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on Transition Economics |
| By: | Masso, Jaan (University of Tartu); Eamets, Raul (University of Tartu); Mõtsmees, Pille (University of Tartu) |
| Abstract: | The existing literature on return migration has resulted in several studies analysing the impact of foreign work experience on the returnees' earnings or their decision to become self-employed; however, in this paper we analyse the less studied effect on occupational mobility – how the job in the home country after returning compares to the job held before migration. The effect of temporary migration on occupational mobility is analysed using unique data from an Estonian online job search portal covering approximately 10-15% of the total workforce, including thousands of employees with temporary migration experience. The focus on data from a Central and Eastern European country is motivated given that the opening of labour markets in old EU countries to the workforce of the new member states has led to massive East-West migration. We did not find any positive effect of temporary migration on upward occupational mobility and in some groups, such as females, the effect was negative. These results could be related to the typically short-term nature of migration and occupational downshifting abroad as well as the functioning of the home country labour market. |
| Keywords: | occupational mobility, temporary migration, Central- and Eastern Europe |
| JEL: | F22 J62 |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7482&r=tra |
| By: | Brown, Martin |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of the recent banking crises in Europe and Central Asia on households'incomes and consumption patterns. The analysis is based on the 2010 wave of the Life in Transition Survey, which covers 12,704 households in eleven countries that experienced a banking crisis between 2008 and 2011. It finds that households in middle-income crisis countries are more than twice as likely to be hit by an income shock as households in high-income crisis countries. The labor market channel is the predominant source of income shocks, with wage reductions more widespread than job-losses. In reaction to income shocks, households reallocate spending from non-essential goods to staple foods. Reductions in staple-food consumption are, however, prevalent among low-income households. The paper examines potential crisis mitigators and finds that at the macro level a flexible monetary regime is associated with fewer cutbacks in household consumption. At the meso level, it finds no evidence that foreign bank ownership amplified the transmission of banking crises to households in Europe. With respect to micro-level mitigators, the analysis finds that diversified income sources as well as stocks of non-financial and financial assets help households to cushion income shocks. Access to informal and formal credit also mitigates the impact of income shocks on household consumption, with the former especially important in middle-income countries. |
| Keywords: | Access to Finance,Debt Markets,Emerging Markets,Economic Theory&Research,Banks&Banking Reform |
| Date: | 2013–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6528&r=tra |
| By: | Guzi, Martin (IZA) |
| Abstract: | Paper demonstrates the existence of a welfare trap in the Czech Republic, created by the tax and social security systems. Combining individual data from the Czech Labor Force Survey and the Czech Household Income Survey, the analysis exploits the difference between the available social benefits and the net household income when a person is employed. This information allows us to calculate the net replacement rate based on the parameters of the taxation system and rules for means-tested social benefits at the household level. Estimates imply the existence of a welfare trap, which means that individuals who receive relatively higher social benefits are also more likely to remain unemployed. It is shown that the most affected groups are those with low education and long unemployment spells. Furthermore, the paper documents the disadvantaged position of women in the Czech labor market. The estimates imply that women outflows to employment are particularly influenced by the high social benefits, and the existence of a welfare trap persists even when the job-search intensity is controlled. This finding contributes to the discussion on the persistent and large unemployment gender gap in the Czech Republic. The results of the analysis support policy improvements towards low-income households. A better harmonization of tax and social security systems is necessary in order to ensure that the incentives to leave unemployment are not hampered by high social benefits. |
| Keywords: | labour supply, welfare trap, net replacement rate |
| JEL: | J22 J31 I38 |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7478&r=tra |
| By: | Oberhofer, Harald; Vincelette, Gallina A |
