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on Urban and Real Estate Economics |
| By: | Kenneth Kuttner (Williams College) |
| Abstract: | This paper revisits the relationship between interest rates and house prices. Surveying a number of recent studies and bringing to bear some new evidence on the question, this paper argues that in the data, the impact of interest rates on house prices appears to be quite modest. Specifically, the estimated effects are uniformly smaller than those implied by the conventional user cost theory of house prices, and they are too small to explain the previous decade’s real estate boom in the U.S. and elsewhere. However in some countries, there does appear to have been a link between the rapid expansion of the monetary base and growth in house prices and housing credit. |
| JEL: | E52 E44 E65 |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wil:wileco:2012-01&r=ure |
| By: | Peter Friedrich; Chang Woon Nam |
| Abstract: | This study investigates major features of land-use strategies that German municipalities have adopted to attract innovative firms (IFs). In this context a two-stage competition model is introduced: firstly a municipality should solve economic and interest conflicts related to its preference for high-quality sites for IFs against the land needs of simple manufacturers. The second part of the model describes location competition among municipalities with high-quality sites for the location of IFs. German municipal land-use policy is well combined with industrial policy; this paper reveals the strengths and weaknesses of the urban real estate market in Potsdam, and its future opportunities and risks as the location of different economic activities are determined in the planning process. Science Park Adlershof (Berlin) is an output of the spatial-oriented technology policy, which creates incubators for innovative SMEs. Municipalities also cooperate, since it provides larger sites, generates economies of scale and contributes to a smooth suburbanisation process (see Leipzig). |
| Keywords: | Land-use Policy, Municipal Regional Competition, Two-stage Competition Model, Zoning, Technology Park |
| JEL: | H42 H54 L3 O18 O3 R14 R52 R58 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtk:febawb:84&r=ure |
| By: | David Albouy (University of Michigan); Fernando Leibovici (New York University); Casey Warman (Queen's University) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents the first hedonic general-equilibrium estimates of quality-of-life and firm productivity differences across Canadian cities, using data on local wages and housing costs. These estimates account for the unobservability of land rents and geographic differences in federal and provincial tax burdens. Quality of life estimates are generally higher in Canada’s larger cities: Victoria, Vancouver are the nicest overall, particularly for Anglophones, while Montreal and Ottawa are the nicest for Francophones. These estimates are positively correlated with estimates in the popular literature and may be explained by differences in climate. Toronto is Canada’s most productive city; Vancouver, the overall most valued city. |
| Keywords: | quality of life, firm productivity, cost-of-living, firm productivity, compensating wage differentials |
| JEL: | H24 H5 H77 J61 R1 |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qed:wpaper:1287&r=ure |
| By: | Yelowitz, Aaron; Scott, Frank; Beck, Jason |
| Abstract: | We examine the market structure for real estate brokerage services across six large metropolitan areas, by collecting more than 300,000 real estate listings and computing the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) for each neighborhood. When we divide neighborhoods based on income, house value, and race, we find no evidence of redlining; that is, the market structure for brokerage services is at least as competitive in less advantaged neighborhoods as it is in more advantaged ones. |
| Keywords: | HHI; real estate brokerage competition; Herfindahl-Hirschman Index; redlining |
| JEL: | L85 |
| Date: | 2011–12–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:35608&r=ure |
| By: | S Bradley; Jim Taylor; G Migali |
| Abstract: | We evaluate the effect on test scores of a UK education reform which has increased <br/>funding of schools and encouraged their specialisation in particular subject areas, enhancing pupil choice and competition between schools. Using several data sets, we apply cross-sectional and difference-in-differences matching models, to confront issues of the choice of an appropriate control group and different forms of selection bias. We demonstrate a statistically significant causal effect of the specialist schools policy on test score outcomes. The duration of specialisation matters, and we consistently find that the longer a school has been specialist the larger is the impact on test scores. We finally disentangle the funding effect from a specialisation effect, and the latter occurs yielding relatively large improvements in test scores in particular subjects. |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lan:wpaper:928&r=ure |
