Economic and Social Research Institute

About: Economic and Social Research Institute is a nonprofit organization based out in Dublin, Ireland. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & European union. The organization has 425 authors who have published 1530 publications receiving 41567 citations.

Family and Sexuality

Abstract: The referendum on divorce held in November 1995 brought more or less to a close some three decades of loud and often bitter controversy on ‘moral’ questions in Irish public life. Contraception was the big issue of the late 1960s and 1970s, and abortion and divorce took over in the 1980s (for a detailed account, see Hug, 1999). The final rumbles of the contraception debate passed away only when the Health (Family Planning) (Amendment) Act, 1993, introduced a fully liberalised regime on ‘artificial’ contraception.1 The constitutional referendum on divorce held in 1995, which followed a previous referendum on the same subject in 1986, opened the way for the Family Law (Divorce) Act, 1996, and thereby settled the divorce question quite decisively. The triple referendum on abortion held in 1992, which followed the first referendum on abortion in 1983 and the ensuing Supreme Court decision in the ‘X’ case in 1992, had a less decisive effect, in that it left key issues unresolved, and a further referendum on abortion took place in 2002. Nevertheless, the 1992 referendum took most of the steam out of the abortion question and by comparison with the grand battles of that period, the referendum of ten years later was a low-key affair.2

Irish Public Finances through the Financial Crisis

Abstract: Ireland was one of the countries most negatively affected by the Great Recession. GDP fell by 13 per cent and unemployment rates increased sharply. The recession uncovered fundamental flaws in the Irish economy such as an over-reliance on the construction sector for employment and taxes and a move away from income-based taxes. A collapse in house prices and a sharp reduction in construction activity led to job losses and falls in the tax take. Irish banks had become over-reliant on foreign funds to finance lending and regulation was lax. The bursting of the construction bubble was therefore coupled with a financial crisis resulting in a ‘bailout’ of Irish banks by the government. As the gap between revenue and expenditure grew and borrowing increased, a government-backed guarantee of Irish bank deposits eventually led to worries about the solvency of the Irish government and the inability to borrow in international bond markets. This resulted in Ireland entering into a financial assistance programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Union (EU) and the European Central Bank (ECB). The government embarked on a series of austerity measures amounting to one-fifth of GDP between 2008 and 2015, with roughly one-third of the response being increased taxes and two-thirds expenditure reductions. Taxes have increased, a residential property tax was introduced and social welfare rates have been reduced for those of working age. The redistributive effects of these changes cannot be viewed as either regressive or progressive, with the top decile experiencing the sharpest cut to disposable income, followed by the bottom decile. Recovery has been strong in recent years, however, with GDP forecast to return to its 2007 peak level in 2015. The unemployment rate has fallen to just under 10 per cent from its 2011 peak of 15 per cent but still remains well above its pre-crisis level of 4 per cent.

Assessing the Impact of Wage Bargaining and Worker Preferences on the Gender Pay Gap in Ireland Using the National Employment Survey 2003

Abstract: This paper assesses the magnitude and nature of the gender pay gap in Ireland using the National Employment Survey 2003, an employeremployee matched dataset. The results suggest that while a wage bargaining system centred around social partnership was of benefit to females irrespective of their employment status, the minimum wage mechanism appears to improve the relative position of part-time females only. Trade union membership was associated with a widening gender pay gap in the full-time labour market and a narrowing differential among part-time workers. In relation to the motivations for working part-time, which help us to account for selection into part-time employment, our results indicate that when these factors are incorporated into the part-time decomposition, the previously observed wage gap is eliminated.

Bank-lending constraints and alternative financing during the financial crisis: Evidence from European SMEs

Abstract: The financial crisis has brought to the fore concerns regarding small- and medium- sized enterprises' (SMEs) capacity to access traditional bank lending. Using European firm- level data on SME access to finance since the onset of the financial crisis, we find that bank- lending constrained SMEs are significantly more likely to avail of alternative forms of external finance, controlling for firm-level and country-level characteristics. We then determine the implications that usage of alternative forms of finance can have for certain economically desirable business activities. In particular, we find that using alternative finance substantially reduces the likelihood of business fixed investment. This effect is not evident for business innovation.

Normative data for the SF-12 health survey in the Republic of Ireland with comparisons to England

Abstract: The Short Form 12 health survey is a short, easily completed and psychometrically sound generic measure of health status that can be used to measure population health, patient health perceptions and assess treatment effectiveness. Here, for the first time in the Irish context, population norms for two health summary scales for the Irish population are derived from the SF-12 and compared to norms for the English population. Results show that, although the Irish population is in general both physically and mentally healthier than the English population, the difference in physical health is not significant among men and weakens among both men and women with age.