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on Urban and Real Estate Economics |
| By: | Rajashri Chakrabarti; Joydeep Roy |
| Abstract: | Local financing of public schools in the United States leads to a bundling of two distinct choices – residential choice and school choice – and has been argued to increase the degree of socioeconomic segregation across school districts. A school finance reform, aimed at equalization of school finances, can in principle weaken this link between housing choice and choice of schools. In this paper, we study the impacts of the Michigan school finance reform of 1994 (Proposal A) on spatial segregation. The reform was a state initiative intended to equalize per-pupil expenditures between Michigan school districts and reduce the role of local financing. We find that Proposal A was responsible for increases in the value of housing stock in the lowest-spending school districts, and for improvements in several socioeconomic indicators in these districts, implying a decline in neighborhood sorting. We also find that the reform affected dispersion of incomes and educational attainment within school districts, increasing within-district heterogeneity in the lowest-spending school districts, while decreasing the same in the highest-spending districts. However, there is continued high demand for residence in the highest-spending communities, suggesting the importance of neighborhood peer effects ("local" social capital) and implying that even a comprehensive government aid program can fail to make a large impact on residential segregation. |
| Keywords: | Segregation in education ; Public schools ; Local finance ; School choice ; Social choice |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fednsr:565&r=ure |
| By: | Charles Ka Yui Leung (City University of Hong Kong); Sinan Sarpca (Koc University); Kuzey Yilmaz (University of Rochester) |
| 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: | H40 D60 H82 R13 |
| Date: | 2012–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:roc:rocher:574&r=ure |
| By: | Abdulkadiroğlu, Atila (Duke University); Angrist, Joshua (MIT); Pathak, Parag A. (MIT) |
| Abstract: | Parents gauge school quality in part by the level of student achievement and a school's racial mix. The importance of school characteristics in the housing market can be seen in the jump in house prices at school district boundaries where peer characteristics change. The question of whether schools with more attractive peers are really better in a value-added sense remains open, however. This paper uses a fuzzy regression-discontinuity design to evaluate the causal effects of peer characteristics. Our design exploits admissions cutoffs for Boston and New York City's heavily over-subscribed exam schools. Successful applicants near admissions cutoffs for the least selective of these schools move from schools with scores near the bottom of the state SAT score distribution to a school with scores near the median. Successful applicants near admissions cutoffs for the most selective of these schools move from above-average schools to schools with students drawn from the extreme upper tail. Exam school students can also expect to study with fewer nonwhite classmates than unsuccessful applicants. Our estimates suggest that the marked changes in peer characteristics at exam school admissions cutoffs have little causal effect on test scores or college quality. |
| Keywords: | human capital, peer effects, school quality |
| JEL: | I21 I28 C21 |
| Date: | 2012–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6790&r=ure |
| By: | Kristopher S. Gerardi; Eric Rosenblatt; Paul S. Willen; Vincent W. 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. |
| Keywords: | Foreclosure ; Housing - Prices ; Mortgage loans |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedbpp:12-5&r=ure |
| By: | Jonathan Halket; Michael Amior |
| Abstract: | Are households more likely to be homeowners when �housing risk� is higher? We show that homeownership rates and loan-to-value (LTV) ratios at the city level are strongly negatively correlated with local house price volatility. However, causal inference is confounded by house price levels, which are systematically correlated with housing risk in an intuitive way: in cities where the land value is larger relative to the local cost of structures, house prices are higher and more volatile. We disentangle the contributions of high price levels from high volatilities by building a life-cycle model of homeownership choices. The model is able to explain much of the cross-city dispersion in homeownership and LTV. We find that higher price levels explain the lower homeownership, while higher risk explains the lower LTV in high land value cities. The relationship between LTV and risk highlights the importance of including other means of incomplete insurance in models of homeownership. Finally, we use the model to show why regression-based inferences about the effect of risk on homeownership are biased. |
| Date: | 2012–07–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esx:essedp:718&r=ure |
| By: | Boeri, Tito (Bocconi University); De Philippis, Marta (London School of Economics); Patacchini, Eleonora (Sapienza University of Rome); Pellizzari, Michele (OECD) |
| Abstract: | We use a new dataset and a novel identification strategy to analyze the effects of residential segregation on the employment of migrants in 8 Italian cities. Our data, which are representative of the population of both legal and illegal migrants, allow us to measure segregation at the very local level (the block) and include measures of house prices, commuting costs and migrants' linguistic ability. We find evidence that migrants who reside in areas with a high concentration of non-Italians are less likely to be employed compared to similar migrants who reside in less segregated areas. In our preferred specification, a 10 percentage points increase in residential segregation reduces the probability of being employed by 7 percentage points or about 8% over the average. Additionally, we also show that this effect emerges only above a critical threshold of 15-20% of migrants over the total local population, below which there is no statistically detectable effect. The negative externality associated with residential segregation arises only for the employment prospects of immigrants, whether legal or illegal. We do not find evidence of either spatial mismatch or skill bias as potential explanations of this effect. Statistical discrimination by native employers is the remaining suspect. |
| Keywords: | migration, residential segregation, hiring networks |
| JEL: | J15 J61 R23 |
| Date: | 2012–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6834&r=ure |
| By: | Quentin Frère (CESAER - Centre d'Economie et Sociologie appliquées à l'Agriculture et aux Espaces Ruraux - INRA); Matthieu Leprince (CREM - Centre de Recherche en Economie et Management - CNRS : UMR6211 - Université de Rennes I - Université de Caen Basse-Normandie); Sonia Paty (GATE Lyon Saint-Etienne - Groupe d'analyse et de théorie économique - CNRS : UMR5824 - Université Lumière - Lyon II - École Normale Supérieure - Lyon) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to assess the effects of inter-municipal fiscal cooperation on municipal public spending, based on the French experience. We estimate a model of municipal spending choice using panel data and spatial econometrics for municipalities over the period 1994-2003. We provide two main results. First, inter-municipal cooperation has no significant impact on the level of municipal public spending, which suggests that cooperation does not achieve its goal of reducing municipal spending by the sharing of local responsibilities. Second, there are no spending interactions between municipalities belonging to the same inter-municipal community. This is in line with the goal assigned to cooperation in terms of internalization of spatial externalities. However, our results show that benefit spillovers remain highly significant outside inter-municipal communities, suggesting that inter-municipal communities remain too small. |
| Keywords: | public spending ; local governments ; inter-municipal cooperation ; panel data |
| Date: | 2012–09–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-00730555&r=ure |
