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on Urban and Real Estate Economics |
| By: | Huang, Haifang (University of Alberta, Department of Economics); Humphreys, Brad (West Virginia University); Zhou, Li (University of Alberta, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | We examine the housing-market impact of U.S. urban casinos in nearby neighborhoods using data on home-purchase mortgage applications around opening years. Our sample covers 48 new urban casinos opened between 1995 and 2009. We compare changes in the volume of mortgage applications, the average loan amount and the average income of applicants in census tracts near new casinos to those farther away in the same metropolitan areas. We find that casino openings had little impact on the number of applications or applicants’ economic profile, but they were associated with declines in the growth of the average loan amount, which we use as a proxy for house prices. The negative effect persists even after we control for possible anticipation effects through which casino openings affect house prices before the openings, and urban casinos’ tendency to locate near poor neighborhoods that were disproportionately affected by the subprime mortgage expansion and collapse in the U.S. The estimated loss is 6-7 percentage points from trend over 3 years. We interpret the findings as evidence of casinos' negative impacts on residential amenities. |
| Keywords: | Casino; Economic Impact; Amenities |
| JEL: | L83 R31 |
| Date: | 2014–06–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:albaec:2014_004&r=ure |
| By: | Keren Mertens Horn |
| Keywords: | Residential Investment, School Performance, House Prices |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mab:wpaper:2014_04&r=ure |
| By: | John Gibson (University of Waikato); Geua Boe-Gibson (University of Waikato) |
| Abstract: | School attendance boundaries are a contentious issue in New Zealand, and have been relaxed and re-imposed depending upon political sentiment. Critics contend that a supposedly egalitarian state school system becomes one of selection by mortgage, with the value of ‘free’ schools capitalized into property prices. Attendance boundaries restrict the schooling opportunity set facing a student, who typically is unable to study at nearby high-performing schools if they live outside their boundary. We relate schooling opportunity sets to sales prices of over 8000 houses in Christchurch, controlling for dwelling attributes, neighborhood characteristics and geographic accessibility to a wide range of services. Our model explains over three-quarters of the variation in prices and we use this model to predict property prices if there were no attendance boundaries. Abolishing boundaries expands most schooling opportunity sets and predicted house prices generally rise. But prices would fall in some higher income neighborhoods with highly educated residents, who are likely to oppose reform of school attendance boundaries. |
| Keywords: | attendance boundaries; house prices; school quality |
| JEL: | C21 I20 R21 |
| Date: | 2014–07–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wai:econwp:14/08&r=ure |
| By: | Martijn I. Dr�es (VU University Amsterdam); Piet Rietveld† (University of Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | We examine the effect of railway travel on urban spatial structure in a polycentric urban land use model. We focus on the role of access to the railway network. We find that if the number of train stations is limited, the degree of urbanization is higher around train stations, but the effect of railway travel on road congestion is small. By contrast, if train stations are omnipresent there is little effect on urban spatial structure, but a considerable decrease in congestion. With regard to the supply of train stations, these findings suggest that there is an important policy trade-off between congestion and urbanization. |
| Keywords: | general equilibrium; public transport; land use model; railway; sorting |
| JEL: | C68 D58 R13 R14 R4 |
| Date: | 2014–04–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20140050&r=ure |
| By: | Amy Ellen Schwartz; Ioan Voicu; Keren Mertens Horn |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mab:wpaper:2014_03&r=ure |
| By: | Arribas-Bel, Daniel (University of Birmingham); Nijkamp, Peter (VU University Amsterdam); Poot, Jacques (University of Waikato) |
| Abstract: | Cultural diversity is a complex and multi-faceted concept. Commonly used quantitative measures of the spatial distribution of culturally-defined groups – such as segregation, isolation or concentration indexes – are often only capable of identifying just one aspect of this distribution. The strengths or weaknesses of any measure can only be comprehensively assessed empirically. This paper provides evidence on the empirical properties of various spatial measures of cultural diversity by using Monte Carlo replications of agent-based modeling (MC-ABM) simulations with synthetic data assigned to a realistic and detailed geographical context of the city of Amsterdam. Schelling's classical segregation model is used as the theoretical engine to generate patterns of spatial clustering. The data inputs include the initial population, the number and shares of various cultural groups, and their preferences with respect to co-location. Our MC-ABM data generating process produces output maps that enable us to assess the performance of various spatial measures of cultural diversity under a range of demographic compositions and preferences. We find that, as our simulated city becomes more diverse, stable residential location equilibria are only possible when people, particularly minorities, become more tolerant. We test whether observed measures can be interpreted as revealing unobserved preferences for co-location of individuals with their own group and find that the segregation and isolation measures of spatial diversity are shown to be non-decreasing in increasing preference for within-group co-location, but the Gini coefficient and concentration measures are not. |
| Keywords: | cultural diversity, spatial segregation, agent-based model, Monte Carlo simulation |
