Regional structure of wages and external economies in Spain

Regional data on wages for the Spanish economy show that workers who live in developed regions earn more than workers in other regions. Literature on external economies provides a possible explanation of why firms do not move from these regions to others where wages are lower. Previous studies for the Spanish case use aggregated sectoral data to explain in terms of external economies why average wages are different across regions. The original contribution of this paper consists of using individual data to detect the existence and nature of external economies as an explanatory cause of territorial wage differences. With this aim, we have used individual data from the EPF 1990-91 (INE). This information permits us to control the influence of individual and job characteristics on wages to, first, detect the existence of external economies and, second, to test alternative explanations of their presence. The empirical evidence obtained confirms the relevance of territorial external economies and their influence on wages, as a result of improvements in the productive efficiency of the firm. In concrete terms, the more relevant external economies are associated with the regional human capital stock and geographical productive specialisation- Los datos sobre salarios provinciales muestran la existencia de diferencias salariales geográficas de considerable magnitud. Algunos estudios disponibles para el caso español tratan de explicar dichas diferencias en términos de economías externas utilizando para ello datos sobre salarios medios sectoriales. La principal aportación de este trabajo reside en el empleo de datos individuales para detectar la existencia y averiguar la naturaleza de las economías externas que afectan a los salarios de un territorio. Los datos individuales utilizados proceden de la EPF 1990/91. La información estadística disponible ha permitido controlar la influencia de las características individuales y del puesto de trabajo sobre el salario con el objetivo de, primero, detectar la existencia de economías externas y, después, conocer el origen y naturaleza de las mismas. La evidencia empírica obtenida confirma la relevancia de las economías externas territoriales y su influencia positiva sobre los salarios, como resultado de las mejoras aportadas a la eficiencia productiva de las empresas localizadas en dicho territorio. En concreto, las economías externas más importantes son las generadas por el stock de capital humano provincial y por la especialización del territorio

Regional structure of wages and external economies in Spain

Regional data on wages for the Spanish economy show that workers who live in developed regions earn more than workers in other regions. Literature on external economies provides a possible explanation of why firms do not move from these regions to others where wages are lower. Previous studies for the Spanish case use aggregated sectoral data to explain in terms of external economies why average wages are different across regions. The original contribution of this paper consists of using individual data to detect the existence and nature of external economies as an explanatory cause of territorial wage differences. With this aim, we have used individual data from the EPF 1990-91 (INE). This information permits us to control the influence of individual and job characteristics on wages to, first, detect the existence of external economies and, second, to test alternative explanations of their presence. The empirical evidence obtained confirms the relevance of territorial external economies and their influence on wages, as a result of improvements in the productive efficiency of the firm. In concrete terms, the more relevant external economies are associated with the regional human capital stock and geographical productive specialisation.regional labour markets, wages, human capital, external economies

Wage curves for Spain. Evidence from the family budget survey

This study explores the existence of a wage curve for Spain. To quantify this relationship for the Spanish economy, we used individual data from the EPF 1990-1991. The results show the presence of a wage curve with an elasticity of 0.13. The availability of very detailed information on wages and unemployment has also shown that less protected labour market groups young workers, manual workers and building sector workers- have a higher elasticity of wages to local unemployment. These results could be interpreted as a greater facility of firms in these segments to settle wages as a function of the unemployment rate.regional labour markets, unemployment rate, wage curve

Educational mismatches in the EU: immigrants vs native

The purpose of this paper is to analyse and explain the factors contributing to the observed differences in skill mismatches (vertical and horizontal) between natives and immigrants in EU countries. Using microdata from the 2007 wave of the Adult Education Survey (AES), different probit models are specified and estimated to analyse differences in the probability of each type of skill mismatch between natives and immigrants. Yun's decomposition method is used to identify the relative contribution of characteristics and returns to explain the differences between the two groups. Findings: Immigrants are more likely to be skill mismatched than natives. The difference is much larger for vertical mismatch, wherein the difference is higher for immigrants coming from non-EU countries than for those coming from other EU countries. We find that immigrants from non-EU countries are less valued in EU labour markets than natives with similar characteristics -a result that is not observed for immigrants from EU countries. These results could be related to the limited transferability of human capital acquired in non-EU countries. Social implications: The findings suggest that specific programs to adapt immigrants' human capital acquired in the home country are required to reduce differences in the incidence of skill mismatch and better integration into EU labour markets. Originality: This research is original, because it distinguishes between horizontal and vertical mismatch -an issue that has not been considered in the literature on differences between native and immigrant workers- and due to the wide geographical scope of our analysis, which considers EU and non EU-countries

