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on Urban and Real Estate Economics |
| By: | Leung, Charles Ka Yui; Sarpca, Sinan; Yilmaz, Kuzey |
| Abstract: | We develop a general equilibrium model of residential choice and study the effects of two housing aid policies, public housing units and housing vouchers. Land is differentiated by both residential accessibility and local public goods, and the provision levels of local public goods are determined by property tax revenues and neighborhood compositions. Households differ in their incomes and preferences for local public goods. Housing aid policies are financed by general income taxes. We discuss how the location of public housing units is a fundamental policy variable, in addition to the numbers and sizes of units, and argue that vouchers not only cause less distortion for social welfare compared to public housing, but may also improve overall welfare. |
| Keywords: | Public housing; housing vouchers; housing policy; welfare; residential location choice; local public goods; endogenous sorting |
| JEL: | R10 H40 D60 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:40990&r=ure |
| By: | Nowotny, Klaus (University of Salzburg); Pennerstorfer, Dieter (Austrian Institute of Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the role of ethnic networks in the location decision of migrants to the EU at the regional level. Using a random parameters logit specification we find a substantially positive effect of ethnic networks on the location decision of migrants. Furthermore, we find evidence of spatial spillovers in the effect of ethnic networks. Analyzing the trade-off between potential income and network size, we find that migrants would require a sizable compensation for living in a region with a smaller ethnic network, especially when considering regions where only few previous migrants from the same country of origin are located. |
| Keywords: | network migration; ethnic networks; random parameters logit |
| JEL: | C35 F22 R23 |
| Date: | 2012–09–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:sbgwpe:2012_007&r=ure |
| By: | Malina, Christiane; Fischer, Frauke |
| Abstract: | High levels of particulate matter scaling less than 10 micrometers in diameter (PM10) in many urban areas have led to the introduction of binding PM10 limit values by the European Commission in 2005. Road transport in inner city areas is believed to be one of the main contributors to accumulated PM10 levels and, thus, is the focus of regulation. One of the strongest regulatory mechanisms to meet the new PM10 air quality standard is the introduction of low emission zones (LEZs) in Germany. This policy allows local authorities to define geographical areas in urban agglomerations as LEZs, into which vehicles that do not meet predetermined emission standards are prohibited from entering. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of LEZs on reducing PM10 levels in German cities. We employ a fixed effects panel data model to analyze the effects of LEZs on daily PM10 levels using data from 2000 to 2009. We take into account daily data for meteorological conditions and traffic volume. The results of the analysis reveal that the introduction of LEZs has significantly reduced daily PM10 levels in urban areas. We can also show that PM10 levels are significantly driven down further when LEZ standards in cities become more stringent over time. -- |
| Keywords: | Particulate matter,low emission zones,panel data |
| JEL: | Q58 R49 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cawmdp:58&r=ure |
| By: | Thierry Theurillat; Olivier Crevoisier (Group of Research in Territorial Economy GRET, Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences, University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland) |
| Abstract: | Financialization and sustainable urban planning are now two major components of urban production and landscape change in Western cities. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how the intervention of financial actors influences urban sustainability in the building of megaprojects, by developing a conceptual framework for analysis and interpretation. This framework aims first to examine the way in which sustainability has been produced by the different actors involved in a real-life situation, and then to place these interactions in their institutional, spatial and temporal context. Consequently, sustainability is understood as a social construct which is the object of negotiations that have led to the making of institutional arrangements in order to allow the project to be carried through. This framework has been constructed from the financial geography and urban geography literature on ‘finance, the city and sustainability’ and from a case study. The latter looks at the regeneration of a brownfield site to create a shopping and leisure complex that was the biggest in Switzerland and was purchased by financial actors. |
| Keywords: | Financial actors, public–private partnerships, urban sustainability, territorial and institutionalist approach, urban megaproject, Switzerland, Zurich |
| JEL: | D71 D81 G1 G23 Q01 R11 R51 |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nct:wpaper:05-12&r=ure |
