{"title":"Evaluation of Latvia’s re-exports using firm-level trade data","authors":"K. Beņkovskis, Santa Bērziņa, Liva Zorgenfreija","doi":"10.1080/1406099X.2016.1163891","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1406099X.2016.1163891","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT We use an anonymized firm-level trade database provided by the Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia to evaluate Latvia's re-exports. By solving a linear maximization problem for each firm-product pair, we obtain estimates of re-export flows and corresponding re-export mark-ups. We find that the share of-re-export flows in the total merchandise exports and imports is significant and follows an increasing trend. The share of re-exports is especially large in such product groups as transport vehicles, plastics, mineral products, and machinery and electrical equipments. The majority of re-export flows are directed to closest neighbours – Lithuania and Estonia – suggesting that Latvia serves as a sort of a regional transport hub. We also find that average re-export mark-ups are sizeable and re-export operations may provide an important contribution to Latvia’s GDP.","PeriodicalId":43756,"journal":{"name":"Baltic Journal of Economics","volume":"16 1","pages":"1 - 20"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2016-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/1406099X.2016.1163891","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"60299106","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Measuring foreign impact: leading index construction using hierarchical dynamic factor model","authors":"Agnė Reklaitė","doi":"10.1080/1406099X.2016.1164976","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1406099X.2016.1164976","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT In this paper a new method of constructing the leading economic index is presented. Its main advantage is the ability to distinguish domestic and foreign factors influencing the growth of economy and it is performed via dynamic hierarchical factor modelling. An application is carried out with Lithuanian data and the results indicate that foreign component corresponds to an economically and statistically significant amount of variance. Under this new methodology, a hypothesis that the effect of international trends on the growth of economy is increasing over time is validated. Results indicate that globalization effect can be quantified and monitored using the proposed decomposition.","PeriodicalId":43756,"journal":{"name":"Baltic Journal of Economics","volume":"16 1","pages":"21 - 32"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2016-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/1406099X.2016.1164976","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"60298725","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The labour market performance of young return migrants after the crisis in CEE countries: the case of Estonia","authors":"Maryna Tverdostup, J. Masso","doi":"10.1080/1406099X.2016.1233729","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1406099X.2016.1233729","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This paper extends the earlier literature on the effects of return migration by studying selection and labour market performance in terms of the wages of young returnees in particular. The topic is motivated by various labour market issues for young people and their high exposure to the consequences of the recent financial crisis. We use Estonian Labour Force Survey data and Estonian Population and Housing Census 2011 data in combination with Estonian Tax and Customs Office data on individual payroll taxes. The econometric analysis focuses on the selection to temporary migration and the estimation of wage premium to return, along with the decomposition of the returnee-stayer wage gap using the Oaxaca-Blinder approach and an investigation of wage premium dynamics over time after return. The results generally show higher returns from temporary labour migration for young people relative to older people, and among youth, the share of the unexplained fraction of the wage premium is also higher. These results imply a stronger role of experience gained abroad on earnings for youth.","PeriodicalId":43756,"journal":{"name":"Baltic Journal of Economics","volume":"16 1","pages":"192 - 220"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2015-12-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/1406099X.2016.1233729","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"60299572","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Explaining and tackling the shadow economy in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania: a tax morale approach","authors":"C. Williams, I. Horodnic","doi":"10.1080/1406099X.2015.1114714","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1406099X.2015.1114714","url":null,"abstract":"To explain the shadow economy in the Baltic states of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia, this paper evaluates the relationship between the shadow economy and tax morale. Viewing tax morale as a measure of the symmetry between the codified laws and regulations of formal institutions (state morality) and the unwritten socially shared rules of informal institutions (civic morality), the proposition is that the lower the tax morale (i.e. the greater the asymmetry between state morality and civic