|
on Urban and Real Estate Economics |
| By: | Towe, Charles; Klaiber, H. Allen; Wrenn, Doug; Newburn, David; Irwin, Elena G. |
| Abstract: | Minimum lot size zoning requirements are a frequent policy tool used to restrict the density and location of residential development. Zoning regulations are typically instituted and adopted locally, often with limited input from surrounding jurisdictions. Autonomous local land use regulations that constrain some, but not all development within a region create discrete differences in the returns to development across otherwise similar locations and are hypothesized to lead to a lower density, more scattered land development pattern. We examine the rural down-zoning policy in Baltimore County, Maryland in 1976 and its potential effect on creating urban growth spillovers in the adjacent counties. Using propensity score matching methods combined with a difference-in-difference econometric strategy, we find that this down-zoning policy resulted in significant spillover impacts to surrounding counties in areas observationally similar to those down-zoned in Baltimore County. To our knowledge, this is first analysis of regional spillover impacts resulting from zoning across county boundaries that relies on spatially disaggregated parcel-level data. |
| Keywords: | Down-zoning, Propensity score matching, Low density development, Housing supply, Community/Rural/Urban Development, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:104010&r=ure |
| By: | Ana Maria DIAZ ESCOBAR (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES)) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the geographic distribution of unemployment rates in Colombian urban areas. It introduces measures of spatial correlation and spatial econometric techniques to analyze the dependence in local unemployment rates across municipalities. Results suggest that Colombian municipalities have experienced a polarization process between 1993 and 2005, as municipalities' unemployment rates have followed different evolutions relative to the National average. This process has been accompanied by the creation of unemployment clusters, that is to say, municipalities had very similar unemployment outcomes to those of their neighbors. This analysis uses a spatial Durbin model to explore the influence of various factors in determining differences in regional unemployment rates. According to our findings differences in labor demand, immigration rates, and urbanization are factors behind observed municipal unemployment disparities. |
| Keywords: | local labor markets, unemployment di erential, polarization, clustering, spatial econometrics, spatial Durbin model |
| JEL: | R23 C14 C23 C31 |
| Date: | 2011–04–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctl:louvir:2011014&r=ure |
| By: | Alberto Musso (European Central Bank); Stefano Neri (Banca d’Italia); Livio Stracca (European Central Bank) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a systematic empirical analysis of the role of the housing market in the macroeconomy in the U.S. and the euro area. First, it establishes some stylised facts concerning key variables in the housing market on the two sides of the Atlantic, such as real house prices, residential investment and mortgage debt. It then presents evidence from Structural Vector Autoregressions (SVAR) by focusing on the effects of monetary policy, credit supply and housing demand shocks on the housing market and the broader economy. The analysis shows that similarities outweigh differences as far as the housing market is concerned. The empirical evidence suggests a stronger role for housing in the transmission of monetary policy shocks in the U.S. The evidence is less clear-cut for housing demand shocks. Finally, credit supply shocks seem to matter more in the euro area. |
| Keywords: | residential investment, house prices, credit, monetary policy |
| JEL: | E22 E44 E52 |
| Date: | 2011–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_807_11&r=ure |
| By: | Ana Maria DIAZ ESCOBAR (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES)) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores whether the agglomeration of human capital leads to social employment advantages in urban labor markets of a developing country: Colombia. I estimate the social effects of human capital agglomeration by comparing employment opportunities of individuals located in urban areas in which the level of education differs. Results show that employment opportunities are higher on average in skilled urban areas. Three explanations have been offered: human capital externalities, production complementarities, and consumption spillovers. To distinguish between them, I analyze the effect of an increase on the college share on the employment rate for different education groups. Spatial employment differences in Colombia are mostly explained by human capital externalities and production complementarities. |
| Keywords: | local labor markets, employment, human capital externalities, production complementarities, consumer demand spillovers, signaling, congestion |
| JEL: | R23 J21 J24 |
| Date: | 2011–04–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctl:louvir:2011015&r=ure |
| By: | Gottlieb, Paul D.; Rudel, Thomas; O'Neill, Karen; McDermott, Melanie |
