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on Microeconomic European Issues |
| By: | Dettmann, Eva; Fritz, Sarah |
| Abstract: | This study provides new evidence on the impact of the EU Cohesion Policy on income growth in less developed regions. Our panel includes data from all European regions for the years 1989-2020. Using a fuzzy Regression Discontinuity Design, we model treatment dynamics by applying a random effects estimator. Based on digitized historical data, we precisely replicate the policy rule and correctly classify the regions' eligibility status. Results show that the policy has a moderate positive effect on GDP per capita growth in the targeted regions. |
| Keywords: | causal analysis, EU Cohesion Policy, regression discontinuity design, place-based policy |
| JEL: | H20 R11 R58 Z18 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:iwhdps:330917 |
| By: | Dimitris Georgarakos (European Central Bank (E-mail: Dimitris.Georgarakos@ecb.europa.eu)); Yuriy Gorodnichenko (University of California, Berkeley (E-mail: ygorodni@econ.berkeley.edu)); Olivier Coibion (University of Texas at Austin (E-mail: ocoibion@austin.utexas.edu)); Geoff Kenny (European Central Bank (E-mail: geoff.kenny@ecb.europa.eu)) |
| Abstract: | We implement a survey-based randomized information treatment that generates independent variation in the inflation expectations and the uncertainty about future inflation of European households. This variation allows us to assess how both first and second moments of inflation expectations separately affect subsequent household decisions. We document several key findings. First, higher inflation uncertainty leads households to reduce their subsequent durable goods purchases for several months, while a higher expected level of inflation increases them. Second, an increase in uncertainty about inflation induces households to tilt their portfolios towards safe and away from riskier asset holdings. Third, higher inflation uncertainty encourages household job search consistent with a strong precautionary motive for labor supply, leading to higher subsequent employment among the unemployed and less part-time employment among the alreadyemployed. Finally, we document that the level of inflation expectations has a different effect from uncertainty in inflation expectations and thus it is crucial to take into account both to measure their separate effects on decisions and in policy communication. |
| Keywords: | inflation uncertainty, consumption, household finance, labor supply, Consumer Expectations Survey |
| JEL: | E31 C83 D84 G51 |
| Date: | 2025–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ime:imedps:25-e-12 |
| By: | Wilhelmsson, Mats (Department of Real Estate and Construction Management, Royal Institute of Technology) |
| Abstract: | Housing association fees are an important factor in determining condominium prices. Despite their importance, it remains uncertain how much these costs are reflected in sale prices. We examine how deviations from expected monthly fees affect apartment prices in Stockholm. The data include more than 80, 000 transactions from 2017, 2021 and 2023. We apply a two-step method. First, we model expected fees based on age, size, and location. Then we used the residuals in a hedonic price model with spatial controls. Higher-than-expected fees reduce sale prices. On average, each additional 1, 000 SEK in monthly residual cost reduces the price by 2–3%. The elasticity remains stable over time but weakens in 2023. Our spatial analysis confirms stronger capitalisation in central areas compared to peripheral zones, and quantile regressions reveal small variation across the price spectrum. The effect does not appear driven by omitted variables or spatial autocorrelation. Our results help inform valuation and oversight in cooperative housing. |
| Keywords: | Housing cooperatives; Capitalisation; Monthly fee; Hedonic pricing; Housing finance; Spatial variation; Stockholm |
| JEL: | C21 G11 R21 R31 |
| Date: | 2025–11–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:kthrec:2025_013 |
| By: | Daniel Montolio (Universitat de Barcelona & IEB); Guillem Riambau (Universitat de Barcelona & IEB) |
| Abstract: | We conduct an online survey across four countries of the European Union (Germany, Ireland, Poland, and Spain) to study how the socio-economic determinants of their citizens condition their ability to detect fake headlines and their likelihood of sharing them using social media. Additionally, we analyze the impact of attitudinal and ideological variables on the probability of detecting (and sharing) fake news. Results point to a significant role of some socio-economic and political variables in determining both the probability of detecting and sharing fake news on social media; results also show interesting country heterogeneity. Political headlines are more likely to be misclassified, which underscores the challenge of overcoming ideological biases in media consumption. We highlight the importance of fostering digital literacy, especially among young and more vulnerable individuals, to promote responsible democratic citizenship. |
| Keywords: | Fake News, Misinformation, Social Media, Survey, Attitudes |
| JEL: | D90 D91 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ieb:wpaper:doc2025-11 |
| By: | Cristina Bellés-Obrero (Institute for Economic Analysis (CSIC), BSE, IEB & IZA); Giulia Montresor (University of Verona); Catia Nicodemo (Brunel University of London & University of Oxford) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the causal effects of extreme temperatures and a related adaptation policy on workplace accidents in Spain, combining administrative records on occupational accidents with high-resolution weather data. Both cold and heat raise the incidence of work accidents, though with different magnitudes:ice days (maximum temperatures |
| Keywords: | Temperature, workplace accidents, adaptation policy, climate change |
| JEL: | I1 J28 J81 Q54 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ieb:wpaper:doc2025-12 |
| By: | Marek Sedivy (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic) |
