Selected Published Papers
Fifty shades of QE: Comparing findings of central bankers and academics (with Elisabeth Kempf, Martina Jancokova, and Lubos Pastor)
Journal of Monetary Economics, 2021, 120: 1-20. Lead Article.
Abstract: We compare the findings of central bank researchers and academic economists regarding the macroeconomic effects of quantitative easing (QE). We find that central bank papers find QE to be more effective than academic papers do. Central bank papers report larger effects of QE on output and inflation. They also report QE effects on output that are more significant, both statistically and economically, and they use more positive language in the abstract. Central bank researchers who report larger QE effects on output experience more favorable career outcomes. A survey of central banks reveals substantial involvement of bank management in research production.
The limits of foreign-led growth: Demand for skills by foreign and domestic firms (with Jan Drahokoupil)
Review of International Political Economy, accepted 2020, published online so far, journal publication pending.
Abstract: This paper addresses the use of skills in multinational companies compared to domestic firms. It thus assesses the contribution of foreign direct investment to skill development as well as the potential for spillovers from multinational to domestic firms. It analyzes demand for skilled labor in Slovakia, a country that is characterized by a high degree of dependence on inward foreign investment. Our framework distinguishes between demand for digital skills on two levels: occupational structure; and skill content within occupations. It is on the latter level that the limits of the foreign-led growth can be observed. Using a large dataset on vacancies from a leading job portal, we show that foreign-owned companies generally advertise for higher-skilled occupations than domestic firms, but their skill requirements for these jobs are lower than in similar jobs in domestic companies. Foreign companies have higher skill requirements only in some blue collar jobs linked to assembly and component manufacturing. For white collar occupations, domestic companies are more likely to require digital skills. Domestic firms thus have a key role in skill development also in an economy where foreign companies exhibit higher productivity and innovation intensity.
International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 2018, 21:591-601.
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.
In search of an adequate European policy response to the platform economy (with Jovana Karanovic and Katerina Dukova)
Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research,2017,23: 163-175.
Abstract: 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 importance of foreign language skills in the labour markets of Central and Eastern Europe: assessment based on data from online job portals (with Miroslav Beblavý and Karolien Lenaerts)
Empirica, 2017, volume 44: 487–508.
Abstract: This paper investigates the role of foreign language skills in the Visegrad Four countries’ labour markets using data obtained from key online vacancy boards in these countries and from an online wage survey. Firstly, it considers the demand for language skills based on vacancies and then builds on this information by analysing the wage premium associated with foreign language skills on the occupation and individual level. The results indicate that English language knowledge is highly in demand in the Visegrad region, followed by the command of German language. Particularly, English proficiency appears to be correlated with higher wages, when controlled for common wage determinants in a regression.