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on Urban and Real Estate Economics |
| By: | Anupam Nanda (Deloite Services, Mumbai); Stephen L. Ross (University of Connecticut) |
| Abstract: | We examine the impact of seller's Property Condition Disclosure Law on the residential real estate values. A disclosure law may address the information asymmetry in housing transactions shifting of risk from buyers and brokers to the sellers and raising housing prices as a result. We combine propensity score techniques from the treatment effects literature with a traditional event study approach. We assemble a unique set of economic and institutional attributes for a quarterly panel of 291 US Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) and 50 US States spanning 21 years from 1984 to 2004 is used to exploit the MSA level variation in house prices. The study finds that the average seller may be able to fetch a higher price (about three to four percent) for the house if she furnishes a state-mandated seller.s property condition disclosure statement to the buyer. When we compare the results from parametric and semi-parametric event analyses, we find that the semi-parametric or the propensity score analysis generals moderately larger estimated effects of the law on housing prices. |
| Keywords: | Property Condition Disclosure, Housing Price Index, Propensity Score Matching, Event Study |
| JEL: | C14 K11 L85 R21 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uct:uconnp:2008-39&r=ure |
| By: | Pflüger, Michael P. (University of Passau); Tabuchi, Takatoshi (University of Tokyo) |
| Abstract: | This paper is motivated by the fact that, contrary to its importance in practice, the role of land for production has received no attention in the new trade theory and the new economic geography. We set up a simple monopolistic competition model and we show that, due to the factor proportions effect which emerges when land is used as a productive factor besides labor, a number of tenets of the new trade and geography literature no longer hold. We also show that in order to explain the stylized facts, notably that wages are higher in larger locations, land-use for production and housing has to be taken into account. Our analysis furthermore implies that market-size based agglomeration forces are too weak to overcome the very strong congestion force associated with competition for land, unless the consumers' desire of variety (as expressed by a low elasticity of substitution) is very strong. This suggests that further agglomeration forces have to be invoked to explain the agglomeration of economic activity observed in the real world. |
| Keywords: | trade and location, land for production, agglomeration, relative wage, home market effect |
| JEL: | F12 F22 R12 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3716&r=ure |
| By: | Moretti, Enrico (University of California, Berkeley) |
| Abstract: | A large literature has documented a significant increase in the return to college over the past 30 years. This increase is typically measured using nominal wages. I show that from 1980 to 2000, college graduates have increasingly concentrated in metropolitan areas that are characterized by a high cost of housing. This implies that college graduates are increasingly exposed to a high cost of living and that the relative increase in their real wage may be smaller than the relative increase in their nominal wage. To measure the college premium in real terms, I deflate nominal wages using a new CPI that allows for changes in the cost of housing to vary across metropolitan areas and education groups. I find that half of the documented increase in the return to college between 1980 and 2000 disappears when I use real wages. This finding does not appear to be driven by differences in housing quality and is robust to a number of alternative specifications. The implications of this finding for changes in well-being inequality depend on why college graduates sort into expensive cities. Using a simple general equilibrium model, I consider two alternative explanations. First, it is possible that the relative supply of college graduates increases in expensive cities because college graduates are increasingly attracted by amenities located in those cities. In this case, higher cost of housing reflects consumption of desirable local amenities, and there may still be a significant increase in well-being inequality even if the increase in real wage inequality is limited. Alternatively, it is possible that the relative demand of college graduates increases in expensive cities due to shifts in the relative productivity of skilled labor. In this case, the relative increase in skilled workers' standard of living is offset by higher cost of living. The empirical evidence indicates that relative demand shifts are more important than relative supply shifts, suggesting that the increase in well-being inequality between 1980 and 2000 is smaller than the increase in nominal wage inequality. |
| Keywords: | return to college, general equilibrium, cost of living |
| JEL: | J01 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3706&r=ure |
