nep-ure New Economics Papers
on Urban and Real Estate Economics
Issue of 2012‒09‒16
28 papers chosen by
Steve Ross
University of Connecticut

  1. Do homeowners benefit urban neighborhoods? Evidence from housing prices By Mika Kortelainen; Tuukka Saarimaa
  2. Foreclosure externalities: Some new evidence By Kristopher Gerardi; Eric Rosenblatt; Paul S. Willen; Vincent Yao
  3. Household leverage By Stefano Corradin
  4. New Road Infrastructure: the Effects on Firms By Stephen Gibbons; Teemu Lyytikäinen; Henry Overman; Rosa Sanchis-Guarner
  5. Global Housing Cycles By Deniz Igan; Prakash Loungani
  6. Expanding School Resources and Increasing Time on Task: Effects of a Policy Experiment in Israel on Student Academic Achievement and Behavior By Victor Lavy
  7. The effect of effective tax rate differentials and clustering on investment in Belgium By Tim Goesaert
  8. That’s what friends are for? The impact of peer characteristics on early school-leaving By Traag Tanja; Lubbers Miranda Jessica; Velden Rolf van der
  9. House price responsiveness of housing investments across major European economies By Luca Gattini; Ioannis Ganoulis
  10. Asset pricing and housing supply in a production economy By Ivan Jaccard
  11. Markups and Agglomeration: Price Competition versus Externalities By Liqiu Zhao
  12. Assessing the evidence on neighborhood effects from> moving to opportunity By Dionissi Aliprantis
  13. Global House Price Fluctuations: Synchronization and Determinants By Hideaki Hirata; M. Ayhan Kose; Christopher Otrok; Marco E. Terrones
  14. A gravity equation for commuting By Damiaan Persyn; Wouter Torfs
  15. Energy endowments, barriers to trade and industry location in Chinese provinces By Irina Hotz
  16. Strategic interactions in public R&D across EU-15 countries : A spatial econometric analysis By Hakim Hammadou; Sonia Paty; Maria Savona
  17. Strategic interactions in public R&D across EU-15 countries : A spatial econometric analysis By Hakim Hammadou; Sonia Paty; Maria Savona
  18. The Geography of Knowledge Relatedness and Technological Diversification in U.S. Cities By David Rigby
  19. Migration, congestion externalities, and the evaluation of spatial investments By Taryn Dinkelman; Sam Schulhofer-Wohl
  20. The co-evolution of proximities - a network level study By Tom Broekel
  21. How do Education, Cognitive Skills, Cultural and Social Capital Account for Intergenerational Earnings Persistence? Evidence from the Netherlands By Büchner Charlotte; Cörvers Frank; Traag Tanja; Velden Rolf van der
  22. Peer effects and school design: An analysis of efficiency and equity By Lionel Perini
  23. “Do intra- and inter-industry spillovers matter? CDM model estimates for Spain” By Esther Goya; Esther Vayá; Jordi Suriñach
  24. Spending within limits: Evidence from municipal fiscal restraints By Leah Brooks; Yosh Halberstam; Justin Phillips
  25. Why was Belgium so late in adopting Keynesian ideas and devising regional development policies? By Erik Buyst
  26. The mechanisms underlying the territorial innovation dynamics: the role of architectural knowledge By Rani Jeanne Dang; Catherine Thomas
  27. International Tax Competition and Coordination By Michael Keen; Kai A. Konrad
  28. Financial Returns to Infrastructure and Investment Strategies during Britain's Industrial Revolution By Dan Bogart

  1. By: Mika Kortelainen; Tuukka Saarimaa
    Abstract: Homeownership is heavily subsidized in many countries mainly through the tax code. The adverse effects of lenient tax treatment of owner-occupied housing on economic efficiency and growth are large and well documented in the economics literature. The main argument in favor of subsidizing owner-occupied housing is that it creates positive externalities that offset these adverse effects. This paper tests whether homeowners create positive externalities to their immediate neighborhood that capitalize into housing prices in multi-storey buildings. Using semiparametric hedonic regressions with and without instrumental variables we find no evidence of positive externalities from neighborhood homeownership rate. This result is robust to relaxing the identification assumptions of our instrument using a recently developed set identification method. Our results suggest that the adverse efficiency effects of lenient tax treatment of owneroccupied housing are not offset by positive externalities.