morality), the greater is the likelihood to participate in the shadow economy. To evaluate this, a 2013 survey is reported involving 3036 face-to-face interviews in these 3 Baltic nations. Using logistic regression analysis, the finding is that the likelihood of participating in the shadow economy is greater, the lower is the tax morality of individuals, population groups and countries. In addition, the likelihood to participate is shadow economy is found to significantly vary by, for example, gender, employment status and country, people living in Latvia and Lithuania displaying significantly lower likelihood to engage in the shadow economy. The paper then explores the implications for theorizing and tackling the shadow economy.","PeriodicalId":43756,"journal":{"name":"Baltic Journal of Economics","volume":"15 1","pages":"81 - 98"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2015-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/1406099X.2015.1114714","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"60298942","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Michał Myck, Adrian Domitrz, L. Morawski, A. Semeniuk
{"title":"Financial incentives to work in the context of a complex reform package and growing wages: the Polish experience 2005–2011","authors":"Michał Myck, Adrian Domitrz, L. Morawski, A. Semeniuk","doi":"10.1080/1406099X.2015.1124227","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1406099X.2015.1124227","url":null,"abstract":"We examine the consequences of changes in work incentives in Poland between 2005 and 2011 resulting from a complex tax and benefit reform package and substantial real wage growth. While marginal and participation tax rates (PTRs) in the majority of analysed cases fall as a result of the introduced reforms, the conclusions from looking at replacement rates (RRs) for the population eligible for means tested benefits are generally different. These suggest that despite significant tax giveaways incentives on the labour market weakened for families with children and for those eligible to safety net benefits. Yet despite these negative policy implications, we show that work incentives improved substantially over the period due to significant real wage growth. When analysing the effect of the reforms on financial incentives to work, we often find conflicting conclusions when using the PTRs and RRs to reflect financial attractiveness of employment. This is not necessarily surprising, but serves as a note of caution on the use of each of them independently.","PeriodicalId":43756,"journal":{"name":"Baltic Journal of Economics","volume":"15 1","pages":"121 - 99"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2015-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/1406099X.2015.1124227","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"60298911","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Detection of implicit fluctuation bands and their credibility in EU candidate countries","authors":"Simón Sosvilla-Rivero, M. C. Ramos-Herrera","doi":"10.1080/1406099X.2015.1066952","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1406099X.2015.1066952","url":null,"abstract":"This paper attempts to identify implicit exchange-rate regimes for currencies of candidate countries vis-à-vis the euro. To that end, we apply three sequential procedures that consider the dynamics of exchange rates to data covering the period from 1999:01 to 2012:12. Our results would suggest that implicit bands have existed in many sub-periods for almost all currencies under study. Once we detect de facto discrepancies between de facto and de iure exchange-rate regimes, we make use of different methods to study the credibility of the detected fluctuation bands. The detected lack of credibility in a high percentage of the sample is robust to the use of several credibility tests, suggesting that economic agents do not behave as if these bands actually were in force at time of making their financial plans. These countries do not improve the confidence on the fluctuation bands as time evolves.","PeriodicalId":43756,"journal":{"name":"Baltic Journal of Economics","volume":"15 1","pages":"18 - 37"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2015-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/1406099X.2015.1066952","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"60298204","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Gender wage gap in Estonia: a non-parametric decomposition","authors":"Sten Anspal","doi":"10.1080/1406099X.2015.1022436","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1406099X.2015.1022436","url":null,"abstract":"Estonia has the highest gender wage gap in the European Union and the highest degree of gender segregation by occupation and industry. Previous studies have found that most of the gap remains unexplained by personal and job characteristics. However, key job characteristics, occupation and industry, are usually imprecisely measured, leading to the question of whether all relevant characteristics have been properly taken into account in the decompositions. In this paper, we perform the decomposition of the wage gap to see how much of the wage gap remains unexplained after using more detailed data than has been common in previous studies (the Estonian Structure of Earnings Study data set), and discuss the related methodological challenges. Using a non-parametric method that takes into account differences in supports