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.

Timing and determinants of local residential broadband adoption: evidence from Ireland

Abstract: This article examines the time path of broadband adoption for households in areas that are offered broadband service for the first time and the socioeconomic characteristics of broadband users generally. Using cross-sectional data on broadband take-up and socioeconomic characteristics of small areas in Ireland, linked to GIS data on ADSL availability over time, I find that local penetration growth rates are elevated immediately after service is offered. Local growth rates then decline towards the national average, reaching it after about 3.6 years. The article also includes estimates of the effect of various household characteristics on adoption, finding effects broadly consistent with the previous literature. Simultaneity in demand and supply are addressed using 2SLS regression.

Ireland’s Recession and the Immigrant-Native Earnings Gap

Abstract: Since the mid-1990s, the Irish economy has experienced large periods of growth and contraction by international and historic standards. In Fig. 1, we show rates of growth in real GDP and real GNP for the period 1996–2011, clearly highlighting the contrasting performance of the Irish economy over the period. In the mid- to late-1990s, the Irish economy grew at annual rates in the region of 10 %, before growth moderated in the early years of the 2000s, with annual rates of growth around 5 % meaning that Ireland’s economic performance still looked remarkably healthy. However, when the global crisis of 2007/2008 emerged, the Irish economy proved extremely vulnerable.

Investment Financing and Financial Development: Firm Level Evidence from Vietnam

Abstract: We explore whether financial development reduces external investment financing constraints for firms. Within-country provincial measures of financial development are linked to investment usingdata from the Vietnamese enterprise survey (VES). We focus on three main aspects of financialdevelopment: financial sector depth, state interventionism in finance, and the degree of marketdriven financing in the economy. We find that financial development reduces investment financing constraints. Constraints are decreasing in credit to the private sector, increasing in the use of finance by state-owned enterprises and decreasing in the degree to which finance is allocated on commercial market terms.

The Great Recession, Austerity and Inequality: Lessons from Ireland

Abstract: The advent of the Great Recession and the widespread adoption of fiscal austerity policies have heightened concern about inequality and its effects. We examine how the distribution of income in Ireland—a country which experienced one of the most severe economic contractions—has evolved over the years 2008 to 2013. Standard cross-sectional analysis of the income distribution shows broad stability in the Gini coefficient and in decile shares, with one main exception: the share of the bottom decile fell sharply, with the largest fall in average incomes being for that group. Longitudinal analysis shows that the falls in the average income for the bottom decile were not due to decreasing income for those remaining in the bottom decile, but to falls in income from those initially located in higher deciles. The extent of redistribution through taxes and transfers increased strongly, as measured by the Reynolds-Smolensky index, which rose from 0.20 before the onset of the crisis to 0.27 in 2013. Analysis indicates that about three-quarters of this increased redistribution is due to automatic stabilisers and one-quarter to discretionary policy changes.