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on Microeconomic European Issues |
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Issue of 2016‒05‒28
29 papers chosen by Giuseppe Marotta Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia |
| By: | Enrique Raul Ramos (AQR-IREA, University of Barcelona); Vicente Royuela (AQR-IREA, University of Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | This work studies the impact that the Great Recession has had on the migration of graduates in Spain, a country with low international mobility for graduates but where push factors associated to the crisis have probably changed their mobility patterns. Our empirical analysis first adopts a macro approach by estimating a gravity model taking advantage of the recent publication of the IAB brain-drain data. This dataset covers information for 20 OECD destination countries by gender, country of origin and educational level, for the period 1980-2010. Next, we use individual data from different surveys addressed to Catalan graduates and recent Ph.D. holders carried out by AQU in order to provide new evidence on the drivers and impacts of changing trends in their migration behaviour. Our hypothesis is that internal mobility has been replaced by international migration for recent graduates for two reasons: first, due to the generalized increased in unemployment across the whole country (push factor), and second, due to the better skill and educational matches in other European labour markets (pull factor) than in the Spanish one, where the incidence of overeducation is among the highest of OECD countries. |
| Keywords: | Graduate migration, overeducation, international migration, great recession JEL classification:JEL: F22, J61, R23, I25 |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aqr:wpaper:201608&r=eur |
| By: | Liliya Leopold; Thomas Leopold; Clemens M. Lechner |
| Abstract: | This study asked whether immigrants suffer more from job loss than German natives do. Compositional, psychosocial, and normative differences between these groups suggest that various factors intensifying the negative impact of unemployment on subjective well-being are either more prevalent, more influential, or distinct among immigrants. Based on longitudinal data from the German Socio-economic Panel Study (1990–2012; N = 36,296 persons aged 20 to 64; N = 240,071 person-years), we used fixed-effects models to trace within-person change in subjective well-being across the transition from employment to unemployment and over several years after job loss. Results showed that immigrants’ average declines in subjective well-being exceeded those of natives. Further analyses revealed gender interactions. Declines were smaller and similar among immigrant and native women. Among men, declines were larger and differed between immigrants and natives. Immigrant men showed the largest declines, amounting to one standard deviation of within-person change over time in subjective well-being. We conclude that psychosocial factors render immigrant men most vulnerable to the adverse effects of unemployment. |
| Keywords: | Unemployment, immigrants and natives, subjective well-being, panel data, fixed-effects models |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp842&r=eur |
| By: | Nina Boogen (ETH Zurich, Switzerland); Souvik Datta (ETH Zurich, Switzerland); Massimo Filippini (ETH Zurich, Switzerland) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we use panel data from a survey conducted on 30 Swiss utilities to estimate the impact of demand-side management (DSM) activities on residential electricity demand using DSM spending and an energy efficiency score. Using the variation in DSM activities within utilities and across utilities over time we identify the impact of these programs and find that their presence reduce per customer residential electricity consumption by around 5%. If we consider monetary spending, the effect of a 10% increase in DSM spending causes around a 0.14% reduction in per customer residential electricity consumption. The cost of saving a kilowatt hour is around CHF 0.04 while the average cost of producing and distributing electricity in Switzerland is around CHF 0.18 per kilowatt hour. We conclude that current DSM practices in Switzerland have a statistically significant effect on reducing the demand for residential electricity. |
| Keywords: | Residential electricity, demand-side management, energy efficiency score, difference-in-differences, Switzerland |
| JEL: | C33 C36 Q41 Q48 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eth:wpswif:16-247&r=eur |