| JEL: | C63 J15 R23 Z13 |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8251&r=ure |
| By: | Grażyna Baldowska (Narodowy Bank Polski); Robert Leszczyński (Narodowy Bank Polski); Barbara Myszkowska (Narodowy Bank Polski) |
| Abstract: | The housing market (primary, secondary or rental) is very often analyzed as a whole, big market in a selected country. Our analysis focuses on the fundamental determinants of this market in 16 biggest cities in Poland, which are the capital cities of the 16 voivodeships. We also clustered the cities to show groups of cities which’s housing market behaves in a similar fashion. We confirm that the situation on housing market is driven by fundamental factors and the best way for a further econometric analysis is to divide the whole market into two groups of cities with a number of inhabitants below and over 400 thousand people. |
| Keywords: | housing market, house prices, primary and secondary market, rental market, fundamentals |
| JEL: | E21 R21 R31 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbp:nbpmis:174&r=ure |
| By: | Michael D. Eriksen (Texas Tech University, Rawls College of Business); Amanda Ross (West Virginia University, College of Business and Economics) |
| Abstract: | We estimate the effect of increasing the supply of housing vouchers on rents using a panel of housing units in the American Housing Survey. We do not find that an increase in vouchers affected the overall price of rental housing, but do estimate differences in effects based on an individual unit's rent before the voucher expansion. Our results are consistent with voucher recipients renting more expensive units after receiving the subsidy. We also find that the largest price increases were for units near the maximum allowable voucher rent in cities with an inelastic housing supply. |
| Keywords: | Housing Policy, In-Kind Transfers, Vouchers |
| JEL: | H23 H42 I38 R31 |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wvu:wpaper:14-15&r=ure |
| By: | Ruben van Loon (VU University Amsterdam); Tom Gosens (VU University Amsterdam); Jan Rouwendal (VU University Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | Many cities are trying to attract tourists by investing in urban amenities. Cultural heritage is an important example and substantial investments are needed to keep ancient inner cities and characteristic monumental buildings in good shape. The costs of these policies are usually clear, the benefits are often much more difficult to assess. This paper attempts to fill part of this gap by studying the destination choices of urban recreation trips that have urban recreation as the main travel motive. We estimate a discrete choice model for destination choice that takes into account the potential importance of unobserved characteristics. The model allows us to compute the marginal willingness to travel for destinations offering more cultural heritage, which we measure as the area of the inner city that has a protected status because of the cultural heritage that is present there. |
| Keywords: | Cultural heritage, recreation, city marketing |
| JEL: | C31 D12 R12 R22 L83 |
| Date: | 2014–04–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20140049&r=ure |
| By: | Pal, Sarmistha (University of Surrey); Saha, Bibhas (University of East Anglia) |
| Abstract: | We study school choice and school efficiency in terms of secondary school completion test scores by utilizing a unique database from Nepal. There are two novel features of our analysis: firstly we allow for heterogeneity among private schools, by distinguishing socially motivated trust-run schools from profit-motivated company-run schools, and secondly, we include school's expenditure as a determinant of its efficiency per unit of cost. We find that when expenditure is not included, the trust-run school comes on top, slightly but distinctly, ahead of the profit-motivated school. But if expenditure is included, the trust-run school's position becomes sensitive to the level of expenditure, as it is the only school to exhibit sensitivity between expenditure and test score. In the urban area, the public school is always at the bottom, and between the two types of the private school the trust-run school ranks first (second) at high (low) levels of expenditure. However, in the rural area it is a three way race, with the trust school coming on top again at high expenditure, but falling to bottom at low levels of expenditure. This picture is fairly robust to considerations of subject fixed effects and to inclusion or exclusion of private aided schools or private tuition. We show both theoretically and empirically that socially motivated schools can be efficient and outperform profit-motivated schools. |
| Keywords: | private school heterogeneity, school expenditure per student, efficiency, private school premium, social objectives, private motive, rural-urban dichotomy, Nepal |
| JEL: | H44 I22 |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8270&r=ure |
| By: | Bird, Julia; Straub, Stephane |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the impact of the rapid expansion of the Brazilian road network, which occurred from the 1960s to the 2000s, on the growth and spatial allocation of population and economic activity across the country's municipalities. It addresses the problem of endogeneity in infrastructure location by using an original empirical strategy, based on the"historical natural experiment"constituted by the creation of the new federal capital city Brasília in 1960. The results reveal a dual pattern, with improved transport connections increasing concentration of economic activity and population around the main centers in the South of the country, while spurring the emergence of secondary economic centers in the less developed North, in line with predictions in terms of agglomeration economies. Over the period, roads are shown to account for half of pcGDP growth and to spur a significant decrease in spatial inequality. |
| Keywords: | Transport Economics Policy&Planning,Economic Theory&Research,Population Policies,Corporate Law,Urban Slums Upgrading |
