden, and low- skilled occupations, while men and women are affected similarly. Access to flexible retirement mitigates the adverse effects of delaying retirement. |
| Keywords: | delaying retirement, early retirement, heterogeneity, mortality, work conditions |
| JEL: | I10 I12 J14 J26 |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bge:wpaper:1528 |
| By: | Stuhler, Jan (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid); Dustmann, Christian (University College London); Otten, Sebastian (RWI); Schönberg, Uta (University College London) |
| Abstract: | Most studies on the labor market effects of immigration use repeated cross-sectional data to estimate the effects of immigration on regions. This paper shows that such regional effects are composites of effects that address fundamental questions in the immigration debate but remain unidentified with repeated cross-sectional data. We provide a unifying empirical framework that decomposes the regional effects of immigration into their underlying components and show how these are identifiable from data that track workers over time. Our empirical application illustrates that such analysis yields a far more informative picture of immigration’s effects on wages, employment, and occupational upgrading. |
| Keywords: | elasticity, upgrading, employment effects, wage effects, immigration, selection, identification |
| JEL: | J21 J23 J31 J61 R23 |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18229 |
| By: | Fernanda Mazzotta (Department of Economics and Statistics - University of Salerno - Italy and CELPE); Lavinia Parisi (Department of Economics and Statistics - University of Salerno - Italy and CELPE); Adama Touray (University of The Ghambia) |
| Abstract: | Social cash transfers have been expanding across Europe, though Italy has been slower to adopt such measures. In recent years, however, Italy has introduced several transfer schemes to address rising poverty and social exclusion—most notably the Reddito di Cittadinanza (RdC), recently replaced by the Assegno di Inclusione (ADI). This paper contributes to the ongoing debate on the effectiveness of cash transfers by evaluating the effect of RdC on absolute and relative poverty incidence and gap, as well as in-work poverty. Using data from the Bank of Italy’s Survey on Household Income and Wealth (SHIW) for 2020 and 2022, we apply descriptive statistics, a probit and tobit analysis to assess changes excluding and including the RdC. Our findings show that RdC significantly reduces both absolute and relative poverty but has no significant effect on in-work poverty. Further heterogeneity analysis reveals that the impact of RdC varies across different population groups. |
| Keywords: | Government Policy; Probit; Absolute poverty; In-work poverty; social benefits |
| JEL: | I32 I38 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sal:celpdp:021732 |
| By: | Brüll, Eduard (ZEW); Mäurer, Samuel (University of Mannheim); Rostam-Afschar, Davud (University of Mannheim) |
| Abstract: | We provide experimental evidence on how employers adjust expectations to automation risk in high-skill, white-collar work. Using a randomized information intervention among tax advisors in Germany, we show that firms systematically underestimate automatability. Information provision raises risk perceptions, especially for routine-intensive roles. Yet, it leaves short-run hiring plans unchanged. Instead, updated beliefs increase productivity and financial expectations with minor wage adjustments, implying within-firm inequality like limited rent-sharing. Employers also anticipate new tasks in legal tech, compliance, and AI interaction, and report higher training and adoption intentions. |
| Keywords: | belief updating, firm expectations, technology adoption, innovation, technological change, automation, artificial intelligence, expertise, labor demand, white collar jobs, training |
| JEL: | J23 J24 D22 D84 O33 C93 |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18225 |
| By: | Camille Jehle; Florian Le Gallo |
| Abstract: | Using a large language model, we build a unique 400, 000 corpus of articles related to the European Union (EU) published between 2005 and 2023 in more than 100 French local and national newspapers. Drawing on this dataset, we show that the interest of French newspapers in European issues has remained stable since 2005 and is primarily driven by the European elections every 5 years. An analysis of polarity and topics covered reveals that the local press pays greater attention to tangible EU initiatives—such as cultural exchange programs—which are generally portrayed in a positive light. Finally, we show that French media sentiment towards the European Union deteriorated significantly following the financial and sovereign debt crises, mirroring the trend observed in Eurobarometer opinion surveys on EU sentiment. However, from 2013 onward, a divergence emerged since sentiment in the press gradually returns to pre-crisis levels while public image of the European Union in the opinion remains below these levels. Focusing on the Euro area, we do not observe such a divergence. |
| Keywords: | Sentiment Indicator, European Sentiment, Press Text Mining |
| JEL: | C55 F59 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bfr:banfra:1008 |