| By: | Loris Vergolini |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we analyse the role of social origins in the shaping of university participation in the province of Trento (North-East of Italy) from 2000 to 2012. This long-term view gives us the chance to test the role played by the Bologna process and by the economic crisis. More precisely, this setting allows us to analyse its effects on inequality of educational opportunity in the face of two opposite situations. The first, subsequent to the Bologna process, is characterised by a huge increase in the enrolment rate at the university. In the second situation, subsequent to the economic crisis, a huge decline in higher education participation can be observed. Using data on upper secondary school graduates in the province of Trento and applying logistic models, we find that inequality of educational opportunity tends to diminish during educational expansion, while it increases with the persistence of the economic crisis. |
| Keywords: | Higher Education, inequality of educational opportunities, Bologna process, economic crisis, field of study |
| JEL: | I23 I24 I28 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fbk:wpaper:2016-07&r=eur |
| By: | Hamann, Silke (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]); Niebuhr, Annekatrin (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]); Peters, Cornelius (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]) |
| Abstract: | "We analyse whether the size of the local labour market allows for better matching between job seekers and vacancies, which is thought to enhance productivity. This analysis is based on a large data set providing detailed micro-level information on new employment relationships in Germany. Our results suggest rather small matching benefits. Doubling employment density increases the productivity of new employment relationships by 1.1% to 1.2%. Moreover, the findings indicate that the benefits accrue only to persons experiencing job-to-job transitions and short-term unemployed. We detect no important impact of agglomeration on transitions from long-term non-employed." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) |
| Keywords: | Arbeitsmarktregion, Arbeitsuchende, offene Stellen, Matching, Arbeitsplatzdichte, Produktivitätseffekte, kurzfristige Arbeitslosigkeit, Integrierte Erwerbsbiografien |
| JEL: | R23 J31 |
| Date: | 2016–04–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabdpa:201613&r=eur |
| By: | Albertini,Marco |
| Abstract: | At the beginning of the twenty-first century, intergenerational relations remain a key aspect of the future development and sustainability of the European social model. In the present paper, patterns of intergenerational support and the main driving factors behind individuals'transfer behavior are explored. In particular, the data form the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe are utilized to shed light on the main factors behind the likelihood and intensity of social support, and financial help provided to and received from other family members by ageing and elderly Europeans. The analysis also takes into consideration patterns and factors correlated with grandparenting activities. Finally, special attention is devoted to the condition of those individuals who are sandwiched between care obligations toward their elderly parents and young adult children. It is shown that the likelihood of the exchange of support between family generations is highest in Scandinavian countries and lowest in Southern Europe. The intensity of support follows an opposite North-South gradient. In addition, relevant gender-related inequalities are documented. In general, time-demanding support obligations are more likely to fall on the shoulders of women in the early stage of their later life, while mainly benefitting elderly men. |
| Keywords: | Population&Development,Gender and Social Development,Gender and Law,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Population Policies |
| Date: | 2016–05–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7678&r=eur |
| By: | Schreiber, Sven; Beblo, Miriam |
| Abstract: | We revisit the alleged retirement consumption puzzle. According to the life-cycle theory, foreseeable income reductions such as those around retirement should not affect consumption. However, we first recall that given higher leisure endowments after retirement, the theory does predict a fall of total market consumption expenditures. In order not to mistake this predicted drop for a puzzle we focus on housing consumption which can be plausibly regarded as complementary to leisure, and we control for the leisure change in our empirical specifications, using micro data for Germany (SOEP), where housing expenditures are observable as rents for the majority (60%), as well as dwelling relocations. We still find significant negative impacts of the retirement status on housing consumption, which is hard to reconcile with the life-cycle theory. For retirees we also find significant effects of the income reduction at retirement on housing. However, the effects are small in quantitative terms, given the lock-in nature of past housing decisions. |
| Keywords: | consumption smoothing,retirement-consumption puzzle,SOEP |
| JEL: | D91 E21 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fubsbe:20168&r=eur |
| By: | Sabina Alkire and Mauricio Apablaza |
