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on Microeconomic European Issues |
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Issue of 2018‒02‒19
thirty papers chosen by Giuseppe Marotta Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia |
| By: | Adhurim Haxhimusa (Research Institute for Regulatory Economics, Vienna University of Economics and Business) |
| Abstract: | We examine the relationship between German wind and solar electricity and French spot price volatility. Using hourly data, we find that French imports from Germany driven by German wind and solar electricity sometimes decrease, sometimes increase the volatility of French spot prices. These two opposing effects depend on the shape of the French supply function and on the French demand. We, therefore, estimate different coefficients for imports depending on different demand levels. We acknowledge the endogeneity problem in identifying these effects and employ instrumental variable techniques to circumvent this problem. Our results show the urgent need for further coordination of national energy policies in order to reduce the potential for negative spill over effects of nationally driven energy policies in neighbouring countries as European electricity markets are becoming more integrated. |
| Keywords: | Wind and Solar Electricity, Price Volatility, Market Integration, Electricity Markets |
| JEL: | F15 L81 L98 Q42 Q48 |
| Date: | 2018–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwwuw:wuwp258&r=eur |
| By: | Haxhimusa, Adhurim |
| Abstract: | We examine the relationship between German wind and solar electricity and French spot price volatility. Using hourly data, we find that French imports from Germany driven by German wind and solar electricity sometimes decrease, sometimes increase the volatility of French spot prices. These two opposing effects depend on the shape of the French supply function and on the French demand. We, therefore, estimate different coefficients for imports depending on different demand levels. We acknowledge the endogeneity problem in identifying these effects and employ instrumental variable techniques to circumvent this problem. Our results show the urgent need for further coordination of national energy policies in order to reduce the potential for negative spill over effects of nationally driven energy policies in neighbouring countries as European electricity markets are becoming more integrated. |
| Keywords: | wind and solar electricity; price volatility; market integration; electricity markets |
| Date: | 2018–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wus005:6019&r=eur |
| By: | Francesco Fasani (QMUL, CReAM, IZA and CEPR); Tommaso Frattini (University of Milan, LdA, CReAM, IZA and CEPR) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we use repeated cross-sectional survey data to study the labour market performance of refugees across several EU countries and over time. In the first part, we document that labour market outcomes for refugees are consistently worse than those of other comparable migrants. The gap remains sizeable even after controlling for individual characteristics as well as for cohort and destination country. Refugees are 11.6 percent less likely to have a job and 22.1 percent more likely to be unemployed than migrants with similar characteristics. Moreover, their income, occupational quality and labour market participation are also relatively weaker. This gap persists until about 10 years after immigration. In the second part, we assess the role of asylum policies in explaining the observed refugee gap. We conduct a difference-in-differences analysis that exploits the differential timing of dispersal policy enactment across European countries: we show that refugee cohorts exposed to these policies have persistently worse labour market outcomes. Further, we find that entry cohorts admitted when refugee status recognition rates are relatively high integrate better into the host country labour market. |
| Keywords: | Asylum seekers; assimilation; refugee gap; asylum policies. |
| JEL: | F22 J61 J15 |
| Date: | 2018–02–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csl:devewp:435&r=eur |
| By: | Anna Matysiak; Tomáš Sobotka; Daniele Vignoli |
| Abstract: | This study investigates how the changes in labour market conditions and economic growth affected fertility before and during the recent economic recession in Europe. To this end, we use data for 258 European regions in 28 European Union (EU) member states and Iceland. We apply three-level growth-curve models which allow for a great deal of flexibility in modelling temporal change and handling hierarchically structured data. Our findings show that fertility decline was strongly related to unemployment increase and that this relationship was significant at all ages. Fertility responded to worsening economic conditions especially in Southern Europe and in Central and Eastern Europe, i.e. two broad regions which were considerably affected by the recession and where welfare policies provided lowest support against poverty and unemployment. |
| Keywords: | Fertility, economic uncertainty, economic recession, Europe, regional differences, unemployment. |
| Date: | 2018–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vid:wpaper:1802&r=eur |
| By: | D'Ambrosio, Conchita; Clark, Andrew E.; Barazzetta, Marta |
