|
on Urban and Real Estate Economics |
| By: | Gaetano Lisi (Centro di Analisi Economica CREAtività e Motivazioni) |
| Date: | 2015–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ivi:wpasad:2015-05&r=ure |
| By: | Hsieh, Chang-Tai; Moretti, Enrico |
| Abstract: | We study how growth of cities determines the growth of nations. Using a spatial equilibrium model and data on 220 US metropolitan areas from 1964 to 2009, we first estimate the contribution of each U.S. city to national GDP growth. We show that the contribution of a city to aggregate growth can differ significantly from what one might naively infer from the growth of the city’s GDP. Despite some of the strongest rate of local growth, New York, San Francisco and San Jose were only responsible for a small fraction of U.S. growth in this period. By contrast, almost half of aggregate US growth was driven by growth of cities in the South. We then provide a normative analysis of potential growth. We show that the dispersion of the conditional average nominal wage across US cities doubled, indicating that worker productivity is increasingly different across cities. We calculate that this increased wage dispersion lowered aggregate U.S. GDP by 13.5%. Most of the loss was likely caused by increased constraints to housing supply in high productivity cities like New York, San Francisco and San Jose. Lowering regulatory constraints in these cities to the level of the median city would expand their work force and increase U.S. GDP by 9.5%. We conclude that the aggregate gains in output and welfare from spatial reallocation of labor are likely to be substantial in the U.S., and that a major impediment to a more efficient spatial allocation of labor are housing supply constraints. These constraints limit the number of US workers who have access to the most productive of American cities. In general equilibrium, this lowers income and welfare of all US workers. |
| Keywords: | cities; economic growth |
| JEL: | E00 R1 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:10604&r=ure |
| By: | Christian A. L. Hilber; 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:ehl:lserod:61872&r=ure |
| By: | Böhlmark, Anders (Swedish Institute for Social Research, Stockholm University); Holmlund, Helena (IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy); Lindahl, Mikael (Department of Economics, Uppsala University) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the evolution of school segregation in Sweden in the aftermath of the 1992 universal school voucher reform, which spurred the establishment of new independent voucher schools and introduced parental choice. The empirical analysis assesses the relative importance of neighbourhood sorting, parental choice and the location of independent schools for school segregation. In particular, it exploits variation in school choice opportunities across municipalities, and provides descriptive evidence that in regions where school choice has become more prevalent, school segregation between immigrants and natives, and between children of high/low educated parents, has increased more than in regions where choice is limited. This result also holds when we account for residential sorting and focus on excess school segregation over and above the segregation that would occur if all pupils attended their assigned schools. The estimates suggest that the increase in school segregation 15 years after the voucher reform that can be attributed to choice is relatively small, and in an international comparison Sweden still ranks as a country with a low-to-medium segregated school system. Our findings are suggestive of the implications for student sorting in other settings where similar voucher schemes are introduced. |
| Keywords: | school segregation; school choice |
| JEL: | I20 |
| Date: | 2015–05–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2015_008&r=ure |
| By: | Christian A. L. Hilber; Charles Palmer |
| Abstract: | We exploit a unique panel of 75 metro areas (‘cities’) across the globe and employ a cityfixed effects model to identify the determinants of within-city changes in air pollution concentration between 2005 and 2011. Increasing car and population densities significantly reduce air pollution concentration in city centers where air pollution induced health risks are greatest. These effects are largely confined to cities in non-OECD countries. Two possible mechanisms for the negative effect of car density are explored: (i) increasing car density permits a decentralization of residential and economic activity; and (ii) car usage substitutes for motorbike usage. We find limited evidence in favour of (i) and no evidence in favour of (ii). We also observe a complex relationship between income and pollution concentration as well as a general downward-trend in pollution concentration over time. Overall, our findings are indicative that densely populated polycentric cities may be ‘greener’ and ‘healthier’ than comparable monocentric ones. |
| Keywords: | Urbanization; urban form; decentralization; air pollution; transport; built environment |
| JEL: | Q01 Q53 R11 R41 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:61791&r=ure |
| By: | Balázs Lengyel; Rikard H. Eriksson |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a new empirical perspective for analysing the role of social networks for regional economic growth by constructing large-scale networks from employee-employee co-occurrences in plants in the entire Swedish economy 1990-2008. We calculate the probability of employee-employee ties at plant level based on homophily-biased random network assumptions and trace the most probable relations of every employee over the full period. We argue that these personal acquaintances are important for local learning opportunities and consequently for regional growth. Indeed, the paper provides the first systematic evidence for a central claim in economic geography: social network density has positive effect on regional growth defined as productivity growth. Interestingly, the most robust effect of density on growth was found in a segment of the co-worker network in which plants have never been linked by labour mobility previously. |
| Keywords: | social network, random network with homophily bias, probability of tie, labour mobility, regional productivity growth, panel regression |
| JEL: | D85 J24 J61 R11 R23 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:1513&r=ure |
| By: | Angela Faßhauer; Katrin Rehdanz |
| Abstract: | This paper is the first to link economic theory with empirical life-satisfaction analyses referring to internal migration. We derive an extension of the Roback (1982) model to account for benefits from regional amenities in the utility function, while controlling for income, housing costs, and migration costs. Using highly disaggregated spatial panel information on people’s migration decisions and their life satisfaction for Germany, we provide an empirical investigation of the theoretical model by applying an individual fixed-effects model to rule out selection bias, while accounting for endogeneity of income. We find that short-term benefits from regional amenities represent about 21 percent of household income. These findings are robust to a number of alternative specifications. |
| Keywords: | Internal migration, regional amenities, life satisfaction, Germany |
| JEL: | A12 C33 R23 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp748&r=ure |
| By: | Boschma, Ron (CIRCLE, Lund University and Regional research centre Utrecht (URU), Utrecht University) |
| Abstract: | Klepper’s theory of industry clustering based on organizational reproduction and inheritance through spinoffs challenged the Marshallian view on industry clustering. The paper provides an assessment of Klepper’s theoretical and empirical work on industry clustering. We explore how ‘new’ his spinoff theory on industry clustering was, and we investigate the impact of Klepper’s theory on the economic geography community. Klepper’s work has inspired especially recent literature on regional branching that argues that new industries grow out of and recombine capabilities from local related industries. Finally, the paper discusses what questions on industry location are still left open or in need of more evidence in the context of Klepper’s theory. |
| Keywords: | Klepper; spinoff dynamics; agglomeration economies; Marshall; industry cluster; evolutionary economic geography |
| JEL: | B15 B52 O18 R11 |
| Date: | 2015–05–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2015_018&r=ure |
| By: | Rikard H. Eriksson; Emelie Hane-Weijman |