| Abstract: | Multidimensional approaches to poverty and deprivation have a long and distinguished history in conceptual and philosophical work (Sen 1992). This chapter explores multidimensional poverty using EU-SILC data from 2006 to 2012. We calculate a multidimensional poverty index based on the Alkire Foster (AF) methodology - a widely used flexible methodology which can accommodate different indicators, weights and cut-offs. We draw on existing Europe 2020 indicators, as well as on indicators of health, education and the living environment. Aggregated and country cross sectional results are presented. A short analysis of dynamics of multidimensional poverty is also included. |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qeh:ophiwp:ophiwp074&r=eur |
| By: | Wolfgang Frimmel; Martin Halla; Rudolf Winter-Ebmer |
| Abstract: | Numerous papers report a negative association between parental divorce and child outcomes. To provide evidence whether this correlation is driven by a causal effect, we exploit idiosyncratic variation in the extent of sexual integration in fathers' workplaces: Fathers who encounter more women in their relevant age-occupation-group on-the-job are more likely to divorce. This results holds also conditioning on the overall share of female co-workers in a firm. We find that parental divorce has persistent, and mostly negative, effects on children that differ significantly between boys and girls. Treated boys have lower levels of educational attainment, worse labor market outcomes, and are more likely to die early. Treated girls have also lower levels of educational attainment, but they are also more likely to become mother at an early age (especially during teenage years). Treated girls experience almost no negative employment effects. The latter effect could be a direct consequence from the teenage motherhood, which may initiate an early entry to the labor market. |
| Keywords: | divorce, children, human capital, fertility, sexual integrated work- places |
| JEL: | J12 D13 J13 J24 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:inn:wpaper:2016-13&r=eur |
| By: | Wagner, Joachim |
| Abstract: | This paper looks at a hitherto neglected extensive margin of international trade by investigating for the first time the frequency at which German exporters and importers trade a given good with a given country. Imports and exports show a high degree of lumpiness. In a given year about half of all firm-good-country combinations are recorded only once or twice for trade with EU countries, and this is the case for more than 60 percent of all firm-good-country combinations in trade with non-EU countries. The frequency of recorded transactions tends to decline with an increase in the number of transactions per year. This is in accordance with the presence of per-shipment fixed costs that provide an incentive for trading firms to engage in cross-border transactions infrequently. Empirical models show that for Germany the frequency of transactions at the firm-good-country level tends to decrease with an increase in per-shipment costs when unobserved firm and goods characteristics are controlled for. |
| Keywords: | lumpiness of trade,imports,exports,Germany |
| JEL: | F14 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwedp:201619&r=eur |
| By: | Rafael Morales-Lage (Department of Economics, Universidad Jaume I, Castellón, Spain); Aurelia Bengochea-Morancho (Department of Economics, Universidad Jaume I, Castellón, Spain); Inmaculada Martínez-Zarzoso (Department of Economics and Center for Statistics, Georg-August Universitaet Goettingen, Göttingen, German and Department of Economics, Universidad Jaume I, Castellón, Spain) |
| Abstract: | This paper applies the stochastic formulation of the IPAT model for analysing the determinants of CO2 emissions in the 28 countries of the European Union (EU) from 1971 to 2012. We apply different methodologies in order to fit the best model: a model with cross-static and time effects and dynamic models to solve some problems related to the structure of the data. The best model is estimated using the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM). As far as the population is concerned, the whole set of countries have a unitary elasticity with respect to carbon dioxide emissions, similar to the elasticity related to GDP per capita and energy intensity. However, we find different effects in CO2 emissions, depending on the group of countries considered. For the subset of EU-15 the influence of population, industry and energy use is lower than the influence shown by these factors in the 13 countries belonging to Central and Eastern Europe. |
| Keywords: | IPAT equation, STIRPAT model, CO2 emissions, European Union |
| JEL: | Q43 Q48 Q53 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jau:wpaper:2016/04&r=eur |
| By: | José Bardaji; Jean-Charles Bricongne; Benoît Campagne; Guillaume Gaulier |