| Abstract: | We here consider the effect of the level of income that individuals consider to be fair for the job they do, which we take as measure of comparison income, on both subjective well-being and objective future job quitting. In six waves of German Socio-Economic Panel data, the extent to which own labour income is perceived to be unfair is significantly negatively correlated with subjective well-being, both in terms of cognitive evaluations (life and job satisfaction) and affect (the frequency of feeling happy, sad and angry). Perceived unfairness also translates into objective labour-market behaviour, with current unfair income predicting future job quits. |
| Keywords: | Fair income, subjective well-being, quits, SOEP |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpm:docweb:1802&r=eur |
| By: | Tommaso Agasisti (Politecnico di Milano School of Management); Veronica Minaya (Politecnico di Milano School of Management) |
| Abstract: | School performance estimates have been used worldwide for both high-and low-stakes accountability purposes. It is expected that by evaluating school performance and making these results public, parents will use them to choose schools and schools will be motivated to increase performance. An institutional debate of this kind is likely to start in the near future in Italy, given the growing availability of indicators obtained through standardized test scores in reading and mathematics. Using administrative data provided by INVALSI (National Evaluation Committee for Education), this paper explores the stability of performance estimates for Italian primary schools. We first construct school performance metrics using INVALSI standardized tests and quarterly teacher assessments, by taking advantage of a rich array of individual level variables (including prior achievement) that allow us to estimate a school-effect in a ‘value added’ perspective. We then explore how sensitive school ratings are to the choice of performance metric and the use of different models to account for compositional differences due to students’ socioeconomic background. We also assess both cross-sectional differences in performance across schools and the persistence of these differences across cohorts. We find that school performance estimates are very robust whatever the models employed to control for compositional differences, but they are inconsistent across metrics and cohorts. We conclude that before using this kind of school-effects’ estimates for school choice purposes, more data and research is needed to understand the factors that drives the impact of a specific school on students’ results. |
| Keywords: | accountability, school choice, school value-added |
| JEL: | I21 |
| Date: | 2018–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipu:wpaper:67&r=eur |
| By: | Marco Cucculelli; Valentina Peruzzi (Università Politecnica delle Marche); Alberto Zazzaro (University of Naples Federico II, CSEF and MoFiR.) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the role of a family CEO’s relational capital and a non-family CEO’s managerial abilities in the context of bank relationships for a large sample of small- and medium-sized European firms. We begin by examining whether the relational capital embodied in the family leadership of the company influences the lending relationship with the bank in terms of information sensitivity and duration. Next, we test how banks value in their credit decisions the leadership of professionals and their managerial skills with respect to the relational capital of family CEOs. The results indicate that family businesses appointing managers from within the family are significantly more likely to maintain soft-information-based and longer-lasting lending relationships. However, family executives do not have a negative impact on the firm’s access to credit, while the creation of soft-information-based and long-lasting lending relationships significantly reduce the likelihood of experiencing credit restrictions. In view of these findings, family relational capital appears to have a univocal beneficial impact on the bank–firm relationship in our sample. |
| Keywords: | Family firm, family CEO, soft information, relational capital, relationship lending, credit rationing |
| JEL: | D22 G21 G22 |
| Date: | 2018–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sef:csefwp:491&r=eur |
| By: | Francesco Pasimeni (European Commission, JRC , Directorate C7, Knowledge for Energy Union, PO Box 2, NL-1755 ZG Petten, Netherlands; SPRU, University of Sussex, UK); Alessandro Fiorini (European Commission, JRC , Directorate C7, Knowledge for Energy Union, PO Box 2, NL-1755 ZG Petten, Netherlands); Aliki Georgakaki (European Commission, JRC , Directorate C7, Knowledge for Energy Union, PO Box 2, NL-1755 ZG Petten, Netherlands) |
| Abstract: | Information on R&D expenditure of the private sector is very limited, both in term of availability and data quality, especially when interest focuses on Climate Change Mitigation Technologies (CCMTs). This has an impact on the robustness of quantitative analyses, and, consequently, on the insights deriving from them. This paper proposes a methodology to estimate R&D expenditure in firms simultaneously active in multiple technology sectors, with the focus on those contributing to the development of CCMTs. The methodological approach is applied to measure how the private sector invests in R&D dedicated to CCMTs, and how this differentiates among European countries. Further the paper proposes metrics to analyse the geographical distribution of the R&D expenditures in Multinational Corporations (MNCs) across subsidiaries located in Europe. Early findings are formulated into useful insights for stakeholders and policy makers. |
| Keywords: | R&D; Patent; Invention; Climate change mitigation technologies; Energy sector |
| JEL: | C81 O32 O34 O38 Q48 |
| Date: | 2018–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sru:ssewps:2018-06&r=eur |
