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on Microeconomic European Issues |
| By: | Nikolova, Milena (University of Groningen); Angelini, Viola (University of Groningen) |
| Abstract: | As populations age, longer working careers become more essential, and technological advancements may prolong or shorten career spans. We examine how exposure to industrial robots, information and communication technology (ICT), and artificial intelligence (AI) relate to retirement expectations among workers in 20 European countries. To this end, we link individual-level data from the European Working Conditions Survey (2005–2024) with lagged technology-exposure measures. Technology exposure shows little systematic association with preferred retirement timing. Nevertheless, robots and especially AI are linked to the perception of being able to work until age 60. These associations vary across workers and tasks, suggesting that job design and worker adaptation determine whether technology supports longer working lives. |
| Keywords: | retirement, expectations, technological change, robots, ICT, AI |
| JEL: | I31 J26 O33 |
| Date: | 2026–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18938 |
| By: | Daniele Checchi (Università degli Studi di Milano = University of Milano); Daniel Kreisman (Georgia College and State University); Cecilia García-Peñalosa (Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, AMSE, Marseille, France) |
| Abstract: | We examine the contribution of the intensive margin of labour supply (hours worked above zero) to the gender wage gap over a long time-horizon across four high-income economies: France, Germany, the UK, and the US. We do so by bridging a recent literature on gender differences in high-paying, high-hour jobs with traditional wage gap decomposition methods. We first build a model in which firms offer two wage contracts – one that pays a fixed wage but allows workers to choose their preferred number of hours up to "full time", and a second in which wages are determined by imperfectly observable productivity and can require working more than standard hours. The former includes partand full-time work, while the latter requires workers to supply long hours but allows them to earn a higher remuneration. We then decompose the hourly wage gap separately for part-, full-, and overtime workers to observe the relative contribution of sorting and remuneration across these "hours regimes" over time and across countries. We show that while female employment in overtime work has increased and the gender wage gap has decreased in most countries and hours regimes, this was not driven by increasing selection on observables but rather by a decline over time of the unexplained component of the wage gap — a pattern that holds for most countries and hours regimes. We conclude by considering the contribution of institutional framework (unions, labour market flexibility, parental leaves) to these cross-country differences. |
| Keywords: | Oaxaca decomposition; Overtime work; Gender wage gap; Labour supply |
| JEL: | J01 J16 J31 |
| Date: | 2026–09–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aim:wpaimx:2623 |
| By: | Wagner, Joachim (Leuphana University Lüneburg) |
| Abstract: | The use of artificial intelligence (AI) goes hand in hand with higher productivity, higher product quality, and lower trade costs. Therefore, it can be expected to be positively related to export activities. This paper uses firm-level data from 12 member countries of the Euro Area collected in 2025 to shed further light on this issue by investigating the link between the intensity of use of AI and the intensive margins of exports measured as the percentage share of exports in total sales. Applying a new machine-learning estimator, Kernel-Regularized Least Squares (KRLS), which does not impose any restrictive assumptions for the functional form of the relation between margin of exports, the intensity of use of AI and any control variables, we find that firms which use AI more intensively do export a higher share of total sales. AI intensity and export intensity are positively related. |
| Keywords: | artificial intelligence, exports, firm level data, SAFE Data, kernel-regularized least squares (KRLS) |
| JEL: | D22 F14 |
| Date: | 2026–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18939 |
| By: | Beata Osiewalska (University of Warsaw, Faculty of Economic Sciences, Interdisciplinary Centre for Labour Market and Family Dynamics (LabFam); Cracow University of Economics); Karel Neels (University of Antwerp); Anna Matysiak (University of Warsaw, Faculty of Economic Sciences, Interdisciplinary Centre for Labour Market and Family Dynamics (LabFam)) |
| Abstract: | The expansion of working from home (WFH) has transformed paid work, but access to remote-workable jobs remains strongly stratified by education. We examine how regional WFH availability is associated with fertility among women with different educational levels in Belgium. We link Belgian population register data (2001–2019) with regional WFH indicators from the Labour Force Survey and estimate discrete-time birth hazards, followed by microsimulation of aggregate fertility patterns. Higher WFH availability is associated with lower first-birth risks at younger ages across educational groups, with later recuperation only among highly educated women. For second and higher-order births, WFH availability is generally associated with higher birth risks, especially among the highly educated. Microsimulation shows that these parity-specific associations produce only modest changes in total fertility and the educational gradient. WFH therefore appears less as a universal reconciliation resource than as a stratified labour-market change with parity-specific fertility implications. |
| Keywords: | working from home, remote work, fertility, educational gradient, parity progression microsimulation, register data, Belgium |
| JEL: | J13 J11 J22 J24 O33 R23 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:war:wpaper:2026-38 |
| By: | Riccardo Di Francesco; Peter Hull; Seetha Menon |