| Abstract: | In France, the balance of trade has deteriorated almost continuously since the late 1990s to the early 2010s. Many studies have focused on losses in export market share. But how does the performance of French companies stand up on the domestic market? An examination of the macroeconomic data shows that the performance of companies in France has declined fairly sharply in exports, but that this decline has been rather smaller on the domestic market. At the firm level, a given company’s export performance and domestic market performance have a tendency, albeit slight, to move in opposite directions. This may be due to factors such as a deliberate company strategy to target a specific market or the presence of production constraints. However, our analysis shows that a positive demand shock in the domestic market in which the company is present, resulting in a rise in domestic sales, then leads to an increase in exports. This complementarity seems to be driven by small companies and could reflect the existence of liquidity constraints. Increased sales in one market could lessen these constraints, by facilitating funding for company development in the second market. Strong domestic demand during the pre-crisis period in France is therefore not an explanatory factor of losses in export market share. |
| JEL: | F10 F44 L20 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:euf:dispap:024&r=eur |
| By: | Czarnitzki, Dirk; Doherr, Thorsten; Hussinger, Katrin; Schliessler, Paula; Toole, Andrew A. |
| Abstract: | We use an exogenous change in German Federal law to examine how entrepreneurial support and the ownership of patent rights influence academic entrepreneurship. In 2002, the German Federal Government enacted a major reform called Knowledge Creates Markets that set up new infrastructure to facilitate university-industry technology transfer and shifted the ownership of patent rights from university researchers to their universities. Based on a novel researcher-level panel database that includes a control group not affected by the policy change, we find no evidence that the new infrastructure resulted in an increase in start-up companies by university researchers. The shift in patent rights may have strengthened the relationship between patents on university-discovered inventions and university start-ups; however, it substantially decreased the volume of patents with the largest decrease taking place in faculty-firm patenting relationships. |
| Keywords: | intellectual property,patents,technology transfer,policy evaluation |
| JEL: | O34 O38 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:16036&r=eur |
| By: | Dewenter, Ralf; Heimeshoff, Ulrich; Lüth, Hendrik |
| Abstract: | Increasing horizontal as well as vertical transparency in oligopolistic markets can be advantageous for consumers, due to reduced search costs. However, market transparency can also affect incentives to deviate from collusive agreements and the punishment by rival firms in the market. Using a panel of 27 European countries, we analyze the impact of increased market transparency via the introduction of a market transparency unit for fuels in Germany. Applying a difference-in-differences approach, we find evidence that both gasoline and diesel prices have increased. While consumers may be better off using a retail price app for fuels, gas stations are also able to compare prices at almost no cost. |
| Keywords: | market transparency unit,regulation,fuel prices,difference-in-differences |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:dicedp:220&r=eur |
| By: | Francesco Bosello (FEEM, CMCC and University of Milan); Marinella Davide (FEEM, CMCC and University of Venice); Isabella Alloisio (FEEM and CMCC) |
| Abstract: | The EU has a consolidated climate and energy regulation: it played a pioneering role by adopting a wide range of climate change policies and establishing the first regional Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS). These policies, however, raise several concerns regarding both their environmental effectiveness and their potentially negative effect on the economy, especially in terms of growth and competitiveness. The paper reviews the European experience in order to understand if these concerns are supported by quantitative evidence. It thus focuses on key economic indicators, such as costs, competitiveness and carbon leakage as assessed by quantitative ex-ante and ex-post analyses. A dedicated section, extends the investigation to the potential extra-EU spillover of the EU mitigation policy with a particular attention to developing countries. The objective of the paper is to highlight both the limits and the opportunities of the EU regulatory framework in order to offer policy insights to emerging and developing countries that are on the way to implement climate change measures. Overall, the European experience shows that the worries about the costs and competitiveness losses induced by climate regulation are usually overestimated, especially in the long term. In addition, a tightening climate policy regime in the EU might in fact negatively impact developing countries via deteriorated trade relations. Nonetheless it tends to facilitate a resource relocation that if well governed could be beneficial to those countries where the poor are mainly involved in rural activities. |