    Keywords: Homeownership, neighborhood effects, partial linear model, set identification
    JEL: R21 D62
    Date: 2012–09–03
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fer:wpaper:36&r=ure
  2. By: Kristopher Gerardi; Eric Rosenblatt; Paul S. Willen; Vincent Yao
    Abstract: In a recent set of influential papers, researchers have argued that residential mortgage foreclosures reduce the sale prices of nearby properties. We revisit this issue using a more robust identification strategy combined with new data that contain information on the location of properties secured by seriously delinquent mortgages and information on the condition of foreclosed properties. We find that while properties in virtually all stages of distress have statistically significant, negative effects on nearby home values, the magnitudes are economically small, peak before the distressed properties complete the foreclosure process, and go to zero about a year after the bank sells the property to a new homeowner. The estimates are very sensitive to the condition of the distressed property, with a positive correlation existing between house price growth and foreclosed properties identified as being in “above average” condition. We argue that the most plausible explanation for these results is an externality resulting from reduced investment by owners of distressed property. Our analysis shows that policies that slow the transition from delinquency to foreclosure likely exacerbate the negative effect of mortgage distress on house prices.
    JEL: G12 R20 R30
    Date: 2012–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18353&r=ure
  3. By: Stefano Corradin (European Central Bank, Kaiserstrasse 29, D-60311 Frankfurt, Germany)
    Abstract: I propose a life-cycle model where a finitely lived risk averse agent finances her housing investment choosing to provide a down payment. After signing the mortgage contract, the agent may strategically default and move into the rental market. Risk neutral lenders efficiently price mortgages charging a default premium to compensate themselves for expected losses due to default on a mortgage. As a result, mortgage value and amount of leverage are closely linked. An alternative is for the agent to rent the same house, paying a rent fully adjustable to house prices. The rent risk premium is set such that the agent is indifferent ex ante between owning with a mortgage and renting. Three main results arise. First, the optimal down payment and the house price volatility are positively related. The higher the house price volatility, the higher the down payment the agent provides to decrease the volatility of the equity share in the house. Second, in the presence of borrowing constraints, a higher risk of unemployment persistence and/or a substantial drop in labor income decreases the leveraged position the agent takes. Third, ruling out the effect of taking costly leverage on owning a house significantly biases the results in favor of owning over renting. JEL Classification: G21, E21
    Keywords: Default premium, rent risk premium, loan to value ratio, loan to income ratio and negative home equity
    Date: 2012–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20121452&r=ure
  4. By: Stephen Gibbons; Teemu Lyytikäinen; Henry Overman; Rosa Sanchis-Guarner
    Abstract: This paper estimates the impact of road improvements on firm employment and productivity using plant level longitudinal data for Britain. Exposure to transport improvements is measured by changes in employment accessibility along the road network. These changes are constructed using data on employment for small geographical units, details of the main road network and of road construction schemes carried out between 1998 and 2007. We deal with the central problem of endogenous scheme placement by using changes due to new road links and exploiting the spatial detail in our data to focus on accessibility changes close to new schemes. We find substantial effects on employment and numbers of plants for small-scale geographical areas (electoral wards), but no employment response at plant level. This suggests that road construction affects firm entry and exit, but not the employment of existing firms. We also find effects on labour productivity and wages at the firm level, although these results are less robust.
    Keywords: Productivity, employment, accessibility, transport
    JEL: D24 O18 R12
    Date: 2012–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:sercdp:0117&r=ure
  5. By: Deniz Igan; Prakash Loungani
    Abstract: Housing cycles and their impact on the financial system and the macroeconomy have become the center of attention following the global financial crisis. This paper documents the characteristics of housing cycles in a large set of countries, and examines the determinants of house price movements. Empirical analysis shows that house price dynamics are mostly driven by income and demographics but fluctuations in these fundamentals and credit conditions can create deviations from the implied equilibrium path. We conclude with a discussion of the macroeconomic implications of house price corrections.
    Date: 2012–08–31
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:12/217&r=ure
  6. By: Victor Lavy
    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.
    JEL: I21 J18 J24
    Date: 2012–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18369&r=ure
  7. By: Tim Goesaert
    Abstract: This paper looks at the effect of agglomeration economies on the tax sensitivity of investments in Belgian firms using detailed firm-level data. We find a negative effect of taxation on investment. However, this is dampened by the presence of agglomeration externalities. Our results hint to the importance of local labor market and supplying industries for firm investment decisions and follow the more nuanced view on tax competition of the New Economic Geography models.