| Abstract: | We study how firms’ orientation toward employee well-being shapes the health of their workers. Because this orientation is not directly observable, we measure it from the language Danish firms use in their public disclosures, applying language models to construct a firm-level well-being salience score. We link this score to population-wide administrative registers of health and sickness absence over 2013–2022, and exploit workers’ mobility between firms to estimate how workers respond to a change in the salience of their employer. We find an asymmetry: workers who move to higher-salience firms take substantially more sickness absence, while their use of health care does not change. Because worsening health would raise both, the absence response suggests a behavioral change rather than deteriorating health. Broadly, our results show that firms shape not only worker health but how workers act on it, and that the language of routine corporate disclosure can reveal economically meaningful features of the workplace that administrative data leave unrecorded. |
| JEL: | I12 J28 J32 |
| Date: | 2026–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35760 |
| By: | Weber, Andrea (CentralEuropeanUniversity, CEPR, IZA, RFBerlin); Card, David (UC Berkeley, NBER, RFBerlin); Dauth, Wolfgang (Institute for Employment Research (IAB) and University of Bamberg, IZA, RFBerlin, CESifo); Frimmel, Wolfgang (Johannes Kepler University Linz); Schmieder, Julia (Otto von Guerick eUniversity Magdeburg, RFBerlin); Winter-Ebmer, Rudolf (Johannes Kepler University Linz, IZA, IHS, CEPR, RFBerlin) |
| Abstract: | How big are the gains to international migration? How do they vary across migrants? We study these questions using linked administrative data for Austria and Germany, focusing on migrants who were steadily employed 2-4 years before their move and using their previous co-workers as a comparison group for a difference-in-differences design. We combine data from the origin and destination countries for 5 years after the move, allowing us to assess the gains for those who remain in the destination and those who return. On average, migrants from Austria to Germany experience an immediate and persistent rise of around 13% in their daily wage relative to their matched co-workers, while migrants from Germany to Austria gain about 4%. The higher returns for Austrians are mainly driven by higher average wages in Germany, rather than by differential selection of migrants. Consistent with a dynamic learning model, the returns to migration are largest for migrants who remain in the destination country, smaller for those who return after 1-4 years, and zero or even slightly negative for those who return in less than a year. They are also larger for migrants who follow established cross-border networks between workplaces. To help interpret our findings we conduct a parallel analysis ofdomestic migrants who move to a larger city (Vienna or one of the 5 largest cities in Germany). “Big city†movers experience gains in wages of about 5% for Austrians and 10% for Germans. Again the gains are largest for those who remain in the destination city, with smaller effects for those who move on. |
| Date: | 2026–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ihs:ihsdps:number5 |
| By: | Magdalena Grabowska (University of Warsaw, Faculty of Economic Sciences, Interdisciplinary Centre for Labour Market and Family Dynamics (LabFam)); Anna Matysiak (University of Warsaw, Faculty of Economic Sciences, Interdisciplinary Centre for Labour Market and Family Dynamics (LabFam)); Anna Kurowska (University of Warsaw, Faculty of Economic Sciences, Interdisciplinary Centre for Labour Market and Family Dynamics (LabFam); University of Warsaw, Faculty of Political Science and International Relations) |
| Abstract: | The rapid diffusion of work-from-home (WFH) has fundamentally restructured working arrangements in Europe, yet its role as a structural driver of parental employment remains under-researched. Analyzing macro-level panel data across 15 European countries (2006–2024) alongside micro-level maternal transitions, we examine WFH's impact on employment for parents of young children. We find that national WFH prevalence is positively and significantly associated with maternal employment, while no effects are observed for fathers or non-parents. A 10-percentage point increase in national WFH share increases maternal employment rates by 0.86 percentage points the following year and raises a mother’s probability of transitioning from non-employment to work by 4.7 percentage points. However, WFH primarily facilitates part-time employment, acting as a reconciliatory bridge rather than a catalyst for full-time integration. Ultimately, while remote work enhances labor market attachment, without broader structural changes to domestic labor divisions, it risks prioritizing work-family reconciliation over full career equality. |
| Keywords: | work-from-home, maternal employment, labor market transitions, work-family reconciliation |
| JEL: | J22 J13 J16 O33 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:war:wpaper:2026-36 |
| By: | Renzullo, Elena; Scotti, Francesco |
| Abstract: | We examine whether incentive-based policies reduce 2 emissions among beneficiary Italian firms, using project-level data from European cohesion policy. Exploiting quasi-random variation in the timing of EU-funded projects, we apply a staggered difference-in-differences design. We find robust evidence that EU climate-related incentives lower firm emissions. Recipient firms reduce 2 emissions per unit of assets by 4.6% relative to non-recipient firms, while a 1% increase in EU funds per unit of assets leads to a 1.1% reduction in emissions. The effects are larger in less developed and transition regions, where policy resources are more concentrated, and among energy-sector firms. We further show that emission reductions are mainly driven by increased R&D activity: firms receiving green EU funds raise patenting by 3.0%–3.6%, with no significant effects on employment or tangible assets. These findings highlight the potential of incentive-based climate policy. |
