The causal effect of family difficulties during childhood on adult labour market outcomes

Applying a propensity score matching approach to UK National Child Development Study, we find that experiencing family difficulties during childhood determines a negative and long-lasting impact on adult employment probabilities and wage. Standard econometric techniques and simulation based sensitivity analysis support our findings. The intensity of the disadvantage appears to increase with the number of recorded family difficulties. Moreover, we find that housing and economic problems are responsible for the more serious disadvantage, while disability of family members and disharmony act statistically significantly only if associated with other problems. Finally, the effect appears not to decline over the cohort working life.family difficulties, propensity score matching, labour market outcomes, simulation-based sensitivity analysis, long term causal effects

Kaldor-Verdoorn’s law and increasing returns to scale: a comparison across developed countries

The object of this study is to investigate the validity of the Kaldor-Verdoorn’s Law in explaining the long run determinants of the labor productivity growth for the manufacturing sector of some developed economies (Western European Countries, Australia, Canada, Japan and United States). We consider the period 1973-2006 using data provided by the European Commission - Economics and Financial Affairs. Our findings suggest that the law is valid for the manufacturing of Italy, US, Belgium and Australia. Capital growth and labor cost growth do not appear relevant in explaining productivity growth. The estimated Verdoorn coefficients are found to be stable throughout the period.increasing returns, Kaldor-Verdoorn law, productivity growth, manufacturing sector

Precautionary Savings of Agents with Heterogeneous Risk Aversion

This paper focuses on the estimation of the importance of the precautionary motive in the wealth accumulation decision. We use a micro dataset containing information on wealth, a subjective measure of income uncertainty and subjective indicators of risk aversion. The latter makes us possible to account for the fact that more risk averse individuals may select themselves into less risky occupations and, therefore, bias results. Restricting our analysis on male employees heads of households living with partner and children, we find that only a small share of wealth is accumulated for the precautionary motive. Our findings suggest that the more risk averse individuals are those who hold less savings. When heterogeneous risk aversion is not taken into account, estimates do not seem to change significantly

Kaldor-Verdoorn’s law and increasing returns to scale: a comparison across developed countries

The object of this study is to investigate the validity of the Kaldor-Verdoorn’s Law in explaining the long run determinants of the labor productivity growth for the manufacturing sector of some developed economies (Western European Countries, Australia, Canada, Japan and United States). We consider the period 1973-2006 using data provided by the European Commission - Economics and Financial Affairs. Our findings suggest that the law is valid for the manufacturing of Italy, US, Belgium and Australia. Capital growth and labor cost growth do not appear relevant in explaining productivity growth. The estimated Verdoorn coefficients are found to be stable throughout the period

The Economic Effect of Corruption in Italy: A Regional Panel Analysis

This paper provides a within-country analysis of the impact of corruption on economic growth using a panel of Italian regions from 1968 to 2011 through a robust measure of corruption. This measure is averaged over 5-year periods to reduce short-run fluctuations and to reduce probable delayed effects, which are typical for latent phenomena such as corruption. The results show a significant negative impact of corruption on long-term growth in all specifications, both on average and for each Italian region. As a consequence, a zero-level of corruption is growth maximizing. This effect is non-linear such that the negative impact of corruption on growth becomes less intense as corruption increases

The Economic Effect of Corruption in Italy: A Regional Panel Analysis

This paper provides a within-country analysis of the impact of corruption on economic growth using a panel of Italian regions from 1968 to 2011 through a robust measure of corruption. This measure is averaged over 5-year periods to reduce short-run fluctuations and to reduce probable delayed effects, which are typical for latent phenomena such as corruption. The results show a significant negative impact of corruption on long-term growth in all specifications, both on average and for each Italian region. As a consequence, a zero-level of corruption is growth maximizing. This effect is non-linear such that the negative impact of corruption on growth becomes less intense as corruption increases

The causal effect of family difficulties during childhood on adult labour market outcomes

Applying a propensity score matching approach to UK National Child Development Study, we find that experiencing family difficulties during childhood determines a negative and long-lasting impact on adult employment probabilities and wage. Standard econometric techniques and simulation based sensitivity analysis support our findings. The intensity of the disadvantage appears to increase with the number of recorded family difficulties. Moreover, we find that housing and economic problems are responsible for the more serious disadvantage, while disability of family members and disharmony act statistically significantly only if associated with other problems. Finally, the effect appears not to decline over the cohort working life

CETA, an ex post analysis

We perform an ex-post analysis of the effects of the CETA trade agreement in the agricultural, farming and food transformation sectors. We find strong evidence in support of a positive trade effect of the treaty. We also perform a series of analyses aimed at ascertaining the effects of the treaty on various subsectors. We find overall net-positive trade effects although we can clearly identify “winners” and “losers” of the treaty. Our analyses seem to indicate a positive trade creation effect not limited to the parties. We find evidence that the increase in trade flow between the members had a net positive effect in the form of an increase in overall international trade. We draw some preliminary policy conclusions on the effects of the treaty

Spatial diversity in cereal crops: What do we learn from CAP reforms? A farm-level analysis

On-farm agricultural biodiversity conservation has long been recognized as a fundamental resource to the maintenance of ecologic and economic functions. In this light, planned on-farm biodiversity is represented as an economic asset providing a flow of ecological services to direct use of farmers. In particular, crop-biodiversity, measuring diversity within and among wild and domesticated species, has been found to significantly contribute to the productivity of agricultural production through its effects on agricultural yields and incomes. Moreover, agricultural risk-management literature recognizes the safety role of diversification in the presence of market, climatic and other hazards; given that crops react differently to external shocks, risk-averse farmers will choose to allocate their land to different crops in order to face environmental risks. Among the factors affecting biodiversity, institutional failures at different scales are reported as potential cause of biodiversity loss both in developed and developing areas. Within the European context, subsequent CAP changes toward deregulation and adoption of environmental protection measures have been investigated with the aim to assess their potential effect on farm economic and ecological strategies; the present paper seeks to contribute to this strand of literature by empirically assessing the relationship between farmers? diversification choice and CAP decoupled intervention measures. Focusing on the CAP policy changes occurred since 2003, the paper asks the following research question: has crop-biodiversity been positively affected by the implementation of a system of payments progressively delinked from quantity and quality of production? In order to answer this question, the paper empirical strategy relies on farm-level information drawn from the RICA database which collect annual data on the structure and economic performance of Italian agricultural firms. The analysis is carried out on firms specialized in the cereal sector, as this is a sector that experienced much of the changes coming from the reform of the CAP intervention system. To that purpose, a biodiversity function is estimated along the observed sample covering the 2004-2007 period; biodiversity, measured as spatial diversity, is expressed as a function of a set of variables capturing socio-economic farm characteristics (inputs use, degree of agricultural innovation, age of farm manager), land and agronomic conditions (soil fertility, irrigation, altitude), and the variable measuring CAP support. Finally, we include a dummy variable for regional location in order to account for the effect of specific cultural and physical elements on farmers? production choice

The causal effect of family difficulties during childhood on adult labour market outcomes

Applying a propensity score matching approach to UK National Child Development Study, we find that experiencing family difficulties during childhood determines a negative and long-lasting impact on adult employment probabilities and wage. Standard econometric techniques and simulation based sensitivity analysis support our findings. The intensity of the disadvantage appears to increase with the number of recorded family difficulties. Moreover, we find that housing and economic problems are responsible for the more serious disadvantage, while disability of family members and disharmony act statistically significantly only if associated with other problems. Finally, the effect appears not to decline over the cohort working life