Alexander Hijzen's Books

Collective Bargaining Through the Magnifying Glass

A Comparison Between the Netherlands and Portugal

By: Alexander Hijzen,Pedro S. Martins,Jante Parlevliet

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Collective Bargaining Through the Magnifying Glass

A Comparison Between the Netherlands and Portugal

By: Alexander Hijzen,Pedro S. Martins,Jante Parlevliet

Since the global financial crisis, sector-level bargaining has come under renewed scrutiny. While in Southern Europe, the crisis raised concerns about the role of collective bargaining as an obstacle to labor market adjustment, in Northern Europe it was perceived more favourably and, according to some, may even have helped to weather the fallout of the crisis more easily. This paper seeks to contribute to a deeper understanding of sector-level bargaining systems and their role for labor market performance. We compare two countries with seemingly similar collective bargaining systems, the Netherlands and Portugal, and document a number of features that may affect labor market outcomes, including: i) the scope for flexibility at the firm or worker level within sector-level agreements; ii) the emphasis on representativeness as a criterion for extensions; iii) the effectiveness of coordination across bargaining units; and iv) pro-active government policies to enhance trust and cooperation between the social partners.

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International Monetary Fund

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ISBN 10

1484333357

ISBN 13

9781484333358

The Short-Term Impact of Product Market Reforms

A cross-country firm-level analysis

By: Peter N. Gal,Alexander Hijzen

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The Short-Term Impact of Product Market Reforms

A cross-country firm-level analysis

By: Peter N. Gal,Alexander Hijzen

This paper analyzes the effects of product market reforms in the short and medium term across 10 regulated industries and 18 advanced economies for the period 1998-2013 using internationally comparable firm-level data based on Orbis. It provides four key insights. First, product market reforms have positive effects on capital, output and employment and their effects increase over time. After two years, they raise capital by 4%, output by 3% and employment by 1.5%. Second, differences in production technology and the nature of product market regulations across sectors generate important differences in the mechanisms through which reforms operate. In network industries, reforms tend to benefit small firms, while the opposite is observed in retail trade. Product market reforms also promote firm entry, particularly those that reduce entry barriers. Third, credit constraints can play an important role in weakening the positive impact of product market reform on investment. Fourth, product market reforms also tend to have positive effects on firms in downstream sectors—both at home and abroad—that make intensive use of intermediate inputs from deregulated sectors.

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International Monetary Fund

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ISBN 10

1475539584

ISBN 13

9781475539585

No Extension without Representation? Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Collective Bargaining

By: Alexander Hijzen,Pedro S. Martins

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No Extension without Representation? Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Collective Bargaining

By: Alexander Hijzen,Pedro S. Martins

In many countries, notably across Europe, collective bargaining coverage is enhanced by government-issued extensions that widen the reach of collective agreements beyond their signatory parties to all firms and workers in the same sector. This paper analyses the causal impact of such extensions on employment using a natural experiment in Portugal: the immediate suspension by the government that took office in 21 June 2011 of the (until then) nearly automatic extensions. The combination of this suspension and the time needed for processing the extension applications resulted in a sharp and unanticipated decline in the extension probability of agreements signed several month earlier around 1 March 2011. Our results, based on a regression discontinuity design and matched employer-employee-agreement panel data, suggest that extensions had a negative impact on employment growth. Moreover, the effects tend to be concentrated among non-affiliated firms. The lack of representativeness of employer associations is a potentially important factor behind the adverse effect of extensions. Another is the role of retro-activity in combination with the administrative delay in processing extensions. This is particularly relevant in the context of a recession.

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International Monetary Fund

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ISBN 10

1475533918

ISBN 13

9781475533910

Growing Apart, Losing Trust? The Impact of Inequality on Social Capital

By: Eric D Gould,Alexander Hijzen

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Growing Apart, Losing Trust? The Impact of Inequality on Social Capital

By: Eric D Gould,Alexander Hijzen

There is a widespread perception that trust and social capital have declined in United States as well as other advanced economies, while income inequality has tended to increase. While previous research has noted that measured trust declines as individuals become less similar to one another, this paper examines whether the downward trend in social capital is responding to the increasing gaps in income. The analysis uses data from the American National Election Survey (ANES) for the United States, and the European Social Survey (ESS) for Europe. Our analysis for the United States exploits variation across states and over time (1980-2010), while our analysis of the ESS utilizes variation across European countries and over time (2002-2012). The results provide robust evidence that overall inequality lowers an individual’s sense of trust in others in the United States as well as in other advanced economies. These effects mainly stem from residual inequality, which may be more closely associated with the notion of fairness, as well as inequality in the bottom of the distribution. Since trust has been linked to economic growth and development in the existing literature, these findings suggest an important, indirect way through which inequality affects macro-economic performance.

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International Monetary Fund

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ISBN 10

1475529511

ISBN 13

9781475529517

Pouring Oil on Fire: Interest Deductibility and Corporate Debt

By: Pietro Dallari,Mr.Nicolas End,Fedor Miryugin,Alexander F. Tieman,Mr.Seyed Reza Yousefi

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Pouring Oil on Fire: Interest Deductibility and Corporate Debt

By: Pietro Dallari,Mr.Nicolas End,Fedor Miryugin,Alexander F. Tieman,Mr.Seyed Reza Yousefi

This paper investigates the role of tax incentives towards debt finance in the buildup of leverage in the nonfinancial corporate (NFC) sector, using a large firm-level dataset. We find that so-called debt bias is a significant driver of leverage, for both small and medium-sized enterprises and larger firms, with its effect accounting for about a quarter of leverage. The strength of this effect differs with firm size, the availability of collateral, income and income volatility, cash flow, and capital intensity. We conclude that leveling the playing field between debt and equity finance through tax policy reform would decrease NFC leverage, reducing economic risks posited by leverage.

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International Monetary Fund

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ISBN 10

1484389107

ISBN 13

9781484389102

Hindsight, Insight, Foresight: Thinking About Security in the Indo-Pacific

By: Alexander L. Vuving

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Hindsight, Insight, Foresight: Thinking About Security in the Indo-Pacific

By: Alexander L. Vuving

Hindsight, Insight, Foresight is a tour d’horizon of security issues in the Indo-Pacific. Written by 20 current and former members of the faculty at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, its 21 chapters provide hindsight, insight, and foresight on numerous aspects of security in the region. This book will help readers to understand the big picture, grasp the changing faces, and comprehend the local dynamics of regional security.

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