Euro Area SMEs under Financial Constraints: Belief or Reality?

During the recent financial crisis, euro area firms, and especially Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, have been reporting acute problems of access to external finance. Using firm-level replies to the SME survey on access to finance, we use two indicators of financing constraints based on perceptions on the one side and on experienced financing constraints on the other and run probit and multinomial regressions model to determine which firms’, sectoral or national characteristics drove perceptions and experienced financial constraints during the recent financial turmoil. We find that perceptions of financing crunch was broadly based across firms but those firms who really experienced a credit crunch tended to be small and young, confirming the fact that SMEs tend to suffer more when credit standards are tightened.financial crisis, financing constraints, credit rationing, small and medium-sized enterprises, survey data

Wage diversity in the euro area - an overview of labour cost differentials across industries

This Paper provides an overview of the magnitude of sectoral wage differentials in the euro area as a whole. Even when adjusting for structural sectoral features such as the skill structure or the proportion of part-timers, average wage levels in services are substantially lower than in manufacturing. The paper also studies how the euro area wage structure compares with that of the United States and the United Kingdom. It discusses some possible determinants of intersectoral wage differentials in the euro area and their likely implications from a policy perspective. A number of worker characteristics (e.g. age, skills, the proportion of temporary or self-employed) are highly correlated with the structure of wage differentials. At the same time, wage differentials are also highly correlated with sector-specific features such as average firm size or capital intensity. Finally, the paper presents some stylised facts on how the euro area wage structure has evolved since the early 1980s.Intersectoral wage differential; wage determination; euro area.

Understanding Inter-Industry Wage Structures in the Euro Area

This paper focuses on the euro area wage structure and its potential determinants from a sectoral viewpoint. Merging information from the OECD Structural Analysis database with data from the EU Labour Force Survey, we construct a cross-country panel of 22 industries in 8 euro area countries for 1991-2002. Data inspection confirms the existence of a fairly stable inter-industry wage structure that is similar across countries. We then apply panel data techniques to identify factors explaining inter-industry wage differentials in the euro area. Both workforce characteristics (e.g., human capital variables) and firm-related characteristics (e.g., capital intensity, productivity) contribute significantly. However, considerable wage heterogeneity across sectors remains. Idiosyncratic sector and country specifics, reflecting different socio-cultural and institutional backgrounds, appear to bear a major role. While our empirical analysis only uses direct evidence from workforce and firm-related characteristics, we also try to relate the remaining heterogeneity to institutional characteristics, based on related literature.euro area, inter-industry wage differentials, panel estimation, firm and workforce characteristics, labour market institutions

Labour force developments in the euro area since the 1980s

This paper aims, first, at assessing the relative importance of working age population and participation rates to explain labour force developments in the euro area between 1983 and 2000. It also compares participation rates in the euro area vis-à-vis the US, considering age and gender groups. It shows that the effect of population growth on labour force developments is losing importance relative to the effects of changes in the participation rate. Indeed, in the last few years, the effects of changes in the participation rate have exceeded those of the increase in working age population. This trend is expected to continue in the coming years. As regards the comparison of the euro area with the US, it shows a continuing large difference in women’s participation rate and among the youngest and oldest men’s age groups in the US versus the euro area, giving room for future positive contributions coming from participation in the euro area.

Understanding inter-industry wage structures in the euro area

This paper focuses on the euro area wage structure and its potential determinants from a sectoral viewpoint. Merging information from the OECD Structural Analysis database with data from the EU Labour Force Survey, we construct a cross-country panel of 22 industries in 8 euro area countries for 1991-2002. Data inspection confirms the existence of a fairly stable inter- industry wage structure that is similar across countries. We then apply panel data techniques to identify factors explaining inter-industry wage differentials in the euro area. Both workforce characteristics (e.g., human capital variables) and firm-related characteristics (e.g., capital intensity, productivity) contribute significantly. However, considerable wage heterogeneity across sectors remains. Idiosyncratic sector and country specifics, reflecting different sociocultural and institutional backgrounds, appear to bear a major role. While our paper only uses direct evidence from workforce and firm-related characteristics, we also try to relate the remaining heterogeneity to institutional characteristics, based on available relevant literature. JEL Classification: J31, J24, J51euro area, firm and workforce characteristics, inter-industry wage differentials, Labour market institutions, panel estimation

European women: Why do(n't) they work?

This paper provides an empirical study of the determinants of female participation decisions in the European Union. The analysis is performed by estimating participation equations for different age groups (i.e. young, prime-age and older females), using annual data for a panel of 12 EU-15 countries over the period 1980-2000. Our findings show that the strictness of labour market institutions negatively affects the participation rate. Decisions linked to individual preferences with regards to education or fertility are also found relevant to participation of the youngest and prime-age females respectively. The inclusion of a proxy to capture cohort effects is crucial in order to explain the oldest females’ participation. JEL Classification: J21labour force participation, Labour market institutions

Between Trick and Overinterpretation. The Reading Comprehension Test as Speech

Nuestro trabajo se propone analizar algunos rasgos del formato típico de los exámenes de comprensión lectora difundidos por la Dirección Nacional de Información y Evaluación de la Calidad Educativa (DiNIECE), unidad del Ministerio de Educación de la Nación Argentina que tiene a su cargo las tareas de planificar e implementar los Operativos Nacionales de Evaluación (ONE) y de administrar los exámenes internacionales PISA. El análisis se ha realizado desde dos perspectivas teóricas. La primera, centrada en el texto, permite concebir este tipo de examen como género discursivo, es decir, como un tipo relativamente estable de enunciados caracterizado por una temática, una estructura y un estilo determinados (Bajtín, 1982 [1978]); en particular, consideramos su estructura en términos de discurso instruccional (Silvestri, 1995). La segunda perspectiva, centrada en el receptor-alumno, adopta conceptualizaciones semióticas que permiten pensar la “sobreinterpretación” (Eco, 1992) como modalidad particular de lectura