| Keywords: | Climate Change, Climate Policy, Mitigation, Economic Impacts, GDP, Competitiveness |
| JEL: | F64 H23 O44 O52 Q54 R11 |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2016.34&r=eur |
| By: | Elisabetta Addis (Università di Sassari e L.U.I.S.S. Guido Carli, Roma); Majlinda Joxhe (CREA Center for Research in Economic Analysis University of Luxembourg) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we show that social capital accumulation along the life cycle is different for men and women. We discuss the concept of social capital and some problems connected to its definition and measurement. We survey the literature on gender and social capital and use the Italian data of the “Multiscopo” Survey to assess differences in life cycle accumulation of social capital by sex and age. The lifecycle profile of social capital accumulation is gendered, with men accumulating more social capital at all ages, with a different peak and overall profile. We also show that, over 15 years, the gap in social capital by sex narrowed. Finally, we introduce a model of social capital structure compatible with the empirical evidence and with notions of gender as defined in feminist literature. |
| Keywords: | Social Capital, Gender, Network formation, Relations, Life cycle, Italy. |
| JEL: | Z13 J16 D85 |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:saq:wpaper:2/16&r=eur |
| By: | A. Arrighetti; F. Landini; A. Lasagni |
| Abstract: | In contrast to the so-called cleansing effect, during the Great Recession we observe highly heterogeneous firm performances. In particular, a not negligible subset of firms grew considerably despite of the general tendency towards downsizing. In this paper, we explain the behaviour of these swimming upstream firms (SUFs). We obtain three main results. First, SUFs exhibit certain firm-specific characteristics: they are younger and relatively more productive than non-SUFs. Second, SUFs adopt highly proactive strategic profiles, which assign significant importance to activities related to innovation, intangibles, and internationalization. Third, SUFs tend to react to changes in market opportunities, although they suffer from sticky processes of resource reallocation between exiting and surviving firms. Moreover, their growth seems to take place primarily within a regime of cumulative destruction rather than creative destruction. Some of the implications of these results for managers and policy makers are discussed. |
| Keywords: | crisis, cleansing effect, heterogeneity, growth, firm performance, manufacturing industry |
| JEL: | D22 L21 L25 O32 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:par:dipeco:2016-ep04&r=eur |
| By: | Barbara Annicchiarico; Susan Battles; Fabio Di Dio; Pierfrancesco Molina; Pietro Zoppoli |
| Abstract: | We build up a large scale, New Keynesian dynamic general equilibrium model embodying a cap on pollutant emissions, an electricity sector and fuel consumption to analyse climate-energy policies for the Italian economy. We consider several applications to illustrate how emission mitigation policies are likely to affect the economy. Our results show that a major trade-off may emerge between environmental quality and economic activity. However, we show how this potential trade-off can be effectively overcome by recycling the revenues from the sales of emission permits. Also,we find that the presence of an emission cap may significantly limit the expansionary effects of fiscal interventions as well as of policies aimed at fostering competition and productivity. Finally, a negative shock on gas and oil prices has a positive effect on the level of economic activity but is also found to increase investment in renewable sources. |
| Keywords: | Environmental policy, GHG emissions, dynamic general equilibrium model, simulation analysis, Italy |
| JEL: | E27 E60 Q40 Q58 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:itt:wpaper:2016-3&r=eur |
| By: | Ali-Yrkkö, Jyrki; Seppälä, Timo; Mattila, Juri |
| Abstract: | This report analyzes the role of the largest companies in the Finnish economy. According to the results, the ten largest companies in terms of their value added together produce 7,6 % of the Finnish GDP. In addition, these companies generate notable multiplicative effects in the economy. According to the findings, the productivity and the growth rates of the ten largest companies clearly surpass the economy average. In this study, it was also analyzed what kinds of macroeconomic effects will generated by Metsä Fibre’s investment into their new bioproduct factory in Äänekoski, Finland. The calculations were conducted for the construction phase and the production phase individually. According to these analyses, the construction phase alone will generate a positive impact on employment reaching thousands of man-years. However, the true significance of the investment will only become evident in the production phase, since not all investments of equal scale produce similar macroeconomic effects. Besides the characteristics of the examined industries, the size of these effects also depends on which countries acquisitions are made from. |
