Regional convergence, polarization and mobility in the European Union, 1980-1996

The aim of the paper is to analyse how the regional convergence, polarization and mobility have evolved in the EU from 1980 onwards. Using both simple and weighted indicators, the paper not only shows that all these three processes have been going on but that there are no sings of polarization and that the mobility degree (taken into account the whole period) is quite high. At the same time, the paper shows that the rate of convergence and the degree of mobility have declined, rising doubts about what may happen in the near future.

Evaluating Labor Market Reforms: A General Equilibrium Approach

Job security provisions are commonly invoked to explain the high and persistent European unemployment rates. This belief has led several countries to reform their labor markets and liberalize the use of fixed-term contracts. Despite how common such contracts have become after deregulation, there is a lack of quantitative analysis of their impact on the economy. To fill this gap, we build a general equilibrium model with heterogeneous agents and firing costs in the tradition of Hopenhayn and Rogerson (1993). We calibrate our model to Spanish data, choosing in part parameters estimated with firm-level longitudinal data. Spain is particularly interesting, since its labor regulations are among the most protective in the OECD, and both its unemployment and its share of fixed-term employment are the highest. We find that fixed term contracts increase unemployment, reduce output, and raise productivity. The welfare effects are ambiguous.Fixed-term contracts, Firing costs, General equilibrium, Heterogeneous agents

La productividad de las regiones europeas: un análisis agregado y por sectores.

El objetivo del presente trabajo es analizar la productividad de las regiones europeas durante el periodo 1990-2011. Haciendo uso de diversas técnicas de análisis, se concluye que: a) la dispersión regional y sectorial es elevada; b) las ganancias de productividad agregada se deben, prácticamente en su totalidad, a aumentos en la productividad de los sectores; c) existe un proceso de convergencia beta, tanto a escala agregada como sectorial; d) lo mismo sucede, con la única excepción del sector industrial, con la convergencia sigma; e) la descomposición del proceso de convergencia en productividad revela que el mismo se sustenta, casi exclusivamente, en el efecto crecimiento de la productividad sectorial; y f) existe una evidente bipolarización en la distribución de productividad, si bien ésta ha decrecido en el tiempo.The aim of this paper is to analyse productivity at regional level in the EU between 1990 and 2011. By making use of various techniques it concludes that: a) the regional and sectoral dispersion of productivity is rather high; b) the gains experienced in aggregate productivity are due, almost entirely, to the sectors productivity growth effect; c) there is a beta-convergence process at the aggregate and sectoral levels; d) the same occurs for sigma-convergence, apart from the industrial sector; e) the accounting decomposition of the aggregate productivity convergence process reveals the sectoral productivity growth effect to be almost the only responsible for regional catching-up; and f) there exists an evident bipolarisation in the productivity distribution, although it has decreased over the sample period

Presente y futuro del terrorismo de extrema derecha en Europa

Is there a risk of increased terrorism of the extreme right in Europe? This document analyses the current and future situation. Highlighting the fuzzy concepts of «terrorism» and «extreme right», the authors develop a critical analysis of the treatment of the phenomenon, noting existing factors for possible aggravation in the future. Finally, they offer several recommendations that would allow to address more effectively the latent threatY a-t-il un risque de propagation du terrorisme d’extrême droite en Europe? Ce document analyse la situation actuelle ainsi que la future. Partant des concepts diffus de «terrorisme» et d’«extrême droite», les auteurs mènent une analyse critique du traitement du phénomène, en soulignant les facteurs susceptibles d’aggraver l’état de choses actuel. Enfin, ils offrent plusieurs recommendations afin de répondre à cette menace latent de manière approprié

The determinants of inward foreign direct investment: evidence from the European regions.

The aim of this paper is to study the determinants of FDI in the 260 EU NUTS2 regions between 2000 and 2006. After reviewing the relevant literature and the major traits of the FDI regional distribution in the EU, we analyse its drivers. First, we specify the model and perform a factor analysis to reduce the vast number of potential determinants to a manageable size. Afterwards, we estimate a reduced version of the model with the extracted factors as independent variables. We find that economic potential, labour market characteristics, technological progress and competitiveness exert a significant impact on FDI location patterns; in contrast, market size and labour regulation do not seem to play any noteworthy role. Finally, we perform some robustness tests to make sure the results are not sensitive to outliers, spatial dependence, size of regions, endogeneity and the consideration of just the top 50 FDI recipient regions

The role of spillovers in okun's law: Empirical evidence from spain

The Great Recession of the late 2000s has brought to the fore, once again, the relevance of the relationship between output performance and labour market developments all over the world. This paper analyses the validity of Okun's law in Spain by using regional data from 2000 to 2014, which roughly encompasses a complete business cycle. By estimating a Spatial Panel Durbin Model, the results not only show that a robust, inverse relationship between unemployment and output holds for Spain but also the existence of regional spillovers (indirect effects). In addition, they reveal that there are no time asymmetries between the expansion and recession phases of the business cycle and that human capital, the share of the construction sector, and the share of temporary workers are key factors in explaining unemployment changes. From a policy perspective, our findings support the idea of implementing region-specific policies, since indirect effects are less relevant than direct ones. In any case, national policies would also be effective. These policies, whatever their scope, should be mainly supply-side oriented in expansions (largely labour market policies) and demand-side focused in contractions