| By: | Olaf Merk; Olli-Pekka Hilmola; Patrick Dubarle |
| Abstract: | This working paper offers an evaluation of the performance of the Port of Helsinki, as well as an analysis of the port?s impact on its territory and an assessment of relevant policies and governance. It examines declining port performance in the last decade and identifies the principal factors that have contributed to it. In addition, the report studies the potential for synergies between the Helsinki and HaminaKotka ports. The study also considers the effect of these ports on economic and environmental questions. Specifically, the paper outlines the impact of the Helsinki port?s operations, and shows how its activities spill over into other regions. The report also assesses major policies governing the port, as well as transport and economic development, the environment and spatial planning. These policies include measures instituted by the Helsinki Port Authority and local, regional and national governments. Governance mechanisms at these different levels are described and analysed. Based on the report?s findings, proposed recommendations aim to improve port performance and increase the positive effects of the port on its territory. |
| Keywords: | transportation, ports, regional development, regional growth, urban growth, inter-regional trade |
| JEL: | D57 L91 R11 R12 R15 R41 |
| Date: | 2012–09–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:govaab:2012/8-en&r=ure |
| By: | Donghoon Lee; Christopher Mayer; Joseph Tracy |
| Abstract: | We use data from credit reports and deed 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: As many as 45 percent of home purchases in coastal markets and bubble locations involved a piggyback second lien. Owner-occupants were more likely to use piggyback second liens than were 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 those on most other types of credit, raising a potential concern for lenders with large portfolios of second liens on their balance sheets. |
| Keywords: | Secondary mortgage market ; Home equity loans ; Mortgages ; Housing - Finance ; Financial crises |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fednsr:569&r=ure |
| By: | Ghani, Ejaz; Kerr, William R.; O'Connell, Stephen D. |
| Abstract: | Policy makers in both developed and developing countries want to make cities more competitive, attract entreprepreneurs, boost economic growth, and promote job creation. The authors examine the spatial location of entrepreneurs in India in manufacturing and services sectors, as well as in the formal and informal sectors, in 630 districts spread across 35 states/union territories. They quantify entrepreneurship as young firms that are less than three years old, and define entry measures through employment in these new establishments. They develop metrics that unite the incumbent industrial structures of districts with the extent to which industries interact through the traditional agglomeration channels. The two most consistent factors that predict overall entrepreneurship for a district are its education and the quality of local physical infrastructure. These patterns are true for manufacturing and services. These relationships are much stronger in India than those found for the United States. The authors also find strong evidence of agglomeration economies in India's manufacturing sector. This influence is through both traditional Marshallian economies like a suitable labor force and proximity to customers and through the Chinitz effect that emphasizes small suppliers. India's footprints in structural transformation, urbanization, and manufacturing sector are still at an early stage. At such an early point and with industrial structures not yet entrenched, local policies and traits can have profound and lasting impacts by shaping where industries plant their roots. |
| Keywords: | Microfinance,Labor Markets,Labor Policies,Private Participation in Infrastructure,Small Scale Enterprise |
| Date: | 2012–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6198&r=ure |
| By: | Stren, Richard |
| Abstract: | Sub-Saharan African cities have been growing at historically unprecedented rates. Since the early 1970s, they have welcomed international assistance involving a succession of major thematic objectives. The main agency involved in urban assistance has been |
| Keywords: | urban assistance, African cities, decentralization, World Bank, local government, urban management |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2012-49&r=ure |
| By: | Caroline Dewilde (Department of Sociology and Anthropology , Universiteit van Amsterdam); Bram Lancee (AIAS, Universiteit van Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the relation between income inequality and access to housing for low- income households. Three arguments are developed, explaining how inequality might affect housing affordability, quality and quantity. First, it is the absolute level of resources, not their relative distribution, which affects access to housing. Second, inequality affects access to housing in different ways, due to rising aspirations and status competition. Third, the effect of inequality is mediated by housing market pressures. Multilevel-models for 28 countries indicate that: 1) there is no relation between inequality and housing affordability – the level of resources matters, rather than their distribution; 2) there exists a positive relation between inequality and crowding for owners; 3) higher levels of income inequality are associated with lower housing quality for owners and renters. Although there is a relation between inequality and access to housing, it is complex and not mediated by our indicator of house price-changes. Key words: Income inequality, low incomes, housing conditions, comparative research, Europe. |
| Date: | 2012–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aia:ginidp:32&r=ure |
| By: | John Muellbauer |
| Abstract: | In many countries, house prices are subject to boom/bust cycles and in some these are linked to severe economic and financial instability. Overheating can have both a price and a quantity dimension, but it is likely that they are linked by common drivers. However, much depends on the land-use planning regime which profoundly affects the supply response. It is helpful to make the distinction between overshooting of house prices due to extrapolative expectations and ‘frenzy’, given fundamentals, and shifts in possibly fragile fundamentals. The contribution of careful econometric modelling to estimating the effects of the former is demonstrated: central banks or other policy makers should institute quarterly surveys of house price expectations of potential housing market participants to help assess the first type of overshooting. Assessing the fragility or otherwise of the economic fundamentals is more complex. Credit supply conditions in the mortgage market are the ‘elephant in the room’. Without taking a credit conditions measure into account, one simply cannot understand the behaviour of house prices, housing debt and consumption in countries such as Australia, the UK, the US, South Africa or France or understand vulnerability of some economies to high levels of household debt. Other financial and economic indicators of vulnerability are discussed, including high bank leverage ratios, high ratios of loans to deposits, debt, deficit and current account of ratios. Models of early warning of financial and economic crises estimated on large country panels need to be quite complex, for example, including some important interaction effects since shock transmission is very institution dependent. |
| Keywords: | Financial crisis, Financial accelerator, House price determination, Credit boom, Credit standards, Subprime mortgages, User cost, Risk premia, Construction boom |
| JEL: | R21 R31 G18 G21 E21 E51 C51 C52 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:wpaper:623&r=ure |