| Abstract: | By means of Swedish longitudinal micro-data, the aim of this paper is to analyse how regional economies respond to crises. This is made possible by linking gross employment flows to the notion of regional resilience. Our findings indicate that despite a steady national employment growth, only the three metropolitan regions show higher employment figures than before the recession of 1990. Further, we can show evidence of high levels of job creation and destruction in both declining and expanding regions and sectors, and that the creation of jobs is mainly attributable to employment growth in incumbent firms while job destruction is primarily due to exits and micro-plants. Although the geography of resistance to crises and the ability of adaptability in the aftermath vary, our findings suggest that cohesive (i.e., with many skill-related industries) and diverse (i.e., with a high degree of unrelated variety) regions are more resilient over time. We also find that resistance to future shocks (e.g., the 2008 recession) is highly dependent on the resistance to previous crises. In all, this suggests that the long-term evolution of regional economies also influences their future resilience. |
| Keywords: | regional economic evolution, job creation, job destruction, crises, regional resilience |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:1511&r=ure |
| By: | Jonathan Borggren; Rikard H. Eriksson; Urban Lindgren |
| Abstract: | Following the impact on regional renewal and employment ascribed to rapidly growing firms (high-impact firms, HIFs), this paper argues that little is still known in economic geography and business studies today regarding the mechanisms influencing growth of such firms and, hence, the potential impact on regional employment. The aim of this paper is thus to explore how the qualitative content of skills (i.e. the degree of similarity, relatedness and unrelatedness) recruited to a firm during a period of fast growth influences its future success. Our findings, based on a sample of 1,589 HIFs in the Swedish economy, suggest that it is not only the number of people employed that matters in aiding the understanding of the future destiny of the firms –"but also, more importantly, it is the scope of the skills recruited and their proximity to related industries. |
| Keywords: | high-impact firms, skills, relatedness, labor flows |
| JEL: | L25 R12 R23 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:1512&r=ure |
| By: | Dieter F. Kogler; Jürgen Essletzbichler; David L. Rigby |
| Abstract: | Significant attention has been directed to processes of knowledge production in a spatial context, but little consideration has been given to the type of technological knowledge produced within specific places. In this paper we use patent co-classification data from the European Patent Office (EPO) to measure the distance between all pairs of 629 International Patent Classification (IPC) categories. A multi-dimensional scaling algorithm allows us to visualize these distances in a map of the EU15 knowledge space. We trace the evolution of that space from 1981 to 2005. The patent class distance data are combined with counts of patents by IPC categories to measure the average relatedness (specialization) of knowledge produced within each NUTS2 region. We show that knowledge specialization has increased significantly across EU15 regions over time and we report those regions that have the most specialized and the least specialized knowledge bases. Changes in the average relatedness of regional knowledge cores are decomposed to reveal the contributions of technological entry, exit and selection processes over space and time. In a final section of the paper, technological diversification and abandonment at the NUTS2 level are modeled as a function of proximity to the knowledge core of the region and to knowledge spillovers from neighboring regions that are mediated by social and spatial distance. |
| Keywords: | Evolutionary Economic Geography, Geography of Invention, Technological Change, Technology/Knowledge Space, Patent Data Analysis, Entry/Exit/Selection, Decomposition Analysis |
| JEL: | O33 O52 R12 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:1515&r=ure |
| By: | Murray, Cameron K. (University of Queensland); Frijters, Paul (University of Queensland) |
| Abstract: | We use a unique regulatory event that occurred in Queensland, Australia, from 2007- 2012, to examine the predictive power of landowner relationship networks and lobbying behaviour on successfully gaining value-enhancing rezoning. A State authority, the Urban Land Development Authority (ULDA), took planning control away from local councils in selected areas in order to increase the speed and scale of development in those areas, in the process increasing land values. Using micro-level relationship data from multiple sources, we compare the relationship-network characteristics of landowners of comparable sites inside and outside the ULDA areas, finding that 'connected' landowners owned 75% of land inside the rezoned areas, and only 12% outside, capturing $410 million in land value gains out of the total $710 million from rezoning. The marginal gains to all landowners of becoming connected in our sample were $190 million. We also find that engaging a professional lobbyist is a substitute for having one's own connections. Scaling up from our sample of six rezoned areas to the hundreds of rezoning decisions across Queensland and Australia in the last few decades, suggests that many billions of dollars of economic rent are being regularly transferred from the general population to connected land owners through political rezoning decisions. |
| Keywords: | networks, social capital, rezoning, corruption, lobbying |
| JEL: | D72 D73 R52 R58 |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9028&r=ure |
| By: | Louis-Philippe Beland; Richard Murphy |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the impact of schools banning mobile phones on student test scores. By surveying schools in four English cities regarding their mobile phone policies and combining it with administrative data, we find that student performance in high stakes exams significantly increases post ban. We use a difference in differences (DID) strategy, exploiting variations in schools' autonomous decisions to ban these devices, conditioning on a range of student characteristics and prior achievement. Our results indicate that these increases in performance are driven by the lowest-achieving students. This suggests that restricting mobile phone use can be a low-cost policy to reduce educational inequalities. |
| Keywords: | Mobile phones, technology, student performance, productivity |
| JEL: | I21 I28 O33 J24 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1350&r=ure |
| By: | William D. Savedoff |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipe:ipetds:0030&r=ure |
| By: | Rune Dahl Fitjar; Andrés Rodríguez-Pose |
| Abstract: | The paper assesses the role for innovation of one aspect which has been generally overlooked by evolutionary economic geography: context. It analyses how context shapes the impact of collaboration on firm-level innovation for 1604 firms located in the five largest city regions of Norway. Specifically, the analysis shows how the benefits to firms of collaborating within regional, national, and international innovation networks are affected by the knowledge endowments of the region within which the firm is located. Using a logit regression analysis, we find, first, that only national and international networking have a significant positive impact on the likelihood of innovation (the former only for process innovation), whereas the regional knowledge endowments have no direct effect. Second, regional cooperation is particularly effective in regions with high investments in R&D, whereas international cooperation is important in regions with an educated workforce – and regional and national collaboration may be ineffective in such cases. We conclude that, in the case of Norway, context is essential in determining the capacity of firms to set up networks and innovate. Regions with an educated workforce can use the resulting absorptive capacity to successfully assimilate knowledge being diffused through global pipelines from faraway places. However, this absorptive capacity is likely to be heavily filtered if regional firms mainly rely on internal connections within Norway. |
| Keywords: | Innovation; interaction; networking; context; human capital; R&D; firms; Norway |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:1516&r=ure |
| By: | C. S. Mastinu; M. Del Gatto |
| Abstract: | We study the relationship between economic development, geography and “cultural remoteness” (i.e. distance from the technological frontier(s) driving economic development) at a regional level focusing on the role of “insularity”. The analysis covers all island regions worldwide and documents the presence of economic costs (measured in GDP per capita), due to insularity, in addition to those generally attributed to ‘geographical remoteness’. Cultural remoteness, either measured in terms of linguistic or ethnic distance, is not the only cause that explains these costs. |