| By: | Fenizia, Alessandra (George Washington University); Li, Nicholas Y. (George Washington University); Citino, Luca (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the cost-effectiveness of targeted payroll taxes for stimulating labor demand. It uses rich administrative data to study the effects of an Italian reform that raised social security contributions for apprenticeship contracts but granted a substantial discount for firms with 9 employees or less. The discount does not increase demand for apprenticeship contracts. Instead, it subsidizes inframarginal hiring. This reform is not cost-effective. Point estimates imply that each million euros of foregone social security contributions supports the employment of 29 apprentices for one year and no permanent contracts (these estimates are not statistically different from zero). |
| Keywords: | cost effectiveness, targeted payroll taxes, labor demand |
| JEL: | J01 J08 H20 |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18233 |
| By: | Rania Antonopoulos |
| Abstract: | Despite the gradual economic recovery and positive policy responses during the COVID-19 pandemic, the problem of long-term unemployment continues to plague millions in Europe. To effectively address this and other overlapping crises in Europe, we need radical changes, according to Senior Scholar Rania Antonopoulos; and in this context, the job guarantee policy has been gaining support from progressive forces throughout the EU. |
| Date: | 2024–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lev:levypn:24-4 |
| By: | Carine Milcent (PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - 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 - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris, PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - 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 - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris) |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the effectiveness of the 2009 French Diagnosis-Related Group (DRG) classification reform, which introduced four severity levels within each DRG, ranging from low to very high, with corresponding increases in fixed-price reimbursements. Notably, the reform incorporates the Medicare Severity Diagnosis-Related Group (MS-DRG) system, first implemented in the United States in 2007, giving the French system international relevance. The French Public Health Insurance system (NHI) reimburses both public and private healthcare establishments through a DRG-based payment system. This study focuses on variations in hospital resource costs for four different health conditions. The paper begins by discussing the theoretical challenges of constructing DRG categories, particularly the trade-off between greater clinical detail (granularity) and the risk of distorting incentives for hospital efficiency. It then presents an empirical analysis of hospital resource cost variations both within and between DRGs for the same pathology or clinically meaningful group (DRG-root), using data from 2012 to 2019. Our findings suggest that a one-size-fits-all approach to severity classification is inadequate. In some cases, broader categories improve statistical validity, while in others, more granular distinctions are necessary. We conclude that a tailored, case-by-case approach is the most effective solution. Specifically, the analysis reveals significant overlap in confidence intervals for hospital resource costs across DRG severity levels, suggesting that the current classification system fails to effectively capture cost differences related to severity. Additionally, a large portion of cost variation within DRGs is driven by factors unrelated to severity, such as hospital-specific characteristics. Overall, the results underscore the need to revise the current DRG system in France in order to reduce financial discrepancies and to prevent incentives for patient selection, especially before implementing bundled payment models that include both inpatient and outpatient care. |
| Keywords: | Hospital resource costs, Cost analysis, Hospital costs, Healthcare payment, Diagnosis, Cost variation, Cost variability drivers |
| Date: | 2025–10–30 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05339350 |
| By: | Siavash Mohades; Maria Savona |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates whether investments in data affect firms’ R&D and whether the two are productivity-enhancing complements. We conceptualise and test whether investments in data reduce market uncertainty, thereby mitigating the inherent uncertainty of R&D and enhancing research and innovation investment. Using Italian firm-level data from 2002 to 2024 and exploiting the GDPR as an instrument, we identify a positive causal effect of data on R&D investment. Moreover, we find that data and R&D are complementary in enhancing both short- and long-term productivity. Our analyses also identify a positive role of R&D for productivity only when firms are data-intensive. |
| Keywords: | uncertainty, data, R&D, digitalisation, innovation, productivity |
| JEL: | D22 D25 D82 O31 O33 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12230 |
| By: | Massenz, Gabriella (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)) |
| Abstract: | How do corporate tax systems shape the boundaries of the firm? This paper shows that nonlinear corporate income taxation can distort firms’ organizational structures by inducing tax-motivated firm splitting. I use administrative data on corporations and their owners and exploit two reforms that altered the tax benefits and costs of dividing a firm into multiple entities. First, I show that a temporary increase in the tax advantage of splitting reduces the share of firms filing jointly for corporate income tax purposes. Second, once the benefit is perceived as permanent and minimum capital requirements for new firms are abolished, the number of firms per entrepreneur rises significantly and persistently. Finally, I show that reorganizations are primarily driven by tax motives, as I find no effect on firms’ total assets, employment, or industry diversification. These findings highlight extensive-margin responses of business organization to corporate taxation, with relevant implications for the understanding of firm dynamics and for tax design. |