| By: | Damm, Anna Piil (Aarhus School of Business); Schultz-Nielsen, Marie Louise (Rockwool Foundation Research Unit) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we propose a model for constructing neighbourhoods based on geo-referenced data and administrative data. The 431,233 inhabited hectare cells in Denmark are clustered into 9,404 small and 2,296 large neighbourhoods, inhabited on average in 2004 by 572 and 2,343 persons respectively. The priorities in the clustering process are to obtain neighbourhoods that are unaltered over time, delineated by physical barriers, compact, homogeneous in terms of type of housing and ownership, relatively small, homogeneous in terms of number of inhabitants, and comprised of a contiguous cluster of cells. To illustrate the importance of detailed neighbourhood information we compare social and ethnic segregation measured by Isolation and Dissimilation indices on the levels of municipalities and of small neighbourhoods. Our findings demonstrate substantial variation in the residential mix in neighbourhoods within a given municipality, and thus show the importance of having information on a more detailed geographical level than that of the municipality. |
| Keywords: | geo-referenced data, neighbourhoods, segregation |
| JEL: | I3 J61 R2 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3719&r=ure |
| By: | Carsten Ochsen (University of Rostock) |
| Abstract: | While the 2006 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study assesses the average ability of German primary school students as being higher than average, the Programme for International Student Assessment studies (2000, 2003, 2006) ranks German secondary school students at a considerably lower level. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, this paper examines whether a teacher's recommendation for the secondary school track and class repeating are causes for these ability differences. According to the estimates, failures as a result of teachers'recommendations given at the end of primary school are an important reason for the differences between the two types of studies. Being required to repeat a school class amplifies the inefficient management of children's abilities. In addition, we find evidence that regional economic performance at the time the recommendation is made affects the decision for the tracking path. |
| Keywords: | education attainment, school system, educational tracking |
| JEL: | I21 I28 J1 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ros:wpaper:96&r=ure |
| By: | Henk Kranendonk; Johan Verbruggen |
| Abstract: | The movement of the level of house prices in the Netherlands between 1980 and 2007 is explainable fairly well by fundamental supply and demand factors. Empirical research has shown that the overvaluation of approximately 10% that existed in 2003 shrunk to approximately 0% in 2007. This was not caused by downward correction of house prices, but by the circumstance that the increase of the actual house price between 2003 and 2007 lagged behind the increase of the long-term value of the house price. Therefore, this does not confirm the IMF’s recently published research results, indicating that approximately 30% of the house price increase between 1997 and 2007 cannot be explained by fundamental factors. |
| Keywords: | House prices; housing market |
| JEL: | E39 R21 R31 |
| Date: | 2008–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpb:memodm:200&r=ure |
| By: | Rafal Kierzenkowski |
| Abstract: | Despite a high level of homeownership, the housing market in Poland is suffering from an important shortage. The difference between the number households and available dwellings, the number of dwellings per thousand inhabitants, and the availability of basic amenities (especially in rural areas) all indicate that significant improvements are needed to catch up to the most affluent OECD and EU countries. The formal rental segment of the market is also underdeveloped, contributing to low labour mobility and persistent disparities in regional unemployment. Given the social, economic and political dimensions of the problem, various housing policies implemented since the beginning of the transition process have aimed to fill the housing gap, though they have been either narrow in scope or have led to unclear results. However, the housing market has been buoyant in recent years, spurred by rising levels of GDP per capita, lower interest rates and the emergence of a competitive mortgage market. Yet a brisk price appreciation has also occurred at the same time, while households’ exposure to interest- and exchange-rate risks has significantly increased and banks’ funding capabilities have shrunk. Although the market has not been directly affected by the recent global financial turmoil, recent information shows that a turn-around is underway, with prices declining in several major cities as sentiment has plunged. This raises concerns about the capacity of the market to achieve a smooth adjustment in the face of a possible downturn. <P>Combler le déficit de logements en Pologne <BR>Malgré la place importante qu’occupe la propriété, le marché immobilier polonais pâtit d’une importante pénurie de logements. La différence entre le nombre de ménages et le nombre de logements disponibles, la densité de logements par millier d’habitants et l’équipement en éléments de confort de base (en particulier dans les zones rurales) sont autant de facteurs qui témoignent des progrès que la Pologne doit encore accomplir pour se hisser au niveau des pays les plus riches de l’OCDE et de l’Union européenne. Le segment locatif formel est également sous-développé, ce qui contribue à une faible mobilité de la main-d’oeuvre et à la persistance de disparités régionales du chômage. La question du logement ayant une dimension sociale, économique et politique, la plupart des politiques du logement mises en oeuvre depuis le début du processus de transition visaient à combler le déficit de logements, mais avaient une portée insuffisante ou ont eu des résultats mitigés. Il n’en reste pas moins que le marché immobilier a été dynamique ces dernières années, notamment en raison de la hausse du PIB par habitant, de la baisse des taux d’intérêt et de l’apparition d’un marché hypothécaire concurrentiel. Toutefois, dans le même temps, les prix se sont fortement appréciés, tandis que l’exposition des ménages aux risques de taux de change et de taux d’intérêt s’est fortement accrue, ce qui a réduit les capacités de financement des banques. Par ailleurs, bien que le marché polonais n’ait pas été directement touché par les turbulences financières qui ont secoué l’économie mondiale ces derniers temps, de récentes données montrent que le retournement du marché est en cours, les prix ayant baissé dans plusieurs grandes villes à mesure que le climat des affaires se dégradait. Cette situation amène à s’interroger sur la capacité des marchés à réussir un ajustement en douceur en cas de retournement. |