| Keywords: | carbon abatement;CO2 emissions;EU cohesion policy;green transition;incentive-based policies |
| JEL: | Q58 Q56 |
| Date: | 2026–09–24 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:141132 |
| By: | Brea Martínez-Collado, Samuel |
| Abstract: | Structural change in European agriculture is widely contested, yet we know little about how people understand its consequences. Using survey data from Germany (N = 1, 642), this conference paper examines how respondents expect agriculture to change when profit, technology, or small-scale farming is prioritised, and how desirable they find each model. Latent profile analysis identifies five distinct profiles of expected consequences, across which respondents’ desirability ratings are then compared. Most respondents hold weakly differentiated expectations but favour small-scale farming, while only a small minority supports profit-oriented agriculture. Technology appears as a comparatively less polarizing dimension. |
| Keywords: | latent profile analysis, normative preferences, agricultural transformation |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esconf:343651 |
| By: | Kauhanen, Antti (ETLA Economic Research); Riukula, Krista (ETLA Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies whether collective bargaining can reduce gender inequality through targeted wage increases. We examine the Finnish equality allowance, a small contractual wage component corresponding to a wage increase of up to 0.5 percent, introduced in the 2005 comprehensive agreement and implemented in collective agreements in 2006. Using worker-level earnings data linked to collective agreements, we estimate its effects with difference-in-differences methods robust to heterogeneous treatment effects. Equality allowances were more commonly applied in more female-dominated sectors and occupations. Our preferred analysis focuses on the private-sector agreements, where some agreements introduced an equality allowance and others did not. We find no statistically significant effects on hourly earnings, working hours, or employer mobility. However, subgroup analyses provide some evidence of reduced working hours among low-wage women. The findings suggest that a small equality-oriented wage component was insufficient to produce detectable wage gains for women or narrow the gender wage gap, with point estimates consistent with partial offsetting through other components of the contractual settlement. |
| Keywords: | collective bargaining, gender wage gap, equality allowance, targeted wage increases, Finland |
| JEL: | J52 J16 J31 |
| Date: | 2026–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18932 |
| By: | David Loschiavo (Bank of Italy); Mirko Moscatelli (Bank of Italy); Eleonora Porreca (Bank of Italy); Francesca Zanichelli (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses how expectations of receiving an inheritance affect the main economic decisions of Italian households. Using data from the Survey on Household Income and Wealth (SHIW), we show that households expecting to receive a bequest in the future consume more and save less than otherwise comparable households. Labour supply declines among households whose main income earner is older. Inheritance expectations are also associated with higher investment in financial assets and a higher propensity to take on consumer debt. Overall, expectations of future transfers represent a remarkable channel through which intergenerational wealth influences economic choices well before its actual realization. |
| Keywords: | inheritance expectations, intergenerational wealth, household finance, household survey, Italian households |
| JEL: | C83 D14 D15 D31 E21 G51 |
| Date: | 2026–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_1032_26 |
| By: | Marco Alberto De Benedetto; Maria De Paola; Marco Francesconi |
| Abstract: | We estimate the labor market effects of Italy's statutory priority to work from home (WFH) for parents of children under age twelve. Using population-wide administrative data and a sharp regression discontinuity design, we find that eligibility raises mothers' annual earnings by 1.6-2.3 percent in high-WFH-intensity firms, alongside increases in paid days and weeks. Mothers in low-WFH-intensity firms and fathers in general show no detectable effects. The estimates have an intention-to-treat interpretation and persist beyond the pandemic. Placebo tests show no effects before the pandemic, in firms that never adopted WFH, or among manual workers, consistent with a WFH mechanism. |
| Keywords: | flexible work arrangements, female labor supply, work-family policy, remote-work intensity, work organization, regression discontinuity |
| JEL: | C31 J16 J22 J31 J81 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_13010 |
| By: | Hilde Stevens; Georges Siotis; Micael Castanheira De Moura; Mathias Dewatripont; Sanaé Akodad; Sam Daems; Alain Fischer; Michel Goldman |
| Abstract: | Orphan drug policy in the European Union faces a double price-and-innovation gap: a small fraction of rare diseases receive important resources while the overwhelming majority are under- or un-researched, leaving most rare disease patients facing high unmet medical needs. The European Commission's reform proposals, notably the Pharma Package and the European Biotech Act, seek to rebalance incentives by adjusting market exclusivity. We argue that, while these reforms move in the right direction, they are insufficient to foster meaningful innovation while safeguarding affordability, and that a broader, more structural approach is needed. We show how proposals from the Draghi Report could complement the reforms through an EU-level HTA Coordination Office, a US-style EU ARPA-H, and expanded regulatory sandboxing. We then propose two additional instruments: public-private Special Purpose Vehicles to de-risk high-need innovation, and EU-level joint procurement to strengthen affordability and create predictable demand. Ultimately, only a coherent, well-calibrated framework can align industrial policy with the EU's ambition of leaving no rare-disease patient behind. |
