http://hdl.handle.net/2262/62031 Sun, 19 May 2013 03:20:31 GMT 2013-05-19T03:20:31Z http://hdl.handle.net/2262/58995 Title: Social partnership, competitiveness and exit from fiscal crisis Author: Barry, Frank Abstract: The contribution of social partnership to Ireland’s economic boom remains the subject of controversy. This paper analyses at a theoretical level how a multi-period deal on wages and taxation of the type struck in the late 1980s could enhance competitiveness and facilitate an economy in escaping from fiscal crisis. Such a deal would not be possible in a spot labour market. The high unemployment rates of the late 1980s suggest that the Irish labour market of the time cannot be characterised as a spot labour market, however, and such a deal could be struck under these circumstances. Short-term tax reductions would have worsened the short-term budgetary position and hence would have been politically unacceptable. An agreement entailing a commitment by government to future tax reductions in exchange for current wage moderation on the part of organised labour imparts a supply-side stimulus to the economy and improves the immediate fiscal position. The concluding comments provide a gloomy assessment of whether partnership could play an equivalent role in the current recessionary environment. Description: Paper delivered at the 22nd Annual Conference of the Irish Economic Association, Westport, Co. Mayo, 25-27 April, 2008 Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2262/58995 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2262/58935 Title: Evaluating opportunities when people are uncertainty averse Author: Gekker, Ruvin; Piggins, Ashley Abstract: We consider the problem of ranking sets of alternatives. Standard approaches to this problem regard the addition of an alternative to a set containing one element as enhancing choice. We argue that this monotonicity axiom may not be desirable when an agent is uncertain as to the value of this additional alternative. We replace monotonicity with an uncertainty aversion axiom, and also introduce an axiom that produces lexicographic behaviour. These axioms, in conjunction with an independence axiom, enable us to prove a characterisation theorem. This theorem says that sets are ranked in terms of the number of uncertain elements that they contain, the fewer the better. This is the only ranking rule that satisfies our axioms. Description: Paper delivered at the Twenty-Second Annual Conference of the Irish Economic Association, Westport, Co. Mayo, 25-27 April, 2008 Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2262/58935 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2262/58933 Title: Non-cash benefits and the distribution of economic welfare Author: Callan, Tim; Keane, Claire Abstract: Non-cash benefits can have substantial effects on the distribution of economic welfare. Standard approaches to the inclusion of non-cash benefits in broader measures of resources have failed to take adequate account of the pattern of needs associated with the greater use of health and education services. Our results, for Ireland in the year 2000, show that it is possible to derive more appropriate measures of total resources than have been derived using standard methods. The results indicate that the greatest impact comes from the inclusion of imputed rent for owner occupation as part of the resource measure. When this is done, the rate of “resource poverty” for older people is substantially reduced, in line with results which use indicators of standard of living as well as cash incomes (“consistent poverty”). Description: Paper delivered at the Twenty-Second Annual Conference of the Irish Economic Association, Westport, Co. Mayo, 25-27 April, 2008 Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2262/58933 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2262/58929 Title: Job mobility in Ireland Author: Bergin, Adele Abstract: This paper investigates the factors that determine job-to-job mobility in Ireland over the period 1995 to 2001. It finds that labour market experience, working in the public sector, whether a person is overskilled, the sector they work in and their occupation are important determinants of voluntary job change. The paper finds the rate of voluntary job mobility in Ireland trebled over the period 1995 to 2000. The sample is divided into two time periods and a decomposition technique is applied to ascertain how much of the increase in mobility is attributable to compositional changes and how much is due to other factors. Compositional changes explain around one-third of the increase, while the remainder seems to reflect fundamental changes in the operation of the labour market. Description: Paper delivered at the Twenty-Second Annual Conference of the Irish Economic Association, Westport, Co. Mayo, 25-27 April, 2008 Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2262/58929 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/2262/58804 Title: The determinants of higher education participation in Ireland: a micro analysis Author: Flannery, Darragh; O'Donoghue, Cathal Abstract: In this paper we present a theoretical model of higher education participation in Ireland. Utilising the Living in Ireland Survey data we model the impact of costs (direct and indirect), the estimated life cycle returns, environmental and parental influences and also household credit constraints on the higher education participation decision. We find that foregone earnings and youth employment rates have a negative impact on this decision; this suggests weaker labour markets for young people may have a positive impact on higher education participation. The insignificance of credit constraints in the shape of household income and maintenance grant eligibility from our estimations can also help draw some tentative policy conclusions. Our results also show that life cycle returns and parental educational level may influence participation in higher education in Ireland. Description: Paper delivered at the Twenty-Second Annual Conference of the Irish Economic Association, Westport, Co Mayo, April 25-27, 2008 Thu, 01 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/2262/58804 2009-01-01T00:00:00Z