| JEL: | E22 E51 P33 R21 R31 |
| Date: | 2008–09–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:639-en&r=ure |
| By: | Pierre Lefebvre; Philip Merrigan |
| Abstract: | This paper exploits the panel feature of the Canadian National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) and the large diversity of measures collected on the children ad their families over 6 cycles (1994-1995 to 2004-2005) to explain high school graduation and postsecondary education (PSE) choices of Canadian youth aged 18 to 21 observed in the most recent wave of the survey. In estimating how family background, family income, cognitive abilities, non-cognitive abilities and behavioural scores influence schooling choices they can be used as markers for identifying children at risk of not pursuing PSE. We focus on the impact of measures that are specific to the NLSCY which contains a host of scores on several dimensions such as the cognitive achievement of children (reading and math test scores); behavioural scores that measure the levels of hyperactivity, aggression, and pro-sociality; scores that measure self-esteem and self-control (non-cognitive abilities); and, family scores that measure the quality of parenting, family dysfunction, of neighbourhoods and schools quality. The math and reading scores are particularly interesting because they are computed from objective tests and are not based on any type of recall, as compared, for example, with the Youth in Transition Survey (YITS) data set. Despite the fact that income, as measured as the mean income ($2002) of the family during cycles 1 to 4, does not seem to be a key player for PSE attendance or high school graduation, the sign of its effect is generally positive and non-linear, increases for children in very low income will have a large effect that those with higher levels. More importantly, several variables that are characteristics of low-income families play a key role for schooling attainment. For example, being from a single-parent/guardian home with a poorly educated PMK and with less than (perceived) excellent/very good health or with high levels of hyperactivity for males or high levels of aggression for young teenage females will almost negate any chance of attaining the level of PSE. |
| Keywords: | High school graduation, postsecondary education, schooling transition, gender, youth, longitudinal data |
| JEL: | I21 J13 J16 J24 |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lvl:lacicr:0830&r=ure |
| By: | Dan Bogart; Gary Richardson |
| Abstract: | A new database demonstrates that between 1600 and 1830, Parliament passed thousands of acts restructuring rights to real and equitable estates. These estate acts enabled individuals and families to sell, mortgage, lease, exchange, and improve land previously bound by landholding and inheritance laws. This essay provides a factual foundation for research on this important topic: the law and economics of property rights during the period preceding the Industrial Revolution. Tables present time-series, cross-sectional, and panel data that should serve as a foundation for empirical analysis. Preliminary analysis indicates ways in which this new evidence may shape our understanding of British economic and social history. |
| JEL: | K0 K11 N13 N43 P14 P16 P26 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14393&r=ure |
| By: | Edward L. Glaeser; Charles Redlick |
| Abstract: | Social capital is often place-specific while schooling is portable, so the prospect of migration may reduce the returns to social capital and increase the returns to schooling. If social capital matters for urban success, it is possible that an area can get caught in a bad equilibrium where the prospect of out-migration reduces social capital investment and a lack of social capital investment makes out-migration more appealing. We present a simple model of that process and then test its implications. We find little evidence to suggest that social capital is correlated with either area growth or rates of out-migration. We do, however, find significant differences in the returns to human capital across space, and a significant pattern of skilled people disproportionately leaving declining areas. For people in declining areas, the prospect of out-migration may increase the returns to investment in human capital, but it does not seem to impact investment in social capital. |
| JEL: | D0 H0 I0 J0 R0 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14374&r=ure |
| By: | Pedro Nicolaci da Costa |