| By: | Laura Chioda (World Bank); João Manoel Pinho de Mello (Department of Economics PUC-Rio); Rodrigo R. Soares (Department of Economics PUC-Rio) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the impact of Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programs on crime. Making use of a unique dataset combining detailed school characteristics with time and geo-referenced crime information from the city of São Paulo, Brazil, we estimate the contemporaneous effect of the Bolsa Família program on crime. We address the endogeneity of CCT coverage by exploiting the 2008 expansion of the program to adolescents aged 16 and 17. We construct an instrument that combines the timing of expansion and the initial demographic composition of schools to identify plausibly exogenous variations in the number of children covered by Bolsa Família. We find a robust and significant negative impact of Bolsa Família coverage on crime. The evidence suggests that the main effect works through increased household income or changed peer group, rather than from incapacitation from time spent in school |
| Date: | 2012–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rio:texdis:599&r=ure |
| By: | Lavy, Victor (University of Warwick) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, I examine how student academic achievements and behavior were affected by a school finance policy experiment undertaken in elementary schools in Israel. Begun in 2004, the funding formula changed from a budget set per class to a budget set per student, with more weight given to students from lower socioeconomic and lower educational backgrounds. The experiment altered teaching budgets, the length of the school week, and the allocation of time devoted to core subjects. The results suggest that spending more money and spending more time at school and on key tasks all lead to increasing academic achievements with no behavioral costs. I find that the overall budget per class has positive and significant effects on students' average test scores and that this effect is symmetric and identical for schools that gained or lost resources due to the funding reform. Separate estimations of the effect of increasing the length of the school week and the subject-specific instructional time per week also show positive and significant effects on math, science, and English test scores. However, no cross effects of additional instructional time across subjects emerge, suggesting that the effect of overall weekly school instruction time on test scores reflects only the effect of additional instructional time in these particular subjects. As a robustness check of the validity of the identification strategy, I also use an alternative method that exploits variation in the instruction time of different subjects. Remarkably, this alternative identification strategy yields almost identical results to the results obtained based on the school funding reform. Additional results suggest that the effect on test scores is similar for boys and girls but it is much larger for pupils from low socioeconomic backgrounds and it is also more pronounced in schools populated with students from homogenous socioeconomic backgrounds. The evidence also shows that a longer school week increases the time that students spend on homework without reducing social and school satisfaction and without increasing school violence. |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:warwcg:94&r=ure |
| By: | Beatrice D. Simo-Kengne (Department of Economics, University of Pretoria); Rangan Gupta (Department of Economics, University of Pretoria); Goodness C. Aye (Department of Economics, University of Pretoria) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the relationship between house prices and the trade balance in South Africa using an agnostic identification procedure. This method allows a housing demand shock to be identified in an eight-variable VAR model by imposing sign restrictions on the impulse responses of consumer prices, private consumption, residential investment, nominal interest rate, real house prices and mortgage loan, while trade balance and real effective exchange rate responses are left unrestricted. We apply a Bayesian Vector Autoregressive (BVAR) model to quarterly data from 1979:Q1 to 2011:Q4 and report a sizable effect of house price shocks on trade balance. The results indicate that a 10 percent decline in house prices can improve the trade balance by 5.5 percent. This suggests that house prices represent an additional instrument for trade-balance adjustment besides the traditional exchange rate channel. However, the effect of housing demand shock on the exchange rate is short-lived and insignificant. Therefore, house prices affect the South African trade balance mainly through the wealth and balance sheet effects on private consumption and investment, respectively. Further, we find that the contribution of house price shocks to the historical path of the trade balance is less prominent in 2000s; possibly substantiating the effectiveness in the conduct of South African monetary policy, which has been shown to be incorporating house price movements in its interest rate setting behaviour. |
| Keywords: | House prices, wealth effect, financial markets, balance of trade, Bayesian VAR |
| JEL: | C32 E31 E44 F32 R21 |
| Date: | 2012–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pre:wpaper:201227&r=ure |