| By: | Tamás Sebestyén (Department of Economics and Regional Studies, University of Pécs); Attila Varga (Department of Economics and Regional Studies, University of Pécs) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the impact of interregional knowledge flows on the productivity of research at the regional level. We develop the novel index of ’ego network quality’ in order to measure the value of knowledge that can be accessed from a particular region’s global knowledge network. Quality of interregional knowledge networks is related to the size of knowledge accumulated by the partners (‘knowledge potential’), the extent of collaboration among partners (‘local density’) and the position of partners in the entire knowledge network (‘global embeddedness’). Ego network quality impact on the productivity of research in scientific publications and patenting at the regional level is tested with co-patenting and EU Framework Program collaboration data for 189 European NUTS 2 regions. |
| Keywords: | patents, scientific publications, knowledge networks, R&D productivity, regional knowledge production function, European regions |
| JEL: | O33 R11 R58 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pec:wpaper:2012/2&r=ure |
| By: | Jonathan Halket; Matteo Pignatti |
| Abstract: | We model the provision of owner-occupied versus rental housing services as a competitive search economy where households have private information over their expected duration. Owning solves the private information problem at the cost of double search. With public information, households with low vacancy hazard rates pay lower rents and search in thicker markets. With private information, housing is under-provided to long-duration households to discourage short-duration households from searching there. If a household has a high enough expected duration, rental distortions become large enough that she prefers to own. Customizing a house ameliorates the information problem while rent control exacerbates it. |
| Date: | 2012–07–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esx:essedp:717&r=ure |
| By: | Kubis, Alexander (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]); Schneider, Lutz |
| Abstract: | "Since the fall of the iron curtain in 1989, the migration deficit of the Eastern part of Germany has accumulated to 1.8 million people, which is over 10 percent of its initial population. Depending on their human capital endowment, these migrants might either - in the case of low-skilled migration - accelerate or - in high-skilled case - impede convergence. Due to the availability of detailed data on regional human capital, migration and productivity growth, we are able to test how geographic mobility affects convergence via the human capital selectivity of migration. With regard to the endogeneity of the migration flows and human capital, we apply a dynamic panel data model within the framework of ß-convergence and account for spatial dependence. The regressions indicate a positive, robust, but modest effect of a migration surplus on regional productivity growth. After controlling for human capital, the effect of migration decreases; this decrease indicates that skill selectivity is one way that migration impacts growth." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) |
| Keywords: | Binnenwanderung, Qualifikationsniveau, regionale Disparität, Konvergenz, Zuwanderung, Abwanderung, Ostdeutschland, Westdeutschland, Bundesrepublik Deutschland |
| JEL: | R23 R11 C23 |
| Date: | 2012–09–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabdpa:201223&r=ure |
| By: | Yongheng Deng; Joseph Gyourko; Jing Wu |
| Abstract: | We provide the first multi-city, constant quality land price index for 35 major markets in China. While there is meaningful heterogeneity in land price growth across cities, on average the last nine years have seen land values skyrocket in many markets, not just those on or near the coast. The typical market has experienced double-digit compound average annual growth in real, constant-quality land values. The 2009-2010 stimulus period typically saw large surges in prices. Three notable characteristics about the land value appreciation series are their strong mean reversion at annual frequencies, the strong common factor in their movement, and their very high volatility. Quantities, not just prices, have been sharply increasing in recent years. The typical amount of space supplied via land auctions in our 35 city sample has doubled since 2008. Some local political economy traits such as the time the local Chinese Communist Party leader has been in office are correlated with land supply volume. We also investigate the quality of the two most prominent house price indexes in China, and conclude that a traditional hedonic index more accurately reflects how house prices have changed over time in eight major markets in China. Repeat sales indexes have become standard in many countries, but they are not as useful in emerging markets such as China because the bulk of the housing stock is relatively new and has not traded multiple times. A hedonic index shows much higher house price growth over time that do officially published series for the eight markets examined. |
| JEL: | R0 R14 R3 R31 |
| Date: | 2012–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18403&r=ure |
| By: | Goodman, Joshua (Harvard University) |
| Abstract: | Proponents of the recent and widely adopted Common Core State Standards argue that high quality curricular standards are critical to students' educational success. Little clear evidence exists, however, linking the quality of such standards to student achievement. I remedy this by connecting data on state-level student achievement from 1994-2011 with measures of the quality of states' curricular standards as judged by two independent organizations at three different moments in time. I show that, within states, changes in the quality of standards have little impact on overall student achievement. Improved standards do, however, raise achievement of 8th graders in low-scoring states, particularly for low-scoring students. Given the known weaknesses of U.S. middle schools, this result suggests that standards may be beneficial in settings where pedagogy would otherwise be poor. |
| Date: | 2012–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:harjfk:rwp12-031&r=ure |
| By: | Claudio Ferrari; Olaf Merk; Anna Bottasso; Maurizio Conti; Alessio Tei |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the impact of port activity on regional employment, analysing approximately 560 western European regions, including the largest OECD European ports (116 ports), from 2000-06. The empirical analysis is based on a set of employment equations using the Blundell and Bond (1998) GMM-System estimator that takes into account persistence effects in employment, regional unobserved time-invariant heterogeneity and endogeneity of port activity.<P> Our main findings are (1) regional employment is positively correlated to port throughput, while the number of passengers is not; (2) the impact of port throughput on employment might depend on the institutional characteristics of each port, with private ports having the largest impact on regional employment of the host region if compared with those operating under different governance models (“Hanseatic”, “Latin”); (3) there is a higher impact of port throughput when liquid bulk is not considered; and (4) the main results are confirmed when service and manufacturing employment rather than total employment are considered. |
| Keywords: | transportation, ports, regional development, regional growth |
| JEL: | H54 L91 O47 R11 R41 |
| Date: | 2012–09–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:govaab:2012/7-en&r=ure |
| By: | Goodness C. Aye (University of Pretoria); Mehmet Balcilar (Eastern Mediterranean University); Rangan Gupta (University of Pretoria); Charl Jooste (University of Pretoria); Stephen M. Miller (University of Nevada, Las Vegas and University of Connecticut); Zeynel Abidin Ozdemir (Gazi University) |
| Abstract: | This study assesses how fiscal policy affects the dynamics of asset markets, using Bayesian vector autoregressive models. We use sign restrictions to identify government revenue and government spending shocks, while controlling for generic business cycle and monetary policy shocks. In addition to examining the effects of anticipated and unanticipated revenue and spending shocks, we also analyse three types of fiscal policy scenarios: a deficit-financed spending increase, a balanced budget spending increase (financed with higher taxes), and a deficit-financed tax cut (revenue decreases but government spending stays unchanged). Using South African quarterly data from 1966:Q1 to 2011:Q2, we show that a deficit spending shock does not affect house prices, but temporarily exerts a positive effect on stock prices. With a deficit-financed tax cut shock, house prices increase persistently while stock prices increase quickly, but only temporarily. A balanced budget shock permanently decreases house prices and temporarily reduces stock prices. JEL Classification: C32, E62, G10, H62 Key words: Bayesian Sign-Restricted VAR, fiscal policy, housing prices, stock prices |
