Labour force developments in the euro area since the 1980s

This paper aims, first, at assessing the relative importance of working age population and participation rates to explain labour force developments in the euro area between 1983 and 2000. It also compares participation rates in the euro area vis-à-vis the US, considering age and gender groups. It shows that the effect of population growth on labour force developments is losing importance relative to the effects of changes in the participation rate. Indeed, in the last few years, the effects of changes in the participation rate have exceeded those of the increase in working age population. This trend is expected to continue in the coming years. As regards the comparison of the euro area with the US, it shows a continuing large difference in women’s participation rate and among the youngest and oldest men’s age groups in the US versus the euro area, giving room for future positive contributions coming from participation in the euro area.

Integrating Technology in a Statistics Course for a Special Program at Florida International University

A special undergraduate program for selected biology majors was recently inaugurated at Florida International University. The curriculum emphasizes science, mathematics, and statistics. A statistics course was implemented for this program integrating PowerPoint, statistical software (SPSS), and data from biological/biomedical studies. This didactic experience is discussed here

Perceived emotional intelligence as a predictor of depressive symptoms after a one year follow-up during adolescence

Research to date has identified various risk factors in the emergence of depressive disorders in adolescence. There are very few studies, however, which have analyzed the role of perceived emotional intelligence in depressive symptoms longitudinally during adolescence. This work aimed to analyze longitudinal relationships between perceived emotional intelligence and depressive symptoms in adolescence, developing an explanatory model of depression following a one-year follow-up. A longitudinal study was carried out with two waves separated by one year, with a sample of 714 Spanish adolescents. The instruments consisted of self-report measures of depressive symptoms and perceived emotional intelligence. Results underlined gender differences in depressive symptoms and emotional intelligence, and indicated that greater emotional intelligence was associated with a lower presence of depressive symptoms after a one year follow-up. A multiple partial mediation model was developed to explain longitudinally depressive symptoms based on perceived emotional intelligence skills and depressive symptoms. These contributions underscore the need to design programs to prevent depression in adolescence through the promotion of emotional intelligence.peer-reviewe

An analysis of youth unemployment in the euro area

The paper starts by presenting some stylised facts on youth unemployment over the last two decades, both at the euro area and the country level. It shows that despite declining considerably over the last few years, youth unemployment has remained at a high level relative to other age groups in most euro area countries. The paper finds that there is a positive relationship between the share of young people in the total population and the youth unemployment rate, i.e. the smaller the share of young people in the population, the lower the risk of them being unemployed. At the same time, economic conditions are negatively correlated with the youth unemployment rate, i.e. the youth unemployment rate increases when the economic situation worsens. Moreover, robust results across the regression scenarios show that higher employment protection and minimum wages imply a higher youth unemployment rate, while active labour market policies (ALMPs) tend to reduce it. The results also indicate that the increasing share of services employment in total employment is helping to reduce unemployment among young persons. Furthermore, the increase in the youth inactivity rate, which is mainly due to the fact that there are more young people in education, is also linked to the overall decline in youth unemployment. Finally, as regards education, the results indicate that the number of years of education, the number of young people with vocational training and, to a lesser extent high scores in the PISA study, are associated with lower youth unemployment rates. The share of the young population not in school, however, is positively correlated with the unemployment rate. As youth unemployment is subject to certain country-specific features, each country should identify the relevant underlying sources of youth unemployment and react accordingly. Governments can make a positive contribution to the smooth transition of young persons fromeducation to the labour market by providing a well-functioning education system and labour market institutions that do not introduce distortions into the labour market. JEL Classification: I2, J11, J13, J21, J64.Youth, unemployment, employment, demographic trends, institutions, education.

Labour Force Participation in the Euro Area: A Cohort Based Analysis.

