Michiel van Leuvensteijn

A new approach to measuring competition in the loan markets of the euro area

This article is the first that applies a new measure of competition, the Boone indicator, to the banking industry. This approach is able to measure competition of bank market segments, such as the loan market, whereas many well-known measures of competition can consider the entire banking market only. Like most other model-based measures, this approach ignores differences in bank product quality and design, as well as the attractiveness of innovations. We measure competition on the lending markets in the five major EU countries as well as, for comparison, the UK, the US and Japan. Our findings indicate that over the period 1994–2004 the US had the most competitive loan market, whereas overall loan markets in Germany and Spain were among the best competitive in the EU. The Netherlands occupied a more intermediate position, whereas in Italy competition declined significantly over time. The French, Japanese and UK loan markets were generally less competitive.

A European Cross-Country Comparison of the Impact of Homeownership and Transaction Costs on Job Tenure

De Graaff T. and van Leuvensteijn M. A European cross-country comparison of the impact of homeownership and transaction costs on job tenure, Regional Studies. This paper looks at the impacts across European countries of homeownership and transaction costs on job tenure. The analysis is based on a representative household sample of fourteen European countries covering the period 1994–2001. These data are merged with country-specific transaction tax data and aggregate homeownership rates. Similar to previous microeconomic studies, the results indicate that homeownership reduces job mobility as well as the probability of becoming unemployed or economically inactive. It is found, however, that this effect is severely mitigated by two factors. First, it decreases when aggregate homeownership rates are higher. Thus, homeowners have larger job tenures, but more so in countries with low homeownership rates. Second, transaction costs on the housing market are positively associated with the probability of becoming ...De Graaff T. and van Leuvensteijn M. A European cross-country comparison of the impact of homeownership and transaction costs on job tenure, Regional Studies. This paper looks at the impacts across European countries of homeownership and transaction costs on job tenure. The analysis is based on a representative household sample of fourteen European countries covering the period 1994–2001. These data are merged with country-specific transaction tax data and aggregate homeownership rates. Similar to previous microeconomic studies, the results indicate that homeownership reduces job mobility as well as the probability of becoming unemployed or economically inactive. It is found, however, that this effect is severely mitigated by two factors. First, it decreases when aggregate homeownership rates are higher. Thus, homeowners have larger job tenures, but more so in countries with low homeownership rates. Second, transaction costs on the housing market are positively associated with the probability of becoming unemployed.

The Effect of Homeownership on Labour Mobility in the Netherlands

The group of contributors in this book come from academia and international organizations in Europe and the USA. They focus on trade unions, which affect real-wage flexibility and the provision of training to workers. They also concentrate on employment protection legislation, which discourages firms from firing old workers and also from hiring new ones. The structure of housing market imperfections that can greatly affect regional mobility is also discussed.