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on Urban and Real Estate Economics |
| By: | Guiying Laura WU (Division of Economics, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological Univer- sity. Address: 14 Nanyang Drive, Singapore, 637332.); Qu FENG (Division of Economics, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological Univer- sity. Address: 14 Nanyang Drive, Singapore, 637332.); Pei LI (Institute of Real Estate Studies, National University of Singapore.) |
| Abstract: | Budget deficit has been a common fiscal pressure facing Chinese cities since the 1994 fiscal reform. Meanwhile, land lease sales have become a signi?cant o¤-budgetary revenue to local governments since 2003. This paper investigates whether ?nancing budget deficit is an important driving force of the recent soaring housing prices when local governments function as the monopoly supplier of urban land. A conceptual framework is developed to illustrate a transmission mechanism from budget deficit to housing prices. This leads to an empirical model consisting of two simultaneous structural equations for housing prices and land prices. Using data for the 35 major Chinese cities from 2003 to 2011, an empirical exercise shows although budget deficit has a positive effect on land prices, it is the factors from demand side, such as amenities, income and the user cost of housing capital, that have been pulling up the housing prices. |
| Keywords: | Housing Prices, Land Prices, Public Finance, Chinese Economy |
| JEL: | R21 R31 H27 G10 |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nan:wpaper:1409&r=ure |
| By: | Stephen Billings (University of North Carolina at Charlotte); Eric Brunner; Stephen Ross; |
| Abstract: | We examine the housing market, residential mobility, and academic performance changes that occur soon after a school fails to achieve Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) (for the second time) in the Charlotte, NC school district. Charlotte is a school district with substantial opportunities for school choice and a number of oversubscribed, high quality schools. To comply with the 2002 No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, students within the attendance zone of Title 1 schools that fail to meet AYP are given an advantage in the lotteries for oversubscribed schools. That advantage may create an incentive for households with strong preferences for school choice and/or school quality to move into the attendance zones of failing schools in order to improve their likelihood of being admitted into high performing, oversubscribed schools. Consistent with that notion, we find that housing prices and the incomes of new home-buyers rise in the highest quality neighborhoods within attendance zones of failing schools in comparison to trends in nearby neighborhoods just outside of the attendance zone. We also find that residential mobility decreases while the probability of attending a non-assigned traditional school or magnet school increases in these high quality neighborhoods. Further analysis reveals that the effect of failing designation on non-assigned school attendance is driven largely by the school choice decisions of new residents who are most likely to exploit the school choice advantages offered by a second failure to achieve AYP. |
| Keywords: | No Child Left Behind, Annual Yearly Progress, School Choice, Residential Location Choice, Mobility, Lottery |
| JEL: | I24 I28 R21 |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hka:wpaper:2014-017&r=ure |
| By: | Marius Brülhart; Sam Bucovetsky; Kurt Schmidheiny |
| Abstract: | Most cities enjoy some autonomy over how they tax their residents, and that autonomy is typically exercised by multiple municipal governments within a given city. In this chapter, we document patterns of city-level taxation across countries, and we review the literature on a number of salient features affecting local tax setting in an urban context. Urban local governments on average raise some ten percent of total tax revenue in OECD countries and around half that share in non-OECD countries. We show that most cities are highly fragmented: urban areas with more than 500,000 inhabitants are divided into 74 local jurisdictions on average. The vast majority of these cities are characterized by a central municipality that strongly dominates the remaining jurisdictions in terms of population. These empirical regularities imply that an analysis of urban taxation needs to take account of three particular features: interdependence among tax-setting authorities (horizontally and vertically), jurisdictional size asymmetries, and the potential for agglomeration economies. We survey the relevant theoretical and empirical literatures, focusing in particular on models of asymmetric tax competition, of taxation and income sorting and of taxation in the presence of agglomeration rents. |
| Keywords: | cities; taxes; tax competition; fiscal federalism; agglomeration; sorting |
| JEL: | H71 H73 R28 R51 |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lau:crdeep:14.04&r=ure |
