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on Microeconomic European Issues |
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Issue of 2019‒03‒18
27 papers chosen by Giuseppe Marotta Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia |
| By: | Antoine Dechezleprêtre; Caterina Gennaioli; Ralf Martin; Mirabelle Muûls; Thomas Stoerk |
| Abstract: | Does unilateral climate change policy cause companies to shift the location of production, thereby creating carbon leakage? In this paper, we analyse the effect of the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) on the geographical distribution of carbon emissions of multinational companies. The empirical evidence is based on unique data for the period 2007-2014 from the Carbon Disclosure Project, which tracks emissions of multinational businesses by geographical region. Because they already operate from multiple locations, multinational firms should be the most prone to carbon leakage. Our data includes regional emissions of 1,122 companies, of which 261 are subject to EU ETS regulation. We find no evidence that the EU ETS has led to a displacement of carbon emissions from Europe towards the rest of the world, including in countries with no climate policy in place and within energy-intensive companies. A large number of robustness checks confirm this finding. Overall, the paper suggest that modest differences in carbon prices between countries do not induce carbon leakage. |
| Keywords: | carbon leakage, EU ETS, multinationals |
| JEL: | D22 F23 Q56 Q58 |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1601&r=all |
| By: | Rezart Hoxhaj; Maarten Vink; Tijana Prokic-Breuer |
| Abstract: | Does citizenship facilitate access to employment and higher status jobs? Existing case studies have produced mixed results across mostly single case studies in Europe and North America. To investigate whether this heterogeneity depends on varying institutional and socio-economic conditions, in this paper we analyse the labour market outcomes of immigrants who have naturalised in 13 West European countries. Our empirical analysis draws on data from the 2014 European Labour Force Survey Ad Hoc Module on immigrants. In order to cope with the selective nature of the naturalisation process, we employ a bivariate probit model that accounts for unobserved characteristics of naturalising immigrants. Our main results show a positive relationship across these destination countries between citizenship and the probability of employment for both immigrant men and women, as well as between citizenship and occupational status for men. Liberalising the access to citizenship does not diminish the positive returns on employment from naturalisation. For immigrant men there is evidence of a trade-off between easier access to citizenship and the returns on occupational status. |
| Keywords: | Citizenship, Employment, Job status, Western Europe |
| JEL: | J15 J61 |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rsc:rsceui:2019/16&r=all |
| By: | Gabriele Mari; Giorgio Cutuli |
| Abstract: | Women-friendly policies may have perverse effects on the wages of employed women and mothers in particular. Yet few have addressed the causal impact of such policies and the mechanisms they might trigger at the individual level to produce such wage responses. We assess if and how two decades of reforms of parental leave schemes in Germany have shaped changes in the motherhood wage penalty over time. We compare two sweeps of reforms inspired by opposite principles, one allowing for longer periods out of paid work, the other prompting quicker re-entry in the labour market. We deploy panel data (SOEP 1985-2014) and a within-person difference-in-differences design. Motherhood wage penalties were found to be harsher than previously assessed in the 1990s. As parental leave reform triggered longer time spent on leave coupled with better tenure accumulation, wage losses for mothers remained stable in this first period. Conversely, we can no longer detect motherhood wage penalties for women affected by the later reform. Shorter career breaks and increased work hours may have benefited new mothers in the late 2000s, leading to a substantial improvement in their wage prospects. |
| Keywords: | Parental leave, motherhood wage penalty, difference-in-difference, gender inequality |
| JEL: | D13 J13 J16 J31 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp1025&r=all |
| By: | Philipp Lergetporer; Ludger Wößmann |
| Abstract: | Public preferences for charging tuition are important for determining higher education finance. To test whether public support for tuition depends on information and design, we devise several survey experiments in representative samples of the German electorate (N>19,500). The electorate is divided, with a slight plurality opposing tuition. Providing information on the university earnings premium raises support for tuition by 7 percentage points, turning the plurality in favor. The opposition-reducing effect persists two weeks after treatment. Information on fiscal costs and unequal access does not affect public preferences. Designing tuition as deferred income-contingent payments raises support by 16 percentage points, creating a strong majority favoring tuition. The same effect emerges when framed as loan payments. Support decreases with higher tuition levels and increases when targeted at non-EU students. |
