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on Microeconomic European Issues |
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Issue of 2023‒07‒17
28 papers chosen by Giuseppe Marotta Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia |
| By: | Michele Ubaldi; Matteo Picchio |
| Abstract: | This paper studies whether individuals that experienced parental unemployment during their childhood/early adolescence have poorer health once they reach the adulthood. We used data from the German Socio-Economic Panel from 2002 until 2018. Our identification strategy of the causal effect of parental unemployment relied on plant closures as exogenous variation of the individual labor market condition. We combined matching methods and parametric estimation to strengthen the causal interpretation of the estimates. On the one hand, we found a nil effect for parental unemployment on mental health. On the other hand, we detected a negative effect on physical health. The latter is stronger if parental unemployment occurred in early periods of the childhood, and it is heterogeneous across gender. The negative effect of parental unemployment on physical health may be explained by a higher alcohol and tobacco consumption later in life. |
| Keywords: | Parental unemployment, plant closure, mental health, physical health, health behaviors |
| JEL: | I14 J13 J62 J65 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp1188&r=eur |
| By: | Amelie F. Constant; Simone Schüller; Klaus F. Zimmermann |
| Abstract: | The role of ethnic clustering in ethnic identity formation has remained unexplored, mainly due to missing detailed data. This study closes the knowledge gap for Germany by employing a unique combination of datasets, the survey data from the German Socio-Economic Panel and disaggregated information at low geographical levels from the last two but still unexploited full German censuses, 1970 and 1987. Utilizing the exogenous placement of immigrants during the recruitment era in the 1960s and 1970s we find that local co-ethnic concentration affects immigrants’ ethnic identity. While residential ethnic clustering strengthens immigrants’ retention of an affiliation with their origin (minority identity), it weakens identification with the host society (majority identity). The effects are nonlinear and become significant only at relatively high levels of co-ethnic concentration for the minority identity and at very low levels of local concentration for the majority identity. The findings are robust to an instrumental variable approach. |
| Keywords: | ethnic minorities, residential segregation, ethnic identity, spatial dispersion, ethnic clustering, ethnic enclaves |
| JEL: | J15 R23 Z10 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10467&r=eur |
| By: | Flavia Coda Moscarola (University of Eastern Piedmont and Collegio Carlo Alberto) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the intergenerational transmission of preferences between parents and their children. Specifically, we analyse whether parents transmit patience, the propensity to save, reading habits, and conscientiousness to their children, and how specific parenting styles – i.e. indicators of their involvement in children’s education and their attitudes towards sharing financial information - play a role in such transmission. To study this link, we analyse the data from a representative survey of Italian households (parents with children 14-20 years of age) that we conducted in Italy in September 2022. Our results show a significant and positive relationship between parents’ and children’s preferences and that parenting styles act as moderators in the transmission of patience and conscientiousness between parents and children. A Sharing parenting style strengthens the transmission of patience mostly among children under the age of 18 and in households with an SES above the median, while a Present parenting style strengthens the transmission of conscientiousness mostly in households with an SES below the median. The strengthening effect of Present parenting style on reading habits is observed for mothers only. |
| Keywords: | intergenerational transmission, patience, propensity to save, reading, conscientiousness, parenting style |
| JEL: | D14 I21 J24 |
| Date: | 2023–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hka:wpaper:2023-014&r=eur |
| By: | Maite Blázquez (Universidad Autonoma de Madrid.); Ainhoa Herrarte (Universidad Autonoma de Madrid.); Ana I. Moro Egido (Department of Economic Theory and Economic History, University of Granada.) |
| Abstract: | The increase in atypical jobs (self-employment and temporary jobs) driven by the digital platform economy (gig economy) has put this type of work in the spotlight of the social and political debate. Among the countries of the European Union, Spain stands out for having the highest volume of digital platform work. This study uses microdata from the Spanish Living Conditions Survey for the year 2018 and Google trends data on Deliveroo, Airbnb, Just Eat, Uber, and Freelance as a proxy of digital platform economy demand to analyse the well-being effects of being employed in any of the types of employment arrangements associated with the gig economy. Using an econometric approached based on instrumental variables, we find evidence that the most deleterious well-being effects are found among self-employed workers and for the dimension of well-being based on self-reported health. The self-employed (ownaccount workers) display a 125.8% decrease in average self-reported health levels compared to permanent workers. Our results suggest that the greater job insecurity and precariousness associated with self-employment outweighs the potential positive impact caused by the greater flexibility and autonomy of this type of work. |