| Abstract: | In rapidly suburbanizing areas, minimum lot sizes of ten acres or greater are often used to discourage residential development and to maintain agricultural critical mass. Because of significant development pressure in these places, there is a good chance these lot size regulations will bind. Such âdown-zoningâ often appears alongside the purchase of agricultural and conservation easements that reduce housing development even more. Whatever the benefits of such policies for agriculture and the environment, they raise obvious concerns about housing supply and affordability. The issue of affordability should be analyzed at the regional scale, since we would normally expect some high-income, low density enclaves to exist within any metropolitan area. In addition, the analyst should look beyond median home price to compare the distribution of a regionâs available housing stock to the distribution of its income. A primary hypothesized effect of large-lot zoning is that it skews the distribution of available housing upward relative to the distribution of income. The present study will use a unique dataset on the New Jersey Highlands region to help answer the fundamental question posed by its title. This dataset includes historical data on the lot size minima imposed on every residential acre in the 83 Highlands municipalities, as well as real estate listing data on thousands of residential transactions in these 83 municipalities. Data from the U.S. Census are used to examine the distribution of income among New Jersey residents who ought to be served by the housing stock in the Highlands. The study finds that in the 1990s and 2000s, the stock of Highlands housing was skewed high relative to the metropolitan incomes available to purchase it, even with renters excluded from the analysis. Using a simple threshold of three times household income, the bottom 30% of households were consistently able to afford fewer than 30% of the homes coming on the market, while the top earners could afford a disproportionately large share of the available housing. At the same time, the study was unable to document a deterioration in Highlands housing affordability in the 1990s and 2000s that was attributable to anything other than the national housing bubble. Down-zoning is likely to affect the mix of housing types on the margin, while the majority of real estate transactions involve homes that were built several decades ago. This suggests either a separate analysis of new construction, or a longer time series on home types and prices that would capture the effects of restrictive zoning over several decades. |
| Keywords: | Land use, zoning, housing, equity, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2011–05–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:103562&r=ure |
| By: | Kajuth, Florian; Schmidt, Tobias |
| Abstract: | The contribution of this paper is to offer a rationale for the observed seasonal pattern in house prices. We first document seasonality in house prices for the US and the UK using formal statistical tests and illustrate its quantitative importance. In the second part of the paper we employ a standard model of dynamic optimisation with housing demand and seasonal shocks in non-durables in order to characterise seasonality in house prices as an equilibrium outcome. We provide empirical evidence for seasonality in house prices with our small model using US and UK data. -- |
| Keywords: | house prices,seasonality,optimal housing consumption |
| JEL: | D91 R21 R31 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:bubdp1:201108&r=ure |
| By: | Chen, Yong; Irwin, Elena G.; Jayaprakash, Ciriyam |
| Abstract: | In contrast to urban areas that are aptly characterized by a large population base and scarce land supply, exurban regions have limited households and plentiful land. This basic difference has far reaching implications for spatial equilibrium in exurban land markets. Rather than bidding their maximum willingness-to-pay and reaching a spatial equilibrium in which households are indifferent to location, as is the central condition of urban economic models, we argue that exurban households will be able to retain some amount of surplus in moving to an exurban location and therefore will choose the location that maximizes this locational surplus. In this paper, we first review the handful of structural spatial models of exurban land development that have been developed. We then develop a structural spatial model of exurban land development that captures these hypothesized features of exurban land markets using an auction model to represent household bidding and adapting the Capooza and Helsley (1990) model to represent landownersâ optimal timing of development. A key innovation of our approach is that, in the absence of full capitalization of land or location differences into land prices, households have preferences for some locations over others and thus it is possible to order household location choices in time and space. This greatly facilitates modeling of land use dynamics by enabling us to model location and land use decisions sequentially in time rather than assuming that all development is instantaneous for given levels of population and income in the region. In addition, the spatial agent-based simulation method that is used to implement the model permits an explicit examination of the implications of exurban land market conditions for the evolution of urban development pattern. Specifically, we ask whether these exurban market conditions explain the emergence and persistence of so-called leapfrog development that is characteristic of exurban regions. |
| Keywords: | Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:103641&r=ure |
| By: | Angrist, Joshua (MIT); Dynarski, Susan (University of Michigan); Kane, Thomas J. (Harvard University); Pathak, Parag A. (MIT); Walters, Christopher R. (MIT) |