| Keywords: | Insularity, geographic remoteness, economic development, cultural distance |
| JEL: | R58 R11 O21 O10 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cns:cnscwp:201503&r=ure |
| By: | Frame, W. Scott (Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta); Gerardi, Kristopher S. (Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta); Willen, Paul S. (Federal Reserve Bank of Boston) |
| Abstract: | In the aftermath of the global financial crisis, policymakers in the United States and elsewhere have adopted stress testing as a central tool for supervising large, complex, financial institutions and promoting financial stability. Although supervisory stress testing may confer substantial benefits, such tests are vulnerable to model risk. This paper studies the risk-based capital stress test conducted by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) that are central to the U.S. housing finance system. This research aims to identify the sources of the stress test's spectacular failure to detect the growing risk and ultimate financial distress at these GSEs as mortgage market conditions deteriorated in 2007 and 2008. The analysis focuses on a key element of OFHEO's stress test, the models used to predict default and prepayment of 30-year fixed-rate mortgages. |
| Keywords: | bank supervision; stress test; model risk; residential mortgages; government-sponsored enterprises |
| JEL: | G21 G23 G28 |
| Date: | 2015–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedbwp:15-4&r=ure |
| By: | Janaina Pamplona da Costa (State University of Campinas, Department of Science and Technology Policy) |
| Abstract: | This article addresses network alignment through an investigation of network governance (coordination) and structure, and examines how regional level network governance and structure influence the effectiveness of technology policy to improve local firms’ innovativeness in a developing country context. It examines whether network governance and structure have a consistent influence on firms’ innovative performance in developing country regions with different levels of socio-economic development. The empirical evidence is based on case studies of the Campinas and Recife regional software networks in Brazil and the innovative performance of the participating local firms. We find that adoption of a general technology policy prescription and formation of networks to improve firm-level innovation and regional catch-up should involve careful consideration of the intended effects: membership of a network may not be a necessary condition for improved innovation at firm level. |
| Keywords: | network alignment; network governance; Brazilian software industry; innovation networks; technology policy effectiveness; regional development |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sru:ssewps:2015-14&r=ure |
| By: | Nemanja Backovi (Faculty of Organizational Sciences, University of Belgrade); Vesna Mili (Faculty of Organizational Sciences, University of Belgrade); Adam Sofronijevi (Library "Svetozar Markovi) |
| Abstract: | In this paper sustainable management of European cities in contemporary business environment is analyzed. Recognition of culture diversity and market responsiveness are of substantial importance for new context of urbanization. Economic cooperation among cities is executed in the framework of integrated strategic planning and upgraded sustainability principles. Global climate change and economic restructuring are becoming a wider concern for future cities development. Heterogeneous urban growth is the main constraint for demographic reforms. The focus is on creating management paradigm based on innovative business models, which describes how the ideas should be pursued in European urban settings. The management approach of flexible adjustments that influences the new strategic path development and modification of ongoing structural issues is observed. In order to fulfill the role of privileged location, sustainable city needs to intensify the flow of capital, goods, know-how and value. The paper emphasizes evolutionary concepts of urban transformation management. High prosperity and poverty reduction are highlighted in terms of social justice, geographical and inter-generational equity. The aim of making a “Fair Share” cities includes efficient waste management, energy supply and resource based decision making. The relationship between urban economic viability and patterns of green land investments is considered. Long-term prospects of European regional integration, along with urge for high edge city maintenance, are shown. Land use, access to services and population density present urban issues that indicate strong European commitment to form urban innovation areas. The paper sums up most significant advantages of European capital cities, that make them leaders in the global market. |
| Keywords: | sustainable cities; European management; urban ecology; economic efficiency; smart growth |
| JEL: | Q56 M21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1003969&r=ure |
| By: | Daniel Montolio (University of Barcelona & IEB); Simón Planells-Struse (University of Barcelona & IEB) |
| Abstract: | Given the recent increase observed in crime and violence related to sport activities and the subsequent need for governments to devote more resources to deter this pattern, this article presents empirical evidence that could justify the possibility of taxing the negative externalities associated with the staging of football matches. Focusing specifically on theft (mainly pick pocketing) and assault (interpersonal violence or hooliganism), we seek to determine the extent to which this private leisure activity is responsible for negative crime externalities on a urban context. Drawing on data for the matches played by Football Club Barcelona (FCB) and geocoded crime data for the city of Barcelona (Spain), we assess whether there is an increase in thefts and assaults across the city of Barcelona. Then, conducting an Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA) and a spatial regression at the census tract level, we determine the effect of football matches on crime by comparing crime rates during home and away matches. We find an increase in the number of thefts across the whole city but, especially, in those census tracts within a 700-meter radius of the stadium, indicating that despite the increase in the number of police officers on duty in the vicinity of the stadium, potential offenders are attracted to crowds where rewards are likely to be higher and the probability of being apprehended lower. These results are confirmed by the relatively low number of crimes committed during away matches in the census tracts around the stadium. A similar spatial pattern is found for assaults, although the overall impact across the city is not significant. Our results, therefore, provide evidence of a displacement effect of violent supporters (hooligans) towards the census tracts closest to the FCB stadium on football days. |
| Keywords: | Crime, football, hooliganism, negative externalities, police forces |
| JEL: | K42 H27 R1 L83 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ieb:wpaper:doc2015-15&r=ure |
| By: | William D. Savedoff |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates whether the workforce in Brazil is geographically segmented by analyzing variation in workers' earnings. It finds that standard market explanatlons for regional wage disparities, such as variations in the cost of living or workforce quality, can explaln only a part of the disparities. The paper concludes that geographical obstacles to factor flows are not slgnificant in Brazil. Rather, the persistence of regional wage differentials, in spite of the increasing integration of the Brazilian economy, can be largely attributed to regional variation in the composition of labor demand. |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipe:ipetds:0022&r=ure |
| By: | Dorota Milek (Kielce University of Technology); Paulina Nowak (Kielce University of Technology) |
| Abstract: | Regional and local development results from a complex interaction of many factors, including the development policy. Development priorities, contained in the strategic documents such as regional innovation strategies, emphasise building up the region’s competitive advantage by identifying and developing regional specialisations. Regions need to identify their strengths and weaknesses and they have to rely strongly on innovation to develop. The aim of the paper is to undertake a diagnostic assessment of the specialisations of Poland’s provinces, and also to validate that, in the context of the regional innovation policy, on the example of the swietokrzyskie province. The paper employs the Krugman dissimilarity index, which is computed on the basis of a comparison of a given region’s economic structure with average structure of other regions. |