| Abstract: | We study the evolution of consumption expenditure and its distribution over the life-cycle. We estimate age and cohort effects relying on household-level consumption survey data, reaching several conclusions. First, we find significant differences in durable and nondurable life-cycle consumption profiles. While the former remains relatively stable until middle age and decreases afterward, the latter displays a hump-shaped profile. Second, only a few subclasses of nondurable consumption exhibit hump-shaped profiles. This group includes work-related subclasses such as clothing and personal care, food away, and transport. Third, we find that inequality in durable and nondurable consumption increases sharply around middle age. |
| Keywords: | cohorts, consumption, consumption profiles, life-cycle, inequality |
| JEL: | D14 D15 |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fau:wpaper:wp2025_25 |
| By: | Alexander Bertermann; Wolfgang Dauth; Jens Suedekum; Ludger Woessmann |
| Abstract: | How do firms and workers adjust to trade and technology shocks? We analyze two mechanisms that have received little attention: training that upgrades skills and early retirement that shifts adjustment costs to public pension systems. We combine novel data on training participation and early retirement in German local labor markets with established measures of exposure to trade competition and robot adoption. Results indicate that negative trade shocks reduce training — particularly in manufacturing — while robot exposure increases training — particularly in indirectly affected services. Both shocks raise early retirement among manufacturing workers. Structural change thus induces both productivity-enhancing and productivity-reducing responses, challenging simple narratives of labor market adaptation and highlighting the scope for policy to promote adjustment mechanisms conducive to aggregate productivity. |
| Keywords: | training, retirement, trade, technological change, automation, robots, firms, workers, labor market |
| JEL: | J24 J26 O33 F16 R11 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12240 |
| By: | Bertermann, Alexander (LMU Munich); Dauth, Wolfgang (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung); Suedekum, Jens (Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf); Woessmann, Ludger (University of Munich) |
| Abstract: | How do firms and workers adjust to trade and technology shocks? We analyze two mechanisms that have received little attention: training that upgrades skills and early retirement that shifts adjustment costs to public pension systems. We combine novel data on training participation and early retirement in German local labor markets with established measures of exposure to trade competition and robot adoption. Results indicate that negative trade shocks reduce training—particularly in manufacturing—while robot exposure increases training—particularly in indirectly affected services. Both shocks raise early retirement among manufacturing workers. Structural change thus induces both productivity-enhancing and productivity-reducing responses, challenging simple narratives of labor market adaptation and highlighting the scope for policy to promote adjustment mechanisms conducive to aggregate productivity. |
| Keywords: | workers, firms, robots, automation, technological change, trade, retirement, training, labor market |
| JEL: | J24 J26 O33 F16 R11 |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18247 |
| By: | Olivier De Jonghe (European Central Bank); Konstantins Benkovskis (Latvijas Banka); Karolis Bielskis (Bank of Lithuania); Diana Bonfim (Banco de Portugal); Margherita Bottero (Banca d'Italia); Tamas Briglevics (Central Bank of Hungar); Martin Cesnak (National Bank of Slovakia); Mantas Dirma (Bank of Lithuania); Marina Emiris (National Bank of Belgium); Palma Filep-Mosberger (Central Bank of Hungary); Valentin Jouvanceau (Bank of Lithuania); Nicholas Kaiser (Central Bank of Ireland); Dmitry Khametshin (Banco de Espana); Tibor Lalinsky (National Bank of Slovakia); Viola M. Grolmusz (Central Bank of Hungary); Laura Moretti (Central Bank of Ireland); Arturs Janis Nikitins (Latvijas Banka); Angelo Nunnari (Banca d'Italia); Maria Rodriguez-Moreno (Banco de Espana); Elitsa Stefanova (European Central Bank); Lajos Tamas Szabo (Central Bank of Hungary); Karlis Vilerts (Latvijas Banka); Sujiao Emma Zhao (Banco de Portugal) |
| Abstract: | We study heterogeneity in households' credit across nine European countries (Belgium, Spain, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, and Slovakia) during 2022-2024 using granular credit register data. We first document substantial between- and within-country variation in mortgage and consumer lending by borrower age, loan maturity, and interest rate fixation. We then quantify the passthrough of the ECB's recent tightening cycle to household borrowing costs, and assess its heterogeneous impact across households. Pass-through is nearly complete for mortgages (around 0.9) but considerably weaker for consumer credit (around 0.4). While mortgage pass-through is relatively homogeneous across countries, consumer credit shows pronounced cross-country differences that cannot be explained by borrower or loan characteristics. Younger households face stronger mortgage pass-through but weaker consumer credit pass-through relative to older borrowers, and longer maturities are associated with stronger pass-through in both credit markets. |
| Keywords: | pmonetary policy transmission, household borrowing, credit registers, interest rate pass-through, cross-country heterogeneity |
| JEL: | E52 G21 D14 |
| Date: | 2025–11–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ltv:wpaper:202509 |
| By: | Seifert, Stefan; Uehleke, Reinhard; Andert, Sabine; Gerowitt, Bärbel; Hüttel, Silke |
| Abstract: | Due to the multiple negative environmental effects of the overuse of chemical pesticides, the European Union (EU) aims to reduce pesticide use – including herbicides – by 50%, by 2030. Preventive weed management (PWM), using among others in-version tillage and diverse crop rotations, is considered perhaps the most suitable strategy to reduce on-farm herbicide use. Whether and how these practices relate to herbicide reduction potential and crop yields is, however, not well understood. This paper addresses this gap by investigating the impact of PWM on maize yields and herbicide use. Using field-level data for 530 maize fields in eastern Germany, we apply a directional distance function approach in a data envelopment framework and estimate directional and simultaneous improvement potentials for herbicide use and maize yields. Our preliminary results indicate a similar performance with holistic PWM and without PWM in terms of both yields and herbicide use, whereas a partial implementation of PWM seems to increase herbicide use. We also find herbicide reduction potentials of 36-37% irrespective of the PWM suggesting notable improvement potentials by implementing best practices. |