| Keywords: | Firm splitting; Corporate income tax; Tax avoidance |
| JEL: | H25 H26 H32 |
| Date: | 2025–10–30 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1539 |
| By: | Camarero, Mariam; Sapena, Juan; Tamarit, Cecilio |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates time-varying tax-tilting parameters for eleven EMU member states from 1970 to 2024 using a panel time-varying parameter state-space model that extends the traditional tax-smoothing framework to capture both common and country-specific dynamics. Core countries such as Austria, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Ireland, and Finland display a more prudent fiscal stance, while peripheral countries, including Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, shift taxation toward the future, generating current deficits. These patterns are driven by differences between government discounting of future revenues and market rates, and are further influenced by structural factors such as aging populations and unemployment. Periods of negative real interest rates relax fiscal constraints, encouraging governments to delay tax adjustments. The results underscore the need to reduce cross-country fiscal heterogeneity to strengthen long-term sustainability and advance fiscal integration in the Euro Area. |
| Keywords: | Tax-smoothing, time-varying cointegration, multiple structural breaks, Kalman Filter, Time-varying parameters, EU fiscal policy |
| JEL: | C22 E62 H62 |
| Date: | 2025–08–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:125942 |
| By: | Scoppa, Vincenzo (University of Calabria); Spanò, Idola Francesca (University of Calabria) |
| Abstract: | Gender gaps in labor market outcomes have traditionally been attributed to differences in individual productivity or to discrimination. More recently, several studies have documented the role of gender differences in psychological attitudes. Rather than using data on realized wages, we rely on data on reservation wages – the lowest wage workers are willing to accept – for a sample of Italian graduates. Reservation wages reflect individual attitudes and beliefs more directly, while being less affected by employer discrimination. We first relate reservation wages to educational background, individual characteristics, and family background, and investigate how they depend on labor market expectations. We then analyze how reservation wages depend on preferences over specific job attributes, such as permanent positions, geographical mobility, etc. Applying the Gelbach decomposition to quantify the contribution of each factors, we find a substantial role for preferences for job attributes and expectations. However, our estimates reveal a large unexplained component which is likely driven by gender differences in psychological and social attitudes, such as risk aversion, overconfidence and adherence to social norms. |
| Keywords: | Psychological Attitudes, Graduate Labor Market, Reservation Wages, Gender Gaps, Behavioral Economics |
| JEL: | J16 J32 D83 D91 |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18230 |
| By: | Loles Añón Higón (Department of Applied Economics II and ERICES, Faculty of Economics (Universitat de València), Avda. Tarongers, s/n, 46022 Valencia (Spain)); Juan A. Máñez (Department of Applied Economics II and ERICES, Faculty of Economics (Universitat de València), Avda. Tarongers, s/n, 46022 Valencia (Spain)); Amparo Sanchis (Department of Applied Economics II and ERICES, Faculty of Economics (Universitat de València), Avda. Tarongers, s/n, 46022 Valencia (Spain)); Juan A. Sanchis (Department of Applied Economics II and ERICES, Faculty of Economics (Universitat de València), Avda. Tarongers, s/n, 46022 Valencia (Spain)) |
| Abstract: | We examine the role of digitalisation in shaping innovation strategies. To capture the multidimensional nature of digital transformation, we construct a firm-level digitalisation index that incorporates four dimensions: technological infrastructure, digital human capital, automation and digital stakeholders’ interactions. Using data from Spanish manufacturing firms for the period 2007-2022, we assess the effects of digitalisation on both technological innovation (product and process) and non-technological (organisational and marketing) innovation. Our empirical strategy is based on a knowledge production function framework that jointly analyses firms' innovation decisions while accounting for unobserved heterogeneity and potential endogeneity of digitalisation. The results show that digitalisation is a key driver of innovation, in particular for SMEs, but also for firms without formal R&D activities. However, its impact varies across innovation types, with the strongest effects observed for process innovation. The analysis further reveals that the components of digitalisation affect innovation strategies in different ways, underscoring the heterogeneous nature of digital transformation. |
| Keywords: | Digital transformation, manufacturing firms, product innovation, process innovation, organisational innovation, marketing innovation. |
| JEL: | O33 O32 L60 C35 D22 |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eec:wpaper:2512 |