|
on Urban and Real Estate Economics |
| By: | Simon Burgess; Deborah Wilson; Jack Worth |
| Abstract: | We test the hypothesis that the publication of school performance tables raises school effectiveness. Our data allow us to implement a classic difference-in-difference analysis comparing outcomes in England and Wales, before and after the abolition of the tables in Wales. We find significant and robust evidence that this reform markedly reduced school effectiveness in Wales. There is significant heterogeneity across schools: schools in the top quartile of the league tables show no effect. We also test whether the reform reduced school segregation in Wales, and find no systematic significant impact on either sorting by ability or by socioeconomic status. |
| Keywords: | school accountability, school effectiveness, performance tables, segregation |
| JEL: | I20 |
| Date: | 2010–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bri:cmpowp:10/246&r=ure |
| By: | Albrecht Kauffmann |
| Abstract: | The rise in energy prices may result in long-lasting rise in costs of freight transports. Which effects do rising freight transport costs have for the development of urban systems? Such rise of transport costs in real terms has happened in Russia after price liberalisation in 1992. At the same time, the Russian official demographic statistics provides data that can be used to test hypotheses concerning the development of urban systems affected by rising transport costs. In the present study, these data are comprehensively evaluated. The theoretical background is provided by modelling of a linear shaped urban system in the framework of New Economic Geography. By means of this tool, analysis can be applied to spacious urban systems with large transport distances. For the first time, the underlying theoretical approach is explained in detail. The empirical results provide evidence for the outcomes of the theoretical model: In spacious countries or regions, respectively, whose urban systems are drawn-out on long lines, rising costs of freight transport are conducive to tendencies of concentration of population in large cities in the centre of the system, while peripheral regions are increasingly disconnected. |
| Keywords: | Russia, urban systems, New Economic Geography, migration |
| JEL: | R49 R23 R13 R12 P25 |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pot:psrawi:02&r=ure |
| By: | Elias Oikarinen |
| Abstract: | This study adds to the literature on mean aversion and mean reversion in housing prices. In contrast with the previous related literature, the persistence and reversion characteristics are studied by computing variance ratios using Kim's (2006) Wild bootstrapping and by investigating horizons up to 10 years. The variance ratios clearly indicate that housing prices do not follow random walk in any of the 15 Finnish cities included in the analysis. Instead, momentum in housing price growth is longlasting and considerable in size. Since the eventual reversion is substantially weaker than the initial mean aversion, housing is notably riskier asset in the long term than suggested by variances computed from quarterly or annual price movements. The results also show that the momentum and reversion patterns may substantially vary between regional housing markets. These differences influence the optimal housing portfolio allocation and highlight one more reason why it is complicated to use country level housing price data when analyzing the optimal portfolio allocation or housing price dynamics. |
| Keywords: | housing prices; momentum; mean reversion; variance ratio; portfolio allocation |
| JEL: | R31 G11 |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tkk:dpaper:dp61&r=ure |
| By: | Rich Harris |
| Abstract: | This paper offers an extensive review and bibliography of the literature on school choice, and its effects on social and ethnic segregation between English schools. It finds that the evidence concerning whether “school choice” legislation has acted to increase or decrease the socio-ethnic mix within schools is open to multiple interpretations, affected by how segregation is conceptualised and measured. Difficulties in reaching definite conclusions are compounded by the changing economic and demographic landscapes that confound attempts to show whether policies of school choice cause or reduce segregation. By the author’s judgement the policies have reinforced geographies of social segregation and of ethnic polarization in some places. However, this is not a failure of the principle of choice necessarily. Rather, it is a function of the constraints placed on that choice and an implicit if less spoken recognition of the value of local schooling. |
| Keywords: | Schools, choice, social segregation, ethnic segregation, segregation indices, education policy |
| JEL: | I28 |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bri:cmpowp:10/251&r=ure |
| By: | Shanti Gamper-Rabindran; Ralph Mastromonaco; Christopher Timmins |
| Abstract: | We apply three complementary approaches designed to identify the localized effects of Superfund site remediation under the CERCLA, examining data at the level of (i) the census tract (paying attention to within tract heterogeneity), (ii) the census block, and (iii) individual house transaction. Our analysis of the within-tract housing value distribution detects statistically and economically significant appreciation in the lower tails resulting from hazardous waste cleanup; deletion of a site raises tract-level housing values by 18.2% at the 10th percentile, 15.4% at the median, and 11.4% at the 60th percentile. These tract results are confirmed by (i) house transaction data that show cheaper houses within each tract are more likely to be exposed to waste sites within one kilometer, explaining their greater appreciation from site cleanup, and (ii) high-resolution census block data that show greater appreciation among blocks lying closer to the cleaned sites. House-level repeat-sales data confirm results from our national level census analysis by showing that deletion raises housing values relative to proposal in specific markets, such as northern New Jersey, but they also uncover a great heterogeneity in the effects of remediation across markets, with no statistical effects from deletion relative to proposal detected in Los Angeles metro, southwestern Connecticut or Boston metro. |