| Keywords: | Crop Production/Industries |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aes024:355345 |
| By: | Salomons, Anna (Tilburg University); vom Baur, Cäcilia (ifo Institute, University of Munich); Zierahn-Weilage, Ulrich (Utrecht School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Does educational content respond to technological advances, enabling workers to acquire new expertise? We study how digital technology transforms skill acquisition and impacts workers' careers. We construct a novel database of legally binding vocational training curricula in Germany over 5 decades, and link curriculum updates to breakthrough technologies using Natural Language Processing. Technological change spurs curriculum updates, shifting training content toward digital and social skills while reducing routine-intensive task content, predominantly through new skill emergence. Curriculum updates account for two-thirds of deroutinization in vocational skill supply over this period. Using administrative employer-employee data and a stacked DiD design, we show curriculum updates help workers adapt: new-skilled workers earn higher wages, with increases up to 5.5\% for technology-exposed occupations. In contrast, older incumbents experience wage declines, indicating skill obsolescence. Firms increase capital investments when exposed to workers with updated skills, consistent with capital-skill complementarity. These findings highlight within-occupation skill supply adjustments' central role in meeting evolving labor market demands. |
| Keywords: | vocational training, skill obsolescence, skill updating, technological change, educational content |
| JEL: | J23 J24 J31 O33 |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18248 |
| By: | Giovanna Ciaffi; Matteo Deleidi; Antonino LOfaro |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the impact of Mission–Oriented Innovation Policies (MOIPs) and public R&D investment by quantifying the responses of GDP, private investment, hours worked, labour productivity, and the real hourly wage. We combine a Bartik–type identification strategy with the Local Projections method on a novel dataset with a sectoral–regional dimension, covering 333 European NUTS–2 regions over 1995–2019. Results show that R&D government spending exerts robust and persistent expansionary effects, crowding in private investment, raising employment, and boosting productivity. Sectoral heterogeneity emerges, with high multiplicative effects in construction and finance, while employment effects are concentrated in construction and market services. |
| Keywords: | Fiscal policy; Mission-Oriented Innovation Policies; R&D government spending; Sectoral heterogeneity; Regional economics; Local Projections; European regions. Jel Classification: R11; E62; H50; O38 |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usi:wpaper:934 |
| By: | Antoni, Manfred (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg, Germany); Dollmann, Jörg (MZES); Schmucker, Alexandra (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg, Germany); Weißmann, Markus (MZES) |
| Abstract: | "This data report describes the linked data of the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in Four European Countries - Germany Sample with administrative data of the Institute for Employment Research (IAB)." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) |
| Keywords: | IAB-Open-Access-Publikation ; Forschungsdatenzentrum ; Datensatzbeschreibung ; IAB-Datensatz Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in Four European Countries - Germany verknüpft mit administrativen Daten des IAB ; 10.5164/IAB.CILS4EU-DE-ADIAB7523.de.en.v1 |
| Date: | 2025–10–30 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabfda:202505(en) |
| By: | Mo, Zhexun; Kaeppel, Katharina; Schröder, Carsten; Yang, Li |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how the German public perceives Chinese Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) amid escalating geopolitical tensions and deepening China–EU economic interdependence, complemented by evidence on Chinese perceptions of German FDI. We combine data from a large-scale survey experiment embedded in the 2023 German Socio-Economic Panel Innovation Sample (N = 2, 365) with a descriptive survey in China (N = 2, 000). German respondents substantially overestimate the scale of Chinese investment—believing it accounts for about 30% of total inward FDI, compared to an actual share of roughly 1%—and evaluate it significantly less favorably than investment from other EU countries or the United States. In contrast, Chinese respondents express consistently positive views of German FDI, revealing a pronounced asymmetry in mutual perceptions. To probe the origins and malleability of these views, we implement three randomized interventions in Germany: a factual correction of actual FDI shares and two narrative framings emphasizing either positive or negative aspects of Chinese investment. While factual information modestly improves perceptions of FDI’s economic benefits, none of the treatments meaningfully shift deeper, ideologically anchored attitudes toward Chinese investment. Quantile treatment effect analyses indicate, however, that these interventions reduce anti-China biases among respondents who are initially more receptive to Chinese FDI. Taken together, the results—consistent across direct evaluations, conjoint choice experiments, and Willingness-to-Accept (WTA) measures—underscore the limits of informational interventions in reshaping entrenched geopolitical or identity-based biases toward foreign investment. (Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality Working Paper) |
| Date: | 2025–10–29 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:74k3v_v1 |
| By: | Pallauf, M.; Kmoch, L. M. |