| Keywords: | Access; Affordability; Draghi Report; Drug pricing; EU Biotech Act; EU Pharma Package reform; Innovation incentives; Market exclusivity; Orphan medicinal products (OMPs); Policy; Rare diseases; Regulation |
| Date: | 2026–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulb:ulbeco:2013/414127 |
| By: | Becker, Sascha (University of Warwick); Fernandes, Ana (Bern University of Applied Sciences); Lalayev, Nurlan (University of Warwick); Weichselbaumer, Doris (University of Linz) |
| Abstract: | We study gender differences in employers’ responses to commuting distance using data from a large-scale correspondence test in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. A 10 km increase in driving distance reduces women’s probability of receiving an interview invitation by 1.8 percentage points, around 9 percent of the mean female invitation rate, while commuting distance has no corresponding effect for men. The gender difference is statistically significant and robust to alternative distance measures and thresholds, firms’ rural or urban location, and local labor-market tightness. The female distance penalty does not vary detectably with applicants’ reported marital status or the presence of children, providing no support for screening based on these observed indicators of household responsibilities. |
| Keywords: | gender discrimination, commuting, labor market, field experiment, Germany, Switzerland, Austria |
| JEL: | C93 J16 J61 J71 R41 |
| Date: | 2026–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18950 |
| By: | Guillaume Chapelle (Théorie économique, modélisation et applications); Alain Trannoy (Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS, AMSE, Marseille, France) |
| Abstract: | Demand for housing floor space in a given location has rarely been estimated. Using data from the French cadaster and housing transaction records, we analyze the impact of a VAT drop from 20% to 5.5% on cumulated residential investments introduced under the 2006 French Urban Renewal Act in both the core of about 600 deprived areas and their surroundings. Our findings reveal that reduced VAT leads to a 2% increase in housing-stock surface area in treated zones without triggering an influx of people. Translated into investment terms, the gain represents about 2 years of housing investment in ten years. Estimates of the price elasticity of housing capital are lower in the surroundings (-0.24) than in the core of deprived areas (- 0.42), with full price transmission to the demand side in the latter and around 60% in the surroundings, where landlords and developers capture roughly equal shares of the rest. We also confirm previous studies in finding a low price elasticity of supply (0.35) for France. We estimate the net gain in total surplus to €13, 6 Bn over the implementation period. Using data from the French cadaster and housing transaction records, we analyze the impact of the VAT drop from 20% to 5.5% on residential investment around 600 deprived areas. We find that the reduced VAT rate increases housing stock surface by 2%. In investment terms, this equals roughly two years of housing investment over a decade with a gain of total surplus of €13Bn. We estimate the price elasticity of housing capital at -0.24, with a 60% pass-through; landlords and developers each capture roughly half the remainder. We also confirm a low housing supply elasticity in France (0.35). |
| Keywords: | Housing; Price-elasticities; VAT |
| JEL: | D61 H22 R31 |
| Date: | 2026–09–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aim:wpaimx:2626 |
| By: | Diris, Ron (Leiden University); Meekes, Jordy (Leiden University); van Vliet, Olaf (Leiden University) |
| Abstract: | This study analyses whether temporary work agency (TWA) employment is a stepping stone to better labour market outcomes for displaced workers. Using monthly Dutch administrative data for the period 2010-2022, we focus on a sample of incumbent employees who are displaced because of a firm bankruptcy, and analyse the causal effect of the first job after displacement being a TWA job vs. another job. The main contribution of this study is that we exploit variation in firm bankruptcy dates in a novel instrumental variable approach to deal with the endogeneity of TWA employment. We find that TWA causes negative effects on employment and working hours, which dissipate around 30 months after firm bankruptcy. Effects on hourly wages are negative (20\%) and consistent up until seven years after firm bankruptcy. TWA employment also reduces the probability of having a permanent contract by around 20 percentage points in the long run. |
| Keywords: | temporary work agency, stepping stone, labour market flexibilization, instrumental variables, displaced workers |
| JEL: | J31 J64 |
| Date: | 2026–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18959 |
| By: | Konstantin A. Kholodilin; Michael Voigtländer |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the causal effect of Germany’s second-generation rent control policy — the Mietpreisbremse (rental brake) — on residential housing construction. Using administrative data covering nearly 11, 000 German municipalities from 2010 to 2024, we employ staggered difference-in-differences estimators to address methodological biases of conventional two-way fixed effects models in settings with staggered treatment adoption. Our analysis examines multiple outcomes: total housing completions, completions of dwellings in multi-family houses (a proxy for rental housing supply), completions per capita, and net completions per housing stock. Results show that the rental brake has a statistically significant negative impact on housing construction, with stronger effects for multi-family dwellings. These findings remain robust to excluding major metropolitan areas, smaller municipalities, and municipalities with high homeownership rates, and persist even when the analysis is restricted to neighboring municipalities. This study contributes to the international literature on rent regulation by providing causal evidence from Germany’s staggered policy rollout, suggesting that even second-generation rent controls — which explicitly exempt new construction — can dampen housing supply. This likely occurs through increased regulatory uncertainty, higher risk premia demanded by investors, and reduced rental revenues available to finance residential investment. |
