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on Urban and Real Estate Economics |
| By: | Combes, Pierre-Philippe (GREQAM, University of Aix-Marseille); Duranton, Gilles (University of Toronto); Gobillon, Laurent (INED, France) |
| Abstract: | We develop a new methodology to estimate the elasticity of urban costs with respect to city population using French land price data. Our preferred estimate, which handles a number of estimation concerns, stands at 0.041. Our approach also yields a number of intermediate outputs of independent interest such as a distance gradient for land prices and the elasticity of unit land prices with respect to city population. For the latter, our preferred estimate is 0.72. |
| Keywords: | urban costs, land prices, land use, agglomeration |
| JEL: | R14 R21 R31 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7027&r=ure |
| By: | Luisa Alamá-Sabater (Economics Department, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain); Laura Márquez-Ramos (Economics Department, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain); Celestino Suárez-Burguet (Economics Department, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón, Spain); J. Miguel Navarro-Azorín (Economics Department, Universidad de Cartagena, Spain) |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to analyze whether transport connectivity affects interregional trade flows from a spatial dependence approach. In order to do so, we consider two neighboring criteria into a spatial autoregressive model. First, we use the geographical criteria of first-order contiguity and, second, we incorporate transport connectivity. The results provide evidence about the role of the location of logistics platforms for satisfying existing demand for transport structure in Spain. Disaggregated interregional trade data and measures of regional logistics performance are not frequently available and then, this paper justifies the need to advance in these two aspects also in other countries. |
| Keywords: | Interregional trade, transport connectivity, spatial dependence, Spanish regions |
| JEL: | R12 R23 R48 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jau:wpaper:2012/20&r=ure |
| By: | Uwe Neumann; Rüdiger Budde; Christoph Ehlert |
| Abstract: | This paper examines what regional characteristics drove urban economic growth in Europe during the past decade. Possible impacts on the new member states in Central Europe due to expansion of the European Union are accounted for by comparison between two periods, before and after 2004. With a focus on cities, a more precise view of Europe-wide regional disparities and their development can be provided than by research based on larger territories, which prevails in the empirical literature on regional convergence. After 2004, economic growth accelerated considerably in the least developed peripheral regions and in the wealthier capital cities of Central European countries. In the medium term, however, no equalisation of disparities within Europe can be exptected. The analysis suggests that economic prosperity in Central Europe and in other parts of Europe depends on the performance of urban “growth poles” favouring regional innovation. This implies that it is a task of regional policy to support provision of a high-quality infrastructure for education and innovation in cities and to encourage utilisation of these facilities within wider regions. |
| Keywords: | Spatial economics; urban economics; EU enlargement |
| JEL: | R11 R12 C21 C23 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rwi:repape:0384&r=ure |
| By: | Robert Kitzmann |
| Date: | 2012–12–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwneu:neurusp157&r=ure |
| By: | de la Roca, Jorge; Puga, Diego |
| Abstract: | Individual earnings are higher in bigger cities. We consider three reasons: spatial sorting of initially more productive workers, static advantages associated with workers' current location, and learning by working in big cities. Using rich administrative data for Spain, we find that workers in bigger cities do not have higher unobserved initial ability, as reflected in individual fixed-effects. Instead, they obtain an immediate static premium while working in bigger cities and also accumulate more valuable experience, which increases their earnings faster. The additional value of experience accumulated in bigger cities persists even after workers move away and is even stronger for those with higher unobserved initial ability. This combination of effects explains both the higher mean and the greater dispersion of earnings in bigger cities. |
| Keywords: | agglomeration economies; city size; earnings premium; learning |
| JEL: | J31 R10 R23 |
| Date: | 2012–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:9243&r=ure |
| By: | Virginia Maestri (AIAS, Universiteit van Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the redistributive effect of a comprehensive set of housing-related policies, taking into account the housing advantage of homeowners and social tenants. We use the Euromod microsimulation model to simulate housing policies in Estonia, Italy and the United Kingdom. Disentangling the contribution to inequality and poverty of each housing-related policy, we find that the current design of property taxes is not progressive and that other housing policies have a limited impact on inequality in Estonia and on both inequality and relative poverty in Italy. In all three countries, housing-related policies favor the elderly. |
| Keywords: | Housing policies; Imputed rent; Inequality; Microsimulation JEL: H23; H53; I38 |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aia:ginidp:31&r=ure |