| By: | Anthony M. Yezer (Department of Economics/Institute for International Economic Policy, George Washington University); William Larson (Bureau of Economic Analysis) |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a new urban simulation model with endogenous population, housing supply and demand, and highway use and congestion. These features allow the model to simulate cities of different sizes with a single parameterization and hence to study the partial effect of city size differences on economic activity. The model is applied to the important problem of the energy implications of city size and density. Energy consumption in housing and commuting is calculated based on the structure type and size of housing units, consumption of a numeraire good, and commuting distances and velocities on congested roadways. The surprising conclusion is that per capita energy consumption does not vary as city size increases. Households in larger cities consume less housing, commute longer (and slower), and consume more of the numeraire good. The energy use implications of these eff ects are offsetting for a laissez-faire city. However, common land use policies, speciï¬cally density limits and greenbelts, can positively or negatively affect both city welfare and the elasticity of energy use with respect to city size. |
| Keywords: | urban simulation, congestion, commuting, gasoline, greenbelt |
| JEL: | Q40 R14 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gwi:wpaper:2014-16&r=ure |
| By: | Christian A. L. Hilber; Jan Rouwendal; Wouter Vermeulen |
| Abstract: | We present a modified open monocentric city model that assumes that land is available for conversion into new housing throughout the city. The model predicts that positive local income shocks (i) increase the city's share of multi-family housing in new construction and (ii) lead to the construction of smaller units. We exploit the metro area samples of the American Housing Survey from 1984 to 2004 and find support for both predictions. We confirm that the adjustment process is driven by migration and is hindered by strict local land use control. Our findings imply that tight regulation may hamper metro area level labor market adjustment to positive economic shocks not only through limits on the quantity of newly supplied units but also by constraining their type to single-family houses and larger units that may be less suitable for would-be-migrants. |
| Keywords: | Local economic conditions, open monocentric city model, land conversion, housing supply, housing type, housing consumption, land use regulation, migration |
| JEL: | R11 R21 R31 R52 |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:sercdp:0164&r=ure |
| By: | Joseph DeSalvo (Department of Economics, University of South Florida); Qing Su (Department of Marketing, Economics and Sports Business, Northern Kentucky University) |
| Abstract: | This paper employs panel-data estimation approaches to test hypotheses of the monocentric urban model. We apply both within- and between- groups estimation approaches to urbanized area data for the 1990-2010 period. From a fixed-effects (within-groups) model, we find that a 1-percent increase in population or a 1-percent decrease in travel costs expands the urbanized area by 1.05 percent or 0.52 percent, respectively. The impact of household income on urban spatial size is negative, contrary to the theoretical prediction. Similar findings of the impact of population and travel costs are obtained from the between-groups estimation. While the impact of household income is negative in the fixed effect-model, its impact is ambiguous in the between-groups estimation. The between-groups estimation also indicates that geographic and political factors help explain spatial size differences across urbanized areas. Spatial size is larger with a higher percentage of the urban fringe overlying aquifers, a higher percentage of local revenues from intergovernmental transfers, a lower elevation range in the urban fringe, and a lower number of restaurants and bars per 1000 people. |
| Keywords: | urban sprawl, panel data, within-groups estimation, between-groups estimation |
| Date: | 2013–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usf:wpaper:1613&r=ure |
| By: | Juan D. Soto (Department of Economics, Universidad Católica del Norte); Dusan Paredes (Regional Economics Application Laboratory, University of Illinois) |
| Abstract: | We present evidence regarding the unequal spatial distribution of population in the north and south of Chile which implies that even when geographical distances to the main urban center are similar, the distances in a context of urban hierarchy are completely di?erent. Given this economic geography, we postulate that Central Place Theory provides a better understanding for the study of city size wage gap in Chile. In order to test our hypothesis, we construct ?ve tiers of urban hierarchy using the 2002 National Census and then contrast the e?ect generated by the urban hierarchy on worker wages using nine waves of the National Socioeconomic Characterization Survey (CASEN). |