| Date: | 2012–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uct:uconnp:2012-27&r=ure |
| By: | Trax, Michaela (University of Duisburg-Essen); Brunow, Stephan (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg); Suedekum, Jens (University of Duisburg-Essen) |
| Abstract: | Using comprehensive data for German establishments (1999-2008), we estimate plant-level production functions to analyze if “cultural diversity” affects total factor productivity. We distinguish diversity in the establishment's workforce and in the aggregate regional labor force where the plant is located. We find that a larger share of foreign workers – either in the establishment or in the region – does not affect productivity. However, there are strong spillovers associated with the degree of cultural heterogeneity. The aggregate level is, quantitatively, at least as important as the workforce composition inside the establishment. Diversity thus seems to induce externalities beyond the boundaries of a single firm; it improves local business environments. |
| Keywords: | cultural diversity, plant-level productivity, knowledge spillovers |
| JEL: | R23 J21 J31 |
| Date: | 2012–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6845&r=ure |
| By: | Cawley, John (Cornell University); Frisvold, David (Emory University); Meyerhoefer, Chad D. (Lehigh University) |
| Abstract: | In response to the dramatic rise in childhood obesity, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and other organizations have advocated increasing the time that elementary school children spend in physical education (PE) classes. However, little is known about the effect of PE on child weight. This paper measures that effect by instrumenting for child PE time with state policies, using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K) for 1998-2004. Results from IV models indicate that PE lowers BMI z-score and reduces the probability of obesity among 5th graders (in particular, boys), while the instrument is insufficiently powerful to reliably estimate effects for younger children. This represents some of the first evidence of a causal effect of PE on youth obesity, and thus offers at least some support to the assumptions behind the CDC recommendations. We find no evidence that increased PE time crowds out time in academic courses or has spillovers to achievement test scores. |
| Keywords: | obesity, physical activity, physical education, children, health |
| JEL: | I12 I18 I21 H75 K32 |
| Date: | 2012–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6807&r=ure |
| By: | Camargo, Braz; Firpo, Sergio; Ponczek, Vladimir P. |
| Abstract: | In this paper we test whether the disclosure of test scores has direct impacts on student performance, school composition and school inputs. We take advantage of the discontinuity on the disclosure rules of The National Secondary Education Examination (ENEM) run in Brazil by the Ministry of Education: In 2006 it was established that the 2005 mean score results would be disclosed for schools with ten or more students who took the exam inthe previous year. We use a regression discontinuity design to estimate the e ects of test disclosure. Our results indicate that private schools that had their average scores released in 2005 outperformed those that did not by 0.2-0.6 in 2007. We did not nd same results for public schools. Moreover, we did not nd evidence that treated schools adjusted their inputs or that there was major changes in the students composition of treated schools.These ndings allow us to interpret that the main mechanism driving the di erences in performance was the increased levels of students', teachers' and principals' e ort exerted by those in schools that had scores publicized. |
| Date: | 2012–09–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fgv:eesptd:289&r=ure |
| By: | Franz-Josef Bade (University of Dortmund); Eckhardt Bode (Kiel Institute for the World Economy); Eleonora Cutrini (University of Macerata) |
| Abstract: | <p align="justify">We explore to what extent key functions in manufacturing are spatially clustered with, or dispersed from,each other within industries, and how these clustering or dispersion patterns have changed during recent decades. Estimating the levels and changes (1992–2007) of localizations and colocalizations of selected functions (production, headquarter services, R&D) within 27 West German industries by means of K densities, we identify two broad groups of industries. In “fragmenting” industries,which account for one half of manufacturing employment, functions were more clustered with each other than the industry as a whole after the fall of the Iron Curtain but have, in accordance with regional theories of spatial fragmentation, been unbundled spatially from each other subsequently. In “integrating” industries, by contrast, which account for one third of manufacturing employment, functions were initially dispersed from each other but have subsequently been rebundled spatially with each other. We hypothesize that this spatial rebundling is a consequence of offshoring, i.e., international fragmentation.</p> |
| Keywords: | fragmentation,localization,colocalization,functions,offshoring,Germany,K density,manufacturing |
| JEL: | C19 L60 F23 R12 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mcr:wpaper:wpaper00039&r=ure |
| By: | Goodman, Joshua (Harvard University); Levitin, Adam (Harvard University) |
| Abstract: | Recent proposals to address housing market troubles through principal modification raise the possibility that such policies could increase the cost of credit in the mortgage market. We explore this using historical variation in federal judicial rulings regarding whether Chapter 13 bankruptcy filers could reduce the principal owed on a home loan to the home's market value. The practice, known as cramdown, was definitively prohibited by the Supreme Court in 1993. We find evidence that home loans closed during the time when cramdown was allowed had interest rates 10-20 basis points higher than loans closed in the same state when cramdown was not allowed, which translates to a roughly 1-2 percent increase in monthly payments. Consistent with the theory that lenders are pricing in the risk of principal modification, interest rate increases are higher for the riskiest borrowers and zero for the least risky, as well as higher in states where Chapter 13 filing is more common. |
| Date: | 2012–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:harjfk:rwp12-037&r=ure |
| By: | Stephane Gregoir;; Tristan-Pierre Maury; |
| Abstract: | Disability has consequences on the dynamic changes in the positions on the labour and housing markets that may be magnifying each other. We estimate the share in the gap in labour force participation between able-bodied and disabled people that can be attributed to differences in individual home tenure histories. Based on an original multivariate dynamic panel data model relying on BHPS data from 1992 to 2008 and sequential estimation of two models related on the one hand to individual annual transition probabilities on the labour and housing markets and on the other hand to transition probabilities regarding health, we show that some of the medium run (between 5 and 8 years) decrease in employment probability for the disabled can be attributed to a negative social housing sector channel. The discrimination effect on employment for disabled people cumulates with a lower probability of participating in the job market when living in the public housing sector. |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:yor:hectdg:12/22&r=ure |
| By: | Blumenberg, Evelyn; Taylor, Brian; Smart, Michael; Ralph, Kelcie; Wander, Madeline; Brumbagh, Stephen |