| Keywords: | tuition, higher education, political economy, survey experiments, information, earnings premium, income-contingent loans, voting |
| JEL: | I22 H52 D72 D83 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7536&r=all |
| By: | Hohenleitner, Ingrid; Hillmann, Katja |
| Abstract: | This study provides the first comprehensive analysis of sanction effects on post-welfare employment quality in Europe using the outcome variables daily wage, yearly income, and covering job stability with the durations of three employment states: employed, unemployed, and supplementary benefit receipt. Applying PSM, we estimate the treatment effects (ATT) of UB-II-sanctions in Germany based on a rich administrative data set. Novelties of this study are the analysis of postwelfare sanction effects also for employed welfare recipients ("Aufstocker") and for indirectly affected employable household members. Our analyses reveal highly significant and strongly negative effects of benefit sanctions on the quality of post-welfare employment in the short and long run. In terms of income and employment stability we find a catch-up process which is by far not strong enough to compensate the loss within two years. For employed welfare recipients the negative effects on income and job stability even exceed the effects for unemployed. Particularly striking are the remarkably strong and highly significant negative effects on indirectly affected unemployed household members. |
| Keywords: | benefit sanctions,sanction effects,post-unemployment employment quality,employment stability,long-term effects,catch-up process,unemployment benefit policy,welfare policy |
| JEL: | I38 J24 J48 J64 J65 J68 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:hwwirp:190&r=all |
| By: | Laura Khoury (PSE - Paris School of Economics, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | Most of the empirical literature related to unemployment insurance (UI) has focused on its impact on outflows from unemployment rather than on inflows. In this paper, I show that workers respond to the design of UI while being employed. I exploit a discontinuity in the level of UI benefits at a particular value of tenure at current job. Using French administrative unemployment data, I analyse the concentration of workers in the tenure distribution at the relevant notch, a phenomenon known as bunching. The bunching mass is used to compute an elasticity of employment spell duration with respect to unemployment benefits. I find an estimate equal to 0.014 in my preferred specification, translating into a 0.5 day of extension for a 10% increase in the replacement rate. This estimate measures strategic behaviours attenuated by optimisation frictions. I identify the underlying mechanism as bargaining between employers and employees who maximise their joint surplus thanks to a state transfer. I find that the elasticity is the highest in the population facing the strongest incentives and in the highest occupations. This heterogeneity can be related to differences either in ability to bargain or in preferences. |
| Keywords: | Unemployment,Behavioural response to taxation,Bunching,Collective bargaining |
| Date: | 2019–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:psewpa:halshs-02057145&r=all |
| By: | Manuela Stranges (Dipartimento di Economia, Statistica e Finanza "Giovanni Anania" - DESF, Università della Calabria); François-Charles Wolff (LEMNA, Université de Nantes, Paris, France) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the trajectories of young migrants arriving in Italy by sea by means of unique data from a centre for reception of refugees and asylum seekers located in the southern region of Calabria during the period 2009-2014. We focus on the influence of family relationships at entry. We find that the length of stay is nearly five times higher for minors who entered in the centre with family than for those arrived alone. More than one-half of minors choose to leave the centre voluntarily and around a quarter are transferred to other places. A multivariate analysis shows that family status is very influential when explaining time spent in the centre. There is substantial heterogeneity in exit motives depending on the minors’ country of origin. Overall, our results raise the issue of the effectiveness of the whole asylum system in Europe since the massive early departures of minors from the centre may suggest that Italy is not their intended destination. |
| Keywords: | migrants, minors, refugees, refugee centre, administrative data, Italy |
| JEL: | O15 F22 N3 |
| Date: | 2019–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:clb:wpaper:201903&r=all |
| By: | Olaf Hübler |
