Human-induced climate change is affecting weather and climate extremes worldwide, leading to losses and damages to nature and people. The literature has found mixed results on the effect of extreme...Show moreHuman-induced climate change is affecting weather and climate extremes worldwide, leading to losses and damages to nature and people. The literature has found mixed results on the effect of extreme weather events on climate attitudes. Using the EIB climate Survey data from 2019 to 2022, this thesis tries to assess the regional effect of floods on climate prioritisation, climate risk perception and the opinion that individual behaviour can make a difference in tackling climate change. It takes as a case study the July 2021 floods in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and France. Using a Differencein- Differences analysis with non-affected regions as a counterfactual, the thesis finds no statistically significant effect of the floods on climate attitudes at the regional level. However, consistently with the existing literature, the thesis emphasises the relevance of other good predictors such as political orientation, gender, economic risk perceptions, or age.Show less
The Kyoto Protocol, a legally binding international treaty, has established a limit on global warming of 1.5ºC. However, current scientific estimates indicate that the world is on track to reach a...Show moreThe Kyoto Protocol, a legally binding international treaty, has established a limit on global warming of 1.5ºC. However, current scientific estimates indicate that the world is on track to reach a warming of 3ºC. This study aims to investigate the relationship between environmental policy, green innovation, emissions, and economic activity by analysing a sample of the most politically, technologically, and economically influential countries in the world over the past 25 years. The results suggest that market-based policies have a positive effect on eco-innovation of 6% while non-market policies have decreased emissions by 4% between 1995 and 2019. Additionally, the study finds that environmental policy can have a positive impact on economic activity, particularly when complemented by increasing oil prices. In order to achieve both economic growth and sustainability, this study recommends that the G20 countries increase their environmental policy stringency.Show less
According to ‘De Nederlandsche Bank’ (DNB), central bank of The Netherlands, overheating in the Dutch housing market is partly caused by policy measures that increase the financing capacity of...Show moreAccording to ‘De Nederlandsche Bank’ (DNB), central bank of The Netherlands, overheating in the Dutch housing market is partly caused by policy measures that increase the financing capacity of households. Starter loans increase the financing capacity of starters with the aim of making a first owner-occupied home more feasible for starters. Literature on credit and house prices argues that an increase in the total credit volume results in an increase of house prices. Since starter loans increase the financing possibilities of starters by providing credit, it is expected that starter loans will result in an additional price increase of house prices. The relationship between starter loans and house prices is studied by means of a panel data regression with municipality and time-fixed effects. The results in this thesis show that there is a relationship between starter loans and house prices. The estimated effects of starter loans show a negative and positive effect on house prices. Which makes it insufficiently clear whether starter loans lead to an increase in house prices or not.Show less
An income rule determines household eligibility for the energy allowance at a maximum of 120% of the minimum wage. This thesis examines the effect of the energy allowance on the mental and physical...Show moreAn income rule determines household eligibility for the energy allowance at a maximum of 120% of the minimum wage. This thesis examines the effect of the energy allowance on the mental and physical health of eligible Dutch cohabiting households below and above the AOW pension age. It does so by utilizing a sharp regression discontinuity design to compare the mental and physical health statuses of eligible and non-eligible households. This thesis does find evidence for significant changes on the mental and physical health of Dutch cohabiting households below the AOW pension age. However, the findings reveal a negative association between the energy allowance on depression levels of Dutch cohabiting households above the AOW pension age. This thesis advises the Dutch government to reconsider the income threshold used for the energy allowance and encourages future research to investigate the health effects of the energy allowance more profoundly.Show less
With the rise in automation, inequality between low- and high-skilled workers has increased. Robotization allows for the substitution of human labor by capital, while artificial intelligence and...Show moreWith the rise in automation, inequality between low- and high-skilled workers has increased. Robotization allows for the substitution of human labor by capital, while artificial intelligence and machine learning can result in a complementary effect for high-skilled workers. With this risk of replacement due to automation existing for low-skilled manual workers, their job satisfaction may be negatively impacted, ultimately having a negative effect on their general well-being. This research has therefore looked at the effect of risk of automation on job satisfaction. Based on data from the LISS-panel, the routine task intensity-index as generated by Mihaylov and Tijdens (2019) and the risk of automation-index generated by Pouliakos (2018) a quantitative method was applied, consisting of descriptive statistics as well as the use of regressions, to provide an answer. The descriptive statistics have shown that older workers tend to have a higher level of job satisfaction, while especially young low-skilled workers are subject to a low mean of job satisfaction. Furthermore, the research has found that tasks that differ from non-routine analytic tasks and thus are more subject to automation, negatively impact the level of job satisfaction for Dutch workers. When splitting the observations in to level of skill and age-group, the effect of the routine-task intensity index becomes inconsistent. The research has also found that an increasing risk of automation-index negatively influences the level of job satisfaction, as it decreases the level of job satisfaction for Dutch workers by 0.026 for an increase in risk of automation by 1. When accounting for level of skill and age-group, an increasing risk of automation appeared to have a larger negative effect on the young low-skilled Dutch workers, supporting the thought of skill-biased technological change resulting in further inequality between low- and high-skilled workers. The Dutch government should therefore aim at expanding the current training and education programs, offer further job placement services and other policies related to decreasing the negative effects of at risk of automation.Show less