| Abstract: | European grassland-based cattle farms (GBCF) are facing increasing pressures from climate change, biodiversity loss, and economic uncertainty. Agroforestry practices, such as establishing silvopastoral systems, offer potential to strengthen the resilience of these farms. However, the enablers and barriers to adopting silvopasture on European dairy and beef GBCF remain under-researched. This study addresses this gap by appraising how perceived opportunities and risks, together with policy and structural conditions, shape farmers’ adoption decisions in the context of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) 2023–2027 reforms in Germany. Using the multi-level perspective framework and drawing on ten semi-structured expert interviews and a survey of 187 farms that graze cattle, we find that macro-level pressures are increasing farmers’ willingness to adopt innovations under uncertainty. Our results further suggest that silvopasture adoption under the new CAP scheme is driven by a mix of economic and intrinsic motivations, particularly among farms that graze cattle. Key adoption barriers include high management complexity, long time horizons until direct financial returns from trees materialize, knowledge deficits, and policy distrust. By highlighting how the agroforestry diffusion process and farmers’ decision-making are embedded in broader socio-technical and policy contexts, this study advances the applied sustainability transitions literature and contributes to a deeper understanding of silvopasture adoption mechanisms in Europe. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Land Economics/Use, Sustainability |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:gagfdp:373423 |
| By: | Landersø, Rasmus; Karlson, Kristian Bernt (University of Copenhagen) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies intergenerational educational mobility among immigrants and descendants in Denmark for cohorts born between 1965 and 1990. At first glance, the data suggests that immigrants experience higher mobility than native Danes, but this pattern is driven by low coverage and poor data quality of parental education information in administrative registers. Among immigrants with the most reliable data, mobility patterns closely resemble those of natives. Auxiliary analyses using representative survey data corroborate this finding. Moreover, including immigrants in population-wide mobility estimates—given their artificially high relative mobility—attenuates trends in estimated mobility, especially for cohorts born in the 1980s. |
| Date: | 2025–11–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:sq6e3_v1 |
| By: | I. Etzo; L. Ciucci |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the competitiveness and efficiency of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) within the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI) in Italy, using a comprehensive firm-level dataset from 2019 to 2023. We estimate Total Factor Productivity (TFP) to analyze firm performance, addressing endogeneity concerns through panel fixed-effects models and employing a Translog production function for flexible input elasticity. Our findings reveal significant spatial heterogeneity, with central and north-western regions exhibiting higher CCI productivity than southern areas. Furthermore, we uncover disparities related to firm size, age, and specialization within Creative versus Cultural domains. The largest and oldest CCI firms show a higher TFP. The Creative industry demonstrates greater productivity than the Cultural industry. We provide evidence that manufacturing-oriented CCI tend to exhibit lower productivity compared to service-oriented CCI. The results underscore the importance of targeted policies to address regional disparities and sectorspecific challenges within the CCI ecosystem, promoting innovation and sustainable growth. |
| Keywords: | Cultural and creative industries;total factor productivity;SMEs;Italian regions |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cns:cnscwp:202514 |
| By: | Filippo Boeri; Riccardo Crescenzi; Davide Rigo |
| Abstract: | Using administrative firm-level data covering the universe of remote workers in Italy, and leveraging exogenous pre-pandemic variation in firm-specific access to fibre broadband as an instrument, this paper investigates the impact of post-pandemic adoption of work from home (WFH) on firm productivity. We find that WFH had a large negative impact on productivity during the pandemic. However, larger firms and those with prior ICT investments mitigated these losses. In the longer term, the impact of WFH is no longer significant. Yet, we find suggestive evidence that firms employing highly qualified workers experienced productivity gains. |
| Keywords: | work from home, firms, productivity |
| JEL: | D22 J21 J24 L25 O33 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12253 |
| By: | De Jonghe, Olivier; Benkovskis, Konstantins; Bielskis, Karolis; Bonfim, Diana; Bottero, Margherita; Briglevics, Tamás; Cesnak, Martin; Dirma, Mantas; Emiris, Marina; Filep-Mosberger, Pálma; Jouvanceau, Valentin; Kaiser, Nicholas; Khametshin, Dmitry; Lalinsky, Tibor; Grolmusz, Viola M.; Moretti, Laura; Nikitins, Artūrs Jānis; Nunnari, Angelo; Rodriguez-Moreno, Maria; Stefanova, Elitsa; Szabó, Lajos Tamás; Vilerts, Kārlis; Zhao, Sujiao Emma |
| Abstract: | We study heterogeneity in households’ credit across nine European countries (Belgium, Spain, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, and Slovakia) during 2022-2024 using granular credit register data. We first document substantial between- and within-country variation in mortgage and consumer lending by borrower age, loan maturity, and interest rate fixation. We then quantify the passthrough of the ECB’s recent tightening cycle to household borrowing costs, and assess its heterogeneous impact across households. Pass-through is nearly complete for mortgages (around 0.9) but considerably weaker for consumer credit (around 0.4). While mortgage pass-through is relatively homogeneous across countries, consumer credit shows pronounced cross-country differences that cannot be explained by borrower or loan characteristics. Younger households face stronger mortgage pass-through but weaker consumer credit pass-through relative to older borrowers, and longer maturities are associated with stronger pass-through in both credit markets. JEL Classification: E52, G21, D14 |
| Keywords: | credit registers, cross-country heterogeneity, household borrowing, interest rate pass-through, monetary policy transmission |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20253146 |
| By: | Bertoli, P.;; Grembi, V.;; Slegerova, L.; |
