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on Urban and Real Estate Economics |
| By: | World Bank |
| Keywords: | Urban Development - Transport in Urban Areas Urban Development - Municipal Financial Management Roads and Highways Urban Transport Transport Economics Policy and Planning Transport |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:13236&r=ure |
| By: | Elizabeth Ananat; Shihe Fu; Stephen L. Ross |
| Abstract: | We demonstrate a striking but previously unnoticed relationship between city size and the black-white wage gap, with the gap increasing by 2.5% for every million-person increase in urban population. We then look within cities and document that wages of blacks rise less with agglomeration in the workplace location, measured as employment density per square kilometer, than do white wages. This pattern holds even though our method allows for non-parametric controls for the effects of age, education, and other demographics on wages, for unobserved worker skill as proxied by residential location, and for the return to agglomeration to vary across those demographics, industry, occupation and metropolitan areas. We find that an individual’s wage return to employment density rises with the share of workers in their work location who are of their own race. We observe similar patterns for human capital externalities as measured by share workers with a college education. We also find parallel results for firm productivity by employment density and share college-educated using firm racial composition in a sample of manufacturing firms. These findings are consistent with the possibility that blacks, and black- majority firms, receive lower returns to agglomeration because such returns operate within race, and blacks have fewer same-race peers and fewer highly-educated same-race peers at work from whom to enjoy spillovers than do whites. Data on self-reported social networks in the General Social Survey provide further evidence consistent with this mechanism, showing that blacks feel less close to whites than do whites, even when they work exclusively with whites. We conclude that social distance between blacks and whites preventing shared benefits from agglomeration isa significant contributor to overall black-white wage disparities. |
| Keywords: | Black White Wage Gap, Agglomeration Economies, Human Capital Externalities,Information Networks, Total Factor Productivity |
| JEL: | J15 J24 J31 R23 R32 |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:13-24&r=ure |
| By: | David Frisvold |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the impact of the School Breakfast Program (SBP) on cognitive achievement. The SBP is a federal entitlement program that offers breakfast to any student, including free breakfast for any low-income student, who attends a school that participates in the program. To increase the availability of the SBP, many states mandate that schools participate in the program if the percent of free or reduced-price eligible students in a school exceeds a specific threshold. Using the details of these mandates as a source of identifying variation, I find that the availability of the program increases student achievement. |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:emo:wp2003:1301&r=ure |
| By: | Antonio Accetturo (Bank of Italy, Italy); Valter Di Giacinto (Bank of Italy, Italy); Giacinto Micucci (Bank of Italy, Italy); Marcello Pagnini (Bank of Italy, Italy) |
| Abstract: | Two main hypotheses are usually put forward to explain the productivity advantages of larger cities: agglomeration economies and firm selection. Combes et al. (2012) propose an empirical approach to disentangle these two effects and fail to find any impact of selection on local productivity differences. We theoretically show that selection effects do emerge when asymmetric trade and entry costs and different spatial scale at which agglomeration and selection may work are properly taken into account. The empirical findings confirm that agglomeration effects play a major role. However, they also show a substantial increase in the importance of the selection effect when asymmetric trade costs and a different spatial scale are taken into account. |
| Keywords: | agglomeration economies, firm selection, market size, entry costs, openness to trade |
| JEL: | C52 R12 D24 |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rim:rimwps:24_13&r=ure |
| By: | Michael J. Boehm |
| Abstract: | Using administrative employer-employee data from Germany, I exploit two reductions of tax breaks for commuting in 2003/4 and 2006/7 to estimate commuting costs' effect on the decision to switch job and move house. Standard theory predicts that higher commuting costs should lead to increased concentration in urban centers. However, I find that re-matching of existing jobs and houses to reduce commuting distances is much more prevalent in the data. With these estimates I calculate the effect of a complete abolition of the tax breaks on overall travel distance, fuel usage, greenhouse gas emissions, the tax base, and the de-population of the countryside. |