| Abstract: | The nation's largest charter management organization is the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP). KIPP schools are emblematic of the No Excuses approach to public education, a highly standardized and widely replicated charter model that features a long school day, an extended school year, selective teacher hiring, strict behavior norms, and a focus on traditional reading and math skills. No Excuses charter schools are sometimes said to focus on relatively motivated high achievers at the expense of students who are most diffiult to teach, including limited English proficiency (LEP) and special education (SPED) students, as well as students with low baseline achievement levels. We use applicant lotteries to evaluate the impact of KIPP Academy Lynn, a KIPP school in Lynn, Massachusetts that typifies the KIPP approach. Our analysis focuses on special needs students that may be underserved. The results show average achievement gains of 0.36 standard deviations in math and 0.12 standard deviations in reading for each year spent at KIPP Lynn, with the largest gains coming from the LEP, SPED, and low-achievement groups. The average reading gains are driven almost completely by SPED and LEP students, whose reading scores rise by roughly 0.35 standard deviations for each year spent at KIPP Lynn. |
| Keywords: | human capital, charter schools, achievement |
| JEL: | I21 I28 |
| Date: | 2011–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5690&r=ure |
| By: | Li, Yarui; Leatham, David J. |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to compare the forecasting power of DFM and LBVAR models as they are used to forecast house price growth rates for 42 metropolitan areas in the United States. The forecasting performances of these two large-scale models are compared based on the Theil U-statistic. |
| Keywords: | Housing market, DFM, LBVAR, dynamic PCA, Demand and Price Analysis, |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:103667&r=ure |
| By: | Kim, SeungGyu; Cho, Seong-Hoon; Lambert, Dayton M.; Roberts, Roland K. |
| Keywords: | urban sprawl, spatial discrete-choice model, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:103750&r=ure |
| By: | Gregory Gilpin (Montana State University) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates how salary rigidities affect teacher quality across teaching subjects and high schools and whether high quality teachers can be compensated sufficiently to attract them into unfavorable schools. For identification, we rely on idiosyncratic variations in compensation across adjacent districts within the same state. The results indicate that, on average, math/science teachers’ scholastic aptitudes are 8.5 percentiles lower and humanities teachers are 4.5 percentiles lower compared to other teachers. Furthermore, we find that schools with higher percentages of student eligible for free lunch hire teachers with, on average, 7 to 17 percentiles lower scholastic aptitudes with the math/science teachers being even lower. Increases in lifetime compensation is found to raise the scholastic aptitude of teachers hired across all schools, with diminishing returns in schools with more favorable working conditions. However, the lower 26% of the teacher aptitude distribution seems to not respond to compensation at all with only marginal gains up to the 60th percentile. Furthermore, bonus/merit pay or additional school activity income do not seem to be significant in recruiting/retaining high aptitude teachers. |
| Date: | 2011–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:inu:caeprp:2011-004&r=ure |
| By: | Sheng Guo (Department of Economics, Florida International University); Umut Unal (Department of Economics, Florida International University) |
| Abstract: | We estimate the wealth effects of housing and stock market wealth using time-series data for eight developed countries. In estimation we employ the structural vector-autoregressive regressions (SVAR), which articulate the dynamic interactions of shocks to housing prices, stock values, and disposable incomes. Our results show that for these countries the initial consumption response to housing price shocks is greater than to stock market capitalization shocks, but the long-run consumption response to the latter is more persistent than to the former. |
| Keywords: | Wealth Effect, Consumption, Housing, Stock Market |
| JEL: | E21 E44 D12 D14 G12 R31 |
| Date: | 2011–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fiu:wpaper:1103&r=ure |
| By: | Twyman, Jennifer; Deere, Carmen Diana |
| Abstract: | This study conducts a gender analysis of homeownership in Ecuador, drawing upon data collected through the nationally-representative 2010 Ecuador Household Asset Survey carried out by the authors. The survey collected data on asset ownership both at the household and individual levels. This allows us to overcome a typical problem faced by gender analyses, that of only having the sex of the household head and not the sex of the owner(s). The study explores gender differences in homeownership and housing wealth. There is fairly equal distribution of homeownership and housing wealth, which is not all that surprising given the partial community property marital regime. Any property purchased during marriage or while in a consensual union is considered joint property, unless it is inherited, in which case it is considered individually-owned property. This plus the fact that housing is an asset typically acquired during marriage/consensual union may help explain the relatively egalitarian distribution pattern of housing ownership and housing wealth. There are, however, gender differences in the determinants of homeownership and housing wealth. Past migration is associated with women owning homes and owning more housing wealth but does not seem to impact menâs homeownership or housing wealth. An extra year of schooling increases menâs housing wealth more than womenâs housing wealth and women living in the coastal region own less housing wealth than men in the region. |