| By: | Gioia de Melo (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides evidence on peer effects in standardized tests by exploiting a unique data set on social networks in Uruguayan primary schools. The identification method enables one to disentangle endogenous from contextual effects via instrumental variables that emerge naturally from the network structure. Correlated effects are controlled for via classroom fixed effects. I find significant endogenous effects in reading and math: a one-standard deviation increase in peers's scores increases own scores by about 40 percent of a standard deviation. Simulation exercises show that, when schools are stratified by socioeconomic status, peer effects may amplify educational inequalities. |
| Keywords: | Peer effects, Education, Networks, Inequality. |
| JEL: | I21 I24 O1 |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulr:wpaper:dt-15-12&r=ure |
| By: | Michelle Norris (Extension at the Champaign Center, University of Illinois); Nessa Winston |
| Abstract: | This article compares the structural features of home-ownership systems in EU15 countries (home-ownership rates, mortgages and public subsidisation of this tenure) with data on inequalities in outcomes (variations in home-ownership access, risks and standards between income groups). Its purpose is to assess the relevance of the debate on the convergence and divergence of housing systems which has dominated the comparative housing literature. The article concludes that, depending on the level of analysis adopted and the particular variables selected for examination, elements of both convergence and divergence are evident in Western European home-ownership systems. The comparative housing literature has also largely failed to capture the key inter-country cleavages in home-ownership systems that are between the Northern and Southern EU15 countries. These shortcomings are related to methodological and conceptual problems in this literature. |
| Date: | 2012–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aia:ginidp:42&r=ure |
| By: | Coulibaly, Souleymane |
| Abstract: | Eurasian cities, unique in the global spatial landscape, were part of the world's largest experiment in urban development. The challenges they now face because of their history offer valuable lessons to urban planners and policymakers across the world from places that are still urbanizing to those already urbanized. Today, Eurasian cities must respond to three big changes: the breakup of the Soviet Union, the return of the market as the driving force of society, and the emergence of regional powers such as the European Union, China, and India that are competing with the Russian Federation for markets and influence in its former satellites. Several methods of analysis indicate an imbalance across Eurasia, implying a need to readjust Eurasia's urban structure. National policies in Eurasia are still preoccupied with spatial equity. But the concentration of economic activity in large cities is fundamental to national competitive advantage: they foster innovation through their diversity of industries -- and reduce production costs through their economies of scale. This paper suggests some ideas on how policymakers can harness the economic power of cities to drive national economic development, by focusing on four themes: planning, connecting, greening, and financing cities. |
| Keywords: | Transport Economics Policy&Planning,Environmental Economics&Policies,City Development Strategies,Banks&Banking Reform,Housing&Human Habitats |
| Date: | 2012–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6292&r=ure |
| By: | Edwin Leuven and Marte Rønning (Statistics Norway) |
| Abstract: | This paper exploits discontinuous grade mixing rules in Norwegian junior high schools to estimate how classroom grade composition affects pupil achievement. Pupils in mixed grade classrooms are found to outperform pupils in single grade classrooms. This finding is driven by pupils benefiting from sharing the classroom with more mature peers from higher grades. The presence of lower grade peers is detrimental for achievement. Pupils can therefore benefit from de-tracking by grade, but the effects depend crucially on how the classroom is balanced in terms of lower and higher grades. These results reconcile the contradictory findings in the literature. |
| Keywords: | educational production; combination classes; class size; peer effects |
| JEL: | I2 |
| Date: | 2012–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssb:dispap:722&r=ure |
| By: | Robert Bifulco (Syracuse University); Jason M. Fletcher (Yale University); Sun Jung Oh (Syracuse University); Stephen L. Ross (University of Connecticut) |
| Abstract: | Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this study examines the impact of high school cohort composition on the educational and labor market outcomes of individuals during their early 20s and again during their late 20s and early 30s. We find that the positive effects of having more high school classmates with a college educated mother on college attendance in the years immediately following high school fade out as students reach their later 20s and early 30s, and are not followed by comparable effects on college completion and labor market outcomes. |
| Keywords: | Education, Peer Effects, Cohort Study |
| JEL: | I21 I24 J15 |
| Date: | 2012–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uct:uconnp:2012-43&r=ure |
| By: | Vincent Boucher; Yann Bramoullé; Guy Lacroix; Bernard Fortin |