| By: | Mehmet Balcilar (Department of Economics, Eastern Mediterranean University, Famagusta, North Cyprus,via Mersin 10, Turkey); Rangan Gupta (Department of Economics, University of Pretoria); Stephen M. Miller (College of Business, University of Las Vegas, Nevada) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides out-of-sample forecasts of linear and non-linear models of US and Census regions housing prices. The forecasts include the traditional point forecasts, but also include interval and density forecasts of the housing price distributions. The non-linear smooth-transition autoregressive model outperforms the linear autoregressive model in point forecasts at longer horizons, but the linear autoregressive model dominates the non-linear smooth-transition autoregressive model at short horizons. In addition, we generally do not find major differences in performance for the interval and density forecasts between the linear and non-linear models. Finally, in a dynamic 25-step ex-ante and interval forecasting design, we, once again, do not find major differences between the linear and nonlinear models. |
| Keywords: | Forecasting, Linear and non-linear models, US and Census housing price indexes |
| JEL: | C32 R31 |
| Date: | 2012–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pre:wpaper:201226&r=ure |
| By: | Donghoon Lee; Christopher J. Mayer; Joseph Tracy |
| Abstract: | We use data from credit report and deeds records to better understand the extent to which second liens contributed to the housing crisis by allowing buyers to purchase homes with small down payments. At the top of the housing market second liens were quite prevalent, with as many as 45 percent of home purchases in coastal markets and bubble locations involving a piggyback second lien. Owner-occupants were more likely to use piggyback second liens than investors. Second liens in the form of home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) were originated to relatively high quality borrowers and originations were declining near the peak of the housing boom. By contrast, characteristics of closed end second liens (CES) were worse on all these dimensions. Default rates of second liens are generally similar to that of the first lien on the same home, although HELOCs perform better than CES. About 20 to 30 percent of borrowers will continue to pay their second lien for more than a year while remaining seriously delinquent on their first mortgage. By comparison, about 40 percent of credit card borrowers and 70 percent of auto loan borrowers will continue making payments a year after defaulting on their first mortgage. Finally, we show that delinquency rates on second liens, especially HELOCs, have not declined as quickly as for most other types of credit, raising a potential concern for lenders with large portfolios of second liens on their balance sheet. |
| JEL: | G21 R3 |
| Date: | 2012–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18269&r=ure |
| By: | Kydland, Finn; Rupert, Peter; Sustek, Roman |
| Abstract: | Over the U.S. business cycle, fluctuations in residential investment are well known to systematically lead GDP. These dynamics are documented here to be specific to the U.S. and Canada. In other developed economies residential investment is broadly coincident with GDP. Nonresidential investment has the opposite dynamics, being coincident with or lagging GDP. These observations are in sharp contrast with the properties of nearly all business cycle models with disaggregated investment. Including mortgages and interest rate dynamics aligns the theory more closely with U.S. observations. Longer time to build in housing construction makes residential investment coincident with output. |
| Keywords: | Economics, General, Economics, Other, residential investment, nonresidential investment, business cycle, mortgages, time to build |
| Date: | 2012–08–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:ucsbec:qt7bn5k73m&r=ure |
| By: | Maloney, William F.; Caicedo, Felipe Valencia |
| Abstract: | Using subnational historical data, this paper establishes the within country persistence of economic activity in the New World over the last half millennium. The paper constructs a data set incorporating measures of pre-colonial population density, new measures of present regional per capita income and population, and a comprehensive set of locational fundamentals. These fundamentals are shown to have explanatory power: native populations throughout the hemisphere were found in more livable and productive places. It is then shown that high pre-colonial density areas tend to be dense today: population agglomerations persist. The data and historical evidence suggest this is due partly to locational fundamentals, but also to classic agglomeration effects: colonialists established settlements near existing native populations for reasons of labor, trade, knowledge and defense. Further, high density (historically prosperous) areas also tend to have higher incomes today, and largely due to agglomeration effects: fortune persists for the United States and most of Latin America. Finally extractive institutions, in this case, slavery, reduce persistence even if they do not overwhelm other forces in its favor. |
| Keywords: | Population Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Inequality,E-Business,Transport Economics Policy&Planning |
| Date: | 2012–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6187&r=ure |