| Keywords: | homeownership, gender, marital regime, partial community property rights, Ecuador, International Development, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:103860&r=ure |
| By: | Lenka Šastná (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic); Martin Gregor (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic) |
| Abstract: | We measure cost efficiency of 202 Czech municipalities of extended scope in period 2003-2008. The study is the first application of overall efficiency measurement of the local governments in the new EU member states, and the second in post-communist countries. We measure government efficiency through established quantitative and qualitative indicators of the provision of education, cultural facilities, infrastructure and other local services. First, we employ non-parametric approach of the data envelopment analysis and adjust the efficiency scores by bootstrapping. Second, we employ the stochastic frontier analysis and control for effects of various demographic, economic, and political variables. We compare scores under our preferred specification, i.e. pseudo-translog time-variant stochastic-frontier analysis with determinants, with alternative scores. The determinants that robustly increase inefficiency are population size, distance to the regional center, share of university-educated citizens, capital expenditures, subsidies per capita, and the share of self-generated revenues. Concerning political variables, increase in party concentration and the voters' involvement increases efficiency, and local council with a lower share of left-wing representatives also tend to be more efficient. We interpret determinants both as indicators of slack, non-discretionary inputs, and unobservable outputs. The analysis is conducted also for the period 1994-1996, where political variables appear to influence inefficiency in a structurally different way. From comparison of the two periods, we obtain that small municipalities improve efficiency significantly more that large municipalities. |
| Keywords: | Public spending efficiency, Data Envelopment Analysis, Stochastic Frontier Analysis, local governments |
| JEL: | D24 H72 |
| Date: | 2011–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fau:wpaper:wp2011_14&r=ure |
| By: | Zhou, Xia (Vivian) |
| Abstract: | The idea of elderly in-migrants as an important factor or stimulus to local economic development (Serow, 2001) has been confirmed by quite a few studies such as Bennett (1993); Carlson, Junk, Fox, Rudzitis, & Cann (1998); Day & Barlett (2000); Hodge (1991); Serow & Haas (1992); and Stallmann, Deller, & Shields (1999). Large-scale elderly in-migrants can bring several benefits to local economy. First, they can increase property and sales taxes, counties' largest source of revenues, without directly increasing their greatest expense such as public education; also, in-migrant retirees as a large portion of elderly do not compete for jobs so that most of counties consider them as net economic assets (Day & Barlett, 2000; Glasgow, 1991; Graff & Wiseman, 1990; Rowles & Watkins, 1993; Schneider & Green, 1992). Second, large-scale elderly in-migrants can increase local sales and capital pool through investments and savings (Campbell, 2005). Third, they can stimulate job creation and service development (Campbell, 2005). Thus, more and more counties are competing for elderly in-migrants as a source of local economic development. The question of what factors attract elderly in-migrants has been put forwarded by county governors who need to make good strategies or policies to pull them in. However, most previous studies on analyzing those factors of elderly in-migrants have been focused from macro levels such as national perspective, southern US, or state level. Little research has been conducted from a micro level of counties which are increasingly competing for elderly in-migrants with each other. The objective of this study is to determine the factors to attract elderly in-migrants from the perspective of counties in Tennessee. The main contribution of this study is to find out the county characteristics in Tennessee that attract elderly in-migrants and then provide policy implications for county governors on how to pull them in. Literatures such as Serow et al (1996 and 2001), Longino (1995), Newbold (1996), Campbell (2005), Gabriel and Rosenthal (2000) provide intuition and background for empirical models used to do the regression analysis in this paper. According to these studies, the factors of elderly in-migrants, in terms of county characteristics, include economic and non economic aspects such as income, employment, taxes, education, safety/crime rates, population (or population density), and elderly population rate. Based on these factors, the following empirical models are set up to do the regression analysis. A linear fixed-effect model is the conceptual model for this paper, instead of random effect model, because only individuals of the sample obtained are focused on and inferences are drawn restricted to these individuals within the sample (Baltagi, 2005). In other words, the linear fixed-effect model is an appropriate specification for this paper because the sample selected in this paper includes all the counties in Tennessee so that the sample is not randomly selected. Also, only those counties in Tennessee are focused