| Abstract: | A bursting asset bubble inevitably requires central bank action, usually when it is already too late and with adverse spillover effects. In this sense, the Federal Reserve and other central banks already target asset prices; yet, by taking aim at them only on the way down--as in the current housing and credit crisis--the "Big Banks" create a self-perpetuating cycle of perverse incentives and moral hazard that often gives rise to yet another round of bubbles. The U.S. central bank's current premise is that policymakers cannot and should not target asset bubbles. However, the housing story has rendered untenable the prevailing belief that bubbles are impossible to spot ahead of time. The warning signals were ubiquitous--for example, price charts showing home values rising impossibly into the stratosphere, and Wall Street's increasing reliance on housing-backed bonds for its record-setting profits. It has become abundantly clear that there was plenty the Fed could have done to discourage speculative behavior and put a stop to predatory lending. Recent U.S. experience has bolstered the view that asset prices must come under the central bank's purview in order for the economy to retain some semblance of stability. Former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker recently called for a broader regulatory role for the central bank in light of the housing-centered credit crisis. Indeed, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's latest plan for tackling the crisis involves giving the Fed vast new authority to regulate investment banks, not just depository institutions. However, news analyst Pedro Nicolaci da Costa argues that attitude changes among regulators will be even more important than shifts in mandate in ensuring that regulators like the Fed do their jobs properly. |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lev:levppb:ppb_95&r=ure |
| By: | Toshihiro Okubo (Research Institute for Economics and Business Administration, Kobe University); Pierre M. Picard (University of Manchester (United Kingdom) and CORE, Université catholique de Louvain (Belgium)); Jacques-François Thisse (CORE, Université catholique de Louvain (Belgium), PSE (France) and CEPR) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to study the spatial selection of firms once it is recognized that heterogeneous firms typically choose different locations in respond to market integration of regions having different sizes. Specifically, we show that decreasing trade costs leads to the gradual agglomeration of efficient firms in the large region because these firms are able to survive in a more competitive environment. In contrast, high-cost firms seek protection against competition from the efficient firms by establishing themselves in the small region. However, when the spatial separation of markets ceases to be a sufficient protection against competition from the low-cost firms, high-cost firms also choose to set up in the larger market where they have access to a bigger pool of consumers. This leads to the following prediction: the relationship between economic integration and interregional productivity differences first increases and then decreases with market integration. |
| Keywords: | firm heterogeneity; spatial selection; trade liberalization |
| JEL: | F12 H22 H87 R12 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kob:dpaper:229&r=ure |
| By: | David A. Penn |
| Abstract: | Final Presentation Summary of the Entire Study: After reviewing the broader socioeconomic dynamics and workforce issues in the Middle Tennessee Marketing Region, this study, commissioned by Middle Tennessee Industrial Development Association in Nashville, identifies regional industrial clusters and provides a detailed assessment of target industry clusters to present a detailed roadmap for the competitive regional economic development initiatives. |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mts:studys:200805&r=ure |
| By: | Rosella Levaggi |
| Abstract: | The traditional theory for fiscal federalism assumes that the lower tier is more efficient in producing local public goods because of information asymmetry, while on the finance side Central Government might be more efficient in raising resources that can be redistributed through grants-in-aid. This scheme does not take into account that services produced at local level are usually impure public goods. The model developed in this paper allows to derive grants-in aid distribution formulae in this environment and a set of rules that allows to establish when fiscal federalism is a superior alternative to decentralisation. |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ubs:wpaper:0812&r=ure |
| By: | Caucutt, Elizabeth M. (University of Western Ontario); Cooley, Thomas F. (New York University); Guner, Nezih (Universidad Carlos III, Madrid) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we study the social, demographic and economic origins of social security. The data for the U.S. and for a cross section of countries make it clear that urbanization and industrialization are strongly associated with the rise of social insurance. We describe a model economy in which demographics, technology, and social security are linked together. We study an economy with two locations (sectors), the farm (agricultural) and the city (industrial). The decision to migrate from rural to urban locations is endogenous and linked to productivity differences between the two locations and survival probabilities. Furthermore, the level of social security is determined by majority voting. We show that a calibrated version of this economy is consistent with the historical transformation in the United States. Initially a majority of voters live on the farm and do not want to implement social security. Once a majority of the voters move to the city, the median voter prefers a positive social security tax. In the model social security emerges and is sustained over time as a political and economic equilibrium. Modeling the political economy of social security within a model of structural change leads to a rich economic environment in which the median voter is identified by both age and location. |
