Insights in the Job, Skill and Wage Structure of the Netherlands: 1986-98

The increase in the supply of relatively high-skilled workers since the 1960''s, recently accompanied by rapid technical change as a result of the introduction of new ICT’s, has increased the demand for high-skilled labour dramatically. In many countries this has led to a dramatic increase in the skilled workers wage premium. However, in the Netherlands wage dispersion is hardly observed. This paper shows why wages have been relatively stable in the Netherlands. Empirical analysis of a unique data set reveals that the increase in the demand for skills has been captured by a more efficient assignment of workers to jobs, not by increasing wage premiums.labour economics ;

Investing in Knowledge: On the Trade-Off between R&D, ICT, Skills and Migration

This paper deals with the complementarity between skills and knowledge by investigating particularly tacit knowledge flows between countries and regions. The main findings are threefold. First, there seems to exist a trade-off between acquiring knowledge through performing and putting effort in R&D and through investing into access to the public knowledge basin. Secondly, migration of high-skilled labour from South to North appears, as a result of the introduction and rapid evolution of ICT, no longer a dominant trend. Finally, the observed trade-off goes hand in hand with the accumulation and formation of tacit knowledge.research and development ;

Does Manager Turnover Improve Firm Performance? Evidence from Dutch Soccer, 1986-2004

This research examines the impact of manager turnover on firm performance using information from the Dutch soccer league in the period 1986-2004. The main advantage of using sports data is that both manager characteristics and decisions and firm outcomes are directly observable. Both difference-in-difference and 2 SLS estimates suggest no statistically significant improvements in performance after manager turnover, whereas previous research based on publicly traded firm data has found positive but very small effects of manager turnover on performance. The estimates confirm previous research using soccer data. In addition, estimates suggest that manager quality does not seem to matter in predicting turnover. These estimates are compared and contrasted with studies using publicly traded firm data and studies using soccer data. This paper has been accepted for publication and will appear in De Economist in 2011.

Cybertax

Abstract not availableeconomics of technology ;

Globalization, Tax Erosion and the Internet

Electronic commerce and globalization are, and will continue to be a challenge to tax collectors throughout the world. Globalization makes the cross-border movements in goods, capital and labour less transparent. Companies and individuals are therefore able to exploit tax differences between countries. The Internet eliminates borders between countries and furthermore makes businesses virtually invisible. At the consumer end, E-commerce makes the tracing of transactions and thus the taxing of goods and services sold and distributed via the Internet almost impossible. As a result, state and national governments’ tax bases are, or are at risk of, being eroded.public economics ;

Overeducation, Job Competition and Unemployment

The changing wage and employment structure in some OECD countries has beenattributed to increased levels of education and technical change in favour of skilledworkers. However, in the Netherlands and some other OECD countries the wages ofskilled workers did not rise, whereas investment in skills rose dramatically. This paperoffers a theory which is able to explain the dramatic increase in the level of education andskills without rising wages since the early 1980s. In this respect, we integrate the supplyside framework (human capital investments) and the demand side (containingendogenous skill upgrading as a result of job competition and screening) in a generalequilibrium model. In this way we provide a theory for the empirical observation ofrising unemployment levels among unskilled workers and rising employment levels ofskilled workers with relatively stable wages.economics of technology ;

Do We Need Computer Skills to Use a Computer? Evidence from Britain

Using data from the 1997 Skills Survey of the Employed British Workforce, we examine the returns to computer skills in Britain. Many researchers, using information on computer use, have concluded that wage differentials between computer users and non-users might, among others, be due to differences in the embodiment of computer skills. Using unique information on the importance, level of sophistication and effectiveness of computer use, we show that computer skills do not yield significant labour market returns for most types of use. Examining the returns to computer skills at different levels of sophistication of use, yields estimates suggesting returns to computer skills at the highest level of sophistication of use only.education, training and the labour market;

The effects of a change in market abuse regulation on abnormal returns and volumes: Evidence from the Amsterdam stock market

The Market Abuse Directive came into effect on 1 October 2005. One of its purposes is to reduce illegal insider trading and leakage of information prior to official releases by increasing penalties. This paper investigates the effects of the Market Abuse Directive through an event study approach. Using�a dataset of almost 5,000 corporate news announcements, the analysis reveals that the information value of announcements, measured by the announcement day abnormal return and abnormal volume, is not significantly different after the new regulation than it was before although the number of releases has increased significantly. Trading suspicious of illegal insider trading and leakage of information, measured in terms of cumulative average abnormal returns and volumes for the 30 days prior to the news announcement, has significantly declined for small capitalization firms, for announcements containing information about alliances and mergers and acquisitions and for firms in the technology sector.

Technology, Knowledge Spillovers and Changes in Skill Structure

This paper investigates and compares the changes in skill structure in six OECD countries (Finland, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States) in the period 1975-1995 using new OECD data on employment by skill level and type. For all countries evidence is found that technical change is skill-biased in the sense that it favors high-skilled labor. In particular white-collar high-skilled workers have profited from recent technical change. However, rather than employees literally working on R&D it are workers who supervise and use the implemented parts of the advancements of R&D that profit from increased R&D efforts. In addition, the results are extended by stressing the importance of knowledge spillovers on changes in employment shares between high-skilled and low-skilled workers.labour economics ;