on, and inferences are drawn restricted to those counties in Tennessee. Furthermore, Hausman tests are conducted in the next section to confirm that fixed-effect models should be used instead of random effect models (Baltagi, 2005). Two groups of linear fixed-effect empirical models are used to do the regression analysis. The dependent variable for the first group is in migration rate (per 100 persons) of the 60-plus cohort, which is interpreted as a percentage; and the dependent variable for the second group is in migration rate (per 100 persons) of the 67-plus cohort, which is interpreted as a percentage. The independent variables for the two groups include percentage of people with 65-plus over the whole population, percentage share of police expenditure over total expenditure, percentage share of highway expenditure over total expenditure, percentage of white people over the whole population, percentage of population with high school degree over the whole population, medium family income, property tax assessment, employment, population or population density, county dummy, and year dummies. Data is county level and collected through US Census Bureau. The data includes ninety-five counties in Tennessee for five years of 1962, 1972, 1982, 1992, and 2002 (see table 2 for data statistics summary). Also, the data is balanced except that in migration rate (per 100 persons) of the 67-plus cohort for 2002 cannot be obtained. 475 observations are used to be regressed for the first group of models and 380 observations are used to be regressed for the second group since data for 2002 has to be dropped for the second group. Stata software is applied to do the regression for the two groups of fixed-effect models. The results indicate that the elderly in-migration rate is positively correlated to the share of elderly people over the whole population, the rate of people with high school degree, medium family income, and population (or population density). Also, it is no difference in terms of the results either population or population density is used as one of the independent variables. County governors could make appropriate strategies or policies to pull those elderly in according to the results by improving amenities or life quality for elderly in each county. The weakness of this paper is that it is hard to test the endogeneity of independent variables because 1) there is no instrumental variables so that the hausman test result calculated from the difference between the original model and 2SLS cannot be conducted; and 2) it is hard to get all the factors out of the error term as explanatory variables and as a result, it is difficult not to allow correlation between the explanatory variables and unobserved factors in the error term. |
| Keywords: | Elderly In-Migrants, Fixed-Effect Model, and Tennessee, Community/Rural/Urban Development, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:103447&r=ure |
| By: | Wright, Christopher; Halstead, John M. |
| Abstract: | The delivery of municipal services for the collection, transfer, and disposal of household solid waste is often provided by local governmental units; typically at the town or city level. Unit-based pricing, also known as pay-as-you-throw (PAYT), is a residential solid waste collection program requiring households to pay a fee per bag of trash disposed. Unit-based pricing represents a significant departure from the historical practice of financing solid waste service from property tax revenues in which the marginal cost to a household for disposing solid waste is effectively zero. Local governments are motivated to adopt unit-based pricing for the purpose of creating a financial incentive for households to reduce the quantity of solid waste disposed and concurrently increasing the level of recycled materials. The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of unit-based pricing of household solid waste disposal. A counter-factual model is used to estimate the program effect. The study area for this paper consists of the 234 incorporated towns and cities in the state of New Hampshire. As of 2008, 40 towns had adopted a form of unit-based pricing of household solid waste. Results from propensity score matching suggest there is an average annual reduction of 466 pounds of household solid waste due to unit-based pricing. |
| Keywords: | Propensity score matching, unit-based pricing, pay-as-you-throw, municiapl solid waste, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2011–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:103812&r=ure |
| By: | Pede, Valerien O.; Huelgas, Zenaida; Villano, Lorena; Garcia, Cornelia; Mckinley, Justin D.; Mohanty, Samarendu |
| Abstract: | Investigating the determinants of economic growth remains a long research tradition in the economic growth literature. Most studies in this literature have tried to link economic growth and different economic factors using either neoclassical growth theories or endogenous growth approaches. These studies apply these growth theories to identify the factors responsible for the observed differences/disparities between regions or countries. While early studies focused on cross-country analyses, the recent most studies consider regions or sub-national entities as unit of analysis. This has raised the question of whether theories developed for cross-country analysis could be automatically applied for regional or sub-national analysis. Given the profound difference between nations and regions in terms of degree of openness, theories developed in cross-country analysis may not be automatically applied in regional analysis (see Mangrini, 2004). However, properly accounting