| Keywords: | Digital platform economy, Gig economy, Digital platform work, Self-employment, Temporary jobs, Well-being, Self-reported health, Happiness, Life satisfaction. |
| JEL: | I31 J21 J81 J40 |
| Date: | 2023–06–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gra:wpaper:23/05&r=eur |
| By: | Harkness, Susan; Popova, Daria; Avram, Silvia |
| Abstract: | Understanding disparities in the rates at which men and women’s wages grow over the life course is critical to explaining the gender pay gap. Using panel data from 2009 to 2019 for the United Kingdom, we examine how differences in the rates and types of job mobility of men and women – with and without children - influence the evolution of wages. We contrast the rates and wage returns associated with different types of job moves, including moving employer for family reason, moving for wage or career-related reasons, and changing jobs but remaining with the same employer. Despite overall levels of mobility being similar for men and women, we find important differences in the types of mobility they experience, with mothers most likely to switch employers for family related reasons and least likely to move for wage or career reasons, or to change jobs with the same employer. We find that, while job changes with the same employer and career related employer changes have large positive wage returns, changing employers for family related reasons is associated with significant wage losses. Our findings show that differences in the types of mobility experienced by mothers compared to other workers provide an important part of the explanation for their lower wage growth and play a crucial role in explaining the emergence of the motherhood wage gap in the years after birth. |
| Date: | 2023–03–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ese:cempwp:cempa4-23&r=eur |
| By: | Filomena, Mattia (Marche Polytechnic University); Picchio, Matteo (Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona) |
| Abstract: | We estimate the impact of temperatures on work-related accident rates in Italy by using daily data on weather conditions matched to administrative daily data on work-related accidents. The identification strategy of the causal effect relies on the plausible exogeneity of short-term daily temperature variations in a given spatial unit. We find that both high and cold temperatures impair occupational health by increasing workplace injury rates. The positive effect of warmer weather conditions on work-related accident rates is larger for men, in manufacturing and service sectors, and for workplace injuries. Colder temperatures lead to a substantial increase in commuting accidents, especially during rainy days. |
| Keywords: | climate change, temperatures, weather conditions, work-related accidents, job safety |
| JEL: | J28 J81 Q52 Q54 |
| Date: | 2023–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16169&r=eur |
| By: | Di Cataldo, Marco; Romani, Giulia |
| Abstract: | The availability of public education services can influence residential choices. Hence, policies aiming to ‘rationalise’ service provision by reducing the number of undersized nodes in the public school network can lead to population decline. This paper examines the demographic and income effects of primary school closures by exploiting an Italian education reform that resulted in a significant contraction of the school network. We assess whether school closures impact households’ residential choices, on top and beyond preexisting negative population trends that motivate school closures. To address endogeneity, we combine a Two-Way Fixed Effects model with an instrumental variable approach, constructing the IVs based on institutional thresholds for school sizing adopted by some Italian regions. Our findings suggest that municipalities affected by school closures experience significant reductions in population and income. The effect is driven by peripheral municipalities located far from economic centres and distant from the next available primary school. This evidence indicates that school ‘rationalisation policies’, by fostering depopulation of peripheral areas, have an influence on the spatial distribution of households and income, thus affecting territorial disparities. |
| Keywords: | school closures; residential choices; education policy; core-periphery patterns; Italy |
| JEL: | H40 H52 R23 |
| Date: | 2023–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:119359&r=eur |
| By: | Astrid Kunze; Marta Palczyńska; Iga Magda |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the employment effects of a large-scale wage subsidy programme for the young unemployed that was introduced in 2016, during a period of recovery in the Polish economy. The focus is on the question of whether the effects differed between men and women. The study employs a large population administrative data set from the unemployment register, and exploits for identification the fact that firms were only eligible to participate in the wage subsidy programme if the newly recruited worker was below age 30 and was previously unemployed. A challenge in this research is that before 2016, standard packages of active labour market programmes for all unemployed and specific programmes for unemployed below age 30 had been in place. Exploiting the long period and broad data coverage, we estimate the differential impact of the new programme using a difference-in-discontinuities design. The main finding is that over the medium term, the new wage subsidy programme was effective for low- and middle-skilled eligible young women, but not for men. We discuss the policy implications of such programmes targeting young unemployed people. |