| Keywords: | Labor productivity, amenities, urban hierarchy. |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cat:dtecon:dt201406&r=ure |
| By: | Aaron Hedlund (Department of Economics, University of Missouri-Columbia) |
| Abstract: | This paper quantitatively accounts for the cyclical dynamics of key macroeconomic housing and mortgage market variables using a tractable, search-theoretic model of housing with equilibrium mortgage default. To explain these dynamics, the model highlights the importance of liquidity spirals which arise from the interaction of search frictions and en- dogenous credit constraints. During housing busts, longer selling times spill over into higher foreclosure risk, thereby magnifying the response of credit constraints to the depressed housing market. This contraction in credit then deepens the downturn. During booms, the reverse occurs. Based on these insights, I consider a foreclosure reform that makes all mortgages full recourse, and I show that implementing such a reform would reduce foreclosures and dampen housing dynamics. and output. In a parametrized model, I establish that the optimal estate tax rate is significantly above zero. |
| Keywords: | housing, liquidity, search theory, credit constraints, household debt, foreclosure |
| JEL: | D31 D83 E21 E22 G11 G12 G21 R21 R31 |
| Date: | 2014–08–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:umc:wpaper:1416&r=ure |
| By: | Joseph DeSalvo (Department of Economics, University of South Florida); Qing Su (Department of Marketing, Economics and Sports Business, Northern Kentucky University) |
| Abstract: | Burchfield, et al., “Causes of Sprawl: A Portrait from Space,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, CXXI (2006), 587–633, show that variables chosen from the monocentric model and its generalizations as well as those capturing geographical and political characteristics of urban areas are important in explaining urban sprawl, as measured by an index of the amount of undeveloped land around an average dwelling. Although Burchfield, et al., draw on the urban monocentric model and its extensions, they do not, with one exception, employ the exogenous variables of that model. On the other hand, with one recent exception, urban economists do not use geographical and political characteristics to explain sprawl, defined as the spatial size of the urban area. We were interested, therefore, in seeing if combining these two sets of variables better explains these two measures of sprawl. The main findings of this paper are (1) the standard monocentric model variables fail to contribute to an explanation of the sprawl index, (2) these variables are, however, very important in explaining the spatial size of urban areas, and (3) the Burchfield, et al., variables contribute to an explanation of the spatial size of urban areas. We conclude with a summary and some comments on the role of theory in providing empirically testable hypotheses. We call for efforts to develop a theory comparable to the monocentric model to explain the Burchfield, et al. (2006), measure of sprawl. |
| JEL: | R12 R13 R14 |
| Date: | 2013–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usf:wpaper:1713&r=ure |
| By: | Erich Battistin (Queen Mary University, IRVAPP and IZA); Michele De Nadai (University of Padua); Daniela Vuri (University of Rome Tor Vergata, IZA, CESifo and CEIS) |
| Abstract: | We derive bounds for the average of math and language scores of elementary school students in Italy correcting for pervasive score manipulation. Information on the fraction of manipulated data is retrieved from a natural experiment that randomly assigns external monitors to schools. We show how bounds can be tightened imposing restrictions on the measurement properties of the manipulation indicator developed by the government agency charged with test administration and data collection. We additionally assume that manipulation is more likely in those classes at the lower end of the distribution of true scores. Our results show that regional rankings by academic performance are reversed once manipulation is properly taken into account. |
| Keywords: | Corrupt sampling; Measurement error; Nonparametric bounds; Partial identification. |
| JEL: | C14 C31 C81 I21 J24 |
| Date: | 2014–09–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rtv:ceisrp:329&r=ure |
| By: | Ricardo Estrada (PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - CNRS : UMR8545 - École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC) - École normale supérieure [ENS] - Paris - Institut national de la recherche agronomique (INRA), EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris); Jérémie Gignoux (PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - CNRS : UMR8545 - École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC) - École normale supérieure [ENS] - Paris - Institut national de la recherche agronomique (INRA), EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris) |
