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on Urban and Real Estate Economics |
| By: | Sofia F. Franco |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effects of changes in downtown parking supply on urban welfare, modal choice decisions and urban spatial structure using a spatial general equilibrium model of a closed monocentric city with two transport modes, endogenous residential parking and a form of bottleneck congestion at the CBD. Our analysis shows that parking reforms at the CBD that increase delay congestion costs in the short-run such as parking supply limits can be welfare improving if other commuting externalities such as air pollution can be reduced. In addition, because parking limits can also change location decisions such as where to live and invest they may complement anti-sprawl policies efforts by leading to a more compact urban spatial structure in the long run. We also show that changes in downtown parking supply can have different spatial impacts on the market supply of residential parking by affecting urban residents’ location decisions. Finally, we discuss the role of parking pricing as a complementary tool of congestion pricing to combat congestion in central areas and investigate whether the self-financing theorem of transportation economics holds within the context of our spatial urban model. JEL codes: |
| Keywords: | Downtown Parking, Bottleneck Congestion, Urban Form, Modal Choice |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unl:unlfep:wp598&r=ure |
| By: | Akamatsu, Takashi; Osawa, Minoru; Takayama, Yuki |
| Abstract: | Harris and Wilson (1978)’s retail location model is one of the pioneering works in regional sciences on the combination of the “fast” and “slow” dynamic describing spatial pattern formation processes in the economic landscape, which is a current well-established modeling technique. Although proposed some time ago, the comparative static (bifurcation) properties of the model have not yet been sufficiently explored. We employ a simple analytical approach developed by Akamatsu et al. (2012) to reveal previously unknown bifurcation properties of the model in a space with a large number of locations. It is analytically shown that the evolutionary path of spatial structure exhibits a remarkable property, namely “spatial period- doubling cascade,” which we cannot observe in the popular two-location setup. We also discuss strong linkages between the model and the models of “new economic geography” regarding the modeling strategies and their bifurcation properties. |
| Keywords: | agglomeration, multiple agglomerations, stability, bifurcation, new economic geography model |
| JEL: | C62 F12 F15 R12 R13 |
| Date: | 2015–11–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:67974&r=ure |
| By: | Xuan Huang; Bruno Lanz |
| Abstract: | Using a dual-market sorting model of workers' location decisions, this paper studies the capitalization of air pollution in wages and property prices across Chinese cities. We exploit quasi-experimental variations in particulate matter (PM10) concentration induced by a policy subsidizing coal-based winter heating in northern China, specifying a regression discontinuity design based on cities' location relative to the policy boundary. We estimate that the elasticity of wages and house prices with respect to PM10 concentration is 0.41 and -0.71 respectively. Our results are robust to the use of an alternative source of exogenous variation in PM10 concentration (sandstorms), supporting the view that the local effect we measure provides policy-relevant information on the value of air quality improvements in China. |
| Keywords: | Hedonic model; Air pollution; Labor market; Housing prices; Local public goods. |
| JEL: | H41 J31 R31 Q53 |
| Date: | 2015–11–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gii:ciesrp:cies_rp_37&r=ure |
| By: | John Muellbauer; Pierre St-Amant; David Williams |
| Abstract: | There is widespread agreement that, in the United States, higher house prices raise consumption via collateral or possibly wealth effects. The presence of similar channels in Canada would have important implications for monetary policy transmission. We trace the impact of shifts in non-price household credit conditions through joint estimation of a system of error-correction equations for Canadian aggregate consumption, house prices and mortgage debt. We find strong evidence that, after controlling for income and household portfolios, easier credit conditions raise house prices, debt and consumption. However, unlike in the United States, housing collateral effects on consumption are absent. Given credit conditions, rising house prices increase the mortgage down-payment requirement and reduce consumption, although there is evidence for some attenuation of this effect over the 2000s. We also find that high and rising levels of both house prices and debt since the late-1990s can be mostly explained by movements in incomes, housing supply, mortgage interest rates and credit conditions, suggesting that the outlook for house prices and debt could depend mainly on the future paths of these variables. |
| Keywords: | Credit and credit aggregates, Domestic demand and components, Economic models, Financial Institutions, Financial stability, Financial system regulation and policies, Housing, Transmission of monetary policy |
| JEL: | E02 E21 E44 G21 R21 R31 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bca:bocawp:15-40&r=ure |
| By: | Andrea Lépine |
| Abstract: | The provision of information on schools' performance on standardized tests is expected to generate pressure on schools as students and their families can compare them and make more informed school choices. This paper uses administrative data from Brazil to explore whether the publication of grades obtained at a standardized high school test (the Enem) resulted in changes in enrollments in high and low performing schools, through a sharp regression discontinuity design. The results show that the disclosure of school grades did not result in students reallocating between both types of school, in neither private nor public schools. The findings remain unchanged when I control for the degree of competition faced by schools or their socio-economic environment. |