| Abstract: | Today’s teens are members of the first generation to have never known a world without instantaneous and nearly ubiquitous mobile phone access. They also must surmount greater hurdles to driver’s licensing than any previous generation faced. And they are struggling to transition into the most unwelcoming job market since the Great Depression. These tectonic happenings surely augur equally dramatic changes in the travel choices and patterns of young adults in the years ahead. Or will they? This report examines this question. While scholars have studied the travel choices and patterns of adults extensively over the years, our knowledge of youth travel behavior is surprisingly limited and uneven. There is a growing body of research on how children travel to school and a second body of research on youth and travel safety, in particular, the high rates of crashes and driving fatalities among teenagers. Beyond these two rather focused lines of inquiry, however, studies of travel by children, teens, and young adults are rare. Researchers have posited several factors to explain differences in the travel behavior of youth and adults, and to support the argument that such differences may persist as today’s youth move into adulthood. First, the rapid profusion and adoption of new communication technologies influences how people use their time and may affect how much they travel (Kwan, 2002), and young people tend to be early and frequent adopters of these technologies (Mans et al., forthcoming; Lenhart et al., 2005; Pew Research Center, 2010b). Second, all 50 states have now adopted graduated driver’s licensing programs, making teen licensing more difficult and restrictive (with respect to time, trip purpose, and passengers) than in previous eras (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 2012). Third, unemployment rates during the current recession are highest for youth, thereby reducing journey-to-work and work-related travel and limiting the resources teens and young adults have to pay for non-work activities (and associated travel) of all types. This prolonged economic downturn may also influence youth travel patterns indirectly; fragmentary evidence suggests that young adults struggling to find work increasingly “boomerang†back home to live with parents (Kaplan, 2009; Pew Research Center, 2010b; Wiemers, 2011), drawn by a free or steeply discounted bedroom, groceries, and, perhaps, access to parents’ cars. |
| Keywords: | City/Urban, Community and Regional Planning |
| Date: | 2012–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:uctcwp:qt9c14p6d5&r=ure |
| By: | Dietrichson, Jens (Department of Economics, Lund University); Ellegård, Lina Maria (Department of Economics, Lund University) |
| Abstract: | Central government bailouts of local governments are commonly viewed as a recipe for local fiscal indiscipline, as local governments learn that the center will come to rescue in times of trouble. Little is however known about whether such tendencies can be dampened if assistance is made conditional upon the local governments' own fiscal efforts. We examine a case in which the Swedish central government provided conditional grants to 36 financially troubled municipalities: to receive the grant, municipalities first had to cut costs and balance their budgets. For each municipality, we estimate the long run program effect on per capita costs of services using the synthetic control method for case studies (Abadie and Gardeazabal, 2003; Abadie et al., 2010). The number of municipalities that substantially reduce their costs after the program is much larger than the number that substantially increase their costs, and there is a cost reducing effect on average. Fixed effects estimations with net revenues as measure of fiscal performance corroborate these findings for costs. Conditional bailouts need thus not erode fiscal responsibility and may even induce fiscal discipline. |
| Keywords: | Bailouts; local governments; fiscal performance; synthetic control method |
| JEL: | D23 H61 H62 H72 H77 |
| Date: | 2012–09–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lunewp:2012_024&r=ure |
| By: | Reig-Otero,Y.; Edwards-Schachter,M.; Feliú-Mingarro,C.; Fernández De Lucio,I. |
| Abstract: | This paper provides an in-depth case study of the ink-jet printing (IJP) technology that emerged from a mature industrial sector in the Castellon region (Spain) in the first decade of 2000. We propose an analytical framework that combines the theoretical perspectives of Industrial Districts and Innovation Systems, and exploit a qualitative methodology that includes information from patent and scientific article databases, technical literature and 21 interviews. Our results show that IJP is a major innovation that breaks with the tradition of machinery innovations in this industry in Spain. We provide micro-level evidence of the complex external and internal relationships in the innovation process. Internal ties, trust relations and strong in-house R&D were the determinants of the IJP innovation. In contrast to the literature, we find that secrecy and patenting play key roles in the sharing of knowledge and the innovation strategy. |
| Keywords: | innovation system, industrial district, learning region, technology, ceramic tile, ink-jet printing |
| JEL: | O31 O33 Q55 |
| Date: | 2012–09–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ing:wpaper:201208&r=ure |
| By: | MacLeod, W. Bentley (Columbia University); Urquiola, Miguel (Columbia University) |
| Abstract: | Friedman (1962) observed that the ability of firms to acquire and maintain reputations for quality is a key ingredient for the efficient provision of goods and services in a market economy. This paper explores the implications of school reputation for skill acquisition and labor market outcomes in an otherwise competitive market. We find that reputation effects can explain several puzzling findings in the economics of education, including the fact that competition can, but does not always, improve skill acquisition. This result follows from an anti-lemons effect (in contrast to Akerlof's lemons effect) that arises when schools can enhance their reputation by positively selecting their students. This leads to excess demand for "high quality" selective schools that drive out non-selective schools. This in turn reduces "relative diversity", a measure of ability dispersion in a school, leading to lower skill acquisition. |
| Keywords: | education, reputation, competition, labor markets |
| JEL: | H2 H4 I21 J31 |
| Date: | 2012–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6805&r=ure |
| By: | Stefan Boes;; Stephan Nuesch;; Steve Stillman; |
| Abstract: | We explore two unexpected changes in flight regulations to identify the causal effect of aircraft noise on health. Detailed yearly noise metrics are linked with panel data on health outcomes using exact address information. Controlling for individual and spatial heterogeneity, we find that aircraft noise significantly increases sleeping problems, weariness and headaches. Our pooled models substantially underestimate the detrimental health effects, which suggests that individuals self-select into residence based on their unobserved noise sensitivity and idiosyncratic vulnerability. Generally, we show that the combination of fixed effects and quasi-experiments is very powerful to identify causal effects in epidemiological field studies. |
| Keywords: | Health, noise pollution, selection bias, fixed effects, quasi-experimental data. |
| JEL: | I10 Q53 C23 |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:yor:hectdg:12/21&r=ure |
| By: | Lucila Berniell;; Dolores de la Mata;; M. Nieves Valdes |
| Abstract: | To prevent modern health conditions like obesity, cancer, cardiovascular illness, and diabetes, which have reached epidemic-like proportions in recent decades, many health experts argue that students should receive Health Education (HED) at school. Although this type of education aims mainly to improve children's health proles, it might affect other family members as well. This paper exploits state HED reforms as quasi-natural experiments to estimate the causal impact of HED received by children on their parents' physical activity. We use data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) for the period 1999-2005 merged with data on state HED reforms from the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) Health Policy Database, and the 2000 and 2006 School Health Policies and Programs Study (SHPPS). To identify the spillover effects of HED requirements on parents' behavior we use a "differences-in-differences in- differences" (DDD) methodology in which we allow for different types of treatments. We find a positive effect of HED reforms at the elementary school on the probability of parents doing light physical activity. Introducing major changes in HED increases the probability of fathers engaging in physical activity by 12.4 percentage points, while this probability for mothers does not seem to be affected. We find evidence of two channels that may drive these spillovers. We conclude that the gender specialization of parents in childcare activities, as well as information sharing between children and parents, may play a role in generating these indirect effects and in turn, in shaping healthy lifestyles within the household. |