| Abstract: | We study the effects of admission into elite public high schools in Mexico City on students' expected earnings, arguing these effects provide an indication of the value-added those schools produce. Using data for the centralized and exam-based allocation of students into schools and an adapted regression discontinuity design strategy, we find that admission substantially increases learning achievement, and also the future earnings and returns students expect from a college education, but no effect on the earnings expected with high school education alone. This suggests that students believe that the benefits from their elite education are complements to a college education. |
| Keywords: | Elite high schools ; Earnings expectations ; Returns to education ; Beliefs formation |
| Date: | 2014–02–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-00951763&r=ure |
| By: | Fernanda Estevan |
| Abstract: | In this paper, I investigate whether increases in public education expenditures lead to reductions in private school enrollment. In order to deal with the endogeneity of public expenditures, I use as a natural experiment the 1998 FUNDEF reform in Brazil that caused exogenous variations in local public school funding. Using data from Brazilian School and Population Censuses, I show that public education expenditures increases are associated with reductions in the share of private school enrollment for Grade 1. However, the effect is smaller for Grades 2 to 4, which is consistent with the existence of costs associated with switching schools. |
| Keywords: | private education; public education; public expenditures; school choice; crowding out. |
| JEL: | H42 H52 I22 |
| Date: | 2014–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spa:wpaper:2014wpecon14&r=ure |
| By: | Efthymios Pavlidis; Alisa Yusupova; Ivan Paya; David Peel; Enrique Martinez-Garcia; Adrienne Mack; Valerie Crossman |
| Abstract: | After a prolonged period characterized by rapid real appreciation in house prices, there is now broad recognition of the severe correction in housing markets that followed as one of the causes of the 2008-09 global recession. We investigate the time series characteristics of three relevant price indicators of the housing market --real house prices, price-to-income, and price-to-rent ratios-- for the U.S. and 21 other countries during the period 1975Q1-2013Q2 (see Mack and MartÃnez-GarcÃa (2011)) for evidence of explosive behavior as a plausible explanation for the boom and bust. The empirical detection of explosive behavior in house prices provides a precise timeline as well as empirical content to the narrative connecting the evolution of housing markets to the global recession; our rich cross-country dataset offers a novel international perspective. For testing and detection, we adopt a pair of novel techniques based on a right-tail variation of the standard Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test --the supremum ADF (SADF) (Phillips et al. (2011)) and the generalized SADF (GSADF) (Phillips et al. (2012) and Phillips et al. (2013))-- where the alternative hypothesis is of a mildly explosive process (even periodically collapsing with the GSADF test) behavior within sample. Statistically significant periods of exuberance are found in most countries, with our empirical estimates suggesting an unprecedented synchronization across countries preceding the global recession. The boom in housing begins during the late 90s in the U.S. spreading to most countries by the early 2000s, until it bursts for most during 2007-08 as the impact on economic activity was being felt. In this regard, our findings corroborate the narrative of the 2008-09 global recession. In this paper, we also discuss more generally the use of these procedures to monitor international housing markets and as a warning signal. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lan:wpaper:64908732&r=ure |
| By: | Camaioni, Beatrice; Esposti, Roberto; Pagliacci, Francesco; Sotte, Franco |
| Abstract: | The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is the most important EU Policy in terms of total expenditure. Nevertheless, its impact on EU-27 regions is rather uneven: actually, some regions have historically received a larger support than others. Territorial imbalances, however, represent only part of the story. The CAP comprises a wide range of agricultural and rural measures, from agricultural market interventions to agro-environmental payments and rural development measures. Due to their underlying objectives, expenditures from different CAP Pillars are allocated according to different territorial patterns at local level. In this paper, CAP real expenditures for years 2007-2011 are analysed at EU-27 NUTS 3 level, by considering expenditure intensity per hectare of utilised agricultural area (UAA). Several CAP expenditure typologies (Direct Payments, Market Intervention Measures and RDP’s Axes, i.e., Axis 1, Axis 2 and Axis 3) are considered. Their spatial allocation highlights different territorial patterns and suggests the existence of well defined spatial clusters. They seem to be determined by the nature of CAP itself. Indeed, despite being a single EU policy, the heterogeneous nature of its measures and their spatial allocation make the CAP a combination of several territorial policies. |