| Keywords: | social security, political economy, structural change, migration |
| JEL: | H55 H3 D72 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3731&r=ure |
| By: | Chengri Ding (Urban Studies and Planning Program, University of Maryland); Shunfeng Song (Department of Economics, University of Nevada, Reno); Yiling Zhang (Department of Economics, University of Nevada, Reno) |
| Abstract: | This paper utilizes a unique county-level dataset to examine technical efficiency and technology gap in China’s agriculture. We classify the counties into four regions with distinctive levels of economic development, and hence production technologies. A meta-frontier analysis is applied to the counties. We find that although the eastern counties have the highest efficiency scores with respect to the regional frontier but the northeastern region leads in terms of agricultural production technology nationwide. Meanwhile, the mean efficiency of the northeastern counties is particularly low, suggesting technology and knowledge diffusion within region might help to improve production efficiency and thus output. |
| Keywords: | China’s grain production; County-level; Metafrontier; Stochastic production frontier; Technical efficiency |
| JEL: | D24 N55 O13 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unr:wpaper:08-007&r=ure |
| By: | Chiara Dalle Nogare; Matteo M Galizzi |
| Abstract: | Political Economy and the Economics of Art and Cultural Heritage rarely have intersected. In this paper we investigate the relationship between Italian municipalities’ spending on culture in the 90s and 2000s and a number of political variables, such as a left/right dummy, an election year dummy and a term limit indicator, controlling, among others, for economic as well as socio-demographic characteristics of their population, level of human capital and instruction, proxies of social capital, extent of private financing of cultural provision, touristic and artistic relevance. We use panel data regression analysis and find that there are indeed some significant political determinants of local government cultural expenditure. |
| Date: | 2008 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ubs:wpaper:0818&r=ure |
| By: | Gary B. Gorton |
| Abstract: | Understanding the ongoing credit crisis or panic requires understanding the designs of a number of interlinked securities, special purpose vehicles, and derivatives, all related to subprime mortgages. I describe the relevant securities, derivatives, and vehicles to show: (1) how the chain of interlinked securities was sensitive to house prices; (2) how asymmetric information was created via complexity; (3) how the risk was spread in an opaque way; and (4) how trade in the ABX indices (linked to subprime bonds) allowed information to be aggregated and revealed. These details are at the heart of the origin of the Panic of 2007. The events of the panic are described. |
| JEL: | G1 G2 |
| Date: | 2008–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14398&r=ure |
| By: | Kaas, Leo (University of Konstanz) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a novel microeconomic foundation for pecuniary human capital externalities in a labor market model of monopsonistic competition. Multiple equilibria arise because of a strategic complementarity in investment decisions. |
| Keywords: | externalities, human capital, multiple equilibria |
| JEL: | D43 J24 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3729&r=ure |
| By: | Alberto Alesina (Harvard University); Ekaterina Zhuravskaya (CEFIR, NES) |
| Abstract: | This paper has three goals. The first, and perhaps the most important, is to provide a new compilation of data on ethnic, linguistic and religious composition at the sub-national level for a large number of countries. This data set allows us to measure segregation of di¤erent ethnic, religious and linguistic groups within the same country. The second goal is to correlate measures of segregation with measures of quality of the polity and policymaking. The third is to construct an instrument that helps to overcome the endogeneity problem that arises because groups move within country borders, partly in response to policies. Our results suggest that more ethnically and linguistically segregated countries, i.e., those where groups live more spatially separately, have a substantially lower quality of government. In contrast, we find no relationship between religious segregation and the quality of government. |
| Date: | 2008–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cfr:cefirw:w0120&r=ure |
| By: | L. Randall Wray |