| Keywords: | rent control, rental brake, housing construction, Germany |
| JEL: | R31 R38 C23 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp2182 |
| By: | Costa-Font, Joan (London School of Economics); Garcia Corchero, Juan David (University of Malaga) |
| Abstract: | We examine the effect of the expansion of patient choice of health care provider on measures of process delivery and clinical outcomes central to the functioning of a health system, using a quasi-natural experiment in Spain over 2002–2019. We draw on a staggered adoption of provider choice reforms across Spanish regional health services and a heterogeneity-robust difference-in-differences estimator applied to regionyear panel data alongside individual-level survey data. We estimate that the availability of provider choice reduced specialist waiting times by approximately 17 days (19% of the pre-reform mean) and the use of private specialist visits, without increasing public health spending. The waiting-time and private-utilisation results are robust to excluding the region where the 2009 reform bundled choice with new hospitals, public–private partnerships, and a budget increase. Although we cannot reject zero effects on some clinical outcomes, the evidence is consistent with the thesis that provider choice improves the “quality needle†, namely it improves observable process quality without affecting less-visible clinical dimensions. |
| Keywords: | provider choice, difference-in-differences, waiting times, health outcomes, Spain, public–private substitution |
| JEL: | I11 I18 D82 H75 |
| Date: | 2026–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18923 |
| By: | Bredtmann, Julia (RWI – Leibniz Institute for Economic Research); Otten, Sebastian (University of Duisburg-Essen); Rammert, Timo (University of Duisburg-Essen) |
| Abstract: | We examine the effect of occupational deregulation on incumbent master craft workers’ wages by exploiting a 2004 reform in the German crafts sector that removed the requirement to hold a master certificate for business entry in roughly half of all craft occupations. Using administrative, employee-level data and a triple-difference design, we find that the reform increased the wage premium of incumbent masters by 3% in deregulated relative to regulated occupations. The results are consistent with a scarcity mechanism whereby the decline in the inflow of newly certified masters increased the relative market value of incumbent masters. The wage premium increase is most pronounced in small firms and in East Germany, where pre-existing shortages of high-skilled labor amplified the scarcity effect. These findings suggest that deregulation may have unintended distributional consequences by reducing the private return to obtaining advanced occupational certification, thereby raising incumbent wage premia and widening skill-based wage gaps. |
| Keywords: | occupational licensing, deregulation, skill investment, skill scarcity, wage premium |
| JEL: | J24 J31 J48 L51 |
| Date: | 2026–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18961 |
| By: | Concetta Rondinelli (Bank of Italy); Federico Tullio (Bank of Italy); Francesca Zanichelli (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the extent to which demographic changes have affected household consumption behaviour over the period 1997-2023. Using microdata from the Italian Household Budget Survey (HBS), we show that average household expenditure in real terms declined significantly over the last twenty-five years. Changes in population structure contributed to this trend: population ageing had only a limited impact, whereas the decline in average household size and in the share of couples with children played an important role. These changes, on the other hand, mitigated the decline in per-capita consumption and had only a negligible effect on equivalised consumption. The composition of household expenditure remained broadly stable over time for most expenditure categories. By contrast, the share allocated to housing and utilities increased substantially, mainly reflecting relative price dynamics and, to a lesser extent, the rising prevalence of single-person households. |
| Keywords: | consumption pattern, demographics, Covid-19 |
| JEL: | D12 C52 J11 |
| Date: | 2026–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_1033_26 |
| By: | Johannes Geyer; Peter Haan; Mia Teschner-Hofmann; Felix Weinhardt |
| Abstract: | Rising life expectancy and demographic change have increased the share of older workers, making their health and productivity central to aging societies. We study whether longer working lives translate into investments in work-related health before retirement. Exploiting a pension reform in Germany in a Regression Discontinuity Design, we show that women facing longer careers are more likely to apply for work-related rehabilitation, particularly those in poorer health or with weaker labor market attachment. Despite higher application and approval rates, this demand does not translate into higher rehabilitation completion. Together with intermediate outcomes, our findings are most consistent with capacity constraints in program delivery. |
| Keywords: | Rehabilitation, Aging Societies, Health Investments, Pension Reform |
| JEL: | H55 I12 J26 |
| Date: | 2026–09–22 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdp:dpaper:0110 |