| Keywords: | CAP, rural development, regional patterns, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, O18, Q01, R58, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aiea14:173088&r=ure |
| By: | Leonardo Fabio Morales; Lina Cardona-Sosa |
| Abstract: | Using data from Medellín, second largest city in Colombia, we asses in this paper how a set of neighborhood characteristics determines wages and labor supply for workers in the city. We use GIS data to construct measures of the quality of environments where workers live. This paper focuses in the impact in labor supply and wages of the following set of characteristics: availability of public transportation, crime levels and density of economic activity. The empirical methodology consist of the estimation of linear equations for wages and worked hours, and we control for the selection of individuals into the neighborhoods they are observed. In order to do this we estimate in a first stage a probabilistic model of neighborhood selection from which selection correction terms are obtained; these correction terms and included in the linear equations for wage and worked hours in a second stage. In addition, we control for sample selection as well. We find that the endogeneity of the location decision tends to overestimate the magnitude of the effect of neighborhood characteristics on labor market outcomes. Nevertheless, the effect of some characteristics is still significant and important after we control for the possibility of selection into neighborhoods. Classification JEL: J01, J22, O18, R21. |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdr:borrec:844&r=ure |
| By: | Florent Buisson (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Paris I - Panthéon-Sorbonne) |
| Abstract: | In an often quoted article, Genesove and Mayer (2001) observe that house sellers are reluctant to sell at a loss, and attribute this finding to loss aversion. I show that loss aversion cannot explain this phenomenon. |
| Keywords: | Loss aversion; prospect theory; housing market |
| Date: | 2013–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00786294&r=ure |
| By: | Charlotte Senftleben-Koenig; Hanna Wielandt; ; |
| Abstract: | During the last decades, wage inequality in Germany has considerably increased both within and across regions. Building on concepts of the task-based approach, this paper studies whether and to what extent these developments are driven by technological change. We present novel evidence that technological change is positively related to intra-regional wage inequality. This is driven by increases in the compensation for non-routine cognitive tasks that are prevalent at upper percentiles of the wage distribution combined with decreases in the compensation for non-routine manual tasks, which are located at lower percentiles. Because there exists substantial variation in the degree of technology exposure across German regions, technological change can also explain part of the rise in inter-regional wage inequality. |
| Keywords: | Spatial Changes, Wage Inequality, Job Tasks, Technological Change |
| JEL: | J31 O33 R23 |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2014-038&r=ure |
| By: | Viktoras Sirvydis |
| Keywords: | Finance and Financial Sector Development - Access to Finance Environmental Economics and Policies Urban Development - Urban Housing Banks and Banking Reform Energy - Energy Production and Transportation Environment |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:20046&r=ure |
| By: | Fairlie, Robert |
| Abstract: | Approximately 9 out of 10 high school students who have access to a home computer use that computer to complete school assignments. Do these home computers, however, improve educational outcomes? Using the Computer and Internet Use Supplement to the 2001 Current Population Survey, I explore whether access to home computers increases the likelihood of school enrollment among teenagers who have not graduated from high school. A comparison of school enrollment rates reveals that 95.2 percent of children who have home computers are enrolled in school, whereas only 85.4 percent of children who do not have home computers are enrolled in school. Controlling for family income, parental education, parental occupation and other observable characteristics in probit regressions for the probability of school enrollment, I find a difference of 1.4 percentage points. Although the evidence is mixed on whether the errors are correlated, I also estimate bivariate probit models for the joint probability of school enrollment and owning a home computer and find larger effects (7.7 percentage points). Use of computers and the Internet by the child's mother and father are used as exclusion restrictions. The estimates are not sensitive to alternative combinations of exclusion restrictions and alternative samples. |
