Discussion Papers

The Dynamics of Child Poverty: Britain and Germany Compared

We compare patterns of movements into and out of poverty by children in Britain and Germany using data from the British Household Panel Survey and the German Socio- Economic Panel for the period 1992-7. Compared to Germany, in Britain poverty persistence is greater, and poverty exit rates in particular are lower. In both countries poverty is particularly persistent among children in lone parent households ...

Documentation of Sample Sizes and Panel Attrition in the German Socio Ecoomic Panel (GSOEP): (1984 until 1999)

Erosion of Monopoly Power due to the Emergence of Linux

The emergence and market success of Linux in recent years has been impressive. Contrary to common belief, commercial enterprises are active only in the provision of services (including distribution) related to Linux. The emergence of this service market has paved the way for Linux to become a low-cost product and a serious competitor in formerly monopolistic market segments. This paper demonstrates ...

Unemployment and Productivity Growth: An Empirical Analysis within the Augmented Solow Model

Does a country's level of unemployment have an impact on the long-run growth rate? Incorporating unemployment into a generalised Solow-type growth model, yields some answers. In the traditional Solow model, unemployment has no long-run influence on the growth rate and the level of productivity. The long-run level of productivity is reduced if higher unemployment leads to less formal education or to ...

Short Term Living Conditions and Long Term Prospects of Immigrant Children in Germany

In Germany the foreign born population is made up of foreigners and so called ”ethnic Germans” who migrated from eastern European countries to Germany. While the first group is confronted with problems arising from the typical German concept of ethnicity and citizenship, the latter are entitled to a German passport immediately after crossing the border. About one half of the immigrants who entered ...

Aggregation and Seasonal Adjustment: Empirical Results for EMU Quarterly National Accounts

This paper investigates the differences between directly and indirectly seasonally adjusted aggregates. This difference is derived analytically for linear seasonal adjustment methods. GDP data for five European countries and three classes of seasonal adjustment methods are used to show empirically the differences between both approaches. For this purpose cointegration methods and cross-spectral analysis ...

Using Panel Data on Income Satisfaction to Estimate the Equivalence Scale Elasticity

In this paper a new method to estimate the equivalence scale elasticity using individual panel data on income satisfaction will be developed. In contrast to other subjective approaches, the present one benefits from the fact that no direct cardinal individual welfare function has to be specified. In addition, panel data enables different scale use by the respondents to be controlled. The approach gives ...

A Forgotten Issue: Distributional Effects of Day Care Subsidies in Germany

In westlichen Industrienationen besteht heute im allgemeinen ein Konsens darüber, dass die Betreuung in Kindertageseinrichtungen öffentlich subventioniert werden sollte. Weniger Klarheit besteht jedoch über die verteilungspolitischen Effekte der öffentlichen Förderung von Kinderbetreuung. Eine solche Unkenntnis über die Verteilungseffekte der öffentlichen Förderung von Kinderbetreuung kann jedoch dazu ...

Personelle Einkommensverteilung und der Einfluß von Imputed Rent

Die vorliegende Untersuchung befaßt sich mit verschiedenen Verfahren zur Berücksichtigung von Einkommensvorteilen aus selbstgenutztem Wohneigentum ("Imputed Rent") und deren Einfluß auf die personelle Einkommensverteilung. Nach einer theoretischen Darstellung der Verfahren und ihrer jeweiligen Vor- und Nachteile erfolgt eine empirische Umsetzung auf Basis der Mikrodaten des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels ...

Fiscal Federalism in Western European and Selected Other Countries: Centralization or Decentralization? What Is Better for Economic Growth?

Das Papier gibt zunächst einen Überblick über die theoretischen Argumente für und gegen fiskalische Dezentralisierung. Für westeuropäische Länder sowie ausgewählte weitere Länder mit mittlerem Einkommensniveau wird dann eine empirische Analyse des Zusammenhangs zwischen Indikatoren des fiskalischen Dezentralisierungsgrades und dem wirtschaftlichen Wachstum durchgeführt. Als abhängige Variable in den ...

Volume and Comparative Advantage in East-West Trade

The volume and commodity structure of EU trade with the transition countries in central and eastern Europe (CEECs) is estimated on the assumption that it will follow the pattern of trade among market economies. A gravity-type approach at the level of product groups is used, combining geography and factor-proportions theory of international trade. It is shown that there is still considerable potential ...

To What Extent do Fiscal Regimes Equalize Opportunities for Income Acquisition Among Citizens?

This project employs the theory of equality of opportunity, described in Roemer's book (Equality of Opportunity, Harvard University Press, 1998), to compute the extent to which tax-and-transfer regimes in ten countries equalize opportunities among citizens for income acquisition. Roughly speaking, equality of opportunity for incomes has been achieved in a country when it is the case that the distributions ...

Research and Technology Organisations in National Systems of Innovation

Fiscal Federalism and Financial Resources for Regional Development - Co-operative and Competitive Models: The International Experience - an Example for Russia?

In Western economies, the concrete design of fiscal federalism is determined by the status the federation grants to regionally comparable economic and social conditions, and to what extent this status is anchored in the constitution. If the political and social acceptance of regional differences is high, the significance of regional equalisation is low and vice versa. In the case of great regional ...

Estimating Welfare Indices: Household Weights and Sample Design

A Generalized Estimating/Pseudo-Score Equations Approach for the Estimation of Structural Equation Models

The results of two simulation studies suggest a mixed 'generalized estimating/pseudo-score equations' approach to lead to more efficient estimators than a GEE approach proposed by Qu, Williams, Beck and Medendorp (1992) or a three-stage approach as proposed e.g. by Schepers, Arminger and Küsters (1991) in panel probit models with binary responses. Furthermore, the mixed approach led to very efficient ...

The Distribution of Income by Sectors of the Population

I interpret the 'distribution of income by sectors of the population' to refer to the personal distribution of income, with evidence about it derived from household surveys. Section 1 outlines the links between the personal and factor income distributions, and includes a discussion of research using National Accounts data to check the quality of household survey income data. Section 2 provides a number ...

Re-employment Probabilities for Spanish Men: What Role Does the Unemployment Benefit System Play?

We analyse the re-employment probabilities of almost 330,000 Spanish men aged 20-59 years who began a unemployment insurance (UI) spell between February 1987 and November 1991 using data derived from the national unemployment benefit administration database (SIPRE) and discrete time duration models with flexible baseline hazards. We show: (i) the level of UI benefits has a relatively small disincentive ...

Evaluation of a Pseudo-R2 Measure for Panel Probit Models

A simulation study designed to evaluate the pseudo-R2 T proposed by Spiess and Keller (1999) suggests that this measure represents the goodness- of-fit not only of the systematic part, but also of the assumed correlation structure in binary panel probit models.

Do Current Income and Annual Income Measures Provide Different Pictures of Britain's Income Distribution?

Most UK surveys, including those used each year to derive the official UK income distribution statistics ('Households Below Average Income'), provide measures of current household income rather than annual household income, which is the measure used in most other countries. Using British Household Panel Survey data, we examine whether estimates of Britain's income distribution and its trends are sensitive ...