| By: | Ohinata, Asako (Tilburg University); van Ours, Jan C. (Tilburg University) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we analyze how the share of immigrant children in the classroom affects the educational attainment of native Dutch children. Our analysis uses data from various sources, which allow us to characterize educational attainment in terms of reading literacy, mathematical skills and science skills. We do not find strong evidence of negative spill-over effects from immigrant children to native Dutch children. Immigrant children themselves experience negative language spill-over effects from a high share of immigrant children in the classroom but no spill-over effects on maths and science skills. |
| Keywords: | immigrant children, peer effects, educational attainment |
| JEL: | I21 J15 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6212&r=ure |
| By: | Derek Stacey (Queen's University) |
| Abstract: | I propose a model of the housing market using a search framework with asymmetric information in which sellers are unable to commit to asking prices announced ex ante. Relaxing the commitment assumption prevents sellers from using price posting as a signalling device to direct buyers` search. Adverse selection and inefficient entry on the demand side then contribute to housing market illiquidity. Real estate agents that can improve the expected quality of a match can segment the market and alleviate information frictions. Even if one endorses the view that real estate agents provide no technological advantage in the matching process, incentive compatible listing contracts are implementable as long as housing is not already sufficiently liquid. The theoretical implications are qualitatively consistent with the empirical observations of real estate brokerage: platform differentiation, endogenous sorting, and listing contract features that reinforce incentive compatibility. |
| Keywords: | Housing, Search, Liquidity, Real Estate Agents |
| JEL: | D40 D44 D83 R31 |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qed:wpaper:1288&r=ure |
| By: | Robert Metcalfe; Simon Burgess; Steven Proud |
| Abstract: | We use a sharp, exogenous and repeated change in the value of leisure to identify the impact of student effort on educational achievement. The treatment arises from the partial overlap of the world’s major international football tournaments with the exam period in England. Our data enable a clean difference-in-difference design. Performance is measured using the high-stakes tests that all students take at the end of compulsory schooling. We find a strongly significant effect: the average impact of a fall in effort is 0.12 SDs of student performance, significantly larger for male and disadvantaged students, as high as many educational policies. |
| Keywords: | Student effort, Educational achievement, Schools |
| JEL: | I20 J24 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:wpaper:586&r=ure |
| By: | Nielsen, Helena Skyt (University of Aarhus); Schindler Rangvid, Beatrice (Danish Institute of Governmental Research) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we employ register data for eight cohorts of second-generation immigrant pupils to identify the impact of each parent's years since migration on their children's school achievements. We exploit local variation in years since migration and within-family variation. We find evidence of a positive impact of parents' years since migration on children's academic achievement. Mothers' years of residence tend to be more important for Danish, while fathers' years of residence tend to be more important for math. The effects vary by gender, and family-specific effects influence girls' and boys' educational attainment differently. |
| Keywords: | intergenerational mobility, years since migration, scholastic achievement, immigrant children, second generation, fixed effects |
| JEL: | I21 J12 J62 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6242&r=ure |
| By: | Abrigo, Michael Ralph M.; Ramaswami, Bharat; Desierto, Desiree A. |
| Abstract: | Outward migration data from the Philippines exhibit spatial clustering. This is likely due to information spillover effects--fellow migrants share information with other neighboring migrants, thereby lowering the costs of migration. To verify this, we use spatial econometrics to define a geography-based network of migrants and estimate its effect on the growth in the number of succeeding migrants. We find that current and past migration from one municipality induces contemporaneous and future migration in neighboring municipalities. |
| Keywords: | migration, Philippines, fiduciary system, global imbalances, network effects, spatial econometrics |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:phd:dpaper:dp_2011-18&r=ure |
| By: | Manasan, Rosario G.; Cuenca, Janet S.; Celestino, Alicia B. |
