How Immigrants Helped EU Labor Markets to Adjust during the Great Recession

The economic literature starting with Borjas (2001) suggests that immigrants are more flexible than natives in responding to changing sectoral, occupational, and spatial shortages in the labor market. In this paper, we study the relative responsiveness to labor shortages by immigrants from various origins, skills and tenure in the country vis-à-vis the natives, and how it varied over the business cycle during the Great Recession. We show that immigrants in general have responded to changing labor shortages across EU member states, occupations and sectors more fluidly than natives. This effect is especially significant for low-skilled immigrants from the new member states or with the medium number of years since immigration, as well as with high-skilled immigrants with relatively few (1-5) or many (11+) years since migration. The relative responsiveness of some immigrant groups declined during the crisis years (those from Europe outside the EU or with eleven or more years since migration), whereas other groups of immigrants became particularly fluid during the Great Recession, such as those from new member states. Our results suggest immigrants may play an important role in labor adjustment during times of asymmetric economic shocks, and support the case for well-designed immigration policy and free movement of workers within the EU. Paper provides new insights into the functioning of the European Single Market and the roles various immigrant groups play for its stabilization through labor adjustment during times of uneven economic development across sectors, occupations, and countries

An Empirical Analysis of Welfare Dependence in the Czech Republic

Paper demonstrates the existence of a welfare trap in the Czech Republic, created by the tax and social security systems. Combining individual data from the Czech Labor Force Survey and the Czech Household Income Survey, the analysis exploits the difference between the available social benefits and the net household income when a person is employed. This information allows us to calculate the net replacement rate based on the parameters of the taxation system and rules for means-tested social benefits at the household level. Estimates imply the existence of a welfare trap, which means that individuals who receive relatively higher social benefits are also more likely to remain unemployed. It is shown that the most affected groups are those with low education and long unemployment spells. Furthermore, the paper documents the disadvantaged position of women in the Czech labor market. The estimates imply that women outflows to employment are particularly influenced by the high social benefits, and the existence of a welfare trap persists even when the job-search intensity is controlled. This finding contributes to the discussion on the persistent and large unemployment gender gap in the Czech Republic. The results of the analysis support policy improvements towards low-income households. A better harmonization of tax and social security systems is necessary in order to ensure that the incentives to leave unemployment are not hampered by high social benefits

Unequal access to higher education in the Czech Republic: The role of spatial distribution of universities

We explore a potential source of human capital spatial disparities: the unequal access to tertiary education caused by the absence/presence of a local university. Because the entrance to a university is a sequential process in the Czech Republic we model both a student's decision to apply to a university and the admission process. Two possible sources of unequal access to university are distinguished: cost savings and informational advantages for those residing close to a university. Estimation results suggest that the presence of a university per se is not driving student's decision to apply. Further we find that information advantage due to university proximity plays a significant role in the admission process. However this advantage is specific to the field of study, and becomes stronger in the case of highly oversubscribed study fields. To equalize the chance of admission, policy makers should consider geographical expansion of the system of universities accompanied by the expansion of university programs

Unemployment Benefits and Immigration: Evidence from the EU

The paper studies the impact of unemployment benefits on immigration. A sample of 19 European countries observed over the period 1993-2008 is used to test the hypothesis that unemployment benefit spending (UBS) is correlated with immigration flows from EU and non-EU origins. While OLS estimates reveal the existence of a moderate correlation for non-EU immigrants only, IV and GMM techniques used to address endogeneity issues yield, respectively, a much smaller and an essentially zero causal impact of UBS on immigration. All estimates for immigrants from EU origins indicate that flows within the EU are not related to unemployment benefit generosity. This suggests that the so-called "welfare migration" debate is misguided and not based on empirical evidence.unemployment benefit spending, immigration, welfare magnets, European Union