| Keywords: | economic development of the country, regional innovation policy, regional specialisation, Krugman index |
| JEL: | A11 B16 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pes:wpaper:2015:no136&r=ure |
| By: | Aiello, Francesco; Bonanno, Graziella |
| Abstract: | Banking is increasingly a-spatial. However, the environment matters for small banks. Indeed, they are embedded in narrowed markets and hence benefit from proximity to their member-customers. By referring to multilevel approach, this article aims at measuring how much the performance of Italian mutual-cooperative banks is determined by both geographical (provincial level) and individual characteristics (small bank level). The effect of local markets explains 28.27% of bank heterogeneity in the empty multilevel model and 33% in the most extended model. Moreover, it is found that bank efficiency increases with market concentration and demand density and decreases with branching in local markets. |
| Keywords: | Multilevel model; mutual-cooperative banks; local markets; cost efficiency |
| JEL: | C13 C21 D00 G21 R19 |
| Date: | 2015–05–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:64399&r=ure |
| By: | Moretti, Enrico; Wilson, Daniel J |
| Abstract: | Using data on the universe of U.S. patents filed between 1976 and 2010, we quantify how sensitive is migration by star scientist to changes in personal and business tax differentials across states. We uncover large, stable, and precisely estimated effects of personal and corporate taxes on star scientists’ migration patterns. The long run elasticity of mobility relative to taxes is 1.6 for personal income taxes, 2.3 for state corporate income tax and -2.6 for the investment tax credit. The effect on mobility is small in the short run, and tends to grow over time. We find no evidence of pre-trends: Changes in mobility follow changes in taxes and do not to precede them. Consistent with their high income, star scientists migratory flows are sensitive to changes in the 99th percentile marginal tax rate, but are insensitive to changes in taxes for the median income. As expected, the effect of corporate income taxes is concentrated among private sector inventors: no effect is found on academic and government researchers. Moreover, corporate taxes only matter in states where the wage bill enters the state’s formula for apportioning multi-state income. No effect is found in states that apportion income based only on sales (in which case labor’s location has little or no effect on the tax bill). We also find no evidence that changes in state taxes are correlated with changes in the fortunes of local firms in the innovation sector in the years leading up to the tax change. Overall, we conclude that state taxes have significant effect of the geographical location of star scientists and possibly other highly skilled workers. While there are many other factors that drive when innovative individual and innovative companies decide to locate, there are enough firms and workers on the margin that relative taxes matter. |
| Keywords: | economic geography; innovation; taxes |
| JEL: | H2 J01 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:10600&r=ure |
| By: | Bisschop, Paul (SEO Economic Research); Kastoryano, Stephen (University of Mannheim); van der Klaauw, Bas (VU University Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the effects of introducing legal street prostitution zones on both registered and perceived crime. We exploit a unique setting in the Netherlands where legal street prostitution zones were opened in nine cities under different regulation systems. We provide evidence that the opening of these zones was not in response to changes in crime. Our difference-in-difference analysis using data on the largest 25 Dutch cities between 1994 and 2011 shows that opening a legal street prostitution zone decreases registered sexual abuse and rape by about 30% to 40% in the first two years. For cities which opened a legal street prostitution zone with a licensing system we also find significant reductions in drug-related crime and long-term effects on sexual assaults. Perceived drug nuisance increases upon opening but then decreases below pre-opening levels in cities with a licensed prostitution zone. In contrast, we find permanent increases in perceived drug crime in the areas adjacent to the legal prostitution zones. |
| Keywords: | prostitution, registered crime, perceived crime, regulation, difference-in-difference |
| JEL: | J16 J47 K14 K23 K42 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9038&r=ure |
| By: | Catini, Roberto; Karamshuk, Dmytro; Penner, Orion; Riccaboni, Massimo |
| Abstract: | In recent years there has been a growing interest in the role of networks and clusters in the global economy. Despite being a popular research topic in economics, sociology and urban studies, geographical clustering of human activity has often studied been by means of predetermined geographical units such as administrative divisions and metropolitan areas. This approach is intrinsically time invariant and it does not allow one to differentiate between different activities. Our goal in this paper is to present a new methodology for identifying clusters, that can be applied to different empirical settings. We use a graph approach based on k-shell decomposition to analyze world biomedical research clusters based on PubMed scientific publications. We identify research institutions and locate their activities in geographical clusters. Leading areas of scientific production and their top performing research institutions are consistently identified at different geographic scales. |
| Keywords: | innovation clusters; network analysis; bio-pharmaceutical industry |
| JEL: | C6 O31 R12 |
| Date: | 2015–05–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:64454&r=ure |
| By: | James Cust; Steven Poelhekke |
| Abstract: | Whether it is fair to characterize natural resource wealth as a curse is still debated. Most of the evidence derives from cross-country analyses, providing cases both for and against a potential resource curse. Scholars are increasingly turning to within-country evidence to deepen our understanding of the potential drivers, and outcomes, of resource wealth effects. Moving away from cross-country studies offers new perspectives on the resource curse debate, and can help overcome concerns regarding endogeneity. Therefore, scholars are leveraging datasets which provide greater disaggregation of economic responses and exogenous identification of impacts. This paper surveys the literature on these studies of local and regional effects of natural resource extraction. We discuss data availability and quality, recent advances in methodological tools, and summarize the main findings of several areas of research. These include the direct impact of natural resource production on local labor markets and welfare, the effects of government spending channels resulting from mining revenue, and regional spillovers. Finally, we take stock of the state of the literature and provide suggestions for future research. |
| Keywords: | survey, mining, Dutch disease, identification, spillovers |
| JEL: | D81 D91 E21 F34 H63 O13 Q32 Q33 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:oxcrwp:156&r=ure |
| By: | Lidija Runko Luttenberger (Komunalac d.o.o., Jurdani, Croatia) |
| Abstract: | Purpose – Bathing areas represent eternal destination for a man led by his/her pristine tendency for direct contact with nature. However, the sustainability of and the access to this delicate part of the already vulnerable coastal system is endangered by human activities such as shore industrialization, residential development, poor wastewater and stormwater management, soil impermeability, road construction and occupation thereof for private interests. In Croatia, the number, size and natural character of beaches is diminished, while seawater and air in coastal areas is increasingly polluted. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that in the case of beaches, the interest of public health, being a pronounced anthropocentric interest, coincides with the interest of maintaining healthy ecosystems and that balance of benefits and damages ensuing from present coastline development may hardly outdo overall rewards provided by healthy beach environment both for the local community and tourists. Design – The paper reviews beneficial effects of sea water, draws attention to the role of the beach, provides historical overview of urban beaches in Rijeka bay, elaborates pollution and land use threats to coasts and focuses on the challenges to environmental values of beaches in the region. Methodology –As the problem must be observed in depth and with holistic focus, the author applied qualitative research based on observations, author’s own experience, and the reports on previous research concerning in particular the urban beaches of Rijeka bay. Approach –Research approach is inductive. Findings – Urban beaches should be expanded both physically and visually to the detriment of non-profitable and polluting time-limited industrial sectors. Also, the construction in coastal hinterland, especially on karst soil, should be the object of particular attention of physical planning activities. Originality – The research is original as it establishes the relationship between overall quality of the environment and bathing area purpose and elaborates the case of globally significant geographical location. |