| Keywords: | Work/residence location choice, commuting costs, environmental effects of tax policy, employer-employee data |
| JEL: | R00 J61 J68 Q48 Q58 |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1207&r=ure |
| By: | Storeygard, Adam |
| Abstract: | Transport costs are widely considered an important barrier to local economic activity but their impact in developing countries is not well-studied. This paper investigates the role of inter-city transport costs in determining the income of Sub-Saharan African cities, using two new data sources. Specifically, it asks how important access to a large port city is for the income of hinterland cities in 15 countries. Satellite data on lights at night proxy for city economic activity, and shortest routes between cities are calculated using new road network data. Cost per unit of distance is identified by world oil prices. The results show that an oil price increase of the magnitude experienced between 2002 and 2008 induces the income of cities near a major port to increase by 6 percent relative to otherwise identical cities 500 kilometers farther away. Cities connected to the port by paved roads are chiefly affected by transport costs to the port, while cities connected to the port by unpaved roads are more affected by connections to secondary centers. These are important findings for economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa since the majority of its population growth over the next few decades is expected to be in urban areas. |
| Keywords: | Transport Economics Policy&Planning,Rural Roads&Transport,Subnational Economic Development,E-Business,Roads&Highways |
| Date: | 2013–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6444&r=ure |
| By: | Joseph DeSalvo (Department of Economics, University of South Florida); Sisinnio Concas (Center for Urban Transportation Research, University of South Florida) |
| Abstract: | Some urban policies are designed to reduce auto and increase transit usage. Evidence is mixed because most empirical research uses ad hoc specifications. We estimate empirical models of the interaction between urban form and transit demand drawn from urban economic theory. Population density has a small impact on transit demand, which decreases when residential location is endogenous. Households living farther from work use less transit, a result of trip-chaining. Reducing the spatial allocation of non-work activities, improving transit accessibility at and around subcenters, and increasing the presence of retail locations in proximity to transit-oriented households would increase transit demand. |
| Date: | 2013–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usf:wpaper:0413&r=ure |
| By: | World Bank |
| Keywords: | National Urban Development Policies & Strategies Public Sector Management and Reform Communities and Human Settlements - Urban Housing and Land Settlements Banks & Banking Reform Transport Economics Policy & Planning Finance and Financial Sector Development Urban Development Public Sector Development Transport |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:11929&r=ure |
| By: | Cucuringu, Mihai |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ner:louvai:info:hdl:2078.1/124322&r=ure |
| By: | Nicholas Apergis (Department of Banking and Financial Management, University of Piraeus, Greece); Beatrice D. Simo-Kengne (Department of Economics, University of Pretoria); Rangan Gupta (Department of Economics, University of Pretoria) |
| Abstract: | This empirical study analyses the long run behaviour of provincial house prices in South Africa based on the club convergence and clustering procedure of Phillips and Sul (2007). Using quarterly data covering the period of 1974Q1 to 2012Q4, 1976Q2 to 2012Q4, 1974Q1 to 2012 Q4 and 1977Q3 to 2012Q4 for the entire, large, medium and small-middle segments of the housing market, respectively, we test the law of one price across nine provinces. The empirical findings suggest that the nine provinces do not form a homogeneous convergence club. In particular, the aggregate housing market supports the presence of three convergence clubs with the tendency of provinces to converge or diverge varying across subsequent segments. Unlike the middle-small segment which consists of two convergence clubs of seven and two provinces, the middle-large and middle-medium segments are consistent with three convergence clubs corresponding to three segmented independent local markets. The first convergence club consists of four and five provinces, respectively. The second convergence club is made of four and three provinces, respectively, while the third convergence club comprises only one province. |
| Keywords: | House prices, law of one price, panel, convergence |
| JEL: | C33 R31 |
| Date: | 2013–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pre:wpaper:201322&r=ure |
| By: | Yi Deng (Department of Economics, University of South Florida); Gabriel Picone (Department of Economics, University of South Florida) |