| JEL: | Q5 Q51 Q53 |
| Date: | 2011–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:16655&r=ure |
| By: | Dionissi Aliprantis |
| Abstract: | The interpretation of estimates from Moving to Opportunity (MTO) as neighborhood effects has created significant controversy among social scientists. This paper presents a framework that clarifies the interpretation of results from the MTO housing mobility experiment. The paper defines several neighborhood treatments and estimates their Local Average Treatment Effects (LATEs) using assigned treatment in MTO as an instrumental variable. This framework clarifies that while parameters estimated in the literature do not suffer from selection bias, selection into treatment is an inescapable issue if one seeks to learn about neighborhood effects from MTO. The LATE parameters estimated in this paper are neighborhood effects for the subgroup of MTO families who are compliers with respect to the defined treatment. In contrast, the Treatment-on-the-Treated (TOT) parameters reported in the literature are program effects. Since the subgroup of compliers for various neighborhood treatments can be considerably smaller than the subgroup induced to move by MTO, preliminary estimates indicate that LATE neighborhood effects tend to be much larger than the TOT program effects from MTO. This re-interpretation of the MTO data suggests two important conclusions related to the current understanding of neighborhood effects and programs. First, if alternative housing mobility programs were designed to induce moves to neighborhoods with characteristics other than low poverty, it is entirely feasible that such programs might induce larger effects than MTO. Second, initial LATE estimates appear to reconcile the evidence from MTO with prevailing theories of neighborhood effects. |
| Keywords: | Poverty ; Housing policy |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedcwp:1101&r=ure |
| By: | Nidhiya Menon (Department of Economics, Brandeis University); Mark M. Pitt (Brown University) |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes a novel instrumental variable method for program evaluation that only requires a single cross-section of data on the spatial intensity of programs and outcomes. The instruments are derived from a simple theoretical model of government decision-making in which governments are responsive to the attributes of places and their populations, rather than to the attributes of individuals, in making allocation decisions across space, and have a social welfare function that is spatially weakly separable, that is, that the budgeting process is multi-stage with respect to administrative districts and sub-districts. The spatial instrumental variables model is then estimated and tested by GMM with a single cross-section of Indonesian census data. The results offer support to the identification strategy proposed. |
| Keywords: | Spatial Decentralization, Program Evaluation, Instrumental Variables, Indonesia |
| JEL: | C21 H44 O12 C50 |
| Date: | 2010–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:brd:wpaper:16&r=ure |
| By: | Bernhard Oehry |
| Abstract: | Road user charging is used as an 'umbrella' term to describe a wide range of applications of pricing roads and infrastructure. Road user charging includes a number of charging measures that governments and other road owners use to: i) finance new or maintain existing road infrastructure ii) manage traffic (e.g. reduce congestion) iii) minimise environmental impacts of transport iv) internalise the external costs of road transport caused, e.g., by pollution and noise emissions. Historically, the common approach to charging for road use is some form of general taxation rather than differentiated road user charging. Road user charging has long been proposed as an efficient and equitable method to pay for road use and to fund road infrastructure projects. However, there is an important distinction between charging for revenue generation purposes as opposed to pricing roads to provide congestion relief. The two basic objectives, revenue generation and congestion management, differ in several ways, as shown in the following table. |
| Date: | 2010–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:itfaaa:2010/3-en&r=ure |
| By: | Jussila Hammes, Johanna (Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute, VTI) |
| Abstract: | One of the goals of transport policy in Sweden is to minimize the impact from transport on the environment. Using a database consisting of over 800 rail, road and maritime transport infrastructure projects, we estimate whether environmental factors, such as negative environmental effects arising from the project (noise and barrier effects), or emissions of five pollutants (NOx, VOC, CO2, SO2 and PM) affect the choice of which projects will be built. For a broader model including all three transport modes, we find that projects that cause negative environmental effects in fact have a greater probability of being included in the National or a Regional Transport Infrastructure Plan for 2010-2021. For a narrower model including only road investments, we find that if we include a measure for the Net Benefit/Investment Cost Ratio (NBIR), only the negative environmental effects matter and raise the probability of a project being included in a Plan. Excluding the NBIR measure reveals that what matters are the CO emissions and traffic safety measures. Thus, an increase in the emissions of CO lowers the project's probability of being included in a Plan, and traffic safety benefits increase the probability. |