| Keywords: | beach, bathing area, environmental value, public health, land use threats, tourism |
| JEL: | L83 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tho:iscthi:section2-3&r=ure |
| By: | Gwozdz, Wencke (Copenhagen Business School); Sousa-Poza, Alfonso (University of Hohenheim); Reisch, Lucia A. (Copenhagen Business School); Bammann, Karin (University of Bremen); Eiben, Gabriele (University of Gothenburg); Kourides, Yiannis (Research and Education Institute of Child Health, Cyprus); Kovács, Eva (University of Pecs); Lauria, Fabio (National Research Council, Italy); Konstabel, Kenn (University of Tartu); Santaliestra-Pasias, Alba M. (University of Zaragoza); Vyncke, Krishna (Ghent University); Pigeot, Iris (University of Bremen) |
| Abstract: | This study analyzes peer effects on childhood obesity using data from the first two waves of the IDEFICS study, which applies several anthropometric and other measures of fatness to approximately 14,000 children aged two to nine participating in both waves in 16 regions of eight European countries. Peers are defined as same-sex children in the same school and age group. The results show that peer effects do exist in this European sample but that they differ among both regions and different fatness measures. Peer effects are larger in Spain, Italy, and Cyprus – the more collectivist regions in our sample – while waist circumference generally gives rise to larger peer effects than BMI. We also provide evidence that parental misperceptions of their own children's weight goes hand in hand with fatter peer groups, supporting the notion that in making such assessments, parents compare their children's weight with that of friends and schoolmates. |
| Keywords: | peer effects, children, obesity, Europe |
| JEL: | I12 J13 J22 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9051&r=ure |
| By: | Ricardo Barros; Diana Sawyer |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipe:ipetds:0044&r=ure |
| By: | Fatoke Dato, Mafaizath A. |
| Abstract: | This study measures the impact of a flood in 2010 in Benin on children’s schooling and labor. The data used are the National Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) of 2006 and 2012. The difference in differences estimates points out a significant decrease in income between farm households and non-farm households following the shock. Enrollment has also significantly decreased by 5.99% for girls in rural areas, by 4.45% for boys in rural areas, by 7.76% for girls in urban areas and by 6.17% for boys in urban areas. The likelihood to be a domestic worker or a farmer has also significantly increased. Robustness checks, on different other groups, are in concordance with the results. Despite the removal of school fees in 2006, households still withdrew their children from school after this income shock. These results imply that income shocks could be a threat to the Universal Primary Education. |
| Keywords: | Natural disasters, Education, Income shock, Child labor |
| JEL: | I24 O55 Q54 |
| Date: | 2015–05–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:64317&r=ure |
| By: | Jan Goebel; Martin Gornig |
| Abstract: | The tertiarization, or perhaps more accurately, the deindustrialization of the economy has left deep scars on cities. It is evident not only in the industrial wastelands and empty factory buildings scattered throughout the urban landscape, but also in the income and social structures of cities. Industrialization, collective wage setting and the welfare state led to a stark reduction in income differences over the course of the twentieth century. Conversely, deindustrialization and the shift to tertiary sectors could result in increasing wage differentiation. Moreover, numerous studies on global cities, the dual city, and divided cities have also identified income polarization as a central phenomenon in the development of major cities. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), we find an increasing polarization of household income structures since the mid-1990s. In agglomerations, this income polarization is even more pronounced than in the more rural regions. The income polarization in Germany is likely to have multiple causes, some of which are directly linked to policies such as the deregulation of the labor market. But extensive deindustrialization is probably also one of the drivers, that has led directly to the weakening of middle income groups. |
| JEL: | R20 Z13 R11 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp755&r=ure |
| By: | Luis Eduardo Arango (Banco de la República de Colombia); Gabriela Bonilla (Cámara Colombiana de la Construcción) |
| Abstract: | We provide evidence of private returns to education and externalities which jointly render social returns in the labor market of Colombia. The spillover in the cities is generated by the share of college educated workers in the working-age population. Thus, the higher is this share in the cities, the higher the wages. The size of the externality is about 0.66; that is, an increase in the share of one percentage point will increase the wage in 0.66%. For highly educated workers the externality is about 0.75 while for low educated it is not significant. The results change in an important way if Bogotá, the capital city of the country, is excluded from the sample. Resources destined by the Colombian Institute for Educational Credit and Technical Studies Abroad (ICETEX) to fund undergraduate and postgraduate studies in provinces affect the outcomes if Bogotá is within the sample. A positive correlation between the size of cities and human capital agglomeration is also observed in such a way that if the former is substituted for the latter, we can still find the spillover. Classification JEL: J2, J3. |
| Keywords: | social returns, private returns, externalities. |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdr:borrec:883&r=ure |
| By: | Ruonan Lin; Yi Gu |
| Abstract: | Aiming at quantifying and evaluating the regional commercial environment along with the level of economic development among cities in mainland China, the concept of China City Commercial Environment Credit Index(CEI) was first introduced and established in 2010. In this manuscript, a historical review and detailed introduction of CEI is included, followed by statistical studies. In particular, an independent statistical cross-check for the existing CEI-2012 is performed and significant factors that play the most in influential roles are discussed. |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1505.05089&r=ure |
| By: | Collewet M.M.F.; Grip A. de; Koning J.d. (ROA) |
| Abstract: | This paper uncovers conspicuous work as a new form of status seeking that can explain social interactions in labour supply. We analyse how peer working time relates to both labour supply and happiness for Dutch male workers. Using a unique measure of peer weekly working time, we find that mens working time increases with that of their peers and that peer working time is negatively related to mens happiness. These findings are consistent with a conspicuous work model, in which individuals derive status from working time. |
| Keywords: | Externalities; General Welfare; Time Allocation and Labor Supply; |
| JEL: | J22 I31 D62 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:umaror:2015006&r=ure |
| By: | Michael Geruso; Dean Spears |