| Date: | 2014–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6964&r=ure |
| By: | Zhiling Wang; Thomas de Graaff; and Peter Nijkamp (VU University Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | This study analyses the impact of cultural composition on regional attractiveness from the perspective of migrant sorting behaviour. We use an attitudinal survey to quantify cultural distances between natives and immigrants in the area concerned, and estimate the migrants’ varying preferences for both cultural diversity and cultural distance. To account for regional unobserved heterogeneity, our econometric analysis employs artificial instrumental variables, as developed by Bayer et al. (2004). The main conclusions are twofold. On the one hand, cultural diversity increases regional attractiveness. On the other hand, average cultural distance greatly weakens regional attractiveness, even when the presence of network effect is controlled for. |
| Keywords: | migration, cultural diversity, cultural distance, destination choice, sorting |
| JEL: | R2 Z1 |
| Date: | 2014–06–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20140066&r=ure |
| By: | Ivo Krznar; James Morsink |
| Abstract: | The goal of this paper is to assess the effectiveness of the policy measures taken by Canadian authorities to address the housing boom. We find that the the last three rounds of macroprudential policies implemented since 2010 were associated with lower mortgage credit growth and house price growth. The international experience suggests that—in addition to tighter loan-to-value limits and shorter amortization periods—lower caps on the debt-to-income ratio and higher risk weights could be effective if the housing boom were to reignite. Over the medium term, the authorities could consider structural measures to further improve the soundness of housing finance. |
| Keywords: | Macroprudential Policy;Canada;Housing;Credit expansion;Housing prices;housing market, mortgage insurance, macroprudential regulation |
| Date: | 2014–05–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:14/83&r=ure |
| By: | Joshua C. Hall (West Virginia University, College of Business and Economics) |
| Abstract: | School district and municipal borders do not always align. Non-congruent borders can create a fiscal commons problem where new development does not entirely "pay its way." In response, frustrated citizens often respond by voting for lower school spending. Using GIS data on Ohio school districts, the degree of non-congruence between school district and municipal territory is calculated. The results indicate that school districts with non-congruent borders generate less revenue from local sources and that these effects seem to increase with the degree of non-congruence. The findings are robust between OLS and treatment effects regression. |
| Keywords: | congruency, public education, polycentrism |
| JEL: | I21 I28 R12 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wvu:wpaper:14-13&r=ure |
| By: | Jason Barr; Troy Tassier |
| Abstract: | Midtown Manhattan is the largest business district in the country. Yet only a few miles to the south is another district centered at Wall Street. This paper aims to understand when and why midtown emerged. We have created a new data set from historical New York City directories that provide the employment location, residence and job for several thousand residents in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. We supplement this with data from historical business directories. The data allow us to describe how, when and why midtown emerged as a center of commerce. We find that midtown arose because of economies of scale related to shopping, rather than congestion in lower Manhattan or wage differentials across the city. Specifically, the evidence suggests that firms moved to midtown to be near retail businesses and other commercial activity in order to be closer to customers, who had been moving north on the island throughout the 19th century. Once several industries moved from lower Manhattan it triggered a spatial equilibrium readjustment in the 1880s, which then promoted the rise of skyscrapers in midtown around the turn of the 20th century, several years before the opening of Grand Central Station in 1913. |
| Keywords: | Manhattan, spatial equilibrium, poly-centric urban development, urban spatial structure |
| JEL: | R14 R23 R33 N91 |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:run:wpaper:2014-002&r=ure |
| By: | Silvia Rita Sedita (University of Padova); Ivan De Noni (University of Milano); Luciano Pilotti (University of Milano) |
| Abstract: | This contribution attempts to systematize some first evidence on the sustainability and resilience of local production systems in the economic recession and first hypothetical phases of recovery, 2007 to 2011, focusing on the role played by diversified economy, related and unrelated variety and differentiated knowledge bases, as drivers for territorial competitiveness under unfavourable economic conditions. The results confirm the importance of related variety to growth and stability during recessions and support the creative capacity of culture, providing evidence that a moderate concentration in cultural/creative economic activities contributes to resilience and that industrial districts and international development play a positive role. |
| Keywords: | regional economic growth, industrial districts, sustainability, creative capacity of culture. |
| JEL: | R11 R12 O18 |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pad:wpaper:0180&r=ure |
| By: | Edmark, Karin; Frölich, Markus; Wondratschek, Verena |
| Abstract: | This study analyses whether the Swedish school choice reform, enacted in 1992, had different effects on students from different socio-economic backgrounds. We use detailed geographical data on students' and schools' locations to construct measures of the degree of potential choice. This allows us to study the effects of choice opportunities among public schools, whereas previous studies have focused on newly opened private schools. Our results suggest small positive or no effects of choice opportunities, depending on specification and outcome. We find no strong evidence of differences between subgroups; if anything, effects tend to be slightly more positive for disadvantaged groups, such as students from low-income families. Taken together, the results indicate that students from a socio-economically disadvantaged or immigrant background were not harmed by the reform. -- |
