Remittances matter: Longitudinal evidence from Albania

Using the LSMS panel data collected by the World Bank in Albania from 2002 to 2004, this paper focuses on the determinants and financial implication of remittances sent by family members and adult children living abroad. Our econometric analysis draws on random and fixed effects discrete choice models. We find that the proportion of households receiving remittances is large. These transfers are negatively correlated with both the donor's and the recipient's level of education. Finally, remittances have a positive impact on economic indicators like satisfaction with current situation, adequateness of food consumption and number of affordable expenditures

Longitudinal evidence on financial expectations in Albania: Do remittances matter?

This paper focuses on the role of remittances on financial expectations in Albania using longitudinal data covering the period 2002-2004. To study the dynamics of income satisfaction at the household level, we use subjective data on past, current and future financial situations and estimate random and fixed effect ordered Probit models. We find that households are more optimistic about the future when they have experienced an improvement in their financial situation in the past and when they have received private transfers from foreign countries.Albania; Income expectations: Longitudinal data; Remittances

Outsourcing ship management: Implications for the logistics chain

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of the probability that shipping companies outsource the management of vessels to ship management companies, a decision with many implications for the logistics chain. Data on 39,925 vessels are used to investigate to the extent to which 4,049 different ship-owners (each operating a fleet of at least two vessels) outsource to ship-management service providers. We rely on multinomial Logit random and fixed effects regressions to explain how the characteristics of the owners and vessels influence this decision. We find that the size of the firm in terms of the number of vessels and the number of different types of vessels influence the likelihood of outsourcing. Also, ship-owners frequently implement a mixed strategy and outsource only some of their vessels.

Do private and public transfers received affect life satisfaction? Evidence from Romania

This paper uses Romanian survey data to investigate the determinants of individual life and financial satisfaction, with an emphasis on the role of public and private transfers received. A possible concern is that these transfers are unlikely to be exogenous to satisfaction. We use recursive simultaneous equations models to account both for this potential problem and for the fact that public transfers are themselves endogenous in the private transfer equation. We find that public transfers received have a positive influence on both life and financial satisfaction, while private transfers do not matter. People receive private transfers irrespective of their economic and demographic characteristics in Romania, which could be explained by some social norm motives.Happiness; Financial satisfaction; Private transferts: Public transferts: Romania

Ship-owners' decisions to outsource vessel management

Shipping companies frequently outsource the management of their vessels. In this paper, we use data from Lloyd's Register Fairplay (2009) on 45,456 vessels belonging to 9,580 different shipowners to investigate the extent of outsourcing in shipping and to identify key factors affecting the likelihood of outsourcing. The results of our econometric analysis indicate that ship-owners' decisions to outsource are explained by the characteristics of the vessels in question (age, type, size) and the characteristics of the ship-owner (country of domiciliation, number of vessels). In addition, a specific country effect is identified for Greek ship-owners, which is in line with the findings of previous studies.

Measuring educational inequalities:A method and an application to Albania

In this paper, we investigate whether educational inequalities stem rather from differences between families or within families. In a poor economy, schooling is costly for parents and education is likely to be unequally distributed among siblings. Drawing on discrete ordered choice models, we present a simple method to estimate the between and within components of both the explained and unexplained variances of education. For our empirical analysis, we use the LSMS survey conducted in 2002 in Albania. We explain about 40% of the total variance and find that inequalities in education are mainly due to differences between families. Differences within family are lower and far less easily explained.Education, intra-household inequality, random effects ordered Probit models, siblings

Patterns of educational attainment and employment of first and second generation immigrants in France

This paper focuses on intergenerational educational mobility in France using the "Generation 92" survey respectively for native children, first and second generation of immigrants. Drawing on ordered Probit models for educational attainment, we show that a high level of parental education has differentiated impact on the child education among the three groups depending on the parental origin country and child gender. We find a higher intergenerational correlation in education for natives than for the first generation, but an intermediate level for the second generation which suggests a possible convergence over successive generations. In France, children of African parents are less likely to be employed than natives. Results from a non-linear decomposition indicate that this gap mainly stems from differences in individual characteristics between natives and children of immigrants. Finally, the first and second generations of African immigrants consider more frequently their school track as rather difficult.educational attainment, first and second-generation, natives, migration

Do Port State Control inspections influence flag- and class-hopping phenomena in shipping ?

The flag of registry and classification society are an integral part of the target factors used by Port State Control authorities (PSC) when deciding on vessels to select for inspection. A ship-owner may then have an interest in changing the flag of registry (flag-hopping) and classification society (class-hopping) to avoid future controls. Using data on PSCs collected over 6 years from 7,500 vessels, we study the relevance of this assumption using bivariate Probit models. Our estimates show that vessels in relatively bad conditions are more likely to be subject to flag- and class-hopping and that these phenomena are more likely amongst vessels which have changed flag and class in the past.

The Impact of Legalized Abortion on Child Health Outcomes and Abandonment. Evidence from Romania.

We use household survey data and a unique census of institutionalized children to analyze the impact of abortion legalization in Romania. More exactly, we exploit the lift of the abortion ban in December 1989, when communist dictator Ceausescu and his regime were removed from power, to understand its impact on children's health at birth and during early childhood. Also, we try to understand whether the lift of the ban had an immediate impact on child abandonment. Our study suggests a positive, albeit modest, effect of abortion legalization on children's health at birth, while we do not find any significant effect on their health outcomes when measured by standard anthropometric z-scores at age 4 and 5. With respect to the permanently institutionalized (i.e., abandoned children), our findings suggest that abortion legalization had no immediate effect on child abandonment.

Do downward private transfers enhance maternal labor supply ? Evidence from around Europe

Using data on 2317 mother-daughter pairs from 10 European countries, we investigate the impact of downward time and monetary transfers on the career choices of transfer-receiving young mothers. For Europe as a whole, we find a strong positive effect of grandchild care on the labor force participation and the degree of labor market involvement of the young mother, but no impact of monetary transfers on either of these decisions. Both recipients and donors with better endowments are more likely to participate in a monetary transaction, while mothers with lower level of human capital are more likely to provide time transfers to their better endowed daughters.