A Web Survey Analysis of the Subjective Well-being of Spanish Workers

This paper makes use of a large sample of individual data obtained from web surveys in the WageIndicator project. Data includes extensive information on the quality of working conditions together with different well-being indicators. The paper emphasizes the role of work-related characteristics as a specific and very important aspect of life. In our analysis, we demonstrate the role of working conditions in the following three domains: overall life-satisfaction; satisfaction with ones job; and satisfaction with the combination of family and work. The paper also contributes to the ongoing debate on web survey data quality, reliability, and validity for scientific use. It demonstrates how social sciences can benefit from the use of web survey data in order to overcome the limits of traditional information sources

How Immigrants Helped EU Labor Markets to Adjust during the Great Recession

The economic literature starting with Borjas (2001) suggests that immigrants are more flexible than natives in responding to changing sectoral, occupational, and spatial shortages in the labor market. In this paper, we study the relative responsiveness to labor shortages by immigrants from various origins, skills and tenure in the country vis-à-vis the natives, and how it varied over the business cycle during the Great Recession. We show that immigrants in general have responded to changing labor shortages across EU member states, occupations and sectors more fluidly than natives. This effect is especially significant for low-skilled immigrants from the new member states or with the medium number of years since immigration, as well as with high-skilled immigrants with relatively few (1-5) or many (11+) years since migration. The relative responsiveness of some immigrant groups declined during the crisis years (those from Europe outside the EU or with eleven or more years since migration), whereas other groups of immigrants became particularly fluid during the Great Recession, such as those from new member states. Our results suggest immigrants may play an important role in labor adjustment during times of asymmetric economic shocks, and support the case for well-designed immigration policy and free movement of workers within the EU. The paper provides new insights into the functioning of the European Single Market and the roles various immigrant groups play for its stabilization through labor adjustment during times of uneven economic development across sectors, occupations, and countries

How Immigration Grease Is Affected by Economic, Institutional and Policy Contexts: Evidence from EU Labor Markets

Theoretical arguments and previous country-level evidence indicate that immigrants are more fluid than natives in responding to changing labor shortages across countries, skill-groups or industries. The diversity across EU member states enables us to test this hypothesis across various institutional, economic and policy contexts. Drawing on the EU LFS and EU SILC datasets we study the relationship between residual wage premia as a measure of labor shortages in different skill-industry-country cells and the shares of migrants and natives working in these cells. We find that immigrants' responsiveness to labor market shortages exceeds that of natives in the EU15, in particular in member states with higher unemployment rates, higher levels of (recent) immigration, and more open immigration and integration policies; but also those with barriers to citizenship acquisition or family reunification. Whereas higher welfare expenditures seem to exert a lock-in effect, a comparison across different types of welfare states indicates that institutional complementarities neutralize that effect

What Explains Immigrant-Native Gaps in European Labor Markets: The Role of Institutions

The role of institutions in immigrant integration remains underexplored in spite of its essential significance for integration policies. This paper adopts the Varieties of Capitalism framework to study the institutional determinants of Immigrant-Native gaps in host labor markets. Using the EU LFS we first measure immigrant-native gaps in labor force participation, unemployment, low-skilled employment and temporary employment. We distinguish the gaps that can be explained by immigrant-native differences in characteristics from those that cannot be explained by such differences, as these require different integration policy approaches. In the second stage we measure the effects of institutional and contextual variables on explained and unexplained immigrant-native gaps. Our findings confirm that institutional contexts play a significant role in immigrant integration, and highlight the importance of tailoring policy approaches with regard to the causes of immigrant-native gaps