| By: | Mabel Sanchez-Barrioluengo (European Commission - JRC); Sara Flisi (European Commission - JRC) |
| Abstract: | Member States have committed themselves to promoting the learning mobility of young people following the 2011 Communication on an agenda for the modernisation of Europe’s higher education system (COM(2011) 567). The Council conclusions on a benchmark for learning mobility (2011/C 372/08) specified that by 2020 ‘an EU average of at least 20% of higher education graduates should have had a period of higher education-related study or training abroad’. In this report, two types of mobility are distinguished, namely degree mobility and credit mobility, both of which are included in the benchmark. Little research has been carried out on international student mobility determinants in general and on Erasmus students in particular, especially taking into account the regional dimension of learning mobility. This report focuses on student mobility in the EU between 2011 and 2014, through the description of the main destinations of mobile students, as well as on inward mobility across and within countries (measured as the share of mobile students on total student population), with a particular focus on institutions and regions. It also analyses the main factors associated with degree and credit mobility, taking into account different tertiary education levels (i.e. undergraduate, master and PhD level), through the comparison between institutional factors (teaching and research activities of universities as well as their reputation) and regional attractiveness (level of urbanisation, employment opportunities and regional education systems). There are five main conclusions from this report. First, in relation to the most attractive destinations, degree mobility appears to be very concentrated in a few countries, while credit mobility tends to be more equally distributed across Member States. Second, degree mobility is higher than credit mobility across and within countries. Third, institutional characteristics tend to be associated with student mobility more than regional ones. Fourth, among institutional characteristics, better quality universities and those with a higher reputation are associated with a higher share of mobile students, while research orientation and excellence are more relevant for degree mobile PhD students. Fifth, among regional characteristics, the level of urbanisation of the region is an important factor in shaping students’ mobility: high-density regions have higher degree mobility rates, but a lower share of credit mobile students. |
| Keywords: | student mobility, university, institutional and regional attractiveness, teaching, research. |
| JEL: | I23 J69 |
| Date: | 2017–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc108895&r=eur |
| By: | Jan Bruha; Michal Hlavacek; Lubos Komarek |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we investigate whether movements in property prices have detectable effects on Czech households' consumption and saving decisions. We concentrate on three episodes of movements in house and apartment prices and ask whether property owners have significantly different consumption and saving choices from households living in rented properties. We found that, on average, property owners tend to have a lower propensity to consume and a higher saving rate independently of whether property prices move up or down. This casts doubts on the strength of the collateral channel linking the housing market to the macroeconomy in the Czech Republic. |
| Keywords: | Consumption and saving decisions, property prices |
| JEL: | D12 D14 E21 R31 |
| Date: | 2017–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cnb:wpaper:2017/11&r=eur |
| By: | Teichert, Christian; Niebuhr, Annekatrin (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]); Otto, Anne (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]); Rossen, Anja (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]) |
| Abstract: | "We use administrative social security records and event history methods to investigate graduate migration in Germany. The results indicate that most migration events happen up to seven years after graduation. Work experience gathered before and during the studies influences the migration decision, pointing to the importance of labour market contacts and social networks. In contrast to previous studies we do not detect a genuine negative duration dependence for the probability of leaving the region of study. When labour market entry outside the university region is considered there is some indication for cumulative stress." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) |
| Keywords: | Hochschulabsolventen, regionale Mobilität, Studienabschluss, Abwanderung, Hochschule, Standort, Mobilitätsbereitschaft - Determinanten, regionaler Arbeitsmarkt, soziale Beziehungen, Berufseinmündung, Integrierte Erwerbsbiografien |
| JEL: | C41 J61 R23 |
| Date: | 2018–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabdpa:201803&r=eur |
| By: | Friese, Maria; Heimeshoff, Ulrich; Klein, Gordon |
| Abstract: | This paper provides evidence that ownership and organization matters for the efficiency of provision of public services. In particular, we find that pure private ownership is more efficient than pure public ownership, and public ownership is more efficient than mixed ownership. The delegation of management in different legal forms also has an impact, highlighting the importance of the design of the government-operator relationship. We apply a structural approach of production function estimation ensuring precise determination of total factor productivity for a panel of German refuse collection firms between 2000-2012. We project total factor productivity estimates on ownership and organization. Our results are in line with the trade-offs implied by the property rights literature and provide important policy implications regarding the organization of public service provision. |
