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on Microeconomic European Issues |
| By: | Di Novi; C.;; Salari; P.; |
| Abstract: | Sugar-sweetened beverages are a major source of free sugars in Western diets. In response, several European countries have introduced taxes to encourage product reformulation and reduce consumption. This study assesses how these taxes affected sales in off-trade and on-trade markets, examines consumers’ potential substitution effects using Euromonitor data (2004–2019), and evaluates manufacturers’ reformulation responses through Mintel product -launch data (2010–2019). We focus on six countries that implemented such taxes, specifically Belgium, France, Hungary, Ireland, Portugal, and the United Kingdom , and additionally analyse Denmark, which introduced a similar tax earlier and repealed it in 2014, providing a reverse test case. Using a synthetic control approach, we construct counterfactual scenarios to estimate tax impacts. We find significant sales effects only under progressive tax designs, while reformulation emerged consistently, particularly where sugar thresholds and implementation timelines were clearly defined. |
| Keywords: | sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs); unhealthy diets; excise taxes; fiscal policy; consumption patterns; food industry; reformulation;synthetic control method; public health; |
| JEL: | H2 H3 I12 I18 |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:yor:hectdg:26/07 |
| By: | Bernd Hayo; Matthias Neuenkirch; Manuel Walz |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the extensive and intensive margins of demand for a retail digital euro. We conducted a representative survey in France, Germany and Italy in November–December 2023. We find that 52–62% of respondents are willing to hold a digital euro, depending on the interest rate spread, with a higher share in Italy than in France or Germany. Design features (cash-like vs deposit-like) appear to play only a very limited role. Average demand depends on the hypothetical interest rate spread relative to current accounts and ranges from EUR 700 to EUR 1, 100, implying an aggregate demand of 1.5–2.5% of GDP. Willingness to hold a digital euro is associated with socio-demographic factors, trust in the ECB and the EU, digitalisation and payment behaviour. Negative interest rate spreads relative to current accounts reduce willingness to hold the digital euro more strongly than positive spreads increase it. Behavioural characteristics tend to be correlated with the likelihood of adoption, whereas economic factors, particularly income and interest rates, are mainly related to the level of demand. This distinction becomes more pronounced when conditioning on positive demand, suggesting that socio-demographic factors primarily influence participation decisions rather than quantities demanded. |
| Keywords: | CBDC demand, digital euro, ECB, household survey, monetary policy |
| JEL: | E41 E42 E51 E58 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12706 |
| By: | Ioannis Laliotis; Christos A. Makridis |
| Abstract: | This paper documents the labour market position of artists across Europe and examines how public cultural spending is related to artists' outcomes. Using EU-LFS micro-data for 2009--2023, we compare artists to non-artists using harmonised measures of wage rank, employment, and non-standard work. Using within-country variation and controlling for demographic factors, artists rank substantially lower in the wage distribution: in the pooled sample, the estimated penalty is about 0.46 wage deciles relative to other salaried workers and about 0.28 deciles relative to other professionals. These earnings gaps coexist with higher exposure to non-standard employment, including part-time work, temporary contracts, and multiple job holding, with patterns that persist over the life cycle and appear in most countries. We then link individual outcomes to a country-year panel of real per capita public expenditure on cultural services. Higher cultural spending is associated with modest improvements in aggregate employment and a lower incidence of part-time work, but these associations do not systematically differ for artists or arts graduates. The only consistent differential correlation is an increase in multiple job holding among arts graduates in higher-spending environments. Thus, changes in aggregate cultural spending are not sufficient on their own to narrow wage or job-quality gaps for artists, motivating a rethinking of cultural policy instruments toward mechanisms that more directly address labour market risks faced by cultural workers. |
| Keywords: | artists, cultural employment, public cultural expenditure, Europe |
| JEL: | Z11 J44 J31 J68 H52 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12699 |
| By: | Roman, Monika; Žáková Kroupová, Zdeňka; Trnková, Gabriela |