Adubação orgânica e utilização saudável e sustentável do solo

Trabalho apresentado no II Congresso Nacional do PROJETO RONDON, realizado em Florianópolis, SC, no período de 23 a 25 de setembro de 2015 - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina.Transformação dos compostos orgânicos demonstra o objetivo desta oficina realizada no Projeto Rondon, sobre adubação orgânica e compostagem, onde através de resíduos de origem animal e vegetal como, por exemplo, folhas secas, gramas, restos vegetais, restos de alimentos se transformam em compostos químicos através decomposição. A compostagem permite a reciclagem desses resíduos e sua desinfecção contra pragas, doenças, plantas espontâneas e compostos indesejáveis. O composto orgânico além de ser economicamente viável, atua como regulador de temperatura e absorção de água no solo e melhora as propriedades físicas, físico-químicas e biológicas do solo e disponibiliza nutrientes para as plantas aumentando a resistência destas. O composto pronto é utilizado na adubação orgânica em diferentes culturas, sendo nas hortaliças com grande frequência. Este resumo e resultado da Oficina de adubação orgânica e compostagem, realizada durante a Operação Rondon Estadual na Cidade de Ibati no norte do Estado do Paraná. A operação UEPG que ocorreu entre os dias 19 a 29 de Julho de 2015, realizou duas oficinas de adubação orgânica e compostagem em diferentes escolas, uma com o publico alvo sendo adolescente da 8º e 9º serie e outra na escola técnica CEEP (centro estadual de educação profissionalizante do Paraná). Apresentar para o publico alvo, crianças e adolescentes, como realizar a compostagem no quintal de casa ou escola, com os próprios resíduos orgânicos produzidos no dia a dia, a fim de, se obter um composto o qual poderá ser utilizado na adubação orgânica. A atividade foi realizada no colégio ao lado, com alunos da 8º e 9º ano, os quais foram divididos em quatro grupos de 20 alunos, sendo que cada grupo ficou responsável por diferentes tarefas, como: arrumar os canteiros, plantar as mudas de hortaliças, recolher terra e materiais para montar a compostagem e pela montagem da compostagem. Com o termino da oficina os participantes concretizaram a fácil utilização de resíduos orgânicos produzidos em casa, a sua praticidade e eficiência como adubo orgânico, juntamente com a facilidade de se construir uma compostagem em quintais de casas e escolas

Redução, reutilização e reciclagem

Trabalho apresentado no II Congresso Nacional do PROJETO RONDON, realizado em Florianópolis, SC, no período de 23 a 25 de setembro de 2015 - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina.A produção de lixos recicláveis esta em alta na sociedade com o aumento do consumismo acarretando em uma multiplicação nas produções de resíduos sólidos. Como resultado desta produção de lixo há um aumento da importância no tratamento e destino final, maior conscientização da população em geral a fim de minimizar este problema. Por consequência dessa compreensão da destruição dos recursos naturais e da preservação do meio ambiente, entendemos que reduzir nada mais é do que a redução da quantidade de lixo produzido, com menos desperdícios, consumindo somente o necessário; reutilizar visando uma nova utilidade para materiais os quais jogamos no lixo e ainda reciclar o qual damos uma “nova vida” a matérias com base da reutilização de sua matéria-prima fabricando assim novos produtos. Este resumo é resultado da Oficina de Reciclagem, reutilização e redução, realizada durante a Operação Rondon Estadual na Cidade de Ibati no norte do Estado do Paraná. Foram realizadas durante a operação UEPG que ocorreu entre os dias 19 a 29 de Julho de 2015, sendo realizadas três oficinas em diferentes escolas, tendo como publico alvo adolescente e crianças de 5º a 8º serie. A oficina teve por objetivo conscientizar alunos e comunidade local sobre a importância de diminuir a quantidade de lixo reciclável produzido nas próprias casas ou escolas. A atividade foi desenvolvida com alunos, os quais foram divididos em grupos de 12 pessoas para a realização de diferentes tarefas na transformação do lixo. Cada grupo ficou encarregado de uma atividade sendo, um grupo responsável pela pintura de paletes, garrafas pet’s, pneus, latas de tintas, caixas de leites e entre outras matérias recicláveis; outro grupo ficou responsável pelo plantio de mudas de flores dentro dos materiais depois de pintados, e por fim o ultimo grupo responsável pela escolha do local em que seriam deixados os materiais depois de prontos dentro das escolas. Ao final da oficina foi possível mostrar na pratica o quão é fácil à reutilização de materiais recicláveis que seriam jogados no lixo, deixando o ambiente como, por exemplo, a escola onde foi realizada a oficina mais bonita através de flores plantadas dentro de diferentes matérias recicláveis