| Abstract: | We investigate the role of gender norms in explaining variations in the incidence of hysterectomies (i.e., removal of uterus) for benign conditions, the second most common surgical procedure after a cesarean section for women. Using data from Italy-a country with a degree of heterogeneous gender norms-we show that the more traditional the perception of the female role is, the higher the incidence of hysterectomies for benign conditions for women in older cohorts . We attribute these results to the fact that the uterus is associated with reproductive function and not with gender identity. To support this interpretation, we show how gender norms are negatively correlated with the incidence of both mastectomies (i.e., removal of the breast) and prostatectomies for benign conditions (i.e., removal of the prostate) for men. To test the role of gender norms in explaining some of these avoidable procedures, we exploit the impact of the introduction of automatic constraints on healthcare expenditures triggered by the adoption of so-called regional repayment plans. Using a staggered difference-in-differences approach, we show that the introduction of a repayment plan reduced the incidence of hysterectomies for benign conditions by 4-8%, depending on the age group, but less so in regions with more conservative gender norms. |
| Keywords: | hysterectomy; gender norms; |
| JEL: | I11 I18 J16 |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:yor:hectdg:25/09 |
| By: | Nordin, Martin (Agrifood Economics Centre and Department of Economics, Lund University); Bergh, Andreas (Department of Economics, Lund University) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines income and employment outcomes for immigrants in Sweden’s most immigrant-dense neighbourhoods between 1998 and 2022. While relative employment among immigrants has improved, relative incomes in these neighbourhoods have stagnated or declined. The most plausible explanation for the persisting income gap and the shrinking employment gap between immigrant-dense and other neighbourhoods is that immigrants in immigrant-dense neighbourhoods are increasingly channelled into non-standard employment. If we look at all immigrants, regardless of where they live, gaps between immigrants and natives are shrinking, both in terms of income and employment. Reconciling these patterns, we show that individuals in immigrant-dense neighbourhoods who enter employment are more likely to relocate to other areas. |
| Keywords: | Immigrant integration; Labour market outcomes; Non-standard employment; Immigrant-dense neighbourhoods |
| JEL: | J61 R23 |
| Date: | 2025–11–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1540 |
| By: | Bergmann, Julian; Erforth, Benedikt; Hackenesch, Christine; Keijzer, Niels; Koch, Svea |
| Abstract: | Trotz der Budgetkürzungen für 2025 und 2026 bleibt Deutschland der größte Geber öffentlicher Entwicklungsleistungen (Official Development Assistance, ODA) unter den 27 EU-Mitgliedstaaten und trägt aufgrund seiner Wirtschaftskraft den größten Anteil am ODA-Budget der EU. Die laufenden Diskussionen zur Neuausrichtung der deutschen Entwicklungspolitik fokussieren sich bisher primär auf die bilaterale Zusammenarbeit, ohne die europäische Entwicklungspolitik genügend zu berücksichtigen. Letztere leistet jedoch zentrale Beiträge, um die entwicklungs- und außenpolitischen Ziele der Bundesregierung umzusetzen. Sie sollte daher stärker in die Reformdebatten miteinbezogen werden. Die gegenwärtige weltpolitische Lage erfordert es, europäische entwicklungspolitische Expertise und Prioritäten gezielt zu bündeln und insbesondere auch in die gemeinsame Strategiefindung einzubinden. In den kommenden Jahren stehen die EU und Deutschland vor der dreifachen Herausforderung, gleichzeitig die sicherheitspolitische Handlungsfähigkeit auszubauen, die wirtschaftliche Wettbewerbsfähigkeit zu sichern und die Nachhaltigkeitsprioritäten des European Green Deals zu verwirklichen. Um diese Ziele zu erreichen, muss Entwicklungspolitik von einem Randthema zu einem strategischen und sichtbaren Pfeiler einer wertebasierten Außenpolitik werden, die geopolitische wie geoökonomische Realitäten reflektiert. Damit dies gelingt, schlagen wir fünf Schlüsselbereiche vor, welche Deutschland gemeinsam mit Brüssel ausgestalten und priorisieren sollte: 1. Wohlstandssicherung und Wirtschaftsförderung: Vier Jahre nach dem Start von Global Gateway sollte sich Deutschland für eine stärkere Partnerorientierung und für eine Konkretisierung der Initiative hinsichtlich ihrer formalen Ziele und Prioritäten stark machen - auch in den bevorstehenden EU-Haushaltsverhandlungen. 2. Sicherheitspolitische Beiträge von Entwicklungspolitik: Die EU und Deutschland sollten gezielt entwicklungspolitische Bereiche und Initiativen fördern, die einen sicherheitspolitischen Mehrwert entfalten. Dies ist insbesondere im Fall der zivilen Unterstützung der Ukraine und im Bereich der Krisenprävention in fragilen Kontexten möglich. 3. Migration: Die EU sollte ihre externe Migrationspolitik im Hinblick auf Wirksamkeit und unbeabsichtigte Folgen kritisch überprüfen. Sie sollte mehr Transparenz und klare Standards bei Migrationspartnerschaften schaffen und Konditionalität als begrenztes, kontextabhängiges Instrument einsetzen. Um gegenseitigen Nutzen für die EU und ihre Partner zu sichern, ist ein ausgewogenes Zusammenspiel von kurzfristiger Krisenbewältigung und langfristiger Ursachenbekämpfung entscheidend, das von Investitionen in legale Mobilitätsoptionen flankiert wird. 4. Team Europe im multilateralen Kontext: Die derzeit laufenden Reformdiskussionen in den Vereinten Nationen (VN) erfordern das Engagement der EU und ihrer Mitgliedstaaten und eine starke gemeinsame Position - auch angesichts der Verpflichtung des EU-Vertrags, multilaterale Lösungen für globale Herausforderungen zu suchen. 5. Demokratieförderung, transnationale Netzwerke und politische Bildung: Deutschland und Europa sollten ihre Demokratieförderung gemeinsam überdenken und priorisieren. Insbesondere zivilgesellschaftliche Organisationen, die sich für die Förderung von Demokratie und Menschenrechten einset-zen, sollten stärker unterstützt werden. |
| Keywords: | Europäische Entwicklungspolitik, EU-Entwicklungspolitik, Europäische Wirtschaftsaußenpolitik, EU-Migrationspolitik, Global Gateway, 360-Grad-Ansatz, Team Europe |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:idospb:331220 |
| By: | Janda, Karel; Turkova, Anezka |