for the spatial interaction effects may provide a way to use these theories in regional analysis. Regional analysis of economic growth has therefore spurned the development of specialized quantitative methods designed to account for the spatial dimensions of higher resolution, spatially referenced data. The goal of this research is to investigate the process of regional economic growth in the Philippines focusing on provincial data. Previous studies on regional growth within the Philippines have analyzed the regional growth process following neoclassical growth models or endogenous growth models without explicitly modeling spatial dependence between regions and the role of spillover effects. Traditional growth regressions with ordinary least squares may yield biased or inconsistent estimates if spatial autocorrelation is present but have been accounted for. This paper uses spatial econometrics techniques to estimate three theoretical growth models: the unconditional growth model, the Solow model and the Mankiw Romer and Weil model. Investment and human capital were found to be the main drivers of economic growth. |
| Keywords: | Community/Rural/Urban Development, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:103651&r=ure |
| By: | David C Maré (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research); Richard Fabling (Reserve Bank of New Zealand); Steven Stillman (Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, IZA and CReAM) |
| Abstract: | We combine firm-level innovation data with area-level Census data to examine the relationship between local workforce characteristics, especially the presence of immigrants and local skills, and the likelihood of innovation by firms. We examine a range of innovation outcomes, and test the relationship for selected subgroups of firms. We find a positive relationship between local workforce characteristics and average innovation outcomes in labour market areas, but this is accounted for by variation in firm characteristics such as firm size, industry, and research and development expenditure. Controlling for these influences, we find no systematic evidence of an independent link between local workforce characteristics and innovation. |
| Keywords: | Innovation; Immigration; Local labour market |
| JEL: | O31 R30 |
| Date: | 2011–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:201110&r=ure |
| By: | Giovanni Anania; Rosanna Nisticò (Dipartimento di Economia e Statistica, Università della Calabria) |
| Abstract: | Price dispersion, i.e. a homogeneous product sold at different prices by different sellers, is among the most replicated findings in empirical economics. The paper assesses the extent and determinants of spatial price dispersion for 14 perfectly homogeneous food products in more than 400 retailers in a market characterized by the persistence of a large number of relatively small traditional food stores, side by side large supermarkets. The extent of observed price dispersion is quite high, suggesting that monopolistic competition prevails as a result of the heterogeneity of services offered. When prices in an urban area (where the spatial concentration of sellers is much higher and consumer search costs significantly lower) have been compared with those in smaller towns and rural areas, differences in search costs and the potentially higher degree of competition did not yield lower prices; quite the contrary, they were, on average, higher for 11 of the 14 products considered. Supermarkets proved to be often, but not always, less expensive than traditional retailers, although average savings from food shopping at supermarkets were extremely low. Finally, the results of the study suggest that sellers behave differently in their pricing strategies; these differences emerge both at the firm level, and for supermarkets within the same chain. The fact that products considered were homogeneous, purchases frequently repeated, the number of sellers large, and search costs relatively low, did not suffice to keep price dispersion low. From the results presented in the paper, it is clear that what is important in explaining price dispersion is the contemporaneous heterogeneity of retailers (in terms of services) and consumers (in terms of search and shopping preferences), which makes it possible for a monopolistic competition structure of the market to emerge and for small traditional food retailers to remain in business. |
| Keywords: | Price dispersion, Retail pricing, Food markets |
| JEL: | L81 D83 D43 Q13 |
| Date: | 2011–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:clb:wpaper:201105&r=ure |
| By: | Nordin, Martin (Department of Economics, Lund University) |
| Abstract: | Recent research has shown that there is a substantial skill difference in Sweden between natives and second-generation immigrants. The objective of this study is to find out whether there exists a relationship between ethnic school segregation and the individual’s human capital. The variation in ethnic concentration rate between cohorts within a school generally does not affect the individual’s human capital outcome. However when estimating specific peer influences between different ethnic groups (first-generation immigrants, second generation immigrants with two foreign-born parent and second generation immigrants with one foreign-born parent) the study shows three major findings. First, for men (both natives and second-generation immigrants) there is a general negative effect of having a large share of first-generation immigrant schoolmates. Second, for both men and women a large share of schoolmates with a completely foreign background (non-native parents) has a negative influence on the Swedish grades of second-generation immigrants with two foreign-born parents. Third, for men there seem to exist specific and positive peer influences within the groups of second-generation immigrants with either one or two foreign-born parents. |