    Date: 2012
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ete:vivwps:28&r=ure
  8. By: Traag Tanja; Lubbers Miranda Jessica; Velden Rolf van der (METEOR)
    Abstract: In this paper we investigate if peer relations affect a student’s risk of early school-leaving. Weuse the sociometric data collection from the Dutch “Secondary Education Pupil Cohort 1999” toidentify peer relations in a sample of almost 20,000 students in the first grade of secondaryeducation (mean age 13). This information is matched to data on educational attainment from 1999to 2010 for these students, to measure later early school-leaving by both the focal students aswell as their peers. Our results show that both being friends with future early school-leavers aswell as popularity among future early school-leavers increases the risk of students to be earlyschool-leavers later in their educational career while other characteristics of the peer groupsuch as gender composition, ethnic composition, average (non)cognitive skills and averagesocioeconomic background have no effects on the risk of early school-leaving. And whilecharacteristics like gender, ethnicity and socio-economic background play an important role inpeer selection, the future dropout status does not have a major impact on peer selection.
    Keywords: education, training and the labour market;
    Date: 2012
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:umamet:2012023&r=ure
  9. By: Luca Gattini (European Investment Bank, 98-100, Boulevard Konrad Adenauer, Luxembourg L-2950); Ioannis Ganoulis (European Central Bank, Kaiserstrasse 29, D-60311 Frankfurt am Main, Germany and CEPR)
    Abstract: In comparison with the large literature on house prices, housing investments have been studied far less. This paper investigates the behaviour of private residential investments for the six largest European economies, namely: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. It employs a common modelling structure based on an error correction approach and country specific models. First, co-integration among the parsimoniously specified set of fundamental variables is detected in all countries. Second, cross-country differences are found in the responsiveness of private residential investments to real prices and to other relevant factors. Germany has the strongest response of private residential investments to house price changes whereas Italy shows the lowest responses. In Spain investments seem to be primarily related to their lagged component and short-term changes in house prices, and show a poor relationship with deviations from long-term fundamentals. In some countries, the lagged component of residential investments seems to point to a high persistency effect. JEL Classification: C2, R30, E22
    Keywords: Housing investments, elasticity, co-integration, error-correction mechanism
    Date: 2012–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20121461&r=ure
  10. By: Ivan Jaccard (European Central Bank, Kaiserstrasse 29, D-60311 Frankfurt, Germany)
    Abstract: We develop a representative agent model of a production economy in order to explain the joint dynamics of house prices and equity returns. In a model generating costly business cycle fluctuations, we find that restrictions on housing supply have important implications for asset pricing. Together with habit formation in the composite of consumption and leisure, building restrictions provide an explanation for the high volatility of house prices and contribute to the resolution of asset pricing puzzles. JEL Classification: E2, E3, G1
    Keywords: House prices, cost of business cycle, adjustment costs, housing returns
    Date: 2012–07
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20121454&r=ure
  11. By: Liqiu Zhao
    Abstract: Agglomeration can affect markups through two potential channels: agglom- erated regions toughen competition (price competition effect) and firms are more productive on average in agglomerated regions (agglomeration exter- nalities and firm selection effect). However, the literature is inconclusive on which force dominates. This paper models these two channels by in- troducing agglomeration economies to the model of Melitz and Ottaviano (2008). Under parameters from the empirical studies, I demonstrate that the price competition effect tends to dominate the others, i.e., firms in more agglomerated regions charge lower markups. Using a unique Chinese firm- level data from 2002 to 2004, I investigate the effect of spatial agglomeration on markups of firms. By addressing the potential endogeneity problems us- ing instrumental-variable method, I find that in China an increase in the number of own-industry firms in the same region has a negative causal ef- fect on markups of firms and a positive effect on productivity. But firms in agglomerated regions have higher output and profit.
    Date: 2011
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ete:vivwps:22&r=ure
  12. By: Dionissi Aliprantis
    Abstract: This paper investigates the assumptions under which various parameters can be identified by the Moving to Opportunity (MTO) housing mobility experiment. Joint models of potential outcomes and selection into treatment are used to clarify the current interpretation of empirical evidence, distinguishing program effects from neighborhood effects. It is shown that MTO only identifi es a restricted subset of the neighborhood effects of interest, with empirical evidence presented that MTO does not identify effects from moving to high quality neighborhoods. One implication is that programs designed around measures other than poverty might have larger effects than MTO.