| Keywords: | Large, largest, companies, firms, GDP, productivity, gross domestic product, concentration, multiplier effect, investment, pulp, Äänekoski, group, granular, concentration |
| JEL: | F23 L25 E22 M21 L11 |
| Date: | 2016–05–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rif:report:53&r=eur |
| By: | Heesen, Florian (E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN)); Madlener, Reinhard (E.ON Energy Research Center, Future Energy Consumer Needs and Behavior (FCN)) |
| Abstract: | This paper separates technological from human capabilities with regard to the operating of advanced heating systems. Our study shows that attitudes towards using such systems are equally influenced by a system's ease of use and its related thermal comfort as perceived by the user. However, the user does not perceive either of these influences directly; they are both mediated through the latent construct “perceived usefulness”. Our results reveal that in order to maximize the technology acceptance of advanced heating systems, the focus of interventions needs to be a twofold one. It is not only perceived thermal comfort – in its technological capacity of a delivered energy service – which is relevant; an easy-to-use system is equally important. The underlying psychological theory of this paper is that of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Using an adapted version of the technology acceptance model (TAM) – the energy TAM (eTAM) – we draw on questionnaire data from a field experiment conducted in Germany. The statistical inference is based on a partial least squares patch modeling (PLS-PM) approach. |
| Keywords: | heat energy consumption; technology acceptance; rebound effect; perceived utility |
| JEL: | D12 D81 O33 Q47 R22 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:fcnwpa:2014_025&r=eur |
| By: | Anna Matas Prat (Departament d'Economia Aplicada, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona); Josep Lluís Raymond Bara (Departament d'Economia i Història Econòmica, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona); Jorge Andrés Domínguez Moreno (Departament d'Economia Aplicada, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the role that technological change and car characteristics have played in the rate of fuel consumption of vehicles over time. Using data from the Spanish car market from 1988 to 2013, we estimate a reduced form equation that relates fuel consumption with a set of car characteristics. The results for the sales-weighted sample of vehicles show that energy efficiency would have improved by 30% and 42% for petrol and diesel cars respectively had car characteristics been held constant at 1988 values. However, the shift to bigger and more fuelconsuming cars reduced the gains from technological progress. Additionally, using the results of the fuel equation we show that, besides a natural growth rate of 1.1%, technological progress is affected by both the international price of oil and the adoption of mandatory emission standards. Moreover, according to our estimations, a 1% growth in GDP would modify car characteristics in such a way that fuel consumption would increase by around 0.23% for petrol cars and 0.35% for diesel cars. |
| Keywords: | fuel efficiency, technological change, car characteristics |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uab:wprdea:wpdea1608&r=eur |
| By: | Bripi,Francesco |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the effects of differences in local administrative burdens in Italy in the years 2005?2007 preceding a major reform that sped up firm registration procedures. Combining regulatory data from a survey on Italian provinces before the reform (costs and time to start a business) with industry-level entry rates of limited liability firms, it explores the effects of regulatory barriers on the average of the annual entry rates across industries with different natural propensities to enter the market. The estimates of the cross-sectional analysis show that lengthier and, to some extent, more costly procedures reduced entry in sectors with naturally high entry. A one-day delay in registration procedures reduces the entry rate in highly dynamic sectors by more than 1 percent. These results hold when I include measures of local financial development and of efficiency of bankruptcy procedures are included. |
| Keywords: | Banks&Banking Reform,Economic Theory&Research,Access to Finance,Transport Economics Policy&Planning,Information and Communication Technologies |
| Date: | 2016–04–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7650&r=eur |
| By: | Daniel Rais |