| By: | Irene Di Marzio (Bank of Italy); Sara Pinoli (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) play a key role in the restructuring of the business sector, with potential implications for economic growth, allocative efficiency, market power and the public interest. This paper uses data from the Chambers of Commerce and Moody's Orbis, documents M&A deals in Italy and other major European Union countries to describe the firms involved and examine the effects of M&As on firm performance. The main findings show that, over the past decade, approximately 6, 000 operations per year have been recorded in Italy, with the trend increasing over the last five years. M&As have primarily involved firms that are more technologically advanced, both in manufacturing and services, and have contributed to the consolidation of the production system. Within five years of the deal, employment in the consolidated firm is about 4 per cent lower than it would have been without the deal. This evidence is partly due to divestitures of business units, consistent with processes of productive reorganization. The impact of M&A transactions varies depending on the competitive environment: in less internationally exposed sectors, an increase in market power is also observed, whereas no significant effects are found in tradeable sectors. |
| Keywords: | mergers and acquisitions, firm performance, market power, competition |
| JEL: | G34 L25 L40 |
| Date: | 2026–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_1045_26 |
| By: | Raffaello Bronzini (Bank of Italy); Luca De Benedictis (Universitas Mercatorum (CRIAVET) and LUISS); Edoardo Frattola (Bank of Italy); Elena Lazzaro (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | Online universities have expanded rapidly in Italy over the past two decades. Leveraging administrative data linked to standardized pre-university test scores, this paper examines the demographic profile and academic outcomes of online students. Compared to their peers in traditional institutions, online enrollees tend to be older, more frequently come from technical or vocational tracks, and have lower high-school grades and standardized test scores. Controlling for these initial disadvantages, they have lower dropout rates and higher on-time completion rates at the bachelor's level. However, performance declines when transitioning from an online bachelor's to a traditional master's degree program. Our findings also suggest that online universities make access to tertiary education viable for individuals who would otherwise be more likely to be excluded: enrollment growth has been concentrated in provinces with historically low participation in higher education and among students with an ex-ante lower likelihood of enrolling. |
| Keywords: | online education, higher education access, student performance, educational inequality |
| JEL: | I23 I24 J24 |
| Date: | 2026–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_1040_26 |
| By: | Dahlstrand, Amanda (University of Zurich); Huang, Shan (Stockholm School of Economics); Le Nestour, Nestor (Stockholm University); Michaels, Guy (London School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Many organizations use knowledge hierarchies (KHs): frontline workers attempt tasks and pass unresolved ones to experts. But the implications of using KHs are poorly understood, especially when firm revenues depend on who resolves tasks or the firm generates downstream externalities. We study a KH using 500, 000 patient cases from an online primary care firm, linked to outcomes and costs across Sweden's healthcare system, exploiting assignment variation from temporary doctor congestion. Nurses resolve 70% of KH cases, passing the rest to doctors. Relative to doctor-only care, the KH modestly increases external primary care and emergency department visits but has no adverse effects on hospitalizations, earnings losses, or mortality. Its mean effect on systemwide (including downstream) costs is small but masks heterogeneity. Compared with doctor-only care, the firm's selective KH use saves 1.6% of online primary care costs; however, crucially, reassigning cases within 15-minute windows to minimize systemwide costs would save 6.8%. |
| Keywords: | division of labor, productivity, healthcare |
| JEL: | J24 I19 L23 |
| Date: | 2026–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18965 |
| By: | Giacomo Rodano (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | Using administrative data on Italian firms and courts, this paper studies whether judicial inefficiency influences the likelihood and timing of bankruptcy filings. To address endogeneity, we instrument court efficiency with judge turnover. We find that inefficient courts significantly reduce the likelihood that financially distressed firms file for bankruptcy. Judicial inefficiency also substantially delays bankruptcy filing: firms remain insolvent longer and are more likely to enter bankruptcy after extended periods of economic distress, contributing to the persistence of insolvent and zombie firms, with adverse implications for resource reallocation. |
| Keywords: | judicial efficiency, insolvency proceedings, financial distress, zombie firms |
| JEL: | G33 K41 K22 D24 |
| Date: | 2026–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_1035_26 |
| By: | Luca Brugnara (Bank of Italy); Davide Dottori (Bank of Italy); Francesca Modena (Bank of Italy); Giulia Martina Tanzi (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the influence of peers' parents in shaping high school students' decisions to enroll in university, highlighting the joint role of their education level and occupation. Using a rich longitudinal dataset on Italian students, we track individuals from high school to university enrollment and exploit within-school and cross-cohort variation to identify peer effects. Our results show that peers' parental education positively impacts university enrollment, and more strongly so when paired with the type of occupation. These findings hold across students' and parents' gender and are more pronounced in non-academic schools and among students whose parents do not hold a university degree, suggesting that the peer effect is particularly relevant in contexts where the propensity to attend university is lower. The paper also finds that the peer effect is non-linear and strongest at intermediate levels of exposure, suggesting that a certain degree of diversity in the educational background of peers' parents may maximize the overall effect. |
| Keywords: | university students' outcomes, peer effect, family background |
| JEL: | I21 I23 I26 J24 |
| Date: | 2026–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_1039_26 |