| Keywords: | Transport infrastructure; Environment; Emissions |
| JEL: | D70 H54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2010–12–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:vtiwps:2010_017&r=ure |
| By: | Marco Capasso; Elena Cefis; Koen Frenken |
| Abstract: | We compare the industrial dynamics in the core, semi-periphery and periphery in The Netherlands in terms of firm entry-exit, size, growth and sectoral location patterns. The contribution of our work is to provide the first comprehensive study on spatial differentiation in industrial dynamics for all firm sizes and all sectors, including services. We find that at the aggregate level the spatial pattern of industrial dynamics is consistent with the spatial product lifecycle thesis: entry and exit rates are highest in the core and lowest in the periphery, while the share of persistently growing firms is higher in the periphery than in the core. Disaggregating the analysis to the sectoral level following the Pavitt-Miozzo-Soete taxonomy, findings are less robust. Finally, sectoral location patterns are largely consistent with the spatial product lifecycle model: Fordist sectors are over-represented in the periphery, while sectors associated with the ICT paradigm are over-represented in the core, with the notable exception of science-based manufacturing. |
| Keywords: | Entry, exit, spatial product lifecycle, Fordist paradigm, ICT paradigm |
| JEL: | L25 L26 L60 L80 O18 O33 R10 |
| Date: | 2010–01–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2011/02&r=ure |
| By: | Chang, Soon-taek |
| Abstract: | Regulatory regimes are actively discussing macroprudential policy. Korea pursued a countercyclical macroprudential approach to prevent the overheating of mortgage lending and to minimize the risk of loan default. The Korean financial supervisory authority made adjustments in response to both the condition of the housing market and trends in mortgage loans. The lessons learned from the Korean experience are applicable to other situations. First, regulations regarding loan-to-value and debt-to-income ratios and other restrictions on mortgage lending can be employed as an important part of a countercyclical framework. Next, measures need to be applied in a timely manner and according to the specific conditions of each country. Finally, authorities should preemptively prepare macroprudential instruments before banks enter a period of rapid mortgage lending to avoid reckless mortgage lending operations and weaken any speculative motive in the housing market. |
| Keywords: | Access to Finance,Debt Markets,Bankruptcy and Resolution of Financial Distress,Banks&Banking Reform,Housing Finance |
| Date: | 2010–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5505&r=ure |
| By: | J. Michael Collins; Carolina Reid |
| Abstract: | Loan modifications offer one strategy to prevent mortgage foreclosures by lowering interest rates, extending loan terms and/or reducing principal balance owed. Yet we know very little about who receives loan modifications and/or the terms of the modification. This paper uses data from a sample of subprime loans made in 2005 to examine the incidence of loan modifications among borrowers in California, Oregon and Washington. The results suggest although loan modifications remain a rarely used option among the servicers in these data, there is no evidence that minority borrowers are less likely to receive a modification or less aggressive modification than white borrowers. Most modifications involve reductions in the loan’s interest rate, and an increase in principal balance. We also find that modifications reduce the likelihood of subsequent default, particularly for minority borrowers. |
| Keywords: | Mortgage loans |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedfcw:2010-07&r=ure |
| By: | Christopher D. Carroll (Department of Economics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.); Misuzu Otsuka (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Paris, France.); Jiri Slacalek (European Central Bank, Kaiserstrasse 29, D-60311 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents a simple new method for measuring `wealth effects' on aggregate consumption. The method exploits the stickiness of consumption growth (sometimes interpreted as reflecting consumption `habits') to distinguish between immediate and eventual wealth effects. In U.S. data, we estimate that the immediate (next-quarter) marginal propensity to consume from a $1 change in housing wealth is about 2 cents, with a final eventual effect around 9 cents, substantially larger than the effect of shocks to financial wealth. We argue that our method is preferable to cointegration-based approaches, because neither theory nor evidence supports faith in the existence of a stable cointegrating vector. JEL Classification: E21, E32, C22. |
| Keywords: | Housing Wealth, Wealth Eect, Consumption Dynamics, Asset Prices. |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20101283&r=ure |