| Keywords: | physical activity; healthy lifestyles; indirect treatment effects; health education; triple differences. |
| JEL: | I12 I18 I28 C21 |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:yor:hectdg:12/13&r=ure |
| By: | Lambright, Gina M. S. |
| Abstract: | Uganda, like other African countries, has implemented reforms to decentralize political authority to local governments and reintroduce multiparty elections. This combination creates opportunities for national partisan struggles to emerge in local arenas a |
| Keywords: | decentralization; Africa; service delivery; multiparty elections |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2012-51&r=ure |
| By: | Dauth, Wolfgang (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]); Südekum, Jens |
| Abstract: | "In this paper we take a detailed look at the sectoral anatomy of regional growth in German regions over the period 1978-2008. In the aggregate, the German economy is characterized by a secular decline of the manufacturing sector and a rise of the modern service economy. This trend of structural change (Petty's law) by no means occurs uniformly across space, however. Some regions exhibit this trend even at an accelerated pace, while other regions develop their local economic structures against the trend and expand their manufacturing bases. We first develop a novel empirical approach that allows us to categorize all German regions into one out of three groups with 'pro-trend', 'anti-trend' or 'featureless' regional growth. Afterwards we show that the differential exposure to international trade is an important cause of the divergent patterns of local industrial change." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) |
| Keywords: | Wirtschaftsstrukturwandel, regionale Verteilung, Welthandel, lokale Ökonomie, Beschäftigungsentwicklung, Wirtschaftsentwicklung, Wirtschaftssektoren |
| JEL: | R11 F16 |
| Date: | 2012–09–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabdpa:201220&r=ure |
| By: | Julio López-Laborda (Department of Public Economics, University of Zaragoza); Antoni Zabalza (Department of Economic Analysis, University of Valencia) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the efficiency cost of transfers. To this end, we develop a model of individual demand decisions about the provision of a regional public good that encompasses a continuum of tax/transfers scenarios to finance regional public expenditure. We assume that individuals have identical quasi-linear preferences defined over private consumption and the regional public good, that endowment income varies between individuals and regions and that regions have different predetermined sizes. We show that, despite its simplicity, this model is capable of discriminating the efficiency properties of the different scenarios considered, and that the substitution of transfers for own regional taxes always raises the provision of the regional public good. Our model yields the so called “flypaper effect” with no need to appeal to the existence of “fiscal illusion” by the part of the individual. We nevertheless find that “fiscal illusion” increases the elasticity of public good provision with respect to transfers, and we suggest two potentially refutable hypotheses to identify the existence of this phenomenon. |
| Keywords: | Regional finance, taxes, transfers, fiscal illusion, flypaper effect |
| Date: | 2012–09–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ays:ispwps:paper1229&r=ure |
| By: | Karl E. Case (Dept. of Economics, Wellesley College); Robert J. Shiller (Cowles Foundation, Yale University); Anne K. Thompson (McGraw-Hill Construction) |
| Abstract: | Questionnaire surveys we have undertaken in 1988 and annually 2003–2012 of recent homebuyers in each of four U.S. cities shed light on their expectations and reasons for buying and selling during the recent housing boom and subsequent collapse, and on the reasons for the housing crisis that initiated the current financial malaise. We find that homebuyers were generally well informed, and that their short-run expectations if anything underreacted to the year-to-year change in actual home prices. More of the root causes of the bubble can be seen in their long-term, ten-year, home price expectations, which reached abnormal levels relative to the mortgage rate at the peak of the boom and declined sharply since. The downward turning point around 2005 of the long boom that preceded the crisis was associated with changing public understanding of speculative bubbles. |
| JEL: | R30 |
| Date: | 2012–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cwl:cwldpp:1876&r=ure |
| By: | Goodman, Joshua (Harvard University) |
| Abstract: | Labor economists know that a year of schooling raises earnings but have little evidence on the impact of specific courses completed. I identify the impact of math coursework on earnings using the differential timing of state-level increases in high school graduation requirements as a source of exogenous variation. The increased requirements induced large increases in both the completed math coursework and earnings of blacks, particularly black males. Two-sample instrumental variable estimates suggest that each additional year of math raised blacks' earnings by 5-9%, accounting for a large fraction of the value of a year of schooling. Closer analysis suggests that much of this effect comes from black students who attend non-white schools and who will not attend college. The earnings impact of additional math coursework is robust to changes in empirical specification, is not driven by selection into the labor force, and persists when earnings are conditioned on educational attainment. The reforms close one fifth of the earnings gap between black and white males. Estimates for whites are similar to those of blacks but are much noisier due to the reforms' weaker impact on white students' coursework. These results suggest that math coursework is an important determinant of the labor market return to schooling, that simple minimum requirements largely benefit low-skilled students, and that more demanding requirements might be necessary to improve the outcomes of high-skilled students. |
| Date: | 2012–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:harjfk:rwp12-032&r=ure |
| By: | van Ham, Maarten (Delft University of Technology); Manley, David (University of Bristol) |
| Abstract: | Neighbourhood effects research is at a crossroads since current theoretical and empirical approaches do not seem to be moving the debate forward. In this paper, we present a set of ten challenges as a basis for a new research agenda which will give new direction to the neighbourhood effects debate. The ten challenges are: 1) Future work should concentrate on explaining what is in the "black-box" of the 'neighbourhood effect' by deriving and testing clear hypotheses on causal neighbourhood effect mechanisms; 2) Studies should explicitly investigate the relationship between neighbourhood context and individual outcomes; 3) Alternative outcome variables such as subjective well-being should be considered; 4) We should move away from point-in-time measures of neighbourhood characteristics and take into account people's neighbourhood histories; 5) More attention is needed for the intergenerational transmission of neighbourhood effects; 6) We need to understand neighbourhood selection and to incorporate neighbourhood selection explicitly in models of neighbourhood effects; 7) We need a better operationalization of neighbourhood; 8) Neighbourhood effects researchers need to broaden their horizon to include other spatial contexts which might matter, in addition, or in place of the residential neighbourhood; 9) We need bespoke data to investigate neighbourhood effects; 10) The tenth and final challenge is to combine qualitative and quantitative methods into one research design. |
