Empirica最新文献

Is remote learning associated with education inequalities? We use PISA 2018 data from five European countries-France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom-to investigate whether education outcomes are related to the possession of the resources needed for distance learning. After controlling for a wide set of covariates, fixed effects, different specifications and testing the stability of coefficients, we find that remote learning is positively associated with average education outcomes, but also with strong and significant education inequalities. Our results show that negative gaps are larger where online schooling is more widespread, across countries, locations, and school types. More generally, remote learning inequalities appear to be associated with technological network externalities: they increase as digital education spreads. Policy makers must guarantee to all students and schools the possession of the resources needed for remote learning, but to reach this goal efficiently they must adapt their actions to the characteristics of countries, areas and school systems.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10663-022-09556-7.

This study seeks to identify the determinants of forced household savings in 16 European Union (EU) member states in 2020. We show that the higher the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic in the state, measured by the intensity of government restrictions or the number of COVID-19-related deaths, the higher the level of forced savings. Such savings also increased with gross domestic product per capita and the financial support provided for households and enterprises by the government. Additionally, savings cultures and personality traits that support compliance with pandemic-related restrictions and enhance coping with the hardship of the pandemic had a positive impact on forced savings. Our results show that while common pandemic shock may lead to discrepancies in forced savings in affected countries, their level depends largely on government response in the form of imposed restrictions as well as financial support for households and enterprises. Therefore, strong fiscal support during the pandemic can be likened to sowing the seeds for post-pandemic recovery, as savings accumulated during the pandemic shock may be used to finance the pent-up demand. This, in turn, suggests that fiscal responses during the pandemic may act as a significant driver of post-pandemic business cycle (de)synchronization and inflation differentials among EU member states and, more importantly, euro-area countries.

One of the leading national and international objectives is to achieve more egalitarian societies. Avoiding gender or digital gaps are priorities generally assumed as concerns of governments and international organizations. This paper evaluates the digital gender divide in its three stages: access, use and results, relating it to gender and salary gaps in the context of the European Union. Cluster analysis was conducted to classify the countries according to their gender digital divide. The influence of age and studies level of males and females was revised. Based on the OECD and EUROSTAT data, an empirical analysis was conducted. By comparison of means, the significant variables influencing the gender digital divide were identified, probing that the educational level significantly influences it, especially in what refers to the third stage. Finally, through a regression analysis, it was proved that the influence of the insecurity and the gender wage gap goes beyond the women and affects society.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10663-022-09555-8.

With ever-increasing political tensions between China and Russia on one side and the EU and the US on the other, it only seems a matter of time until protectionist policies cause a decoupling of global value chains. This paper uses a computable general equilibrium trade model calibrated with the latest version of the GTAP database to simulate the effect of such a decoupling-implemented by doubling non-tariff barriers-between the two blocks on trade and welfare. Imposing import barriers almost completely eliminates bilateral imports. In addition, changes in price levels lead to higher imports and lower exports of the imposing country group from and to the rest of the world. The targeted country group increases exports to the rest of the world and reduces imports. Welfare falls in all countries involved, suggesting that governments should strive to cooperate rather than turn away from each other. By imposing a trade war on Russia, the political West could inflict severe damage on the Russian economy because of the latter's smaller relative economic size.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has caused disruptions in international trade and highlighted the dependency of small open economies in Europe on imports, especially of energy. These events may have changed Europeans' attitude towards globalization. We study two waves of representative population surveys conducted in Austria, one right before the Russian invasion and the other two months later. Our unique dataset allows us to assess changes in the Austrian public's attitudes towards globalization and import dependency as a short-term reaction to economic turbulences and geopolitical upheaval at the onset of war in Europe. We show that two months after the invasion, anti-globalization sentiment in general has not spread, but that people have become more concerned about strategic external dependencies, especially in energy imports, suggesting that citizens' attitudes regarding globalization are differentiated.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10663-023-09572-1.