Are EU-sentiments and EU-fears exogenous? Or, do macroeconomic conditions when young play a critical role in the formation of an individual’s lifelong attitudes towards the EU? This paper assesses...Show moreAre EU-sentiments and EU-fears exogenous? Or, do macroeconomic conditions when young play a critical role in the formation of an individual’s lifelong attitudes towards the EU? This paper assesses whether differences in individuals’ EU-sentiments can (partly) be attributed to variation in the macroeconomic environment experienced during the critical years of early adulthood. It finds that individuals who experience a recession when young are significantly less trustful towards the EU and its institutions, and that these individuals have significantly higher fears that the EU will erode social security and lead to loss of jobs, national identity and culture than cohorts who did not. To capture the effect of recessions on EU-sentiments, this paper exploits time and country variation in macroeconomic conditions using two different datasets, the European Values Study from 1990-2009 and the Eurobarometer from 2000-2019. It controls for a broad set of individual socio-economic characteristics, as well as for time, country, life-cycle, and cohort fixed effects. The results indicate that the deteriorating effect of experiencing recessions on individuals’ attitudes towards the EU is long-lasting.Show less
Cash conditional transfer programs have become a popular policy option in developing and middle-income countries to both decrease poverty and increase human capital. Through the use of a difference...Show moreCash conditional transfer programs have become a popular policy option in developing and middle-income countries to both decrease poverty and increase human capital. Through the use of a difference in difference quantitative analysis, this article analyzes how the Asignación Universal por Hijo (a CCT program implemented in Argentina in 2009) has affected both school enrolment rates and youth work since its implementation. The main argument of this research is that, due to the increase in income for eligible families and the conditions of the program, there should have been an increase to school enrolment and a decrease to youth work. The findings of the article suggest that work and school are fully substitutable for one another as the results show that the program resulted in an increase in school enrolment that was matched by a similar decrease in youth work. Specifically, the program seems to have been particularly effective in reducing work and increasing school enrolment of teenage males.Show less
The possible negative effects of environmentally related taxation on lower income households makes environmentally related taxation a double-edged sword that on the one hand reduces negative...Show moreThe possible negative effects of environmentally related taxation on lower income households makes environmentally related taxation a double-edged sword that on the one hand reduces negative environmental externalities, yet on the other hand can very easily increase inequality if not implemented and designed correctly. More egalitarian individuals who favour equality for all are generally more in favour of environmentally related policies, as opposed to individuals holding more individualistic worldviews who do not want their individual freedoms impeded upon. Will more egalitarian individuals also be more in favour of environmentally related taxation as compared to general environmental policies? The results show that more egalitarian individuals are less supportive of environmentally related taxation, while higher environmental attitudes and higher trust in government make individuals more supportive of environmentally related taxation. This shows how important the design of policies is in gathering support. The earmarking of future revenues, clear communication, and transparency can contribute to gather this support for environmentally related taxation.Show less
Investments in home improvements or renovations alter the value of a home. The level of this investment into one’s own home could be influenced by the Loan-To-Value ratio leading to a possible...Show moreInvestments in home improvements or renovations alter the value of a home. The level of this investment into one’s own home could be influenced by the Loan-To-Value ratio leading to a possible extra way limits on Loan-To-Value ratios influence housing prices. This thesis attempts to shed light on the relationship between the Loan-To-Value ratio of a home purchase and the level of home improvement or renovations an individual invests in later on. It does so by using a collection of regressors from the broader literature on home improvement and performing both an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and an Instrumental Variable regression (IV). Results from the OLS regression show that though there is reason to assume the Loan-To-Value ratio is impactful on home improvements from a theoretical standpoint, it ceases to be a significant predictor if the size of a home is taken in to account. This thesis also confirms previous research on the determinants of home improvement as it finds that the age of a home, the length of time an individual has lived there and a person’s income are significant predictors. The results of the IV regression support this conclusion, but as instruments used are relatively weak the results from this IV regression could be biased and lack substantial statistical explanatory power.Show less