    Keywords: Housing policy ; Poverty
    Date: 2012
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedcwp:1122:x:1&r=ure
  13. By: Hideaki Hirata; M. Ayhan Kose; Christopher Otrok; Marco E. Terrones
    Abstract: We examine the properties of house price fluctuations across eighteen advanced economies over the past forty years. We ask two specific questions: First, how synchronized are housing cycles across these countries? Second, what are the main shocks driving movements in global house prices? To address these questions, we first estimate the global components in house prices and various macroeconomic and financial variables. We then evaluate the roles played by a variety of global shocks, including shocks to interest rates, monetary policy, productivity, credit, and uncertainty, in explaining house price fluctuations using a wide range of FAVAR models. We find that house prices are synchronized across countries, and the degree of synchronization has increased over time. Global interest rate shocks tend to have a significant negative effect on global house prices whereas global monetary policy shocks per se do not appear to have a sizeable impact. Interestingly, uncertainty shocks seem to be important in explaining fluctuations in global house prices.
    JEL: E32 E43 E52 G15 R31
    Date: 2012–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18362&r=ure
  14. By: Damiaan Persyn; Wouter Torfs
    Abstract: This paper derives a gravity equation for commuter flows from a simple spatial labor market model, and uses it to identify the effect of regional borders on commuting. This structural approach allows us to identify the relevant control variables and sources of potential omitted variable bias. The model is estimated by means of a negative binomial regression using Belgian data on intermunicipality commuting. We find that regional borders exert a sizable residual deterrent effect on commuting. This border-effect differs significantly between regions and depends on the direction in which the border is crossed.
    Date: 2012
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ete:vivwps:33&r=ure
  15. By: Irina Hotz (Institute of economic research IRENE, Faculty of Economics, University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland)
    Abstract: This study analyzes the determinants of manufacturing activity across Chinese provinces with emphasis on the important role of energy endowments on the location of industries. The data set consists of a panel of 28 Chinese provinces and 13 manufacturing industries for the years 1994, 1997 and 1999-2009. A model of production location is estimated, including comparative advantage and economic geography dynamics. The effects of trade impediments and changes in economic policies on the distribution of economic activity are also considered. Results validate energy as a driving force of industry location. They further show that provincial protectionism poses a problem to market mechanisms, but indicate an increase of concentration of economic activity through time.
    Keywords: China, factor endowments, industry location, energy, externalities, protectionism
    JEL: F18 P2 R14
    Date: 2012–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:irn:wpaper:12-02&r=ure
  16. By: Hakim Hammadou (EQUIPPE - ECONOMIE QUANTITATIVE, INTEGRATION, POLITIQUES PUBLIQUES ET ECONOMETRIE - Université Lille 1 - Sciences et Technologies); Sonia Paty (GATE Lyon Saint-Etienne - Groupe d'analyse et de théorie économique - CNRS : UMR5824 - Université Lumière - Lyon II - École Normale Supérieure - Lyon); Maria Savona (CLERSE - Centre lillois d'études et de recherches sociologiques et économiques - CNRS : UMR8019 - Université Lille 1 - Sciences et Technologies, SPRU - Science and Technology Policy Research - University of Sussex)
    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 rather 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 ; (iii) 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 dynamic spatial panel model in which spatial matrices are specified in terms of traditional Euclidean distance, and sectoral specialization proximity, we confirm the existence of strategic interactions in relation to R&D spending among European countries with similar economic, international trade and sectoral structure perspectives. Unlike the results for strategic interactions in public choice, geographic proximity seems not to affect interactions related to public spending on R&D.
    Keywords: Public R&D expenditures ; National Systems of Innovation ; complementarity public and private R&D ; spatial interactions ; EU countries ; spatial dynamic panel data
    Date: 2012–09–03
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-00727362&r=ure
  17. By: Hakim Hammadou (EQUIPPE, University of Lille, France); Sonia Paty (Université de Lyon, Lyon, F-69007, France ; CNRS, GATE Lyon St Etienne,F-69130 Ecully, France); Maria Savona (SPRU, Science and Technology Policy Research, Freeman Centre, University of Sussex, Falmer Brighton BN1 9QE, UK and Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Lille 1, France)
    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 rather 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 ; (iii) 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 dynamic spatial panel model in which spatial matrices are specified in terms of traditional Euclidean distance, and sectoral specialization proximity, we confirm the existence of strategic interactions in relation to R&D spending among European countries with similar economic, international trade and sectoral structure perspectives. Unlike the results for strategic interactions in public choice, geographic proximity seems not to affect interactions related to public spending on R&D.