| Keywords: | Wage subsidy; youth unemployment; gender differences; difference-in-discontinuities; register data. |
| JEL: | J08 J64 J68 |
| Date: | 2023–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ibt:wpaper:wp042023&r=eur |
| By: | Albanese, Andrea; Cockx, B.; Dejemeppe, Muriel |
| Abstract: | We use a regression discontinuity design and difference-in-differences estimators to estimate the impact of a one-shot hiring subsidy for low-educated unemployed youths during the Great Recession recovery in Belgium. The subsidy increases job-finding in the private sector by 10 percentage points within one year of unemployment. Six years later, high school graduates accumulated 2.8 quarters more private employment. However, they substitute private for public and self-employment; thus, overall employment does not increase but is still better paid. For high school dropouts, no persistent gains emerge. Moreover, the neighboring employment hub of Luxembourg induces a complete deadweight loss near the border. |
| JEL: | C21 J08 J23 J24 J64 J68 J61 |
| Date: | 2023–06–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:umaror:2023002&r=eur |
| By: | Maria Alessandra Antonelli; Giorgia Marini (Università Sapienza di Roma - Dipartimento di Studi Giuridici ed Economici) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we investigate the role of institutional quality in explaining cross-regional variation of population health status. To this purpose, the analysis follows two steps. First, we introduce a composite regional health status indicator (RHSI) summarizing life expectancy, mortality and morbidity data. Then, we study the empirical relationship between RHSI and a set of socio-economic, health system and institutional controls over a panel of 21 territorial units (19 regions and 2 autonomous provinces) over the period 2011-2019. As a first result the analysis shows that institutional quality is a fundamental driver for population health. Furthermore, we find that well-functioning institutions and LEAs implementation make the socio-economic context no longer relevant for population health, and this can lead to a reduction in inequalities. |
| Keywords: | life expectancy; mortality; morbidity; health status; institutional quality; Italian regions. |
| JEL: | H75 I18 O17 P48 |
| Date: | 2023–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gfe:pfrp00:00061&r=eur |
| By: | Korpi, Martin (The Ratio Institute); Halvarsson, Daniel (The Ratio Institute) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we build upon a monopsony framework, suggested by Card et. al. 2016, which links firm level productivity and rent-sharing to wage inequality. Specifically, our research questions address i) to which extent labor market concentration across firms (within different types of locally situated industries) affects variation in wages among workers within these firms and industries, and ii) how this variation in turn spills over into economy-wide inequality (measured at the level of local labor markets). Using linked employer-employee full population data for Sweden, and an AKM modelling framework to separate between worker and firm-level heterogeneity, our results suggest that higher firm-level fixed effects (a measure of rent-sharing) is associated with lower labor market employer concentration, something which affects average wage income among firms accordingly. Addressing wage income inequality by applying our model to different segments of the local labor market income distribution, we find that reduced average employer concentration in larger cities accounts for almost all variation in the (positive) link between city size-and wage inequality, except for the largest metropolises where it captures around 30-50 percent of variation depending on the income segment that we focus on. |
| Keywords: | Wage distribution; rent sharing; monopsony; linked employer-employee data; local labor markets |
| JEL: | D22 J31 J42 R12 |
| Date: | 2023–05–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ratioi:0363&r=eur |
| By: | Jonathan Gruber (MIT); Kristiina Huttunen (Aalto University, Helsinki GSE, VATT and IZA); Tuomas Kosonen (VATT Institute for Economic Research and Finnish Centre of Excellence in Tax Systems Research) |
| Abstract: | We study the impacts of a policy designed to reward mothers who stay at home rather than join the labor force when their children are under age three. We use regional and over time variation in child home care allowance to show that home care allowance decreases maternal employment in both the short and long term, with almost three-quarters of the supplement amount offset by lost labor income. The effects are large enough for the existence of home care benefit system to explain the higher child penalty in Finland than comparable nations. Home care benefits also negatively affect the early childhood cognitive test results of children at the age of five, increase the likelihood of choosing vocational rather than academic secondary education track, and increase youth crimes. We confirm that the mechanism of action is changing work/home care arrangements by studying a a day care fee (DCF) reform had the opposite effect of raising incentives to work. We find that this policy increased the labor force participation of mothers and participation of children to day care, and improved child early test and schooling outcomes. This parallel set of findings suggests that on average in Finland, shifting child care from the home to the market increases labor force participation and improves child outcomes. |