| By: | Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés; Viola, von Berlepsch |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the extent to which the distinct settlement pattern of migrants arriving in the US during the big migration waves of the late 19th and early 20th centuries has left a legacy on the economic development of the counties where they settled and whether this legacy can be traced until today. Using data from the 1880, 1900 and 1910 censuses, we first look at the geography of migration across US counties in the 48 continental states. We then link this settlement pattern of migrants to current levels of local development – proxied by GDP per capita at county level in 2005 – while controlling for a number of factors which may have influenced both the location of migrants at the time of migration, as well as for the economic development of the county today. The results of the econometric analysis including instrumental variables underline that the big migration waves have left an indelible trace on territories which determines their economic performance until today. US counties which attracted large numbers of migrants more than a century ago are still more dynamic today than counties that did not. The results also show that the territorial imprint of migration has become more pervasive than all other local characteristics which would have determined and shaped economic performance in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. |
| Keywords: | counties; culture; economic development; institutions; long-term legacy; migration; US |
| JEL: | F22 J61 O15 R23 |
| Date: | 2012–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:9122&r=ure |
| By: | Stuart McIntyre (Department of Economics, University of Strathclyde); Donald Lacombe (Regional Research Institute, West Virginia University,) |
| Abstract: | There is a long and detailed history of attempts to understand what causes crime. One of the most prominent strands of this literature has sought to better understand the relationship between economic conditions and crime. Following Becker (1968), the economic argument is that in an attempt to maintain consumption in the face of unemployment, people may resort to sources of illicit income. In a similar manner, we might expect ex-ante, that increases in the level of personal indebtedness would be likely to provide similar incentives to engage in criminality. In this paper we seek to understand the spatial pattern of property and theft crimes using a range of socioeconomic variables, including data on the level of personal indebtedness. |
| Keywords: | Spatial Econometrics, Crime, Personal Debt, Economic Conditions |
| JEL: | R1 K42 C11 C21 |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:str:wpaper:1209&r=ure |
| By: | Timothy J. Bartik (W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research); George A. Erickcek (W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research) |
| Abstract: | This paper simulates job and fiscal impacts of Michigan’s MEGA tax credit program for job creation. Under plausible assumptions about how such credits affect business location decisions, the net costs per job created of the MEGA program are simulated to be of modest size. The job creation impacts of MEGA are simulated to be considerably larger than devoting similar dollar resources to general business tax cuts. The simulation methodology developed here is applicable to incentives in other states. |
| Keywords: | State and local economic development policy, tax incentives, fiscal impact analysis, labor market benefits, regional multipliers |
| JEL: | R11 R23 R28 R30 R58 H70 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upj:weupjo:12-185&r=ure |
| By: | Lorenzo Masiero (Institute for Economic Research (IRE), Faculty of Economics, University of Lugano, Switzerland); Judit Zoltan (Institute for Economic Research (IRE), Faculty of Economics, University of Lugano, Switzerland) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates tourists' profile in relation to both intra-destination movement patterns and transportation mode choices at the destination through the use of bivariate probit models. The analysis is based on a field survey conducted among tourists visiting the Canton of Ticino, Switzerland. The results show a positive correlation between visiting more than one region and the use of private transportation at the destination. In particular, the two variables are explained by a mixed combination of independent variables; the transport mode choice of tourists can be well explained by demographics while destination movement patterns are rather influenced by trip characteristics. The introduction of activity participation and motivation increases consistently the fit of the model allowing a better understanding of tourist behaviour in relation to the spatial extent of the destination visited and to the transport mode selected. Finally, conclusions are drawn for policy implications in destination management and transport planning. |
| Keywords: | Intra-destination visits, Transportation mode, Tourist behaviour, Bivariate probit |
| JEL: | C25 L83 |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lug:wpaper:1205&r=ure |
| By: | Hakim Hammadou; Sonia Paty; Maria Savona |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to test the presence of strategic interactions in government spending on Research and Development (R&D) among EU-15 countries. We add to the literature on public choice strategic interactions in general, and to work on R&D spending in particular. We take account of traditional and some overlooked factors related to countries' public R&D spending, including (i) the international context -- i.e. Lisbon strategy; (ii) country characteristics - the National System of Innovation, and more specifically national similarities in relation to (a) trade and economic size and (b) sectoral specialization. Sectoral specialization is likely to affect government spending, depending on the mechanisms of complementarity or substitution between public and private R&D. Using a spatial dynamic panel model in which spatial matrices are specified both in terms of traditional Euclidean distance, and sectoral specialization proximity, we confirm the existence of strategic interactions on R&D spending among European countries with similar economic size, international trade and sectoral structure. Unlike the results emerging from the literature on strategic interactions in public choice, geographic proximity seems not to affect interactions related to public spending on R&D. |
