The trend in female labour force participation: what can be expected for the future?

This study investigates the increase in the labour force participation rate of women. We estimate a binary age–period–cohort model for a sample of Dutch women born between 1925 and 1986. The results indicate that the increasing level of education and the diminishing negative effect of children have played an important role. Moreover, we find important unobserved cohort effects for pre-1955 generations, which is in line with results of studies on social norms. It is shown that the growth in female participation is likely to slow down in the near future, as such cohort effects are not relevant for younger generations.     

Importance of location and product assortment on flea market loyalty

ABSTRACT

Recent trends in consumerism have highlighted the proliferation of the global flea market economy, which contributes significantly to the growing informal sector. Although a number of studies have explored the present topic within different contexts, few studies have addressed the factors that contribute to flea market loyalty among Millennial consumers. The purpose of the present paper is therefore to investigate the influence of market location and product assortment on market loyalty and the inter-construct relationships of market experience and purchase intention. By means of a quantitative study, 280 self-administered questionnaires were distributed amongst Millennial consumers. The data analysis was done using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) in SPSS 23 and AMOS 23. The results indicated that all seven proposed hypotheses were significant. In other words, market location, product assortment and market experience positively influence consumer’s purchase intention and market loyalty. This paper is of paramount importance to brands and retailers who wish to expand their distribution network to the informal market economy, also known as the flea market economy. Marketers should realize the importance of the market’s location and the product assortment when investing in the flea market economy. The results of this paper contribute to literature in the informal market economy, which is rapidly expanding.     

Changes in the Income Distribution of the Dutch Elderly between 1989 and 2020: a Dynamic Microsimulation

This paper analyzes the income distribution of the Dutch elderly using a microsimulation model. Microsimulation models allow for detailed estimates of the income distribution. Our model deviates from traditional models by explicitly considering the persistency and heteroskedasticity of real income shocks. In this way, modeling all underlying processes influencing household income becomes less necessary, which can improve the trade‐off between refinement and tractability of microsimulation models. We show the results of three model specifications with different levels of refinement. The results are in line and indicate that between 2008 and 2020, the highest predicted annual growth among the elderly is for median‐income households (about 1.2 percent). High‐income households have a somewhat lower predicted growth (about 1.0 percent) and low‐income households only have a predicted annual growth of 0.5 percent. Inequality therefore seems to increase in the lower part of the distribution, while it will probably decline in the upper part of the distribution.