| Abstract: | We provide the first empirical application of a new approach proposed by Lee (2007) to estimate peer effects in a linear-in-means model when individuals interact in groups. Assuming sufficient group size variation, this approach allows to control for correlated effects at the group level and to solve the simultaneity (reflection) problem. We clarify the intuition behind identification of peer effects in the model. We investigate peer effects in student achievement in French, Science, Mathematics and History in secondary schools in the Province of Québec (Canada). We estimate the model using conditional maximum likelihood and instrumental variables methods. We find some evidence of peer effects. The endogenous peer effect is large and significant in Math but imprecisely estimated in the other subjects. Some contextual peer effects are also significant. In particular, for most subjects, the average age of peers has a negative effect on own test score. Using calibrated Monte Carlo simulations, we find that high dispersion in group sizes helps with potential issues of weak identification. <P> |
| Keywords: | peer effects, student achievement, reflection problem, |
| Date: | 2012–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cir:cirwor:2012s-31&r=ure |
| By: | Wenya Cheng; John Morrow; Kitjawat Tacharoen |
| Abstract: | Optimal production decisions depend on local market characteristics. This paper develops a model to explain firm labor demand and firm density across regions. Firms vary in their technology to combine imperfectly substitutable worker types, and locate across regions with distinct distributions of workers and wages. Firm technologies which best match regional labor markets explain both productivity differences and firm density. Estimating structural model parameters is simple and relies on a two stage OLS procedure. The first stage estimates local market conditions using firm employment and regional data, while the second incorporates regional costs into production function estimation. The method is applied to Chinese manufacturing, population census and geographic data to estimate local market costs and production technologies. In line with the model, we find that labor markets which provide cost advantages explain substantial differences in firm productivity. Furthermore, regions which have lower optimal hiring costs attract more firms per capita. |
| Keywords: | Structural estimation, productivity, firm location, China |
| JEL: | D22 D24 J24 J30 O15 R11 |
| Date: | 2012–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1181&r=ure |
| By: | Hidde van Oostroom |
| Date: | 2012–09–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwneu:neurusp149&r=ure |
| By: | Favara, Marta (University of Essex) |
| Abstract: | This paper looks at horizontal sex segregation in education as a factor contributing to gender segregation in the labor market. Economic theories fail to explain why women with the same years of schooling and educational attainment as men are under-represented in many technical degrees, which typically lead to better paid occupations. Following Akerlof and Kranton (2000), I research whether gender identity affects boys' and girls' educational choices and when the gendered pattern appears first. Further, I test the hypothesis that single-sex schools attenuate the influence of gender-stereotypes. I use the National Pupil Database, which is a register of all pupils enrolled in state maintained schools in England and I focus on students in lower and upper secondary education. Results from my analysis suggest that gender stereotyping affects educational choices from the age of 14 and this effect is larger for girls than for boys. I also find that attending a sixth-form-single-sex school leads students to a less stereotyped educational choice, after controlling for endogenous self-selection into single-sex schools. This suggests that gender preferences can be modified by the environment. |
| Keywords: | gender segregation, educational choices, gender stereotypes, single-sex schools |
| JEL: | I2 J16 J24 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7037&r=ure |
| By: | C. Kirabo Jackson |
| Abstract: | This paper presents a model where students have cognitive and non-cognitive ability and a teacher’s effect on long-run outcomes is a combination of her effect on both ability types. Conditional on cognitive scores, an underlying non-cognitive factor associated with student absences, suspensions, grades, and grade progression, is strongly correlated with long-run educational attainment, arrests, and earnings in survey data. In administrative data teachers have meaningful causal effects on both test-scores and this non-cognitive factor. Calculations indicate that teacher effects based on test scores alone fail to identify many excellent teachers, and may greatly understate the importance of teachers on adult outcomes. |
| JEL: | H0 I2 J0 |
| Date: | 2012–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18624&r=ure |
| By: | David ARISTEI; Manuela Gallo |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the main determinants of household delinquency on mortgage loans in Italy. Using a sample-selection ordered choice model, we assess the impact of socio-demographic factors, loan characteristics and institutional variables both on the probability of delinquency in mortgage repayments and on the amount of arrears. Our results, based on microdata from the Italian component of the EU-SILC survey, allow to identify which types of households are more financially vulnerable and show the relevance of institutional factors in affecting the conditional intensity of arrears. Based on the predicted probabilities of arrears, we further analyse the relationship between interest rates on mortgage loans and observed borrower riskiness. Results point out that, in the whole period of analysis, Italian banks have accounted for household credit risk and have used risk-based pricing strategies in the process of mortgage loans granting. |