| Keywords: | Public spending strategic interactions, Public R&D expenditures, National Systems of Innovation, Complementarity public and private R&D, Spatial interactions, EU countries, spatial dynamic panel data |
| Date: | 2012–08–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2012/14&r=ure |
| By: | Stephen Hogg (UQ); Stan Hurn (QUT); Stuart McDonald (UQ); Alicia Rambaldi |
| Abstract: | This paper builds an econometric model of retail gas competition to explain the pricing decisions of retail outlets in terms of vertical management structures, input costs and the characteristics of the local market they operate within. The model is estimated using price data from retail outlets from the South-Eastern Queensland region in Australia, but the generic nature of the model means that the results will be of general interest. The results indicate that when the cost of crude oil and demographic variations across different localities are accounted for, branding (i.e. whether the retail outlet is affiliated with one of the major brand distributers - Shell, Caltex, Mobil or BP) has a statistically significant positive effect on prices at nearby retail outlets. Conversely, the presence of an independent (non-branded) retailer within a locality has the effect of lowering retail prices. Furthermore, the results of this research show that service stations participating in discount coupon schemes with the two major retail supermarket chains have the effect of largely off-setting the price increase derived from branding affiliation. While, branding effects are not fully cancelled out, the overall effect is that prices are still higher than if branding did not occur. |
| Keywords: | Retail Gasoline Pricing, Vertical Restraints, Shop-a-Docket Discount Scheme, Spatial Econometrics, Australia |
| JEL: | C21 L13 |
| Date: | 2012–08–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qut:auncer:2012_9&r=ure |
| By: | Simon Gachter, Daniele Nosenzo and Martin Sefon (School of Economics, University of Nottingham); Daniele Nosenzo (School of Economics, University of Nottingham); Martin Sefton (School of Economics, University of Nottingham) |
| Abstract: | We compare social preference and social norm based explanations for peer effects in a three-person gift-exchange game experiment. In the experiment a principal pays a wage to each of two agents, who then make effort choices sequentially. In our baseline treatment we observe that the second agent's effort is influenced by the effort choice of the first agent, even though there are no material spillovers between agents. This peer effect is predicted by a model of distributional social preferences (Fehr-Schmidt, 1999). As we show from a norms-elicitation experiment, it is also consistent with social norms compliance. A conditional logit investigation of the explanatory power of payoff inequality and elicited norms finds that the second agent's effort can be best explained by the social preferences model. In further treatments with modified games we find that the presence/strength of peer effects changes as predicted by the social preferences model. As with the baseline treatment, a conditional logit analysis favors an explanation based on social preferences, rather than social norms following for these treatments. Our results suggest that, in our context, the social preferences model provides a parsimonious explanation for the observed peer effect. |
| Keywords: | peer effects, social influence, gift-exchange, experiment, social preferences, inequity aversion, measuring social norms. |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:not:notcdx:2012-01&r=ure |
| By: | Eduardo A. Haddad; Maria Carolina C. Marques |
| Abstract: | The objective of this technical note is to document the methodology used to generate an interregional inputoutput system (IIOS) for the Concession Areas of ANEEL. The system consists of 58 regions closely associated with the territories of the concession areas under contract with the Federal Government. It also includes up to 110 products and 15 sectors in each region, identifying the spatial and sectoral linkages in the Brazilian interregional system. This is the first study ever that attempts to model the economies of all the concession areas of electric-power distribution services in an integrated framework for Brazi |
| Keywords: | Interregional input-output model; energy; market areas, spatial linkages |
| JEL: | C67 D57 Q41 Q43 R12 R15 |
| Date: | 2012–08–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spa:wpaper:2012wpecon15&r=ure |
| By: | Matias Kalm |