| Abstract: | This paper deals with the impact of climate change on crop insurance in the Czech Republic in the context of government support policies. It combines a comparative analysis of selected EU countries’ insurance systems with an empirical investigation of factors influencing Czech farmers’ decisions to purchase crop insurance. Using farm-level data, the analysis explores the roles of weather variability, government disaster aid, and participation in agri-environmental schemes. We show that past experience with extreme weather and dependence on state aid have a significant impact on insurance uptake, while recent weather anomalies and participation in environmental schemes have a limited influence. |
| Keywords: | government policy, crop insurance, climate, weather |
| JEL: | D81 G22 Q12 Q18 Q54 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esprep:330706 |
| By: | Brioschi, Alessandro |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how kinship and professional networks shaped labour market outcomes in early modern Genoa. Using a newly constructed dataset of over 8, 000 apprenticeship contracts (1450-1530), I examine the extent to which kinship ties with masters or guild members influenced both entry into apprenticeship and the probability of attaining mastership. Using a probabilistic record linkage strategy to reconstruct career trajectories, I show that apprentices with kinship ties to insiders were significantly more likely to become masters, received shorter contracts and enjoyed better contractual and training conditions. These advantages persisted even during periods of economic contraction, suggesting that apprenticeship functioned not only as an open mechanism for human capital formation but also as a selective filter reinforcing occupational stratification. The findings contribute to debates on the role of guilds in pre-industrial labour markets, offering empirical support for the view that social networks limited access to skilled work and upward mobility. |
| Keywords: | Apprenticeship, Labour Markets, Guilds, Mastership, Social Networks, Early Modern Italy |
| JEL: | J62 J24 N33 N93 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:qucehw:330674 |
| By: | Grega Ferenc |
| Abstract: | This paper presents causal evidence on how financial aid for Hungarian minorities in Slovakia leads to their non-assimilation. Using a staggered panel event study design, I show that the introduction of financial aid by the Hungarian government led to a statistically significant 2.35 percentage points increase in the yearly rate of change in the share of Hungarians in the first post-treatment period relative to the pre-treatment period. In subsequent years, the effect diminishes to around one percentage point relative to the baseline. When excluding all infrastructure investments from the analysis, the effect in the first post-treatment period is significant and positive. However, it completely levels off in the following periods. The results could suggest that while Hungarian investments in culture are important, they have to be complemented by adequate investments in infrastructure to ensure that more people identify as Hungarians in Slovakia. The results could have implications not only for Hungarians living in Slovakia and other countries but also for the future of European minority protection programs, as laid down in the relevant international legal documents, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights or the Copenhagen criteria of the European Union. This research should pave the way for future analyses on the prevention of assimilation of autochthonous ethnic minorities worldwide. |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ifowps:_420 |
| By: | Yeterian, Marc; Grislain-Letrémy, Céline; Villeneuve, Bertrand |
| Abstract: | Crop insurance is one of the most important tools that farmers have to protect themselves against climate-related risks. Yet and despite being heavily subsidized, insurance uptake in France remains extremely low. The goal of this paper is twofold ; first, we explain this paradox by analyzing the heterogeneous benefits and adverse effects of taking up crop insurance, and second, we provide concrete policy recommendations to increase insurance uptake in a welfare-maximizing way. Using an original micro-level panel of 17 000 French farmers over 20 years, we first use a moments-based regression to identify the local average effects (LATE) of insurance on expected revenues and variance, before investigating the factors that might cause heterogeneity in these effects, both observables through interaction terms and unobservables through a marginal treatment effect design. We conclude that insurance subsidies have very little impact on crop insurance demand, especially for those who would benefit the most, and suggest other less costly and more efficient ways to increase insurance uptake such as information campaigns. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Environmental Economics and Policy |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aes024:355337 |
| By: | Constantin Tielkes |
| Abstract: | Since the foundational work of Alonso, Muth and Mills, Urban Economists have viewed cities as monocentric entities centered around a Central Business District (CBD). As it is costly to travel from the periphery to the Center, prices are naturally lower in the periphery to compensate. While quite intuitive, the monocentric city model has often been scrutinized, as cities in reality are often polycentric and take a variety of shapes and forms. Economists have therefore been investigating if urban gradients actually exist as postulated by theory. Lately, there has also been a lot of interest in how urban gradients evolve over time. In the light of the rise of online retail and working from home in the last decade, are urban centers losing their appeal? We argue that a main problem in this literature has been the insufficient definition of what actually constitutes the center. We therefore use a novel approach to define the CBD. Using the universe of registered German businesses, we define the urban center via density thresholds akin and then investigate the price gradients for the entirety of all 1.108 cities in Germany. In our analysis we find that there is a large heterogeneity of German cities On average, urban centers are 11 % more expensive than the rest of the city. However, among cities