| Keywords: | productive efficiency,refuse collection,public service |
| JEL: | D2 H1 L3 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:dicedp:282&r=eur |
| By: | Berggren, Niclas (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)); Bjørnskov, Christian (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)) |
| Abstract: | Since the early 1980s a wave of liberalizing reforms has swept over the world. While the stated motivation for these reforms has usually been to increase economic efficiency, some critics have instead inferred ulterior motives and a desire to enrich certain (already rich) people at the expense of others. This critique, coupled with the claim that many of the reforms have been undertaken during different crises so as to bypass potential opponents, suggests that people will dislike the reforms and even be less satisfied with democracy as such. We test this hypothesis empirically, using panel data from 30 European countries in the period 1993–2015. The dependent variable is the average satisfaction with democracy, while the reform measures are constructed as distinct changes in four policy areas: government size, the rule of law, openness and regulation. Our results indicate that while reforms of government size are not robustly related to satisfaction with democracy, reforms of the other three kinds are – and in a way that runs counter to the anti-liberalization claims. Reforms that reduce economic freedom are generally related to satisfaction with democracy in a negative way, while reforms that increase economic freedom are positively associated with satisfaction with democracy. Voters also react more negatively to left-wing governments introducing reforms that de-liberalize. It thus seems as if the hypothesis of a general negative reaction towards liberalizing reforms taking the form of reduced satisfaction with democracy does not stand up to empirical scrutiny, at least not in our European sample. |
| Keywords: | Government satisfaction; Reforms; Crisis; Public choice; Voting; Institutions |
| JEL: | D02 D72 H11 P11 Z18 |
| Date: | 2018–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1197&r=eur |
| By: | Bettina Peters; Rebecca Riley; Iulia Siedschlag; Priit Vahter; John McQuinn |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the links between internationalisation, innovation and productivity in service enterprises. For this purpose, we use micro data from the Community Innovation Survey 2008 in Germany, Ireland and the United Kingdom, and estimate an augmented structural model. Our empirical evidence highlights the importance of internationalisation in the context of innovation outputs in all three countries. Our results indicate that innovation in service enterprises is linked to higher productivity. In all three countries analysed, among the innovation types that we consider, the strongest link between innovation and productivity was found with marketing innovations. |
| Keywords: | internationalisation of services; innovation; productivity |
| JEL: | L25 O31 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtk:febawb:108&r=eur |
| By: | Marie Blaise |
| Abstract: | Using panel data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), I examine the incentives underlying care provision including the effects of altruism (1), the exchange motive (2) and the family norms (3) on the informal care decision in an ascendant family model. These estimates suggest that altruism and the exchange motive are the main drivers of the caregiver's decision. Furthermore, the empirical results are in favour of a North-South gradient since the motives driving the care decision differ according to the countries. Finally, the findings confirm well-known results: females are the main caregivers and having siblings relieves the care burden. |
| Keywords: | IInformal care, altruism, exchange model, norm transmission. |
| JEL: | D12 D64 I12 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulp:sbbeta:2018-12&r=eur |
| By: | Björn Kauder; Niklas Potrafke; Heinrich Ursprung |
| Abstract: | Using a representative survey of German university students, we confirm that proclaimed support for environment protection policies depends on socio-cultural factors and political ideology. Unlike most related studies for other countries, we find that the environmental policy stance of German partisans does not follow the left-right cleavage. Only about 25% of the social-democratic partisans wholeheartedly support environment protection policies, whereas 50% of the green partisans, who, in Germany, also belong to the political left, do so; and when controlling for socio-cultural influences, social-democratic partisans become undistinguishable from Christian-conservative and market-oriented partisans. Focusing on behavioral influences, we find that some of the respondents’ psychological traits are not filtered through their political ideology but directly influence their proclaimed attitudes towards environment protection policies. We identify as important behavioral determinants the locus of control and psycho-logical traits that capture the respondents’ susceptibility to making use of expressive rhetoric. |
| Keywords: | Environment protection, political preferences, ideology, identity, expressive behavior. |