| Keywords: | Mortgage delinquency, Household over-indebtedness, Ordered choice models, Risk-based pricing |
| JEL: | C25 D14 E43 G21 |
| Date: | 2012–09–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pia:wpaper:105/2012&r=ure |
| By: | Hanley Chiang; Stephen Lipscomb; Brian Gill |
| Keywords: | School Value-Added, Principal Quality, Education |
| JEL: | I |
| Date: | 2012–11–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:7587&r=ure |
| By: | Maximilian Benner |
| Abstract: | Cluster policy has become a method of choice for policymakers in many countries. Promoting strong localized industries is an appealing perspective for practitioners, as it can be seen as a way to anchor economic activity in regions in an era of globalization. If cluster policy is successful, it can contribute to the creation of employment and to the initiation of growth processes in urban regions and even in some rural ones. This makes cluster policy an interesting tool for economic policy in developing countries. This article offers some theoretical considerations on the use of cluster policy and presents case studies from Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria. |
| Keywords: | economic development, economic growth, industrial policy, regional policy, development policy, cluster policy, cluster theory, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria |
| JEL: | O14 O18 O25 O30 O43 O53 O55 O57 P25 R11 R12 R38 R58 |
| Date: | 2012–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lue:wpaper:255&r=ure |
| By: | Enzo Cassino (Reserve Bank of New Zealand) |
| Abstract: | Determinants of New Zealand mortgage interest rates are examined, including how changes in the OCR are transmitted through the wholesale cost of funds to mortgage rates. Mortgage rates are modelled as a mark-up over banks' marginal funding cost. The results suggest that banks frequently diverge from a simple marginal cost-pricing model. Marginal cost pricing of mortgages appears to hold only in the long run. Floating mortgage rates and short-term fixed rates are closest to showing a full pass-through of changes in marginal costs. |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nzb:nzbans:2012/10&r=ure |
| By: | Bernd Jost |
| Date: | 2012–09–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwneu:neurusp166&r=ure |
| By: | Diris, Ron Emiel Marie (Maastricht University) |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ner:maastr:urn:nbn:nl:ui:27-31026&r=ure |
| By: | Rodney J. Andrews; Paul Jargowsky; Kristin Kuhne |
| Abstract: | There has been a resurgence in research that investigates the efficacy of early investments as a means of reducing gaps in academic performance. However, the strongest evidence for these effects comes from experimental evaluations of small, highly enriched programs. We add to this literature by assessing the extent to which a large-scale public program, Texas's targeted pre-Kindergarten (pre-K), affects scores on math and reading achievement tests, the likelihood of being retained in grade, and the probability that a student receives special education services. We find that having participated in Texas's targeted pre-K program is associated with increased scores on the math and reading sections of the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS), reductions in the likelihood of being retained in grade, and reductions in the probability of receiving special education services. We also find that participating pre-K increases mathematics scores for students who take the Spanish version of the TAAS tests. These results show that even modest, public pre-K program implemented at scale can have important effects on students educational achievement |
| JEL: | H52 I20 I21 I28 J38 |
| Date: | 2012–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18598&r=ure |
| By: | Andrew Newell (Department of Economics, University of Sussex, UK; IZA, Bonn, Germany); Ian Gazeley (Department of History, University of Sussex, UK) |
| Abstract: | At the beginning of the twentieth century Britain was roughly halfway through a 60-year demographic transition with declining infant mortality and birth rates. Cities exhibited great and strongly correlated diversity in these rates. We demonstrate cross–section correlations with, for instance, women’s employment, population density, literacy and improved water supply and sanitation, that have been linked to the transition. When we analyse data from the late 1850s and the early 1900s, the changes in the two rates are not correlated across cities, but we find a robust and large impact from sanitation improvement to long-period infant mortality reduction. We also find the extension of basic literacy is related to increases in female labour market participation, which is in turn related to fertility reduction. Lastly we find that more rapid urban growth accelerates fertility decline, but, in late 19th century Britain it slowed the reduction of infant mortality. |
| Keywords: | Fertility, infant mortality, education and sanitary reform, 19th century and early 20th century Britain. |
| JEL: | N33 J13 I15 |
| Date: | 2012–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sus:susewp:4812&r=ure |
| By: | Nolan Ritter; Colin Vance |
