Public goods’ attractiveness and migrations

The aim of this paper is to develop a dynamic model of migrations, in which migration is driven by size asymmetries between countries and by the relative preferences of consumers between private consumption and consumption of public goods. The dynamic trajectories heavily depend on the degree of attractiveness for public goods. We show that monotone migrations require sufficiently strong preferences for public goods, and can only be sustained from the small of the large countries. We identify the threshold value of the public goods’ intensity of preferences guaranteeing the survival of the small country. For weaker preference intensities, oscillating migrations may rise, but they finally converge to situation where both countries are of equal sizeMigration; public goods; income tax

Public goods’ attractiveness and migrations

The aim of this paper is to develop a dynamic model of migrations, in which migration is driven by size asymmetries between countries and by the relative preferences of consumers between private consumption and consumption of public goods. The dynamic trajectories heavily depend on the degree of attractiveness for public goods We show that monotone migrations require sufficiently strong preferences for public goods, and can only be sustained from the small to the large countries. We identify the threshold value of the public goods’ intensity of preferences guaranteeing the survival of the small country. For weaker preference intensities, oscillating migrations may arise, but they finally converge to situation where both countries are of equal size.migration, public goods, income tax.

Migrations, public goods and taxes

This paper examines how and why people migrate between two regions with asymmetric size. The agglomeration force comes from the scale economies in the provision of local public goods, whereas the dispersion force comes from congestion in consumption of public goods. Public goods considered resemble club goods (or public goods with congestion) and people are heterogeneous in their migration costs. We find that the large countries can be destination of migrants for sufficiently high provision of public goods, even when the large country taxes too much. The high provision of public good offsets the congestion effect. While, the small country can be the destination of migrants for two reasons. Firstly, when public good supply is intermediate, people move to avoid congestion in the large country and to benefit from low taxation in the small one. Finally, when the provision of public goods is low, people move towards the small countries just to avoid congestion

Financing the Mobility of Students in European Higher Education

This working paper provides an overview of the importance and tendencies of financing higher education and students' mobility. The analysis investigates problems stemming from unequal access to financing of education and mobility associated costs. It underlines the necessity of public help to correct market failures. It also shows that the establishment of an EU Student Loan Facility for cross-border mobility as a policy measure on EU level would have added value in order to contribute to the objective to increase the mobility of higher education students..

Female access to finance: A survey of literature

This working paper examines the current academic literature on access to finance for female entrepreneurs and female-led enterprises. It covers two main financing markets: credit and venture capital (VC). The paper finds wide consensus in the academic field that gender-related credit and VC gaps exist in Europe. It also collects some of the most prominent empirical findings with respect to the gender imbalance in the European credit and VC markets during the last decade. This suggests an important role for gender-smart policy interventions at EU-level through the use of both equity and debt financing instruments

Public goods' attractiveness and migrations

The aim of this paper is to develop a dynamic model of migrations, in which migration is driven by size asymmetries between countries and by the relative preferences of consumers between private consumption and consumption of public goods. The dynamic tra jectories heavily depend on the degree of attractiveness for public goods We show that monotone migrations require sufficiently strong preferences for public goods, and can only be sustained from the small to the large countries. We identify the threshold value of the public goods’ intensity of preferences guaranteeing the survival of the small country. For weaker preference intensities, oscillating migrations may arise, but they finally converge to situation where both countries are of equal size

European Small Business Finance Outlook: June 2013

This European Small Business Finance Outlook (ESBFO) provides an overview of the main markets relevant to EIF (equity, guarantees/securitisation, microfinance). It is an update of the ESBFO December 2012. We start by discussing the general market environment, then look at the main aspects of equity finance and the guarantees/SME Securitisation (SMESec) market. Finally, we briefly highlight important aspects of microfinance in Europe. In previous ESBFO versions we touched the topic of SME guarantees only briefly. From now on, in addition to our already ‘traditional' analysis of the SMESec market, we include a specific section on SME guarantees in order to reflect the importance of this area for SME finance in Europe

The business angel portfolio under the European Angels Fund: An empirical analysis

This paper analyses the Business Angel (BA) portfolio of the European Angels Fund (EAF), an initiative of the European Investment Fund, which engages in co-investment relationships with experienced business angels across Europe. It uses EIF's proprietary database to shed light on a specific subset of the European BA sector. The first section covers the basic characteristics of EAF's BAs and draws comparisons with existing studies wherever possible. In addition, it provides a basic description of EAF's investment portfolio, outlining the geographical distribution of its portfolio companies and the sector in which they are active. The next section focusses on BAs' investment practices. For example, we take a closer look at the geographical and sectoral investment strategies, and investigate aspects related to investment timing. We also examine the innovative capacity of the investees, by analysing patenting activity during the first years of the EAF program. Finally, a brief descriptive analysis provides an overview of the post-investment growth patterns experienced by EAF's investee companies

The role of cooperative banks and smaller institutions for the financing of SMEs and small midcaps in Europe

The "Cooperative Banks & Smaller Institutions" (CBSI) window of the EIB Group Risk Enhancement Mandate (EREM) shall contribute to the EIB group's intention to increase lending to small and mediumssized enterprises (SMEs) and to broaden the range of intermediaries through which it operates, in particular by targeting small cooperative banks and other smaller institutions that have a particular focus on smaller SMEs and start-ups. In this paper, we provide background information on cooperative banks and other smaller institutions in Europe. However, we focus on the cooperative banking segment, for which more information is available. Banks' business models strongly differ by the size of the banks. For example, smaller institutions' share of trading assets (including derivatives held for trading) over total assets is, on average, very small. ECB indicators also show that smaller banks have a higher solvency and asset quality, as well as a lower leverage and loans-to-deposit ratios, when compared to larger banks. These results are all broadly in line with the findings for the more specific group of cooperative banks. Cooperative banks' business model is usually conservative and follows a simpler structure than that of "shareholder banks". Cooperative banks typically concentrate to a large extent on lending-based retail banking. Individual local institutions, although tending to be small, are key intermediaries for SME loans, with a relatively strong focus on smaller SMEs. Cooperative banks' funding policy, but also their capital base, is regarded as being comparably stable. Their main funding source is deposits from customers, who are to a large extent identical with their members/owners. In addition to the membership contribution of their owner-members, usually their almost exclusive source of capital is retained profits..