| JEL: | D72 P16 Q51 Q58 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ifowps:_254&r=eur |
| By: | Barry Michael; Moritz Schillinger; René Schumann; Hannes Weigt (University of Basel) |
| Abstract: | Hydropower (HP) is expected to play an important role in the European energy transition by providing back-up and storage capacity as well as flexibility for intermittent renewable energies. However, due to low electricity market prices the profitability of HP decreased in recent years. In this paper, we analyze historic revenue potentials and future market prospects for HP taking into account different development paths. Using a short-term HP operation model to capture market opportunities as well as technical and natural constraints of HP plants, we model three representative Swiss HP plants. The results indicate that in the last years, balancing markets could have provided significant additional revenues for HP plants. However, accounting for uncertainties and market characteristics, the potential of balancing markets is reduced but cross-market optimization is still beneficial. Looking into the future, market price prospects for the coming decade are low to modest. Global fuel markets and the European Union Emissions Trading System (ETS) will be the main drivers for decisions for Swiss HP. The revenue potential from balancing markets will be reduced significantly in the future if all Swiss HP operators aim for balancing. While optimized operation across markets helps Swiss HP to increase its revenues, it is limited in scale. |
| Keywords: | hydropower; cross-market optimization; balancing; Switzerland |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bsl:wpaper:2017/19&r=eur |
| By: | Coban, Mustafa; Sauerhammer, Sarah |
| Abstract: | Relying on harmonized individual data for Germany and the United States, we perform a country comparison regarding the underlying mechanisms of the intergenerational income mobility. By applying descriptive and structural decomposition methods, we estimate the relative importance of the transmission of financial resources and endowments within a family. Although the results from both approaches are similar, the structural decompositions rather allow a causal interpretation due to instrumenting the transmission channels. Whereas a family's financial resources and endowments almost equally contribute to the intergenerational income mobility in Germany, endowments account for solely 30 percent in the United States. Nonlinearities in the transmission channels along the income distribution in the United States indicate that the endowment effect slightly decreases in relative importance across income percentiles. In Germany, there are no significant nonlinearities at all. |
| Keywords: | intergenerational income elasticity,intergenerational mobility,financial resources,human capital |
| JEL: | I24 J24 J62 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:wuewwb:138&r=eur |
| By: | Koehler, Mila |
| Abstract: | In Germany, R&D subsidies are an important tool to support innovation in the private sector. This paper studies the welfare effects of R&D subsidies distributed through the German federal government's thematic R&D programs between 1994 and 2011. The analysis is based on a structural model of the R&D subsidy process which allows to estimate the benefits of R&D subsides to the German economy. The model takes into account heterogeneous application costs of firms and identifies the effect of the subsidy on the federal government's utility as well as on firm profits. Assuming a welfare-maximizing federal government, the estimated average social rate of return is 34% for Germany in the period 1994 to 2011. Thereby effects on firm profits are similar to effects on spillovers to the rest of the German economy. Besides results show that the subsidy rate decision in Germany remained remarkably stable over time, and that application costs as well as the marginal profitability of subsidized R&D projects are lower after the year 2000 compared to the years before. |
| Keywords: | R&D,Innovation,R&D Subsidies,Innovation Policy,Welfare Economics |
| JEL: | D61 H25 L59 O31 O38 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:18002&r=eur |
| By: | Dagmara Nikulin (Gdansk University of Technology, Gdansk, Poland); Maciej Berêsewicz (Poznañ University of Economics and Business, Centre for Small Area Estimation, Statistical Office in Poznañ, Poznan, Poland) |
| Abstract: | The main goal of our article is to bridge the gap in the regional analysis of informal employment in Poland and in particular to indicate the propensity for informal work in the working age population, to test if informal activities are typical for marginalized people (less educated, unemployed, older) and to identify the regional and spatial heterogeneity in the propensity. We use data from the ‘Human Capital Balance 2010-2014’ survey. Results indicate a strong relationship between the probability of informal work and age, sex and labour force status. Moreover, a strong spatial dependency can be observed. |
| Keywords: | Informal employment propensity, unregistered work, shadow economy, spatial Bayesian analysis, INLA |
| JEL: | J21 R12 R23 |
| Date: | 2018–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gdk:wpaper:47&r=eur |
| By: | Hugh Gravelle (Centre for Health Economics, University of York, York, UK); Dan Liu (Centre for Health Economics, University of York, York, UK); Carol Propper (Imperial College London, UK); Rita Santos (Centre for Health Economics, University of York, York, UK) |