| Keywords: | home care allowance, employment, child development, schooling |
| JEL: | J13 J21 J38 |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fit:wpaper:4&r=eur |
| By: | Schmitz, Hendrik; Tawiah, Beatrice Baaba |
| Abstract: | We study the effect of education on health (hospital stays, number of diagnosed conditions, self-rated poor health, and obesity) over the life-cycle in Germany, using compulsory schooling reforms as a source of exogenous variation. Our results suggest a positive correlation of health and education which increases over the life-cycle. We do not, however, find any positive local average treatment effects of an additional year of schooling on health or health care utilization for individuals up to age 79. An exception is obesity, where positive effects of schooling start to be visible around age 60 and become very large in age group 75-79. The results in age group 75-79 need to be interpreted with caution, however, due to small sample size and possible problems of attrition. |
| Keywords: | Education, health, life-cycle effects, compulsory schooling |
| JEL: | I10 I12 I21 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:1006&r=eur |
| By: | James Harrigan; Ariell Reshef; Farid Toubal |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of techies—engineers and other technically trained workers—on firm-level productivity. We first report new facts on the role of techies in the firm by leveraging French administrative data and unique surveys. Techies are STEM-skill intensive and are associated with innovation, as well as with technology adoption, management, and diffusion within firms. Using structural econometric methods, we estimate the causal effect of techies on firm-level Hicks-neutral productivity in both manufacturing and non-manufacturing industries. We find that techies raise firm-level productivity, and this effect goes beyond the employment of R&D workers, extending to ICT and other techies. In non-manufacturing firms, the impact of techies on productivity operates mostly through ICT and other techies, not R&D workers. Engineers have a greater effect on productivity than technicians. |
| Keywords: | productivity, R&D, ICT, techies, STEM skills |
| JEL: | D20 D24 F10 F16 F60 F66 J20 J23 J24 O52 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10468&r=eur |
| By: | Ana I. Moro Egido (Department of Economic Theory and Economic History, University of Granada.); Maria Navarro (Departament of Applied Economics, University of Granada.) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we evaluate the role of parental financial difficulties in the intergenerational transmission of material deprivation. To this end, we use data from the specific module ’Intergenerational transmission of disadvantages’ included in the EU-SILC survey for the years 2005, 2011 and 2019. Our contribution relies on the distinction between the direct effect of parental difficulties on adults’ material deprivation (intergenerational transmission) and the indirect effect through educational achievement (particularly high school dropouts). Our findings suggest that, as expected, parental financial difficulties increase the probability of dropping out (indirect effect), which in turn increases their children’s intensity of household material deprivation in adulthood. The intergenerational link exists and is stronger for early leavers (direct effect). The mechanisms behind these results are lone parenthood, non-highly educated mothers and non-working fathers. We also find that intergenerational transmission differs by country characteristics. More specifically, the poorer and less equal the country, the stronger the intergenerational link. Our results highlight the importance of childhood interventions as an additional channel to correct for material deprivation in adulthood and, in general, to tackle the inequality of opportunity and intergenerational poverty. |
| Keywords: | Intergenerational transmission, material deprivation, parental economic strain, high school dropouts. |
| JEL: | C31 I24 I32 |
| Date: | 2023–06–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gra:wpaper:23/07&r=eur |
| By: | Thomas Y. Mathä; Giuseppe Pulina; Michael Ziegelmeyer |
| Abstract: | Using household survey data for Luxembourg, we find that the probability of homeownership among households in Luxembourg is positively related to private wealth transfers. The size of the transfers matters. While transfers below €100, 000 exert no significant influence, larger transfers increase the probability of homeownership by more than 10 percentage points. In addition, a large share of homeowners who received such transfers purchased their homes within a short timeframe surrounding the transfer event. |
| Keywords: | Private wealth transfer, homeownership, household. |
| JEL: | G51 D12 D14 D31 |
| Date: | 2023–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bcl:bclwop:bclwp174&r=eur |
| By: | Neumann, Uwe |
