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In this paper, segmenting the market by educational levels, we investigate which native-born women are more affected by an increase of low-skilled immigrants working in the household service sector. We present a model of individual choice with home production and, using a harmonized dataset (the Cross-National Equivalent File), we estimate its main comparative static results. The results suggest that the share of immigrants working in services is positively associated with an increase of native-born women's labour supply at the intensive margin, if skilled, and at the extensive margin, if unskilled. Moreover, the results show that these effects are larger in countries with less-supportive family policies.

We develop a new econometric framework that simultaneously allows recovering heterogeneity in demand, TFP and markups across firms while leaving the correlation among the three unrestricted. We do this by systematically exploiting assumptions that are implicit in previous firm-level productivity estimation approaches. We use Belgian firms production data to quantify TFP, demand and markups and show how they are correlated among them, across time and with measures obtained from other approaches. We also show to what extent our three dimensions of heterogeneity allow us to gain deeper and sharper insights on two key firm-level outcomes: export status and size.

In this paper, we assess the impact of international migration, and the induced home-care service labour supply shock, on fertility decisions and labour supply of native females in Germany. Specifcally, we consider individual data of native women from the German Socio-Economic Panel and we merge them with the data on the share of female immigrants and other regional labour market characteristics. We find that an increase of the share of female immigrants at the local level induces women to work longer hours and positively affects the probability to have a child. This effect strengthens for (medium) skilled women and, among them, for women younger than 35 years of age. The negative change in household work attitude confirms the behavioural validity of our results. Dieses Papier soll die Auswirkungen der internationalen Migrationsbewegungen und des dadurch induzierten Arbeitsangebotsschocks bei haushaltsbezogenen Dienstleistungen auf die Fertilitätsentscheidungen und das Arbeitsangebot einheimischer Frauen in Deutschland untersuchen. Dazu wurden Individualdaten des Sozio-Ökonomischen Panels (SOEP) mit weiteren Daten bezüglich weiblicher Immigrantinnen und weiterer regionaler Arbeitsmarkt-Charakteristika zusammengeführt und analysiert. Es zeigt sich, dass eine Erhöhung des Frauenanteils unter Migranten auf der lokalen Ebene dazu führt, dass einheimische Frauen länger arbeiten. Zusätzlich wird auch die Wahrscheinlichkeit, ein Kind zu bekommen, positiv beeinflusst. Diese Effekte sind für Frauen mit einem mittleren Bildungsniveau, und unter ihnen insbesondere für jüngere Frauen unter 35 Jahren am stärksten. Die beobachtete negative Änderung ihres Zeitaufwands für Haushaltsarbeit bestärkt die Validität unserer Ergebnisse.

In this paper, we empirically analyze the evolution of firms’ productivity and how the efficiency changes with variations in the inputs’ origin. Using firm-level information on a sample of Irish firms, we assess the importance of the imported inputs’ quota for a firm’s efficiency, as well as starting import activity. The main findings are that an increase in the intensive margin of imports raises firms’ efficiency of domestic firms; in addition heterogeneous effects across firms are detected. Unlike the findings of most of the literature, there is weak evidence of self-selection in import activity; differently from previous research when we introduce fixed effects, the self-selection disappears. Instead, the few observed firms that start importing raise their productivity compared to non-importing firms; learning by importing is suspected. The results suggest an important policy implication: policies that favor the imports of intermediates enhance the productivity of domestic firms, making them more competitive in the international markets.

"This paper contributes to the literature on the impact of immigrants on native female labour supply. By segmenting the market by educational levels, we are able to investigate which nativeborn women are more affected by an increase of low-skilled immigrants working in the household service sector. We present a model of individual choice with home production and, using an harmonized dataset (CNEF), we test its main predictions. Our sample includes countries implementing different family policies. Our results suggest that the share of immigrants working in services in a given local labour market is positively associated with the probability of nativeborn women to increase their labour supply at the intensive margin (number of hours worked per week), if skilled, and at the extensive margin (participation decision), if unskilled. Moreover, they show that these effects are larger in countries with less family-supportive policies." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) Additional Information Auch erschienen als: DEM working papers series 58

Drawing from confidential firm-level balance sheets in 11 European countries, the paper presents a novel sectoral database of comparable productivity indicators built by members of the Competitiveness Research Network (CompNet) using a newly developed research infrastructure. Beyond aggregate information available from industry statistics of Eurostat or EU KLEMS, the paper provides information on the distribution of firms across several dimensions related to competitiveness, e.g. productivity and size. The database comprises so far 11 countries, with information for 58 sectors over the period 1995-2011. The paper documents the development of the new research infrastructure, describes the database, and shows some preliminary results. Among them, it shows that there is large heterogeneity in terms of firm productivity or size within narrowly defined industries in all countries. Productivity, and above all, size distribution are very skewed across countries, with a thick left-tail of low productive firms. Moreover, firms at both ends of the distribution show very different dynamics in terms of productivity and unit labour costs. Within-sector heterogeneity and productivity dispersion are positively correlated to aggregate productivity given the possibility of reallocating resources from less to more productive firms. To this extent, we show how allocative efficiency varies across countries, and more interestingly, over different periods of time. Finally, we apply the new database to illustrate the importance of productivity dispersion to explain aggregate trade results.