| Abstract: | Based on the German Socio-Economic Panel, the influence of the body mass index on health, earnings and satisfaction is analysed by gender. Basic results are: health worsens, income declines and satisfaction is poorer with higher body mass index. If control variables are added, estimates are split by gender and different effects of over- and underweight people are determined, the health estimates show nonlinear effects but the direction of action is unchanged. Effects on earnings differ. Underweight women earn more and overweight less than others. For normal-weight men the income is on average higher than for over- and underweight men. This is also confirmed for self-employed persons. The pattern for employees is equal to the total sample. No effects on life satisfaction can be found except for underweight men. They reveal less satisfaction. Only in the public sector the sign of the coefficient changes. The results for eastern Germany are different with respect to satisfaction. Overweight women are less satisfied than others while this is not confirmed for underweight men from eastern Germany. When interdependencies are taken into account and matching procedures are applied, the outcome matches to that of independent and unmatched estimates. However, no clear-cut disadvantage in income of underweight men can be found. Stable coefficients result for the health estimates while satisfaction results fluctuate. Underweight women and especially underweight men tend to less happiness. For overweight men the influence is ambiguous but more speaks in favour of a less level of satisfaction. Overweight women seem to be happier. |
| Keywords: | Over- and underweight, health, income, satisfaction, gender, self-confidence, wage earners vs. self-employed, private vs. public sector, eastern vs. western Germany, interdependencies, matching |
| JEL: | I15 I31 J16 J31 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp1024&r=all |
| By: | Mathias Huebener |
| Abstract: | This study analyses the relationship between life expectancy and parental education. Based on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study and survival analysis models, we show that maternal education is related to children’s life expectancy – even after controlling for children’sown level of education. This applies equally to daughters and sons as well as to children’s further life expectancies examined at age 35 to age 65. This pattern is more pronounced for younger cohorts. In most cases, the education of the father is not significantly related to children’s life expectancy. Neither the vocational training nor the occupational position of the parents in childhood, which both correlate with household income, can explain the connection. The health behaviour of the children and the health accumulated over the life course appear as important channels. This study extends the previous literature that focused mostly on the relationship between individuals’ own education and their life expectancy. It implies that the link between education and life expectancy is substantially stronger and that returns to education are higher if the intergenerational component is considered. |
| Keywords: | Health inequality, returns to education, mortality, parental background, human capital, survival analysis |
| JEL: | I12 I14 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp1023&r=all |
| By: | Florian Schoiswohl (Department of Economics, Vienna University of Economics and Business) |
| Abstract: | There is a growing literature studying unemployment dynamics by means of worker flow data between labor market states. This paper contributes to this literature stream by analyzing the dynamics of the Austrian unemployment rate applying novel worker flow data for 2005-2016. Our main results can be summarized along two dimensions: First, we show that worker flows between unemployment and inactivity are major determinants of unemployment fluctuations in Austria. Second, we show for the working-age population that the contribution of male worker flows to the overall variation of the unemployment rate is higher, but that this relation turns when it comes to the youth cohort. The gender differences are probably related to the early occupational and educational segregation of young men and women in Austria. The paper concludes by stressing a strong need for further empirical and theoretical research which aims to link structural differences in an economy with different responses to the business cycle. |
| Keywords: | Worker flows, Unemployment dynamics, Gender, Unemployment gap, Austrian labour market, Youth unemployment |
| JEL: | C81 J21 J63 |
| Date: | 2019–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwwuw:wuwp282&r=all |
| By: | Pastore, Francesco; Pompili, Marco |
| Abstract: | This evaluation study aims to assess the impact of PIPOL, an integrated program of active labor policies, on the employment integration of benefit recipients. To address the issue, we have resorted to a counterfactual approach with data from two main sources: the program administration and compulsory communications on employment and unemployment spells. We found a net impact of 5% on average for on-the-job training, but no impact for off-the-job training. On-the-job training also affects the probability to find permanent work (+3%). This is consistent with the view that young people have excellent theoretical, but very little work-related competences. Off-the-job training does affect the probability to experience at least one labor contract after 2016. These results are partly due to a lock-in effect, namely the tendency of those who attend training programs to delay their job search. Interestingly, we found that the program has a different impact for different typologies of recipients and different types of intervention. In a nutshell, active labor policy works when it generates work-related competences. |