We use a cohort based model to analyse determinants of labour force participation for disaggregated groups of workers in the euro area and the five largest euro area countries. The model captures age and cohort effects as indicators of (unobserved) determinants of participation behaviour. We use these effects and observed determinants to construct trends and projections of labour supply. Our results suggest that age and cohort effects can account for a substantial part of the recent increase in participation. Cohort effects are particularly relevant for women with those born in the late 1960s and early 1970s more likely to participate over the life-cycle. There is substantial variation in the estimated age and cohort effects across countries. Looking forward, positive cohort effects for women are not large enough to compensate for the downward impact of population ageing on participation rates in the euro area. JEL Classification: J11, J21.labour force participation, cohort analysis, labour market institutions.

Household Sector Borrowing in the Euro Area: A Micro Data Persective

This paper uses microdata from the EU-SILC (Statistics on Income and Living Conditions) to generate structural information for the euro area on the incidence of household indebtedness and of the burden to service debt. It distinguishes this incidence according to relevant characteristics such as income, age and employment status, all elements that can be cross-examined in the light of theories such as the life-cycle hypothesis. Overall, income appears as the dominant feature determining the debt status of a household. The paper also examines the evolution of indebtedness and debt service burdens over time and compares it with the US. In general, the results suggest that the macroeconomic implications of indebtedness for monetary transmission and financial stability are not associated with the mean but with the tails of the distribution.household indebtedness, financial vulnerability, micro survey data, monetary transmission.

Labour productivity developments in the euro area

This paper provides a description and a discussion of some important aspects relating to recent productivity developments in the euro area. Following decades of stronger gains in the euro area than in the US, labour productivity growth has fallen behind that in the US in recent years. This reflects a decline in average labour productivity growth observed in the euro area since the mid-1990s, which stands in sharp contrast with opposite developments in the US. The decline in labour productivity growth experienced in the euro area since the mid-1990s resulted from both lower capital deepening and lower total factor productivity growth. From a sectoral perspective, industries not producing or using intensively information and communication technology (ICT) would appear mostly responsible for the decline in average labour productivity growth since the mid-1990s. These developments were broadly experienced by most euro area countries. A comparison with developments in the US suggests that the euro area economy seems to have benefited much less from increased production and use of ICT technologies, in particular in the services sector. Diverging trends in labour productivity growth between the euro area and the US in recent years mainly reflect developments in a number of specific ICT-using services such as retail, wholesale and some financial services where strong gains were registered in the US. The evidence presented in this paper suggests that, in order to support economic growth in the euro area, emphasis should be given to both policy measures that directly address the determinants of productivity and, given the interactions among the various factors of growth, to policies that raise labour utilisation.

Affordability and subsidies in public urban transport : what do we mean, what can be done?

Subsidy policies on public urban transport have been adopted ubiquitously. In both developed and developing countries, subsidies are implemented to make transport more affordable. Despite their widespread implementation, there are virtually no quantitative assessments of their distributional incidence, making it impossible to determine if these instruments are pro-poor. This paper reviews the arguments used to justify subsidy policies in public urban transport. Using different tools to quantitatively evaluate the incidence and distributive impacts of subsidy policy options, the paper analyzes the findings of a series of researchpapers that study urban public transport subsidy policies in developed and developing countries. The available evidence indicates that current public urban transport subsidy policies do not make the poorest better off. Supply-side subsidies are, for the most part, neutral or regressive; while demand-side subsidies perform better-although many of them do not improve income distribution. Considering that the policy objective is to improve the welfare of the poorest, it is imperative to move away from supply-side subsidies towards demand-side subsidies and to integrate transport social concerns into wider poverty alleviation efforts, which include the possibility of channeling subsidies through monetary transfer systems or through other transfer instruments (food subsidies, health services and education for the poor). The general conclusion of the paper is that more effort should be devoted to improve the targeting properties of public urban transport subsidies using means-testing procedures to ensure a more pro-poor incidence of subsidies.Transport Economics Policy&Planning,Transport in Urban Areas,Urban Transport,Taxation&Subsidies,Economic Theory&Research