How persuasive is ‘free’ public transport?: A survey among commuters in the Brussels Capital Region

In Belgium, several cities have been experimenting with ‘free’ public transport based on the concept of a third payer system. This study explores the modal shift potential of this measure for commuters by means of a large-scale survey. The results indicate that there is still a margin for a further modal shift, but in order to make public transport more attractive to car users, the price paid by the commuter should be lowered, the quality and capacity of the public services should be improved and the mobility policy of the companies should be adjusted in favour of public transport.     

The influence of low-fare airlines on vacation choices of students: Results of a stated portfolio choice experiment

This paper reports the results of a portfolio model of vacation choices of students. The portfolio model concerns the combined choice of destination type, transport mode, duration, accommodation, and travel party for vacations. In addition to usual transport modes such as airline, train, bus and car, a distinction was made between low-fare airlines, as these may be especially appealing to students, and regular airlines. Stated choice data were used to estimate the model. The attributes of the transport modes were systematically varied in the experiment, while respondents were faced with free options for the other choice facets. Estimation results indicated that the developed model of portfolio choice performs satisfactory. In substantive terms, it seems that transport mode predominantly influences the portfolio choices. The attributes that are significant tend to amplify the specific role of transport modes in general and low-fare airlines in particular.     

Work and Wage Dynamics around Childbirth

In this paper, we investigate how the wage processes of women who are well established in the labour market are affected by having children. We estimate a flexible fixed‐effects wage regression model extended by post‐childbirth fixed effects. We use register data on West Germany, and we exploit the expansionary family policy during the late 1980s and 1990s for identification. On their return to work after childbirth, the wages of mothers drop by 3–5.7 per cent per year of leave. We find negative selection back to full‐time work after childbirth. We discuss the policy implications regarding statistical discrimination and the results concerning the family gap.     

Structural breaks in public finances in Central and Eastern European countries

This article studies the evolution of quarterly government Total Deficit (TD) to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and debt to GDP ratios of seven Central and Eastern European member states (CEEC-7) of the European Union over the period 2000 Q1 to 2011 Q2. Alternative unit root tests are applied to identify the number and date(s) of structural break(s) in the fiscal ratios. The breakpoint date(s) are estimated endogenously. The best performing unit root test is determined by the adjusted R-squared metric. The level and trend of fiscal ratios are estimated by using breaking trend regression models. Unit root tests performed for the period 2000 Q1 to 2007 Q4 identify the number and date(s) of structural break(s) in fiscal variables before the global economic crisis. Unit root tests and breaking trend regressions are estimated for total Eurozone TD to GDP and debt to GDP to compare the evolution of total Eurozone fiscal ratios with those of each CEEC-7.     

What if women earned more than their spouses? An experimental investigation of work-division in couples

Female specialization on household work and male specialization on labor-market work is a widely observed phenomenon across time and countries. This absence of gender neutrality with respect to work-division is known as the “work-division puzzle”. Gender differences regarding characteristics (preferences, productivity) and context (wage rates, social norms) are generally recognized as competing explanations for this fact. We experimentally control for context and productivity to investigate preferences for work-division by true co-habiting couples, in a newly developed specialization task. Efficiency in this task comes at the cost of inequality, giving higher earnings to the “advantaged” player. We compare behavior when men (or women) are in the advantaged position, which corresponds to the traditional (or power) couple case where he (or she) earns more. Women and men contribute equally to the household public good in all conditions. This result allows us to rule out some of the standard explanations of the work-division puzzle.     

Vocational Training and Gender: Wages and Occupational Mobility among Young Workers

This paper investigates the relationship between the genderwage gap, the choice of training occupation, and occupationalmobility. We use longitudinal data for young workers with apprenticeshiptraining in West Germany. Workers make occupational career choicesearly in their careers and women and men pursue very differentoccupational careers. We reconsider whether through occupationalsegregation women are locked in low-wage careers or whetherthey can move up to higher wage paths through mobility. We furthermoreinvestigate whether patterns have changed across cohorts duringthe period 1975–2001 and whether effects vary across thedistribution. The main results are, first, while there existsa persistent gender wage gap over experience, the gap has decreasedover time. Second, in the lower part of the wage distribution,the gap is highest and it increases with experience. Third,occupational mobility is lower for women than for men and thewage gains due to occupational mobility are higher for men thanfor women, especially in the lower part of the wage distribution.We conclude that occupational mobility has reduced the genderwage gap, but lock-in effects are still stronger for women comparedto men. Footnotes ¹ E-mail addresses: fitzenberger{at}wiwi.uni-frankfurt.de; astrid.kunze{at}nhh.no