| Keywords: | Education, Social and Behavioral Sciences, computers, technology, education, ICT |
| Date: | 2014–09–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:ucscec:qt82w8v1m8&r=ure |
| By: | Gianfranco Piras (Regional Research Institute, West Virginia University); Ingmar R. Prucha (Department of Economics, University of Maryland) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the properties of pre-tst strategies in estimating a linear Cliff-Ord -type spatial model when the researcher is unsure about the nature of the spatial dependence. More specifically, the paper explores the finite sample properties of the pre-test estimators introduced in Florax et al. (2003), which are based on Lagrange Multiplier (LM) tests, within the context of a Monte Carlo study. The performance of those estimators is compared with that of the maximum likelihood (ML) estimator of the encompassing model. We find that, even in a very simple setting, the bias of the estimates generated by pre-testing strategies can be very large in some cases and the empirical size of tests can differ substantially from the nominal size. This is in contrast to the ML estimator. |
| Keywords: | cliff-ord, spatial, model, lagrange multiplier, monte carlo |
| JEL: | C4 C5 |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rri:wpaper:2013wp07&r=ure |
| By: | Anna Makles (Wuppertal Research Institute for the Economics of Education (WIB), University of Wuppertal, Gaußstraße 20, 42119 Wuppertal, Germany); Kerstin Schneider (Wuppertal Research Institute for the Economics of Education (WIB), University of Wuppertal, Gaußstraße 20, 42119 Wuppertal, Germany) |
| Abstract: | This paper adds to the literature on extracurricular early childhood education and child development by exploiting unique data on an educational project in Germany, the Junior University (JU). Utilizing a quasi-experimental study design, we estimate the causal short-term effect of JU enrollment on cognitive outcomes and show that attending extra science courses with preschool classes leads to significantly higher school readiness. Although the size of the effect is relatively small, the results are plausible and pass various robustness checks. Moreover, in comparison with other programs this intervention is cost-effective. |
| Keywords: | early childhood education, early interventions, school readiness |
| JEL: | I20 I21 I28 J13 |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bwu:schdps:sdp14012&r=ure |
| By: | Eckhardt Bode; Lucia Perez Villar |
| Abstract: | This paper substantiates the debate following Richard Florida’s suggestion to measure regional human capital by creative occupations rather than education. Consistent with Florida’s notion of creativity, it suggests a microfoundation that relates creativity to workers’ cognitive and noncognitive skills. It shows that this microfoundation is similar to that of human capital in recent labor economics, which has facilitated important new insights. It also shows that Florida’s measure is too crude to make a difference. Nonethe-less, it is time to rethink regional human capital. Occupations may help project workers’ cognitive and noncognitive skills from the micro to the regional level |
| Keywords: | Human Capital, Education, Creativity, Cognitive Skills, Noncognitive Skills, Occupation, Regional Wages, Regional Growth |
| JEL: | I21 I25 J24 R12 R23 |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kie:kieliw:1958&r=ure |
| By: | Luthra, Renee Reichl; Soehl, Thomas |
| Abstract: | This paper assesses estimates of immigrant intergenerational mobility that are based on aggregate data sources. We show that aggregation bias strongly inflates estimates of the relationship between immigrants’ educational attainment and the educational attainment of their children. Compared to natives, the educational transmission process between parent and child is much weaker in immigrant families. A number of group-level processes, such as societal discrimination, ethnic segregation, or ethnic networks, may render group characteristics more important predictors of second generation educational attainment than parental education. |
| Date: | 2014–08–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ese:iserwp:2014-28&r=ure |
| By: | Sylvain Weber (Institute of economic research IRENE, Faculty of Economics, University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland); Mehdi Farsi (Institute of economic research IRENE, Faculty of Economics, University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland) |
| Abstract: | We estimate the rebound effect for private transportation using cross-section micro-level data in Switzerland for 2010. Our simultaneous equations model accounts for endogeneity of travel distance, vehicle fuel intensity and vehicle weight. Compared to the literature, our paper provides an important contribution as micro-level data and simultaneous equations models have seldom been used to estimate the rebound effect. Moreover, among the distance measures we use, one is highly reliable as it was recorded using GIS (Geographical Information System) software. Our results, obtained by 3SLS, point to substantial direct rebound effects between 75% and 81%, which lie at the higher end of the estimates found in the literature. OLS estimates are however much lower and seem to under-estimate the rebound effect. |