| Abstract: | We develop and estimate a spatial game-theoretic model of entry and location choices to examine firms’ strategic clustering decisions. The model identifies two contradictory effects that determine firms’ geographical location choices: a competition effect and a clustering effect. We also separate firms’ strategic clustering incentives from the observed clustering behavior due to exogenous factors such as population and topographic desirability or constraints. In particular, we examine two closely related industries that share similar location limitations but have different strategic incentives to cluster, jointly estimate the Bayesian Nash equilibrium of a two-industry entry and location game, and quantify the strategic clustering incentives. |
| JEL: | L13 L81 R12 R30 |
| Date: | 2013–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usf:wpaper:1013&r=ure |
| By: | Coenen , Lars (Nordic Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research and Education (NIFU), Oslo; CIRCLE, Lund University); Moodysson , Jerker (CIRCLE, Lund University); Martin , Hanna (CIRCLE, Lund University) |
| Abstract: | The objective of this paper is to further insights on the potentials and barriers for industrial renewal in locked-in regions and industries. To do so, the paper analyzes the Swedish policy program ‘Biorefinery of the Future’ (BioF). This initiative is geared to develop a strong regional innovation environment for forestry-based biorefinery development in the area of Örnköldsvik and Umeå in Northern Sweden. Theoretically, the paper draws on concepts from evolutionary economic geography regarding path-dependence, related variety and lockin, and combines these with institutional approaches found in science and technology studies to explain disruptive shifts or transitions in socio-technical systems. |
| Keywords: | Regional Innovation Policy; Old Industrial Regions; Evolutionary Economic Geography; Socio-technical Transitions |
| JEL: | O33 O38 |
| Date: | 2013–05–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2013_007&r=ure |
| By: | Nobuaki Yamashita (La Trobe University, Melbourne); Toshiyuki Matsuura (Keio University, Tokyo); Kentaro Nakajima (Tohoku University, Sendai) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the agglomeration effects of multinational firms on the location decisions of first-time Japanese manufacturing investors in China for the period 1995-2007. This is accomplished by exploiting newly constructed measures of inter-firm backward and forward linkages formed in a home country. The conditional and mixed logit estimates reveal that agglomeration by first-tier suppliers and customers draws subsequent investment into a location. However, such agglomeration effects are not pervasive and do not extend to the second and third tiers. Instead, we find that agglomeration by third-tier suppliers generates a countervailing force, making a location relatively unattractive. |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kei:dpaper:2012-042&r=ure |
| By: | Pierce, Gregory; Shoup, Donald |
| Abstract: | Underpriced and overcrowded curb parking creates problems for everyone except a few lucky drivers who find a cheap space; all the other drivers who cruise to find an open space waste time and fuel, congest traffic, and pollute the air. Overpriced and underoccupied parking also creates problems; when curb spaces remain empty, nearby merchants lose potential customers, workers lose jobs, and cities lose tax revenue. To address these problems, San Francisco has established SFpark, a program that adjusts parking prices to achieve a target parking availability of one or two open spaces on each block. To measure how parking prices affected parking occupancy in San Francisco we calculated the price elasticity of demand for on-street parking revealed by 5,294 individual price and occupancy changes during the program’s first year. Price elasticity varies greatly by time of day, location, and several other factors, with an average value of –0.4. The average meter price fell 1 percent during the first year, so SFpark adjusted prices up and down according to local demand without increasing prices overall. The city can improve the program by making drivers more aware of the variable prices, reducing the abuse of disabled parking placards, and introducing seasonal adjustments for parking prices. |
| Keywords: | Urban Studies/Affairs, Transportation and Highway Engineering |
| Date: | 2013–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:uctcwp:qt2h76j73j&r=ure |
| By: | Martin , Roman (CIRCLE, Lund University) |