| Keywords: | youth unemployment,school-to-work transition,professional training,on-the-job training,matching,evaluation |
| JEL: | D04 J48 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:333&r=all |
| By: | Bergantino, Angela Stefania; Di Liddo, Giuseppe; Porcelli, Francesco |
| Abstract: | Using a new measure of urban sprawl, we evaluate the impact of urban sprawl on municipal expenditures of Italian municipalities in local public transport, roads and traffic management, and municipal technical offices for the year 2013. Our results suggest that urban sprawl leads to an increase in standard expenditure needs of Italian municipalities for all expenditure categories considered. The relationship between urban sprawl and expenditure is stronger for expenditures in road and traffic management. |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sit:wpaper:19_4&r=all |
| By: | Peter Dolton (Department of Economics, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK; National Institute of Economic and Social Research, London, UK; IZA, Bonn, Germany; CESifo, Munich, Germany); Mehmet Kutluaye (Institute for Environmental Studies, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Tinbergen Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands); Richard S.J. Tol (Department of Economics, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK; CESifo, Munich, Germany; Institute for Environmental Studies, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Tinbergen Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Spatial Economics, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Payne Institute for Earth Resources, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, USA) |
| Abstract: | The funding of the NHS in the UK is in perennial crisis. In times of austerity it is difficult to advocate extra health spending from tax revenue. Our central questions are: how much extra do people think should be spent on the NHS; how much extra tax might they be willing to pay; or to what extent would they like to see public money redistributed away from other public services towards the NHS? We answer these questions using a large survey of the UK general public. On average the answers to these questions are $279, $176 and $33 per person, per year, respectively. We examine people's appetite for other measures to increase spending on patients and find that their spending preferences are somewhat related to their own health but strongly related to their age, gender, religious beliefs, political sentiments, and views on the structure of the NHS. |
| Keywords: | NHS spending, public provision of private good, other regarding preferences, time, risk |
| JEL: | I12 I18 H51 |
| Date: | 2019–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sus:susewp:0719&r=all |
| By: | Liam Kneafsey (Trinity College Dublin); Aidan Regan (University College Dublin) |
| Abstract: | This articles examines the role of the mass media in shoring up popular support for corporate tax avoidance, using the EU’s recent ruling against Apple Inc. in the case of Ireland. Using an original and novel survey experiment, we find that media frames play an important role in shaping attitudes toward Apple’s corporate tax avoidance, and attitudes towards whether the Irish state should challenge the EU ruling. We find that respondents exposed to treatments questioning the morality and fairness of Ireland’s facilitation of Apple tax avoidance are more likely to acknowledge the negative impact on Ireland’s EU neighbours. These results are largely robust to the inclusion of control variables for ideology, age, previous voting behaviour, and gender. These findings suggest that media frames are an important factor in shoring up popular support for those components of national growth regimes that are politically controversial, and play an important role in how business exercises its power over public policy. More broadly, our findings suggest that to understand popular support for national varieties of capitalism in Europe, we need to examine the role of the country-specific media. |
| Keywords: | Comparative political economy; media frames; corporate tax avoidance |
| Date: | 2019–02–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucd:wpaper:201904&r=all |
| By: | Juan Carluccio; Clément Mazet-Sonilhac; Jean-Stéphane Mésonnier |
| Abstract: | We exploit a new dataset of consolidated balance sheets for some 1,850, mostly nonlisted, French corporate groups, in order to investigate the relationship between corporate investment and the cost of capital. Our empirical model is motivated by a standard Q-theory of investment and relates the rate of investment to a proxy for profits, the cost of capital and firm- and sector-level controls. We notably construct firm-level measures of the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) that account for industry-specific values of the cost of equity and reflect the actual capital structure of firms. We find a confirmation that a high WACC drags down investment: a one SD increase in the real WACC (+2 pp) is associated on average with a reduction by 0.65 pp in the investment rate. The effect is somewhat larger for manufacturing firms and when firms are highly leveraged or more dependent on external finance. We also investigate the impact of lower competition or higher uncertainty on business investment and do not find evidence in support of any role of these two factors in France in recent years. |
