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Crisis and economic growth in the EU
Medium and long-term trends
. Durlauf, S. — Quah, D. (2002): The New Empirics of Economic Growth. NBER Working Papers , No. 6422. National Bureau of Economic Research. EC (European Commission) (2008): The 2009 Ageing Report: Underlying Assumptions and
Can socioeconomic fluctuations explain variations in European Union suicide mortality? To answer this question, we investigate the effect of socioeconomic and demographic factors on (agespecific) male and female suicide rates using a fixed-effects technique and panel data for 15 EU countries, over a time period that leads up to, coincides with, and follows the recession of 2008. The findings show that suicide rates for young and working-age populations are more sensitive to general economic conditions than suicide rates for other age groups, and that male suicide behavior is more responsive than female behavior. In this setting, suicide rates are likely to be higher in countries with lower income, higher unemployment, higher divorce rates, and, most importantly, weaker systems of social protection. Our results, however, raise serious doubts about government involvement in crisis-related mental illness prevention and mental health promotion.
Convergence': An Introductory Statement 233 235 OECD (2001): Fiscal Implications of Ageing: Projections of Age-Related Spending. OECD Economic Outlook 69
This paper examines the paradox between high relative levels of job satisfaction and the characteristics of women's jobs compared to men's in Spain. Three hypothesis are considered: i) the existence of a selection bias when participating in the labour market; ii) of the presence of adaptive job satisfaction; and iii) the existence of differences related to preferences of different nature to strictly labour issues.
The study shows that, although having lower working conditions, women are more likely to be satisfied at work than men are. This paradox persists regardless of the inclusion of a great range of variables of different nature (objective and subjective), the age group and educational level under consideration. The Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition suggests that women's preferences are actually influencing the differences in job satisfaction. However, it is not demonstrated that these differences disappear as age decreases or educational level increases. The probable existence of a “glass ceiling” that prevents women from having access to posts of greater responsibility and higher wages could cause that women who actually reach them are more satisfied than their male colleagues. As the labour market and society become more equal, this paradox might dilute.
): The Age of Fallibility . New York: Public Affairs. Soros G. The Age of Fallibility 2006
Jonas, H. (1984): The Imperative of Responsibility: In Search of an Ethics for the Technological Age. Chicago-London: University of Chicago Press. The Imperative of Responsibility: In Search of an Ethics for
In a former paper (Simonovits, 1999), I have discussed the problems of the new Hungarian pension system verbally. In this paper I will present some new results obtained by others and myself with mathematical models, which are related to the Hungarian pension reform (see e.g. Palacios and Rocha, 1998). (1) How can one model a pension system with the life-cycle theory? (Of course, this is introduction rather than new result.) (2) How is the model of a funded system modified if volatility of yields and operating costs are taken into account? (3) What would the actuarially fair model be in an unfunded pension system with flexible age of retirement, and how much saving (and damage) is to be expected from replacing the indexation of pensions in progress to earnings by the combined indexation? (4) How is the efficiency of the pension system affected if the unfunded system is replaced by a partially or fully funded system?
While recent research on family business succession has focused on examining the importance of individual and family characteristics, the role of macroeconomic conditions has been often neglected. This paper investigates the impacts of macroeconomic conditions on family business heir's career choice intention using individual level cross-country data of 18 European countries for the year 2013. We find that the level of economic development measured by GDP per capita, growth of GDP per capita, and youth rate of unemployment influence a family business heir's career choice intention. We also demonstrate that beyond the cross-country differences in macroeconomic conditions, individual characteristics of siblings, age, gender, work experience in family business, and start-up time play an important role. To mitigate succession failures, policies towards business succession with related firm survival should be specifically designed depending on different macroeconomic and youth labour market conditions.
The purpose of the study is to conduct a statistical analysis and to perform a quantitative assessment of the degree and the dynamics of the interregional differences in youth unemployment in Russia between 2005 and 2013. We decompose the interregional differentiation into “within-group” and “between-group” differences. We also analyse the dynamics of the within-group and between-group differences and estimate their contribution to changes in the interregional differentiation of youth unemployment. Additionally, we estimate the degree and the dynamics of the interregional differences of the youth labour market in Russia in times of crisis and recovery growth. The results show a reduction in the interregional differences in unemployment rates between 2005 and 2008, while in 2009–2013, the interregional differentiation of the labour market increased. We found that the socio-economic effects of youth unemployment, as well as the behavioural response to economic shocks in the age groups of 15–19 and 20–29 years were significantly different.
The kindergarten attendance allowance in Hungary
Evaluation of a conditional cash transfer program
This paper evaluates the kindergarten attendance allowance program in Hungary, a conditional cash transfer (CCT) program introduced in 2009 that aimed to increase kindergarten enrolment of disadvantaged children aged 3 and 4. The administration of the program was decentralised, and we make use of the substantial regional variation in program take-up across municipalities to estimate the program’s effect on enrolment rates. We show modest, but non-negligible effects, despite problems related to the manner of the program’s implementation. We also show that the effects were significantly stronger in areas characterised by an excess supply of kindergarten slots. The results testify to the potential of CCT programs to create demand for child-care services among disadvantaged families; however, the results also highlight the importance of creating an adequate supply of kindergarten facilities where needed.