| By: | Rucker C. Johnson |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the extent and ways in which childhood school quality factors causally influence subsequent adult socioeconomic and health outcomes. The study analyzes the life trajectories of children born between 1950 and 1970, and followed through 2007, using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). The PSID data are linked with multiple data sources that describe the neighborhood attributes and school quality resources that prevailed at the time these children were growing up. I estimate the long-run impacts of court-ordered school desegregation plans on adult attainments by exploiting quasi-random variation in the timing of initial court orders, which generated differences in the timing and scope of the implementation of these plans during the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. Difference-in-differences estimates, sibling-difference estimates, and 2SLS/IV estimates indicate that school desegregation and the accompanied increases in school quality resulted in significant improvements in adult attainments for blacks. I find that, for blacks, school desegregation significantly increased educational attainment and adult earnings, reduced the probability of incarceration, and improved adult health status; desegregation had no effects on whites across each of these outcomes. The results suggest that the mechanisms through which school desegregation led to beneficial adult attainment outcomes for blacks include improvement in access to school resources reflected in reductions in class size and increases in per-pupil spending. This narrowed black-white adult socioeconomic and health disparities for the cohorts exposed to integrated schools during childhood. The results highlight the significant impacts of educational attainment on future health status and risk of incarceration, and point to the importance of school quality in influencing socioeconomic mobility prospects, which in turn have far-reaching impacts on health. |
| JEL: | I00 I21 I28 J15 |
| Date: | 2011–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:16664&r=ure |
| By: | Klaus Schöler |
| Abstract: | The most important question of regional economics is: What are the reasons for the existence, the growth, and the changes of regional economic structures? Without any doubt, agglomerations which are not based on natural sources belong to the most significant regional structures. The New Economic Geography gives answers - based on a microeconomic total model with different regions and industrial sectors, with heterogeneous goods and different transport costs - to the questions with regard to the reasons of the existence of agglomerations. This book pursues three objectives: First of all, the new paradigm is connected with the historical background of the traditional regional economics and trade theory. Furthermore, the basic model is described in detail and then discussed from a critical point of view. Finally, some possible extensions are introduced, which make it possible to eliminate some criticized elements of the basic model. |
| Keywords: | New Economic Geography, agglomerations, transport costs, regional economic structures |
| JEL: | R12 |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pot:psrawi:01&r=ure |
| By: | Ferre, Celine; Ferreira, Francisco H.G.; Lanjouw, Peter |
| Abstract: | This paper provides evidence from eight developing countries of an inverse relationship between poverty and city size. Poverty is both more widespread and deeper in very small and small towns than in large or very large cities. This basic pattern is generally robust to choice of poverty line. The paper shows, further, that for all eight countries, a majority of the urban poor live in medium, small, or very small towns. Moreover, it is shown that the greater incidence and severity of consumption poverty in smaller towns is generally compounded by similarly greater deprivation in terms of access to basic infrastructure services, such as electricity, heating gas, sewerage, and solid waste disposal. The authors illustrate for one country -- Morocco -- that inequality within large cities is not driven by a severe dichotomy between slum dwellers and others. The notion of a single cleavage between slum residents and well-to-do burghers as the driver of urban inequality in the developing world thus appears to be unsubstantiated -- at least in this case. Robustness checks are performed to assess whether the findings in the paper are driven by price variation across city-size categories, by the reliance on an income-based concept of well-being, and by the application of small-area estimation techniques for estimating poverty rates at the town and city level. |
| Keywords: | Rural Poverty Reduction,Subnational Economic Development,City Development Strategies,Regional Economic Development |
| Date: | 2010–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5508&r=ure |
| By: | Julie Berry Cullen; Mark C. Long; Randall Reback |
| Abstract: | Beginning in 1998, all students in the state of Texas who graduated in the top ten percent of their high school classes were guaranteed admission to any in-state public higher education institution, including the flagships. While the goal of this policy is to improve college access for disadvantaged and minority students, the use of a school-specific standard to determine eligibility could have unintended consequences. Students may increase their chances of being in the top ten percent by choosing a high school with lower-achieving peers. Our analysis of students’ school transitions between 8th and 10th grade three years before and after the policy change reveals that this incentive influences enrollment choices in the anticipated direction. Among the subset of students with both motive and opportunity for strategic high school choice, as many as 25 percent enroll in a different high school to improve the chances of being in the top ten percent. Strategic students tend to choose the neighborhood high school in lieu of more competitive magnet schools and, regardless of own race, typically displace minority students from the top ten percent pool. The net effect of strategic behavior is to slightly decrease minority students’ representation in the pool. |