| Abstract: | A well-integrated agricultural market is a precondition for the sustainability of agri-food systems since it contributes to optimal resource and product allocation and encourages specialization according to comparative advantage. The aim of the paper is to assess the processes of spatial price transmission in the milk market of Central European countries. This paper extends previous studies on the spatial integration of the milk market by providing a regional analysis of four Central European countries by examining the effects of distance, borders, and specialization on price transmission. Germany as the main milk producer in the European Union (EU) and the original member of the EU represents the base country for our analysis. The econometric analysis of the regional monthly raw milk prices reveals that the German regions, with the leading position in milk prices formation in Central Europe, together with the Czech and Slovak regions, can be regarded as a single milk market where prices tend to converge in the long run. In contrast, the Polish regions are still poorly integrated internally and externally. The perishability of the commodity coupled with the small size of the Polish farms means that farmers cannot easily switch to other, e.g., foreign buyers. This hinders price adjustment and is reflected in the economics of Polish dairy farms, whose profitability is low. Policymakers should, therefore, aim to equalize the market powers of agricultural producers and milk processors, e.g., by supporting the integration of dairy farms into producer organizations and sales cooperatives. |
| Keywords: | Agribusiness, Dairy Production/Industries |
| Date: | 2024–12–23 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iafepa:401269 |
| By: | Omar Martin Fieles-Ahmad; Selina Schulze Spuentrup |
| Abstract: | We examine the effects of introducing prompted choice on organ donation behavior. Applying a generalized difference-in-differences design, we take advantage of the gradual roll-out of a policy in Italy that integrated the question of organ donation preference into the process of identity card renewal. Our findings show that municipalities prompting the question saw a significant increase in consent registrations, although individuals retained the option to abstain from making a choice. We also provide novel evidence that regions with higher levels of registered consent have higher cadaveric organ donation rates. |
| Keywords: | organ donation, organ donor registry, prompted choice, health policy |
| JEL: | I18 D70 |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mag:wpaper:26010 |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how tax-benefit systems relate to subjective well-being in European countries using both micro- and macro-level data. At the micro level, net transfers are strongly and positively associated with life satisfaction among the bottom half of the income distribution, while net taxes have only weak or slightly negative associations for the top income quintile. At the aggregate level, the tax burden is negatively associated with life satisfaction, but this relationship is weaker, or even offset, in countries with high government effectiveness. Overall, inclusive tax-benefit systems can enhance subjective well-being when combined with good governance. |
| Keywords: | governance, income distribution, life satisfaction, redistribution, subjective well-being, tax benefit system |
| JEL: | D63 H24 H53 I31 H11 |
| Date: | 2026–06–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:wiseaa:39-en |
| By: | Pierre-Alexandre BALLAND; Valentina DI GIROLAMO; Florence BENOIT; Julien RAVET; Alexandr HOBZA |
| Abstract: | Fragmentation in the European Union's R&I system is increasingly acknowledged as a major hindrance to its performance. However, theoretical frameworks and empirical evidence remain scarce. This paper introduces a novel complexity-based approach to analyse the competitiveness costs of R&I fragmentation, focusing specifically on hub connectivity as a key metric. Using a comprehensive dataset combining patent records (OECD REGPAT) and scientific publications (OpenAlex) from 2000 to 2023, we examine R&I networks across multiple spatial levels and technological domains. Our analysis identifies three critical findings. First, the European R&I system is much more fragmented compared to the US, with major European hubs showing notably weaker interconnectivity than their US counterparts. Second, we demonstrate that hub connectivity becomes particularly crucial for complex technologies and scientific fields. Third, we find that there is an efficiency gap between the US and Europe in all domains, but it is most pronounced in complex ones, resulting in a substantial competitive disadvantage in strategic sectors. These findings have significant implications for European innovation policy and suggest the urgent need for targeted interventions to enhance cross- regional R&I collaboration in complex technological and scientific domains. |
| Keywords: | Research Fragmentation, Economic Complexity, Inter-Regional Connectivity, Innovation Networks, EU Competitiveness |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:2608 |
| By: | Christos Makridis; Christos A. Makridis |