| Abstract: | We examine whether family doctor firms in England respond to local competition by increasing their quality. We measure quality in terms of clinical performance and patient-reported satisfaction to capture its multi-dimensional nature. We use a panel covering 8 years for over 8000 English general practices, allowing us to control for unobserved local area effects. We measure competition by the number of rival doctors within a small distance. We find that increases in local competition are associated with increases in clinical quality and patient satisfaction, particularly for firms with lower quality. However, the magnitude of the effect is small. |
| Keywords: | Quality, healthcare, choice, competition, family physicians |
| JEL: | I11 I18 |
| Date: | 2018–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chy:respap:151cherp&r=eur |
| By: | Marco Bertoni; Giorgio Brunello; Lorenzo Cappellari (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore; Dipartimento di Economia e Finanza, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore) |
| Abstract: | We investigate whether the effects of schoolmates’ gender and average parental education on educational achievement, employment and earnings vary with individual family characteristics such as the gender of siblings and own parental education. We find that the benefits from exposure to “privileged” peers accrue mainly to “disadvantaged” students and decline when the dispersion of parental education in the school increases. We also show that boys with sisters who are exposed to a higher share of girls at school have poorer employment prospects. The opposite is true for girls who have sisters. Overall, the size of the estimated effects is small. |
| Keywords: | education peer effects, gender, parental background, human capital production, long term outcomes. |
| JEL: | I21 J16 J24 |
| Date: | 2018–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctc:serie1:def064&r=eur |
| By: | Czarnitzki, Dirk; Hünermund, Paul; Moshgbar, Nima |
| Abstract: | The use of public procurement to promote private innovation activities has attracted increasing attention recently. Germany implemented a legal change in its procurement framework in 2009, which allowed government agencies to specify innovative aspects of procured products as selection criteria in tender calls. We analyze a representative sample of German firms to investigate whether this reform stimulated innovation in the business sector. Across a wide set of specifications - OLS, nearest-neighbor matching, IV regressions and difference-in-differences - we find a robust and significant effect of innovationdirected public procurement on turnover from new products and services. However, our results show that the effect is largely attributable to innovations of more incremental nature rather than market novelties. |
| Keywords: | Public Procurement of Innovation,Public Procurement with Contracted Innovation,Technical Change,Research and Development,Econometric Policy Evaluation |
| JEL: | H57 O38 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:18001&r=eur |
| By: | Henrik Kleven; Camille Landais; Jakob Egholt Søgaard |
| Abstract: | Despite considerable gender convergence over time, substantial gender inequality persists in all countries. Using Danish administrative data from 1980-2013 and an event study approach, we show that most of the remaining gender inequality in earnings is due to children. The arrival of children creates a gender gap in earnings of around 20% in the long run, driven in roughly equal proportions by labor force participation, hours of work, and wage rates. Underlying these “child penalties”, we find clear dynamic impacts on occupation, promotion to manager, sector, and the family friendliness of the firm for women relative to men. Based on a dynamic decomposition framework, we show that the fraction of gender inequality caused by child penalties has increased dramatically over time, from about 40% in 1980 to about 80% in 2013. As a possible explanation for the persistence of child penalties, we show that they are transmitted through generations, from parents to daughters (but not sons), consistent with an influence of childhood environment in the formation of women’s preferences over family and career. |
| JEL: | J13 J16 J21 J22 J31 |
| Date: | 2018–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:24219&r=eur |
| By: | Paolo Brunori; Paul Hufe; Daniel Gerszon Mahler |
| Abstract: | We propose a set of new methods to estimate inequality of opportunity based on conditional inference regression trees. In particular, we illustrate how these methods represent a substantial improvement over existing empirical approaches to measure in equality of opportunity. First, they minimize the risk of arbitrary and ad-hoc model selection. Second, they provide a standardized way of trading off upward and downward biases in inequality of opportunity estimations. Finally, regression trees can be graphically represented; their structure is immediate to read and easy to understand. This will make the measurement of inequality of opportunity more easily comprehensible to a large audience. These advantages are illustrated by an empirical application based on the 2011 wave of the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions. |
| Keywords: | Equality of opportunity; machine learning; random forests. |
| JEL: | D31 D63 C38 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ifowps:_252&r=eur |
| By: | Petr Huber (Austrian Institute for Economic Research (WIFO) and Faculty of Business and Economics, Mendel University in Brno.); Josef Montag (International School of Economics, Kazakh-British Technical University and Department of Economics, Mendel University in Brno) |
