Search results for "market integration"

Convergence in car prices among European countries

2011

This article contributes to the literature on price convergence in Europe by investigating the existence of stochastic and deterministic convergence of car prices in the EU15 countries. We apply recently developed econometric techniques that allow for multiple structural breaks to an up-to-date dataset. We find considerable evidence of both types of convergence in our sample of countries and car models, therefore suggesting a tendency for relative prices to equalize over time. In addition, we find evidence regarding the importance in this convergence process of both legislative changes taking place in the years 1996 and 2002, and the implementation of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).

Labor Market Integration and Migration: Impacts on Skill Formation and the Wage Structure

2006

We analyze the impacts of labor market integration and migration on skill formation, wage structures, and per capita GDP of host and source countries. To do so, we propose a model in which heterogeneous agents invest in the acquisition of skills, and in which final good production exhibits increasing returns to scale in the range of available skills. Labor market integration, by allowing for migration in response to wage differentials, changes the wage structures and, therefore, the incentives to become skilled in both host and source countries. We show that our model can largely replicate the empirical evidence concerning international migration, the widening international income dispersio…

Legal Issues Affecting Labour Market Integration of Migrants in Finland

2021

AbstractFinland has only relatively recently become a country of immigration, and as a result most immigration and integration policy legislation is also relatively recent. Since the 1990s, the number of migrants to Finland has increased steadily, motivating the adoption of various policy measures to regulate migration and support integration. From the perspective of migrant labour market integration, the two most important legislative acts are the Aliens Act (FINLEX 301/2004) and the Act on the Promotion of Immigrant Integration (FINLEX 1386/2010), which lay out basic labour market integration supports for migrants, and determine who can work in Finland and on which grounds. Finland’s comp…

The determinants of industrial location in Spain, 1856–1929

2012

Abstract During the 19th century, the Spanish economy went through the early stages of the industrialisation process. This process developed in parallel to the growing market integration of goods and factors as a result of the liberal reforms and the construction of the railway network, with the subsequent fall in transport costs. In that period, there were major changes in the pattern of industrial location across Spain, with an increasing spatial concentration of industrial activities between the 1850s and the Spanish Civil War (1936–39) and a deeper regional specialisation. What were the forces behind these changes? On the theoretical side, the Heckscher–Ohlin model suggests that the spa…

The effectiveness of several market integration measures when facing a market turmoil

2003

Many market integration measures are operationalized to compute their numerical values during a period characterized by the lack of stability and market turmoil. The results of the tests give their degree of effectiveness, and reveal that the measures based on the principles of asset valuation, versus statistical measures, more clearly yield the level of integration of financial markets. Besides, cross market arbitrage-linked measures and equilibrium models-linked measures provide complementary information and reflect different properties, and consequently, both types of measures may be useful in practice.

Vocational bachelor graduates in France: labour market integration and social mobility

2014

Purpose – In France, the vocationalization of higher education has resulted in an increase in the number of graduates and created new opportunities. The access of these vocational bachelor graduates to the labour market raises the issue of their professional prospects amid changing economic and social circumstances. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – To provide insights into these issues, the employment situation of bachelor graduates during the first years of active working life will be compared with other tertiary graduates entering the labour market in the same years, using econometric models that estimate the effects of vocational courses “all other t…

2019

Pre-industrial money supply typically consisted of multiple, often foreign currencies. Standard economic theory implies that this entails welfare loss due to transaction costs imposed by currency exchange. Through a study of novel data on Finnish nineteenth-century parish-level currency conditions, we show that individual currencies had principal areas of circulation, with extensive co-circulation restricted to the boundary regions in between. We show that trade networks, defined here through the regional co-movement of grain prices, proved crucial in determining the currency used. Market institutions and standard price mechanisms had an apparent role in the spread of different currencies a…

Coping with Growth and Emigration: Latvian Labor Market Before and After EU Accession

2007

In 2002-2005, Latvian labor market has witnessed dramatic changes related both to unprecedented economic growth and to a massive outflow of labor force after EU enlargement in May 2004. This study, based on micro-level analysis of Latvian Labor Force surveys 2002-2005, provides a detailed analysis of these changes, with a particular focus on developments which are likely to improve living standards of formerly disadvantaged segments of population. The findings suggest that emerging shortage of labor has led to strong wage growth and reduction of unemployment. The author documents increased employment rates and improvements in labor market position of ethnic minorities, elderly, fixed-term w…

Intensity of Italy's agri-food trade with countries outside the EU Mediterranean

2013

This paper aims to present a framework of trade relations between Italy and the countries of southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. More specifically, using the indicators proposed in the analysis of international trade, we want to analyse the intensity of trade in agri-food products and the strength of trade ties between the bordering Mediterranean countries. The analysis of the intensity of trade flows of food products from Italy and the partner countries of North Africa and the Near East has allowed us to trace a network of flows between the countries in the area. If we can see an overall weakening of the agri-food trade, the analysis for individual partner states, however…

Exchange Rates and Stock Prices in the MENA countries: What Role for Oil?

2011

This paper considers the linkage between stock prices and exchange rates in four MENA (Middle East and North Africa) emerging markets. In contrast to the existing evidence that uses a global market index to uncover such a relationship it is found that for the sample countries oil prices emerge as the dominant factor in the above relationship. The paper considers the presence of regime shifts and evidence is found of cointegration only for the period following the 1999 oil price shock. Readjustment towards equilibrium in each stock market occurs via oil price changes. Finally, a number of robustness checks are performed and persistence profiles produced. Wiley Online Library