| Abstract: | It is argued in this paper that the nature of innovation networks can vary substantially with regard to the type of knowledge that is critical for innovation. Subject to the knowledge base of an industry, networks between companies can differ in various aspects, such as their geographical configuration, their structure, the type of actors holding a strategic position and the type of relations between actors. The paper comprises a conceptual discussion on social capital theory and networks, followed by a theoretically informed discussion on differentiated knowledge bases and innovation networks, which is subsequently illustrated with empirical material. The empirical analysis is based on social network analysis in association with exclusive data about patterns of cooperation and knowledge exchange in a number of regional industries located in different parts of Europe. The findings suggest that networks in analytical industries are not much constrained by geographical distance; knowledge is exchanged in a highly selective manner between research units and scientists in globally configured epistemic communities. Synthetic industries source knowledge within nationally or regionally configured networks between suppliers and customers, and within communities of practice. Symbolic industries rely on knowledge that is culturally defined and highly context specific, resulting in localised networks that are temporary and flexible in nature. |
| Keywords: | differentiated knowledge bases; regional innovation systems; social capital; social network analysis; knowledge networks |
| JEL: | B52 O25 P51 R11 R12 R58 |
| Date: | 2013–05–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2013_014&r=ure |
| By: | Milena Stefanova; Raewyn Porter; Rod Nixon |
| Keywords: | Private Sector Development - Land and Real Estate Development Agricultural Knowledge & Information Systems Rural Development Knowledge & Information Systems Urban Development - Municipal Housing and Land Communities and Human Settlements - Real Estate Development Rural Development Agriculture |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:11893&r=ure |
| By: | Vincenzo Atella (University of Rome "Tor Vergata"); Federico Belotti (University of Rome "Tor Vergata"); Domenico Depalo (Bank of Italy); Andrea Piano Mortari (University of Rome "Tor Vergata") |
| Abstract: | Over the last decades spatial econometrics models have represented a common tool for measuring spillover effects across different geographical entities (counties, provinces, regions or nations). Unfortunately, no one has considered that when these entities share common borders but obey to different institutional settings, ignoring this feature may induce misleading conclusions. In fact, under these circumstances, and if institutions do play a role, we expect to find spatial effects mainly \within" entities belonging to the same institutional setting, while the "between" effect across different institutional settings should be attenuated or totally absent, even if the entities share a common border. In this case, relying only on geographical proximity will then produce biased estimates, due to the composition of two distinct effects. To avoid these problems, we derive a methodology that partitions the standard contiguity matrix into within and between contiguity matrices, allowing to separately estimate these spatial correlation coefficients and to easily test for the existence of institutional constraints. In our empirical analysis we apply this methodology to Italian Local Health Authority expenditures, using spatial panel techniques. Results show a strong and significant spatial coefficient only for the within effect, thus confirming the importance and validity of our approach. |
| Keywords: | spatial, health expenditures, institutional setting, panel data |
| JEL: | H72 H51 C31 |
| Date: | 2013–05–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rtv:ceisrp:278&r=ure |
| By: | Martin , Roman (CIRCLE, Lund University); Trippl , Michaela (Department of Human Geography and CIRCLE, Lund University) |
| Abstract: | Regional innovation strategies rank on the top of public policy agendas today. There is a widespread consensus in both academic and policy circles that standardised “best practice” innovation policy models suffer from severe limitations and major shortcomings. The recent literature is replete with claims that regional innovation policies should be place-based and context-sensitive, taking into consideration the specificities of regions and their distinctive preconditions and capacities for innovation. Various conceptual approaches and theories support such a view. This paper discusses two concepts, which have a particularly strong potential for informing a differentiated regional innovation policy approach; the regional innovation system (RIS) theory and the knowledge base concept. The RIS literature highlights the importance of the organisational and institutional setting of a region and suggests that system deficiencies or failures should constitute the starting point for designing regional innovation policies. The differentiated knowledge base approach stresses that regional industries differ strongly in the underlying knowledge bases and, as a consequence, in their policy needs. We elaborate on the policy implications that originate from these concepts and argue that tailor-made regional innovation policies should consider both region-specific institutional set-ups and knowledge bases. |
| Keywords: | regional innovation policy; regional innovation system; differentiated knowledge bases |
| JEL: | L52 O21 O25 R11 R58 |
| Date: | 2013–04–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2013_013&r=ure |
| By: | World Bank |