| Keywords: | Business Investment, Cost of Capital, Uncertainty, Competition |
| JEL: | G31 G32 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bfr:banfra:710&r=all |
| By: | Kube, Roland; von Graevenitz, Kathrine; Löschel, Andreas; Massier, Philipp |
| Abstract: | Voluntary environmental management programs for firms have become an increasingly popular instrument of environmental policy. However, the literature's conclusion on the effectiveness of such programs is ambiguous, and for the European region there is a lack of evidence based on a large control group. We seek to fill this gap with an evaluation of the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS), introduced in 1995 by the European Union as a premium certification of continuous pro-environmental efforts above regulatory minimum standards. It is more demanding than other voluntary programs due to annual public reports of the environmental performance and targets for improvements. We use official firm-level production census data on the German manufacturing sector, a major energy consumer and emitter in Europe. To account for the self-selection of firms, we combine the Coarsened Exact Matching approach with a Difference-in-Differences estimation. Our results do not suggest reductions of firms' CO2 intensity and energy intensity neither before nor after certification. Moreover, program participants do not increase renewable energy consumption or investments into the protection of the environment and climate. Our results are robust to a variety of checks and call into question the effectiveness of the EMAS program concerning these particular outcome variables. |
| Keywords: | Voluntary Environmental Programs,Firm-level Energy Behavior,Matching Difference-in-Differences |
| JEL: | Q58 Q54 Q48 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cawmdp:107&r=all |
| By: | Aline Zucco |
| Abstract: | Germany has a large persistent Gender Pay Gap of 21 %; although this gap is not constant across occupations. The question arises why some occupations have large Gender Pay Gaps while others have only small gaps. Using data from the Structural Earnings Study merged with occupational task information provided by the Federal Labor Office, this paper aims to uncover the relationship between occupational characteristics and the Gender Pay Gap. To do so, I apply a two-step approach, where the first step uses individual characteristics to estimate the adjusted occupation-specific Gender Pay Gaps. In the second step, these gaps are regressed on occupational characteristics. I find that wage differences between men and women are lower in occupations with linear earnings and in occupations with a large share of public firms. Moreover, we observe that an increasing share of persons with supervisory power is linked to larger wage differences between men and women, which indicates the presence of a glass ceiling. Finally, the Gender Pay Gap is higher in occupations with routine tasks. Moreover, the findings suggest that the more that employees can be substituted with other employees, the lower is the Gender Pay Gap. Hence, this study extends previous findings on occupation-specific Gender Pay Gaps by linking them to occupational characteristics on a more general level. |
| Keywords: | Gender pay gap, segregation, discrimination, wage differentials, occupations |
| JEL: | J3 J31 J24 J16 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1794&r=all |
| By: | Schoiswohl, Florian |
| Abstract: | There is a growing literature studying unemployment dynamics by means of worker flow data between labor market states. This paper contributes to this literature stream by analyzing the dynamics of the Austrian unemployment rate applying novel worker flow data for 2005-2016. Our main results can be summarized along two dimensions: First, we show that worker flows between unemployment and inactivity are major determinants of unemployment fluctuations in Austria. Second, we show for the working-age population that the contribution of male worker flows to the overall variation of the unemployment rate is higher, but that this relation turns when it comes to the youth cohort. The gender differences are probably related to the early occupational and educational segregation of young men and women in Austria. The paper concludes by stressing a strong need for further empirical and theoretical research which aims to link structural differences in an economy with different responses to the business cycle. |
| Keywords: | Worker flows, Unemployment dynamics, Gender, Unemployment gap, Austrian labour market, Youth unemployment |
| Date: | 2019–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wus005:6863&r=all |
| By: | Bruno Merlevede; Victoria Purice (-) |
| Abstract: | Supplying inputs to foreign affiliates is consistently found to be an important source of productivity gains for domestic firms. We analyse the impact of border regimes on the existence and size of cross-border indirect productivity effects, exploiting variation in the pace and extent of European integration of seven Central and Eastern European countries and their neighbours during the period 2000-2010. EU-membership is a necessary condition for positive cross-border indirect productivity effects through backward linkages. Schengen area participation further magnifies cross-border effects. Our results bear testimony to the successful EU integration of CEECs and warn about potential productivity costs to local firms should border restrictions be reinstated. |
