Evaluating the impact of an active labour market policy on employment: short- and long-term perspectives

The Labour Market Insertion Contract was an Active Labour Market Policy introduced in Spain. It was aimed at individuals who had difficulties entering the labour market, and it was introduced with the purpose of reducing the rate of unemployment. This article provides an estimation of the average impact that this contract had on the employability of individuals in the short and long term. A microeconomic analysis was carried out based on causal statistical inference by using propensity score matching and kernel and radial estimators. Data was taken from the most comprehensive database available, which is the Continuous Sample of Work Histories. Results are consistent with literature reports and show that the employability of participants was inferior to that of individuals with similar, temporary-type contracts. This research contributes to the literature by evaluating whether there was empirical evidence to support the political decision to revoke or replace this kind of direct employment programme.Junta de Andalucía proyecto SEJ-132Universidad Autónoma de ChileUniversidad de Sevilla. Departamento de Análisis Económico y Política Económic

Tourism and hospitality sector electricity use: evidences from 12 EU countries

At the Paris Conference of the Parties (COP21) in 2015, 195 countries agreed to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change. Along this line, the EU is committed to a 40% reduction in their domestic greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. This new target represents a significant progression beyond its existing 20% emission reduction commitment by 2020. Thus, greater efforts will be needed affecting all productive sectors in order to reduce CO2 emissions and energy consumption. In order to reach this ambitious target, new measures affecting all economic sectors would be needed. This paper focuses on the tourism sector. This aim of this study is to investigate the relationships between tourist overnight stays and the hospitality sector electricity consumption. These relationships are studied for 12 EU countries during the period 2005-2012, accordingly with the available data. With this aim, econometric panel data techniques are used in order to estimate an electricity consumption function for the hospitality sector which depends on tourism, income, price and climate variables. The Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis is also tested. An Energy-tourism Kuznets Curve would show that increasing earnings from tourism will bring about reduced electricity consumption from a threshold point, which could be related to the fact that more earnings could imply undertaking more energy efficiency measures

The relationships between total, electricity and biofuels residential energy consumption and income in Latin America and the Caribbean Countries

Controlling residential energy consumption in Latino America and the Caribbean countries is crucial to reduce CO2 emissions, as it has an important energy-saving potential, and its environmental controls are difficult to displace offshore. The aim of this study is to analyze the relationships between residential energy consumption and income for 22 Latin America and the Caribbean countries in the period 1990-2013. For this purpose, residential energy environmental Kuznets curves (EKC) are estimated by taking into account the heterogeneity among the countries by including two control variables: one representing the possible effect of urbanization on residential energy use and the second representing the possible effect of petrol production. The EKC are estimated for total residential energy consumption, for residential electricity consumption and for biofuels and waste energy consumption. The elasticities of total, electricity and biofuels residential energy consumption with respect to income are calculated for each year and country, analyzing the different behavior between countries. Obtained results show that the EKC hypothesis is confirmed for the residential sector when the biofuels energy consumption is considered. Moreover, the results also show that the turning point has been reached in some countries. Nevertheless, the EKC is not confirmed when electricity or total residential energy consumption is considered. Thus, for total residential energy consumption, the elasticity is always positive, growing also as the income does. For electricity energy consumption, the elasticity is also always positive, since although the elasticity decreases until a threshold, from an per capita income value it begins to grow

Policy instruments to promote electro-mobilityiIn the Eu28: A comprehensive review

Despite its environmental benefits, the amount of Electric Vehicles (EVs) in use within the European Union 28 is still very limited. Poor penetration might be explained by certain factors that dissuade potential buyers. To balance these factors and promote electro-mobility, Member States have established incentives to increase demand. However, the various measures are scattered. This paper contributes to fill the gap in the literature by offering an overall view of the main measures. The authors will focus on measures to promote electro-mobility within the EU28 until 2014. After an in-depth and comprehensive review of the relevant measures, the authors conclude that the most important policy instruments to promote EVs are tax and infrastructure measures in addition to financial incentives for purchasing and supporting R&D projects. Regardless of the scarcity of EV registration data, the available information allows us to conclude that higher EV penetration levels appear in countries where the registration tax, the ownership tax, or both taxes have developed a partial green tax by including CO2 emissions in the calculation of the final invoice.Junta de Andalucía proyecto SEJ-132Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad de España, Cátedra de Economía de la Energía y del Medio Ambiente (Cátedra de Energía y Economía Ambiental) ECO2014-56399-RUniversidad Autónoma de Chil

Measures to promote renewable energy for electricity generation in Algeria

Algeria has enormous renewable energy potential. However, fossil fuels remain the main electricity generation source, and the country is the third largest CO2 emitter in Africa. Algeria is also particularly vulnerable to climate change. Therefore, a set of actions related to energy, forests, industry and waste sectors have been programmed, over the period 2015–2030, and the government action program has given priority to promote renewable energy. In this sense, Algeria is committed to significantly promote investment in renewable energy, during the period 2020–2030. Thus by 2030, renewable electricity production capacity will achieve 22,000 MW, representing 27% of total electricity generation. This paper analyzes the electricity generation measures implemented in Algeria to reach the required energy mix, the legislative framework, financial aid, the feed-in tariff system, the tax incentives, and the tender and auctions undertaken. The analyses reveal that, although the electricity price premium policy has not been revoked, the newly enacted tender scheme is designed to become the standard procedure for launching renewable energy projects in Algeria in the coming years