| Keywords: | Urban Development - Transport in Urban Areas Roads & Highways Transport Economics Policy & Planning Environmental Economics & Policies Energy - Energy Production and Transportation Environment Transport |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:11899&r=ure |
| By: | Joseph J. Capuno (School of Economics, University of the Philippines Diliman); Stella A. Quimbo (School of Economics, University of the Philippines Diliman); Aleli D. Kraft (School of Economics, University of the Philippines Diliman); Carlos Antonio R. Tan, Jr. (School of Economics, University of the Philippines Diliman); Vigile Marie B. Fabella (School of Economics, University of the Philippines Diliman) |
| Abstract: | Using a panel dataset from cities and municipalities in the Philippines in 2001, 2004 and 2007, we investigate whether yardstick competition -- measured here as the average spending and revenues of surrounding jurisdictions in the same province -- influence local government fiscal decisions. For local governments with incumbents facing effective term limits, the effects of the yardstick variables are generally nil. For those with incumbents who are eligible for another term, the average total expenditures of surrounding jurisdictions seem to influence the LGU to re-allocate its budget for social and economic services that directly benefit the constituents towards overhead outlays that benefit more the office holders. Local revenue mobilization is stimulated by greater revenue mobilization and dampened by higher average spending in other localities. Central fiscal transfers increase outlays for overheads and for social and economic services These suggests that while the particular yardstick variables used here may have induced reactions from local governments, the resulting changes in fiscal decisions may not have necessarily improved the constituents' welfare. What seems necessary is comparison on those public provisions that promote welfare rather than just total expenditures or revenues per se. |
| Keywords: | Local government spending, yardstick competition, Philippines |
| JEL: | H72 I18 H4 |
| Date: | 2012–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:phs:dpaper:201208&r=ure |
| By: | Roberto Gabriele; Diego Giuliani; Marco Corsino; Giuseppe Espa |
| Abstract: | The paper proposes a novel methodology to assess the role of ÒlocationÓ in shaping firm growth. Along with traditional determinants (e.g., age, size and financial constraints), geographical location is alleged to drive firm growth. The current literature typically relies on location variables that suffer from a lack of empirical robustness (Combes et al., 2008; Duranton and Overman, 2005; Arbia et al., 2012; Giuliani et al., 2012): indeed arbitrary definitions of the spatial observational units (such as provinces, regions or municipalities) introduce a statistical bias arising from the discretionally chosen definition of space. To address these shortcomings, we use the GetisÕ local K-function (Getis, 1984) at the firm level. This measure allows us to distinguish between Marshallian and Jacobs externalities. The analysis exploits a new database comprising single-unit Italian firms operating in the manufacturing sector. Empirical results show that firms exhibit a differential ability to grow due to different kinds of externalities: small firms benefit more from Marshallian externalities, while medium-large firms exploit also Jacobian externalities. |
| Keywords: | spatial concentration, GetisÕ local K-function, localization externalities |
| JEL: | L25 R11 O30 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:trn:utwpem:2013/06&r=ure |
| By: | Joseph DeSalvo (Department of Economics, University of South Florida); Louis Eeckhoudt (Ieseg School of Management (Lille)) |
| Abstract: | This paper introduces risk into location and land-use choices of a profit-maximizing urban firm. Although risk has been introduced into the location theories of Von Thünen, Weber, and Hotelling (Asami and Isard, 1989), it has not to our knowledge been incorporated into a firm’s choice of intraurban location and land use. We address this issue with a simple model of an urban firm, which chooses location (as distance from the CBD) and land input within an urban area. This model has antecedents in Aloa (1974), Moomaw (1980), and Cooke (1983) but is both simpler (in that it includes only one input, land) and more general (in that it assumes general functional forms and profit maximization). We start with choices under certainty, providing comparative static results on location and land use for changes in product price and land rent. We find location and land use directly related to product price and inversely related to land rent. We then turn to choice of location and land use under product-price and land-rent risk. Both product-price and land-rent risk lead the firm to choose less land and a location closer to the CBD than under certainty. The appendix extends the model to a mean-preserving increase in risk. |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usf:wpaper:0513&r=ure |
| By: | Sanjay Agarwal; Warren A., III Van Wicklin |
| Keywords: | Social Development - Social Accountability Governance - National Governance Housing and Human Habitats Governance - Governance Indicators Public Sector Corruption and Anticorruption Measures Communities and Human Settlements Public Sector Development |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:13064&r=ure |
| By: | Thomas Schelkle (London School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper asks which theories of mortgage default are quantitatively consistent with observations in the United States during 2002-2010. Theoretical models are simulated for the observed time-series of aggregate house prices. Their predictions are then compared to actual default rates on prime fixed-rate mortgages. An out-of-sample test discriminates between estimated reduced forms of the two most prominent theories. The test reveals that the double-trigger hypothesis attributing mortgage default to the joint occurrence of negative equity and a life event like unemployment outperforms a frictionless option-theoretic default model. Based on this finding a structural partial-equilibrium model with liquidity constraints and idiosyncratic unemployment shocks is presented to provide micro-foundations for the double-trigger hypothesis. In this model borrowers with negative equity are more likely to default when they are unemployed and have low liquid wealth. The model explains most of the observed strong rise in mortgage default rates. A policy implication of the model is that subsidizing homeowners can mitigate a mortgage crisis at a lower cost than bailing out lenders. |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:red:sed012:751&r=ure |
| By: | Andries Brandsma (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); d’Artis Kancs (European Commission – JRC - IPTS); Damiaan Persyn (European Commission – JRC - IPTS) |
| Abstract: | The present paper describes the modelling approach of regional labour markets taken in the newly developed dynamic spatial general equilibrium model RHOMOLO, where the labour market equilibrium is determined by ?rms’ labour demand, a wage-curve with unemployment, and inter-regional labour migration. The RHOMOLO model is parameterised by estimating the key structural parameters econometrically. In order to illustrate the potential of the proposed dynamic spatial general equilibrium approach to inter-regionally integrated labour markets, we carry out simulations showing the e?ects of a reduction in ransportation cost, and assess the impact on regional labour markets. Our results con?rm that wages and unemployment are by far the most important channels of adjustment to macro-economic and policy shocks in the EU. In contrast, labour migration plays a secondary role in labour market adjustments in the EU. Our results also suggest that the relationship between market access, labour demand and labour supply is non-linear and spatially inter-dependent, which underlines the importance of the proposed dynamic spatial general equilibrium approach. |
| Keywords: | Dynamic spatial general equilibrium model, labour, migration, unemployment, wage, RHOMOLO, DSGE, new economic geography. |
| JEL: | C68 D58 F22 J20 J61 J64 O15 |
| Date: | 2013–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc80825&r=ure |
| By: | Maria Alipranti (University of Crete); Emmanuel Petrakis (Department of Economics, University of Crete, Greece) |
| Abstract: | The present paper investigates the firms' incentives to invest in comparative advertising in a spatially differentiated duopoly market characterized by network externalities. We show that for a wide range of locations, determined by the interaction between the transportation cost, the network effects and the effectiveness of advertising, firms have incentives to invest in comparative advertising with their investment levels to be positively related to the transportation cost and negatively related to the network effects. Further, comparing the equilibrium results of our model with the benchmark case without advertising activities and the case without network externalities, we show that the firms' location distance increases in the presence of network externalities, while it decreases in the presence of comparative advertising. |
| Keywords: | Comparative Advertising, Network Effects, Location |
| JEL: | L13 D43 M37 |
| Date: | 2012–08–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crt:wpaper:1306&r=ure |
| By: | Bergström, Anna (Karlstads universitet); Krüger , Niclas A. (VTI) |
| Abstract: | This paper addresses the lack of reliability within the Swedish rail network by identifying passenger train delay distributions. Arrival delays are analyzed in detail using data provided by the Swedish Transport Administration, covering all train departures and arrivals during 2008 and 2009. The paper identifies vulnerabilities by size, space and time in the network. Our results show that the delay distribution seems to be plagued by low probability high impact events. A major share of all delay time is associated with the tail of the delay distribution, indicating that extreme delays cannot be neglected when prioritizing between measures improving rail infrastructure. Delays are not only concentrated in size, but also concentrated in space and time and seem to follow a precise power law with respect to days and an exponential distribution with regard to stations. Moreover, we also examine the link between capacity usage and expected delay over different time scales. |
| Keywords: | Reliability; Vulnerability; Value of travel time variability; Distribution fitting; Exponential distribution; Power law distribution |
| JEL: | H54 R42 |
| Date: | 2013–05–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ctswps:2013_003&r=ure |
| By: | Adrian Chadi (Institute for Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the EU, University of Trier) |
| Abstract: | While rising unemployment generally reduces people’s happiness, researchers argue that there is a compensating social-norm effect for the unemployed individual, who might suffer less when it is more common to be unemployed. This empirical study rejects this thesis for German panel data, however, and finds that individual unemployment is even more hurtful when regional unemployment is higher. On the other hand, an extended model that separately considers individuals who feel stigmatised from living off public funds yields strong evidence that this group of people does in fact suffer less when the normative pressure to earn one’s own living is lower. A comprehensive discussion reconciles these findings with the existing research and concludes that in order to find evidence for the often-described social-norm effect it is worthwhile to analyse disutility associated with benefit receipts. |
| Keywords: | social norms, regional unemployment, individual unemployment, well-being, social benefits, labour market policies |
| JEL: | I3 J6 |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iaa:dpaper:201306&r=ure |
| By: | Alex Fenton; Amanda Fitzgerald; Ruth Lupton |
| Keywords: | The Distribution of Local GovernmentFinance, Local Authority,Deprivation, Social Policy in a cold climate |
| Date: | 2013–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:spccrn:005&r=ure |
| By: | World Bank |
| Keywords: | Public Sector Economics Urban Development - Municipal Financial Management Macroeconomics and Economic Growth - Subnational Economic Development Finance and Financial Sector Development - Debt Markets Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations and Local Finance Management Public Sector Development |
| Date: | 2012–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:11875&r=ure |
| By: | Alvar Closas; Meleesa Naughton; Michael Jacobsen |
| Keywords: | Water Supply and Sanitation - Water Supply and Sanitation Governance and Institutions Water Supply and Sanitation - Town Water Supply and Sanitation Water Resources - Water and Industry Urban Development - City Development Strategies Water Supply and Sanitation - Urban Water Supply and Sanitation |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:12273&r=ure |
| By: | World Bank |
| Keywords: | Social Development - Community Development and Empowerment Housing and Human Habitats Governance - National Governance Governance - Governance Indicators Environmental Economics and Policies Communities and Human Settlements Environment |
| Date: | 2012 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:12853&r=ure |
| By: | Michael Jetter; Christopher F. Parmeter |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes urbanization as a determinant of government size. As people move to cities, their demand for a more de ned set of regulations, but also for basic health, education, and income standards rises. Our theoretical framework determines how the regional distribution of the population a ects government size. We test this theory on panel data of 175 countries from 1960 to 2010 and two state-level samples from Colombia and Germany. Results demonstrate a strong positive e ect from urbanization on government spending, with a 1 percent increase in the amount of urban citizens leading to a 0.2 percent rise in public expenditure. Our ndings indicate that public sectors may become more important as worldwide urbanization is progressing. This result underlines why government e ectiveness and the quality of public goods provision will be even more important in the future. |
| Date: | 2013–04–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000122:010730&r=ure |
| By: | World Bank |
| Keywords: | Health, Nutrition and Population - Population Policies Housing & Human Habitats Poverty Reduction - Rural Poverty Reduction Transport Economics Policy & Planning Macroeconomics and Economic Growth - Regional Economic Development Communities and Human Settlements Health Nutrition and Population Transport |
| Date: | 2012–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:11869&r=ure |
| By: | Jordi Jofre-Monseny (Universitat de Barcelona & Institut dEconomia de Barcelona (IEB)) (Universitat de Barcelona) |
| Keywords: | place-based policy, unemployment protection, migration, lagging regions, mobility |
| JEL: | J6 R23 H73 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bar:bedcje:2013292&r=ure |
| By: | World Bank |
