Wages determinants in the European Union Evidence from structure of earnings survey (SES 2014) data : 2020 edition

El ISSN y el ISBN corresponden a la versión electrónica del documentoSince the turn of the millennium, the European Commission (Eurostat) has published detailed and harmonized information on the nominal wages paid by the employers to their employees. This information, collected with the support of the European Statistical System, provides important insights into the labour market situation of the different Member States of the European Union. For employers, wages represent an important part of the production costs and determine to some extent their cost competitiveness. For most employees, wages make the main part of their income thereby contributing to their economic welfare. The importance of ensuring fair and transparent wages was highlighted in the European pillar of social rights (Commission, 2017) that was fully endorsed by the new Commission (van der Leyen, 2019). It is therefore important to monitor the levels and developments of wages and total labour costs at a macroeconomic level, as done by Eurostat through a complete set of annual and quarterly releases. It is equally useful to analyse how the individual job profiles and characteristics of the employer determine wage patterns in the different EU countries. This provides information on how labour markets reward the different characteristics of the job tenant and how the different types of businesses compete in terms of wages offered to their employees. By crossing job characteristics with sex, such analyses also shed light on possible gaps between the financial returns on education, part-time work etc. offered to men versus women. The study presented in this document uses the detailed information collected through the latest Structure of Earnings Survey (SES 2014) that records the gross wages received and the individual characteristics of about 240 000 enterprises and 11 million employees throughout the EU. This statistical working paper should help users to better understand the determinants of wages in the different EU countries thus contributing to the public debate and policy actions in the labour market domain

The portuguese natural gas market in the european context

The Portuguese natural gas market is recent and small – being an emergent market according to Directive 98/30/EC. It is still protected and monopolistic while most other European countries have already liberalized, at least partially, their natural gas markets. This paper focuses on the process of restructuring the energy market in the European Union, and the present situation in Portugal, and emphasizes the regional dimension of the Portuguese market. The natural gas price strategies followed by Portuguese companies are analyzed, and a comparison with those of liberalized Europe is attempted. Special attention is given to the United Kingdom, as an example of a completely liberalized market, and also to Spain due to its close links to the Portuguese energy sector. From the results obtained, possible future scenarios for Portugal in a liberalization context are presented

Integration in European Retail Banking : Evidence from savings and lending rates to non-financial corporations

The aim of this paper is to investigate the integration process in the European Union retail banking sector during the period 1995-2008, by analysing deposit and lending rates to nonfinancial corporations which represent one of the main constituents of retail banking. An important contribution of the paper is the application of the recently developed Phillips and Sul (2007a) panel convergence methodology which has not hitherto been employed in this area. This method analyses the degree as well as the speed of convergence, identifies the presence of club formation, and measures the behaviour of each country’s transition path relative to the panel average. The results obtained point to the presence of close convergence in all deposit rates and in the short-term lending rates to non-financial corporations. However, we also detect the presence of heterogeneity in the European retail banking sector with notably some diverse convergence patterns observed for the transition paths for the deposit and lending rates with longer maturities.Submitted Versio

Implementing environmental practices within the Greek dairy supply chain Drivers and barriers for SMEs

Purpose – Food supply chain (FSC) in Greece is dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), who face several challenges in adopting green practices. The purpose of this paper is to identify the key drivers and barriers influencing the environmental performance of SMEs within the Greek dairy supply chain (SC). Design/methodology/approach – Descriptive research methodology attempts to prioritize the drivers and barriers for improving the environmental sustainability performance. Analytical hierarchy process and sensitivity analysis are used to understand the complex nature of the influencing factors. Findings – The analysis identifies five barriers and six drivers for the implementation of green practices within the dairy SC. While external drivers significantly influence the market structure and logistics network, government, competitors and customers are the driving factors for improving environmental performance. Research limitations/implications – The study contributes to filling the literature gap on key factors influencing the implementation of green practices within the FSC. The identified influential factors will contribute toward building a framework for improving sustainability performance within the Greek dairy SC. Practical implications – The study is expected to benefit the Greek and European SMEs by driving their environmental practices within the perishable SC network. Originality/value – The paper provides directions for researchers, practitioners and policy makers in understanding the challenges for implementing green practices in the dairy SC. The holistic approach followed in this paper is a building block for a conceptual framework on implementing environmental sustainability within the FSC. Apart from contributing to the current literature by extending the research horizon to SMEs’ green adoption capability, this study also provides better understanding of the pivotal role of internal and external key factors in influencing sustainability performance

Variance estimation for a low-income proportion

Proportions below a given fraction of a quantile of an income distribution are often estimated from survey data in poverty comparisons. We consider the estimation of the variance of such a proportion, estimated from Family Expenditure Survey data. We show how a linearization method of variance estimation may be applied to this proportion, allowing for the effects of both a complex sampling design and weighting by a raking method to population controls. We show that, for 1998-99 data, the estimated variances are always increased when allowance is made for the design and raking weights, the principal effect arising from the design. We also study the properties of a simplified variance estimator and discuss extensions to a wider class of poverty measures