| Keywords: | school choice,school competition,treatment evaluation,cognitive and non-cognitive skills |
| JEL: | I24 C21 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:14041&r=ure |
| By: | Gael Price (Reserve Bank of New Zealand) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates a counterfactual scenario of what might have happened to housing market indicators since late 2013 if the LVR restriction had not been implemented. House prices and credit growth have been weaker than suggested by that counterfactual model. |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nzb:nzbans:2014/03&r=ure |
| By: | Marie Poprawe (KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich, Switzerland); Christian Krekel (DIW Berlin, Germany) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effect of local crime on well-being in Germany, using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and a novel data set constructed from official police crime statistics, covering both counties and urban districts for the time period between 1994 and 2012. We find that local area crime has a signicantly negative impact on life satisfaction, makes residents worry more frequently, and worry more about crime in Germany. In particular, a 1% increase in the crime frequency ratio results in a 0.043 standard deviation decrease in life satisfaction. This effect is driven almost exclusively by violent crimes, while property crimes and other crimes have no significant impact on well-being. |
| Keywords: | Crime, Well-Being, Germany |
| JEL: | I31 K42 R50 |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kof:wpskof:14-358&r=ure |
| By: | Adriana Nikolic (Department of Economics, Vienna University of Economics and Business); Christoph Weiss (Department of Economics, Vienna University of Economics and Business) |
| Abstract: | In the past few decades spatial econometric models have become a standard tool in empirical research. Nevertheless applications in binary-choice models remain scarce. This paper makes use of Bayesian Spatial Probit Models to model and estimate spatial interactions in location decisions. For this purpose, we focus on the Austrian retail gasoline market, which is going through a process of remarkable structural changes. A short analysis shows that, during the last decade 10.9% of the stations had left the market and a percentage of 29.6% had either left the market or had changed the brand. This paper aims at investigating this process. A special characteristic of this market is the local competition structure which is characterized by spatial dependencies along local competitors. To capture these spatial dependencies and since the dependent variable is binary in nature (an exit had taken place or not), we apply a Bayesian spatial probit model using MCMC estimation on station level data for the whole Austrian retail gasoline market. Our results suggest, that the decision to leave the market, does not only depend on own characteristics, but also on competitors. In particular, we find the exit decisions to exhibit a negative spatial correlation. Moreover, our model allows to quantify spatial spillover effects of this market. |
| Keywords: | Bayesian Spatial Probit Model, Exit, Gasoline retailing, Spatial competition |
| JEL: | L13 L81 C21 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwwuw:wuwp177&r=ure |
| By: | Calá, Carla Daniela; Manjón-Antolín, Miguel; Arauzo-Carod, Josep-Maria |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the regional determinants of exit in Argentina. We find evidence of a dynamic revolving door by which past entrants increase current exits, particularly in the peripheral regions. In the central regions, current and past incumbents cause an analogous displacement effect. Also, exit shows a U-shaped relationship with respect to the informal economy, although the positive effect is weaker in the central regions. These findings point to the existence of a core-periphery structure in the spatial distribution of exits. |
| Keywords: | Cese de Actividad; Empresas; Argentina; |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nmp:nuland:1976&r=ure |
| By: | Tripathi, Sabyasachi |
| Abstract: | Roughly 1.37 crore households, or 17.4% of urban Indian households lived in slums in 2011. India‟s current policies and programmes are not enough to improve slum conditions or stop proliferation of slums. This phenomenon poses serious questions to Indian economic researchers and policy makers. By considering India‟s 52 large urban agglomerations, this paper investigates the relevant city specific economic determinants of city slum incidence (measured by the ratio of city slum population to total city population). In addition, the paper also tries to identify the cities with the best record in trying to improve the living condition of slum dwellers in India. Besides using city level data, the study uses three rounds of National Sample Survey (NSS) unit level data on consumption expenditure, employment and unemployment, and particulars of slums. Using OLS regression analysis, the empirical results show that the level of urban agglomeration, per capita income, per capita consumption expenditure, level of poverty, employment and unemployment situation negatively impact on city slum incidence. The results of Borda ranking show that Aurangabad, Hyderabad, Jodhpur, Bangalore, and Hubli-Dharwad rank high among other cities in regard to availability of quality of public services and better general conditions in the slum. Finally, the paper suggests that the problem of slum should be analysed in a macro or overall perspective besides micro level as the stage of development of a country has a direct bearing on proliferation of slums. |
| Keywords: | Urban agglomerations, Urban economic Growth, Slums, India |
| JEL: | R1 R58 |