with more than one million inhabitants, the gradient is 21 %, while 27 % of German cities even exhibit negative urban gradients. Over the last 14 years, gradients have decreased in only a few selected cities. Overall, they have been increasing. We find that a significant share of the price premium comes from the fact that apartments in the CBD are well connected to jobs and other destinations within the city. Once accounting for the connection to transport infrastructure, the urban gradients decline considerably but remain significant in many cities. This suggests that it is not as much urbanity but centrality that makes city centers more expensive. Our main contribution to the literature is a novel way of defining the CBD. In the theoretical literature, the CBD is usually defined as a point in the center of the city. In almost all studies, the empirical literature just adopts this definition. However, in the reality cities have often developed quite differently. In Germany, the destruction of cities in the second world war and 40 years of Socialism and centralized planning have also left a mark on cities. We therefore construct CBDs based on the actual density of commercial establishments. Among those establishments are retail, private and public services, restaurants and bars, hotels and cultural institutions. The dataset originates from Nexiga GmbH and contains over 8 million observations. For each city we determine the point with the maximum density of commercial establishments. We then define areas that achieve at least 90 % of this density as the commercial center and areas that feature between 60 and 90 % of the density as the residential center. About one third of apartments in German cities are thus defined to be in the center. Our methodology is able to handle the polycentricity problem that has plagued the literature for a long time. |
| Keywords: | Gentrification; Monocentric city model; Urban Dynamics; Urban Flight |
| JEL: | R3 |
| Date: | 2025–01–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arz:wpaper:eres2025_108 |
| By: | Zerres, Stephanie; Zerres, Thomas |
| Abstract: | Die Europäische Union besteht heute aus 27 Mitgliedstaaten. Ihr Recht, das im Wesentlichen auf Verträgen zwischen diesen Mitgliedstaaten und den von ihr verabschiedeten Rechtsakten beruht, beeinflusst in Deutschland zur Zeit etwa 90% aller Normen des Wirtschaftsrechts. Vor dem Hintergrund dieser großen Bedeutung, gerade auch für ein EU-weites Aktivwerden deutscher Unternehmen, gibt dieser Arbeitsbericht einen einführenden Überblick über die Grundlagen des Rechts der Europäischen Union. |
| Keywords: | Europäische Union, Unternehmen |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ouwpmm:330686 |
| By: | Manuel C. Kathan (University of Augsburg); Raphaela Roeder (University of Augsburg); Sebastian Utz (University of Augsburg); Martin Nerlinger (University of St. Gallen - School of Finance; Swiss Finance Institute) |
| Abstract: | We examine how changes in competition affect firms’ carbon performance. Exploiting reductions in import tariffs as a quasi-natural experiment that increases competitive pressure, we find that stronger competition improves firms’ carbon efficiency through lower Scope 1 and 2 emission intensities. These results remain robust to alternative specifications, heterogeneous treatment effects, and placebo tests. Mechanism analyses indicate systematic differences in firms’ strategic responses. High-emission firms tend to adopt visible environmental actions and reallocate resources toward intangible assets, whereas low-emission firms increase investment and financing activities. Overall, our results highlight competition as a determinant of corporate decarbonization, suggesting that market forces can complement regulatory approaches to improving firms’ environmental performance. |
| Keywords: | Carbon Emissions, Environmental Performance, Sustainability, Competition, Import Tariffs, Quasi-Natural Experiment |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chf:rpseri:rp2588 |
| By: | Ann-Kristin Becker (University of Cologne); Erik Hornung (University of Cologne) |
| Abstract: | Industrialization boosts aggregate incomes, but its distributional effects remain debated. We study the impact of coal-driven industrialization on unskilled labor incomes using novel panel data on wages from 667 Prussian localities (1800-1879), extended with county-level data through 1914. Exploiting spatial variation in coal proximity in difference-in-differences and event-study designs, we find that wage gains in coal-rich regions emerged once industrialization accelerated in the 1850s and continued to grow until WWI. Evidence from 3, 000 household accounts shows that coal proximity raised labor incomes primarily for low-skilled workers, with weaker effects for high-skilled and mechanical occupations. This pattern suggests that industrialization reduced wage inequality by compressing the local skill premium. Mediation analysis indicates that wage gains for unskilled workers were primarily driven by technology adoption and the increasing demand for low-skilled labor, rather than by sectoral change or the spread of the factory system. |
| Keywords: | Industrialization, Labor income, Energy transition, Structural change, Technological change, Deskilling ´ |
| JEL: | C23 J31 N33 |
| Date: | 2025–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ajk:ajkdps:378 |
| By: | Matthias Soot; Daniel Kretzschmar; Alexandra Weitkamp |