| Abstract: | Drawing on household data from Germany, this study econometrically analyzes the determinants of automobile ownership, focusing specifically on the extent to which decreases in family size translate into fewer cars at the national level. Beyond identifying several variables over which policy makers have direct leverage, including the price for fuel, the supply of public transit, and land use features, the analysis uses the estimated coefficients from a multinomial logit model to simulate car ownership rates under alternative scenarios pertaining to demographic change and other socioeconomic variables. Our baseline scenario predicts continued increases in the number of cars despite decreases in population, a trend that could be partially offset by substantial increases in fuel prices. |
| Keywords: | Car ownership; demographic change; Germany; multinomial logit; simulation |
| JEL: | C25 D10 R41 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rwi:repape:0385&r=ure |
| By: | Georgarakos, Dimitris; Haliassos, Michalis; Pasini, Giacomo |
| Abstract: | Debt-induced crises, including the subprime crisis, are usually attributed exclusively to supply-side factors. We examine the role of social influences on debt culture, emanating from perceived average income of peers. Utilizing unique information from a household survey, representative of the Dutch population, that circumvents the issue of defining the social circle, we consider collateralized, consumer, and informal loans. We find robust social effects on borrowing - especially among those who consider themselves poorer than their peers - and on indebtedness, suggesting a link to financial distress. We employ a number of approaches to rule out spurious associations and to handle correlated effects. |
| Keywords: | consumer credit; household debt; Household finance; informal loans; mortgages; social interactions |
| JEL: | E21 G11 |
| Date: | 2012–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:9238&r=ure |
| By: | Crépon, Bruno; Duflo, Esther; Gurgand, Marc; Rathelot, Roland; Zamora, Philippe |
| Abstract: | This paper reports the results from a randomized experiment designed to evaluate the direct and indirect (displacement) impacts of job placement assistance on the labor market outcomes of young, educated job seekers in France. We use a two-step design. In the first step, the proportions of job seekers to be assigned to treatment (0%, 25%, 50%, 75% or 100%) were randomly drawn for each of the 235 labor markets (e.g. cities) participating in the experiment. Then, in each labor market, eligible job seekers were randomly assigned to the treatment, following this proportion. After eight months, eligible, unemployed youths who were assigned to the program were significantly more likely to have found a stable job than those who were not. But these gains are transitory, and they appear to have come partly at the expense of eligible workers who did not benefit from the program, particularly in labor markets where they compete mainly with other educated workers, and in weak labor markets. Overall, the program seems to have had very little net benefits. |
| Keywords: | Counseling; Displacement effects; Job Placement; Randomized experiment |
| JEL: | C93 J64 J68 |
| Date: | 2012–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:9251&r=ure |
| By: | Csaji, Balazs Cs. |
| Abstract: | Mobile phone datasets allow for the analysis of human behavior on an unprecedented scale. The social network, temporal dynamics and mobile behavior of mobile phone users have often been analyzed independently from each other using mobile phone datasets. In this article, we explore the connections between various features of human behavior extracted from a large mobile phone dataset. Our observations are based on the analysis of communication data of 100000 anonymized and randomly chosen individuals in a dataset of communications in Portugal. We show that clustering and principal component analysis allow for a significant dimension reduction with limited loss of information. The most important features are related to geographical location. In particular, we observe that most people spend most of their time at only a few locations. With the help of clustering methods, we then robustly identify home and oce locations and compare the results with ocial census data. Finally, we analyze the geographic spread of users’ frequent locations and show that commuting distances can be reasonably well explained by a gravity model. |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ner:louvai:info:hdl:2078.1/117630&r=ure |
| By: | Jeroen Bakker |
| Date: | 2012–09–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwneu:neurusp150&r=ure |
| By: | Gimenez-Nadal, Jose Ignacio (University of Zaragoza); Molina, José Alberto (University of Zaragoza) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the relationship between time allocation decisions of the unemployed, gender, and regional unemployment rates. Using the Spanish Time Use Survey 2002-2003 and 2009-2010, we find that higher regional unemployment rates are associated with increases in the time devoted to study by men, and to household production by women, and with decreases in the time devoted to personal care by men and leisure by women. We also find evidence favoring consumption smoothing as the channel through which others' unemployment affects time allocation decisions of the unemployed. As higher regional unemployment rates imply a lower availability of jobs for the unemployed, it decreases the expectations individuals have of finding a job, and thus households may try to increase their time spent on household production to reduce the market expenditures needed to maintain their consumption. We interpret our results as evidence that others' unemployment has several effects that need to be considered in the analysis of the wellbeing of the unemployed during business cycles. |
| Keywords: | unemployment, time use, regional unemployment rates, gender |
| JEL: | D13 J16 J22 |
| Date: | 2012–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7043&r=ure |