Drawing from confidential firm-level balance sheets in 11 European countries, the paper presents a novel sectoral database of comparable productivity indicators built by members of the Competitiveness Research Network (CompNet) using a newly developed research infrastructure. Beyond aggregate information available from industry statistics of Eurostat or EU KLEMS, the paper provides information on the distribution of firms across several dimensions related to competitiveness, e.g. productivity and size. The database comprises so far 11 countries, with information for 58 sectors over the period 1995-2011. The paper documents the development of the new research infrastructure, describes the database, and shows some preliminary results. Among them, it shows that there is large heterogeneity in terms of firm productivity or size within narrowly defined industries in all countries. Productivity, and above all, size distribution are very skewed across countries, with a thick left-tail of low productive firms. Moreover, firms at both ends of the distribution show very different dynamics in terms of productivity and unit labour costs. Within-sector heterogeneity and productivity dispersion are positively correlated to aggregate productivity given the possibility of reallocating resources from less to more productive firms. To this extent, we show how allocative efficiency varies across countries, and more interestingly, over different periods of time. Finally, we apply the new database to illustrate the importance of productivity dispersion to explain aggregate trade results. JEL Classification: L11, L25, D24, O4, O57

This paper contributes to the literature on the impact of immigrants on native female labour supply. By segmenting the market by educational levels, we are able to investigate which native-born women are more affected by an increase of low-skilled immigrants working in the household service sector. We present a model of individual choice with home production and, using an harmonized dataset (CNEF), we test its main predictions. Our sample includes countries implementing different family policies. Our results suggest that the share of immigrants working in services in a given local labour market is positively associated with the probability of native-born women to increase their labour supply at the intensive margin (number of hours worked per week), if skilled, and at the extensive margin (participation decision), if unskilled. Moreover, they show that these effects are larger in countries with less family-supportive policies. Wir untersuchen die Auswirkungen von Zuwanderung auf das Arbeitsangebot einheimischer Frauen. Insbesondere betrachten wir die Auswirkung des Anstiegs geringqualifizierter Zuwanderer, die im Haushaltssektor arbeiten, auf hoch- und geringqualifizierte einheimische Frauen. Wir modellieren individuelle Entscheidungen über die Haushaltsproduktion und testen die wichtigsten Aussagen dieses Modells anhand eines harmonisierten Datensatzes (CNEF). Unsere Stichprobe enthält Länder mit unterschiedlich großzügiger Familienpolitik. Unsere Ergebnisse zeigen, dass mit einem höheren Anteil an Migranten im Dienstleistungssektor eines lokal begrenzten Arbeitsmarktes die einheimischen hochqualifizierten Frauen ihr Arbeitsangebot erhöhen. Gleichzeitig steigt die Partizipationsrate unqualifizierter einheimischer Frauen. Darüber hinaus zeigen wir, dass diese Effekte in Ländern mit restriktiverer Familienpolitik stärker ausfallen.

In developed economies, services firm an increasing proportion of inputs employed by manufacturing firms. While downstream firms act in a very competitive environment, services often operate in protected or highly regulated markets. In this paper, I empirically investigate whether the degree of competition in services affects the efficiency of manufacturing firms through services production inputs. By using both firm and sector level data for France, through input-output analysis I show that variations in the upstream competition, especially in network industries, affect the average productivity level in manufacturing industry: an increase in average markups is associated with a reduction in manufacturing productivity. The findings differ according to firms size and initial efficiency level: in the short run less efficient and small firms are relatively mostly hfirmed by an uncompetitive service sector.

Services form an increasing proportion of the inputs used in manufacturing. We explore empirically whether competition in the service sector affects downstream manufacturing firms' efficiency, via the inputs used. Using French micro-data for services, we calculate proxies for competition in services, and then use Input-Output matrices to link services to manufacturing sectors. we find that there is a positive and significant relation between the extent of competition and firms' productivity.

In the thesis I exploit an empirical analysis on firm'’s productivity. I relate the efficiency at plant level with the input market features and I suggest an estimation technique for production function that takes into account firm'’s liquidity constraints. The main results are three. When I consider services as inputs for manufacturing firm’'s production process, I find that more competition in service sector affects positively plant’s productivity and export decision. Secondly liquidity constraints are important for the calculation of firm'’s productivity because they are a second source of firm's heterogeneity. Third liquidity constraints are important for firm'’s internationalization

