Paula Puskarova (p), Natalia Zagorsekova, Michaela Grinaj, Martin Labaj

Corneliu Iatu

The aim of the collection of data on the capacities, facility types and coordinates of asylum seekers’ sites across Europe was to reconcile various sources on asylum seekers sites and provide compelling evidence on the unequal distribution of asylum seekers sites across Europe generated by various country asylum regimes. Furthermore, we compare European countries using the inequality index of these asylum seekers site showing that the unequal distribution is welfare regime compliant. The data was compiled with the help of national authorities (immigration offices, ministries) of EU member states and is published online using Datawrapper. The maps are not without data inconsistencies, mainly due to unavailability of the data or reluctance of the authorities to share as well as the rapid changes in location as well as capacity of sites. Moreover, the categorisation of the centres varies by country what challenges the cross-country comparability of facilities.

Sebastian Ritter (p), Antonio Di Paolo , Raul Ramos, Vicente Royuela (p)

Paula Puskarova

The examination of migration dynamics and the factors that drive them is crucial, as it entails both costs and benefits for the regions involved in sending and receiving migrants.
Little is known about how about the effect of policies aimed to protect local languages or to naturalize linguistic requirements could affect migration flows. Understanding the role of linguistic policies as a potential barrier to interregional migration is vital in order to develop effective strategies for promoting inclusive migration.
This paper addresses the question if language constitutes a barrier to migration by exploiting a quasi-experimental design provided by the introduction of a policy that normalized language. In specific, we analyze the effect of the Linguistic Normalization Act (LNA) introduced in Catalonia in the year 1983 over internal migration from the rest of regions of Spain.
This paper contributes to the literature on the drivers of migration by being the first attempt to study language barriers using a quasi-experimental design analyzing the effect of a linguistic reform. To do so, a synthetic control method using lasso (SCUL) has been applied using data from historical notebooks.
Preliminary findings following the initial phase and a range of robustness checks (in space, in time and falsification tests) show a detrimental impact of the normalization policy on inflows from other regions of Spain to Catalonia, consistent with what has been proposed in the academic literature. The findings offer important insights for policymakers, suggesting that the adverse effects of measures aimed at preserving local languages or cultural identity should be taken into account and addressed through additional policies designed to mitigate these effects.

Vicente Royuela (p), Nicola Pontarollo, Paolo Veneri

Sebastian Ritter

Subjective well-being inequalities in European cities

The recently florishing literature on the geography of well-being has demonstrated that, in most developed countries, city-living is associated to lower levels of subjective well-being (Navarro et al., 2020; Tassinari et al., 2024). Recent studies also documented a declining level of subjective well-being with city size (Lo Schiavo, 2021). Most of the literature on subjective well-being primarily concentrates on the mean levels, often neglecting inequality. While the former provides a measure of the overall level of subjective well-being within a population, the latter delves into the degree of disparities (Veenhoven, 2005). Many studies have shown that, compared to rural areas, income inequalities are starker in cities and tend to grow with city size. However, much less is known on whether inequalities in subjective well-being follow similar spatial patterns. This study will contribute to the economics of happiness literature (Easterlin, 1974) and to the literature on inequality and collective choice (Roemer & Trannoy, 2015).

Our research has a European dimension. We consider all the waves of the Perception Survey on the Quality of Life in European Cities. This survey covers up to 800 observations for each of the 83 European cities in the 2023 release (500 observations for 75 cities in the initial waves back to 2009), including information on individual characteristics (sex, age, household composition, education and working status, and life satisfaction, considering a wide list of domains). We use multilevel methods that account for the hierarchical structure of the data. To address unobserved effects, while acknowledging the ordinal nature of the data, we complement these methods with OLS regressions featuring dyadic country and time fixed effects. Furthermore, we will employ Recentered Influence Function regressions for the part of the analysis delved to the subjective well-being inequality. Finally, to gain a deep understanding of the moderating role of contextual dimensions, we apply the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition method for a list of urbanization thresholds. This technique allows to test whether observed differences stem from compositional or coefficient–structural effects (Becchetti et al 2014, Yang et al 2019).

Masatomo Suzuki (p)

Vicente Royuela

This paper conceptualizes how the difficulty for owners in abandoning their property ownership affects housing market structure and short/long-term consequences of the shrinking society.
Using Japan as a case study and employing data from Survey on Owners of Vacant Properties (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism), we first discuss structural backgrounds for emergence of vacant houses, as well as arising problems for individual owners – owner’s burden on keeping vacant houses – and for society – unregistered inheritance and emergence of owner-unknown properties.
We then develop a framework of market for existing houses facing low demand, more specifically, a simple economic framework for demand-supply curve analysis considering a possibility of transactions with negative prices. The framework shows that the property prices can be negative from the burden for owners to keep the unused assets. Since market transaction is possible only with positive prices, the resale market disappears, which leave the properties vacant without changes of ownership.
The implications are: (i) in the short-term, a need for volunteer maintenance becomes a heavy burden for absent owners, while it retains the quality of neighbourhood environment; and (ii) in the long-term, failure of property transaction does not update registration information, which diverges ownership of the neighbourhood’s lands or leads their true ownership unknown, hindering future conversion of the assets to other profitable purposes such as farmland and greenery.
We argue that such problems arising from the difficulty for owners in abandoning their property ownership are more pronounced in Japan, but are common in shrinking society.

Corneliu Iatu (p), Daniela-Andreia Damian, Gilles Maignant

Masatomo Suzuki

In the increasingly globalized world, the importance of human capital seems to be more strategic also in the perspectives of demographic inequalities (as a key prerequisite in the accumulation and formation of human capital), wages and standard of living. Human capital represents both a resource and a determinant of economic and social development, strongly influencing the competitiveness and sustainability of the labour market and the economy overall. The population’s education level, professional training and individual skills are becoming not just primordial resources, but also catalysts for innovation and adaptability to changing labour market dynamics.
The aim of this study is to conduct an in-depth analysis of the relationship/connection between human capital and the labour market in Romania in the post-communist period, given that the trends have been quite transformative, ranging from demographics (changing the natalist behaviors) to a labour market that is relying more and more on foreign labour force.
Further, the study seeks to conduct some forecasts, both for a set of demographic structures closely related to the labour market and for the labour market and human capital indicators per se, with the intention of raising the concern of public authorities. A detailed analysis of developments and trends can provide valuable guidance for public policy design, since strategic documents to improve these problems facing Romania are still lacking.