    Keywords: Public R&D expenditures, National Systems of Innovation, complementarity public and private R&D, spatial interactions, EU countries, spatial dynamic panel data
    JEL: H5
    Date: 2012
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gat:wpaper:1223&r=ure
  18. By: David Rigby
    Abstract: U.S. patent data and patent citations are used to build a measure of knowledge relatedness between all pairs of 438 major patent classes in the USPTO. The knowledge relatedness measures, constructed as the probability that a patent in class j will cite a patent in class i, form the links of a patent network. Changes in this U.S. knowledge network are examined for the period 1975 to 2005. Combining the knowledge network with patent data for each of the CBSAs in the United States permits analysis of the evolution of the patent knowledge base within metropolitan areas. Measures of knowledge relatedness are employed to explain technological diversification and abandonment in U.S. cities.
    Keywords: knowledge relatedness, technological diversification, patents, citations
    Date: 2012–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:1218&r=ure
  19. By: Taryn Dinkelman; Sam Schulhofer-Wohl
    Abstract: Evaluations of new infrastructure in developing countries typically focus on direct effects, such as the impact of an electrification program on household energy use. But if new infrastructure induces people to move into an area, other local publicly provided goods may become congested, offsetting the benefit of the infrastructure. We use a simple model to show how to measure the net benefit of a place-based program without data on land prices—an indicator that is commonly used to measure congestion in developed countries but that often cannot be used in poor countries because land markets are missing or land prices are badly measured. Our model shows that congestion externalities are especially large when land markets are missing. To illustrate, we estimate the welfare impact of a recent household electrification program in South Africa. Congestion externalities from migration reduced local welfare gains by half.
    Keywords: South Africa
    Date: 2012
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedmwp:700&r=ure
  20. By: Tom Broekel
    Abstract: Despite the growing number of studies, still little is known about how network structures and proximity relations between linked actors evolve over time. Arguments are put forward for the existence of co-evolution dynamics between different types of proximity configurations within networks. An empirical investigation tests these arguments using information on the development of 280 networks. Amongst others, it is shown that institutional and cognitive proximity configurations coevolve in the short as well as in the long-run. While institutional and social proximity configurations are only related in the long run. Moreover, temporal auto-correlation dynamics characterizes the development of cognitive proximity configurations.
    Keywords: proximities, co-evolution, R&D subsidies, knowledge networks, network evolution
    Date: 2012–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:1217&r=ure
  21. By: Büchner Charlotte; Cörvers Frank; Traag Tanja; Velden Rolf van der (METEOR)
    Abstract: This study analyzes four different transmission mechanisms, through which father’s earnings affectson’s earnings: the educational attainment, cognitive skills, the cultural capital of the familyand the social capital in the neighborhood. Using a unique data set that combines panel data froma birth cohort with earnings data from a large nationwide income survey and national tax files,our findings show that cognitive skills and schooling of the son account for 50% of the father-sonearnings elasticity. Education by far accounts for the largest part, while cognitive skills mainlywork indirectly through educational attainment. Social capital of the neighborhood and culturalcapital of the parents account for an additional 6% of the intergeneration income persistence.From these two additional mechanisms, social capital appears to play a stronger role than thecultural capital of the parents. This means that 44% of the intergenerational persistence is dueto other unobserved characteristics for example personality traits or spillover effects of familyassets.
    Keywords: education, training and the labour market;
    Date: 2012
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:umamet:2012028&r=ure
  22. By: Lionel Perini (Institute of economic research IRENE, Faculty of Economics, University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland)
    Abstract: This paper estimates educational peer effects at the lower secondary level in Switzerland where different tracking systems coexist. Using a cross-sectional survey based on standardized questionnaires, the structure and magnitude of social interactions among classmates are analyzed. The results are used to find out if grouping students in a completely non-selective way could increase efficiency and equality of opportunity. Empirical findings suggest that mixing students in reading and science classes could enhance efficiency and equity while a similar practice in mathematics courses could only improve equity without any gain in efficiency.
    Keywords: Peer effects, ability tracking, family background, equality of opportunity, quantile regression.