| Abstract: | AI is transforming work, but workers’ responses to these technologies depend not only on exposure to AI, but also on how organizations, especially managers, oversee the transition. Using longitudinal data from the Gallup Workforce Panel from 2023-2026, I examine whether managers and workplace practices shape employees’ fears that AI will eliminate their jobs. Across survey waves, roughly 3-4 percent of workers say their job is very likely to be eliminated within five years because of new technology, automation, robots, or artificial intelligence, while about 14-19 percent say it is somewhat or very likely. Concern is substantially higher among frequent AI users. Stronger workplace practices are associated with lower displacement fear: a one-standard-deviation increase in workplace quality is associated with 13-24 percent lower odds of reporting greater displacement risk, and workers reporting the highest level of organizational wellbeing support are 6-6.8 percentage points less likely to say their job is somewhat or very likely to be displaced in cross-sectional specifications. Frequent AI use is positively associated with perceived displacement risk, with estimates ranging from about 3-12.9 percentage points across the main specifications and reaching 6 percentage points in the most saturated respect model. However, this association is weaker in higher-quality workplace environments: among workers reporting the highest level of organizational wellbeing support, the frequent-AI-use premium is reduced by up to 9.0 percentage points. In short, managers play a central role in shaping how workers interpret AI adoption. |
| Keywords: | artificial intelligence, job displacement, managers, workplace practices, worker expectations, technological change, organizational capital |
| JEL: | D23 J24 J28 M12 O33 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12678 |
| By: | Bart Hobijn; Andre Kurmann; Tristan Potter |
| Abstract: | Non-compete agreements (NCAs) are pervasive even in low-wage labor markets, yet most evidence relies on variation in enforceability rather than NCA incidence. Using longitudinal data from the NLSY97, we study how signing an NCA affects wage trajectories and job tenure. Exploiting complete work histories and applying a clean-controls local projections difference-in-difference design, we find a striking divergence: NCAs are associated with significantly slower wage growth for low-education workers over four years, but faster wage growth for high-education workers. Effects on job tenure are imprecisely estimated for both groups. |
| Keywords: | Non-compete; low-wage labor markets; Local projections; Difference-in-difference |
| JEL: | J31 J41 J62 K31 |
| Date: | 2026–03–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedhwp:103280 |
| By: | Ahammer, Alexander (Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria; and Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)); Halla, Martin (Department of Economics, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria; Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA); Austrian National Public Health Institute (GOEG); Rockwool Foundation Berlin; and Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO)); Heckl, Pia (ifo Institute; Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich; and CESifo); Winter-Ebmer, Rudolf (Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria; Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA); Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS); Rockwool Foundation Berlin, Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)) |
| Keywords: | Long-term unemployment among older workers is particularly difficult to overcome. We study the impacts of a large-scale job guarantee program that offered up to two years of fully subsidized employment to long-term unemployed individuals aged 50 and above. Using a sharp age-based discontinuity in eligibility, we find that participation increased regular, unsubsidized employment by 43 percentage points two years after the program ended. The gains are driven by transitions into new firms and industries, rather than continued subsidized employment, and we find no evidence of displacement effects for non-participants or spillovers to family members. The program had no measurable short-run health effects. |
| JEL: | J64 J08 J78 I14 H51 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ihs:ihsdps:number1 |
| By: | Mette Ejrnaes (Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen); Stefan Hochguertel (Department of Economics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | We investigate selection into a voluntary unemployment insurance (UI) scheme by exploiting variation in enrollment driven by an early retirement program embedded within the UI system. Using Danish administrative data and an event study design, we identify negative selection among UI enrollees with respect to subsequent unemployment risk. Our analysis distinguishes between risk-based selection and selection on moral hazard. We find that risk-based selection accounts for approximately two percentage points, while the selection on moral hazard is about one and a half percentage points. Together, these effects explain two-thirds of the observed difference in unemployment risk between insured and uninsured individuals. Quantitatively, selection on moral hazard is nearly as important as risk-based selection. |