| Date: | 2014–07–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:57239&r=ure |
| By: | Jamie Bologna (West Virginia University, College of Business and Economics); Donald J. Lacombe (West Virginia University, Department of Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics); Andrew T. Young (West Virginia University, College of Business and Economics) |
| Abstract: | We use the Stansel (2013) metropolitan area economic freedom index and 25 conditioning variables to analyze the spatial relationships between institutional quality and economic outcomes across 381 U.S. metropolitan areas. Specifically, we allow for spatial dependence in both the dependent and independent variables and estimate how economic freedom impacts both per-capita income growth and per-capita income levels. We find that while economic freedom and income levels are directly and positively related, increases in economic freedom in one area result in negative indirect effects on income levels in surrounding areas. In addition, we find that economic freedom has an insignificant relationship with economic growth. |
| Keywords: | institutional quality, economic freedom, income levels, income growth, spatial dependence, spillovers |
| JEL: | O43 O12 |
| Date: | 2014–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wvu:wpaper:14-11&r=ure |
| By: | Donald J. Lacombe (West Virginia University, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Economics); Amanda Ross (West Virginia University, College of Business and Economics) |
| Abstract: | In a highly debated paper, Lott and Mustard (1997) found that allowing citizens to carry concealed handguns reduced crime. Since then, numerous researchers have questioned the validity of the findings. In addition, ongoing work has shown there is an important spatial component to crime. In this paper, we use spatial econometric techniques to estimate the impact of adoption of concealed weapons laws by some states on crime rates across the U.S. We find there are spillover effects of concealed weapons laws and that spatial dependence plays an important role when estimating the effect of these laws on crime. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wvu:wpaper:14-05&r=ure |
| By: | Cardamone, Paola |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to evaluate the effect of research and development (R&D) on productivity by taking into account productivity spillovers. To this end, by using a sample of Italian manufacturing firms provided by the Xth UniCredit-Capitalia survey (2008), which covers the period 2004-2006, we have analyzed the role of R&D in firm productivity by using a spatial autoregressive model. In so doing, we have allowed the total factor productivity (TFP) of each firm to be affected by the TFP of nearby firms. Results show that R&D play an important role in Italian firm productivity. Moreover, we find evidence in favor of productivity spillovers across firms due to spatial proximity. In addition, intrasectoral R&D spillovers seem to have a relevant effect on firm productivity, while intersectoral R&D spillovers do not have a significant effect. |
| Keywords: | R&D, TFP, spillovers, spatial econometrics, Italian manufacturing firms |
| JEL: | C21 D24 O33 |
| Date: | 2014–06–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:57149&r=ure |
| By: | Mendolia, Silvia (University of Wollongong); Walker, Ian (Lancaster University) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the relationship between personality traits in adolescence and performance in high school using a large and recent cohort study. In particular, we investigate the impact of locus of control, self-esteem and work ethics at age 15, on test scores at age 16, and on subject choices and subsequent performance at age 17-18. In particular, individuals with external locus of control or with low levels of self-esteem seem less likely to have good performance in test scores at age 16 and to pursue further studies at 17-18, especially in mathematics or sciences. We use matching methods to control for a rich set of adolescent and family characteristics and we find that personality traits do affect study choices and performance in test scores - particularly in mathematics and science. The results are stronger for adolescents from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds. We establish the robustness of our results using the methodology proposed by Altonji et al. (2005) that consists in making hypotheses as to the correlation between the unobservables that determine test scores and subjects' choices and, the unobservables that influence personality. |
| Keywords: | personality, education, locus of control, self-esteem |
| JEL: | I10 I21 |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8269&r=ure |
| By: | Tran, Vivian |
| Abstract: | According to the standard economic model of crime, which assumes that individuals are rational decisions makers who consider the opportunity cost of crime and take into account the possibility of getting caught and punished; the concern that immigration can cause increases in crime is warranted, considering the fact that there is much empirical evidence that suggest the labour market does not provide as many good opportunities to immigrants than to native born. Indeed, previous studies have found that not only do new immigrants in Canada earn less than native-born workers, but this entry-earning disadvantage has been increasing since the 1990s.1 A study by CLSRN affiliate Haimin Zhang (University of British Columbia) entitled “Immigration and Crime: Evidence from Canada†(CLSRN Working Paper no. 135) analyses the relationship between immigration and crime, and establishes causal evidence that increasing immigrant population in Canada is associated with decreasing in crime rates. Since Canada has a point system that targets skilled immigrants to reduce the labor shortages in specific markets, it could be expected that a selective immigration policy of this nature, may bring more “complementary†new immigrant workers into Canada rather than a stream of “substitute†foreign labor that competes with native-born workers for the existing jobs; however, if a “substitution†situation