| JEL: | D10 H31 H73 I28 J60 J78 |
| Date: | 2011–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:16663&r=ure |
| By: | Patricia M. Anderson; Kristin F. Butcher; Elizabeth U. Cascio; Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we investigate the impact of attending school on body weight and obesity. We use school starting age cutoff dates to compare weight outcomes for similar age children with different years of school exposure. As is the case with academic outcomes, school exposure is related to unobserved determinants of weight outcomes because some families choose to have their child start school late (or early). If one does not account for this endogeneity, it appears that an additional year of school exposure results in a greater BMI and a higher probability of being overweight or obese. When actual exposure is instrumented with expected exposure based on school starting dates and birthday, the significant positive effects disappear, and most point estimates become negative and insignificant. However, for children not eating the school lunch, there is a significant negative effect on the probability of being overweight. |
| JEL: | I12 I21 |
| Date: | 2011–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:16673&r=ure |
| By: | Anne L.J. Ter Wal |
| Abstract: | Economic geography has developed a stronghold analysing how geography impacts innovation. Yet, despite increased interest in networks, a critical assessment of the role of geography in the evolution of networks is still lacking. This paper juxtaposes geographical proximity with the network of prior ties as alternative mechanisms for tie formation. Analysing the evolution of inventor networks in German biotechnology, the paper theoretically argues and empirically demonstrates that - as the technological regime of an industry changes over time - inventors increasingly rely on network resources by forming links to partners of partners, whilst the direct impact of geographical proximity on tie formation decreases. |
| Keywords: | network evolution, geographical proximity, triadic closure, inventor networks |
| JEL: | D85 L14 L65 R11 |
| Date: | 2011–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:1102&r=ure |
| By: | Diewert, Erwin |
| Abstract: | The paper uses data on sales of detached houses in a small Dutch town over 14 quarters starting at the first quarter of 2005 in order to compare various methods for constructing a house price index over this period. Four classes of methods are considered: (i) stratification techniques plus normal index number theory; (ii) time dummy hedonic regression models; (iii) hedonic imputation techniques and (iv) additive in land and structures hedonic regression models. The last approach is used in order to decompose the price of a house into land and structure components and it relies on the imposition of some monotonicity constraints or exogenous information on price movements for structures. The problems associated with constructing an index for the stock of houses using information on the sales of houses are also considered. |
| Keywords: | Property price indexes, hedonic regressions, stratification techniques, rolling year indexes, Fisher ideal indexes |
| JEL: | C2 C23 C43 D12 E31 R21 |
| Date: | 2011–01–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ubc:bricol:erwin_diewert-2011-1&r=ure |
| By: | Isabel Günther (ETH Zürich); Kenneth Harttgen (Georg-August University Göttingen) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we analyze if an `urban mortality penalty\' exists for today\'s developing countries, repeating the history of industrialized nations during the 19th century. We analyze the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) of 19 Sub-Saharan African countries for differences in child and adult mortality between rural and urban areas. Our findings indicate that child mortality is higher in rural areas for almost all countries. On average child mortality rates are 13.6 percent in rural areas and `only\' 10.8 percent in urban areas. In contrast, average urban adult mortality rates (on average 14.5 percent) have indeed exceeded rural adult mortality rates (on average 12.8 percent) in many of our sample countries in the 2000s. For many countries high child mortality pockets do, however, exist in slum areas within cities. Child mortality rates in slum areas are on average 1.65 times higher than in the formal settlements of cities, but still lower than in rural areas. |
| Keywords: | mortality; urban; slum; inequality |
| JEL: | I10 I30 J10 R00 |
| Date: | 2010–12–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:got:gotcrc:052&r=ure |
| By: | Steven Proud |
| Abstract: | The magnitude and characteristics of the effect of a child’s peers on their outcomes has long interested researchers and policy makers. In this paper, I take advantage of the correlation between the average outcomes a child’s peer group attains with the distribution of ages within the cohort to construct an instrument for the ability of the peer group in order to estimate the peers effects on children’s outcomes at age 11. IV results suggest there is a significant positive effect of a more able peer group. Furthermore, the results suggest that there is more benefit for children who are close to the ability of the peer group than those whose ability is not close. |