| Keywords: | Governance - Youth and Governance Urban Development - Street Children Education - Education For All Education - Early Childhood Development Education - Primary Education |
| Date: | 2012–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:10415&r=ure |
| By: | Martin Obschonka; Eva Schmitt-Rodermund; Rainer K. Silbereisen; Samuel D. Gosling; Jeff Potter |
| Abstract: | In recent years the topic entrepreneurship has become a major focus in the social sciences, with renewed interest in the links between personality and entrepreneurship. Taking a socioecological perspective to psychology, which emphasizes the role of social habitats and their interactions with mind and behavior, we investigated regional variation in and correlates of an entrepreneurship-prone Big Five profile. Specifically, we analyzed personality data collected from over half a million U.S. residents (N = 619,397) as well as public archival data on state-level entrepreneurial activity (i.e., business-creation and self-employment rates). Results revealed that an entrepreneurship-prone personality profile is regionally clustered. This geographical distribution corresponds to the pattern that can be observed when mapping entrepreneurial activity across the U.S.. Indeed, the state-level correlation (N = 51) between an entrepreneurial personality structure and entrepreneurial activity was positive in direction, substantial in magnitude, and robust even when controlling for regional economic prosperity. These correlations persisted at the level of U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas (N = 15) and were replicated in independent German (N = 19,842; 14 regions) and British samples (N = 15,617; 12 regions). In contrast to these profile-based analyses, an analysis linking the individual Big Five dimensions to regional measures of entrepreneurial activity did not yield consistent findings. Discussion focuses on the implications of these findings for interdisciplinary theory development and practical applications. |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp550&r=ure |
| By: | Rafael Henrique Moraes Pereira; Tim Schwanen |
| Abstract: | This study analyzes trends in average commute times in Brazil between 1992 and 2009. It distinguishes between the nine largest metropolitan areas plus the Federal District of Brasília and describes how differences among these areas vary according to income levels and gender. This paper is based on the National Household Sample Survey (PNAD) carried out by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), a source of data hitherto little used for transportation studies in Brazil. PNAD data is not conceived strictly for transport planning but is the only large-scale survey in Brazil with annual information since 1992 on commute time at national and subnational levels (states and metropolitan areas). Five main findings are stressed. First, travel to work trips tend to be 31% longer in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, the two largest metropolitan areas (MAs) in the country, than the in the other MAs. Second, workers in the poorest population segment (1st income decile) spend on average 20% more time on commuting than the wealthiest decile; 19% of the former make home-towork trips longer than 1 hour against only 11% in the wealthiest group. Third, this gap in commute time between rich and poor is spatially contingent; it is large in Belo Horizonte, Curitiba and Federal District but almost nonexistent in Salvador, Recife, Fortaleza and Belem. Fourth, the data reveal worsening conditions for urban transport since 1992 as reflected in longer average commuting times. However, these worsening conditions have been more pronounced in the 1st income decile and especially the 7th-10th deciles. As a result, the overall differences across income groups have actually weakened during the period 1992-2009. Finally, the gender gap in average commuting times has been reduced considerably over the period considered with only small gaps remaining in the extreme income groups. The present study highlights that trends in average commute times in emerging economies, such as Brazil, need not follow the same trajectories as in the Global North. It also shows the importance of not focusing on national trends only; this will obscure important differences between urban regions. From a policy perspective, the paper shows the usefulness of the PNAD data for monitoring urban mobility conditions in Brazilian major MAs. Yearly variations in commuting time can among others be used to assess the effects of mass transport investments on urban transport conditions. |
| Keywords: | Brazil; commute time; inequality; metropolitan areas; income; gender. |
| Date: | 2013–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipe:ipetds:1813a&r=ure |
| By: | Željko Lovrin?evi?; Davor Mikuli? |
| Keywords: | Poverty Reduction - Poverty Impact Evaluation Social Protections and Labor - Labor Policies Economic Theory and Research Private Sector Development - Emerging Markets Macroeconomics and Economic Growth - Regional Economic Development |
| Date: | 2012–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:12510&r=ure |