In this paper we study the effect of import competition from China on the Belgian textiles sector. Our analysis comprises both trade data and firm-level data. We study the evolution of the unit values in textiles exported from China into the EU versus textiles exported from Belgium to the rest of the EU over the past ten years. We clearly find evidence of a widening price gap between Chinese and Belgian textiles export prices. Chinese textiles seem to become relatively cheaper over time. These findings are in line with Schott (2004; 2007) who argues that capital abundant countries in the US and Europe use their endowment advantage to produce product varieties that are superior in quality compared to labour intensive countries like China. Next we use firm-level data on Belgian textiles firms in search of evidence of quality and skill upgrading in Belgian textiles exports. We study the evolution of firm-level variables such as R&D outlays, the proportion of skilled and unskilled labour used in production and capital intensity. Both China’s entry into the WTO and the end of the Multi-Fibre Agreement significantly seem to cause important shifts in firm level production processes. A very robust result that emerges from the analysis is the one of skill upgrading. While over the past ten years total employment in the Belgian textiles sector has substantially decreased, the ratio of skilled versus unskilled workers has gone up significantly. The evidence is indicative that the Belgian textile sector has been undergoing substantial changes. It is becoming smaller but at the same time seems to be responding to the competition from a low-wage country like China by increasing the skill-content of its products and moving up the quality ladder. ispartof: Essays in Memory of Michel Norro pages:197-210 ispartof: pages:197-210 status: published

In this paper we study the effect of import competition from China on the Belgian textiles sector. Our analysis comprises both trade data and firm-level data. We study the evolution of the unit values in textiles exported from China into the EU versus textiles exported from Belgium to the rest of the EU over the past ten years. We clearly find evidence of a widening price gap between Chinese and Belgian textiles export prices. Chinese textiles seem to become relatively cheaper over time. These findings are in line with Schott (2004; 2007) who argues that capital abundant countries in the US and Europe use their endowment advantage to produce product varieties that are superior in quality compared to labour intensive countries like China. Next we use firm-level data on Belgian textiles firms in search of evidence of quality and skill upgrading in Belgian textiles exports. We study the evolution of firm-level variables such as R&D outlays, the proportion of skilled and unskilled labour used in production and capital intensity. Both China's entry into the WTO and the end of the Multi- Fibre Agreement significantly seem to cause important shifts in firm level production processes. A very robust result that emerges from the analysis is the one of skill upgrading. While over the past ten years total employment in the Belgian textiles sector has nsubstantially decreased, the ratio of skilled versus unskilled workers has gone up significantly. The evidence is indicative that the Belgian textile sector has been undergoing substantial changes. It is becoming smaller but at the same time seems to be responding to the competition from a low-wage country like China by increasing the skill-content of its products and moving up the quality ladder.

In this paper we study the effect of import competition from China on the Belgian textiles sector. Our analysis comprises both trade data and firm-level data. We study the evolution of the unit values in textiles exported from China into the EU versus textiles exported from Belgium to the rest of the EU over the past ten years. We clearly find evidence of a widening price gap between Chinese and Belgian textiles export prices. Chinese textiles seem to become relatively cheaper over time. These findings are in line with Schott (2004; 2007) who argues that capital abundant countries in the US and Europe use their endowment advantage to produce product varieties that are superior in quality compared to labour intensive countries like China. Next we use firm-level data on Belgian textiles firms in search of evidence of quality and skill upgrading in Belgian textiles exports. We study the evolution of firm-level variables such as R&D outlays, the proportion of skilled and unskilled labour used in production and capital intensity. Both Chinaâ s entry into the WTO and the end of the Multi- Fibre Agreement significantly seem to cause important shifts in firm level production processes. A very robust result that emerges from the analysis is the one of skill upgrading. While over the past ten years total employment in the Belgian textiles sector has substantially decreased, the ratio of skilled versus unskilled workers has gone up significantly. The evidence is indicative that the Belgian textile sector has been undergoing substantial changes. It is becoming smaller but at the same time seems to be responding to the competition from a low-wage country like China by increasing the skill-content of its products and moving up the quality ladder. ispartof: Discussion paper series DP 198/2008 pages:1-20 status: published

In this paper, we assess the impact of international migration and the induced homecare service labor supply shock on fertility decisions and the labor supply of native females in Germany. Specifically, we consider the individual data of native women from the German Socio-Economic Panel and merge them with data on the share of female immigrants and other regional labor market characteristics. We provide evidence that areas with a high share of female immigrants are more likely to provide a larger amount of services related to household care and lower prices for such services. By controlling for unobserved individual characteristics, we find that an increase at the local level in the share of female immigrants positively affects the probability of having a child, induces women to work longer hours (intensive margin of labor supply) and reduces the number of hours they spend performing family duties (intensive margin of home production). The negative change in household working hours supports the validity of our results. These effects become stronger for (medium-) skilled women.

We develop hypotheses from a “bifurcation bias” approach involving the asymmetric treatment of family and nonfamily assets, and we test them on a sample of 6893 European family SMEs. Our findings reveal two asymmetries relating to actions designed to reduce bifurcation bias. First, exporting is indeed positively associated with the presence of outside owners and managers, and from the interaction between them. However, this interaction replaces any separate positive impact from outside ownership. Second, the international work experience of managers has a positive impact on exporting, but this experience seems relevant only in the case of firms with family-managers only.