| Keywords: | theory, causality, challenges, neighbourhood effects, bespoke data |
| JEL: | I30 R23 |
| Date: | 2012–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6793&r=ure |
| By: | Dorosh, Paul; Thurlow, James |
| Abstract: | Rapid urbanization is an important characteristic of African development and yet the structural transformation debate focuses on agriculture.s relative merits without also considering the benefits from urban agglomeration. As a result, African governments |
| Keywords: | urbanization, rural development, growth, poverty, CGE model, Africa |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2012-50&r=ure |
| By: | Glitz, Albrecht (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a comprehensive description of the nature and extent of ethnic segregation in Germany. Using matched employer-employee data for the universe of German workers over the period 1975 to 2008, I show that there is substantial ethnic segregation across both workplaces and residential locations and that the extent of segregation has been relatively stable over the last 30 years. Workplace segregation is particularly pronounced in agriculture and mining, construction, and the service sector, and among low-educated workers. Ethnic minority workers are segregated not only from native workers but also from workers of other ethnic groups, but less so if they share a common language. From a dynamic perspective, for given cohorts of workers, the results show a clear pattern of assimilation, reminiscent of typical earnings assimilation profiles, with immigrants being increasingly less likely to work in segregated workplaces with time spent in the host country. |
| Keywords: | ethnic minorities, residential segregation, workplace segregation |
| JEL: | J61 J63 J31 |
| Date: | 2012–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6841&r=ure |
| By: | Juessen, Falko (TU Dortmund); Linnemann, Ludger (TU Dortmund) |
| Abstract: | We propose using sign restrictions to identify regional labor demand shocks in a panel VAR of US federal states. Observed migration responds significantly, but less persistently than the residual-based migration measure constructed by Blanchard and Katz (1992). |
| Keywords: | regional labor markets, migration, panel VAR, sign restrictions |
| JEL: | E24 R11 C33 C32 |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6767&r=ure |
| By: | Rodríguez-Planas, Núria (IZA, IAE-CSIC and UPF) |
| Abstract: | We present evidence on how The Quantum Opportunity Program (QOP hereafter) worked in the US. While the program was regarded as successful in the short-term, in the long-run its educational results were modest and its effects on risky behaviors detrimental. Exploiting control group's self-reported drug use while in school, we evaluate whether the program worked best among those with high-predicted risk of problem behavior. We find QOP to be extremely successful among high-risk youths as it managed to curb their risky behaviors during high-school and, by doing so, it persistently improved high-school graduation by 20 percent and college enrollment by 28 percent. In contrast, QOP was unsuccessful among youths in the bottom-half of the risk distribution as it increased their engagement in risky behaviors while in high-school. Negative peer effects are possibly an explanation behind these results. Finally, negative peer effects also seem to explain the longer-run detrimental effects of QOP on risky behaviors. |
| Keywords: | mentoring programs, peer effects, risky behaviors, educational programs, randomized trials |
| JEL: | C93 I21 I22 I28 J24 |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6770&r=ure |
| By: | Polidano, Cain (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research); Tabasso, Domenico (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research); Tseng, Yi-Ping (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research) |
| Abstract: | Despite efforts to engage youth in education, there have been only modest improvements in the rates of school completion across OECD countries since the mid-1990s. These modest improvements underline the importance of programs that encourage early school leavers to return to post-school education. The objective of this paper is to better understand the factors that affect the chances of re-engaging early school leavers in education, with a particular focus on the importance of time out from school (duration dependence) and school-related factors. Using data from three cohorts of the Longitudinal Survey of Australian Youth and duration models that control for unobserved heterogeneity, our results suggest that programs that encourage an early return to study and programs that develop post-school career plans may be more effective than programs that concentrate on improving numeracy and literacy scores. |
| Keywords: | educational economics, demand for schooling, human capital |
| JEL: | I20 J01 |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6769&r=ure |
| By: | Debra Mountford; Greg Clark; Peter Dupej; Mateu Hernández; Joe Huxley |
| Abstract: | This project aims to support the Slovak Republic as it seeks to create a clear rationale for the Regional Development Agencies Integrated Network which currently comprises 38 agencies. The project considers the efficiency of the network and evaluates the appropriateness of the agencies’ functions, competencies and remit for delivery of effective local economic development. The project is part of series of reforms which have been taking place in the Slovak Republic to realise the aims and objectives of The Act No. 539/2008 coll. on regional development (539 Act) on the Support of Regional Development which provides the a general framework for regional development policy and delivery in accordance with the 2004 Ministerial Guidelines on PHSR – Economic and Social Development Programme of Higher Territorial Unit. |
| Date: | 2012–09–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:cfeaaa:2012/16-en&r=ure |
| By: | Pham, Thi Thanh Hong; Nguyen, Binh Giang |
| Abstract: | This paper reviews the industrial agglomeration and evaluates the industrial clustering policy in Vietnam. Base on the Kuchiki flowchart on the building of industrial clustering policy for developing countries, the authors suggest a policy framework for Vietnam. |
| Keywords: | Industrial agglomeration; industrial cluster; industrial upgrading; economic restructure; Vietnam economy |
| JEL: | R12 R11 |
| Date: | 2012–09–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:41471&r=ure |
| By: | Giertz, Seth H. (University of Nebraska at Lincoln); Tosun, Mehmet S. (University of Nevada, Reno) |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a simulation model in order to examine the effectiveness of state attempts at redistribution under a variety of migration elasticity assumptions. Key outputs from the simulation include the impact of tax-induced migration on state revenues, excess burden, and fiscal externalities. With modest migration elasticities, the costs of state-level redistribution are substantial, but state action may still be preferred to a federal policy that is at odds with preferences of a state's citizens. At higher migration elasticities, the costs of state action can be tremendous. Overall excess burden is greater, but this is dominated by horizontal fiscal externalities. Horizontal fiscal externalities represent a cost to the state pursuing additional redistribution, but not a cost at the national level. |
| Keywords: | fiscal externalities, fiscal federalism, income redistribution, excess burden, deadweight loss |
| JEL: | H21 H23 H71 |
| Date: | 2012–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6798&r=ure |
| By: | Campbell, John Y; Ramadorai, Tarun; Ranish, Benjamin |