| Keywords: | Ethnic Segregation; second-generation immigrants; human capital test score gap |
| JEL: | I21 J24 |
| Date: | 2011–04–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lunewp:2011_014&r=ure |
| By: | Barbara S. Grave |
| Abstract: | There is a large literature on the influence of institutional characteristics on student academic achievement. In contrast, relatively little research focuses on student time allocation and its effects on student performance. This paper contributes to the literature by investigating the effect of student time allocation on the average grade of undergraduate students, by gender, ability and field of study. The results suggest that time spent on attending courses is positively associated with grades for females, high ability students and students of Social Sciences and Sciences/Engineering. Spending time on self-study, on other study-related activities or on working as a student assistant or tutor is positively correlated with grades for almost all students. Devoting time for attending tutorials or student work groups is negatively correlated with grades if the ability of the students is below average or if they study Sciences/ Engineering. Using a translog production function, the results indicate that spending time on courses, on self-study, and on other study-related activities are substitutes. However, time spent on courses and time spent on working as a student assistant or tutor are complements. |
| Keywords: | Student time allocation; student performance; educational production function |
| JEL: | I21 J2 |
| Date: | 2010–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rwi:repape:0235&r=ure |
| By: | Hitoshi Saito (Graduate School of Economics, Osaka University) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the mutual reference behavior of local governments in Japan. The Japanese public education system was decentralized in the previous decade. For example, actual fixed number of classes was relaxed in 2001 and 2003. This relaxation of regulations caused an increase in the expenditure of local governments on Japanese public education. After national regulation relaxed under the condition of children decline, local governments tended to reference the decision making of other local governments. Consequently, this paper analyzed the mutual reference behavior in Japanese public education. In addition, it inferred that population aging had some impact on public education expenditure. This paper provides a tentative conclusion on the relaxation of regulations on education. The expenditure of local governments on public education is positively affected by the expenditure of other local governments. Local governments should increase expenditure on public education if other local governments do so. In addition, the decision making of local governments is affected by not only neighboring governments but also all other governments. If this decision making were affected only by neighborhood, the effect of mutual reference behaviors would probably be small. In addition, this paper also shows that local governments may decrease public education expenditure, considering the progressive aging of society. |
| Keywords: | Public education, Educational finance, Aging, Local government behaviors |
| JEL: | I22 I28 H75 |
| Date: | 2011–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osk:wpaper:1115&r=ure |
| By: | Zipp, Katherine; Lewis, David; Provencher, Bill |
| Keywords: | Land-use change, spatial modeling, Land Economics/Use, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:103626&r=ure |
| By: | Jordan, Jeffrey; Mykerezi, Elton; Kostandini, Genti; Mills, Bradford |
| Keywords: | Community/Rural/Urban Development, Labor and Human Capital, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:103938&r=ure |
| By: | Hannah Schürenberg-Frosch |
| Abstract: | We show with the aid of pooled OLS estimations that investments in improved road infrastructure have the potential to signicantly reduce transport costs. However, this result can only be clearly conrmed for industrial countries and is of primary importance for production and transportation of agricultural goods. For developing and transition countries we find other determinants such as weather conditions to be more important in determining transport costs. A key variable, especially in these countries, is corruption. At very high levels corruption has the potential to prevent positive effects from roads on transport costs or to even reverse them. This paper contributes to the literature on infrastructure investment by introducing and applying an internationally comparable measure of transport costs which can be calculated for a large and growing number of countries. We isolate important determinants of transport costs and provide insights into international and sectoral differences concerning the impact of roads on transport costs. We conclude that investment in transport infrastructure can have substantial positive effects especially on agricultural production and the ecient marketing of agricultural products but only if specic conditions are in place. |
| Keywords: | Infrastructure, Transport networks, Transport costs, Agriculture, public investment, development |
| JEL: | O11 R42 O18 |
| Date: | 2011–04–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:got:cegedp:122&r=ure |
| By: | Galloway, Taryn A.; Pudney, Stephen |