| Abstract: | The study explores to what extent adaptation to digital change has affected regional employment growth and regional disparities in Germany over the past decade. Using data from administrative sources the analysis finds no evidence for a net decline in employment in connection with technological progress during this period. On the contrary, labour market regions where many employees perform occupational tasks susceptible to automation have fared comparatively well so far. After all, these regions often comprise strong manufacturing industries, e.g. in rural southern Germany. In regions dominated by less prosperous industries, however, implementation of job creation potentials may turn out to be a much greater challenge. |
| Keywords: | Digital change, productivity growth, occupational tasks, regional convergence |
| JEL: | E24 J21 J23 J24 R11 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:1004&r=eur |
| By: | Dustmann, Christian (University College London); Mertz, Mikkel (Queen Mary, University of London); Okatenko, Anna (University College London) |
| Abstract: | Using an identification strategy based on random assignment of refugees to different municipalities in Denmark between 1986 and 1998, we find strong evidence that gang crime rates in the neighbourhood at assignment increase the probability of boys to commit crimes before the age of 19, and that gang crime (but not other crime) increases the likelihood of teenage motherhood for girls. Higher levels of gang crime also have detrimental and long-lasting effects, with men experiencing significantly higher levels of inactivity and women experiencing lower earnings and higher levels of welfare benefit claims at ages 19 to 28. |
| Keywords: | crime spillovers, gang crime, teenage motherhood |
| JEL: | J1 K4 I3 |
| Date: | 2023–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16158&r=eur |
| By: | Vanessa Cirulli (Italian Agency for Development Cooperation and Sapienza University of Rome); Giorgia Marini (Department of Juridical and Economic Studies (DSGE), Sapienza University of Rome); Marco A. Marini (Department of Social Sciences and Economics, Sapienza University of Rome); Odd Rune Straume (Department of Economics/NIPE, University of Minho) |
| Abstract: | We analyse – theoretically and empirically – the effect of hospital mergers on waiting times in healthcare markets where prices are fixed. Using a spatial modelling framework where patients choose provider based on travelling distance and waiting times, we show that the effect is theoretically ambiguous. In the presence of cost synergies, the scope for lower waiting times as a result of the merger is larger if the hospitals are more profit-oriented. This result is arguably confirmed by our empirical analysis, which is based on a conditional flexible difference-indifferences methodology applied to a long panel of data on hospital mergers in the English NHS, where we find that the effects of a merger on waiting times crucially rely on a legal status that can reasonably be linked to the degree of profit-orientation. Whereas hospital mergers involving Foundation Trusts tend to reduce waiting times, the corresponding effect of mergers involving hospitals without this legal status tends to go in the opposite direction. |
| Keywords: | Hospital merger, waiting times, profit-orientation |
| JEL: | I11 I18 L21 L41 |
| Date: | 2023–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2023.14&r=eur |
| By: | Kowalik, Zuzanna (Institute for Structural Research (IBS)); Lewandowski, Piotr (Institute for Structural Research (IBS)); Kaczmarczyk, Pawel (Warsaw University) |
| Abstract: | The gig economy has grown worldwide, opening labour markets but raising concerns about precariousness. Using a tailored, quantitative survey in Poland, we study taxi and delivery platform drivers' working conditions and job quality. We focus on the gaps between natives and migrants, who constitute about a third of gig workers. Migrants take up gig jobs due to a lack of income or other job opportunities much more often than natives, who mostly do it for autonomy. Migrants' job quality is noticeably lower regarding contractual terms of employment, working hours, work-life balance, multidimensional deprivation, and job satisfaction. Migrants who started a gig job immediately after arriving in Poland are particularly deprived. They also cluster on taxi platforms which offer inferior working conditions. Poland is a New Immigration Destination where ethnic economy is poorly developed, institutions to support migrants are weak and access to migrant networks is limited to several nationalities only. The gig economy can be an arrival infrastructure, but its poor working conditions may exacerbate the labour market vulnerabilities of migrants and hinder mobility to better jobs. |
| Keywords: | gig jobs, platform economy, job quality, immigrant workers |
| JEL: | J28 J61 J21 |
| Date: | 2023–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16216&r=eur |
| By: | Stephan Sommer; Théo Konc; Stefan Drews |
| Abstract: | The success of climate policies depends crucially on the dynamics of public support. Using unique longitudinal data from three surveys conducted between 2019 and 2022, we study the variations of public support for carbon pricing in Germany. The period includes two relevant events: the introduction and ramping up of carbon pricing in Germany and the exogenous increase in energy prices following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Using panel methods, we show that support is very persistent over time and might have increased slightly more recently. However, people who experience high energy costs display a lower support. Regarding revenue use, we detect that social cushioning has become more popular after the introduction of carbon pricing. Our findings suggest that it is crucial to gather enough support before implementing climate policies. |