| Abstract: | Basic public education is still largely the responsibility of the central government, delivered through the Department of Education (DepEd), notwithstanding the devolution of many basic services to local government units (LGUs). However, LGUs do provide supplementary funding support to public basic education because they have access to a sustainable source of financial resources that are earmarked for the basic education subsector, the Special Education Fund (SEF). The SEF comes from an additional one percent tax on real property that LGUs are mandated to impose and collect by virtue of Republic Act 7160 otherwise known as the Local Government Code of 1991.The resources that LGUs provide to the basic education sector from their general fund are quite significant at 7 percent of total general government spending on basic education in 2001-2008. Thus, the LGUs are considered major partners of the national government in the delivery of basic education services. In this light, the study examines the management of the SEF in terms of collection, allocation, and utilization in order to maximize LGUs` support for the Education for All (EFA) initiative and to promote a more equitable allocation of resources for basic education.However, there are significant disparities in per pupil SEF spending across LGUs of different income classes and in different regions. LGUs in urban areas (i.e., cities and the large municipalities) where property values are high tend to have larger tax bases. These disparities have significant implications on the ability of the LGUs to provide additional support to the basic education sector.In terms of spending priorities, some of the major findings of the study include: (i) maintenance and other operating expenditures captured the biggest chunk of the total SEF spending of all LGUs in the aggregate (40%) while capital outlays and personal services garnered an average of 32 percent and 29 percent of LGUs total SEF spending in 2001-2008; (ii) repair/maintenance and construction of school buildings tops the list of SEF spending priorities in the sample Provincial School Boards (PSBs) and the sample City School Boards (CSBs); and (iii) relatively large portions (20%-50%) of the SEF are set aside for sports and other co-curricular activities and programs of the DepEd.The findings of the study highlight the need to improve the governance of Local School Boards (LSBs). Related to this, the measures proposed include: (i) clearer guidelines on preparation of the LSB budget, (ii) the establishment of needs-based criteria in allocating SEF across schools to ensure its efficient and effective use, and (iii) institutionalization of greater transparency between DepEd and LGUs in terms of reporting of resources that schools receive from the DepEd budget, on the one hand, and actual SEF collections and its utilization during the budget year, on the other hand, in order to foster better working relationship in the LSB. |
| Keywords: | Philippines, chained index, consistency in aggregation, basic public education, Special Education Fund (SEF), Local School Board (LSB), basic education financing |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:phd:dpaper:dp_2011-07&r=ure |
| By: | Ortega, Javier (City University London); Verdugo, Gregory (Bank of France) |
| Abstract: | Using the Public Use Microdata Files of the 2001 and 2006 Canadian Censuses, we study the determinants of the assimilation of language minorities into the city majority language. We show that official minority members (i.e. francophones in English-speaking cities and anglophones in French-speaking cities) assimilate less than the "allophones" (the individuals with a mother tongue other than English or French), and that immigrants generally assimilate less than natives. In addition, the language composition of cities is shown to be an important determinant of assimilation both for allophones and for official minorities. Finally, we show that assimilation into French in French-majority cities is lower than assimilation into English in English-majority cities even when controlling for the language composition of the cities and including a rich set of language dummies. |
| Keywords: | immigration, assimilation, language policies, minorities |
| JEL: | F22 J15 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6243&r=ure |
| By: | Lindbeck, Assar (Stockholm University); Palme, Mårten (Stockholm University); Persson, Mats (IIES, Stockholm University) |
| Abstract: | In many countries, sickness absence financed by generous insurance benefits has become an important concern in the policy debate. It turns out that there are strong variations in absence behavior between local geographical areas, and it has been difficult to explain these variations by observable socioeconomic factors. In this paper we investigate whether such variation is related to group effects in the form of social interaction among individuals within neighborhoods. Well-known methodological problems arise when trying to answer such a question. A special feature of our attempt to deal with these problems is that we adopt several alternative approaches to identify group effects. We base the study on a rich set of Swedish panel data, and we find indications of group effects in each one of our approaches. |
| Keywords: | sick-pay insurance, work absence, moral hazard, reflection problem, social norms |
| JEL: | H56 I38 J22 Z13 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6245&r=ure |
| By: | Francisco Gallego; Juan-Pablo Montero; Christian Salas |