Brachyspira pilosicoli-induced avian intestinal spirochaetosis

Avian intestinal spirochetosis (AIS) is a common disease occurring in poultry that can be caused by Brachyspira pilosicoli, a Gram-negative bacterium of the order Spirochaetes. During AIS, this opportunistic pathogen colonises the lower gastrointestinal (GI) tract of poultry (principally the ileum, caeca and colon), which can cause symptoms such as diarrhoea, reduced growth rate and reduced egg production and quality. Due to the large increase of bacterial resistance to antibiotic treatment, the European Union banned in 2006 the prophylactic use of antibiotics as growth promoters in livestock. Consequently, the number of outbreaks of AIS has dramatically increased in the UK resulting in significant economic losses. This review summaries the current knowledge about AIS infection caused by B. pilosicoli and discusses various treatments and prevention strategies to control AIS

The new two-way street of Chinese direct investment in the European Union

In the light of growing trade and investment flows, the investment relationship between the European Union (EU) and China needs to be revisited. Chinese firms face significant barriers in entering and operating in the European market whilst the European economy needs more investment. Support for investment may be crucial for both the EU and China to improve economic growth. The prospective International Investment Agreement (IIA) seeks to achieve this goal. This paper focuses on Chinese inward foreign direct investment into the EU and on the potential for generating greater mutual EU–China flows, improved market access and investor protection under the IIA

Estimating infectious disease parameters from data on social contacts and serological status

In dynamic models of infectious disease transmission, typically various mixing patterns are imposed on the so-called Who-Acquires-Infection-From-Whom matrix (WAIFW). These imposed mixing patterns are based on prior knowledge of age-related social mixing behavior rather than observations. Alternatively, one can assume that transmission rates for infections transmitted predominantly through non-sexual social contacts, are proportional to rates of conversational contact which can be estimated from a contact survey. In general, however, contacts reported in social contact surveys are proxies of those events by which transmission may occur and there may exist age-specific characteristics related to susceptibility and infectiousness which are not captured by the contact rates. Therefore, in this paper, transmission is modeled as the product of two age-specific variables: the age-specific contact rate and an age-specific proportionality factor, which entails an improvement of fit for the seroprevalence of the varicella-zoster virus (VZV) in Belgium. Furthermore, we address the impact on the estimation of the basic reproduction number, using non-parametric bootstrapping to account for different sources of variability and using multi-model inference to deal with model selection uncertainty. The proposed method makes it possible to obtain important information on transmission dynamics that cannot be inferred from approaches traditionally applied hitherto.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figure

Testing self-report time-use diaries against objective instruments in real time

This study provides a new test of time-use diary methodology, comparing diaries with a pair of objective criterion measures: wearable cameras and accelerometers. A volunteer sample of respondents (n = 148) completed conventional self-report paper time-use diaries using the standard UK Harmonised European Time Use Study (HETUS) instrument. On the diary day, respondents wore a camera that continuously recorded images of their activities during waking hours (approximately 1,500–2,000 images/day) and also an accelerometer that tracked their physical activity continuously throughout the 24-hour period covered by the diary. Of the initial 148 participants recruited, 131 returned usable diary and camera records, of whom 124 also provided a usable whole-day accelerometer record. The comparison of the diary data with the camera and accelerometer records strongly supports the use of diary methodology at both the aggregate (sample) and individual levels. It provides evidence that time-use data could be used to complement physical activity questionnaires for providing population-level estimates of physical activity. It also implies new opportunities for investigating techniques for calibrating metabolic equivalent of task (MET) attributions to daily activities using large-scale, population-representative time-use diary studies

Motivators of SME initial export choice and the European Union regional effect in manufacturing

Purpose – A global reach in exporting has been linked to profitability. The purpose of this paper is to answer the influence of EU regulations on exporting decisions of UK manufacturing small- and medium-sized firms (SMEs) by investigating the home and host country-based motivators behind SMEs’ choice to export, and export regionally, within the EU. Design/methodology/approach – Contrasting the Uppsala and resource-based view perspectives (using a sample of UK independent manufacturing SMEs and utilizing a survey, correlation analysis and factor analysis), the paper finds and describes the effect of the most recurrent motivators from the literature on the SMEs’ decision to export within the EU or not. Findings – The paper finds that SMEs whose latest international market entry was not in the EU scored significantly higher in the factor scorings for the motivators in the external dimension than participants whose latest entry was in the EU. Several motivators show an association with the choice to export per se. The importance of regionalization to export initiation (and EU membership) within the EU is emphasized in the results. Research limitations/implications – The sample size is limited. Practical implications – In the current climate, how can SMEs reduce market research costs for managers by relying solely and proactively on home country and internal advantages and motivators and being more aware of their surroundings? Managers and policymakers can direct their strategy, resources and policy more efficiently according to motivators; internal home country motivators (e.g. strengths of prices of products) direct the SME to overcome inter-regional liability of foreignness, while host country motivators (e.g. legal restrictions in the host country) direct them to regional ventures. Originality/value – The theoretical and empirical work on the topic, until recently, has been fragmented and inconsistent focusing on specific motivators but not necessarily justifying the selection or origin of variables even less on SMEs