| Keywords: | peer groups, primary education |
| JEL: | I21 I38 J24 |
| Date: | 2010–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bri:cmpowp:10/248&r=ure |
| By: | Djoni Hartono (Graduate Program in Economics, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Indonesia); Tony Irawan (Department of Economics,Faculty of Economics and Management, Bogor Agricultural University IPB); Ferry Irawan (Fiscal Policy Office - Ministry of Finance) |
| Abstract: | Indonesian government shows big commitment on the improvement of infrastructure which is reflected in some regulations and policies. It is supported by many empirical evidences that show the importance of infrastructure improvement on economic performance. In this paper, we develop a CGE model to analyze the impact of infrastructure on Indonesian economy by introducing several types of infrastructure and also discuss the impact of infrastructure on the poverty level. The results suggest that improvement on any types of infrastructure is expected will increase economic growth, raise government revenue, raise factor’s income and reduce the poverty level. Improvement on public work of agriculture, land transportation and telecommunication are still preferable option relative to others. Interestingly, even though public work of agriculture usually is located in rural areas, but the model suggest that public work of agriculture improvement will result higher impact on urban household relative to rural household. |
| Keywords: | CGE |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unp:wpaper:201008&r=ure |
| By: | Larry L. Howard (California State University, Fullerton); Nishith Prakash (Cornell University, CReAM, and IZA) |
| Abstract: | This article examines the effects of school lunch subsidies provided through the meanstested component of the National School Lunch Program on the dietary patterns of children age 10- to 13 yr in the USA. Analyzing data on 5,140 public school children in 5th grade during spring 2004, we find significant increases in the number of servings of fruit, green salad, carrots, other vegetables, and 100 percent fruit juice consumed in one week for subsidized children relative to unsubsidized children. The effects on fruit and other vegetable consumption are stronger among the children receiving a full subsidy, as opposed to only a partial subsidy, and indicate the size of the subsidy is an important policy lever underlying the program's effectiveness. Overall, the findings provide the strongest empirical evidence to date that the means-tested school lunch subsidies increase children’s consumption over a time period longer than one school day. |
| Keywords: | National School Lunch Program, Dietary Patterns, Means-Tested Subsidies. |
| JEL: | H51 I12 I38 |
| Date: | 2011–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:201101&r=ure |
| By: | Sam Schulhofer-Wohl |
| Abstract: | Some commentators have argued that the housing crisis may harm labor markets because homeowners who owe more than their homes are worth are less likely to move to places that have productive job opportunities. I show that, in the available data, negative equity does not make homeowners less mobile. In fact, homeowners who have negative equity are slightly more likely to move than homeowners who have positive equity. Ferreira, Gyourko, and Tracy's (2010) contrasting result that negative equity reduces mobility arises because they systematically drop some negative-equity homeowners' moves from the data.> some negative-equity homeowners' moves from the data. |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedmwp:682&r=ure |
| By: | d'Artis Kancs; Julia Kielyte |
| Abstract: | The present paper studies how European integration might affect the migration of workers in the enlarged EU. Unlike the reduced-form migration models, we base our empirical analysis on the theory of economic geography à la Krugman (1991), which provides an alternative modelling of migration pull and push factors. Parameters of the theoretical model are estimated econometrically using historical migration data. Our empirical findings suggest that European integration would trigger selective migration between the countries in the enlarged EU. In the Baltics, Lithuania would gain about 7.25% of the total work force. In the Visegrád Four, the share of the mobile labour force would increase the most in Hungary, 8.35%, compared to the pre-integration state. Our predictions for the East-West migration are moderate and lower than those of reduced-form models: between 5.44% (from the Baltics) and 3.61% (from the Visegrád Four) would emigrate to the EU North. Because migrants not only follow market potential, but also shape the region’s market potential, the long-run agglomeration forces are sufficiently weak to make a swift emergence of a core-periphery pattern in the enlarged EU very unlikely. |
| Keywords: | New economic geography; Market potential; Labour migration; Economic integration. |
| JEL: | F12 L11 R12 R23 |
| Date: | 2010–07–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eei:rpaper:eeri_rp_2010_27&r=ure |
| By: | Demombynes, Gabriel; Holland, Peter; Leon, Gianmarco |
