|
on Microeconomic European Issues |
| By: | De Bromhead, Alan; Kenny, Sean |
| Abstract: | This paper constructs the first estimates of Irish regional GDP over the twentieth century and traces the relative economic performance of Ireland's regions since independence. Using an array of data sources available at a county level, output in Agriculture, Industry and Services in benchmark census years is estimated. Applying a variety of alternative measures, we find a reduction in regional inequality over the period that is similar to the broader European pattern. Regional convergence over the period 1926-1991 was driven by both within-sector convergence in productivity and structural change. Our paper helps to understand the regional dimensions to Irish economic development from the birth of a newly independent state up to the eve of Ireland's growth 'miracle' in the 1990s, when the first official efforts were initiated to construct these figures. Finally, we connect our estimates to these official figures to examine GDP at the level of NUTS regions up to 2021. |
| Keywords: | Regional GDP, Ireland, Economic History, Inequality, Economic Growth |
| JEL: | N34 N94 O18 R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:qucehw:298001&r= |
| By: | Ursel Baumann; Annalisa Ferrando; Dimitris Georgarakos; Yuriy Gorodnichenko; Timo Reinelt |
| Abstract: | This paper provides new survey evidence on firms’ inflation expectations in the euro area. Building on the ECB’s Survey on the Access to Finance of Enterprises (SAFE), we introduce consistent measurement of inflation expectations across countries and shed new light on the properties and causal effects of these expectations. We find considerable heterogeneity in firms’ inflation expectations and show that firms disagree about future inflation more than professional forecasters but less than households. We document that differences in firms’ demographics, firms’ choices and constraints, and cross-country macroeconomic environments account for most of the variation in inflation expectations by roughly equal shares. Using an RCT approach, we show that firms update their inflation expectations in a Bayesian manner. Moreover, they revise their plans regarding prices, wages, costs and employment in response to information treatments about current or future inflation. |
| JEL: | E20 E31 E52 |
| Date: | 2024–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:32504&r= |
| By: | Marx, Ive (University of Antwerp); Haapanala, Henri (University of Antwerp); Marchal, Sarah (University of Antwerp) |
| Abstract: | There has not been much progress on the poverty front in Europe over recent decades, at least if we take it as a relative phenomenon in affluent societies. There is a lot of pessimism about the possibility of making any real progress at all. Some argue that adequate poverty relief is simply too expensive or that it would put too much of a redistributive burden on the electorally powerful, making it politically difficult, if not infeasible. Another prominent argument is that wage floors and thus out-of-work benefit levels are inexorably under pressure, making poverty relief both harder to achieve and more expensive in budgetary terms. This paper sets out these accounts and focuses on what has been happening to statutory, absolute and effective wage floors in Europe over the past decades. We ask whether progress on the poverty front through pushing up wage floors and subsequently out-of-work benefits is a realistic prospect. We see reasons for optimism. |
| Keywords: | poverty, income distribution, Europe |
| JEL: | J01 I39 |
| Date: | 2024–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16967&r= |
| By: | Ioramashvili, Carolin |
| Abstract: | I estimate employment multiplier effects by skill group from graduate employment and innovation at the NUTS1 and 2 level in France, Germany and the UK. Using local projections, I estimate the effects over 5-year horizons. Both graduate employment and patenting have temporary, positive impacts on non-graduate and mid-skilled employment. There is considerable heterogeneity in terms of the direction and magnitude of the effects across the three countries. The paper shows that innovation can be a source of regional employment growth, even for those without a graduate degree. |
| Keywords: | skills; regions; patents; invention; employment |
| JEL: | J21 J24 O18 O33 O40 R11 |
| Date: | 2024–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:123630&r= |
| By: | Costa-Font, Joan; Jimenez-Martin, Sergi; Vilaplana-Prieto, Cristina |
| Abstract: | We study whether caregiving and intergenerational transfer decisions are sensitive to changes in economic incentives following the inception of a new unconditional and universal system of allowances and supports, after the introduction of the 2006 Promotion of Personal Autonomy and Care for Dependent Persons Act (SAAD in Spanish), and the ensuing effects of its austerity cuts after 2012. We find that whilst the introduction of a caregiving allowance (of a maximum value of €530 in 2011) increased the supply of informal caregiving by 20-22 percentual points (pp), the inception of a companion system of publicly subsidised homecare supports did not modify the supply of care. Consistent with an exchange motive for intergenerational transfers, we estimate an average 17 pp (8.2-8.7pp) increase (decrease) in downstream (upstream) transfers among those receiving caregiving allowances. Our estimates resulting from the reduction in the allowances and supports after the austerity cuts in 2012 are consistent with our main estimates, and suggest stronguer effects among lower-income families. |
| Keywords: | caregiving; intergenerational transfers; unconditional transfer; long-term care; family transfers; exchange motivation; allowances; Spain; Exchange motives |
| JEL: | G22 I18 D14 |
| Date: | 2022–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:115185&r= |
| By: | Yiran Niu (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong); Jean-Philippe Boussemart (IESEG School of Management, Univ. Lille, CNRS, UMR 9221 - LEM - Lille Economie Management, F-59000 Lille, France); Zhiyang Shen (IESEG School of Management, Univ. Lille, CNRS, UMR 9221 - LEM - Lille Economie Management, F-59000 Lille, France); Michael Vardanyan (IESEG School of Management, Univ. Lille, CNRS, UMR 9221 - LEM - Lille Economie Management, F-59000 Lille, France) |
