Daniel Münich

Unemployment in East and West Europe

In this paper, we use 1991-2005 panel data on the unemployed, vacancies, inflow into unemployment, and outflow from unemployment in five former communist economies and in the western part of Germany (a benchmark western economy) to examine the evolution of unemployment together with that of inflows into unemployment and vacancies. The comparison of the transition economies with an otherwise similar and spatially close market economy is useful because it enables us to identify the main differences and similarities in the evolution of the key variables, and thus draw conclusions as to whether different or similar factors cause high unemployment.

Sport participation and migration.

We extend an economic model of human capital investment to participation in sport ? in the form of training, conditioning and physical development ? and explore the implications of this form of human capital investment. The model predicts that the level of sport specific training undertaken will fall short of the socially optimum level, under certain conditions, providing an economic rationale for government subsidies of sport. Introducing the possibility of migration into the model, motivated by the potential for individuals who have invested in sports specific training to migrate from developing or transitional economies to developed economies, produces a similar effect as subsidies. We illustrate the applicability of the model with a discussion of participation in youth ice hockey in the Czech Republic under two different migration regimes.

Does the Czech Tax and Benefit System Contribute to One of Europe’s Lowest Levels of Relative Income Poverty and Inequality?

The Czech Republic is home to one of the more equal societies in terms of household disposable income, and has the lowest level of relative poverty in Europe. This study shows that Czech market income is quite egalitarian, especially when pensions are included. It finds that the narrowly defined tax-benefit system (i.e., direct taxes and social benefits) does not actually change the poverty rate, and that indirect taxes increase it. It further provides the first estimates of the redistributive effectiveness and targeting of a number of social and tax policies.

Employment in the Czech Republic: Trends During Economic Transition and the Global Recession

The Czech Republic represents a small open market economy with large stakes in international trade in the middle of the European Union that employs an extra-large share of a relatively well-educated workforce in manufacturing industries equipped—with some exceptions—with average or outdated technologies. In this chapter, Daniel Munich and Klara Svitakova provide detailed analysis of longer-term trends in employment in the Czech economy from the pre-crisis period of the late economic transition, through the years of the world economic crisis, until 2015, when signs of economic recovery became evident. In particular, they investigate trends in total hours worked along with its structure and components. While overall employment has been relatively stable in the long term, more detailed insights reveal notable changes experienced by particular demographic groups. Irrespective of the crisis, many steady changes regarding the extensive margin (work participation) were experienced by the youngest (15–24) and the oldest (55–64) population groups. Having opposite signs but being of similar size, these two effects more or less compensated for each other. While developments on the lower side of the age distribution were driven by the steadily increasing average duration of initial schooling, developments on the upper side were driven by the steadily improving health conditions of the older population, growing work opportunities due to a changing occupational mix, and rising statutory retirement ages. On top of changes in the mean hours of work per person due to the changing demographic structure of the population, there were also negative shifts on the extensive margin (work participation) as well as positive shifts on the intensive margin (hours worked by those who work). Although the latter component of change was smaller, it helped accommodate the adverse impact of the economic crisis that showed signs first in late 2008 and unfolded fully during 2009. The impact of the crisis seemed to be bigger due to the overheated economy and the Czech labor market, which was on the verge of the world economic crisis. The adverse impacts had been partly accommodated by retirements and the extended duration of initial schooling of young generations. The most adversely affected, with the consequence of unemployment, were men’s occupations requiring middle- and low-level skills in manufacturing and construction. The crisis had a lasting impact on lowering the average hours of those who work and reshuffling employment between some occupations.

Structural embeddedness of students’ professional expectations: the Czech Republic and Taiwan in comparative perspective

Abstract We compare the role of gender, socioeconomic background and measured ability on students’ secondary school placement and professional expectations in Taiwan and the Czech Republic, two countries that have experienced substantial reforms in their educational systems in the context of political change and economic development. Using data from the international PISA 2006 survey of 15-year-olds, our analysis reveals that Czech academic upper-secondary schools are much more selective in terms of socioeconomic background and gender than comparable Taiwanese senior high schools. Controlling for measured ability and other factors, students’ professional expectations are also more closely linked to socioeconomic background and gender in the Czech Republic than in Taiwan.

Dopady zvýšení daňových slev na děti na rozpočty rodin a státu

This study evaluates monetary effects of an increase in Czech tax credit by CZK 500 per month for the second child and CZK 900 per month for the third and each additional child. The analysis uses a microsimulation model and survey data SILC 2011. The decline in government revenues from taxes due to these changes is estimated to be CZK 4.7 billion annually, with almost one third of the total budgetary costs (CZK 1.5 billion annually) going to families with children in the upper half of income distribution. The average household with more than one child would save approximately CZK 7,300 per year. While the poorest households with more children would gain on average only CZK 2,900 per year, wealthier households with more children would gain CZK 7,000 to 9,000 per year. There is a high share of low-educated and often single-earner households among the poorest households, who gain the least from this change. Increasing the child tax credit would also lead to an increase in the already very high tax differentials between men and women and differences in the taxation of childless people and married couples with children.