    JEL: I21 J24
    Date: 2012–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:irn:wpaper:12-01&r=ure
  23. By: Esther Goya (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona); Esther Vayá (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona); Jordi Suriñach (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona)
    Abstract: This paper uses a structural model to analyse the impact of innovation activities, including intra- and inter-industry externalities, on the productivity of Spanish firms. To the best of our knowledge, no previous paper has examined spillover effects by adopting such an approach. Here, therefore, we seek to determine the extent to which the innovations carried out by others affect a firm’s productivity. Additionally, firm’s technology level is taken into account in order to ascertain whether there are any differences in this regard between high-tech and low-tech firms both in industrial and service sectors. The database used is the Technological Innovation Panel (PITEC) which includes 8,611 firms for the year 2009. We find that low-tech firms make the most of a range of factors, including funding and belonging to a group, to increase their investment in R&D. As expected, R&D intensity has a positive impact on the probability of achieving both product and, more especially, process innovations. Finally, innovation output has a positive impact on firm’s productivity, being greater in more advanced firms in the case of process innovations. Both intra- and inter-industry spillovers have a positive impact on firm’s productivity, but this varies with the firm’s level of technology. Thus, innovations made by firms from the same sector are more important for low-tech firms than they are for their high-tech counterparts, while innovations made by the rest of the sectors have a greater impact on high-tech firms.
    Keywords: Productivity, innovation, industry spillovers. JEL classification: D24, O33.
    Date: 2012–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ira:wpaper:201214&r=ure
  24. By: Leah Brooks; Yosh Halberstam; Justin Phillips
    Abstract: This paper studies the role of a constitutional rule new to the literature: a limit placed by a city on its own ability to tax or spend. We find that such a limit exists in at least 1 in 8 cities, and that limits are not adopted in response to high levels of or variability in taxation. After limit adoption, municipal revenue growth declines by 16 to 22 percent. Our results suggest that institutional constraints may be effective when representative government falls short of the median voter ideal.
    Date: 2012
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2012-52&r=ure
  25. By: Erik Buyst
    Date: 2012
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ete:vivwps:27&r=ure
  26. By: Rani Jeanne Dang (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - CNRS : UMR7321 - Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis (UNS), IIE - Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Université de Gothenburg, Suède - Université de Gothenburg, Suède); Catherine Thomas (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - CNRS : UMR7321 - Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis (UNS))
    Abstract: This paper examines the mechanisms underlying territorial dynamics of inter-organizational innovation, focusing specifically on the combinative capabilities of clusters. We analyse the front-end process of inter-organizational innovation, which is the stage when partners negotiate and establish Collaborative localised innovation projects (CLIPs). While most research focus on how clusters facilitate access to new knowledge, this paper rather focuses on how clusters facilitate the combination of knowledge among heterogeneous actors. We apply a qualitative methodology based on an exploratory case study research design to two high-tech clusters in the microelectronics and information and communication technology sectors. Our findings suggest that a specific underlying mechanism significantly influence knowledge creation through successful CLIPs that is: architectural knowledge at the cluster level. The results also precise the role of architectural knowledge, which varies depending on whether it is technical, relational or commercial, and on its distribution among the actors, involved. The combination of the results helped elaborating a model of successful integration of cluster members' into CLIPs, which contribute to research developments on inter-organizational innovation.
    Keywords: Cluster, Knowledge Base, Interactive Innovation, Collaborative R&D Project, Architectural Knowledge
    Date: 2012–04–25
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00727529&r=ure
  27. By: Michael Keen; Kai A. Konrad
    Abstract: This paper aims to provide a comprehensive survey of the theory of international tax competition. Starting with the standard framework, it visits the non-cooperative equilibrium of tax competition, analyses aspects of partial and regional coordination, repeated interaction, stock-flow-effects, agglomeration effects and time consistency issues in dynamic models. We discuss profit shifting in the Keen-Kanbur model and then survey frameworks to analyze countries’ bidding for firms, tax rate differentiation and preferential tax regimes, the role of information exchange and recent work on tax havens. The paper also discusses approaches that replace the benevolent government assumption by selfish (Leviathan) governments or by political processes that determine countries' decisions on their tax policy in an international context.
    Keywords: International taxation, tax competition
    Date: 2012–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpi:wpaper:international_tax_competition_and_coordination&r=ure
  28. By: Dan Bogart (Department of Economics, University of California-Irvine)
    Abstract: The infrastructure sector has the potential to generate wide differences in profits and economic outcomes. This paper examines financial returns and investment strategies for Britain’s turnpike roads in the early nineteenth century. There are three main findings. First, rates of return on capital invested and returns to bondholders were similar to competitive sectors. Second, there was significant variation in returns across trusts. Third, there is evidence that turnpike investors were driven by financial motives, although economic motives appear to be important in some cases. The findings have implications regarding the connection between infrastructure and Britain’s industrialization.
    Keywords: Monopoly; Regulation; Turnpike roads; Infrastructure; Britain; Industrial Revolution
    JEL: K23 N43 N73
    Date: 2012–08
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:irv:wpaper:121304&r=ure

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