| Abstract: | Uniquely among Latin American and Caribbean countries, Haiti has a largely non-public education system. Prior to the earthquake of January 2010, just 19 percent of primary school students were enrolled in public schools, with the remainder enrolled in a mix of religious, for-profit, and non-governmental organization-funded schools. This paper examines changes in Haitian schooling patterns in the last century and shows the country experienced tremendous growth in school attainment, driven almost entirely by growth in the private sector. Additionally, it provides evidence that the private market"works"to the extent that primary school fees are higher for schools with characteristics associated with education quality. The paper also analyzes the demand and supply determinants of school attendance and finds that household wealth is a major determinant of attendance. Given these findings, the authors conclude that in the near-term paying school fees for poor students may be an effective approach to expanding schooling access in Haiti. |
| Keywords: | Education For All,Tertiary Education,Primary Education,Disability,Gender and Education |
| Date: | 2010–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5503&r=ure |
| By: | Hasan, Zubair |
| Abstract: | Shelter is one of the basic needs for human beings. Its availability for the people is an Islamic imperative. In view of the appalling living conditions for a substantial proportion of population in most countries around the world, especially Muslim, Islamic banks have entered the field with varying schemes for house financing. In this infant industry, the effort is understandably guided by profit motive but a social dimension has to surface in course of time. Unfortunately, the models banks currently use for house financing remains under the juridical gaze, more so as the practice is not always found transparent. This paper looks at Islamic house financing models in a broader societal context. It evaluates the efficacy of the in practice financing structures and suggests a new approach. The proposed model is shown as superior to the existing ones. It meets the norms of equity, fair play and openness and does not presumably violate any other Islamic norm. Finally, the paper makes some policy suggestions to integrate Islamic house financing with broader social goals of an Islamic economy. |
| Keywords: | Key words: Housing problem; basic needs; Conventional model; BBA in housing; the MMP model; Diminishing balances model; Constructive ownership; National planning |
| JEL: | D60 D14 G21 |
| Date: | 2011–01–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:27919&r=ure |
| By: | Ron Martin |
| Abstract: | The notion of 'resilience' has recently risen to prominence in several disciplines, and has also entered policy discourse. Yet the meaning and relevance of the concept are far from settled matters. This paper develops the idea of resilience and examines its usefulness as an aid to understanding the reaction of regional economies to major recessionary shocks. But in so doing, it is also argued that the notion of resilience can usefully be combined with that of hysteresis in order to more fully capture the possible reactions of regional economies to major recessions. These ideas are then used as the basis for a preliminary empirical analysis of the UK regions. |
| Keywords: | Regional economic growth, Recessionary shocks, Resilience Hysteresis |
| JEL: | E32 R0 R10 R11 |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:1018&r=ure |
| By: | Buttenheim, Alison; Alderman, Harold; Friedman, Jed |
| Abstract: | Despite the popularity and widespread implementation of school feeding programs, evidence on the impact of school feeding on school participation and nutritional status is mixed. This study evaluates school feeding programs in three northern districts of the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). Feeding modalities included on-site feeding, take-home rations, and a combination. District-level implementation of the intervention sites and selective take-up present considerable evaluation challenges. To address these limitations, the authors use difference-in-difference estimators with propensity-score weighting to construct two plausible counterfactuals. They find minimal evidence that the school feeding schemes increased enrollment or improved children’s nutritional status. Several robustness checks and possible explanations for null findings are presented. |
| Keywords: | Education For All,Youth and Governance,Nutrition,Primary Education,Food&Beverage Industry |
| Date: | 2011–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5518&r=ure |
| By: | Mason, Patrick L. |
| Abstract: | Some teacher preparation institutions may provide higher quality teachers than others. Pupil academic achievement is one measure of the quality of teaching. Standardized test scores, e.g., the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Tests (FCAT), provide a measure of pupil academic achievement. This study seeks to ascertain whether Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University (FAMU) has a “college preparation effect” on the average pupil’s FCAT reading and mathematics scores. We find that the quality of FAMU’s teachers is statistically indistinguishable from the quality of teachers prepared by all other public colleges and universities in the state of Florida. This appears to be a robust conclusion. Our results are roughly the same regardless of whether we confine the sample to pupils matched with traditionally trained teachers (college of education graduates), all teachers, all traditionally trained African American teachers, or all African American teachers. |
| Keywords: | teacher quality; value-added model; historically black colleges and universities; HBCU; teacher productivity; education and value-added |
| JEL: | J45 I2 J44 J48 J15 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:27904&r=ure |