| Abstract: | Recent developments in the field of network research have led to a growing interest in interorganisational relationships among social science scholars. One of the most important research areas is related to entrepreneurship research and how relationship networks affect firm performance. However, the existing literature focuses mostly on qualitative case studies and quantitative studies that analyse mergers and acquisitions or patent types of data. By analysing connection and causality between activity in co-operational relationships and firm growth, this study seeks to empirically address the following research question : ‘How does activity in network relationships influence the growth and internationalisation of technology-based firms in emerging technology areas?’ Furthermore, the connection and causality between activity in co-operational relationships and the internationalisation rates of firms are also analysed. This analysis is based on a data set and interviews with 53 small and medium-sized firms. Both a descriptive analysis and regression methods are used to analyse the connection between activity in co-operational relationships and firm growth or internationalisation. Firm growth is measured with both revenue and the employment growth rate. In addition, the activity in in the co-operational relationships is divided into two components : increasing versus consistently high activity with network actors. To address possible causality issues, this research employs activity measures that are based on the importance of the relationships rather than simply the number of relationships. The results show that increasing activity with network actors is positively connected with firm growth as measured in both revenue and employment growth. Furthermore, the results partially support the hypothesis that consistently high activity is positively connected to firm growth. Finally, the results suggest that growth firms positively benefit from increased relationship activity with both current and prospective actors in diverse relationship networks. Moreover, the single most negative result is the relatively low impact of relationship activities on public-sector actors and networks. |
| Keywords: | interorganisational relationships, firm growth, internationalisation, networks |
| Date: | 2012–08–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rif:dpaper:1278&r=ure |
| By: | Masamichi Kawano (School of Economics, Kwansei Gakuin University) |
| Abstract: | The Henry George Theorem, which is originally established in a static model, asserts that the cost of public good provision should be equal to the total revenue of the land rent to achieve the optimal size of population of each region. This paper examines this theorem in a dynamic framework of overlapping generations model, assuming that the government maximizes the sum of the utilities of the generations of finite periods. We show that the optimal path converges to the stationary state, however, it does not stay on it. We derive that the theorem is valid only in the stationary state, and no longer valid along the optimal path. |
| Keywords: | Henry George theorem, local public good, overlapping generations model |
| JEL: | R51 F11 |
| Date: | 2012–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kgu:wpaper:92&r=ure |
| By: | Lionel Artige; Leif Van Neuss |
| Abstract: | The shift-share analysis is a widely used decomposition technique in regional studies to quantify an industry-mix effect and a competitive effect on the growth of regional employment (or any other relevant variable) relative to the national average. This technique has always been subject to criticism for its lack of theoretical basis. In this paper we provide a critical assessment of the methods suggested by Dunn (1960) and by Esteban-Marquillas (1972) and propose a new shift-share method, which separates out the two effects unambiguously. An application to manufacturing employment in the Belgian provinces between 1995 and 2007 is provided as an illustration. |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rpp:wpaper:1205&r=ure |
| By: | Monica I. Garcia-Perez (Department of Economics, St. Cloud State University) |
| Abstract: | Using a simple search model, with urn-ball derived matching function, this paper investigates the effect of firm owner’s and coworkers’ nativity on hiring patterns and wages. In the model, social networks reduce search frictions and wages are derived endogenously as a function of the efficiency of the social ties of current employees. As a result, individuals with more efficient connections tend to receive higher wages and lower unemployment rate. However, because this efficiency depends on matching with same-type owners and coworkers, there is also a differential effect among workers’ wages in the same firm. This analysis highlights the potential importance of social connections and social capital for understanding employment opportunities and wage differentials between these groups. |
| Keywords: | immigration; search models; social networks; wage differential; hiring process. |
| JEL: | J15 J21 J31 J61 R23 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:scs:wpaper:1221&r=ure |
| By: | Majumder, Rajarshi |
| Abstract: | Developing countries attach enormous importance to physical infrastructure for poverty reduction. We contend that this association is different across types of infrastructure and regions. The present paper explores the multidimensional association between infrastructure and poverty in India in a regional framework. Infrastructural availability improves average living standards and lowers the incidence of poverty but the relation between infrastructural situation and inequality indicates higher inequality in regions with better infrastructure, especially for rural areas. Various sub-components of infrastructure have different impacts on poverty reduction and policy formulations should focus on such differentiated roles while drawing up programmes. |
| Keywords: | Poverty; Infrastructure; Inequality; India; Regional Study; Asia; |
| JEL: | H54 D63 I32 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:40941&r=ure |
| By: | Klytchnikova, Irina; Dorosh, Paul |