| Abstract: | We study whether the positive effects of homeownership on political participation and social capital, found in developed market economies, extend to post-communist countries. We find that homeownership is strongly related to higher participation in local-level and national elections. In post- communist countries, homeownership is also related to higher social trust. However, the positive association between homeownership and volunteering found in developed market economies does not extend to post-communist countries. Together, our results corroborate that homeownership is associated with positive social benefits. However, these effects are highly heterogeneous and context- dependent. |
| Keywords: | Homeownership, social capital, political participation, post-communist countries |
| JEL: | D62 D72 P14 P26 |
| Date: | 2018–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:men:wpaper:74_2018&r=eur |
| By: | Castaldi Carolina (School of Innovation Sciences, Eindhoven University of Technology); Mafini Dosso (European Commission - JRC) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the links between the market capability of top corporate R&D investors (EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboards), as captured by trademark data and their economic performance in terms of net sales growth. It provides empirical evidence to better understand the extent to which companies, operating in different industrial sectors, combine technological capabilities with commercialization efforts to generate and appropriate the economic returns of their R&D investments. This paper shows how different dimensions of firms’ market capabilities can be captured through trademark indicators. The results suggest that complementing R&D efforts and patenting activities with strong and specific market capabilities can indeed yield significant growth premiums. Moreover, offering services seems to pay off depending on the intensity of R&D investments. Yet, a quantile regression approach and a series of robustness checks indicate that such effects differ across the quantiles of the conditional sales growth distribution. |
| Keywords: | R&D, trademarks, innovation, sales, services |
| JEL: | O32 O34 L10 |
| Date: | 2018–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:wpaper:201801&r=eur |
| By: | Régis BLAZY (LaRGE Research Center, Université de Strasbourg); Nirjhar NIGAM (CEREFIGE and LARGE Research Centers, ICN Business School) |
| Abstract: | Our paper investigates a comprehensive sample of 574 English corporate insolvency cases, including direct liquidation cases. In contrast to other insolvency procedures, liquidations perform poorly on average and fail to produce satisfactory repayments to creditors. We run multinomial Logit regressions to explain the choice between liquidation and reorganization. We obtain three main results. First, we confirm that size matters: distressed firms owning low assets have higher chances of being liquidated immediately. Second, the presence of secured creditors decreases the risk of direct liquidation. This provides a clue that in England, the most-informed creditors adapt their strategies and turn away from the less-performing procedures. Third, we find that the likelihood of administration—which appears nowadays as the main alternative to direct liquidation—significantly depends on the proportion of fixed/current assets owned by the firms. |
| Keywords: | liquidation, reorganization, receivership, administration, corporate insolvency, England |
| JEL: | G33 G38 K20 K22 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lar:wpaper:2018-02&r=eur |
| By: | Gaeta, Giuseppe Lucio; Lubrano Lavadera, Giuseppe; Pastore, Francesco |
| Abstract: | The wage effect of overeducation has only recently been investigated in the case of Ph.D. holders. The existing contributions rely on OLS estimates that allow measuring the average effect of being educationally mismatched at the mean of the conditional wage distribution. This paper, instead, observes the heterogeneity of the overeducation penalty along the hourly wage distribution and according to the study field and sector of employment (academic/non-academic) of Ph.D. holders. We estimate a Recentered Influence Function. The results reveal that overeducation hits the wages of those Ph.D. holders who are employed in the academic sector and in non-R&D jobs outside of the academic sector. Instead, no penalty exists among those who carry out R&D outside the Academia. The size of the penalty is higher among those who are in the mid-top of the wage distribution and hold a Social Science and Humanities specialization. |
| Keywords: | Job-education mismatch,Overeducation,Wages,Ph.D. holders,Unconditional quantile regression,Italy |
| JEL: | C26 I23 J13 J24 J28 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:180&r=eur |
| By: | Tingyun Chen; Jean-Jacques Hallaert; Alexander Pitt; Haonan Qu; Maximilien Queyranne; Alaina Rhee; Anna Shabunina; Jérôme Vandenbussche; Irene Yackovlev |
| Abstract: | This SDN studies the evolution of inequality across age groups leading up to and since the global financial crisis, as well as implications for fiscal and labor policies. Europe’s population is aging, child and youth poverty are rising, and income support systems are often better equipped to address old-age poverty than the challenges faced by poor children and/or unemployed youth today. |
| Keywords: | Income inequality;Poverty and inequality;Fiscal policy;Labor policy;Labor market policy;Income inequality;Poverty and inequality;Fiscal policy;Labor policy;Labor market policy |
| Date: | 2018–01–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfsdn:18/01&r=eur |