| Keywords: | Climate change mitigation, political economy, panel methods |
| JEL: | D12 H23 Q58 |
| Date: | 2023–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdp:dpaper:0021&r=eur |
| By: | K. Peren Arin; Efstathios Polyzos; Marcel Thum |
| Abstract: | Populist parties recently have shaken Western democracies, yet there is no consensus regarding the characteristics of populist voters. By using large-scale surveys from four European countries (France, Germany, Spain, and the U.K.), we investigate individual determinants of populist voting. Our methodological approach controls for model uncertainty by considering the responses to 100 questions that span social, economic, political, environmental, and psychological dimensions. We also include individual misperceptions across several domains. Our results show that left-wing populist voters are not religious, have lower misperceptions regarding foreign-national prisoners, distrust the police, are open to immigrants from poorer countries, and oppose dismantling the welfare state. The right-wing populist voters oppose incoming, racially diverse immigrants, distrust national and international institutions, and have high misperceptions regarding immigrant crimes and the share of social benefits in the GDP. Contrary to the previous literature, attitudes toward globalization, personality traits, labor-market status, and social media use are not consensus variables for either group. |
| Keywords: | populism, random forest, Bayesian model averaging |
| JEL: | C11 D72 P48 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10472&r=eur |
| By: | Doorley, Karina (Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin); Tuda, Dora (Trinity College Dublin); Duggan, Luke (Trinity College Dublin) |
| Abstract: | The cost of childcare has a significant impact on the decision of parents – particularly mothers – to work. Prior to the introduction of subsidies for formal childcare in Ireland in 2019 through the National Childcare Scheme (NCS), the cost of full-time centre-based childcare was among the most expensive in the OECD. Doorley et al. (2021) show that the introduction of the subsidy scheme improved childcare affordability. In this paper, we investigate the effects of the scheme on the labour supply and childcare choices of mothers. We model the joint decision of labour supply and childcare for lone and coupled mothers of children under six. Mothers are likely to respond to the introduction of childcare subsidies in 2019 by switching from informal childcare to formal childcare (11ppt), but not by increasing their participation in the labour market. We estimate that recent (2023) reforms of the NCS, which increase the generosity and the scope of the subsidy, will increase mothers' participation by 3% and full-time work by 4%, but also substantially decrease the demand for informal childcare. A hypothetical abolition of all childcare costs would close the gender employment gap, increasing mothers' participation by 30 ppt. |
| Keywords: | female labour supply, childcare, discrete choice |
| JEL: | J13 J22 C25 |
| Date: | 2023–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16178&r=eur |
| By: | Stump Árpád (Budapesti Corvinus Egyetem); Herczeg Bálint (HÉTFA Kutatóintézet); Szabó-Morvai Ágnes (Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Debreceni Egyetem) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the effect of ambient air pollution on the number of births in the European Union. We collect air pollution data with web scraping technique and utilize variations in wind, temperature, number of heating, and cooling days as instrumental variables. There are 657 NUTS 3 regions included in the regressions, each with 2 to 6 years of observations between 2015 and 2020. Our results show that an increase in the levels of PM2.5 - PM10 pollution concentration by 1 μg/m3 (appr. 5-10%) would result in a 9% drop in the number of births next year. CO pollution levels also have a significant although smaller effect. If CO pollution concentration increases by 1 mg/m3 (appr. 15%) the number of births next year will fall by about 1%. In the heterogeneity analysis, we find that air pollution is more harmful to fertility in countries with already high pollution levels and lower GDP. This latter suggests that healthcare spending and the general level of living standard could be factors that moderate the negative consequences of ambient air pollution. To our knowledge, this is the first article to study the fertility effects of air pollution using an extended number of countries and years and at the same time including more than one air pollutant. As a result, our results have strong external validity. A remarkable novelty of our study compared to the previous literature is that after taking into account the effect of PM2.5 - PM10 and CO, the rest of the pollutants have much less role in shaping fertility outcomes compared to the findings of the previous literature. This difference is a result of the new method of this study, which examines the pollutants simultaneously instead of examining only one or a few at a time. This result can be important for environmental policies, where the limited resources should target pollution types that have the most detrimental effect on human fertility and health. |
| Keywords: | ambient air pollution, fertility, instrumental variables |
| JEL: | Q53 J13 I14 |
| Date: | 2023–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:has:discpr:2310&r=eur |