is the reality immigration can lead to out-migration of the non-immigrant population from a community in the short run. A study by CLSRN affiliate Yigit Aydede (Saint Mary’s University) entitled “Immigration and Location Choices of Native-Born Workers in Canada†(CLSRN Working Paper no. 130) investigates how location choices of native-born workers can be influenced by the conditions in both the potential destinations and the departure regions as well as develop a better understanding about a possible crowding-out effect of immigration in local labor markets in Canada. Unlike other studies, the study develops industry/occupation specific immigration clustering index for local labour markets and finds that increasing immigration concentration in the mover’s industry reduces a destination’s desirability against alternative locations, and that younger workers are more likely than older workers to move when faced with immigration substitution intensity in their industries and locations. |
| Keywords: | Immigration, Crime, Immigration, Migration, Crowding Out, Displacement, Mobility |
| JEL: | F22 J15 K42 J61 J15 R23 |
| Date: | 2014–06–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ubc:clssrn:clsrn_admin-2014-31&r=ure |
| By: | International Monetary Fund. Monetary and Capital Markets Department |
| Keywords: | Financial Sector Assessment Program;Housing;Housing prices;Malaysia; |
| Date: | 2014–04–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfscr:14/99&r=ure |
| By: | Miroslaw Biczkowski (Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruñ, Poland); Iwona Muller-Fraczek (Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruñ, Poland); Joanna Muszynska (Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruñ, Poland); Michal Bernard Pietrzak (Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruñ, Poland); Justyna Wilk (Wroclaw University of Economics, Poland) |
| Abstract: | The objective of the article was to re-define the bipolar metropolitan area within the Kujawsko-Pomorskie region (NUTS 2). Concentration of metropolitan features, as well as socio-economic situations of its communes (NUTS 5) in 2011, and also their development in the period 2009-2011 were examined. Bydgoszcz and Toruñ, the economically strongest cities in the region, were established as the dual core of the metropolitan area. The determined metropolitan area will cover the most developed communes which meet the following criteria: neighbourhood, continuity, compactness, maximum distance and population. The development levels of communes were determined using taxonomic development measure. Its values were calculated considering the economic and also social aspects of regional development, as well as features typical of metropolitan areas, such as: well-developed sectors of R&D, knowledge-based economy and serving superior services. The metropolitan area resulted from the research slightly differs from the Bydgoszcz–Torun Metropolitan Area (appointed in 2005) and composed all of the communes located within the Bydgoski and Toruñski districts (NUTS 4). Che³m¿a and Koronowo, the less developed communes of the districts, were excluded from the new metropolitan area, while the neighbouring communes of Ciechocinek, Nak³o and Unis³aw were included due to their significant level of regional development. The Inowroc³aw district is a prospective candidate to join the metropolitan area. |
| Keywords: | delimitation, metropolitan area, synthetic measure of development |
| JEL: | C38 O1 R11 |
| Date: | 2014–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pes:wpaper:2014:no3&r=ure |
| By: | Burhop, Carsten; Lehmann-Hasemeyer, Sibylle H. |
| Abstract: | 23 Stock Exchanges were in operation in Germany in 1913. We provide new data about the number of listed firms, their market value, and the number of IPOs between 1897 and 1913 for all exchanges. We assess reasons why a firm opts to be listed at a certain exchange. Large firms tend to be listed and tend to go public at the Berlin Stock Exchange, while the regional stock exchanges were important hosts for small and medium-sized firms. Borders and distance affect listing decisions, suggesting that a patriotic home bias and asymmetric information between issuer and investors affected listing decisions. -- |
| Keywords: | Financial development,Regional stock exchanges,IPOs,Germany,Economic history |
| JEL: | N23 G23 R12 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fziddp:892014&r=ure |
| By: | José Aguilar-Retureta (Universitat de Barcelona,Barcelona,Spain) |
| Abstract: | So far, apart from Appendini (1972) for 1900, there were no Mexican regional GDP estimates for the period before 1930. The aim of this paper is to fill this gap by presenting new Mexican regional GDP pc estimates for several benchmark years between 1895 and 1930. The paper presents the methodology and sources used to estimate the new series, compares them with the previous estimates, and offers a first long-term picture of Mexican regional pc GDPs (1895-2010). |
| Keywords: | Palabras clave: Mexican Regional GDP, Regional Inequalities, Economic History Growth. |
| JEL: | N16 N96 R11 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ahe:dtaehe:1415&r=ure |
| By: | Kaitlyn Harger (West Virginia University, College of Business and Economics); Amanda Ross (West Virginia University, College of Business and Economics) |
| Abstract: | All levels of government pursue policies to attract new businesses with the hope that these enterprises will create local economic growth. In this paper, we use the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) to determine the effect of a capital tax credit on where firms in different types of industries locate. When estimating the impact of the NMTC on business location, there are likely to be unobservable local characteristics that are correlated with where businesses choose to open that would cause OLS estimates to be biased. To control for the endogenous selection, we use a plausibly exogenous eligibility cutoff and compare census tracts that are just eligible for the tax credit to those that are just ineligible. Using data from the Dun and Bradstreet MarketPlace Files, we find that in Metropolitan Statistical Areas, the NMTC incentivized new businesses to locate in tracts that were eligible for the tax credit in 2002 and 2004. However, we find that in 2006 the tax credit deterred new establishments. When we stratify the 2006 sample by industry, we find that this capital tax credit attracted more capital intensive industries, such as manufacturing, while deterring more labor intensive industries, such as services. Our results are important to policy makers, as we find that the type of tax credit offered causes a sorting of different industries across locations. |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wvu:wpaper:14-14&r=ure |