| Abstract: | In an effort to reduce air pollution and congestion, Latin American cities have experimented with different policies to persuade drivers to give up their cars in favor of public transport. Two notable examples are the driving restriction program introduced in Mexico-City in November of 1989 –Hoy-No-Circula (HNC)– and the public transport reform carried out in Santiago in February of 2007 –Transantiago (TS). We develop a simple model of car use and ownership, and show that policies that may appear effective in the short run can be highly detrimental in the long run, i.e., after households have adjusted their stock of vehicles. Based on hourly concentration records of carbon monoxide, which comes primarily from vehicles exhaust, we find that household’s responses to both HNC and TS have been remarkably similar and consistent with the above: an expected short-run response followed by a rapid (before 11 months) increase in the stock of vehicles. |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ioe:doctra:407&r=ure |
| By: | Jim Taylor |
| Abstract: | This paper challenges the view held by the UK Government that the introduction of the English Baccalaureate will lead to an improvement in educational outcomes in secondary education. Evidence is presented to show that this new qualification is biased against disadvantaged pupils from low-income families, pupils with special needs, and pupils who have little inclination to study a foreign language. Furthermore, the English Baccalaureate is deeply flawed when used as a school performance indicator and should not be included in the School Performance Tables. |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lan:wpaper:927&r=ure |
| By: | Vincent Anesi (University of Nottingham); Philippe De Donder (Toulouse School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | We build a simple model of secession crises where a majority of voters may wish to accommodate the minority in order to prevent a secession attempt. We first show the existence of a majority voting equilibrium, where the median voter is decisive and most prefers a government’s type that is biased in favor of the minority. We then propose a measure of the secession risk at equilibrium and perform the comparative static analysis of the equilibrium policy location and of the secession risk with respect to several parameters: the cultural distinctiveness of the two regions, the relative weight attached by voters to economic (centripetal) -as opposed to (centrifugal) ideological- factors, the relative size of the minority region, the (exogenous) probability that a secession attempt is successful, and the intra-regional heterogeneity of preferences. |
| Keywords: | Majority voting, secession risk, cultural distinctiveness, conflict, overlapping regional preferences |
| JEL: | D72 D74 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ieb:wpaper:2011/12/doc2011-40&r=ure |
| By: | S Bradley; Jim Taylor |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the extent to which exam performance at the end of compulsory education has been affected by three major education reforms: the introduction of a quasi-market following the Education Reform Act (1988); the specialist schools initiative introduced in 1994; and the Excellence in Cities programme introduced in 1999. We use data for all state-funded secondary schools in England over the period 1992-2006. The empirical analysis, which is based on the application of panel data methods, indicates that the government and its agencies have substantially overestimated the benefits flowing from these three major reforms. Only about one-third of the improvement in GCSE exam scores during 1992-2006 is directly attributable to the combined effect of the education reforms. The distributional consequences of the policy, however, are estimated to have been favourable, with the greatest gains being achieved by schools with the highest proportion of pupils from poor families. But there is evidence that resources have not been allocated efficiently. |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lan:wpaper:936&r=ure |
| By: | Douglas Almond; Bhashkar Mazumder; Reyn van Ewijk |
| Abstract: | We consider the effects of daytime fasting by pregnant women during the lunar month of Ramadan on their children's test scores at age seven. Using English register data, we find that scores are .05 to .08 standard deviations lower for Pakistani and Bangladeshi students exposed to Ramadan in early pregnancy. These estimates are downward biased to the extent that Ramadan is not universally observed. We conclude that the effects of prenatal investments on test scores are comparable to many conventional educational interventions but are likely to be more cost effective and less subject to "fade out". |
| JEL: | I12 I14 I24 J15 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17713&r=ure |
| By: | Aiello, Francesco; Pupo, Valeria; Ricotta, Fernand |
| Abstract: | This study considers how firms’ internal variables and regional factors affect the total factor productivity of Italian manufacturing firms. Due to of the hierarchical structure of data in estimation, we employ a multilevel model. Results, which refer to 2006, show the importance of firm-specific determinants of TFP, but at the same time confirm the role of regional context in explaining the gap in TFP levels which exist between the South and the North of Italy. In this respect, we show that northern firms are localised in regions with adequate endowment of infrastructure, with efficient public administration and with high R&D intensity and, as a result of these factors, perform better than firms operating in less well endowed regions. |