| Keywords: | School choice; Standardized tests; School accountability |
| JEL: | I25 I28 D83 |
| Date: | 2015–10–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spa:wpaper:2015wpecon38&r=ure |
| By: | Fack, Gabrielle; Grenet, Julien; He, Yinghua |
| Abstract: | We propose novel approaches and tests for estimating student preferences with data from school choice mechanisms, e.g., the Gale-Shapley Deferred Acceptance. Without requiring truth-telling to be the unique equilibrium, we show that the matching is (asymptotically) stable, or justified-envy-free, implying that every student is assigned to her favorite school among those she is qualified for \emph{ex post}. Having validated the methods in simulations, we apply them to data from Paris and reject truth-telling but not stability. Our estimates are then used to compare the sorting and welfare effects of alternative admission criteria prescribing how schools rank students in centralized mechanisms. |
| Keywords: | Gale-Shapley Deferred-Acceptance Mechanism, School Choice, Stable Matching, Student Preferences, Admission Criteria |
| JEL: | C78 D50 D61 I21 |
| Date: | 2015–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:wpaper:29845&r=ure |
| By: | Monte, Ferdinando; Redding, Stephen J.; Rossi-Hansberg, Esteban |
| Abstract: | Many changes in the economic environment are local, including policy changes and infrastructure investments. The effect of these changes depends crucially on the ability of factors to move in response. Therefore a key object of interest for policy evaluation and design is the elasticity of local employment to these changes in the economic environment. We develop a quantitative general equilibrium model that incorporates spatial linkages between locations in goods markets (trade) and factor markets (commuting and migration). We find substantial heterogeneity across locations in local employment elasticities. We show that this heterogeneity can be well explained with theoretically motivated measures of commuting flows. Without taking into account this dependence, estimates of the local employment elasticity for one location are not generalizable to other locations. We also find that commuting flows and their importance cannot be accounted for with standard measures of size or wages at the county or commuting zone levels. |
| Keywords: | local impact; mobility; productivity shocks; Ricardian models; trade |
| JEL: | F10 J21 J61 R12 R23 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:10933&r=ure |
| By: | Adamopoulou, Effrosyni; Kaya, Ezgi (Cardiff Business School) |
| Abstract: | This paper focuses on young adults living with their parents in the U.S. and studies the role of peers. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) we analyze the influence of high school friends on the nest-leaving decision of young adults. We achieve identification by exploiting the differences in the timing of leaving the parental home among peers, the individual-specific nature of the peer groups that are based on friendship nominations, and by including school (net-work) and grade (cohort) fixed effects. Our results indicate that there are statistically significant peer effects on the decision of young adults to leave parental home. This is true even after we control for labor and housing market conditions and for a comprehensive list of individual and family-of-origin characteristics that are usually unobserved by the econometrician. We discuss various mechanisms and we confirm the robustness of our results through a placebo exercise. Our findings reconcile with the increasing trend of young adults living with their parents that has been observed in the US during the last 50 years. |
| Keywords: | peer effects; friends; living arrangements; leaving parental home |
| JEL: | D10 J12 J60 Z13 |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdf:wpaper:2015/12&r=ure |
| By: | Servaas van der Berg (Department of Economics, University of Stellenbosch) |
| Abstract: | Much hope is placed on education systems to reduce socio-economic learning gaps. However, in South Africa, uneven functioning of the school system widens learning gaps. This paper analyses education performance using ANA data. Weak calibration and inter-temporal or inter-grade comparability of ANA test scores limit their usefulness for measuring learning gains. However, relative performance provides meaningful information on learning gaps and deficits. A reference group that is roughly on track to achieve the TIMSS average is used to estimate the performance required in each grade to perform at TIMSS’ low international benchmark. By Grade 4, patterns across quintiles of on-track performance approximate matric exemption patterns. Viewed differently, academic and labour market prospects may be bleak for children who are no longer on track. Improvement in outcomes requires greater emphasis on the Foundation Phase or earlier, before learning deficits have grown to the extreme levels observed by the middle of primary school. This statement is true whether deficits arise from weak early instruction, or simply because a disadvantaged home environment requires early remedial action. The emphasis on the early grades that this analysis of the ANAs suggests is contrary to the conclusions drawn from the ANA results by policy makers that weak test scores in Mathematics in Grade 9 require major interventions in that grade. |
| Keywords: | Education, inequality, quality of education |
| JEL: | I24 I28 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sza:wpaper:wpapers251&r=ure |
| By: | Fuess, Roland; Koller, Jan |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the predictive power of five linear hedonic pricing models for the residential market with varying complexity in their spatial and temporal structure. In contrast to similar studies, we extend the out-of-sample forecast evaluation to one-day-ahead predictions with a rolling estimation window, which is a reasonable setting for many practical applications. We can show that in-sample fit and cross-validation prediction accuracy improve significantly when we account for spatial heterogeneity. In particular, for one-day-ahead forecasts, the spatiotemporal autoregressive (STAR) model demonstrates its superiority compared to model specifications with alternating spatial and temporal heterogeneity and dependence structures. In addition, sub-market fixed-effects, constructed on the basis of statistical TREE methods, further improve the results of predefined local rental markets. |
