Economic impact of migration flows following the 2004 EU enlargement process - A model based analysis

This paper shows that the migration-induced re-allocation of labour resources across countries following the 2004 EU enlargement process has already brought sizeable economic benefits for the enlarged EU. In addition, the simulation results suggest that once the present temporary restrictions on the flow of EU10 workers come to an end and the long-run migration potential of around 3 million is eventually realised, the economic gains may easily match those from a further integration of the EU's goods and capital markets. At the level of the individual "sending" and "receiving" countries, the overall economic impact of migration is essentially determined by the speed of adjustment of labour and capital; by the skill characteristics of the migrant and native populations; and by the actual size of the migration flows.growth, migration, European Union, Economic impact of migration flows following the 2004 EU enlargement process, A model based analysis, D'Auria, Mc Morrow, Pichelmann

A comparison of structural reform scenarios across the EU member states - Simulation-based analysis using the QUEST model with endogenous growth

This paper calibrates the Roeger-Varga-Veld (2008) micro-founded DSGE model with endogenous growth for all EU member states using country specific structural characteristics and employs the individual country models to analyse the macroeconomic impact of various structural reforms. We analyse the costs and benefits of reforms in terms of fiscal policy instruments such as taxes, benefits, subsidies and administrative costs faced by firms. We find that less R&D intensive countries would benefit the most from R&D promoting and skill-upgrading policies. We also find that shifting from labour to consumption taxes, reducing the benefit replacement rate and relieving administrative entry barriers are the most effective measures in those countries which have high labour taxes and entry barriers.Structural reforms, endogenous growth, DSGE modelling, EU member states, tax credits, tax shifts, entry barriers, human capital, D'Auria, Pagano, Ratto, Varga

A comparison of structural reform scenarios across the EU member states - Simulation-based analysis using the QUEST model with endogenous growth

This paper calibrates the Roeger-Varga-Veld (2008) micro-founded DSGE model with endogenous growth for all EU member states using country specific structural characteristics and employs the individual country models to analyse the macroeconomic impact of various structural reforms. We analyse the costs and benefits of reforms in terms of fiscal policy instruments such as taxes, benefits, subsidies and administrative costs faced by firms. We find that less R&D intensive countries would benefit the most from R&D promoting and skill-upgrading policies. We also find that shifting from labour to consumption taxes, reducing the benefit replacement rate and relieving administrative entry barriers are the most effective measures in those countries which have high labour taxes and entry barriers.JRC.G.9-Econometrics and applied statistic

The production function methodology for calculating potential growth rates and output gaps

The concepts of potential growth and the output gap form a crucial part of the toolkit for assessing the cyclical position of the economy and its productive capacity. These concepts have become an essential ingredient of the fiscal surveillance process emanating from the Stability and Growth Pact. Estimating the output gap is difficult since potential growth is not directly observable whilst actual GDP is subject to significant historical / forecast revisions. Given the large uncertainty surrounding output gap estimates, due care must be taken in interpreting their size and evolution. Whilst mindful of these uncertainties, the potential growth and output gap forecasts produced by the ECOFIN Council approved production function (PF) methodology have been providing essential information to policy makers since their initial release in 2002. This information has been used by policy makers for their ongoing discussions regarding the appropriate mix of macroeconomic and structural policies in the various EU economies, with the former geared to eliminating cyclical slack and the latter being used to raise the output potential of their respective economies. Given the importance of this work, the EU's Economic Policy Committee has a dedicated working group (i.e. the "Output Gap Working Group" - OGWG) which meets regularly to discuss the operational effectiveness & relevance of the existing PF methodology. Periodically, the Commission services produce a paper which tries to succinctly summarise the work of the OGWG over a specific period of time, with the present paper updating the last published paper on this topic which appeared in 2006JRC.G.3-Econometrics and applied statistic

The impact of gender bias in cardiothoracic surgery in Europe: a European Society of Thoracic Surgeons and European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery survey

OBJECTIVES The European Society of Thoracic Surgeons and the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery designed a questionnaire to assess the impact of gender bias on a cardiothoracic surgery career. METHODS A 46-item survey investigating gender bias was designed using online survey software from December 2020 to January 2021. All European Society of Thoracic Surgeons and European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery members and non-members included in the mailing lists were invited to complete an electronic survey. Descriptive statistics and a comparison between gender groups were performed. RESULTS Our overall response rate was 11.5% (1118/9764), of which 36.14% were women and 63.69% were men. Women were more likely to be younger than men (P < 0.0001). A total of 66% of the women reported having no children compared to only 19% of the men (P < 0.0001). Only 6% of women vs 22% of men were professors. More women (72%) also reported never having been a formal mentor themselves compared to men (38%, P < 0.0001). A total of 35% of female respondents considered leaving surgery because of episodes of discrimination compared to 13% of men; 67% of women said that they experienced being unfairly treated due to gender discrimination. Of the male surgeons, 31% reported that they were very satisfied with their career compared to only 17% of women (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS Women in cardiothoracic surgery reported significantly high rates of experiences with bias that may prevent qualified women from advancing to positions of leadership. Efforts to mitigate bias and support the professional development of women are at the centre of newly formed European committees

Reconstruction of primary vertices at the ATLAS experiment in Run 1 proton–proton collisions at the LHC

This paper presents the method and performance of primary vertex reconstruction in proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment during Run 1 of the LHC. The studies presented focus on data taken during 2012 at a centre-of-mass energy of √s=8 TeV. The performance has been measured as a function of the number of interactions per bunch crossing over a wide range, from one to seventy. The measurement of the position and size of the luminous region and its use as a constraint to improve the primary vertex resolution are discussed. A longitudinal vertex position resolution of about 30μm is achieved for events with high multiplicity of reconstructed tracks. The transverse position resolution is better than 20μm and is dominated by the precision on the size of the luminous region. An analytical model is proposed to describe the primary vertex reconstruction efficiency as a function of the number of interactions per bunch crossing and of the longitudinal size of the luminous region. Agreement between the data and the predictions of this model is better than 3% up to seventy interactions per bunch crossing

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements