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on Urban and Real Estate Economics |
| By: | Karlsson, Charlie (Jönköping International Business School); Johansson, Börje (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology); R. Stough, Roger (George Mason University) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this working paper is to provide a short overview of actual topics in contemporary research concerned with global, national, regional and local knowledge and innovation dynamics. In the text, we stress the importance to understand the current changes of the global and their implications for knowledge generation and innovation. Treating knowledge as a key resource for innovation shifts the focus from the innovation itself to the process of knowledge generation, transformation and diffusion, i.e. to knowledge dynamics. This necessitates integrating spatial aspects since knowledge generation and as a result, innovation exhibits a strong geographical clustering, which implies that innovation ability and innovation resources also are strongly clustered geographically in particular to urban regions. The role of interaction and proximity for knowledge generation and innovation is highlighted and instead it is stressed that relational, cognitive, organizational, social and institutional proximities are not substitutes or complements to spatial proximity but that they are all functions of the prevailing spatial proximity. Another important factor for interaction is social capital, which by fostering trust makes information and knowledge to diffuse faster. |
| Keywords: | Knowledge; innovation; proximity; knowledge economy; knowledge dynamics; knowledge networks; innovation ability; innovation resources; globalization; agglomeration; face-to-face interaction; urban regions; social capital |
| JEL: | O31 O32 O33 R12 |
| Date: | 2013–04–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0305&r=ure |
| By: | Eerola, Essi; Määttänen, Niku |
| Abstract: | Abstract:We develop a model of the housing market that features both financial and matching frictions. In the model, risk-averse households may save or borrow in order to smooth consumption over time and finance owner housing. Each household either rents or owns its house. Some renter households become dissatisfied with rental housing and want to buy a house. Prospective sellers and buyers meet randomly and bargain over the price. We show how the outcome of the bargaining process depends on buyer’s and seller’s asset positions. The results also illustrate how financial frictions magnify the effects of matching frictions. For instance, because of the borrowing constraint, some matches do not result in trade and identical houses are traded at different prices. |
| Keywords: | housing, matching, house prices |
| JEL: | E21 R21 C78 |
| Date: | 2013–04–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rif:wpaper:3&r=ure |
| By: | Roberto Antonietti (University of Padova) |
| Abstract: | This paper assesses the existence of knowledge externalities in the form of creative human capital spillovers that affect firm innovative performance. Relying on a large sample of Italian manufacturing firms, a knowledge production function is estimated and the residuals regressed on regional creative workforce indicators interacted with spatial agglomeration variables and measures of knowledge transmission mechanisms. The estimates show that regional density of creative human capital has a positive effect on firm innovativeness only after a critical mass is achieved and only after accounting for the presence of local universities, industrial districts and entrepreneurial activities related to knowledge-intensive services. |
| Keywords: | creative human capital; innovativeness; knowledge production function; nonlinearity JEL: L60; O31; R10; R15 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pad:wpaper:0159&r=ure |
| By: | Takaaki Ohnishi (The Canon Institute of Global Studies and the University of Tokyo); Takayuki Mizuno (National Institute for Global Studieso); Chihiro Shimizu (Reitaku University); Tsutomu Watanabe (The University of Tokyo) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the cross-sectional distribution of house prices in the Greater Tokyo Area for the period 1986 to 2009. We find that size-adjusted house prices follow a lognor-mal distribution except for the period of the housing bubble and its collapse in Tokyo, for which the price distribution has a substantially heavier right tail than that of a lognormal distribution. We also find that, during the bubble era, sharp price movements were con- centrated in particular areas, and this spatial heterogeneity is the source of the fat upper tail. These findings suggest that, during a bubble period, prices go up prominently for particular properties, but not so much for other properties, and as a result, price inequality across properties increases. In other words, the de ning property of real estate bubbles is not the rapid price hike itself but an increase in price dispersion. We argue that the shape of cross sectional house price distributions may contain information useful for the detection of housing bubbles. |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cfi:fseres:cf313&r=ure |
| By: | G. F. Gori |
| Abstract: | This paper focuses on the functional specialisation of a system of cities, with particular attention to the role and the formation process of secondary business centers. At the european level, the latters can be identified in the large number of regional capitals, and properly defined as cities hosting both headquarters of multi-location firms and providers of standard non-tradable business services (SBS). I present a theoretical model in which the changes in urban system’s degree of functional specialisation are linked to (i) firms’ organisational choices, since firms decide whether splitting into headquarter and production plant or remaining integrated in a single establishment and to (ii) firms’ location decision with regards to the proximity with the tradable advanced business services providers. I model two types of communication costs, one between headquarters and advanced tradable business services providers (ABS) and one between headquarters and production plants. The interplay between the two types of communication costs is shown to have effects on the transition process from an “integrated” urban system where each city hosts every different functions to a “functionally specialised” urban system where each city is either a primary business center (hosting ABS), a secondary business centers (SBS) or a pure manufacturing city and all this city-types coexist in equilibrium. In particular, I find that maximum functional specialisation of the urban system turns out to be feasible only if firms face a very high share of the total costs represented by their heaquarter spending. |
| JEL: | R30 L23 R12 |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bol:bodewp:wp877&r=ure |
| By: | Jaime L. Thomas |
| Abstract: | This article examines the relationship between combination class membership in 1st grade and 1st-grade test scores, finding that 1st graders are not harmed by being in a combination class or by their schools offering combination classes. As long as other stakeholders—such as parents, teachers, and students in other grades—are not made worse off, these findings suggest that offering combination classes may be a viable cost-saving option for school administrators. |
| Keywords: | Costs, Educational Economics, Educational Finance, Human Capital; imput output analysis |
| JEL: | I |
| Date: | 2012–12–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:7710&r=ure |
| By: | Autor, David (MIT); Dorn, David (CEMFI, Madrid); Hanson, Gordon H. (University of California, San Diego) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the geographic overlap of trade and technology shocks across local labor markets in the United States. Regional exposure to technological change, as measured by specialization in routine task-intensive production and clerical occupations, is largely uncorrelated with regional exposure to trade competition from China. While the impacts of technology are present throughout the United States, the impacts of trade tend to be more geographically concentrated, owing in part to the spatial agglomeration of labor-intensive manufacturing. Our findings suggest that it should be possible to separately identify the impacts of recent changes in trade and technology on U.S. regional economies. |
| Keywords: | trade, technology, geography, local labor markets |
| JEL: | F16 O33 R12 |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7326&r=ure |
| By: | Tilak Abeysinghe (Department of Economics, National University of Singapore); Jiaying Gu (Department of Economics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) |
| Abstract: | Policy makers often impose some cooling measures on the housing market when housing prices rise fast. Such policies yield limited success if housing prices are driven up by fundamentals. A fundamental price trend may not necessarily be an affordable one. Unaffordable housing price trends increase the mortgage burden of households. Estimating these different price trends provides valuable information to policy makers. This paper presents an empirical methodology to separate out a housing price trend into fundamental and affordable components. The gap between actual and fundamental trend is attributed to expectations driven persistence of housing price inflation. This is the component that cooling measures are usually aimed at. Affordable housing price trend is defined in terms of a measure of lifetime income. Affordability requires the house price to lifetime income ratio to be stationary with a certain mean. Fundamentals need to be adjusted to obtain this outcome. Analyzing Singapore data using this methodology reveals some interesting observations. |
| Keywords: | Fundamental housing price, affordable housing price, lifetime income, counter-factual simulations |
| JEL: | R21 D31 |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sca:scaewp:1301&r=ure |
| By: | Edward L. Glaeser; Sari Pekkala Kerr; William R. Kerr |
| Abstract: | Measures of entrepreneurship, such as average establishment size and the prevalence of start-ups, correlate strongly with employment growth across and within metropolitan areas, but the endogeneity of these measures bedevils interpretation. Chinitz (1961) hypothesized that coal mines near Pittsburgh led that city to specialization in industries, like steel, with significant scale economies and that those big firms led to a dearth of entrepreneurial human capital across several generations. We test this idea by looking at the spatial location of past mines across the United States: proximity to historical mining deposits is associated with bigger firms and fewer start-ups in the middle of the 20th century. We use mines as an instrument for our entrepreneurship measures and find a persistent link between entrepreneurship and city employment growth; this connection works primarily through lower employment growth of start- ups in cities that are closer to mines. These effects hold in cold and warm regions alike and in industries that are not directly related to mining, such as trade, finance and services. We use quantile instrumental variable regression techniques and identify mostly homogeneous effects throughout the conditional city growth distribution. |
| Keywords: | Entrepreneurship, Industrial Organization, Chinitz, Agglomeration, Clusters, Cities, Mines |
| JEL: | L0 L1 L2 L6 N5 N9 O1 O4 R0 R1 |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:13-15&r=ure |
| By: | Lasse Steiner; Bruno S. Frey; Simone Hotz |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes whether hosting the most prestigious European cultural event, the European Capital of Culture, has an impact on regional economic development or the life satisfaction of the local population. Concerning the economic impact, we show that European Capitals are hosted in regions with above average GDP per capita, but do not causally affect the economic development in a significant way. Even a positive impact on GDP per capita would not imply a positive impact on individual utility or social welfare of the regional population. Surprisingly, using difference-in-difference estimations, a negative effect on the well-being of the regional population is found during the event. Since no effect is found before the event, reverse causality and positive anticipation can be ruled out. The negative effect during the event might result from dissatisfaction with the high levels of public expenditure, transport disruptions, general overcrowding or an increase in housing prices. |
| Keywords: | Life Satisfaction, mega-events, culture, european capital of culture |
| JEL: | H40 H54 R12 Z11 |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zur:econwp:117&r=ure |
| By: | Alessia Matano (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona); Paolo Naticchioni (University of Cassino, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, CeLEG-Luiss) |
| Abstract: | This paper aims at disentangling the role played by different theoretical explanations in accounting for the urban wage premium along the wage distribution. We analyze the wage dynamics of migrants from low-to-high-density areas in Italy, using quantile regression and individual panel data to control for the sorting of workers. The results show that skilled workers enjoy a higher wage premium when they migrate (wage level effect), in line with the agglomeration externalities explanation, while unskilled workers benefit more from a wage premium accruing over time (wage growth effect). Further, investigating the determinants of the wage growth effect in greater depth, we find that for unskilled workers the wage growth is mainly due to human capital accumulation over time, consistently with the “learning” hypothesis, while for skilled workers it is the “coordination” hypothesis that matters.. |
| Keywords: | Urban Wage Premium, Human Capital, Spatial Sorting, Wage Distribution, Quantile Fixed Effects. JEL classification: J31, J61, R23 |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aqr:wpaper:201202&r=ure |
| By: | Raul Ramos (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona); Juan Carlos Duque (RiSE-group, Department of Economics, EAFIT University); Sandra Nieto (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | Despite the large number of studies that draw on Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) microdata in their analyses of the determinants of educational outcomes, no more than a few consider the relevance of geographical location. In going some way to rectify this, our paper examines the differences in educational outcomes between students attending schools in rural areas and those enrolled in urban schools. We use microdata from the 2006 and 2009 PISA survey waves for Colombia. The Colombian case is particularly interesting in this regard due to the structural changes suffered by the country in recent years, both in terms of its political stability and of the educational reform measures introduced. Our descriptive analysis of the data shows that the educational outcomes of rural students are worse than those of urban students. In order to identify the factors underpinning this differential, we use the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition and then exploit the time variation in the data using the methodology proposed by Juhn-Murphy-Pierce. Our results show that most of the differential is attributable to family characteristics as opposed to those of the school. From a policy perspective, our evidence supports actions addressed at improving conditions in the family rather than measures of positive discrimination of rural schools. |
| Keywords: | educational outcomes, rural-urban differences, decomposition methods. JEL classification: J24, I25, R58 |
| Date: | 2012–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aqr:wpaper:201210&r=ure |
| By: | Tsun Se Cheong (Business School, University of Western Australia); Yanrui Wu (Business School, University of Western Australia) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of intra-provincial regional inequality on crime rates in China. The results show that intra-provincial regional inequality is positively correlated with the crime rate in the regions. However, education is found to be negatively correlated with the crime rate. In addition, it is also observed in this study that regional crime rates are positively linked with the level of inflation, unemployment rate, and inequalities in consumption and employment between the rural and urban sectors. |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uwa:wpaper:13-11&r=ure |
| By: | Schwerdt, Guido (Ifo Institute for Economic Research); West, Martin R. (Harvard Graduate School of Education) |
| Abstract: | A growing number of American states require that students who do not demonstrate basic reading proficiency at the end of third grade be retained and provided with remedial services. We exploit a discontinuity in the probability of third grade retention under Florida's test-based promotion policy to study the causal effect of retention on student outcomes over time. Although conventional OLS estimates suggest negative effects of retention on achievement, regression discontinuity estimates indicate large positive effects on achievement and a reduced probability of retention in subsequent years. The achievement gains from test-based retention fade out over time, however, and are statistically insignificant after six years. |
| Keywords: | educational production, public schools, grade retention |
| JEL: | H52 I21 I28 |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7314&r=ure |
| By: | Ebru Kerimoglu (Istanbul Technical University, Department of Urban and Regional Planning); B. Can Karahasan (Okan University, Department of International Trade) |
| Abstract: | The ‘creative class’ as a source of growth has been afforded increasing attention in recent years. However, creative people are not distributed evenly across space, tending rather to concentrate in particular locations. The location decisions of these creative people have been forwarded as a significant factor in accounting for regional disparities in growth and development (Florida, 2002; Fritsch and Stuetzer, 2009). Inspired by the ongoing debate surrounding the creative class theory, this study investigates the spatial distribution of creative capital and its links with regional disparities by examining the geographical divergence of provincial income in Spain. Our findings indicate that although provinces with low levels of creative capital around 1996 experienced an increase in their creative employment in the years leading up to 2004, they still lag behind the northern (and, in particular, the north-eastern) provinces of Spain. More interestingly we report strong spillover effects among the leading and lagging provinces. This spatial pattern of creative capital also accounts for the north-south divide in Spain. Thus, our empirical evidence shows that the provinces with high levels of creative capital in northern Spain are more developed in terms of provincial income even when controlling for other determinants of the process, including industrial development, regional spillover effects and human capital development. |
| Keywords: | Creative Capital, Spain, Regional Divergence, Regional Spillover. JEL classification: R11, R12, O10, E24 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aqr:wpaper:201201&r=ure |
| By: | Wixe, Sofia (Jönköping International Business School) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the role of spatial externalities in explaining the average labour productivity of Swedish manufacturing firms. The empirical findings support MAR and Porter externalities as well as general urbanization economies, but not Jacobs externalities. In addition, the matching between the firm and the regional labour force is found to be productivity-enhancing. However, firm-specific characteristics, including the characteristics of the employees, are not to be forgotten. Especially since externalities are commonly associated with knowledge spillovers, and it is through the employees that the external knowledge is absorbed and channelled to the firm as a whole. |
| Keywords: | Firm productivity; spatial externalities; manufacturing; Sweden |
| JEL: | D24 L25 L60 R32 |
| Date: | 2013–04–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0306&r=ure |
| By: | Wolfgang Polasek (Department of Economics and Finance, Institute for Advanced Studies, Vienna, Austria and University of Porto, Portugal) |
| Abstract: | Growth rate data that are collected incompletely in cross-sections is a quite frequent problem. Chow and Lin (1971) have developed a method for predicting unobserved disaggregated time series and we propose an extension of the procedure for completing cross-sectional growth rates similar to the spatial Chow-Lin method of Liano et al. (2009). Disaggregated growth rates cannot be predicted directly and requires a system estimation of two Chow-Lin prediction models, where we compare classical and Bayesian estimation and prediction methods. We demonstrate the procedure for Spanish regional GDP growth rates between 2000 and 2004 at a NUTS-3 level. We evaluate the growth rate forecasts by accuracy criteria, because for the Spanish data-set we can compare the predicted with the observed values. |
| Keywords: | Interpolation, missing disaggregated values in spatial econometrics, MCMC, Spatial Chow-Lin methods, predicting growth rates data, spatial autoregression (SAR), forecast evaluation, outliers |
| JEL: | C11 C15 C52 E17 R12 |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ihs:ihsesp:295&r=ure |
| By: | Kurt Mitman (University of Pennsylvania) |
| Abstract: | Bankruptcy laws govern consumer default on unsecured credit. Foreclosure laws regulate default on secured mortgage debt. In this paper I use a structural model to argue that bankruptcy and foreclosure are inter-related. This interaction is important for understanding the cross-state variation in bankruptcy rates and evaluating reforms to default policies. To study this interaction, I construct a general-equilibrium model where heterogeneous households have access to unsecured borrowing and can finance housing purchases with mortgages. Households can default separately on both types of debt. The calibrated model is quantitatively consistent with the observed cross-state correlation between policies and default rates. In particular, the model correctly predicts that bankruptcy rates are lower in states with more generous homestead exemptions (the amount of home equity that may be retained after filing for bankruptcy), despite the decreased penalty of declaring bankruptcy. In equilibrium, that lower penalty of going bankrupt in high exemption states raises the price of unsecured credit. Households respond to the higher price by taking on more highly leveraged mortgages and less unsecured credit. As a result, bankruptcy rates are lower in high exemption states than in low exemption states, but foreclosure rates are higher. I use the model to evaluate the 2005 Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act which made it more difficult for high income households to declare bankruptcy. Despite being intended to reduce bankruptcy rates, I find that the reform substantially increases them. In addition, the reform has the unintended consequence of considerably increasing foreclosure rates. Nevertheless, the reform yields large welfare gains. |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:red:sed012:563&r=ure |
| By: | Brenton Faubert |
| Abstract: | This working paper was prepared as part of the OECD thematic review Overcoming School Failure: Policies that Work, www.oecd.org/edu/equity. The project provides evidence on the policies that are effective to reduce school failure by improving low attainment and reducing dropout, and proactively supports countries in promoting reform. The project builds on the conceptual framework developed in the OECD’s No More Failures: Ten Steps to Equity in Education (2007). Austria, Canada (Manitoba, Ontario, Québec and Yukon), Czech Republic, France, Greece, Ireland, Netherlands, Spain and Sweden took part in this project. This working paper is part of a series of papers prepared for the thematic review Overcoming School Failure: Policies that Work covering the topics of policies to reduce dropout and in-school practices to reduce school failure. These report have been used as background material for the final comparative report Equity and Quality in Education: Supporting Disadvantaged Schools and Students (OECD, 2012), which gives evidence on the policy levers that can help overcome school failure and reduce inequities in OECD education systems. It focuses on the reasons why investing in overcoming school failure -early and up to upper secondary- pays off, on alternatives to specific system level policies that are currently hindering equity, and on the actions to be taken at school level, in particular in low performing disadvantaged schools. |
| Date: | 2012–02–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduaab:68-en&r=ure |
| By: | Marie-Estelle Binet (University of Rennes 1 - CREM UMR CNRS 6211, France); François Facchini (University of Paris-Sud, Faculty Jean Monnet (France)) |
| Abstract: | This paper deals with the determinants of enterprise creation in the 22 French regions from 1994 to 2003. We then estimate a dynamic panel data model which allows spatial heterogeneity to be modelled and which is compared with a specification without spatial heterogeneity. The estimation results show that an appropriate consideration of spatial heterogeneity can lead to new insights. The results show: 1) that the Holcombe effect and the income effect have a statistically significant and positive impact for all regions; 2) that the age of the population and the size of the firms have the same negative effects for all regions with the exception of Ile-de-France; 3) that at the threshold of 10%, the refugee effect only concerns 10 regions out of 22; 4) that the effect of public R&D remains insignificant for 17 of the 22 regions, but becomes statistically significant in five regions and has a positive effect in three regions only, these being those which exhibit the highest per capita public R&D expenditure levels. Globally, Anselin's (1990) hypothesis, according to which the presence of spatial heterogeneity casts doubt upon the generalizability of theories in regional science, is thus in part confirmed. |
| Keywords: | Creation of enterprises, spatial heterogeneity, dynamic panel data, refugee effect, public R&D |
| JEL: | M13 O18 J21 |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tut:cremwp:201312&r=ure |
| By: | Javier Asensio (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona & IEB); Andrés Gómez-Lobo (University of Chile); Anna Matas (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona & IEB) |
| Abstract: | Using a panel of 48 provinces for four years we empirically analyze a series of temporary policies aimed at curbing fuel consumption implemented in Spain between March and June 2011. The first policy was a reduction in the speed limit in highways. The second policy was an increase in the biofuel content of fuels used in the transport sector. The third measure was a reduction of 5% in commuting and regional train fares that resulted in two major metropolitan areas reducing their overall fare for public transit. The results indicate that the speed limit reduction in highways reduced gasoline consumption by between 2% and 3%, while an increase in the biofuel content of gasoline increased this consumption. This last result is consistent with experimental evidence that indicates that mileage per liter falls with an increase in the biofuel content in gasolines. As for the reduction in transit fares, we do not find a significant effect for this policy. However, in specifications including the urban transit fare for the major cities in each province the estimated cross-price elasticity of the demand for gasoline -used as a proxy for car use- with respect to the price of transit is within the range reported in the literature. This is important since one of the main efficiency justification for subsidizing public transit rests on the positive value of this parameter and most of the estimates reported in the literature are quite dated. |
| Keywords: | Fuel consumption, cross-elasticities, transport policies, biofuel |
| JEL: | Q48 R41 R48 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ieb:wpaper:2013/6/doc2013-9&r=ure |
| By: | Stuart A. Gabriel; Matthew E. Kahn; Ryan K. Vaughn |
| Abstract: | We apply unique loan level data from New Century Financial Corporation, a major subprime lender, to assess whether attributes of Congressional Representatives were associated with access to and pricing of subprime mortgage credit. Research findings indicate higher likelihoods of subprime loan origination and lower mortgage pricing among borrowers represented by the Republican and Democratic leadership of Congress. Black borrowers also benefitted from significantly larger loan amounts in those same districts. Also, borrowers received mortgage interest rate discounts in districts where New Century donated to the Congressional Representative. Findings provide new insights into the political geography of the subprime crisis and suggest gains to trade between New Century Financial Corporation and targeted Congressional Representatives in the extension, pricing and sizing of subprime mortgage credit. |
| JEL: | G21 R21 |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18965&r=ure |
| By: | Parinduri, Rasyad |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effects of a longer school year in Indonesia on grade repetition, educational attainment, employability, and earnings. I exploit an arbitrary rule that assigned students to a longer school year in Indonesia in 1978-1979, which fits a fuzzy regression discontinuity design. I find the longer school year decreases the probability of grade repetition and increases educational attainment. It also increases the probability of working in formal sectors and wages later in life. Moreover, there is some evidence that some effects of the longer school year are larger for females and for individuals who grew up in rural areas. |
| Keywords: | school term length, grade repetition, educational attainment, returns to schooling, regression discontinuity design, Asia, Indonesia |
| JEL: | I21 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:46158&r=ure |
| By: | Ernest Miguélez (Economics and Statistics Division, World Intellectual Property Organization and Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona); Rorina Moreno (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | The aim of the present paper is to identify the determinants of the geographical mobility of skilled individuals, such as inventors, across European regions. Their mobility contributes to the geographical diffusion of knowledge and reshapes the geography of talent. We test whether geography, amenities, job opportunities and social proximity between inventors’ communities, and the so-called National System of Innovation, drive in- and out-flows of inventors between pairs of regions. We use a control function approach to address the endogenous nature of social proximity, and zero-inflated negative binomial models to accommodate our estimations to the count nature of the dependent variable and the high number of zeros it contains. Our results highlight the importance of physical proximity in driving the mobility patterns of inventors. However, job opportunities, social and institutional relations, and technological and cultural proximity also play key roles in mediating this phenomenon. |
| Keywords: | inventors’ mobility, gravity model, amenities, job opportunities, social and institutional proximities, zero-inflated negative binomial, European regions. JEL classification: C8, J61, O31, O33, R0 |
| Date: | 2012–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aqr:wpaper:201203&r=ure |
| By: | Lööf, Hans (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology); Nabavi, Pardis (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology); Cook , Gary (University of Liverpool); Johansson, Börje (CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies, Royal Institute of Technology) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we investigate how various innovation strategies, local knowledge sources and global knowledge pipe-lines influence the likelihood that a firm will be a persistent exporter and the productivity growth of such persistently exporting firms. Using a bivariate logit model and a dynamic GMM panel data estimator on Swedish manufacturing firms observed over 12 years, we find that the propensity to be a persistent exporter is strongly related to both highly frequent and more temporary innovativeness and the global openness of the regional industry in the firm’s own line of activity. The growth rate in total factor productivity of persistent exporters, however, increases with intensity of invention activities, accessibility to local business services and the openness of the same regional industry in which the firm operates. |
| Keywords: | Invention; innovation; productivity growth; exports; spillovers; persistence |
| JEL: | F21 O30 O31 R11 |
| Date: | 2013–04–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0303&r=ure |
| By: | Panayotis Christidis Author-1-Name-First: Panayotis Author-1-Name-Last: Christidis (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); Juan Nicolás Ibanez Rivas Author-2-Name-First: Juan Nicolás Author-2-Name-Last: Ibanez Rivas (European Commission – JRC - IPTS) |
| Abstract: | The methodology presented here allows to measure and monitor road congestion across Europe using data from TomTom in-vehicle navigation systems. The approach is based on the analysis of a large number of real vehicle speeds that have been measured on each road link and the application of algorithms that allow the estimation of congestion indicators for specific types of roads during selected time periods. The results include the detailed mapping of recurrent congestion both geographically and temporally, as well as the comparison of the quality of service of road networks between different zones. |
| Keywords: | road congestion, gps, navigation |
| JEL: | R41 C83 L91 N74 |
| Date: | 2012–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc69961&r=ure |
| By: | Jordi Jofre-Monseny (Universitat de Barcelona & IEB) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we analyze the unintended effects on mobility of a national place-based policy (SIPTEA) that provides greater unemployment protection in two lagging regions of southern Spain (namely, Extremadura and Andalucía). Using a border identification strategy and (1981 and 1991) census data at the municipal level, we estimate the effects of SIPTEA on population growth, the probability of staying and in-migration in rural areas that are experiencing high unemployment and significant out-migration flows. The results indicate that the policy mitigated population losses by increasing both the probability of staying and in-migration, although the locational inefficiencies implied are not particularly large. We also explore the effects of greater unemployment protection on labor market outcomes. Here, the results indicate that the policy led to a 10- to 13-percentage point increase in unemployment. |
| Keywords: | Unemployment protection, migration, mobility, place-based policy, lagging regions |
| JEL: | H73 J6 R23 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ieb:wpaper:2013/6/doc2013-10&r=ure |
| By: | Kelly, Robert (Central Bank of Ireland); McQuinn, Kieran (Central Bank of Ireland) |
| Abstract: | Recently, some notable contributions suggest, that discretionary fiscal policy can be an effective and self- financing policy option in the presence of extreme macroeconomic conditions. Given the special relationship between the Irish sovereign and its main financial institutions, this paper assesses the implications for the Irish fiscal accounts of certain macroeconomic policy responses. Using a comprehensive empirical framework, the paper examines the relationship between house prices, unemployment and mortgage arrears. Loan loss forecasts over the period 2012-2014 are then generated for the mortgage book of the main Irish financial institutions under two different scenarios. It is shown that macroeconomic policies, which alleviate levels of mortgage distress, improve the solvency position of the guaranteed Irish institutions thereby reducing the sovereign’s future capital obligations. Thus, the unique situation the sovereign finds itself in vis-á-vis its main financial institutions, may have significant implications for the fiscal multiplier. |
| Keywords: | House prices, unemployment, mortgage arrears, fiscal multiplier |
| JEL: | G21 R30 C58 |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cbi:wpaper:01/rt/13&r=ure |
| By: | Pauline Musset |
| Abstract: | This report discusses the most relevant issues concerning school choice schemes, and how they intertwine with equity considerations, through a literature review and analysis of the effects different types of school choice programmes have on equity. In the last 25 years, more than two-thirds of OECD countries have increased school choice opportunities for parents. The empirical evidence reviewed here reveals that providing full parental school choice results in further student segregation between schools, by ability, socio-economic and ethnic background, and in greater inequities across education systems. The report identifies certain characteristics of programmes that can prevent schools from hand-picking their students - crowding out disadvantaged and low performing students. As school choice is here to stay, countries should explore choice designs that balance parents’ freedom to choose with equity considerations: this report develops two particular schemes: controlled choice programmes – also called flexible enrolment schemes – and weighted funding formula.<BR>Ce rapport aborde les aspects les plus pertinents concernant les systèmes de choix de l'école, et leurs relations avec les questions d’équité, à travers une revue de la littérature et un examen des effets de différents types de mécanismes de choix. Au cours des 25 dernières années, plus des deux tiers des pays de l'OCDE ont augmenté les possibilités de choix de l'école pour les parents. L’évidence empirique examinée ici révèle que de permettre aux parents de choisir entre toutes les écoles contribuent à séparer les élèves par aptitudes, milieux socio-économiques, et origines ethniques, et donc accroit les iniquités entre les écoles. Le rapport identifie certaines caractéristiques des programmes qui peuvent empêcher les écoles « d’écrémer » les élèves, et donc d’exclure ceux qui sont les plus défavorisés, ou les moins bons. Les pays peuvent développer des mécanismes qui permettre de concilier la liberté pour les parents de choisir l’école de leurs enfants et l’équité. Ce rapport analyse deux dispositifs particuliers: les programmes de choix contrôlé - également appelés les régimes d'inscription flexibles - et le financement pondéré des écoles. |
| Date: | 2012–01–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduaab:66-en&r=ure |
| By: | Liliana Sousa |
| Abstract: | I find evidence that human capital spillovers have positive effects on the proclivity of low human capital immigrants to self-employ. Human capital spillovers within an ethnic community can increase the self-employment propensity of its members by decreasing the costs associated with starting and running a business (especially, transaction costs and information costs). Immigrants who do not speak English and those with little formal education are more likely to be self-employed if they reside in an ethnic community boasting higher human capital. On the other hand, the educational attainment of co-ethnics does not appear to affect the self-employment choices of immigrants with a post-secondary education to become self-employed. Further analysis suggests that immigrants in communities with more human capital choose industries that are more capital-intensive. Overall, the results suggest that the communities in which immigrants reside influences their self-employment decisions. For low-skilled immigrants who face high costs to learning English and/or acquiring more education, these human capital spillovers may serve as an alternative resource of information and labor mobility. |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:13-21&r=ure |
| By: | Lionel Artige; Leif Van Neuss |
| Abstract: | The shift-share analysis is a widely used decomposition technique in regional studies to quantify an industry-mix effect and a competitive effect on the growth of regional employment (or any other relevant variable) relative to the national average. This technique has always been subject to criticism for its lack of theoretical basis. In this paper we provide a critical assessment of the methods suggested by Dunn (1960) and by Esteban-Marquillas (1972) and propose a new shift-share method, which separates out the two effects unambiguously. An application to manufacturing employment in the Belgian provinces between 1995 and 2007 is provided as an illustration. |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rpp:wpaper:1302&r=ure |
| By: | Tsun Se Cheong (Business School, University of Western Australia); Yanrui Wu (Business School, University of Western Australia) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impacts of globalization on intra-provincial inequality in China. The empirical analysis is based on a dataset of Chinese counties and county-level cities. It is found that foreign direct investment (FDI) and intra-provincial regional inequality are negatively correlated, whereas the relationship between international trade and regional inequality is statistically insignificant. In addition, it is shown that the level of industrialization and service development in Chinese provinces has a positive effect on intra-provincial inequality. It implies that intra-provincial regional inequality will increase as the primary sector declines. The results also show that domestic trade is negatively correlated with regional inequality, whereas the transportation infrastructure has a positive effect on inequality in the country. |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uwa:wpaper:13-10&r=ure |
| By: | Mano, Yukichi; Suzuki, Aya |
| Abstract: | Industrial clusters are ubiquitous, and the associated low transaction costs allow producers to benefit from information spillovers, interfirm division and specialization of labor, and the development of skilled-labor markets. Previous studies, however, have seldom quantified the benefits on business performance. Ethiopia’s cut flower industry provides a rare opportunity to compare agglomerated with dispersed producers. Agglomerated farms frequently share technological knowledge and market information to decide when and even whether products are worth harvesting and shipping and to select product varieties. Econometric results indicate that agglomerated farms export higher valued flowers and achieve higher productivity and profitability. These findings imply that promotion of industrial clusters would further develop the industry. |
| Keywords: | agglomeration economies, information spillovers, market information, technological knowledge, cut flower, Sub-Sahara Africa, Ethiopia |
| JEL: | L15 L25 O12 O25 |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:econdp:2013-04&r=ure |
| By: | Bent Flyvbjerg; Mette K. Skamris Holm; S{\o}ren L. Buhl |
| Abstract: | This article presents results from the first statistically significant study of causes of cost escalation in transport infrastructure projects. The study is based on a sample of 258 rail, bridge, tunnel and road projects worth US$90 billion. The focus is on the dependence of cost escalation on (1) length of project implementation phase, (2) size of project and (3) type of project ownership. First, it is found with very high statistical significance that cost escalation is strongly dependent on length of implementation phase. The policy implications are clear: Decision makers and planners should be highly concerned about delays and long implementation phases because they translate into risks of substantial cost escalations. Second, it is found that projects have grown larger over time and that for bridges and tunnels larger projects have larger percentage cost escalations. Finally, by comparing cost escalation for three types of project ownership--private, state-owned enterprise and other public ownership--it is shown that the oft-seen claim that public ownership is problematic and private ownership effective in curbing cost escalation is an oversimplification. Type of accountability appears to matter more to cost escalation than type of ownership. |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1304.4476&r=ure |
| By: | Esther Goya (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona); Esther Vayá (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona); Jordi Suriñach (Faculty of Economics, University of Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses a structural model to analyse the impact of innovation activities, including intra- and inter-industry externalities, on the productivity of Spanish firms. To the best of our knowledge, no previous paper has examined spillover effects by adopting such an approach. Here, therefore, we seek to determine the extent to which the innovations carried out by others affect a firm’s productivity. Additionally, firm’s technology level is taken into account in order to ascertain whether there are any differences in this regard between high-tech and low-tech firms both in industrial and service sectors. The database used is the Technological Innovation Panel (PITEC) which includes 8,611 firms for the year 2009. We find that low-tech firms make the most of a range of factors, including funding and belonging to a group, to increase their investment in R&D. As expected, R&D intensity has a positive impact on the probability of achieving both product and, more especially, process innovations. Finally, innovation output has a positive impact on firm’s productivity, being greater in more advanced firms in the case of process innovations. Both intra- and inter-industry spillovers have a positive impact on firm’s productivity, but this varies with the firm’s level of technology. Thus, innovations made by firms from the same sector are more important for low-tech firms than they are for their high-tech counterparts, while innovations made by the rest of the sectors have a greater impact on high-tech firms. |
| Keywords: | Productivity, innovation, industry spillovers. JEL classification: D24, O33. |
| Date: | 2012–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aqr:wpaper:201207&r=ure |
| By: | Sam Hak Kan Tang (Business School, University of Western Australia); Linda Chor Wing Yung (Department of Economics, Chinese University of Hong Kong) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the effects of live-in foreign domestic workers (FDWs) on children’s educational achievement using samples from two population censuses and a survey dataset. The census data shows that the incidence of express schooling is significantly higher for children who are under the care of an FDW when their mothers are at work. In the survey data, children scored higher for English if they had a Filipino FDW. The age of FDWs had a positive and significant relationship with children’s average scores for Chinese, English and Mathematics. These findings suggest that FDWs provide an important childrearing service, which is often unrecognised and undervalued. |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uwa:wpaper:12-27&r=ure |
| By: | Johannes Pöschl; Neil Foster |
| Abstract: | The paper addresses the link between productivity and labour mobility. The hypothesis tested is that technology is transmitted across industries through the movement of skilled workers embodying human capital. The embodied knowledge is then diffused within the new environment creating spillovers and leading to productivity improvements. The empirical analysis is based on household survey and industry-level data for a sample of 12 EU countries covering the years 1995-2005. The estimates document the importance of positive cross-sectoral knowledge spillovers and indicate that labour mobility has considerable beneficial effects on industry productivity. Possible endogeneity problems related to labour mobility are tackled by employing a two stage instrumental variables approach. Moreover we show that the spillover effects vary considerably by technology level of the giving industry. While workers moving away from high and medium-tech industries are found to produce positive productivity effects for the receiving industry, no effect is found for those coming from low-tech industries. |
| Keywords: | Knowledge Spillovers, Labour Mobility, Productivity, Human Capital, Industry Level |
| JEL: | J24 J60 O47 |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wsr:wpaper:y:2013:i:117&r=ure |
| By: | Polachek, Solomon (Binghamton University, New York); Das, Tirthatanmoy (Temple University); Thamma-Apiroam, Rewat (Kasetsart University) |
| Abstract: | We derive a tractable nonlinear earnings function which we estimate separately for each individual in the NLSY79 data. These estimates yield five important parameters for each individual: three ability measures (two representing the ability to learn and one the ability to earn), a rate of skill depreciation, and a time discount rate. In addition, we obtain a population wide estimate of the rental rate of human capital. To illustrate heterogeneity in the production of human capital, we plot the distribution of these parameters along with NLSY79 reported AFQT scores. By utilizing these parameters, we are able to verify a number of heretofore untested theorems based on the life-cycle human capital model. In addition, we are able to show how these human capital production function parameters relate to cognitive ability, personality traits, and family background. Among our results, we find: Black-white differences in ability are smaller than those exhibited in standardized tests. Blacks have higher time discount and skill depreciation rates than whites. Individuals with higher time discount rates and greater rates of skill depreciation have fewer years of school. Individuals with both a high internal locus of control and self-esteem exhibit greater ability, lower skill depreciation, and smaller time discount rates. Individuals inclined towards depression have higher time discount rates. Agreeable, open, conscientious and extrovert individuals have a greater ability to learn but not necessarily a greater ability to earn. Neurotic individuals have a lower ability to learn. Higher parental education is associated with a greater ability to learn, lower skill depreciation, and a smaller time discount rate. Educational stimuli, such as growing up in a household that subscribed to magazines, are associated with higher ability. Conversely, growing up poor is associated with lower ability. |
| Keywords: | life-cycle model, ability to learn, ability to earn, heterogeneity, earnings function |
| JEL: | J24 J29 J31 J39 |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7335&r=ure |
| By: | Riccardo Calcagno; Maria Cesira Urzì Brancati |
| Abstract: | Using the Bank of Italy’s Survey of Household Income and Wealth (SHIW) covering a 5-year panel, we measure the impact of the degree of households’ financial literacy on their portfolio imbalance towards housing investment. We find that households with higher levels of financial literacy hold a relatively lower share of illiquid wealth, and the results are more pronounced at older ages, when according to the lifecycle hypothesis they are meant to decumulate their assets. Results appear robust to different specifications of the dependent variable and potential endogeneity of financial literacy. |
| Keywords: | financial literacy, intertemporal consumer choice, housing, portfolio choice |
| JEL: | D12 D91 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cca:wpaper:297&r=ure |
| By: | Jeff Borland (Department of Economics, The University of Melbourne); Yi-Ping Tseng (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne); Roger Wilkins (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne) |
| Abstract: | Fragmented welfare service delivery has been identified as a significant barrier to improving outcomes for highly disadvantaged individuals. The ‘YP4’ trial, conducted from 2005 to 2009, sought to evaluate, by randomised control method, an approach proposed by Campbell et al. (2003) for integrating delivery of employment, housing, health and other services for young homeless jobseekers. Rather than providing extra access to services or utilisation of different services, the YP4 trial involved assignment of a case manager to help tailor and coordinate available services to reflect the specific circumstances of young homeless jobseekers. We find that the YP4 program did not have a significant effect on economic or psychological wellbeing, a finding that is robust to application of experimental and quasi-experimental methods. It is argued that our study contributes to knowledge on program design, particularly in relation to the importance of the scale of intervention and program administration. |
| Keywords: | Welfare programs, disadvantaged jobseekers, randomised controlled trials, program evaluation |
| JEL: | I38 J08 J64 D04 |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iae:iaewps:wp2013n12&r=ure |
| By: | Callan Windsor (Reserve Bank of Australia); Jarkko Jääskelä (Reserve Bank of Australia); Richard Finlay (Reserve Bank of Australia) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the positive relationship betwen home prices and household spending by following a panel of Australian households over the period 2003 to 2010. There are three hypotheses put forth in the literature to explain this relationship: (1) increases in home prices raise spending via a 'traditional wealth effect'; (2) increases in home prices raise spending by easing credit constraints; and (3) home prices and spending are influenced by a common 'third factor' such as something that affects expectations regarding future income. Identifying differences in behaviour across households of different ages helps to distinguish among these hypotheses. Younger homeowners exhibit the largest home-price wealth effects, with a 3 to 4 cent increase in spending per dollar increase in home price. As young homeowners are more likely to be credit constrained, their relatively large marginal propensity to spend supports hypothesis (2) as an important determinant of the co-movement between home prices and household spending. Further, the non-response of young renters to changes in home prices argues against hypothesis (3). |
| Keywords: | dwelling prices; consumption; micro data |
| JEL: | E21 R21 R31 |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rba:rbardp:rdp2013-04&r=ure |
| By: | Erkan Gören (University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the economic growth impact of cultural diversity, both domestically and in neighbouring countries, in a balanced panel of 94 countries covering the period 1970 to 2004. The measures of cultural diversity used in this article were derived from a recently developed computer algorithm intended primarily to measure linguistic distances in an automated fashion. The empirical analysis suggests that the degree of cultural diversity in contiguous neighbouring countries has substantial positive effects on domestic per capita income growth, even controlling for a broad set of regional, institutional, religious and other proximate factors of economic growth. The conclusion is that culturally homogeneous countries gain a strategic advantage over their culturally diverse neighbours. |
| Keywords: | cultural diversity; ethnic diversity; economic growth |
| JEL: | O11 O5 |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:old:wpaper:352&r=ure |
| By: | Olivier Hueber (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - CNRS : UMR7321 - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (UNS)) |
| Abstract: | Sophia Antipolis was created by the public authorities to attract high value added activities on the French Riviera, in the aim of strengthening a local economy driven historically by tourism. The theoretical model that has inspired the creation of Sophia Antipolis is governed by a top-down approach. The agglomerations externalities, had not sprung up naturally from the dynamics of entreprises located in the cluster. The economic model of Sophia Antipolis is completely different of the traditional innovative district studied by Alfred Marshall (bottom-up approach). Nowadays, the cluster of Sophia-Antipolis is rich of external linkages, but poor of internal relations between the firms. In this local system of Innovation, a large numbers of actors in different sectors are present but any of them is sufficiently dominant to drive the cluster orientations. In this sense, this Local System of Innovation (LSI) is not reliable in the long run. Very few, almost no technological collaborations can be observed. The sustainability of the Sophia-Antipolis cluster does not really depend on the territory. the weakness of the cooperation between companies of the cluster can be partially explained by the local multinational firms which have their branch facilities located in the local system of innovation but at the same time their head office external to the cluster with main decision taken from outside, limiting the potential for local synergies and local collaboration. The aim of this paper is to understand the coordination mechanisms between enterprises and the main factors of success who made Sophia-Antipolis the largest technology park in the Europe. Such a study presents the Top-down strategy of developpement choosen by the government from the origins of Sophia-Antipolis to promote agglomeration externalities and the increasing returns to adoption gained by firms entering in the park. |
| Keywords: | clusters;entrepreneurship;innovative pole;network externality;agglomeration effect;Top-down;bottom-up |
| Date: | 2012–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00806571&r=ure |
| By: | Agnese Romiti; Mariacristina Rossi |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the role played by financial literacy in savings decisions and wealth decumulation. The broad evidence shows that (elderly) households do not decumulate their assets as they age, contradicting the standard life-cycle theory, which predicts that households should decumulate their assets in order to keep their consumption smooth. In particular, older people seem to be very attached to illiquid assets, such as housing wealth, which is far more difficult to liquidate and use to face unexpected shocks and to smooth consumption. Using the SHARE (Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe) survey, we try to detect whether more financial literacy brings about more optimal behaviour from a life-cycle perspective, and we look at the impact of financial literacy on three different dimensions of savings decisions: an unbalanced portfolio with excessive weight assigned to illiquid assets, the optimal consumption path, and housing wealth decumulation. According to our findings, financial literacy substantially reduces the portfolio imbalance of people aged 50+ by reducing the weight of housing wealth over total net worth; at the same time, it is responsible for a more optimal consumption path and for housing wealth decumulation. |
| Keywords: | Financial literacy, savings, wealth decumulation, housing, portfolio |
| JEL: | D14 D91 G11 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cca:wpaper:289&r=ure |
| By: | Erkan Gören (University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the empirical relationship between the two concepts of ethnicity and economic growth. Ethnicity is assumed to affect economic growth through a number of possible transmission channels that are generally included in cross-country growth regressions by proposing an extended econometric system of equations to describe growth incorporates new channel variables for the potential indirect effects of ethnicity that are important in the process of economic development. The results, based on a sample of 95 countries for the period 1960-1999, suggest that the concept of ethnic fractionalization is a strong predictive measure for the direct effect of ethnicity on growth, whereas the concept of ethnic polarization has non-negligible indirect economic effects through the specified channel variables. |
| Keywords: | ethnic diversity; fractionalization; polarization; transmission channels; economic growth |
| JEL: | O11 O5 |
| Date: | 2012–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:old:wpaper:353&r=ure |
| By: | Künn-Nelen, Annemarie (ROA, Maastricht University); de Grip, Andries (ROA, Maastricht University); Fouarge, Didier (ROA, Maastricht University) |
| Abstract: | This paper is the first that analyzes the relation between maternal work hours and the cognitive outcomes of young school-going children. When children attend school, the potential time working mothers miss out with their children, is smaller than when children do not yet attend school. At the same time, working might benefit children through, for example, greater family income. Our study is highly relevant for public policy as in most countries maternal employment rates rise when children enter school. We find no negative relation between maternal working hours and child outcomes as is often found for pre-school aged children. Instead, we find that children's sorting test score is higher when their mothers work part-time (girls) or full-time (boys). Furthermore, we find that planned parent-child activities are positively related to children's language test scores. Nevertheless, we do not find that a richer home environment in terms of the number of parent-child activities provided to the child explain the relation between maternal work hours and children's test scores. |
| Keywords: | intergenerational human capital investments, (non)cognitive skills, maternal labor supply, home environment |
| JEL: | D10 J13 J22 |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7310&r=ure |
| By: | Boggio, Margherita |
| Abstract: | Which are the determinants of the choice of ownership structure for a firm providing local public services? What are the consequences of this choice on the performance of these firms? To answer these questions we will use a unique database providing economic and financial data on 321 Italian firms born in the 2000-2008 period. These data are merged with economic, political, financial and territorial data on the first municipality (for the number of shares owned) participating them. To perform the analysis and control for endogeneity, a two-stage multinomial selection model is employed, in order to identify the causal effects in the case of more than two treatments. The empirical evidence indicates that the municipality political orientation and budgetary conditions matter in the choice of ownership structure. Moreover, while for operating efficiency the computed Average Treatment Effects seems to indicate mixed ownership as a good solution, the ‘canonical’ performance and employment indicators provide evidence in the opposite direction. |
| Keywords: | political economy, public finance, public and mixed firm performance, municipal capitalism. |
| JEL: | D72 G32 G38 H72 L33 |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:46245&r=ure |
| By: | Alessandra Proto; Simone Tani; Joerg Bühnemann; Olaf Gaus; Mathias Raith |
| Abstract: | New and small firms can be important engines of job creation and local development when they identify and exploit entrepreneurial opportunities. We live in an economy more and more characterised by open innovation methods, where new companies and SMEs are benefitting from innovations, technological and non technological available on the market or from other companies and organisations part of their networks. Knowledge networks, understood as a three-component construction of (i) knowledge generation, (ii) knowledge transfer, and (iii) knowledge application, can play a crucial role in boosting companies performance. As many OECD researches shows, there is often a major networking gap, however, between knowledge sources in universities and research organisations and industry exploitation in new spin-off enterprises and SMEs. The analysis of the actors of the knowledge networks and the way they behave and interact with other component inside and outside the networks is a fundamental support to local policy making in entrepreneurship and innovation. <p>The OECD LEED Programme in cooperation with the University of Trento has prepared this paper to analyse in deep the behaviour of knowledge networks in two specific local contexts: the Autonomous Province of Trento in Italy and the Magdeburg Province in Germany. <p>The aim of this research project is to analyse the relevance of knowledge networks to entrepreneurship and the growth of young and small firms, the role of the different components and their interplay for network effectiveness, impeding and favouring factors, and the role of public policy. |
| Date: | 2012–01–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:cfeaaa:2012/2-en&r=ure |
| By: | Ludek Kouba (Department of Economics, Faculty of Business and Economics, Mendel University in Brno); Petr Rozmahel (Research Centre, Faculty of Business and Economics, Mendel University in Brno) |
| Abstract: | The CENTROPE region covers eight regions in four countries: Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. Considering the situation on the labour market in CENTROPE, it is necessary to emphasize a high level of heterogeneity. Theoretically, it provides a potential for cross-border cooperation. In this text, we focus on skill mismatch and regional mismatch that contribute significantly to unemployment within CENTROPE. The main aim of this paper is to determine what proportion of unemployment in selected occupations could be avoided if the unemployed were perfectly mobile across CENTROPE regions. Our analysis is based on a unique dataset, the so-called Labour Market Monitoring Tool in CENTROPE that is a joint project of Mendel University and the CENTROPE Office Czech Republic. As a result, we have identified occupation with a high, medium and low potential for commuting within CENTROPE. The identification of these occupations was executed by two ways of calculation: the Potential percentage of unemployed reduction and the Mismatch index. |
| Keywords: | mismatch unemploymnet, mismatch index, regional labour market, CENTROPE |
| JEL: | J6 J2 R23 |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:men:wpaper:37_2013&r=ure |
| By: | Arnold, Lindsay S.; Flannery, Aimee; Ledbetter, Lauren; Bills, Tierra; Jones, Michael G.; Ragland, David R.; Spautz, Laura |
| Abstract: | This project examined the safety and demand issues for pedestrians and bicyclists at multi-lane roundabouts through a literature review, case studies, in-field counts and surveys, focus groups, and video analysis. This document presents research findings, synthesizes current information on best practices, and makes recommendations to assist local agencies planning and designing safer multi-lane roundabouts. These findings should help local agencies and Caltrans create roundabouts that better and more safely address the needs of bicyclists and pedestrians. The current literature is referred to throughout the document to augment the research team’s findings, especially for issues that were beyond the scope of this project. Key findings in the areas of pedestrian and bicyclist avoidance of, behavior around, and collisions at multi-lane roundabouts are presented along with recommendations for geometric design, design speed, sight distance, width of lanes, signage and pavement markings, and operational recommendations. |
| Keywords: | Transportation and Highway Engineering |
| Date: | 2013–04–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsrrp:qt5ss288j8&r=ure |
| By: | Buchmann, Tobias; Pyka, Andreas |
| Abstract: | In this paper we outline a conceptual framework for depicting network development patterns of interfirm innovation networks and for analyzing the dynamic evolution of an R&D network in the German automotive industry. We test the drivers of evolutionary change processes of a network which is based on subsidised R&D projects in the 10 year period between 1998 and 2007. For this purpose a stochastic actor-based model is applied to estimate the impact of various drivers of network change. We test hypotheses in the innovation and evolutionary economics framework and show that structural positions of firms as well as actor covariates and dyadic covariates are influential determinants of network evolution. -- |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fziddp:702013&r=ure |
| By: | Autor, David (MIT); Dorn, David (CEMFI, Madrid); Hanson, Gordon H. (University of California, San Diego) |
| Abstract: | We juxtapose the effects of trade and technology on employment in U.S. local labor markets between 1990 and 2007. Labor markets whose initial industry composition exposes them to rising Chinese import competition experience significant falls in employment, particularly in manufacturing and among non-college workers. Labor markets susceptible to computerization due to specialization in routine task-intensive activities experience significant occupational polarization within manufacturing and non-manufacturing but no net employment decline. Trade impacts rise in the 2000s as imports accelerate, while the effect of technology appears to shift from automation of production activities in manufacturing towards computerization of information-processing tasks in non-manufacturing. |
| Keywords: | technological change, trade flows, import competition, skill demand, job tasks, local labor markets |
| JEL: | F16 J21 J23 O33 |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7329&r=ure |
| By: | Gelsomina Catalano (Centre for Industrial Studies (CSIL)); Davide Sartori (Centre for Industrial Studies (CSIL)) |
| Abstract: | EThis paper builds on the empirical research carried out for the “Ex post evaluation of investment projects co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) or Cohesion Fund (CF) in the period 1994-1999â€, recently finalized by the European Commission. The study evaluated the long term contribution, direct and indirect, expected and unexpected, of ten selected environment and transport infrastructure investments to economic development as well as to quality of life and well-being of society. In fact, investment projects can foster economic development, which is generally quantifiable by economic welfare metrics, as e.g. reflected in the cost-benefit analysis. Although the concept of economic development is not disconnected from the wellbeing of society, it is acknowledged that there are a number of other factors that may affect public welfare, which are not usually captured by the traditional economic indicators. Social cohesion, environmental effects, territorial cohesion, institutional learning and social happiness are for instance factors that affect the level of social satisfaction, the perception of social reality and other dimensions which are outside the conventional economic dimension. An innovative methodology was therefore applied for the context of this study to integrate traditional quantitative tools, such as ex-post cost-benefit analysis, with analysis of qualitative evidence. This allowed to study, in a structured way, project effects on economic development together with the determinants of wellbeing to society. The results showed that effects on wellbeing vary from project to project to a high extent. In particular, social satisfaction or dissatisfaction can take place in reference to expectations and, when this is the case, effects (either positive or negative) are of a large magnitude. When social (dis)satisfaction is related to “objective†factors, the intensity of the effects is lower. For example, the introduction of tolls in the motorways reviewed had negative impacts on social happiness, partially counterbalancing general satisfaction arising from factors such as increased leisure opportunities, civic pride, etc. In other cases, delays in implementation generated widespread feelings of frustration among the public, thus limiting the satisfaction regarding the new infrastructure. In the case of the waste water treatment plants reviewed, satisfaction was rather limited by shortcomings intrinsic to the projects’ operations (odours, under-capacity, etc.). On the contrary, when specific measures are taken to purposely alter the perception of projects by the population, effects are magnified. In this respect, the two solid waste treatment projects in Galicia and Portugal are interesting to contrast the role played by awareness-raising campaigns. Both projects “objectively†contributed to citizen’s quality of life through the elimination of landfills and their replacement with green areas, but they both also had to deal with the necessity of “selling†the choice of the incinerator technology. While awareness-raising activities positively contributed to the satisfaction associated with the latter project, they were (at least initially) a negative factor in the former case. Pressure from environmental organizations also played a role in limiting the positive perception of the project. Finally, it is worth stressing that the level of satisfaction is important not only because it contributes to determining overall project performance in static terms, but also because it can have an influence on project functioning and achievements in dynamic terms. For example, in the solid waste field, social acceptance is an important issue since it may have an influence on the functioning of the projects by making possible better waste separation with regard to recycling and composting. |
| Keywords: | infrastructure investment, economic development, wellbeing, social satisfaction |
| JEL: | H54 H75 I38 |
| Date: | 2013–03–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mst:wpaper:201301&r=ure |