| Keywords: | Classification and Regression Tree (CART) Technique, Forecast Evaluation, Hedonic Pricing Model, Rental Prices, Spatiotemporal Autoregressive (STAR) Model |
| JEL: | C1 C2 R3 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usg:sfwpfi:2015:23&r=ure |
| By: | Chris McDonald (Reserve Bank of New Zealand) |
| Abstract: | Previous studies have shown that limits on loan-to- value (LTV) and debt-to-income (DTI) ratios can stabilise the housing market, and that tightening these limits tends to be more effective than loosening them. This paper examines whether the relative effectiveness of tightening vs. loosening macroprudential measures depends on where in the housing cycle they are implemented. I find that tightening measures have greater effects when credit is expanding quickly and when house prices are high relative to income. Loosening measures seem to have smaller effects than tightening, but the difference is negligible in downturns. Loosening being found to have small effects is consistent with where it occurs in the cycle. macroprudential policies. |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nzb:nzbdps:2015/06&r=ure |
| By: | Deeken, Tim |
| Abstract: | This paper assesses the robustness of the empirical results in Ertur and Koch (2007), who develop a model, which accounts for technological interdependence among countries through spatial externalities. The original version models interdependence via an interaction matrix based on geographic distance. In contrast, in this paper, data on genetic distance, defined as the time since two populations have shared a common ancestor, from Spolaore and Wacziarg (2009) is used to construct the interaction matrix. It is found that, whereas in the original model indirect spillovers from capital investment were insignificant, using genetic distance, these spillovers now have a significant effect on steady-state income per worker. However, the version of the model with an interaction matrix based on genetic distance implies an implausibly large capital share of income. In addition, the model is subjected to a further series of robustness checks. The original version relies on data from Penn World Table (PWT) Version 6.1. More recent versions are currently available, and the data has been extensively revised (Johnson et al., 2013). It is shown that results are in general not robust across different versions of the PWT. Furthermore, the estimation results are highly sensitive both to the measure used to model interaction between countries (genetic or geographic distance) and to the specific functional form on which the weights in the interaction matrix are based. |
| Keywords: | knowledge spillovers,genetic distance,spatial externalities,technological interdependence |
| JEL: | O47 C31 C52 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:kitwps:74&r=ure |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | Only in some countries is a larger proportion of immigrant students in schools related to lower student performance – and this relationship is mostly explained by the concentration of disadvantaged students in these schools. Immigrant students from the same country of origin and similar socio-economic background often perform differently in different school systems. There is a strong connection between the performance of immigrants at school and their education and labour market outcomes as young adults. |
| Date: | 2015–11–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduddd:57-en&r=ure |
| By: | Cai,Yongyang; Selod,Harris; Steinbuks,Jevgenijs |
| Abstract: | Since the industrial revolution, the economic development of Western Europe and North America was characterized by continuous urbanization accompanied by a gradual phasing-in of urban land property rights over time. Today, however, the evidence in many fast urbanizing low-income countries points towards a different trend of ?urbanization without formalization?, with potentially adverse effects on long-term economic growth. This paper aims to understand the causes and the consequences of this phenomenon, and whether informal city growth could be a transitory or a persistent feature of developing economies. A dynamic stochastic equilibrium model of a representative city is developed, which explicitly accounts for the joint dynamics of land property rights and urbanization. The calibrated baseline model describes a city that first grows informally, with the growth of individual incomes leading to a phased-in purchase of property rights in subsequent periods. The model demonstrates that land tenure informality does not necessarily vanish in the long term, and the social optimum does not necessarily imply a fully formal city, neither in the transition, nor in the long run. The welfare effects of policies, such as reducing the cost of land tenure formalization, or protecting informal dwellers against evictions are subsequently investigated, throughout the short-term transition and in the long-term stationary state. |
| Keywords: | Public Sector Management and Reform,Urban Governance and Management,Urban Housing,Banks&Banking Reform,Regional Governance |
| Date: | 2015–11–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7486&r=ure |
| By: | Machiel van Dijk |
| Abstract: | People tend to neglect or underweight opportunity costs. Strong empirical evidence for the size of the underweighting appears to be absent. What are the weights people attach to opportunity costs relative to out-of-pocket costs? In this paper I estimate the weight of opportunity costs in probably the largest economic decision that households make: buying a house. I show that homeowners attach approximately twice as much weight to out-of-pocket costs of their housing consumption than to the opportunity costs associated with this. <strong>Highlights</strong><ul><li>Housing consumption lends itself well for empirically analyzing opportunity costs.</li><li>I split up the user costs of housing in out-of-pocket and opportunity costs.</li><li>Homeowners weigh in their opportunity costs at only 50 to 65 percent.</li><li>It is unclear whether homeowners underestimate these costs or simply care less about them.</li></ul> |