| Keywords: | Rebound effect, Travel demand, Simultaneous equations model. |
| JEL: | C31 D12 Q41 R41 |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:irn:wpaper:14-03&r=ure |
| By: | Agustí Segarra (Research Group of Industry and Territory, Department of Economics – CREIP, Universitat Rovira i Virgili); Mercedes Teruel (Research Group of Industry and Territory, Department of Economics – CREIP, Universitat Rovira i Virgili); Miquel Angel Bove (Research Group of Industry and Territory, Department of Economics – CREIP, Universitat Rovira i Virgili) |
| Abstract: | Using a database of 2,263 responses to R&D public calls in Catalonia, during the period 2007–2010, this paper proceeds to analyse the potential interaction of the territorial and policy dimensions with the propensity to apply for, and be awarded, a public R&D subsidy. Controlling for characteristics at the firm and project level, we estimate models using a twostep procedure. In the first step, our results suggest that large firms which export and which belong to high-tech manufactures are more likely to participate in a public R&D call. Furthermore, both urban location and past experience of such calls have a positive effect. Our territorial proxy of information spillovers shows a positive sign, but this is only significant at intra-industry level. Membership of one of the sectors prioritized by the Catalan government, perhaps surprisingly, does not have a significant impact. In the second step, our results show that cooperative projects, SMEs or old firms shows a positive effect on the probability of obtaining a public subsidy. Finally, the cluster policy does not show a clear relationship with the public R&D call, suggesting that cluster policies and R&D subsidies follow different goals. Our results are in line with previous results in the literature, but they highlight the unequal territorial distribution of the firms which apply and the fact that policymakers should interlink the decision criteria for their public call with other policies. |
| Keywords: | Evaluation, R&D policies, territorial approach, clusters |
| JEL: | L53 L25 O38 |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:xrp:wpaper:xreap2014-07&r=ure |
| By: | Guglielmo Maria Caporale; Stefano Di Colli; Roberto Di Salvo; Juan Sergio Lopez |
| Abstract: | This paper provides new evidence on the contribution of local banking to local economic growth (i.e. at county level - the Italian "province") in Italy. A comprehensive dataset is used, which includes control variables for social capital and human capital as well as indicators of the quality of local infrastructures and the production structure of the local economy. A linear within-estimator technique with fixed effects is applied to a modified version of the so-called Barro regression (Cecchetti and Karrhoubi, 2013) in order to address the well-known econometric issues of reverse causality and estimation bias resulting from unobserved district-specific influences. |
| Keywords: | Bank lending, local growth, panel data |
| JEL: | C33 E44 G01 G32 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1409&r=ure |
| By: | Simon MIEGIELSEN |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the informativeness of consumer information networks and their effect on price competition between .rms. Under the proposed information mechanism, consumers share their initial information with the members of their network and as such become better informed. The main result of this paper shows how informative such networks are by characterizing how many different pieces of information a network is likely to contain. This informativeness is crucial for the degree of competition, as consumers comparing more prices induce firms to compete more fiercely. We find that larger networks imply better information transmission, which intensifies competition and decreases all the percentiles of the price distribution. An increase in the number of firms makes networks more informative, and decreases all the percentiles as well. Our results are robust to the introduction of sequential search and network segregation, but an increase in segregation decreases information transmission and increases all percentiles. |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ete:ceswps:ces14.14&r=ure |
| By: | Schneider, M.; Henning, K.-F. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dar:wpaper:65941&r=ure |
| By: | World Bank |
| Keywords: | Banks and Banking Reform Macroeconomics and Economic Growth - Subnational Economic Development Social Protections and Labor - Labor Policies Economic Theory and Research Transport Economics Policy and Planning Finance and Financial Sector Development Transport |
| Date: | 2014–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wboper:19999&r=ure |