| Keywords: | Banking; FDI, Productivity, Spillovers, Borders |
| JEL: | F2 D24 |
| Date: | 2019–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rug:rugwps:19/965&r=all |
| By: | Ferrando, Annalisa; Pal, Rozalia; Durante, Elena |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the links between alternative growth phases of firms and barriers to financing and investment using firm-level information for a representative sample of EU companies. We propose a novel classification of corporates: high growth (HGEs), stable and declining enterprises. We find that during the phase of high growth, firms are on average more financially constrained. To match their needs for external finance, HGEs are more likely to apply for equity financing. Furthermore, we identify firms with high growth potential. Using survey data, we investigate the barriers to investment activities faced by actual and potential HGEs. Our findings suggest that the most stringent obstacles for actual HGEs are the availability of skilled staff and business regulations, while potential HGEs are blocked by uncertainty about the future. |
| Keywords: | high growth enterprises,financing conditions,bank financing,equity financing,obstacles to investment |
| JEL: | D22 G01 G20 G32 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:eibwps:201903&r=all |
| By: | Newbery, D. |
| Abstract: | The UK privatized the electricity supply industry from 1989 in the expectation that private ownership and incentive regulation would invest and operate sufficiently more efficiently to offset the higher cost of private finance. This was achieved in the first two decades, assisted by spare capacity, contract-based entry of new efficient and cheap CCGTs, and regulatory pressure on transmission and distribution companies. The climate change imperative to decarbonize requires massive durable and very capital-intensive investment that casts doubt on the liberalised financing model. In the past 30 years, much has been learned about mitigating market power, the failings of an energy-only market, and the potential distortions of poorly designed prices for renewables and tariffs for networks. Innovation has been successfully stimulated though competitions. Efficiency, falling renewable costs and the carbon tax have almost completely driven coal out of the system. |
| Keywords: | British electricity supply, reforms, financing, renewables, tariffs, nuclear |
| JEL: | D43 H23 L94 Q48 Q54 |
| Date: | 2019–02–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:1917&r=all |
| By: | Kalantzis, Fotios; Revoltella, Debora |
| Abstract: | This paper assesses the role of energy audits in promoting energy-efficiency measures in SMEs. It benefits from the data collected within the European Investment Bank Surveys in 2017 and 2018, involving information about energy audits and energy-efficiency investments of some 12,500 signatures from EU28 Member States per year. Our findings suggest that energy audit is a useful tool in overcoming the information barriers and facilitating investments in energy-efficiency measures. In fact, their information is more crucial for small firms and for investments in support processes such as lighting, wall insulation etc. than in production processes such as replacement of machinery and equipment. However, we found that the beneficial impact of energy audits cease to exist when firms are finance constrained. Finally, our results indicate that information campaigns are one of the most efficient available instruments among other instruments (regulatory, financial and voluntary agreements) for promoting energy audits in SMEs. |
| Keywords: | energy audit,propensity score matching,energy efficiency,European Investment Bank survey |
| JEL: | P28 Q41 Q48 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:eibwps:201902&r=all |
| By: | Alexander Nollau (Professur für Wirtschaftspolitik, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Chemnitz University of Technology); Friedrich Thießen (Professur für Wirtschaftspolitik, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Chemnitz University of Technology) |
| Abstract: | Many current problems in air traffic are related to the number of aircraft movements. Overcrowding in the airspace, difficult coordination at airports, high emissions of noise and pollutants as well as complexity of airlines are side effects of too many aircraft movements. This study examines the extent to which the number of flight movements in Europe can be reduced without change in transport performance. For this purpose, the number of flight movement for a European network of the 140 most frequently flown serviced routes will be optimised. The reference date is November 17 th , 2017. It shows that with the same passenger transport performance, the number of flight movements can be reduced to 1/3 of the current level (from 2.040 flights per day to 738 flights per day). In some cases, the quality of the connections can even be improved because all flights in the optimised network are coordinated. This proves that the current air traffic structure has considerable weak points. There are too many redundant aircraft movements. Our proposed reform measures can contribute to the needed reduction in the number of aircraft movements without reducing passenger transport services and travel quality. |