| By: | Jan Rouwendal (VU University Amsterdam); Ramona van Marwijk (Kadaster); Or Levkovich (VU University Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | Proximity to water is appreciated by households. Hedonic analyses that try to measure the value of this amenity are potentially biased by omitted variables as locations close to the water may be selected by households with higher incomes who construct more luxury houses. Since it is difficult to observe all relevant characteristics, the coefficient for proximity to water may be biased upwards. We circumvent this problem by exploiting a specific characteristic of the Dutch system of planned residential development: often a number of identical houses are constructed close to each other. By comparing the values of such identical houses, we can measure the effect of proximity to water under almost ideal circumstances. The results show a significant impact of this amenity, but of a smaller magnitude than was suggested by many earlier studies, thereby confirming the conjectured presence of omitted variable bias. |
| Keywords: | hedonic analysis, local amenities, ommited variable bias |
| JEL: | D12 D61 R21 |
| Date: | 2014–04–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20140047&r=ure |
| By: | Mai Dao; Davide Furceri; Prakash Loungani |
| Abstract: | We examine patterns of regional adjustments to shocks in the US during the past 40 years. Using state-level data, we estimate the dynamic response of regional employment, unemployment, participation rates and net migration to state-relative labor demand shocks. We find that (i) the long-run effect of a state-specific shock on the state employment level has decreased over time, suggesting less overall net migration in response to a regional shock, (ii) the role of the participation rate as absorber of regional shocks has increased, (iii) the response of net migration to regional shocks is stronger, while that of relative unemployment is weaker during aggregate downturns, and (iv) the change in the response intensity of migration is related to the declining trend in regional dispersion of labor market conditions. Finally, using regional data for a set of 21 European countries, we show that while the short-term response of participation rates to labor demand shocks is typically larger in Europe than in the US, the immediate response of net migration in Europe has increased over time. |
| Keywords: | Labor markets;United States;Europe;Regional shocks;Labor mobility;Demand;Labor supply;Migration;Interstate migration, labor mobility, regional labor markets |
| Date: | 2014–02–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:14/26&r=ure |
| By: | Shawn M. Rohlin (Kent State University, Department of Economics); Amanda Ross (West Virginia University, College of Business and Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how differences in state bankruptcy laws, specifically the amount of the homestead exemption, affect business location decisions within a few miles of the state boundary. By focusing on these border areas, we are able to more effectively control for unobserved local attributes and isolate the effect of more wealth protection. We find that an increase in the homestead exemption attracts new businesses. We also find that a more generous homestead exemption has a positive impact on existing businesses, suggesting that asset protection through bankruptcy law encourages successful entrepreneurs to incur the risks. Our results indicate that the wealth protection provided by personal bankruptcy law is an important policy tool that state governments can use to attract new, successful businesses owners. |
| Keywords: | bankruptcy law, entrepreneurship, border methodology |
| JEL: | K30 K36 R11 R14 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wvu:wpaper:14-12&r=ure |
| By: | Groizard, José Luis; Marques, Helena; Gallego Santana, Maria |
| Abstract: | There is a well-established literature on border effects covering trade between regions separated by a land border; however that literature has not so far considered the case of regions separated by a sea border. Whilst the former is typically studied as a political border that affects adjacent regions belonging to different countries and can be reduced by free trade agreements, the latter is a geographical border that affects regions within the same country and cannot be reduced in a similar way. Both types of borders produce similar effects upon trade, calling for a modification of the trade cost function to reflect the fixed cost caused by the need to pay fees and taxes, as well as the time-loss inefficiency, related to the existence of the border. However, in the case of the sea border that fixed cost is due to the use of two modes of transport (road and sea typically). The empirical strategy used to estimate the island effect proceeds in two steps. First an augmented gravity model is estimated for mainland and island regions; then a Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition is applied to the gravity estimation results in order to disentangle the distance and border effects for those regions, net of all other factors controlled for in the gravity estimations. Results show that island regions are at a substantial disadvantage compared to continental regions, which is due more to the lack of adjacency imposed by the sea border rather than to the higher average distance. -- |
| Keywords: | gravity equation,border effects,panel data,Spain,regional trade |