| Abstract: | As homeowner equity continues to disappear, there is a growing consensus that losses on all mortgages will exceed $1 trillion, with financial losses spreading far beyond real estate. Mortgage rates are spiking and, more generally, interest rate spreads remain wide, as financial players shun private debt in the rush to safe Treasury securities. Labor markets continue to weaken as firms shed jobs, and state tax revenues have plummeted. In March, the dollar fell to new record lows against the euro and other currencies. Commodities prices have boomed, fueling inflation and adding to consumer distress. What's a central bank to do? So far, the Federal Reserve has met or exceeded the market's anticipations for rate cuts. It has allowed banks to offer securitized mortgages as collateral against borrowed reserves, and opened its discount window to a broad range of financial institutions to guard against future liquidity problems (remember Bear Stearns?). It helped to formulate a rescue plan for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, and Chairman Ben Bernanke even supported the fiscal stimulus package that will increase the federal budget deficit—something that is normally anathema to central bankers. Most importantly, Fed officials have consistently argued that, while they are carefully monitoring inflation pressures, they will not reverse monetary easing until the fallout from the subprime crisis is past. Unfortunately, the policy isn't working--the economy continues to weaken, the financial crisis is spreading, and inflation is accelerating. The problem is that policymakers do not recognize the underlying forces driving the crisis, in part because they operate with an incorrect model of how our economy works. This Policy Note summarizes that model, offers an alternative view based on Hyman Minsky's approach, and outlines an alternative framework for policy formation. |
| Date: | 2008–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lev:levypn:08-3&r=ure |
| By: | Rafal Kierzenkowski |
| Abstract: | Following many years of underinvestment, renovating and building new transport infrastructure is an important policy priority that would increase labour mobility and improve Poland’s competitiveness. This goal is all the more feasible given that the country is going to benefit from substantial EU structural and cohesion funds over the programming period 2007-13. On top of the limited timeframe for the absorption of EU funds, the European soccer championship that Poland is going to co-host with Ukraine in 2012 imposes an additional time constraint on many investment projects. The country is heavily reliant on road transport but is lacking an efficient high-speed road network. It needs important renovation investments both in the rolling stock and infrastructure network of the railway sector. It also faces the challenges of revitalising maritime transport as well as extending and upgrading airport facilities to cope with the fastest growing air market in Europe. However, many obstacles remain and hinder the implementation of investment plans and thus need to be resolved rapidly. From the macroeconomic perspective, these are related to rising prices of scarce labour and intermediate inputs, while from the microeconomic standpoint the main difficulties lie in the area of the regulatory framework underlying the provision of physical infrastructure. <P>Le défi d’une amélioration rapide des infrastructures de transport en Pologne <BR>Après des années de sous-investissement, la rénovation des infrastructures de transport existantes et la construction d’infrastructures nouvelles représentent une importante priorité d’action en vue d’accroître la mobilité de la main-d’oeuvre et d’améliorer la compétitivité de la Pologne. Cet objectif est d’autant plus réalisable que le pays va bénéficier d’un volume substantiel de fonds structurels et de fonds de cohésion de l’UE au cours de la période de programmation 2007-13. Outre que l’utilisation des fonds européens est soumise à un calendrier restreint, le championnat d’Europe de football que la Pologne organisera conjointement avec l’Ukraine en 2012 impose une contrainte temporaire supplémentaire sur de nombreux projets d’investissement. Lourdement tributaire du transport routier, la Pologne est dépourvue d’un réseau autoroutier efficace. Dans le secteur ferroviaire, le matériel roulant comme le réseau d’infrastructure nécessitent d’importants investissements de rénovation. De surcroît, il faut revitaliser les transports maritimes mais aussi agrandir et moderniser les installations aéroportuaires afin de faire face à une croissance du marché des transports aériens sans équivalent en Europe. Cependant, de nombreux obstacles subsistent et entravent la mise en oeuvre des plans d’investissement ; il faut donc y porter remède sans tarder. Sur un plan macroéconomique, ces freins résident dans la hausse des prix de ressources limitées en main-d’oeuvre et en intrants intermédiaires, tandis que d’un point de vue microéconomique, les principales difficultés tiennent au cadre réglementaire qui sous-tend la fourniture d’infrastructures physiques. |
| JEL: | H54 H57 L91 L92 L93 P20 |
| Date: | 2008–09–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:640-en&r=ure |
| By: | Kazuo Mino (Graduate School of Economics, Osaka University); Yasuhiro Nakamoto (Graduate School of Economics, Osaka University) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the effect of consumption externalities on equilibrium dynamics of a standard neoclassical growth model in which there are two types of agents. To emphasize the presence of heterogenous agents, we distinguish intergroup consumption externalities from intragroup consumption externalities. We show that if the intragroup externalities dominates the intrergroup external effects, then the steady state equilibrium satisfies saddle-point stability and the equilibrium path of the economy is uniquely determined. In contrast, if the intergroup external effects of consumption are strong enough, the steady-state equilibrium is either unstable or locally indeterminate. Based on the analytical as well as numerical considerations, we give intuitive implications of stability conditions. |
| Keywords: | Consumption externalities, Equilibrium determinacy, Heterogeneous agents, Progressive taxation |
| JEL: | E52 O42 |
| Date: | 2008–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osk:wpaper:0830&r=ure |