| Abstract: | In the developing world, there has been significant policy interest in recent years in ending open defecation—that is, defecation in fields, behind homes, and near roads. This attention is in part motivated by a belief that the private demand for latrines and toilets is below the social optimum. We investigate the infant mortality externalities of poor sanitation by exploiting differences in the demand for latrines between Muslim and Hindu households in India: Indian Muslims, despite being poorer, are 25 percentage points more likely than Indian Hindus to use latrines or toilets. Instrumenting for local sanitation with the religious composition of neighborhoods, we show large infant mortality externalities of neighbors defecating in the open. Estimates of these neighbor effects are similar regardless of the household's own latrine use and own religion. Our findings are informative of the external harm generated by the roughly 1 billion people today who defecate in the open. |
| JEL: | H23 H41 I1 I12 I15 O1 O15 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21184&r=ure |
| By: | Luis J. Hall (Universidad de Costa Rica) |
| Abstract: | The main purpose of this paper is to study how the observed differences in educational achievement of whites and nonwhites teenagers in the US can be explained within a context of social interactions with differentiated agents, where individuals differ in how they value their interactions with individuals of their same type and individuals from the opposite type. We write a model where teenagers are allowed to interact with other teenagers and their degree of social interaction is differentiated inasmuch as whether they interact with their own group or other groups. Following an approach of differences in conditional variances, the conditions for the identification of the coefficient of differences in social interactions are established. Our estimation using the US census data on teenagers sustains the conclusion that there exist differences in the interaction coefficient between individuals of different types. Individuals will value more their interaction with individuals from their own types as opposed to individuals in the opposite type. |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fcr:wpaper:201403&r=ure |
| By: | Westin , Jonas (CERUM); de Jong , Gerard (ITS Leeds); Vierth , Inge (VTI); Krüger , Niclas (VTI); Karlsson, Rune (VTI); Johansson, Magnus (Trafikanalys) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of the paper is to analyze how sensitive the Swedish national freight model system Samgods is to uncertainties in its production-consumption matrices (PC-matrices). This is done by studying how sensitive outputs from one of its key component, the logistics model, are to changes in the PC-matrices. This paper is, to our knowledge, the first attempt to analyze the sensitivity and economies of scale of a national freight transport model using Monte Carlo simulation. The results indicate that the logistics model is able to find new logistics solutions when larger demand volumes are assumed. Freight volumes are calculated to shift to sea transport. If the transport volume increases with one percent, the logistics cost per tonne is on average reduced by about 0.5 percent. Part of the cost reduction comes from increased consolidation of shipments due to larger transport volumes. There is also a positive correlation between total transport demand and the load factor for heavier lorries, trains and larger ships. Without empirical data and further analysis it is difficult to assess the estimated strength of the effect. Furthermore, the analysis indicates that it might be possible to reduce runtimes by removing small transport flows from the PC-matrices without affecting aggregate results too much. |
| Keywords: | Sensitivity analysis; Large scale freight model; Monte Carlo simulation |
| JEL: | C52 C63 R41 R42 |
| Date: | 2015–05–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ctswps:2015_010&r=ure |
| By: | Rishan Singh (University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) & Durban University of Technology) |
| Abstract: | The impact of education systems on learners with and without disabilities vary between religions, ethnicities and race groups. Many factors such as peer-pressure, outcomes-based education, teaching techniques and attributes (teacher, parent and learner characteristics) have an influence on childhood development currently. At present, there are many views concerning the method that one should use to encourage learners so that they attain the complete benefit of what is taught, however, children with disorders (either from birth or with age) are viewed, sometimes, as an additional factor that’s required to be accounted for in the design of teaching curricula. Furthermore, with individuals being left- and right-brained, designing teaching curricula to suit individual learner needs is very complicated (in all situations – whether in rural or urban schools). This article, therefore, looks at different learner and teacher situations in classrooms, in attempts that possibly can be made by parents and teachers, to enable children to achieve their goal in the face of socio-economic pressures. |
| Keywords: | society, OBE, learning disorders, childhood, parents, curriculum design, attributes |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1003448&r=ure |
| By: | Avinoam Meir (Dept of Geography and Environmental Development, Ben Gurion University of the Negev) |
| Abstract: | Recent decades have witnessed intensive discussion in planning literature on gray space. From a geographical perspective it revolves primarily around gray settlements. We raise two issues of planning relevance: first, gray spacing may serve established planning processes despite their inherent contradiction; second, while roads are spatial entities, their analysis in planning theory and practice literature is marginal.Our research deals with Road 31 in the northern Negev and Bedouin unrecognized gray space villages. Recently the state has initiated a massive road upgrade project but state planning officials, planning firms and Israel Road Company did not pursue any public participation of the Bedouin who refused to evacuate their places and cooperate. The IRC hired therefore an informal "expropriation team" with profound acquaintance with Bedouin unique indigenous culture, society and polity. This unique mechanism, which is neither commensurate with official state policy of non-recognition, nor is under state formal support, facilitated intensive and creative negotiation and mediation with individual Bedouin families over financial and other terms of evacuation. The rate of success is very high, expediting the pursuance of the project considerably.Our research reveals that only by leaving the informal Bedouin reality intact, through team's firm obligation for state avoidance from taking uni-directional radical measures in Bedouin property rights and village recognition issues, could the conflict be resolved satisfactorily and the project expedited, despite the formal policy of non-recognition. Paradoxically thus, informality may facilitate efficient dialogical mechanisms benefiting both sides. This insight carries important conceptual implications for understanding planning of gray spaces, as well as for understanding the special role of roads in this unique and complex indigenous socio-spatial system. |
| Keywords: | Indigenous people, planning, space, politics, Bedouin. |
| JEL: | O20 O20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:1003410&r=ure |
| By: | Tom Broekel; Dirk Fornahl; Andrea Morrison |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the allocation of R&D subsidies with a focus on the granting success of firms located in clusters. On this basis it is evaluated whether firms in these clusters are differently embedded into networks of subsidized R&D collaboration than firms located elsewhere. The theoretical arguments are empirically tested using the example of the German biotechnology firms’ participation in the 6th EU-Framework Programmes and national R&D subsidization schemes in the early 2000s. We show that clusters grant firms another premium to their location, as they are more likely to receive funds from the EU-Framework Programmes and hold more favourable positions in national knowledge networks based on subsidies for joint R&D. |
| Keywords: | Innovation policy, R&D subsidy, collaboration networks, embeddedness, technology cluster |
| JEL: | R11 O33 R58 D85 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:1514&r=ure |
| By: | Dieter Grass |
| Abstract: | We show that the standard class of optimal control models in OCMat can be used to analyze 1D spatial distributed systems. This approach is an intermediate step on the way to the FEM discretization approach presented in Grass and Uecker (2015). Therefore, the spatial distributed model is transformed into a standard model by a finite difference discretization. This (high dimensional) standard model is then analyzed using OCMAT. As an example we apply this method to the spatial distributed shallow lake model formulated in Brock and Xepapadeas (2008). The results are then compared with those of the FEM discretization in GRass and Uecker (2015) |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1505.03956&r=ure |