Residential electricity consumption and economic growth in Algeria

Within the framework of the COP21 (Conference of the Parties) agreement, Algeria submitted its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution pledging to reduce carbon emissions by at least 7% by 2030. However, it will be a difficult task to reach this target as total final energy consumption has increased 32% from 2010 to 2014, with the major energy increases being related to electricity use in the residential sector. In this context, the relationship between residential electricity consumption and income is analyzed for Algeria in the period 1970–2013, by estimating a residential electricity consumption per capita demand function which depends on GDP per capita, its squared and cubed terms, the electricity prices, and the goods and services imports. An extended Autoregressive Distributed Lag model (ARDL) was adopted to consider the different growth patterns registered in the evolution of GDP. The estimate results show that the relationships between electricity use and GDP (in per capita terms) present an inverted N-shape, with the second turning point having been reached. Therefore, promoting growth in Algeria could be convenient to reduce the electricity consumption, as a higher income level may allow the use of more efficient appliances. Additionally, renewable energies may be adequate to increase the electricity production in order to cover the increasing residential demand.Junta de Andalucía proyecto SEJ-132Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad de España, Cátedra de Economía de la Energía y del Medio Ambiente (Cátedra de Energía y Economía Ambiental) ECO2014-56399-

Assessing the impact of a training program on how long a job search

Este artículo estima el efecto promedio del Programa de Escuelas Taller y Casas de Oficios sobre el periodo necesario para encontrar un empleo. Se han utilizado tres estimadores: el de ponderación sobre la probabilidad condicional de participación, el estimador bietápico de Heckman y el estimador de emparejamiento. Para los participantes en el programa, el número de días hasta encontrar un empleo se reduce en 471, 446 y 467, respectivamente, dependiendo del estimador utilizado. Se encuentra evidencia consistente acerca de que el programa reduce el tiempo necesario para encontrar un empleo.This paper estimes the average effect of the Spanish Training Schools Program on the period needed to find a job. Three methods have been developed: weighting on the propensity score, Heckman’s estimator and propensity score-matching. For the participants in the program, the number of days up to finding a job diminishes in 471, 446 and 467, respectively, depending on the used estimator one. There is a consistent evidence across methods that the program evaluated reduces the necessary time to find a job

El aprendizaje y sus efectos sobre la empleabilidad de los trabajadores

El presente artículo evalúa el efecto promedio del contrato de aprendizaje sobre la empleabilidad de los trabajadores tanto a corto (año siguiente a la finalización del contrato) y a medio plazo (en los tres años siguientes). Para ello se construye un grupo de tratamiento con 2752 individuos y un grupo de control con 5493, extraídos ambos de la MCVL. La estimación del efecto promedio se realiza mediante la técnica del “propensity score matching”. Los resultados muestran que los trabajadores que han finalizado un contrato de aprendizaje cuentan en el año inmediatamente siguiente a la finalización del contrato con 56 días menos trabajados, en promedio, que los trabajadores del grupo de control. La cifra se eleva a 105 días en los tres años siguientes. Estos resultados desfavorables para el contrato de trabajo pueden explicarse por el efecto conjunto de diversos factores, entre ellos, un posible efecto estigmatización del contrato de trabajo y un potencial efecto bloqueo.This paper evaluates the average effect of the apprentice contract on the ability to find a job not only in the short term (the year after the contract was over) but also in the middle term (the following three years). To do that a treatment group is constructed with 2752 individuals and another control group is also constructed with 5493 individuals; both groups are extracted from the Spanish MCVL. The average effect is estimated by using propensity score matching. Results show that workers who have finished an apprentice contract work on average, 56 days less than control workers during the following year. This figure raises up to 105 days in the following three years. These unfavorable results to the apprentice contract could be explained through the combined action of several factors, including a possible stigmatization effect and a potential blocking effec

Estimación del efecto de un programa de formación a partir de métodos basados en la probabilidad de participación

Este artículo estima el efecto promedio del Programa de Escuelas Taller y Casas de Oficios sobre el periodo necesario para encontrar un empleo. Se han utilizado tres estimadores, el de ponderación sobre la probabilidad condicional de participación, el estimador bietápico de Heckman y el estimador de emparejamiento. Para los participantes en el programa, el número de días hasta encontrar un empleo se reduce en 471 y 446 y 467, respectivamente, dependiendo del estimador utilizado. Se encuentra evidencia consistente acerca de que el programa reduce el tiempo necesario para encontrar un empleo

Dos enfoques para el cálculo del estimador de diferencias en diferencias aplicado a la evaluación de programas públicos de formación

El estimador de diferencias en diferencias es un método de estimación de la inferencia causal estadística apropiado en el contexto de estudios observacionales. Su utilización en la evaluación de programas públicos de formación ha mostrado resultados ciertamente interesantes. Este trabajo desarrolla un ejercicio de evaluación basado en la utilización del estimador de diferencias en diferencias sobre unos datos ficticios de la variable respuesta (ingresos laborales), asignados aleatoriamente entre individuos beneficiarios del programa e individuos de control. Para el cálculo del estimador se utilizan dos metodologías alternativas; la empleada por Athey e Imbens (2002) y la desarrollada por Abadíe (2003). El resultado del ejercicio, en ambos casos, es un valor positivo del estimador de diferencias en diferencias que permite evaluar favorablemente los efectos del programa de formación sobre la población beneficiaria. Adicionalmente, el estimador demuestra ser sensible a la manipulación de los datos