| By: | Aline Bütikofer (Norwegian School of Economics); Rita Ginja (University of Bergen); Krzysztof Karbownik (Emory University); Fanny Landaud (Norwegian School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | We estimate health associations across generations and dynasties using information on healthcare visits from administrative data for the entire Norwegian population. A parental mental health diagnosis is associated with a 9.3 percentage point (40%) higher probability of a mental health diagnosis of their adolescent child. Intensive margin physical and mental health associations are similar, and dynastic estimates account for about 40% of the intergenerational persistence. We also show that a policy targeting additional health resources for the young children of adults diagnosed with mental health conditions reduced the parent-child mental health association by about 40%. |
| Keywords: | mental health, intergenerational persistence, dynastic effects, public policy |
| JEL: | I14 I18 J12 J62 |
| Date: | 2023–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hka:wpaper:2023-015&r=eur |
| By: | Ana I. Moro Egido (Department of Economic Theory and Economic History, University of Granada.); Joaquin Naval (Universidad de Girona.); Jose I. Silva (Universidad de Girona.) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the non-linear relationship between part-time hours and wages in 10 European Union countries. We use the harmonized 2018 Structure of Earnings Survey, that provides comparable microdata on the link between the level of earnings and paid hours. We empirically assess the relevance of the relationship correcting for self-selection and endogeneity. We show the presence of two effects going in opposite directions. First, a part-time wage premium due to the presence of decreasing returns in the production function. Second, a wage penalty due to the presence of coordination costs that arises when a part-time worker deviates from the usual hours worked in the firm. We also show that the unexplained part-time wage penalty is considerably affected by the hours-wage relationship. |
| Keywords: | Hours-wage relationship, full-time equivalent, coordination costs, fixed labor costs. |
| JEL: | C21 J31 J32 |
| Date: | 2023–06–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gra:wpaper:23/06&r=eur |
| By: | Pier Basaglia; Sophie M. Behr; Moritz A. Drupp |
| Abstract: | This paper is the first to investigate the effectiveness of fuel taxation to jointly deliver climate and health benefits in a quasi-experimental setting. Using the synthetic control method, we compare carbon and air pollutant emissions of the actual and synthetic German transport sector following the 1999-2003 German eco tax reform. We demonstrate sizable average reductions in CO2 (12%), PM2.5 (10%) and NOX (6%) emissions between 1999 and 2009 across a range of specifications. Using official cost estimates, we find that the eco-tax saved more than 40 billion euros of external damages. More than half of the reductions in external damages are health benefits, highlighting the importance of accounting for co-pollution impacts of carbon pricing. Our fuel and emission specific tax elasticity estimates suggest much stronger demand responses to eco tax increases than to market price movements, primarily due to increases in tax salience, which we measure using textual analysis of newspapers. We further show that gasoline-to-diesel substitution substantially mediates the trade-off between climate and health benefits. Our results highlight the key roles of tax salience and fuel-substitution in mediating the effectiveness of fuel taxes to reduce climate and health externalities. |
| Keywords: | environmental policy, carbon tax, eco tax, tax elasticity, tax salience, fuel consumption, fuel substitution, externalities, climate, pollution, health |
| JEL: | Q51 Q58 Q41 H23 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10508&r=eur |
| By: | Jirjahn, Uwe; Mohrenweiser, Jens |
| Abstract: | While studies on individual-based and collective payment schemes are largely unconnected, there appears to be a widely held belief that individual-based schemes have a stronger influence on firm performance than collective ones. This also applies to an index of best management practices developed by Bloom and Van Reenen (2007). The index assigns the highest weight to individual-based performance pay, a medium weight to group-based performance pay and a low weight to profit sharing. This weighting is obviously driven by the implicit assumption that collective payment schemes suffer from a free-rider problem so they have a less strong influence on productivity than individual-based schemes. We show that this assumption is questionable from both a theoretical and an empirical point of view. Using the German Management and Organizational Practices Survey, one of the datasets initiated by Bloom and Van Reenen, we show that individual-based performance pay does not outperform group-based performance pay or profit sharing. The finding also holds when accounting for possible interactions among the payment schemes and considering the moderating roles of firm size, employee representation, and innovativeness. Our results suggest that researchers should be careful with respect to the assumptions and subjective priors guiding their empirical analyses. |
| Keywords: | management practices, free-rider problem, individual performance pay, group performance pay, profit sharing |
| JEL: | J33 M52 M50 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1298&r=eur |