| Keywords: | Unemployment, insurance, selection |
| JEL: | C23 D82 J64 J65 |
| Date: | 2026–05–27 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kud:kucebi:2610 |
| By: | Christelis, Dimitris; Georgarakos, Dimitris; Jappelli, Tullio; Kenny, Geoff; Meyer, Justus |
| Abstract: | We examine recent changes in stock market participation using newly available survey data from eleven euro area countries over the period 2020–2024. The evidence points to substantial turnover, with around 10% of non-stockholders entering the market each year, and more than 20% of stockholders exiting. New entrants tend to have lower education, income, financial literacy, and risk tolerance than established investors, indicating a shift in the composition of market participants. We also highlight the growing importance of cryptocurrency investments among retail investors. Overall, these findings shed new light on evolving household financial behavior and its implications for market participation and financial stability. JEL Classification: D14, E21, G51 |
| Keywords: | consumer expectations survey, crypto assets, household finance, mutual funds, stocks |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20263239 |
| By: | Merve Betul Gokce; Enver Sait Kurtaran; Zeynep Yilmaz |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how extreme heat affects firm-level labor productivity using comprehensive administrative data covering all registered non-financial firms in Türkiye from 2009 to 2023.Türkiye offers an informative setting as a middle-income economy characterized by high climate exposure, substantial regional heterogeneity, and uneven capacity to adapt. We link firm records to high-resolution district-level weather data and estimate panel models that exploit within-firm variation in annual heat exposure. We find that extreme heat significantly reduces productivity. Ten additional days per year with maximum temperatures above 35°C are associated with a 0.4 percent decline in labor productivity; at 37–38°C, the effect rises to 0.7 percent. The effects are heterogeneous: low-technology manufacturing, customer-facing services, micro firms, and financially constrained firms are most vulnerable, while high-technology firms and large enterprises show little or no impact. We distinguish between supply- and demand-side mechanisms using complementary data on worker attendance, electricity consumption, commercial traffic, firm sales, and tourism arrivals. On the supply side, extreme heat reduces days worked, increases absenteeism, raises electricity costs, and disrupts goods transport. On the demand side, hot days reduce tourist arrivals and depress sales in accommodation and food services. |
| Keywords: | Temperature, Labor productivity, Firm performance, Developing economies |
| JEL: | Q54 D22 J24 O13 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tcb:wpaper:2611 |
| By: | Fernandez Macias Enrique (European Commission - JRC) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents a conceptual framework for analysing the impact of digital technologies on work and employment, developed on the basis of nearly a decade of research by the Employment team of the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. The framework combines three elements. First, a historical situation of the digital revolution within the Schumpeterian theory of long-wave technological change, which also helps locate recent advances in AI within a longer cycle of innovation and socio-economic transformation. Second, a discussion of three structural peculiarities of the digital economy (the hyperabundance of usable information, the centralised flexibility facilitated by algorithmic control, and the platformisation of economic activity), each of which is being intensified and extended by current developments in AI. Third, an analysis of the three main vectors (digitisation, automation and platformisation) through which the digital revolution is transforming work and employment. Drawing on our empirical findings, we argue that the main impact of the digital revolution has been on the modes of coordination and control of work rather than on employment levels: digitisation has driven a significant intensification of work and erosion of worker autonomy; automation has had small and generally positive employment effects; and platformisation is extending from digital labour platforms to regular work environments, a tendency that the rapid integration of AI is likely to accelerate. The central policy challenge, we argue, is institutional: digital technologies have transformed work without a commensurate transformation of the institutional framework that should govern them. |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:laedte:202604 |