| Abstract: | Tourism is one of Latin America's fastest growing industries but the impact of tourism on the poor and the effects on lagging regions are under debate. Many studies have evaluated the growth impacts of the tourism sector but few have analyzed the impact of tourism on the economy and poverty at the subnational level in developing countries. As a country marked by a"dual economy,"Panama shares with other Latin American countries a fast growing, modern urban sector side by side with impoverished rural and peri-urban populations. Tourism has been growing in Panama and contributes at least 6 percent of gross domestic product. This paper presents the results of a top-down assessment of the impact of tourism spending on growth and poverty at the regional (province) level in Panama using a Social Accounting Matrix model. As revealed by this study, the tourism sector has large multiplier effects on the Panamanian economy and has the potential for significant benefits to the poor. But tourism's poverty benefits are neither automatic nor ubiquitous. They depend on where and how supply chains are structured and on the way tourists spend their money. |
| Keywords: | Cultural Policy,Cultural Heritage&Preservation,Tourism and Ecotourism,Transport Economics Policy&Planning,Accommodation&Tourism Industry |
| Date: | 2012–08–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6183&r=ure |
| By: | Becker, Sascha O. (University of Warwick); Egger, Peter H. (ETH Zurich); Von Ehrlich, Maximilian (ETH Zurich) |
| Abstract: | The European Union (EU) provides grants to disadvantaged regions of member states from two pools, the Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund. The main goal of the associated transfers is to facilitate convergence of poor regions (in terms of per-capita income) to the EU average. We use data at the NUTS3 level from the last two EU budgetary periods (1994-99 and 2000-06) and generalized propensity score estimation to analyze to which extent the goal of fostering growth in the target regions was achieved with the funds provided and whether or not more transfers generated stronger growth effects. We find that, overall, EU transfers enable faster growth in the recipient regions as intended, but we estimate that in 36% of the recipient regions the transfer intensity exceeds the aggregate effciency maximizing level and in 18% of the regions a reduction of transfers would not even reduce their growth. We conclude that some reallocation of the funds across target regions would lead to higher aggregate growth in the EU and could generate even faster convergence than the current scheme does. |
| Keywords: | EU regional policy; Regional growth; Generalized; propensity score estimation; Quasi-randomized experiment |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:warwcg:69&r=ure |
| By: | Michele Cincera; Antonio Estache; Wolf Alexander |
| Abstract: | This paper presents an empirical analysis of the recent impact of fiscal decentralization in Europe on total expenditure for specific government functions as well as on total government size. A panel dataset for the years 2000 to 2009 for European countries has been constructed from EUROSTAT data. The effects of decentralization interact with the degree of vertical imbalances and tend to be negative as predicted by the Leviathan view of government. Effects vary strongly across government functions and are strongest in relative terms for infrastructure and social spending. Moderate restraining effects are found for education, while health spending is not significantly affected |
| Date: | 2012–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eca:wpaper:2013/126614&r=ure |
| By: | Vivi Alatas; Abhijit Banerjee; Arun G. Chandrasekhar; Rema Hanna; Benjamin A. Olken |
| Abstract: | We use a unique data-set from Indonesia on what individuals know about the income distribution in their village to test theories such as Jackson and Rogers (2007) that link information aggregation in networks to the structure of the network. The observed patterns are consistent with a basic diffusion model: more central individuals are better informed and individuals are able to better evaluate the poverty status of those to whom they are more socially proximate. To understand what the theory predicts for cross-village patterns, we estimate a simple diffusion model using within-village variation, simulate network-level diffusion under this model for the over 600 different networks in our data, and use this simulated data to gauge what the simple diffusion model predicts for the cross-village relationship between information diffusion and network characteristics (e.g. clustering, density). The coefficients in these simulated regressions are generally consistent with relationships suggested in previous theoretical work, even though in our setting formal analytical predictions have not been derived. We then show that the qualitative predictions from the simulated model largely match the actual data in the sense that we obtain similar results both when the dependent variable is an empirical measure of the accuracy of a village's aggregate information and when it is the simulation outcome. Finally, we consider a real-world application to community based targeting, where villagers chose which households should receive an anti-poverty program, and show that networks with better diffusive properties (as predicted by our model) differentially benefit from community based targeting policies. |
| JEL: | D83 D85 H23 O12 |
| Date: | 2012–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18351&r=ure |