| By: | Brian P. Gill; Jennifer S. Lerner; Paul Meosky |
| Abstract: | Since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) over a decade ago, the primary lever that American policymakers have used to improve K-12 school performance is “accountability.†|
| Keywords: | Accountability, K-12, Education, Behavioral Science Perspective |
| JEL: | I |
| Date: | 2015–05–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:d0c19d0709b641259fe391b2e0f3c472&r=ure |
| By: | Emily Breza; Arun G. Chandrasekhar |
| Abstract: | We conduct a field experiment with 1,300 participants in India to measure whether individuals save more when information about their savings is regularly shared with another member of their village (a “monitor”). We focus on whether the monitor's effectiveness depends on her social network position, as central monitors may be better able to disseminate information, and more proximate monitors may be more likely to pass information to individuals who interact with the saver most frequently. In 30 villages, we randomly assign monitors to a subset of savers. An average monitor increases total savings by 35%. Increasing the monitor’s network centrality by one standard deviation increases savings by 14%, and increasing proximity from social distance three to two increases savings by 16%. Supporting the information-based mechanism, 63% of monitors report telling others about the saver’s progress. Further, over a year later, villagers are more likely to know if the saver exceeded her goal and to think that the saver is responsible if the saver was randomly assigned to a more central monitor. We also provide evidence that the increase in savings persists over a year after the intervention’s end, and that monitored savers can better respond to shocks. In the remaining 30 villages, savers choose their own monitors. We find that savers choose monitors who are both proximate and central in the network. Finally, we find evidence of spillovers from monitored savers onto their non-monitored friends, suggesting another channel through which social networks influence savings decisions. |
| JEL: | D14 D83 L14 O16 Z13 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21169&r=ure |
| By: | Datta Gupta, Nabanita (Aarhus University); Simonsen, Marianne (Aarhus University) |
| Abstract: | This is one of the few studies that estimates the effects of type of childhood care on academic achievement at higher grade levels by linking day care registers and educational registers. We use entire birth cohorts of ethnic Danish children, enrolled in either center based day care or family day care at age 2. Exploiting variation across municipalities in guaranteed access to center based care as an instrument for type of care our results show that center based day care improves grades in Danish language in the final year of compulsory school with around 0.2 standard deviations. |
| Keywords: | center based care, family day care |
| JEL: | J13 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9045&r=ure |
| By: | William D. Savedoff |
| Abstract: | This paper focuses on regional differentials in income, and particulary wages. It discusses some of the explanations for these differentials, and their implications. Using evidence from several sources, the paper shows that regional wage different ials are highly stable in Braz i 1, raising quest ions about neo-classical theories of wage determination and lending support to structural and market segmentation theories. |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipe:ipetds:0021&r=ure |
| By: | Robin Dion |
| Abstract: | Each year, about 25,000 young adults “age out†of the foster care system in the United States. At age 18 (or 21 in some states), they are discharged from the system and must immediately find and maintain housing. With little or no family assistance and means of self-sufficiency, the transition is often challenging, putting these youth at high risk of homelessness. There are no national estimates for homelessness among youth aging out of foster care, nor is there much information on the breadth or effectiveness of housing programs available to them. Mathematica Policy Research collaborated with Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago to learn more about public resources and policies that can help prevent or mitigate homelessness among this population. |
| Keywords: | Housing, Youth, Foster Care, Family Support |
| JEL: | I |
| Date: | 2015–05–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:a0b2b80d6c994d7ca99496450f3c6ec5&r=ure |
| By: | Christine Ross; Mariesa Herrmann; Megan Hague Angus |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this study was to describe the measures used to evaluate principals in New Jersey in the first (pilot) year of the new principal evaluation system and examine three of the statistical properties of the measures: their variation among principals, their year-to-year stability, and the associations between these measures and the characteristics of students in the schools. |
| Keywords: | Principal Effectiveness, New Jersey, Measurement, Education |
| JEL: | I |
| Date: | 2015–05–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:20bb92f22136410c85022f992194451c&r=ure |
| By: | Angerer, Silvia (IHS Carinthia); Glätzle-Rützler, Daniela (University of Innsbruck); Lergetporer, Philipp (Ifo Institute for Economic Research); Sutter, Matthias (University of Cologne) |
| Abstract: | We present experimental evidence from a bilingual city in Northern Italy on whether the language spoken by a partner in a prisoner's dilemma game affects behavior and leads to discrimination. Running a framed field experiment with 828 six- to eleven-year old primary school children in the city of Meran, we find that cooperation generally increases with age, but that the gap between cooperation among in-group members and cooperation towards children speaking another language is considerable and increasing with age. This gap is due to both, in-group favoritism and language group discrimination. |
| Keywords: | cooperation, discrimination, language, children, experiment |
| JEL: | C91 C93 D03 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9039&r=ure |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | Moreover, across TALIS countries, teachers with less than five years’ experience are more likely than experienced teachers to teach in rural areas, where schools often have fewer resources. TALIS shows that teachers’ self-efficacy generally increases over time. Although new teachers tend to be less confident in their teaching abilities than their more experienced colleagues, they often face more challenging work environments. Experience takes time to accumulate, but confidence can be boosted through participation in professional development, such as induction programmes and mentoring. |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduaah:11-en&r=ure |
| By: | Bönke, Timm; Joachimsen, Beate; Schröder, Carsten |
| Abstract: | In many countries organized as federations, fiscal-equalization schemes have been implemented to mitigate vertical or horizontal imbalances. Such schemes usually imply that the member states of the federation can only partly internalize marginal tax revenue before redistribution. Aside from this internalized revenue, referred to as the marginal tax-back rate, the remainder is redistributed. We investigate the extent to which extent state-level authorities in such federation under-exploit their tax bases. By means of a stylized model we show that the member states have an incentive to align the effective tax rates on their residents with the level of the tax-back rate. We empirically test the model using state-level and micro-level taxpayer data, OLS regressions and natural experiments. Our empirical findings support the results from our theoretical model. Particularly, we find that states with a higher marginal tax-back rate exploit the tax base to a higher extent. |
| Keywords: | fiscal federalism,fiscal externalities,natural experiment,treatment analysis,statistical matching |
| JEL: | C21 H21 H77 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fubsbe:201515&r=ure |