| By: | Luca Casolaro (Bank of Italy); Claudio Luccioletti (Bank of Italy); Andrea Neri (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | The paper analyses the relationship between demographic trends and housing prices in Italy at the municipal level over the period 2010-2025. It aims to assess the extent to which population changes are associated with housing prices and whether this relationship emerges primarily in the short or long term. The analysis also considers potential local heterogeneity, distinguishing between remote areas (aree interne) and more accessible areas (aree non interne), as well as across the country's macro-regions. |
| Keywords: | housing prices, demographic trends, remote areas, panel data |
| JEL: | R31 J11 C23 |
| Date: | 2026–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_1043_26 |
| By: | Francesca Modena (Bank of Italy); Giulia Martina Tanzi (Bank of Italy); Marco Tonello (Bank of Italy); Antonio Veronico (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how the characteristics of the faculty members, mainly in terms of gender and age, affect university students' retention. Using student-level administrative data from the census of Italian university students, we exploit the quasi-random variation in the exposure to female and young professors across cohorts, within the same degree program, department, and university. Students' retention improves when the characteristics of the students match those of faculty members: while younger professors benefit all students, female faculty members have positive effects on female students only. |
| Keywords: | university, student retention, dropout, professors' gender and age |
| JEL: | I23 I28 J16 J18 |
| Date: | 2026–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_1038_26 |
| By: | Lauriane Belloy (BSE - Bordeaux sciences économiques - UB - Université de Bordeaux - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement) |
| Abstract: | Retour vers le long terme ? Impact de la régulation des locations de courte durée sur le marché du logement 1-Contexte et objectif ContexteLe développement des plateformes de location de courte durée, comme Airbnb, a modifié les marchés du logement en reliant les marchés résidentiel et touristique. Du côté de l'offre, ces plateformes permettent de valoriser des logements sous-utilisés mais peuvent également inciter les propriétaires à retirer des logements du marché locatif traditionnel, réduisant ainsi l'offre de longue durée. Du côté de la demande, elles renforcent l'attractivité de certains quartiers, intensifient la concurrence entre touristes et résidents et contribuent à la hausse des loyers, des prix immobiliers et aux phénomènes de gentrification. Face à ces enjeux, de nombreuses villes ont mis en place des politiques de régulation. Mes recherches analysent les effets des locations de courte durée et évaluent l'efficacité de ces réglementations sur les marchés du logement et les dynamiques urbaines. |
| Date: | 2026–09–29 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05758334 |
| By: | Joanna Jadwiga Fröhlich |
| Abstract: | Locus of control is a fruitful concept for analysing how individuals perceive and evaluate their migration histories, yet it remains underused in migration research. It offers a way to address central questions of agency and discrimination in migration processes without relying on ‘critical’ reductions such as ethnicisation or migrantisation, which pose well-known challenges for (trans)national research methodologies. In this article, data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) migration samples are combined with qualitative interviews with a subgroup of survey respondents (n=37). This mixed methods approach links statistical locus of control measures with narrative accounts in order to develop a typology of perceived agency in migration processes. The results indicate systematic variation in how migration is evaluated: individuals with a generally high internal locus of control tend to view their migration – despite chance, obstacles and setbacks – as something largely within their own control (types: ‘(Life) Artists’ and ‘Controlled Migrants’). In contrast, migrants with a more external locus of control describe both their migration and their living conditions as uncontrollable or determined by others (type: ‘The Passives’), often seeing their achievements as lying beyond their own influence or as hindered by external forces. Drawing on both qualitative and quantitative evidence, this article further demonstrates that experiences of discrimination are reported differently depending on locus of control. It concludes by discussing how these findings contribute theoretically and methodologically to the understanding of discrimination and related phenomena such as the (de-)migranticization, integration paradox and mobility capital. |
| Keywords: | migration, mixed methods, social positions, integration paradox, mobility capital |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp1239 |
| By: | Fanette Merlin (CEREQ - Centre d'études et de recherches sur les qualifications - ministère de l'Emploi, cohésion sociale et logement - M.E.N.E.S.R. - Ministère de l'Education nationale, de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche) |
| Abstract: | À partir du dispositif d'enquêtes Génération, cette communication montre que les jeunes actifs ont eu tendance, entre 2020 et 2023, à quitter l'emploi stable de façon nettement plus fréquente que ne le faisaient des individus comparables quelques années plus tôt. Le secteur d'activité joue un rôle clé : certains offrent des parcours de stabilisation malgré des interruptions de CDI, quand d'autres exposent davantage à des ruptures subies et des sorties durables du marché du travail. Entre stabilité et précarité, se dessine une carte sectorielle des débuts de carrière. Quand elles sont choisies, effectuées depuis un secteur fortement pourvu en CDI, elles sont plus souvent suivies d'un maintien dans l'emploi stable. Quand elles sont subies, et cela a été souvent le cas dans les secteurs ayant été particulièrement exposés aux conséquences de la crise sanitaire, elles sont plus souvent suivies d'un parcours de sortie de l'emploi salarié stable voire de sortie d'emploi. En écho à la notion de « port d'entrée » désignant le rôle de tremplin joué par les CDD pour intégrer le marché primaire du travail, ces sorties de CDI rappellent alors les « ports de sortie » développés par Amossé, Perraudin & Petit (2011) : des mobilités problématiques, souvent subies, conduisant à une sortie du marché primaire voire du marché du travail et aux conséquences potentiellement très lourdes pour les parcours individuels. |