| Abstract: | The year of construction is one of the most important building features, indicating factors such as building morphology, building material types and construction technologies. Knowing the specific year of construction of a building helps to estimate energy consumption and demolition waste, answers questions about urban renewal processes in the context of urban planning, improves the accuracy of material stock models and material cadasters and advances MFA and LCA. Additionally, the building age is relevant for real estate value and rent estimations. In Germany, detailed information for individual buildings is not publicly available due to data protection regulations. Traditionally, this information is collected by experts who roughly classify buildings into an age category based on specific visual building characteristics. In recent years, the possibilities of extracting construction age information from the visual appearance of building façades via ground image data have been increasingly explored via deep convolutional neural networks (DCNN). An easy way to derive Information about images are pretrained Visual Language Models (VLM) and Large Language Models (LLM). The question arises as to whether the laborious estimation of the age of a building by humans still guarantees better results in times of freely accessible LLMs, or whether AI can beat the experts. In our study, we conducted a comprehensive survey of more than 350 real estate experts, each of whom was asked to evaluate five randomized images. Analogously, we asked the AI to do the same by using image recognition to ask ChatGPT to estimate the age of construction. The results show that the AI achieves significantly better results than individual experts across all building age groups. Only by sorting the experts according to their experience, local expertise and their own expertise assessment, and by combining the experts' estimations, certain groups of experts manage to beat the AI. |
| Keywords: | building age; construction year; large language models; real estate experts |
| JEL: | R3 |
| Date: | 2025–01–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arz:wpaper:eres2025_262 |
| By: | Francisco-Cruz, Carlos Alberto; Buckley, Dr. Cathal; Breen, Dr. James |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to estimate the capacity to substitute concentrate feed for home-produced feed by adopting two specific mitigation strategies to reduce Nitrous Oxide (N2O) emissions in the agriculture sector: (i) Low Emissions Slurry Spreading (LESS) and (ii) applying protected urea instead of CAN fertiliser. A translog cost function is estimated to obtain the price and cross-price elasticities of demand for concentrate and home-produced feed. To achieve our aim, we use the Teagasc National Farm Survey (NFS) from 2014 to 2021, which contains detailed information on agricultural activity. Furthermore, farms are categorised into four groups based on their environmental characteristics to show how environmental conditions influence farmers' decision-making processes. Our results show a marginal change in the purchase of concentrates due to adopting the two mitigation measures analysed, which is reflected in an increase in cross-price elasticity. However, these results are conditioned to the biophysical conditions of the farm soils. |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis, Environmental Economics and Policy |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aes024:355320 |
| By: | Carmelo Rodríguez à lvarez (Instituto Complutense de Análisis Económico (ICAE), Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain)) |
| Abstract: | We consider strategy-proof social choice correspondences (SCCs) –mappings from preference profiles to sets of alternatives– when individuals are endowed with single-peaked preferences over alternatives. We interpret the selected sets of alternatives as the basis for lotteries that determine the final social choice, and consider that agents’ preferences over sets are consistent with Expected Utility Theory and Bayesian updating from an initial probability assessment over the full set of alternatives. We exploit the relation between SCCs and probabilistic decision schemes –mappings from preference profiles to lotteries over alternatives–, to characterize the family of SCCs that satisfy strategy-proofness and unanimity for arbitrary initial probability assessments. We extend the analysis to multi-dimensional convex spaces of alternatives under the uniform initial probability assessment. |
| Keywords: | Strategy-Proofness; Single-Peaked Preferences; Social Choice Correspondences. |
| JEL: | C71 D71 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucm:doicae:2506 |
| By: | Sofía Balladares (Universitat de Barcelona & IEB); Esteban García-Miralles (Banco de España) |
| Abstract: | Fiscal drag arises when nominal tax parameters remain unchanged despite nominal income growth, thereby increasing effective tax rates and revenue. We use Spanish administrative tax records and a detailed microsimulation model to examine fiscal drag in personal income taxation through two complementary approaches. First, we estimate tax-to-base elasticities to assess the progressivity of the tax system and potential fiscal drag under homogeneous income growth. We uncover significant heterogeneity in elasticities across income sources, across the individual income distribution and in the underlying mechanisms. Second, we conduct counterfactual simulations to quantify the actual impact of fiscal drag from 2019 to 2023, finding it accounts for about a third of revenue growth. Our findings offer insights for public finance modelling, revenue forecasting, and tax policy design. |
| Keywords: | Inflation, taxes, progressivity, indexation, bracket creep |
| JEL: | D31 E62 H24 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ieb:wpaper:doc2025-08 |
| By: | Gilbert, Christopher L. |
| Abstract: | The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) will introduce stringent due diligence requirements on the import of seven major tropical agricultural commodities into the EU, with the objective of limiting deforestation in the producing countries. The greatest impact is likely to be in cocoa and coffee, where Europe is responsible for a large share of world consumption, and in palm oil, which has driven substantial deforestation. The commodity supply chains are complex. In particular, crop produced by smallholder farmers is aggregated prior to export. Tracking the deforestation status of these aggregated packets is a major and potentially costly undertaking. It is likely that this will involve some restructuring of supply chains, favoring large farms over smallholdings and international trading companies over only-based exporters. These developments are seen by some producing country governments as imperialism. EUDR-compliant supplies will earn a premium and this will raise prices for European consumers. Producers who are able to comply will benefit from the premium but will bear the compliance cost. Overall there will be a net pecuniary loss. Deforestation benefits will only emerge as new planning takes place and will depend on whether other consuming countries introduce similar legislation. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, Supply Chain |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aes024:355324 |