| By: | Patrizio Lecca (Department of Economics, Strathclyde University); Peter McGregor (Fraser of Allander Institute, Strathclyde University); Kim Swales (Department of Economics, Strathclyde University) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the impact of a balanced budget fiscal policy expansion in a regional context within a numerical dynamic general equilibrium model. We take Scotland as an example where, recently, there has been extensive debate on greater fiscal autonomy. In response to a balanced budget fiscal expansion the model suggests that: an increase in current government purchase in goods and services has negative multiplier effects only if the elasticity of substitution between private and public consumption is high enough to move downward the marginal utility of private consumers; public capital expenditure crowds in consumption and investment even with a high level of congestion; but crowding out effects might arise in the short-run if agents are myopic. |
| Keywords: | regional computable general equilibrium analysis, fiscal federalism, fiscal policy. |
| JEL: | H72 R13 R50 |
| Date: | 2010–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:str:wpaper:1020&r=ure |
| By: | Akbari, Ather H. |
| Abstract: | Despite recent interest in regionalization of immigration in host nations, most studies have analyzed immigrants’ economic performance by largely focusing on their overall national performance. A regional analysis is necessary because changing geographic distribution of immigrants can affect their economic performance positively or negatively. Present paper focuses on Atlantic Canada whose share in annual Canadian immigrant inflows has been traditionally low, but where recent policy initiatives have resulted in greater attraction and retention of immigrants. Immigrants are found performing better than non-immigrants in regional labour market. The importance of regional analysis of immigrants’ economic performance and contribution in host nations is highlighted. |
| Keywords: | Immigrant attraction and retention; regionalization of immigration; immigration policy |
| JEL: | R1 J61 J18 J11 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:27941&r=ure |
| By: | Mason, Patrick L. |
| Abstract: | This study explores important statistical issues on the appropriate functional form and model specification of the value-added educational achievement equation. We also wish to estimate the causal effect of a teacher’s institution of academic preparation and pedagogical training. Standardized test scores, viz., the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Tests (FCAT), provide a measure of pupil academic achievement. Accordingly, this study uses a value-added regression model to establish whether there is a “college preparation effect” on the average pupil’s FCAT reading and mathematics scores. We find that value-added regression analysis fails to uncover robust and substantive college preparation effects. Regardless of race (African American, Hispanic, or white), male or female status, or FCAT mathematics versus FCAT reading, pupil academic achievement does not vary substantively according to a teacher’s college of preparation. Further, the statistical significance of teacher program effects also depends on the functional form and specification of the value-added model. |
| Keywords: | teacher quality; value-added model; historically black colleges and universities; HBCU; teacher productivity; education and value-added |
| JEL: | J45 I2 J44 J15 J48 |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:27903&r=ure |
| By: | Meta Brown; Andrew Haughwout; Donghoon Lee; Wilbert van der Klaauw |
| Abstract: | The Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY) Consumer Credit Panel, created from a sample of U.S. consumer credit reports, is an ongoing panel of quarterly data on individual and household debt. The panel shows a substantial run-up in total consumer indebtedness between the first quarter of 1999 and the peak in the third quarter of 2008, followed by a steady decline through the third quarter of 2010. During the same period, delinquencies rose sharply: Delinquent balances peaked at the close of 2009 and then began to decline again. This paper documents these trends and discusses their sources. We focus particularly on the decline in debt outstanding since mid-2008, which has been the subject of considerable policy and media interest. While the magnitudes of balance declines and borrower defaults, represented as “charge-offs” on consumers’ credit reports, have been similar, we find that debt pay-down has been more pronounced than this simple comparison might indicate. |
| Keywords: | Consumer credit ; Households - Economic aspects ; Credit cards ; Debt ; Default (Finance) ; Mortgages |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fednsr:480&r=ure |
| By: | William J. Collins; Robert A. Margo |
| Abstract: | We present estimates of home ownership for African-American and white households from 1870 to 2007. The estimates pertain to a sample of households headed by adult men participating in the labor force but the substantive findings are unchanged if the analysis is extended to all households. Over the entire period African-American households in the sample increased their home ownership rate by 46 percentage points, whereas the rate for white households increased by 20 percentage points. Thus, in the long run, the racial gap declined by 26 percentage points. Remarkably, 25 of the 26 point long-run narrowing occurred between 1870 and 1910. Since 1910, both white and black households have increased their rates of homeownership but the long-run growth in levels has been similar for both groups, and therefore the racial gap measured in percentage points was approximately constant over the past century. |
| JEL: | N11 N12 R21 |
| Date: | 2011–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:16665&r=ure |