| By: | Juan M. Benito-Ostolaza (Departamento de Econom´ıa.Universidad P´ublica de Navarra, Campus Arrosadia s/n. 31006 Pamplona. Navarra. Spain.); Pablo Brañas-Garza (Middlesex University London, Business School, London NW4 4BT, England.); Penélope Hern´andez (Departamento de An´alisis Econ´omico y ERI-CES, Facultad de Econom´ıa. Avda. dels Tarongers, s/n. 46022 Valencia. Spain.; ERI-CES and Department of Applied Economics II, University of Valencia. Facultad de Economía. Avenida dels Tarongers s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain.) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we experimentally test Schelling’s (1971) segregation model and confirm the striking result of segregation. In addition, we extend Schelling’s model theoretically by adding strategic behaviour and moving costs. We obtain a unique subgame perfect equilibrium in which rational agents facing moving costs may find it optimal not to move (anticipating other participants’ movements). This equilibrium is far from full segregation. We run experiments for this extended Schelling model, and find that the percentage of full segregated societies notably decreases with the cost of moving and that the degree of segregation depends on the distribution of strategic subjects. |
| Keywords: | Subgame perfect equilibrium, segregation, experimental games |
| JEL: | C72 C9 R23 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eec:wpaper:1504&r=ure |
| By: | Ricardo Paes de Barros; Rosane Silva Pinto de Mendonça; James Alan Shope |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipe:ipetds:0047&r=ure |
| By: | Mariotti, Francesco (University College London); Mumford, Karen A. (University of York); Pena-Boquete, Yolanda (University of Vigo) |
| Abstract: | We analyse the migration movements of power couples (couples where both members have at least a college degree), half power and no-power couples within Australia. We explicitly allow for potential correlation of these movements with local labour market features. Our results support the urbanisation hypothesis for ongoing couples over either the colocation or tied-mover models. Partnered college graduates like to live in major cities regardless of their gender or the qualifications of their partner. |
| Keywords: | gender, graduates, colocation, tied-mover, urbanisation, migration, power couples |
| JEL: | J3 J7 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9059&r=ure |
| By: | Mieczyslaw Adamowicz (Pope John Paul II State School of Higher Education in Biala Podlaska); Aldona Machla (Warsaw University of Life Sciences) |
| Abstract: | Subjects of research are small and medium enterprises in local scales of Pultusk town and community and policy of local authorities related to SME sector. The main task of research is an avaluation, in random sample of enterpreneurs, of the SME support system and instruments used by local authorities. Results of empirical survey were suttled in subject literature analysis and presented by comparing to the national charakteristics of MSE sector and its structure in Poland, and linking these to general suport policy by central and lokal governments. |
| Keywords: | Small and Medium Enterprises Sector, support policy for SME, Pultusk town and community, development factors and barriers for SME |
| JEL: | A11 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pes:wpaper:2015:no124&r=ure |
| By: | Chen, Yiu Por (Vincent) (City University of Hong Kong) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the relationship between fiscal decentralization, which gave greater rural industrialization and fiscal authority to local governments, and the emergence of rural-rural undocumented inter-provincial labor migration during China's initial reform period. A Heckman model is employed to correct for the zero observation problems and to consistently estimate the labor mobility with a modified gravity equation. Given the institutional barriers, the fiscal decentralization has two contending effects on labor market integration: Local economic development promotes labor mobility, but local public goods crowding restrains the inflow of labor at the destination. The crowding effect is stronger at lower levels of government. |
| Keywords: | fiscal decentralization, local economic development, local public goods, rural labor mobility |
| JEL: | H30 J61 J68 D72 |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9024&r=ure |
| By: | Jason M. Lindo; María Padilla-Romo |
| Abstract: | This study considers the effects of the kingpin strategy, an approach to fighting organized crime in which law-enforcement efforts focus on capturing the leaders of the criminal organization, on community violence in the context of Mexico's drug war. Newly available historical data on drug-trafficking organizations' areas of operation at the municipality level and monthly homicide data allow us to control for a rich set of fixed effects and to leverage variation in the timing of kingpin captures to estimate their effects. This analysis indicates that kingpin captures have large and sustained effects on the homicide rate in the municipality of capture and smaller but significant effects on other municipalities where the kingpin's organization has a presence, supporting the notion that removing kingpins can have destabilizing effects throughout an organization that are accompanied by escalations in violence. |
| JEL: | I18 K42 O12 |
| Date: | 2015–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21171&r=ure |
| By: | Ricardo Paes de Barros |
| Abstract: | In this paper we pursue three objectives. First, we compare the wage-distributions in the informal and formal sectors for a group of workers employed in the Brazilian Construction Sector. The empirical regularities we encounter are not, however, specific to this particular group of workers. Indeed, similar resulta are also observed for several other homogeneous groups. Second, we investigate how observed differences in means, variances, and quantiles should be interpreted. Finally, we describe three models for the formal-informal segmentation of the labor market, analyse their consistency with the observed regularities, and discuss how these regularities should be interpreted in the context of each individual model. We conclude that the observed regularities are consistent with a wide range of models, although their interpretation varies remarkably depending on the model we are considering. |
| Date: | 2015–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipe:ipetds:0018&r=ure |
| By: | Huber, Hans |
| Abstract: | This paper examines air traffic patterns among China’s scheduled airlines in January 2006 and January 2011, using Official Airline Guide data on carrier schedules. The author classifies Chinese carriers into one of 4 classes. Airports are also organized into a classification scheme based on several criteria related to the total volume of traffic, the carriers serving the airports and the nature of the airports to which they are connected. Counts, sums, percentage shares and changes in these calculations between 2006 and 2011 are presented in a small number of tables. Inferences about the fundamental structure and future patterns of capacity growth for the yet not fully emerged Chinese ATS can be drawn. |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iim:iimawp:13652&r=ure |
| By: | Santeramo, Fabio Gaetano; Morelli, Mariangela |
| Abstract: | Gravity models are widely used to study tourism flows. The peculiarities of the segmented international demand for agritourism in Italy is examined by means of novel approach: a panel data quantile regression. We characterize the international demand for Italian agritourism with a large dataset, by considering data of thirty-three countries of origin, from 1998 to 2010. Distance and income are major determinants, but we also found that mutual agreements and high urbanization rates in countries of origin are associated with larger flows of incoming tourists. |
| Keywords: | Flows, Arrivals, Agritourism, Gravity, PPML, Quantile Regression |
| JEL: | F22 L83 Q18 Q19 R23 |
| Date: | 2015–04–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:64446&r=ure |
| By: | Künn-Nelen, Annemarie (ROA, Maastricht University) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the relation between commuting time and health in the United Kingdom. I focus on four different types of health outcomes: subjective health measures, objective health measures, health behavior, and health care utilization. Fixed effect models are estimated with British Household Panel Survey data. I find that whereas objective health and health behavior are barely affected by commuting time, subjective health measures are clearly lower for people who commute longer. A longer commuting time is, moreover, related to more visits to the general practitioner. Effects turn out to be more pronounced for women and for commuters driving a car. For women, commuting time is also negatively related to regular exercise and positively to calling in sick. |
| Keywords: | health, commuting time, transportation mode |
| JEL: | I12 R41 |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9031&r=ure |
| By: | Battini, D.; Glock, C. H.; Grosse, E. H.; Persona, A.; Sgarbossa, F. |
| Date: | 2015–05–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dar:wpaper:73333&r=ure |