| By: | Talita Greyling (Centre for Well-being, Artificial Intelligence and Social Impact (C.WAIS) and School of Economics, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa); Rangan Gupta (Department of Economics, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield 0028, South Africa); Christian Pierdzioch (Department of Economics, Helmut Schmidt University, Hamburg, Germany) |
| Abstract: | We develop a social media sentiment index based on tweets extracted from Twitter and use a newspapers-based supply bottlenecks index to study by means of random forests, a machine-learning technique, how the latter affects the former for six European countries, after controlling for a wide array of other macro-finance predictors. We find that the predictive relationship between supply bottlenecks and sentiment is generally negative, but in a nonlinear manner. Supply chain constraints emerge as an important predictor of sentiment relative to the other control variables, and its predictive effect increases over the predictive horizon. |
| Keywords: | Social media sentiment, Supply bottlenecks, Machine learning |
| JEL: | C22 C53 E23 E70 |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pre:wpaper:202616 |
| By: | Ege Asutay (Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena) |
| Abstract: | Does carbon pricing fuel the populist radical right? This paper exploits the Phase 3 reduction in free emission allowances beginning in 2013 in the EU Emissions Trading System as a quasi-natural experiment in a difference-in-differences model for 889 NUTS-3 regions in 23 European countries. Regions more exposed to the shock saw higher populist radical-right (PRR) shares, concentrated in European Parliament (EP) elections, pointing to expressive voting that channels EU-policy grievances toward the EU ballot box. The shock reaches voters through broader regional stagnation rather than deindustrialisation, as services employment falls, GDP per capita declines, and population shrinks while manufacturing employment remains unchanged. A sectoral decomposition links the EP concentration to regions with greater power-sector exposure, consistent with allowance-cost pass-through to household electricity bills. Replacing PRR with populist radical-left or Green vote shares flips the coefficient to negative, suggesting a right-wing rather than generic protest response. Instrumental variable estimates based on the manufacturing free-allocation component support the finding, which survives controls for Eurozone-crisis exposure and migration patterns. The paper contributes to the political economy of climate policy by showing that carbon pricing can generate geographically concentrated right-wing backlash and EU-directed protest voting. |
| Keywords: | EU Emissions Trading System, carbon pricing, populist radical right, climate policy backlash, regional decline, expressive voting |
| JEL: | D72 H23 Q52 Q58 R11 |
| Date: | 2026–05–20 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2026-006 |
| By: | Pinjas Albagli; Nye Cominetti; Rui Costa; Andrew Eyles; Guglielmo Ventura |
| Abstract: | We study the role of job-to-job transitions in shaping wage dynamics in the United Kingdom. We show that job moves have continued to generate substantial wage gains for movers even during a period of real wage stagnation and declining labour market mobility. Using an econometric model that accounts for worker, firm, and match heterogeneity, we decompose the job mobility premium and find a limited role for worker and firm effects, with most of the return explained by match-specific factors. We also examine the determinants of job mobility and show that much of its recent decline reflects compositional changes in the workforce, particularly ageing and increasing occupational professionalisation. We conclude by discussing the policy challenges of promoting job mobility as a driver of wage growth and more efficient labour market reallocation. |
| Date: | 2026–05–28 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp2188 |
| By: | Eduardo Montuori; Francesco Benedetto; Loretta Mastroeni |
| Abstract: | This paper studies how systemic risk builds up and propagates among European banks and insurers, two central sectors to economic growth and to the stability of the whole financial system. Understanding their joint reaction to shocks is relevant because stronger short-run synchroniza- tion can amplify system-wide distress. Using daily prices and risk measures-volatility, Value- at-Risk, and Expected Shortfall-for the STOXX Europe 600 Banks and Insurance indices, we assess whether cross-sector linkages manifest through price co-movements or the alignment of downside risk. A dynamic time warping approach captures non-synchronous responses to common shocks. Results show that price co-movements are episodic and concentrated around crises, whereas volatility and downside risk remain persistently aligned, with Expected Shortfall displaying the strongest alignment. Granger causality and Effective Transfer Entropy confirm the existence of directional spillovers. A key implication is that macroprudential policy frameworks should adopt a joint and coordinated approach to the banking and insurance sectors. |