| Keywords: | Manufacturing Firms; Total Factor Productivity; Italian Regional Divide; Multilevel Models |
| JEL: | R11 O14 L60 |
| Date: | 2011–12–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:35656&r=ure |
| By: | Kato, Takao (Colgate University); Shu, Pian (MIT) |
| Abstract: | Using data on team assignment and weekly output for all weavers in an urban Chinese textile firm between April 2003 and March 2004, this paper studies a) how randomly assigned teammates affect an individual worker's behavior under a tournament-style incentive scheme, and b) how such effects interact with exogenously formed social networks in the manufacturing workplace. First, we find that a worker's performance improves when the average ability of her teammates increases. Second, we exploit the exogenous variations in workers' origins in the presence of the well-documented social divide between urban resident workers and rural migrant workers in large urban Chinese firms, and show that the coworker effects are only present if the teammates are of a different origin. In other words, workers do not act on pecuniary incentives to outperform teammates who are from the same social network. Our results point to the important role of group identities in overcoming self-interests and facilitating altruistic behavior. |
| Keywords: | coworker effects in the workplace, social networks, intergroup competition |
| JEL: | M5 J24 L2 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6219&r=ure |
| By: | Frédéric Dobruszkes |
| Abstract: | Increasingly air transport growth raises the question of its impact on the environment. Public authorities and researchers are relying more and more on high-speed trains (HSTs), whose efficiency is supposed to lead to a modal shift from airplanes. However, most transport studies focus on the evolution of demand rather than supply, although it is basically the latter that determines environmental damage. In light of this fact, this paper aims to compare the overall dynamics in the supply of air transport in Europe compared to the HST supply and to examine empirically five city-pairs. The development of high-speed rail remains limited compared to the increase of air services. For a given city-pair, the decline in the number of flights depends on various conditions, including length of the HST journey and the strategies adopted by the airlines. Some carriers reduce their supply in terms of the number of seats but increase the number of flights in order to compete more effectively with the HSTs. Moreover, the competition between low-cost airlines and HSTs should be kept in mind and re-examined in a few years. |
| Keywords: | High-speed train; High-speed rail; Air transport; Intermodal comp |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulb:ulbeco:2013/96164&r=ure |
| By: | Desquilbet, Marion; Monier-Dilhan, Sylvette |
| Abstract: | The paper provides a theoretical framework to analyze the effects of Protected Designation of Origin labeling on quality choices and welfare. Our model distinguishes two attributes of goods: a search attribute (gustatory quality) and a credence attribute (geographical origin). We compare equilibria with no label, denomination standard and minimum quality standard. We find that the PDO good is not necessarily the high-quality good. When it is, the introduction of denomination standard causes a decrease in quality. Minimum quality standard is warranted to maintain the quality level of the labelable good, but they affect the PDO firm. |
| Keywords: | Geographical Indications, Vertical Differentiation, Welfare, Quality Certification |
| JEL: | D21 L15 L51 |
| Date: | 2011–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:wpaper:25317&r=ure |
| By: | Audretsch, David B. (Indiana University); Leyden, Dennis P. (University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Economics); Link, Albert N. (University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Partnerships between universities and industrial firms can play a key role in enhancing competitiveness because they provide a conduit for the spillover of knowledge from the academic organization where knowledge is created to the firm where it is transformed into innovative activity. We set forth in this paper a model of industry/university participation, and we test the model empirically using research project data on entrepreneurial firms that were funded through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. We find that larger firms are more likely to be involved in a research partnership with a university, in general, as are firms with founders who have an academic background. We find the latter result holds across disaggregated types of university partnerships, as well. We find no empirical evidence that the size of the SBIR award influences the likelihood of a research partnership. |
| Keywords: | Research partnership; Innovative behavior; Entrepreneurship; Industry/university relationship |
| JEL: | L24 L26 O31 O32 O34 |
| Date: | 2012–01–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:uncgec:2012_002&r=ure |