| Keywords: | travail à durée indéterminée, rupture du contrat de travail, enquête génération, segmentation du marché du travail, trajectoire d’insertion, jeune |
| Date: | 2026–06–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05727307 |
| By: | Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln; Jonas Jessen; Pinchuan Ong; Jessica Pan |
| Abstract: | We assess whether survey responses to hypothetical policy scenarios can recover actual labor supply responses from policy variation. We study the German Mütterrente, a pension benefit crediting parents for child-rearing, benchmarking against Artmann et al. (forthcoming). Surveying mothers and fathers about a hypothetical reform modeled on that expansion, we find that mothers expect to reduce their labor supply, with an implied marginal propensity to earn of −0.65—close to the quasi-experimental estimate of −0.54. The response is sensible across subgroups, falls mainly on the extensive margin, and spills over to fathers. In the aggregate, spousal predictions match partners’ own reports. |
| Keywords: | marginal propensity to earn, pension reform, hypothetical scenarios |
| JEL: | J22 H55 D84 J26 D10 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12993 |
| By: | Marina Díez-Rituerto; Javier Gardeazabal; Nagore Iriberri; Pedro Rey Biel |
| Abstract: | Geographic mobility facilitates labor-market adjustment, yet home bias can impede relocation and perpetuate regional disparities, including in the provision of essential services. Using administrative records covering the universe of Spanish medical graduates who selected their first job between 1986 and 2019, we examine whether university lo- cation shapes early-career mobility. We first document substantial home attachment: more than half of graduates begin their careers in their home province. We then show that university location has a large effect on subsequent location choices. Completing a medical degree in one's home province increases the probability of starting work there by 22 percentage points. The effect of opening a medical school on aggregate home bias depends on the local labor market's capacity to absorb additional graduates. Finally, a nationwide liberalization of university admissions reduced students' propensity to study in their home university district and, through this channel, significantly weakened home bias. These findings show that the location of higher-education institutions and the de- sign of admissions policies can shape the geographic allocation of skilled workers at labor-market entry. |
| Keywords: | home bias, labor mobility, university location |
| JEL: | J61 I23 J18 |
| Date: | 2026–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bge:wpaper:1594 |
| By: | Kauhanen, Antti; Koski, Heli; Kuusi, Tero; Kässi, Otto; Rouvinen, Petri; Wang, Maria |
| Abstract: | Abstract Technological progress is the most important source of economic growth, but its effects on productivity and well-being depend on how new technologies are adopted and how labor and capital are reallocated to new activities. This report brings together findings from the Cartagena project, conducted by ETLA and funded by Business Finland, on the digital and clean transitions and the economic policies supporting them. The results indicate that AI exposure in Finland has so far not been systematically associated with weaker employment or wage outcomes among young workers, nor does AI use appear to have reduced employee well-being. Information based on personal consumption data can influence consumer choices, although the effects are moderate on average. The productivity effects of the green transition depend critically on whether resources move toward high- or low-productivity clean activities. The effectiveness of business subsidies likewise depends on their ability to generate new investment, technology adoption, and structural change. |
| Keywords: | Technological change, Artificial intelligence, Green transition |
| JEL: | O33 J24 Q58 |
| Date: | 2026–09–23 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rif:briefs:186 |
| By: | Jacob T. Hess (Banco de España); Xufeng Wang (KU Leuven) |
| Abstract: | We study how revenue productivity (TFPR) and markups evolve after mergers across the economy. In financial-statement data, targets cease to exist as reporting entities after a deal, so tracking the merged firm requires constructing the combined acquirer-target unit before the merger. We formalize the biases that arise without this correction and implement it across 3, 759 horizontal mergers in Spain between 1997 and 2022. Revenue productivity rises by approximately 4% within eight years and markups by approximately 5% to 6%. The breakdown by industry reveals that revenue productivity gains are broad-based, while markup increases are concentrated. Most industries show modest markup effects of 3% or less, with the largest increases occurring in two industries accounting for a small share of deals, led by human health activities. We find that without the boundary correction, both estimated effects reverse sign. The results suggest that mergers tend to raise the revenue productivity of the combined firm across the board, consistent with operational improvements, while large markup increases are a feature of specific industries rather than a general consequence of consolidation. |
| Keywords: | mergers and acquisitions, revenue productivity (TFPR), markups, consolidation |
| JEL: | C23 D24 G34 L41 |
| Date: | 2026–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bde:wpaper:2631e |