| Abstract: | To understand the effects of regulation on mortgage risk, it is instructive to track the history of regulatory changes in a country rather than to rely entirely on cross-country evidence that can be contaminated by unobserved heterogeneity. However, in developed countries with fairly stable systems of financial regulation, it is difficult to track these effects. We employ loan-level data on over a million loans disbursed in India over the 1995 to 2010 period to understand how fast-changing regulation impacted mortgage lending and risk. We find evidence that regulation has important effects on mortgage rates and delinquencies in both the time-series and the cross-section. |
| Keywords: | delinquencies; emerging markets; India; mortgage finance; regulation |
| JEL: | G21 G28 R21 R31 |
| Date: | 2012–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:9136&r=ure |
| By: | Pablo Simón-Cosano (Universitat Pompeu Fabra); Santiago Lago-Peñas (REDE, IEB and University of Vigo); Alberto Vaquero (University of Vigo) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the effect of political variables on the gains obtained by Spanish regions in periodical bargaining of the intergovernmental financing agreements and on the regional distribution of discretional earmarked grants over the period 1987-2008. First, we find that the relationship between gains in transferred revenues and on regional public debt stocks depends on the period and the specific issues discussed in the corresponding negotiation, aside from political affinity. Second, we show that the most discretional program of earmarked grants is strongly driven by electoral strategy. National incumbents tend to allocate intergovernmental transfers where there are competitive regional elections. Moreover, we show that earmarked grants are allocated in those regions where the incumbent performs better in national elections and, especially, in those where there are more seats to be won. Hence we prove that both strategies are complementary rather than exclusive. |
| Keywords: | Intergovernmental grants, party systems, elections, subcentral public debt. |
| Date: | 2012–09–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ays:ispwps:paper1230&r=ure |
| By: | Christopher F. Parmeter (Department of Economics, University of Miami); Jaren C. Pope (Department of Economics, Brigham Young University) |
| Abstract: | There has recently been a dramatic increase in the number of papers that have combined quasi-experimental methods with hedonic property models. This is largely due to the concern that cross-sectional hedonic methods may be severely biased by omitted variables. While the empirical literature has developed extensively, there has not been a consistent treatment of the theory and methods of combining hedonic property models with quasi-experiments. The purpose of this chapter is to fill this void. An effort is made to provide background information on the traditional hedonic theory, the traditional cross-sectional hedonic methods as well as the newer quasi-experimental hedonic methods that use program evaluation techniques. By connecting these two literatures, the underlying theoretical and empirical assumptions necessary to estimate the marginal willingness to pay for a housing characteristic are highlighted. The chapter also provides a practical how to guide on implementing a quasi-experimental hedonic analysis. This is done by focusing on a series of steps that can help to ensure the reliability of a quasi-experimental identification strategy. We illustrate this process using several recent papers from the literature. |
| Keywords: | Regression Discontinuity, Differences-in-Differences, Property Value, Program Evaluation, Marginal Willingness to Pay, Capitalization |
| JEL: | C9 D6 Q5 R0 |
| Date: | 2012–02–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mia:wpaper:2012-7&r=ure |
| By: | Petter Lundborg;; Anton Nilsson;; Dan-Olof Rooth |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we use the Swedish compulsory school reform to estimate the causal effect of parental education on sons’ outcomes. We use data from the Swedish military enlistment register of the entire population of males and focus on outcomes such as cognitive skills, noncognitive skills, and various dimensions of health at the age of 18. We find significant and positive effects of maternal education on sons' skills and health status. Although the reform had equally strong effects on fathers’ and mothers’ education, we find little evidence that paternal education improves sons’ outcomes. |
| Keywords: | Education, cognitive skills, noncognitive skills, health, causality, school reforms. |
| JEL: | I12 I28 J13 |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:yor:hectdg:12/12&r=ure |
| By: | Debra Mountford; Andrew Boraine; Greg Clark; Nicola Cobbold; Mateu Hernández; Joe Huxley |
| Abstract: | Derry~Londonderry in Northern Ireland became a member of the LEED Partners Club in 2008 and has collaborated with the LEED Programme as it embarked upon One Plan. Our work with the city encapsulates the essence of LEED and the delivery of sustainable local development in practice. Throughout the project, our team worked with engaged, open and committed stakeholders and our Directing Committee was both humbled and inspired by the city.<p>Derry-Londonderry has a challenging period ahead as it seeks to create 12 000 much needed jobs in the city over the next 10 years. It is now an outward-looking and learning city, seeking to learn from international best practice and in turn contribute to new thinking and understanding. Through One Plan – the Regeneration Plan for Derry Londonderry 2020 – the city can determine a different future: a stronger economy and equal society. Delivering Local Development in Derry~Londonderry, Northern Ireland: Inclusive Growth Through One Plan helps the city set out a path to reshape its future to ensure that the economy is able to generate sufficient, productive and sustainable employment, with opportunities for progression and accessibility for all. |
| Date: | 2012–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:cfeaaa:2012/15-en&r=ure |
| By: | Andrea Ferrero (Federal Reserve Bank of New York) |
| Abstract: | One of the most striking features of the period before the Great Recession of 2007-2009 is the strong positive correlation between house price appreciation and current account deficits in countries that have subsequently experienced the highest degree of financial turmoil. A progressive relaxation of credit constraints can rationalize this empirical observation. Lower collateral requirements facilitate access to external funding and drive up house prices. Households increase their leverage borrowing from the rest of the world so that the current account turns negative. Several pieces of evidence support this view. The paper further compares this mechanism with the role of monetary policy, the exchange rate regime and foreign saving shocks in accounting for the evidence. |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:red:sed011:1386&r=ure |
| By: | MAUSUMI DAS (Department of Economics, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi, India); SUBRATA GUHA (Centre for Economic Studies & Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi 110067) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the contribution of teachers in a public education system and its implication for growth. We focus exclusively on two teacher-specific inputs (teacher quality and teacher quantity), and two student-specific inputs (ability and effort). We argue that all these factors enter separately in the education technology and therefore have differential impact of the process of human capital formation. In a public educa- tion system where teachers remunerations are paid by the government and financed by taxation, for any given amount of government revenue, there exists a trade-o¤ between teacher quality and teacher quantity. At the same time, the imposed tax rate has an impact on the export choice of an agent. Thus human capital formation and growth in the model depends on a complex interaction between teacher quality, teacher quantity, student ability and student effort. In this context we discuss the optimal education policy as well the optimal taxation policy of the government. |
| Keywords: | Public Education, Quality of Education, Growth |
| JEL: | I28 O40 |
| Date: | 2012–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cde:cdewps:216&r=ure |
| By: | Alessandra Fogli; Laura Veldkamp |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ste:nystbu:12-16&r=ure |