The Dutch minister of economic affairs announced that he is planning to increase full time work participation. He added that he wants to encourage women to work more hours. Aside from wage,...Show moreThe Dutch minister of economic affairs announced that he is planning to increase full time work participation. He added that he wants to encourage women to work more hours. Aside from wage, concrete measured stayed out of the discussion. This thesis aims to explore the differences between genders, by introducing exogenous expense shocks into the equation. An instrumental variable approach will examine the effects of these shocks, and the differing results between genders will be compared. In short, this thesis finds that exogenous expense shocks do not play a significant role in the intensive labor margin of an individual. Furthermore, increasing wage will not help reducing the gap in working hours between men and women. As men respond more to financial incentives than women, the gender gap would only be increased. The composition of the household is the key explanatory variable to explaining the employment gap between men and women. When a woman finds a partner, they will work less. When a man gives birth to a child, he will work more. These factors increase the gender gap regarding the number of working hours.Show less
In dit onderzoek is er gekeken naar het effect van de zorgen van burgers op de begroting van R&D van groene energie. Het is namelijk moeilijk te kwantificeren hoe de meningen van burgers de...Show moreIn dit onderzoek is er gekeken naar het effect van de zorgen van burgers op de begroting van R&D van groene energie. Het is namelijk moeilijk te kwantificeren hoe de meningen van burgers de begrotingen beïnvloeden. De politici hebben ook een verplichting naar Parijs akkoord waardoor ze kunnen in gaan tegen mening van de burgers waardoor nog minder duidelijk wordt. De onderzoeksvraag is In hoeverre verandert de begroting van research en design (R&D) rondom groene energie van de Europese landen door de verandering van de zorgen van de Europese burgers rondom klimaatverandering? De doelstelling van dit onderzoek is een beter beeld te krijgen van directe invloed van de zorgen van burgers op de begrotingen in specifiek in dit onderzoek de uitgaven aan R&D van groene energie. Dit onderzoek verwacht wanneer de zorgen van de burgers hoger worden rondom klimaatverandering dat de uitgaven aan R&D rondom groene energie omhooggaan. Verder wordt verwacht dat West-Europese landen anders reageren dan Oost-Europese landen en er wordt verwacht dat hoger waarde van democratie invloed leidt tot hogere uitgaven aan R&D. De zorgen van de burgers worden uitgelegd met de vraag “wat zijn volgens u de grootste problemen in uw land?” gevraagd in Eurobarometer. Er wordt verwacht in dit onderzoek dat er beleidsvertraging is hierom is er gekozen voor een vertraging van zorgen van burgers naar begrotingen van een of twee jaar. Hierna zijn meerdere regressies gelopen waar ook wordt gecontroleerd op de hoogte van democratie, populatie, economische groei, de binnnelandse vraag van energie. De regressies laten geen significantie van de effecten van zorgen van burgers zien wanneer er naar alle landen wordt gekeken. De enige variabele die effect blijkt te hebben op de begroting is de populatie. In het derde model zijn de landen ingedeeld in West en Oost-Europa. Wanneer er naar de West-Europese landen wordt gekeken blijkt wel dat de zorgen van de burgers significant effect hebben op de begroting met coëfficiënt van 0,43. Verder blijkt dat de dummy-variabele van communisme ook significant te zijn. Dit betekent dat er een verschil zit tussen West en Oost-Europese landen hoe er met meningen wordt omgegaan. Dit verschil zal misschien kunnen worden uitgelegd door geld van Europese Unie maar dat verder onderzoek zou dat moeten uitwijzen. De hoogte van de democratie blijkt geen effect hebben op de hoogte van de begroting.Show less
Italy has a persistent and significant regional divide between the northern and southern regions. This paper examines this puzzling phenomenon by examining differences in intergenerational mobility...Show moreItaly has a persistent and significant regional divide between the northern and southern regions. This paper examines this puzzling phenomenon by examining differences in intergenerational mobility in education between the regions, and the role of credit constraints in the intergenerational transmission of education between parents and their children. This paper adopts a novel approach to the regional divide by examining educational opportunities between the regions, specifically it answers the question: what is the relationship between intergenerational mobility in education and credit constraints faced by families in the regions of Italy? The results contribute to the literature on the Italian regional disparity by finding that the persistence of educational attainment between generations is large in Italy, especially in the Southern region. Children from families that face credit constraints have a higher intergenerational persistence in educational attainment, with the effect being relatively larger in the North, although families facing credit constraints are more prevalent in the South. These results indicate that there is a stark inequality of (educational) opportunity present in Italy that disadvantages the South of Italy more than the North and is especially detrimental to children growing up in credit constrained families.Show less