| Abstract: | Abstract This paper outlines the interlinkages between the water policies integration objective and the decarbonisation objective. It concludes that low-carbon renewable electricity policy scenario may have negative externalities on the water body under the existing regulatory framework in the EU. The analysis is mainly dealt within the framework of the European Union’s Renewable Energy Directive of 2009 (RES Directive). |
| Date: | 2015–02–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wti:papers:855&r=eur |
| By: | Grillitsch, Markus (CIRCLE, Lund University); Schubert, Torben (CIRCLE, Lund University); Srholec, Martin (CIRCLE, Lund University) |
| Abstract: | The link between knowledge and firm growth has been a core topic in economics of innovation for a long time. However, despite strong theoretical arguments, empirical evidence remains inconclusive. One important reason for this conundrum may be the failure of standard indicators to comprehensively capture firm innovation activities. We contribute to overcoming this limitation by zooming in on the knowledge processes that drive variegated forms of innovation and aim thereby to establish a solid relationship with firm growth. The paper draws on the differentiated knowledge base approach, distinguishing between analytical, synthetic, and symbolic knowledge, and measures these types of knowledge with detailed longitudinal linked-employer-employee micro data from Sweden. Econometric findings indicate positive relationships between the three knowledge types, in particular combinations thereof, and firm growth. These relationships remain robust in a wide range of models. Our analysis therefore suggests that the seemingly weak relationship between firm growth and innovation may be explained by the narrow measurement concepts that have dominated in this literature so far. |
| Keywords: | Knowledge; innovation; firm growth; micro data; Sweden |
| JEL: | C33 D22 O12 O32 O33 |
| Date: | 2016–04–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2016_013&r=eur |
| By: | Bholat, David (Bank of England); Lastra, Rosa (Queen Mary University); Markose, Sheri (University of Essex); Miglionico, Andrea (University of Reading); Sen, Kallol (Bank of England) |
| Abstract: | Asset quality is an essential part of sound banking. However, asset quality is difficult for banking regulators and investors to assess in the absence of a common, cross-border scheme to classify assets. Currently no standard is applied universally to classify loans, the most sizable asset on many banks’ balance sheets. As a corollary, no common definition of non-performing loans (NPLs) exists. This paper documents divergences in the definition of NPLs across countries, accounting regimes, firms and data sources. The paper’s originality is in attending to the legal, accounting, statistical, economic and strategic aspects of loan loss provisioning (LLP) and NPLs, topics that are multidisciplinary by nature but have not been dealt with in the literature in an integrated fashion before. Since the 2007 Great Financial Crisis (GFC), accounting bodies and prudential regulators are increasingly focused on early recognition of credit losses and enhanced disclosure. A common approach to NPL recognition might complement these initiatives. |
| Keywords: | Non-performing loans; impairment; loan loss provisions; bank capital; data standards; credit risk. |
| JEL: | G01 G21 M41 |
| Date: | 2016–04–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:boe:boeewp:0594&r=eur |
| By: | de Haan, Monique (University of Oslo); Leuven, Edwin (University of Oslo) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we investigate the effect of Head Start on long term education and labor market outcomes using data from the NLSY79. The contributions to the existing literature on the effectiveness of Head Start are threefold: (1) we are the first to examine distributional effects of Head Start on long term outcomes (2) we do not rely on quasi-experimental variation in Head Start participation but instead perform a nonparametric bounds analysis that relies on weak stochastic dominance assumptions and (3) we consider education and labor market outcomes observed for individuals in their early 30s. The results show that Head Start has a statistically significant positive effect on years of education, in particular for women, blacks and Hispanics. For wage income we also find evidence that Head Start has beneficial impacts, with effects located at the lower end of the distribution. |
| Keywords: | Head Start, early intervention, long term outcomes, partial identification |
| JEL: | H52 I21 J13 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9915&r=eur |
| By: | Roller, Christiane; Stroka-Wetsch, Magdalena A.; Linder, Roland |