| Keywords: | Systemic Risk, Financial Interconnectedness, Tail Risk, Banking and Insurance Sector, Dynamic Time Warping, Transfer Entropy |
| JEL: | G01 G17 G21 G22 |
| Date: | 2026–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rtr:wpaper:0294 |
| By: | Omar Martin Fieles-Ahmad , Victor Libet; Michael Kvasnica (Faculty of Economics and Management, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg); Victor Libet |
| Abstract: | We study whether the sharp rise in petrol prices following the bombing of Iran on 28 February 2026 affected the short-run demand for battery electric vehicles in EU-27 countries. Using monthly vehicle-registration data and fixed-effects panel regressions, we show that the petrolprice shock increased battery electric-vehicle adoption, in particular in countries with better charging infrastructure and lower charging costs. Our findings suggest that higher fossil-fuel prices can accelerate the transition towards electric mobility. |
| Keywords: | War, oil price shock, fossil fuel prices, electric cars, mobility transition, EU 27 |
| JEL: | D12 Q42 L91 R40 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mag:wpaper:26012 |
| By: | Maddalena Davoli; Uschi Backes-Gellner |
| Abstract: | Using an online experiment, we study how awareness of the short- and long-term costs of part-time work shifts public attitudes towards mothers working part-time. By randomly providing information about the short-term (earnings) and long-term (pension) costs of part-time work in a two-treatment arms experiment, we find that individuals change their attitudes towards reduced working hours. Namely, respondents receiving information about the pension costs of part-time work are 22 percentage points more likely to suggest longer working hours for a hypothetical job seeking mother as compared to the control group without such cost information. The treatment effect is stronger for individuals with preferences for and experiences with part-time work (e.g., parents and individuals working part-time), and in regions with more conservative gender norms. Given that mothers' working hours are shaped not only by their own attitudes but by broader societal expectations, our findings suggest that low-cost information provision can meaningfully shift and possibly reduce part-time work for mothers. |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iso:educat:0257 |
| By: | Olivieri, Sergio; Razzu, Giovanni; Wambile, Ayago Esmubancha |
| Abstract: | This study examines intergenerational educational mobility in Bangladesh across cohorts born between the 1950s and 1990s, using data from the 2022 Bangladesh Household Income and Expenditure Survey. Intergenerational regression coefficients and intergenerational correlations are estimated, yielding three main findings. First, while the intergenerational regression coefficient declines for the 1990s cohort, suggesting reduced persistence of the effect of parental education on children's outcomes, the intergenerational correlation, which accounts for inequality in educational attainment across both generations, follows an inverted U-shaped pattern, resulting in no net mobility change. This finding reverses earlier evidence of increasing persistence through the 1970s and indicates that educational expansion since the 1980s has progressively benefited children of less-educated parents. Second, unlike patterns observed elsewhere in the region, where urban residence confers mobility advantages, Bangladesh exhibits no urban premium. Overall mobility remains higher in rural areas, although substantial convergence occurs in the 1990s cohort. At the regional level, an East-West convergence is observed, driven by mobility improvements in traditionally less-mobile Eastern regions. Third, women historically exhibited higher mobility than men through the 1980s, with gender convergence emerging only in the 1990s cohort, largely due to accelerated male mobility gains among urban males. Ba ngladesh's educational mobility trajectory is thus characterized by convergence across gender, urban-rural, and region dimensions, a pattern distinct from both its historical experience and broader South Asian trends, although educational gains remain disconnected from labor market outcomes. |
| Date: | 2026–05–19 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:11386 |
| By: | Mette Ejrnaes (Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen); Mette Goertz (Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen); Astrid Waltenburg (Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen) |
| Abstract: | This study examines the impact of increased access to psychotherapy on secondary education completion among Danish youth aged 18–21. We use Danish administrative data and two complementary identification strategies that are both rooted in quasi-exogenous variation in barriers to mental health care—a reform abolishing co-payment and variation in general practitioners (GP) referral practices. We find that reducing barriers to accessing psychotherapy increases completion of secondary education. While the co-payment reform raised completion rates mainly for women, having a GP with a relatively high tendency to refer patients to psychotherapy raises completion rates for both genders. The educational benefits of increasing access to psychotherapy are strongest among individuals from low socioeconomic backgrounds and those with a family history of mental health issues. This indicates that lowering barriers to access to psychotherapy reduces educational inequality and fosters social mobility. |
