1 - 7 of 7
Number of results to display per page
Search Results
2. Distributional National Accounts (DINA) with Household Survey Data: Methodology and Results for European Countries
- Author:
- Stefan Ederer, Stefan Humer, Stefan Jestl, and Emanuel List
- Publication Date:
- 05-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (WIIW)
- Abstract:
- The paper builds Distributional National Accounts (DINA) using household survey data. We present a transparent and reproducible methodology to construct DINA whenever administrative tax data are not available for research and apply it to various European countries. By doing so, we build synthetic microdata files which cover the entire distribution, include all income components individually aligned to national accounts, and preserve the detailed socioeconomic information available in the surveys. The methodology uses harmonized and publicly available data sources (SILC, HFCS) and provides highly comparable results. We discuss the methodological steps and their impact on the income distribution. In particular, we highlight the effects of imputations and the adjustment of the variables to national accounts totals. Furthermore, we compare different income concepts of both the DINA and EG-DNA approach of the OECD in a consistent way. Our results confirm that constructing DINA is crucial to get a better picture of the income distribution. Our methodology is well suited to build synthetic microdata files which can be used for policy evaluation like social impact analysis and microsimulation.
- Topic:
- Macroeconomics, Data, and Methods
- Political Geography:
- Europe
3. Covid-19: Recovering Estimates of the Infected Fatality Rate During an Ongoing Pandemic Through Partial Data
- Author:
- Matteo Villa, James F. Myers, and Federico Turkheimer
- Publication Date:
- 05-2020
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI)
- Abstract:
- In an ongoing epidemic, the case fatality rate is not a reliable estimate of a disease’s severity. This is particularly so when a large share of asymptomatic or pauci-symptomatic patients escape testing, or when overwhelmed healthcare systems are forced to limit testing further to severe cases only. By leveraging data on COVID-19, we propose a novel way to estimate a disease’s infected fatality rate, the true lethality of the disease, in the presence of sparse and partial information. We show that this is feasible when the disease has turned into a pandemic and data comes from a large number of countries, or regions within countries, as long as testing strategies vary sufficiently. For Italy, our method estimates an IFR of 1.1% (95% CI: 0.2% – 2.1%), which is strongly in line with other methods. At the global level, our method estimates an IFR of 1.6% (95% CI: 1.1% – 2.1%). This method also allows us to show that the IFR varies according to each country’s age structure and healthcare capacity.
- Topic:
- Health, Pandemic, Data, and COVID-19
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Italy, and Global Focus
4. Covid-19 and Italy’s Case Fatality Rate: What’s the Catch?
- Author:
- Matteo Villa
- Publication Date:
- 03-2020
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI)
- Abstract:
- COVID-19’s lethality in Italy is a highly discussed figure. When compared with other major countries, Italy’s 9.9% case fatality rate (CFR) as of 24 March 2020 is the highest by far. But relying on this figure is misleading. By itself, the CFR tells us almost nothing about COVID-19’s plausible lethality (infected fatality rate, or IFR). On the opposite, recent studies place China’s IFR at 0.7%. By relying on this figure, ISPI’s best estimate for COVID-19’s plausible lethality in Italy is 1.1%. The gap between the IFR and the CFR figures can be largely attributed to the number of infected persons that have not been tested and, therefore, escape counting. ISPI estimates that the number of active cases in Italy is at around 530,000 as of 24 March 2020, or almost ten times larger than the official count of 55,000 active cases. This paper shows that the CFR is an unreliable indicator of COVID-19’s plausible lethality, and there is not enough evidence to suggest that Italy’s IFR is much higher than expected. On the opposite, a direct comparison between the CFR and the IFR is much better placed to paint a more realistic picture of the evolution of the ongoing epidemic.
- Topic:
- Health, Pandemic, Data, and COVID-19
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Italy
5. NATO and 5G: what strategic lessons?
- Author:
- Andrea Gilli
- Publication Date:
- 07-2020
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- NATO Defense College
- Abstract:
- Thanks to their higher speed, larger data volume, lower latency, and capacity to sustain very high density connections (including machine-to-machine communications), 5G networks are set to unleash a major economic revolution, potentially adding trillions of dollars to the global economy (at least according to recent forecasts). From smart cities to Artificial Intelligence (AI); telemedicine to driverless cars; virtual reality to the Internet of Things (IoT); Industry 4.0 to all manner of applications that will comprise this new ecosystem, 5G ushers in enormous opportunities. 5G communications still require significant investments, both for research and development of key technologies, and for building the supporting infrastructure. Moreover, the next generation of telecommunications raises several important questions about the political economy of spectrum allocation and standard definition, their military applications, the role of Chinese companies and the attendant cybersecurity risks. These are all relevant topics for NATO from which the Alliance can draw some strategic lessons.
- Topic:
- NATO, Military Strategy, Data, 5G, and Internet of Things
- Political Geography:
- Europe, North America, and Global Focus
6. Protecting data, ruling over the algorithm: The Regulation Challenge for the European Union
- Author:
- George Pagoulatos and Vasiliki Poula
- Publication Date:
- 10-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)
- Abstract:
- The European Union has managed to reposition data protection laws from the periphery of legal consciousness to the centre of intensive legal and media publicity. And it has done so, primarily, through the enactment of the General Data Protection Regulation Act (GDPR) and its related case law. In particular, the legal saga of Schrems ΙΙ has recently confirmed the regulatory capacity of the EU. However, while the European legal order has led the way in codifying the unknown territory of new technologies, there is still the concern that the EU is handling the new challenges in a “legalistic” way. In particular, we explore the persistent challenge of the exploitation of data in the commercial and political context through microtargeting. We also explain why algorithmic regulation should become a priority in the EU’s regulatory agenda, so that the EU adopts a pre-emptive rather than a firefighting role. Ultimately, we have to also be aware of the limits of regulation in an era of constantly evolving technology: finding ways to live with technological evolution should also be an EU priority.
- Topic:
- Science and Technology, European Union, Regulation, and Data
- Political Geography:
- Europe
7. Global E-Commerce Talks Stumble on Data Issues, Privacy, and More
- Author:
- Gary Clyde Hufbauer and Zhiyaou (Lucy) Lu
- Publication Date:
- 10-2019
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Peterson Institute for International Economics
- Abstract:
- In early 2019, several important members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) submitted noteworthy proposals in a realm of international commerce that has evolved faster than rules to govern it: e-commerce or digital trade. While countries agree on less controversial subjects like banning unsolicited commercial electronic messages, the three leading WTO members—China, the European Union, and the United States—have big differences in their approaches to more challenging issues: data flows, data localization, privacy invasions by data collectors, transfer of source code, imposition of customs duties and internet taxes, and internet censorship. Their differing viewpoints lead Hufbauer and Lu to conclude that the prospect of reaching a high-level WTO e-commerce agreement is not promising. To reach an agreement, either most of the contentious issues must be dropped or the number of participating countries must be sharply reduced. A WTO accord, even of low ambition, would have value if only to establish basic digital norms on matters such as banning unsolicited commercial messages and protecting online consumers from fraudulent practices. A more ambitious accord covering the controversial issues should be negotiated in bilateral and/or plurilateral/regional pacts rather than in the WTO.
- Topic:
- Economics, World Trade Organization, Finance, Privacy, and Data
- Political Geography:
- China, Europe, Asia, North America, United States of America, and European Union