Brian Fabo

Migration strategies of the crisis-stricken youth in an enlarged European Union

This article studies the migration response of young people from new EU Member States to disparate conditions in an enlarged European Union at the onset of the Great Recession. We use Eurobarometer data and probabilistic econometric models to identify the key drivers of the intention to work in another Member State of the European Economic Area (EEA) and the expected duration of stays abroad. We find that migration intentions are high among those not married and among males with children, but both categories are also over-represented among people with only temporary as opposed to long-term or permanent migration plans. Whereas age affects migration intentions negatively, education has no effect on whether working abroad is envisaged. However, conditional on envisaging working abroad, completion of education (if after the 16th birthday) is associated with long-term (at least five years), but not permanent, migration plans. These results suggest a potential for brain circulation rather than brain drain. Finally, we find that socio-demographic variables explain about as much variation of migration intentions as self-reported push and pull factors and migration constraints.

In search of an adequate European policy response to the platform economy

This article contributes to the debate on labour platforms (e.g. TaskRabbit, CoContest, ListMinut) by analysing the potential of such platforms. Although we see potential in online platforms in terms of job creation and providing opportunities to discouraged and disadvantaged people, we also address some of the challenges related to such work. Presenting empirical data, we argue that the current labour market and working conditions created by online platforms resemble 19th century laissez-faire. We thus call for the urgent creation of a regulatory framework taking into consideration the suggestions presented in our article.

The Platform Economy and the Disruption of the Employment Relationship

This policy brief considers the impact of online platforms on labour markets and on the employment relationship in particular. It discusses the importance of outsourcing platforms, arguing that the ‘collaborative economy’ used by the European Commission (EC) is a misleading concept, as the trend is in fact just an extension of the market mechanism.The authors also propose concrete policies that would address the risks related to platform-mediated work.

Can a voluntary web survey be useful beyond explorative research

ABSTRACT In this paper, we compare the estimates of earnings determinants based on the non-probabilistic WageIndicator web survey with those based on the widely used, representative EU Study of Income and Living Conditions survey. Using 10 years of Dutch data, we show that there exists an established segment of predominantly junior workers from which the respondents of the WageIndicator survey are disproportionally drawn. In consequence, the composition of WageIndicator sample tends to retain key characteristics over the years, even though it lacks a probabilistic sampling frame. We show that the estimates produced on the basis of an extended Mincerian earnings model using the two data sources are qualitatively similar. In line with much of the literature, however, the two sets of estimates do not pass the formal statistical test of equality. Nonetheless, when we examine only the subsample of junior workers, the statistical testing does not detect a statistically significant difference between the two datasets in many instances. To our knowledge, ours is the first paper showing such statistical evidence for comparability of a web survey based with a widely used representative data source.

Outsourcing, Offshoring and the Deconstruction of Employment: New and Old Challenges

This contribution analyses the interplay between outsourcing and the spatial organisation of work. An overview of different types of process that shift work across company boundaries and in space is provided; the different impacts on the nature of employment are discussed and the relevant strategic issues for workers, as well as the possible regulatory responses, are identified. Outsourcing and offshoring epitomise a variety of mechanisms through which the institutions that have been established to regulate the employment relationship can be evaded, leading to negative effects on pay and working conditions. In this context, technology plays an important role not only in helping to undermine the political basis of the employment relationship, but also in weakening its economic rationale.

Can Airbnb Provide Livable Incomes to Property Owners?: An Analysis on National, Regional and City District Level

In this paper, we explore the Airbnb payoffs on the macro (global), mezzo (national) and micro (city) level. The main aim of the paper is to pilot a methodology for exploring, whether Airbnb can serve as a source for income replacement. Combining a variety of data sources on the affluence of a given location, we aim to estimate the potential payoffs to property owners from renting out a property on Airbnb vis-a-vis the living cost in that place. We discover a great variety of payoffs between individual countries, regions and city districts, which appear to be quite complex and cannot be universally simplified to indicators such as prosperity or tourists visits. Many interesting patterns found in this study would require further examination