| Abstract: | This paper builds on the analysis of job creation developed in World Bank (2013) to provide an empirical investigation of the industry and firm-specific determinants of the job creation process in eleven new European Union (EU11) economies. It relies on the Amadeus dataset of firms during 2002-2009. The main results indicate that during the years prior to the global financial crisis, traditional industries were crucial for the net creation of jobs in EU11. However, traditional industries were the ones most severely affected by the financial crisis. By contrast, services firms were less vulnerable to the economic downturn. At the firm level, small and young firms registered the highest employment growth rates. The empirical results also indicate that more productive firms tended to be less vulnerable to economic downturns. Moreover, the results demonstrate that the perceived quality of the business climate by the EU11 enterprises is correlated with not only the firms'employment growth, but also their productivity. In the post-crisis period, poor business restrictions were negatively associated with the creation of jobs. All these findings hold for the group of high-growth firms that disproportionately accounted for the creation of new jobs in the EU11 economies. |
| Keywords: | Labor Markets,Microfinance,Small Scale Enterprise,Environmental Economics&Policies,Labor Policies |
| Date: | 2013–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6533&r=tra |
| By: | Borys, Paweł; Ciżkowicz, Piotr; Rzońca, Andrzej |
| Abstract: | We identify fiscal impulses in the EU New Member States using four different methods and apply econometric panel data techniques to determine what is the response of output and its components to those impulses. We also directly test the effects of fiscal impulses on labor costs and households’ expectations. The results confirm that the composition of impulses matters for output and its components response. Notably we find evidence that investment and export growth accelerates after fiscal adjustment and decelerates after fiscal stimulus when the impulses are expenditure based. In turn, private consumption seems not to respond to fiscal impulses regardless of their size. The analysis confirms that expenditure based fiscal adjustments enhance wage moderation and thereby competitiveness of domestic enterprises, while expenditure-based fiscal stimuli weaken it. By contrast, we do not find evidence that fiscal impulses have an effect on households’ confidence. |
| Keywords: | expansionary fiscal adjustment, contractionary fiscal stimulus, New Member States, panel data |
| JEL: | C22 D22 E24 E62 H30 |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:48243&r=tra |
| By: | Coulibaly, Souleymane; Diaby, Mohamed |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes and reconciles macro and micro evidence on savings and factors that affect savings, as well as possible policy implications. At the aggregate level, the main question is how savings are affected by growth and macroeconomic policies and variables (fiscal policy, exchange rate, for example) and the breadth of financial markets. Some of these macro determinants can be reconciled with microeconomic evidence of the savings behavior of households. Using macroeconomic quarterly data and household survey data, the analysis explores the determinants of the savings rate at the macroeconomic and microeconomic levels, using the typical econometric models used in the literature (long-term co-integration relation and short-term error correction model for the macro determinants; linear multivariate models for the micro determinants). The long-term relationship indicates that a 10-percent increase in gross domestic product per capita would add 3.7 percentage points to the savings rate in the long run. The short-term relationship depicts a strong catch-up process to the long-run equilibrium, with quarterly changes in gross domestic product per capita and openness strongly correlated with quarterly changes in the savings rate. The characteristics of households that represent the volatility of expected income, such as education and access to borrowing or remittances, significantly impact saving rates. The macroeconomic and microeconomic analyses of the determinants of saving rates in Armenia point to three policy areas: the macroeconomic environment, the financial sector, and the role of remittances. |
| Keywords: | Access to Finance,Economic Theory&Research,Emerging Markets,Debt Markets,Rural Poverty Reduction |
| Date: | 2013–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6531&r=tra |
| By: | Gnidchenko, Andrey |
| Abstract: | We consider basic characteristics of foreign and Russian motion pictures (budget, box office revenues, effectiveness, “Kinopoisk” rating, number of views, film duration, genre) in dynamics and examine their linkages. We also compare the Russian market for national and foreign films. Then, we discuss basic characteristics across film directors and genres |
| Keywords: | Motion pictures’ characteristics, budget, box office revenues, effectiveness, “Kinopoisk” rating, number of views, film duration, film directors, genres |
| JEL: | L82 Z10 |
| Date: | 2013–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:48391&r=tra |