| Abstract: | Due to the demographic change and the concomitant ageing of society, the labor force will reduce in Germany in the following decades. Simultaneously, the demand for informal care will increase as a result of the ageing society. Informal care is assumed being the least expensive form of care and is the most common form of care in Germany. However, the literature conveys the impression that informal care is not easily compatible with a range of situations in life. This is especially confirmed by findings of negative health effects of informal caregiving. Based on these findings, it could be suspected that there have to be large effects on employment, as individuals with health restrictions are supposed to work less. Indeed, findings on effects of informal care provision on employment indicate a rather small or even an insignificant effect. We think that health problems become manifest in some form or another. Thus, the effects of informal care provision on labor supply are possibly larger than it has been assumed so far. To verify our hypothesis, we examine the effects of informal caregiving on a health related labormarket outcome in the form of work disability days using administrative data of Germany's largest sickness fund, the Techniker Krankenkasse with more than 5 million observations. In order to identify the effects of informal care on work disability days, linear regression models are estimated in which is controlled for timeinvariant heterogeneity. The results illustrate a significant positive relationship between informal caregiving and the number of work disability days. |
| Abstract: | Während als eindeutig belegt gilt, dass die informelle Pflege durch Angehörige die in Deutschland am weitesten verbreitete Pflegeform darstellt, besteht in der Literatur kein Konsens über die Auswirkungen der Erbringung derartiger Pflegeleistungen auf die Arbeitsmarktpartizipation und Gesundheit. Die Ergebnisse bereits vorhandener Studien weisen zwar überwiegend auf negative Effekte der Pflege auf die Gesundheit hin, dies spiegelt sich jedoch nicht in einer entsprechenden Verringerung des Arbeitsangebotes wider. Ziel dieser Studie ist es daher zu untersuchen, inwiefern es eine indirekte Verringerung des Arbeitsangebotes gibt, die aus der gesundheitlichen Belastung durch die Pflege resultiert und sich womöglich auf Arbeitsunfähigkeitstage auswirkt. Hierzu werden Routinedaten Deutschlands größter Krankenkasse (der Techniker Krankenkasse) mit über 10 Millionen Versicherten ausgewertet. Die Ergebnisse zeigen große Effekte der informellen Pflegeerbringung auf die Arbeitsunfähigkeitstage, was darauf hinweist, dass die Arbeitsmarkteffekte ohne die Betrachtung der Arbeitsunfähigkeitstage in der bisher existierenden Literatur unterschätzt wurden. |
| Keywords: | informal care,work disability days,demographic change,ageing society,administrative data,fixed-effects |
| JEL: | I10 J10 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:616&r=eur |
| By: | Coviello, Decio; Guglielmo, Andrea; Spagnolo, Giancarlo |
| Abstract: | We run a regression discontinuity design analysis to document the causal effect of increasing buyers' discretion on procurement outcomes in a large database for public works in Italy. Works with a value above a given threshold have to be awarded through an open auction. Works below this threshold can be more easily awarded through a restricted auction, where the buyer has some discretion in terms of who (not) to invite to bid. Our main result is that discretion increases the probability that the same firm wins repeatedly, and it does not deteriorate (and may improve) the procurement outcomes we observe. The effects of discretion persist when we repeat the analysis controlling for the geographical location, corruption, social capital and judicial efficiency in the region of the public buyers running the auctions. |
| Keywords: | Procurement; Regression Discontinuity; Regulatory Discretion; Restricted Auctions |
| JEL: | C31 D02 D44 L11 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:11286&r=eur |
| By: | Lindgren, Karl-Oskar (IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy); Oskarsson, Sven (Uppsala universitet); Persson, Mikael (Göteborgs universitet) |
| Abstract: | How does availability of education affect who becomes a political representative? Theorists have pointed out access to education as a key to a well-functioning democracy, but few empirical studies have examined how changes in the access to education influence the chances of becoming a politician. In this paper we analyze the effects of a substantial series of school openings during the early 20th century in Sweden which provided adolescents with better access to secondary education. We use unique administrative data pertaining to the entire Swedish population born between 1916 and 1945. According to our empirical results the opening of a new lower secondary school in a municipality increased the baseline probability of running for political office by more than 10 percent and the probability of holding office by more than 20 percent. |
| Keywords: | education; political representation; elections |
| JEL: | H70 I20 |
| Date: | 2016–04–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2016_007&r=eur |