| JEL: | F15 C23 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwedp:201427&r=ure |
| By: | Matthias Siller; Christoph Hauser; Janette Walde; Gottfried Tappeiner |
| Abstract: | Measuring innovation activities involves critical decisions in selecting appropriate indicators and levels of observation. The present article contributes to the literature on this subject by addressing innovation measurement on the regional level. The dimensionality of regional innovation is examined by applying a principal component analysis on seven innovation output indicators in European regions from the Community Innovation Survey and two traditional indicators, i.e. patent applications and R&D expenses. The analysis reveals that regional innovation indeed needs to be regarded as a multidimensional concept involving technological, commercial and service innovation. These distinct innovation activities exhibit clear regional patterns with both technological and service innovation concentrated in highly developed territories and urban areas displaying particularly strong innovation performance in services. In addition, commercially successful innovation appears clustered in backward regions and may thus be seen as imitation efforts and technology transfers from areas at the innovation frontier. Overall, the elaborated findings suggest that the selection of innovation indicators in empirical analyses demands appropriate motivation and theoretical guidance. |
| Keywords: | regional innovation, innovation dimensions, Principal Component Analysis, patent applications, Community Innovation Survey |
| JEL: | R11 O31 O33 |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:inn:wpaper:2014-19&r=ure |
| By: | Claude Mathys (National Bank of Belgium, Microeconomic Information Department) |
| Abstract: | This paper is an annual publication issued by the Microeconomic Analysis service of the National Bank of Belgium. The Flemish maritime ports (Antwerp, Ghent, Ostend, Zeebrugge), the Autonomous Port of Liège and the port of Brussels play a major role in their respective regional economies and in the Belgian economy, not only in terms of industrial activity but also as intermodal centers facilitating the commodity flow. This update paper provides an extensive overview of the economic importance and development of the Flemish maritime ports, the Liège port complex and the port of Brussels for the period 2007 - 2012, with an emphasis on 2012. Focusing on the three major variables of value added, employment and investment, the report also provides some information based on the social balance sheet and an overview of the financial situation in these ports as a whole. These observations are linked to a more general context, along with a few cargo statistics. Annual accounts data from the Central Balance Sheet Office were used for the calculation of direct effects, the study of financial ratios and the analysis of the social balance sheet. The indirect effects of the activities concerned were estimated in terms of value added and employment, on the basis of data from the National Accounts Institute. As a result of the underlying calculation method the changes of indirect employment and indirect value added can differ from one another. (...) Following the 2009 decline and the improvement in 2011, maritime traffic in the Flemish ports began falling again in 2012. That applies to all the Flemish ports. Value added was rising in the maritime cluster of the Flemish ports and falling in the non-maritime cluster where trade and industry were in decline. Direct value added has risen in the ports of Antwerp and Ostend whereas it has fallen in the ports of Zeebrugge and Ghent. Conversely, direct employment was expanding in both clusters in the Flemish ports viewed as a whole and in each port taken individually. The decline in investment in the Flemish ports continued in 2012. That trend is evident in all the Flemish ports except the port of Ostend where investment was maintained in 2012. The volume of cargo handled in the port of Liège decreased in 2012. Direct value added and employment contracted in both clusters. The steel giant ArcelorMittal had idled two blast furnaces at the site in Liege. Investment increased in both clusters in the Liège port complex. The volume of cargo handled at the port of Brussels declined in 2012. Value added and employment in the maritime cluster fell but rose in the non-maritime cluster. The drop in investment recorded since 2009 continued throughout 2012, albeit at a slowing pace. This report provides a comprehensive account of these issues, giving details for each economic sector, although the comments are confined to the main changes that occurred in 2012. |
| Keywords: | branch survey, maritime cluster, subcontracting, indirect effects, transport, intermodality, public investments |
| JEL: | C67 H57 J21 L22 L91 L92 R15 R34 R41 |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbb:docwpp:201406-260&r=ure |
| By: | Roel van Veldhuizen (WZB Berlin Social Science Center); Hessel Oosterbeek (Universiteit van Amsterdam); Joep Sonnemans (Universiteit van Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | In an influential study, Mas and Moretti (2009) find that “worker effort is positively related to the productivity of workers who see him, but not workers who do not see him”. They interpret this as evidence that social pressure can reduce free riding. In this paper we report an attempt to reproduce the findings of Mas and Moretti in a lab experiment. Lab experiments have the advantage that they can shut down alternative channels through which workers can influence the productivity of colleagues whom they observe. Although the subjects in our experiment are aware of the productivity of others and although there is sufficient scope for subjects to vary their productivity, we find no evidence of the type of peer effects reported by Mas and Moretti. This suggests that their findings are less generalizable than has been assumed. |
| Keywords: | peer effects, experiment, laboratory experiment |
| JEL: | C91 J24 |
| Date: | 2014–04–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20140051&r=ure |