Advances in Spatial Econometrics. Methodology, Tools and Applications. Luc Anselin, Raymond J.G.M. Florax y Sergio J. Rey (eds.) [Ressenya de llibre]

Ressenya de : Advances in Spatial Econometrics. Methodology, Tools and Applications por Luc Anselin, Raymond J.G.M. Florax y Sergio J. Rey (eds.), Springer, Berlin Heidelberg (Germany), 513 páginas, 2004, ISBN: 3-540-43729-

Ciutadans socialment responsables i no socialment dependents

L'Estratègia Europa 2020, aprovada el juny de 2010, presenta tres prioritats que es reforcen mútuament: creixement intel·ligent, sostenible i inclusiu, capaç d'aconseguir alts nivells d'ocupació, productivitat i cohesió social. En aquest context, la necessitat de donar resposta a l'increment de les desigualtats que s'ha produït durant la crisi econòmica ha portat a reformar alguns aspectes de l'Estat del Benestar que han accentuat encara més les diferències ja existents entre els diferents estats membres de la Unió Europea. A aquest article s'analitza, en primer lloc, l'evolució recent de diferents indicadors relacionats amb la protecció social des d'una perspectiva crítica i, a continuació, les iniciatives més recents en l'àmbit català i espanyol per tal de promoure el que es coneix com a 'inclusió activa'. De fet, en l'àmbit de la Unió Europea, les polítiques contra la pobresa han patit profunds canvis en les dues últimes dècades reorientant-se cap a una combinació d'instruments orientats a garantir un mínim d'ingressos als ciutadans i d'altres que tracten de promoure la seva inserció socioeconòmica. En segon lloc, es descriu en major detall la situació al nostre país que, de fet, constitueix una anomalia dins el context de la Unió Europea, sent un dels pocs països que no compten amb un instrument general de protecció econòmica de les llars amb menys recursos. Per últim, es valoren diferents alternatives de reforma en aquest àmbit tenint en compte els reptes a que ens haurem d'enfrontar en un futur proper

Migration aspirations among youth in the Middle East and North Africa region

The Middle East and North Africa region has high unemployment rates for youth, and the number of youth not in education, employment, or training is also among the highest in the world. In this context, migration is one of the more obvious reactions of youth facing unmet aspirations in the labour market. This paper analyses the determinants of the intentions of youth to migrate during their school-to-work transitions in selected countries in the region. With this aim, microdata from School-to-Work Transition Surveys conducted by the International Labour Organization from 2013 to 2015 are used in this research covering Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, and Tunisia. These surveys target a nationally representative sample of young people between the ages of 15 and 29 and include data on intentions to migrate (internal and international) and factors related to social and educational background. Microeconometric models are used in order to achieve a better understanding of factors influencing youth decisions to migrate

Spanish unemployment: Normative versus analytical regionalisation procedures

In applied regional analysis, statistical information is usually published at different territorial levels with the aim of providing information of interest for different potential users. When using this information, there are two different choices: first, to use normative regions (towns, provinces, etc.), or, second, to design analytical regions directly related with the analysed phenomena. In this paper, provincial time series of unemployment rates in Spain are used in order to compare the results obtained by applying two analytical regionalisation models (a two stages procedure based on cluster analysis and a procedure based on mathematical programming) with the normative regions available at two different scales: NUTS II and NUTS I. The results have shown that more homogeneous regions were designed when applying both analytical regionalisation tools. Two other obtained interesting results are related with the fact that analytical regions were also more stable along time and with the effects of scale in the regionalisation process.unemployment, regionalisation, analytical region, normative region

Design of Homogeneous Territorial Units: A Methodological Proposal

One of the main questions to solve when analysing geographically added information consists of the design of territorial units adjusted to the objectives of the study. This is related with the reduction of the effects of the Modifiable Areal Unit Problem (MAUP). In this paper an optimisation model to solve regionalisation problems is proposed. This model seeks to reduce some disadvantages found in previous works about automated regionalisation tools.contiguity constraint, zone design, optimisation, modifiable areal unit problem