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.

A Statistical Profiling Model of Long-Term Unemployment Risk in Ireland

Abstract: This paper develops a statistical profiling model of long-term unemployment risk in Ireland using a combination of administrative data and information gathered from a unique questionnaire that was issued to all jobseekers making a social welfare claim between September and December 2006 who were then tracked for eighteen months. We find that factors such as a recent history of long-term unemployment, advanced age, number of children, relatively low levels of education, literacy/numeracy problems, location in urban areas, lack of personal transport, low rates of recent labour market engagement, spousal earnings and geographic location all significantly impact the likelihood of remaining unemployed for 12 months or more. While the predicted probability distribution for males was found to be relatively normal, the female distribution was bimodal, indicating that larger proportions of females were at risk of falling into long-term unemployment. We find evidence that community based employment schemes for combating long-term unemployment have little effect as participants re-entering the register typically experience extended durations. Finally, we argue that the adoption of an unemployment profiling system will result in both equity and efficiency gains to Public Employment Services.

Social influence and economic intervention policies to save energy at home: Critical questions for the new decade and evidence from air-condition use

Abstract: To guide effective energy policy-making towards a fundamental understanding of the mechanisms relevant to behavioral change, it is important not only to investigate whether energy interventions succeed or not, but also to explore the underlying reasons that shape each result. However, certain limitations are hindering a global consensus on the effectiveness of two popular types of energy interventions: the ones based on social influence (peer pressure) and the ones based on economic instruments (rewards and penalties). The aim of this paper is to provide a new perspective on the exploration of the factors that affect the effectiveness of such interventions. Based on a review of studies published during the last two decades, an agenda of six critical research questions is thus set up to identify new priority areas of research. The relevance of this agenda is illustrated via a survey that explores the potential of peer pressure and economic interventions designed to influence residential space cooling energy savings in an urban setting. The survey results provide evidence that such a potential can be affected by the type of targeted behavior (efficiency or conservation), by householder characteristics (openness to change and environmental awareness), and by the existence of past influence events. Interestingly, peer pressure is regarded as highly influential independently of the channel through which it is communicated, i.e. offline or online. These observations can assist public policy in countries with a growing emphasis on changing people's energy behavior to redefine the targeting scope of interventions, thus strengthening their potential.

The socio-emotional development of language-minority children entering primary school in Ireland

Abstract: Socio-emotional development is increasingly recognised as playing a central role in children’s academic achievement. However, little is known about the socio-emotional development of language-minor...

Dublin House Prices: A History of Booms and Busts from 1708-1949

Abstract: This paper presents an annual property price index for Dublin over the period 1708-1949. Obtaining the data for a historical index and presenting it was the objective of this research. It was done in the belief that any better insight into property prices via a long range price index would help in delivering more accurate historical facts as they relate to housing. Data for the index was researched from examination of actual property transactions recorded in the Registry of deeds. The index is constructed using the Hedonic method and is estimated in real and nominal terms.

Iassopack: Model Selection and Prediction with Regularized Regression in Stata

Abstract: This article introduces lassopack, a suite of programs for regularized regression in Stata. lassopack implements lasso, square-root lasso, elastic net, ridge regression, adaptive lasso and post-estimation OLS. The methods are suitable for the high-dimensional setting where the number of predictors p may be large and possibly greater than the number of observations, n. We offer three different approaches for selecting the penalization ('tuning') parameters: information criteria (implemented in lasso2), K-fold cross-validation and h-step ahead rolling cross-validation for cross-section, panel and time-series data (cvlasso), and theory-driven ('rigorous') penalization for the lasso and square-root lasso for cross-section and panel data (rlasso). We discuss the theoretical framework and practical considerations for each approach. We also present Monte Carlo results to compare the performance of the penalization approaches.