of distributions of male and female workers’ characteristics, we find that using more detailed data does not eliminate the unexplained wage gap: about half of the wage gap remains unexplained even using the full set of available variables.","PeriodicalId":43756,"journal":{"name":"Baltic Journal of Economics","volume":"15 1","pages":"1 - 16"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2015-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/1406099X.2015.1022436","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"60298550","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"No milk for the bear: the impact on the Baltic states of Russia's counter-sanctions","authors":"K. Oja","doi":"10.1080/1406099X.2015.1072385","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1406099X.2015.1072385","url":null,"abstract":"The Russian government banned in August 2014 imports of different food and agricultural products from the European Union as a countermeasure to sanctions introduced by the EU and several other countries after Russia's actions in Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea. This paper assesses the effect of Russia's counter-sanctions on the economies of the Baltic states using different statistics sources and an international input–output model, while taking into account possible data problems in international trade data due to re-exports. The amount of trade affected by Russia's counter-sanctions varies across the Baltic states. In 2013, the exports of goods affected amounted to 2.6% of GDP in Lithuania, 0.4% of GDP in Estonia, and 0.3% of GDP in Latvia, but re-exports are included in these numbers. The overall impact of the sanctions on GDP once intra-EU supply chains are taken into account is below 0.5% of GDP in all the Baltic states.","PeriodicalId":43756,"journal":{"name":"Baltic Journal of Economics","volume":"15 1","pages":"38 - 49"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2015-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/1406099X.2015.1072385","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"60298285","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Disinflation and monetary independence in Romania","authors":"L. Goczek","doi":"10.1080/1406099X.2015.1101876","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1406099X.2015.1101876","url":null,"abstract":"In this article, the issue of the monetary independence problem in view of the Romania's European Monetary Union accession is investigated empirically. It is frequently argued that for such a country, the main cost of participation in a currency area is the loss of monetary policy independence. This article raises the question of the actual possibility of monetary independence in a small open economy operating within highly liberalized capital flows and highly integrated financial markets. The main hypothesis of the article is verified using the vector error-correction mechanism model and several parametric hypotheses concerning the speed and asymmetry of adjustment to verify the risk premium and the nature of transmission of the Euribor interest rates on the Romanian Robor. The hypothesis of a one-to-one relationship between interest rates between Romania and the Eurozone cannot be rejected, despite the rapid disinflation at the beginning of the sample.","PeriodicalId":43756,"journal":{"name":"Baltic Journal of Economics","volume":"15 1","pages":"65 - 79"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2015-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/1406099X.2015.1101876","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"60298894","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Shortcomings of the EU state aid model from peripheral perspective: the case of Estonian Air","authors":"Viljar Veebel, I. Ploom, Liina Kulu","doi":"10.1080/1406099X.2015.1095975","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/1406099X.2015.1095975","url":null,"abstract":"The problems with national airlines in small peripheral member states indicate that the effects of strict competition policy and state aid rules of the European Union (EU) may not be equally useful for all member states and their citizens. Measures that are considered efficient from the perspective of one EU member state may not necessarily improve the welfare at the EU level and vice versa. While common competition policy rules are often justified by referring to the core values of European integration and the Single Market, the values themselves prioritize different aspects of the ideals of free market, European solidarity, and institutional stability. Curiously, as a result, the EU practical regulations are often imposing significant costs on a local peripheral consumer while even unable of meeting the proclaimed European values. By using the case study of the Estonian national flag carrier Estonian Air the current study focuses on the question whether the EU state aid regulation is simultaneously rational and sufficiently flexible to take into account the joint values of the European single market and specific needs of peripheral member states.","PeriodicalId":43756,"journal":{"name":"Baltic Journal of Economics","volume":"15 1","pages":"50 - 64"},"PeriodicalIF":1.1,"publicationDate":"2015-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/1406099X.2015.1095975","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"60298854","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}