| Abstract: | We construct linked register data on five Norwegian birth cohorts, covering: criminal charges after age 15; family characteristics and history up to age 15; and (for males) IQ test scores. A longitudinal analysis of the risk of initiation into crime in early adulthood suggests an increased risk for the children of young and unmarried mothers and for those experiencing disruptive family events including divorce or maternal death during childhood. There is a relationship between continuity of parental employment and reduced risk, with no evidence of harm from mothers employment. Cognitive ability remains strongly associated with reduced risk after allowing for family history and circumstances. |
| Date: | 2011–05–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ese:iserwp:2011-11&r=ure |
| By: | Swindall, Devin C.; Willis, David B.; Boys, Kathryn A.; Hughes, David W. |
| Abstract: | Supporters claim that entrepreneurship is critical to building and sustaining the regional economies of urban and rural areas across the nation. Proponents argue that economic development practices that enhance and support entrepreneurship are essential because they cultivate innovation which, in turn, creates new jobs, new wealth, and a better quality of life. However, South Carolinaâs real self-employed per capita income has decreased over the last decade. This downward trend highlights the need to examine the drivers of entrepreneurial income. The income of self-employed workers, as opposed to the number of self-employed, is critical to economic development because a major goal of economic policy is to increase incomes not just employment. Identifying and quantifying the personal, cultural, and economic factors that influence self-employed income provides policy makers with another tool to enhance economic development policies. This study uses data from the American Community Survey for South Carolina in both an ordinary regression approach and a quantile regression approach to investigate the relationship between individual entrepreneurial income and individual personal attributes, social/institutional assets available to the entrepreneur, and the regional economic environment the entrepreneur operates within. Personal attributes, such as education and sex, and the importance of self-employed income to total family income are significant variables in explaining income variation among self-employed individuals. |
| Keywords: | Self-employed income, entrepreneurship, quantile regression, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Labor and Human Capital, R11, R12, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:103957&r=ure |
| By: | Abbott, Joshua K.; Klaiber, H. Allen |
| Abstract: | Urban lakes located in arid environments require large quantities of water to maintain their water levels, with much of this water associated with high opportunity costs. Many of these lakes are manmade and provide various amenities to surrounding residents. In this paper we use matching techniques to recover the average capitalized value of lakes to surrounding communities and differentiate between community members and adjacent households to recover heterogeneous treatment effects. Importantly, we consider the role of both unobservable and observable features of matching to recover heterogeneous capitalization across lake communities. Our results suggest that the capitalized value of lakes to community residents is highly heterogeneous and ranges from an annual value of -$29 to +$20 per homeowner per acre foot of water. These results suggest that small changes in water pricing could remove the surplus benefits of lakes to community residents. |
| Keywords: | Matching, Treatment effects, Urban lakes, Capitalization, Environmental Economics and Policy, Political Economy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea11:103781&r=ure |
| By: | Roberta Occhilupo (Bank of Italy, Economics, research and international relations); Giuliana Palumbo (Bank of Italy, Economics, research and international relations); Paolo Sestito (Bank of Italy, Economics, research and international relations) |
| Abstract: | The paper discusses the economic problem and the institutional features underlying the Nimby syndrome, and illustrates preliminary empirical evidence for Italy. It argues that siting procedures taking local preferences into account should be preferred when the heterogeneity in preferences across communities is greater than the heterogeneity in constructing and operating costs across sites. The elicitation of preferences is better pursued through auction-like mechanisms rather than multilateral negotiations if: the characteristics of the facility and the institutional context are such that credible information about the risks associated with the facility are available; conflicting preferences at the local level can be preliminarily aggregated; and compensations are mainly monetary. Empirical results suggest that the intensity of local opposition is greater when the perceived risk associated with the facility is higher and more concentrated, and the communication between different levels of government poor. The conflict between highly centralized siting procedures and highly decentralized administrative institutions, the difficulty of providing credible information about the risks associated with the facility, and low political commitment are identified as the critical points. |
| Keywords: | siting procedures, local preferences, constructing and operating costs, auction, negotiation |
| JEL: | D73 D82 H7 D44 |
| Date: | 2011–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_91_11&r=ure |