| Keywords: | Psychotherapy, Education, Co-payment |
| JEL: | I12 I14 I21 |
| Date: | 2026–05–19 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kud:kucebi:2609 |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | Diversifying the industrial base of the Autonomous Province of Trento (Trentino, Italy) is an important policy priority for strengthening productivity growth, given the region’s comparatively smaller manufacturing and knowledge-intensive service sectors relative to peer regions. Drawing on sector-level employment data for 107 Italian regions and 611 local labour market systems, this paper maps the relatedness between economic activities in Italy to identify Trentino’s existing clusters of strength and realistic pathways for industrial upgrading. The analysis underscores that diversification opportunities are shaped by capabilities embedded in current specialisation patterns, reflecting the path-dependent nature of industrial development. The paper proposes a tailored industrial strategy that matches sector-specific interventions to local conditions: supporting competitiveness in established clusters, scaling up related emerging industries and fostering experimental diversification into strategic fields. |
| Keywords: | cluster development, economic complexity, industrial upgrading, relatedness, subnational productivity |
| JEL: | O14 O25 R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2026–06–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:cfeaaa:2026/09-en |
| By: | Aldén, Lina (Department of Economics and Statistics, Linneaus University); Boschini, Anne (Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI), Stockholm University); Tallås Ahlzén, Malin (IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy) |
| Abstract: | Fathers’ parental leave uptake remains low in many advanced economies despite substantial policy efforts. We study a setting where financial and eligibility barriers are minimal: employed, native-born first-time fathers entitled to generous, non-transferable leave benefits. Using Swedish population register data for 1995–2015, we document three key facts: (i) low uptake follows a persistent U-shaped income gradient, (ii) its determinants vary across the distribution—economic constraints at the bottom and top, workplace norms in the middle—and (iii) these constraints have grown more salient over time. Quota reforms increased uptake on average but did not narrow differences in low uptake between constrained and unconstrained fathers. Using quasi-random sibling-sex composition, we show that exposure to traditional gender-role environments increases the likelihood of low uptake in recent cohorts. The results highlight the limits of financial incentives and point to workplace and household norms as central barriers to equal parental leave participation. |
| Keywords: | Men; parental leave; gender norms; father’s quota |
| JEL: | D13 J13 J16 J18 |
| Date: | 2026–05–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2026_009 |
| By: | Huaxia Zhou (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Aliakbar Akbaritabar (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Mengyi Sun; Emilio Zagheni (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Luis A. Nunes Amaral |
| Abstract: | A nation’s scholarly enterprises can be impacted by external geopolitical factors. To investigate such impacts, we study the natural experiment that occurred within Germany, whose territory was partitioned following World War II and then reunified in 1990. We use data from journal publications and regional economic indicators to investigate the trajectories of scholarly activity in both East and West German regions over the past 60 years. As a control for any observed changes in Germany, we also consider the scholarly output of two comparable countries, Austria and Switzerland. We find that East and West German research organizations were able to recover from the impact of the war in a similar manner. We also find that reunification and control of the scholarly enterprise by West Germany altered the scholarship focus of East German institutions. At the institutional level, we find strong evidence of the Matthew effect for institutions in West Germany, but less so for East German institutions. These findings demonstrate both the resilience of strong scholarly enterprises to shocks and the fact that scholarly enterprise can be remodeled over the span of a decade. Our findings offer sobering warnings about the impact of ongoing changes in the US scholarly enterprise. |
| JEL: | J1 Z0 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2026-026 |