Five years after the implementation of the GDPR, many questions regarding the economic effects of stricter data regulations remain unanswered. This study examines the impact of data protectionism...Show moreFive years after the implementation of the GDPR, many questions regarding the economic effects of stricter data regulations remain unanswered. This study examines the impact of data protectionism on the entry rate in data-intensive industries using a panel data set of 54 countries from 2006 to 2017. Through a random effects model and robust standard errors, this study investigates the relationship between data policy regulations and entrepreneurial activity, controlling for various factors. A positive relationship between the gross entry rate and data policy index is observed in non data-intensive countries. Thus, hypothesis 3b is accepted. A similar statistically significant coefficient for developed countries is seen. Moreover, a positive relationship between the data policy index and the gross entry rate in data-intensive industries is seen when time and country dummies are included. However, the statistically significant net entry rate coefficient (-0.06 & -0.596) for hypothesis 5a and 5b turn insignificant if the dummies are included in the model. Other robustness checks are executed to examine the explanatory power of the coefficients. These findings have important implications for policymakers, highlighting the potential benefits of transparent data protection measures in fostering entrepreneurship and innovation. The study emphasizes the need for sector-specific considerations in data policy design and underlines the significance of timing and the implementation lag. Future research should explore the effects of recent data protection trends and examine the economic downsides of privacyShow less
Increased automation has raised concerns about its impact on the labor market and on wage inequality, particularly for routine-heavy labor. Though many scholars have dedicated research to these...Show moreIncreased automation has raised concerns about its impact on the labor market and on wage inequality, particularly for routine-heavy labor. Though many scholars have dedicated research to these effects, little research has been conducted on automation’s effect on wage inequality among older workers. The purpose of this paper is to fill that gap by researching automation’s influence on wages among older high-, middle- and low-wage workers. To this end, the number of robots per thousand inhabitants across 36 developed and developing countries is regressed with the percentage wage shares designated to the bottom, lower-middle, middle, upper-middle and top quintiles of the wage distribution, for a period of 16 years. The results show increasing automation-induced wage inequality among workers aged 15 to 19, while showing a trend of wages centralizing around the middle quintile for workers aged 20 to 39. This paper does not find evidence for automation-induced wage inequality among workers older than 40. Finally, an explanation and research recommendation are provided for the findings of workers aged 50 and above.Show less
The COVID-19 pandemic had an immense economic and social impact. Dutch Gross Domestic Product shrunk with about 3.7 percent in 2020, which was as severe as the credit crisis in 2011. People got...Show moreThe COVID-19 pandemic had an immense economic and social impact. Dutch Gross Domestic Product shrunk with about 3.7 percent in 2020, which was as severe as the credit crisis in 2011. People got sick or died because of the virus, workers were strongly advised to work from their residence and consumption amenities had to close their doors to limit the spread of COVID-19. Although the economy struggled, Dutch housing prices continued to increase during the pandemic. Home preferences did appear affected by COVID-19. As working from home became the norm, households valued residential space more, and thus moved towards non-urban areas where houses have more space. This effect is know as the Donut-effect. The answer to the research question: To what extent has the COVID-19 pandemic affected housing prices in The Netherlands? provides statistically significant evidence that COVID-19 has had a positive effect on overall Dutch housing prices. This thesis also provides statistically significant evidence that COVID-19 has likely driven a Donut-effect in The Netherlands, where households from the urban, ’Randstad’ provinces have moved towards other Dutch provinces outside the ’Randstad’ due to COVID-19. Compared to pre-pandemic housing prices, housing prices in the ’Randstad’ have decreased with 1.2 to 1.6 percent compared to the non-’Randstad’ provinces. The effect is reversed for the non-’Randstad’ provinces, where housing prices have increased with 1.2 to 1.6 percent.Show less
With economic globalization comes a growing emphasis on the development of economic policy on the regional level. A popular policy option is to establish a regional development agency. This study...Show moreWith economic globalization comes a growing emphasis on the development of economic policy on the regional level. A popular policy option is to establish a regional development agency. This study researches the effects of these agencies on the regional economy and surrounding regions through panel data of Dutch provinces from 1970 through 2016. Results show mostly not-significant effects. However, there appear to be small positive effects on the total value added within a region. Furthermore, this study finds no evidence for potential negative competition effects. The establishment of RDA’s has not prevented some regions from experiencing significantly lower growth compared to other regions.Show less
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