| Keywords: | Airtraffic, Europe, Optimisation, Airline, Flight Movements |
| Date: | 2019–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tch:wpaper:cep029&r=all |
| By: | Giovanni Morleo (University of Ferrara; SEEDS, Italy); Marianna Gilli (University of Ferrara; SEEDS, Italy); Massimiliano Mazzanti (University of Ferrara; SEEDS, Italy) |
| Abstract: | This study focuses on the environmental performances of the European manufacturing industry. Our aim is to test the existence of both absolute and conditional ß-convergence as well as s-convergence in the environmental productivity (i.e., for each sector, the ratio between value added and carbon dioxide emissions) of 14 sectors for the period 1995-2009 using data from the WIOD database. The results support the hypothesis of ß-convergence and highlight other factors such as trade openness. In addition, the results indicate that the sectorial share of value added can affect sectorial environmental performances, as shown by a higher speed of convergence. No statistical evidence of s-convergence is found. |
| Keywords: | environmental performances; manufacturing industry; ß-convergence; s-convergence; sector performances |
| JEL: | L52 Q53 Q55 |
| Date: | 2019–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:srt:wpaper:0519&r=all |
| By: | Bedri Kamil Onur Tas |
| Abstract: | I examine a manipulation scheme that public authorities can use to exercise more discretion in public procurement. I propose that regression discontinuity manipulation tests can be implemented to identify manipulative authorities. I investigate the European Union public procurement data set. I find that 10-13% of examined authorities have high probabilities of bunching estimated costs just below thresholds. Manipulative authorities have significantly lower probabilities of employing competitive procurement procedure. The bunching manipulation scheme significantly diminishes cost-effectiveness of public procurement. On average, prices of below threshold contracts are 18-28% higher when the authority has an elevated probability of bunching. |
| Keywords: | Public Procurement, Manipulation, Competition, European Union |
| JEL: | C31 D44 H57 |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rsc:rsceui:2019/17&r=all |
| By: | Chyong, C-K. |
| Abstract: | Recent gas price dynamics in Europe shows convergence to the extent that locational price differentials approached transport tariffs and hence arbitrage was largely saturated – it is a sign of a well-functioning pan-European gas wholesale market. We employ a transaction cost economics framework to understand how we got to where we are in terms of the evolution of the gas industry structure in Europe and its institutional setup. The move towards a single market in gas, which is still ongoing, has allowed European gas consumers to benefit from transparently set, market-based wholesale prices as well as from increased market competition between suppliers. However, as the gas market in Europe matures and with the increased penetration of renewable energy generation in the electricity sector as well as overall decarbonization of the energy sector in Europe, the gas market and its current regulatory regime face a number of challenges. Addressing these challenges may require an update to the current market design and possibly drastic reforms to tariff setting in the gas transport market. |
| Keywords: | Natural gas, European single gas market, security of supply, regulatory policy |
| JEL: | L94 |
| Date: | 2019–02–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:1918&r=all |
| By: | Carole Bonnet; Bertrand Garbinti; Sébastien Grobon |
| Abstract: | Amongst young households (ages 25 to 44), inequalities in first-time home-ownership and in the amount of acquired real estate assets have increased between the most modest and the most affluent groups over the past forty years. According to Insee’s Housing surveys, 32% of young low-income households were homeowners in 1973, as compared to only 16% in 2013. Beyond the role of macroeconomic and institutional factors (real estate prices, interest rates, term of loans granted, etc.), a decomposition of changes in ownership rates over the period using the “Oaxaca-Blinder” method highlights the role of changes in family structures (increasing proportion of single-parent families, decline in the share of couples with children in the most modest households) and the sharp decline in small rural home ownership. Family support – gift assistance, inheritance and other forms of aid – also played an important part in the 2000s: four out of ten recent homeowners benefited from it, two out of ten even receiving direct financial assistance for their purchase. This support increased significantly among wealthier households during the 2000s, contributing to a widening gap with the share of homeowners in the least well off populations. |
| Keywords: | homeownership, real estate wealth, family transfers, gift assistance, Oaxaca decomposition, inequalities |
| JEL: | D63 D64 J10 R21 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bfr:banfra:711&r=all |