| Abstract: | Aiming to achieve sustainable development, a constantly growing number of countries have strived to promote economic growth while simultaneously mitigating environmental degradation and maximizing social welfare. However, despite the importance attributed to social well-being in contemporary discourse, its role has not received much attention in the performance evaluation literature. We propose a novel, multi-stage framework based on three dimensions of performance allowing us to assess the tradeoffs between the economic, environmental, and social efficiency in 28 OECD member countries from 2000 to 2019. We construct several scenarios representing policymakers' preferences by altering the weights assigned to the different performance pillars, allowing us to assess the environmental and social repercussions of economic growth. Our findings suggest that policies promoting relatively balanced growth patterns can offer opportunities for higher performance across all three pillars. At the same time, prioritizing development along any single dimension can trigger a relatively significant drop in progress in terms of the other two pillars. We also demonstrate that the sustainable development potential has varied across time and space. Comparisons suggest that the European OECD member countries have outperformed their non-European counterparts in terms of the economic performance, health outcomes, life expectancy, and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Our results can provide policymakers with insights into strategies for promoting economic growth that account for sustainable development objectives. |
| Keywords: | Data Envelopment Analysis; Environmental Technology; Social Benchmarking; Nonparametric Estimation |
| Date: | 2024–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ies:wpaper:e202414&r= |
| By: | RADOVANOVIC Nikola (European Commission - JRC); FABBRI Emanuele (European Commission - JRC); MATUSIAK Monika (European Commission - JRC); CONTE Andrea (European Commission - JRC); SALOTTI Simone (European Commission - JRC); DOSSO Mafini; HOLLANDERS Hugo; MERKELBACH Iris; TOLIAS Yannis; DURAN SILVA Nicolau; FUSTER MARTÍ Enric; MASSUCCI Francesco A.; PLAZAS Adrià |
| Abstract: | All Western Balkan economies launched their first respective Smart Specialisation strategy development processes by 2018, wishing to enhance their innovation policy frameworks with the evidence-based and participatory approach for revealing priority areas for policy intervention. Within these efforts, the economies had a complex task to thoroughly analyse their promising domains through economic, innovation and scientific mapping exercises. This report gives an overview of the regional competitiveness based on providing evidence on specialisation as well as emerging areas, highlighting their potential in detail. Although common patterns of economic specialisation are relatively rare, Western Balkan economies express a certain potential for science&technology collaborations. Smart Specialisation processes can enhance regional collaborations and contribute to bridging gaps between Science and Industry. |
| Date: | 2024–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc136606&r= |
| By: | Emir Fejzic; Will Usher |
| Abstract: | A fast-paced policy context is characteristic of energy and climate research, which strives to develop solutions to wicked problems such as climate change. Funding agencies in the European Union recognize the importance of linking research and policy in climate and energy research. This calls for an increased understanding of how stakeholder engagement can effectively be used to co-design research questions that include stakeholders' concerns. This paper reviews the current literature on stakeholder engagement, from which we create a set of criteria. These are used to critically assess recent and relevant papers on stakeholder engagement in climate and energy projects. We obtained the papers from a scoping review of stakeholder engagement through workshops in EU climate and energy research. With insights from the literature and current EU climate and energy projects, we developed a workshop programme for stakeholder engagement. This programme was applied to the European Climate and Energy Modelling Forum project, aiming to co-design the most pressing and urgent research questions according to European stakeholders. The outcomes include 82 co-designed and ranked research questions for nine specific climate and energy research themes. Findings from the scoping review indicate that papers rarely define the term 'stakeholder'. Additionally, the concepts of co-creation, co-design, and co-production are used interchangeably and often without definition. We propose that workshop planners use stakeholder identification and selection methods from the broader stakeholder engagement literature. |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2406.01640&r= |
| By: | Kamila Kuziemska-Pawlak; Jakub Mućk |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes an extension of the fundamental equilibrium exchange rate (FEER) model that accounts for the trade linkages within the Global Value Chains (GVCs). In the modified FEER framework, both backward and forward linkages are taken into consideration. To demonstrate the empirical relevance of the complex nature of existing trade linkages, the proposed FEER model is applied to analyze exchange rate fluctuations of the selected Central and Eastern European countries against the euro. It is documented that in Czechia, Hungary, and Poland the standard FEER framework predicts rapid appreciation of the equilibrium exchange rate after 2010, which implies deepening undervaluation of the actual real exchange rate towards the end of the analysed period. Instead, when the GVCs' linkages are taken into account in the framework, actual real exchange rates are broadly in line with the fundamental equilibrium exchange rates, and hence the missing real appreciation of the Czech krone, the Hungarian forint and the Polish zloty is to a large extent an equilibrium phenomenon. |
| Keywords: | exchange rate, current account, foreign trade, Global Value Chains |
| JEL: | C32 C33 F12 F31 F32 |
| Date: | 2024–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sgh:kaewps:2024100&r= |
| By: | DI GIROLAMO Francesca (European Commission - JRC); HLEDIK Juraj (European Commission - JRC); PAGANO Andrea (European Commission - JRC) |
| Abstract: | In a cooperation with DG FISMA, the JRC is has tested a data synthetization software indented for the EU Data Hub. The purpose of this testing is to ensure that the new dataset, which will be made available as open data, maintains the properties of the original dataset while also protecting privacy and confidentiality. The report describes the datasets used to test the methodology and the steps taken for the synthetization. In addition, the report compares the main statistical properties of the original and new database, and summarize the tests performed to draw conclusions on potential confidentiality and privacy issues. By testing and validating the data synthesis software, the JRC and DG FISMA are working to ensure that the new dataset will be a valuable resource for firms and researchers, while also respecting confidentiality issues. |
| Date: | 2024–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc137249&r= |