| JEL: | D11 D12 R21 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpb:discus:314&r=ure |
| By: | Deeken, Tim |
| Abstract: | In this paper, the Schumpeterian growth model developed by Ertur and Koch (2011) that includes spatial interactions between units of observation working via R&D spillovers is presented in detail. The implications of this model and three additional growth models with and without spatial interaction that are nested within this framework are tested for the US states econometrically. It is found that investments in R&D have a positive impact on steady-state income per worker in the Schumpeterian growth model without complex interaction between states, but this effect is absent in the model proposed by Ertur and Koch (2011), even though the estimate for the coefficient measuring interconnectedness between regions is positive and significant. This latter result is robust to alternative specifications of the interaction matrix. |
| Keywords: | R&D spillovers,Schumpeterian growth,spatial econometrics |
| JEL: | O18 O47 R11 C31 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:kitwps:75&r=ure |
| By: | Tamás Hajdu (Institute of Economics, Center for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences); Gábor Kertesi (Institute of Economics, Center for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences); Gábor Kezdi (Institute of Economics, Center for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences) |
| Abstract: | This study examines friendship and hostility relations between Roma students and the ethnically homogeneous non-Roma majority in Hungarian schools, where anti-Roma sentiments are strong. High-achieving Roma students have significantly more friends and fewer adversaries than low-achieving ones because of more non-Roma friends, fewer non-Roma adversaries, and the same number of Roma friends and adversaries. The associations are strong for publicly observable GPA but weak for unobserved test scores and may be the results of assignment to the same classes for many years. Simulations suggest that a mixed policy of desegregation and closing the achievement gap may best foster positive interethnic relations in this environment. |
| Keywords: | Social interactions, Minority students, Achievement gap |
| JEL: | J15 I24 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:has:bworkp:1507&r=ure |
| By: | Hopfensitz, Astrid; Miquel-Florensa, Josepa |
| Abstract: | Low intensity armed conflict is usually related to population displacement, altering networks and social capital in affected regions. With an incentivized questionnaire performed in the Colombian coffee growing axis (Eje Cafetero), we observe contribution to an abstract and anonymous public good when contributions are not enforceable. Game contributions are significantly higher in regions with high net-changes of population due to displacement, both for regions with net in-flow and net out-flow, compared to a more stable area. We find that the effect is especially strong for women in net out-flow areas; usually the most affected if male family members are forcibly displaced. We further propose a local inspection mechanism, and show that it increases contributions in all areas independently of the displacement history of the location and the individuals preferences with respect to this mechanism. |
| Keywords: | Colombia ; conflict ; displacement ; public good games |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:wpaper:29843&r=ure |
| By: | Christopher F Baum (Boston College; DIW Berlin); Hans Lööf (Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm); Pardis Nabavi (Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines variations in productivity growth due to innovation within a given location and between different locations. Implementing a dynamic panel data approach on Swedish micro data, we test the sepa- rate and complementary effects of internal innovation efforts and spillovers from the local milieu. Measuring the potential knowledge spillover by ac- cess to knowledgeintensive services, the estimation results produce strong evidence of differences in the capacity to benefit from external knowledge among persistent innovators, temporary innovators and non-innovators. The results are consistent regardless of whether innovation efforts are measured in terms of the frequency of patent applications or the rate of R&D investment. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, spillovers, TFP growth, panel data |
| JEL: | C23 O31 O32 |
| Date: | 2015–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:boc:bocoec:885&r=ure |
| By: | Iacovone,Leonardo; Sanchez Bayardo,Luis Fernando; Sharma,Siddharth |
| Abstract: | This paper examines whether labor productivity converged across Peru?s regions (?departments?) during 2002-12. Given the large differences in labor productivity across the regions of Peru, such convergence has the potential to raise aggregate productivity and incomes, and also reduce regional inequalities. The paper finds that labor productivity in the secondary sector (especially manufacturing) and the mining sector has converged across Peruvian departments. The paper does not find robust evidence for labor productivity convergence in agriculture and services. These patterns are consistent with recent cross-country evidence and with the hypothesis that productivity convergence is more likely in sectors with greater scope for market integration, because of the effects of competition and knowledge flows. The convergence in labor productivity within manufacturing and mining has been sufficient to lead to convergence in aggregate labor productivity across departments. But because services and agriculture continue to employ the majority of workers in Peru, aggregate convergence is slower than that within manufacturing. The paper also finds that poverty rates are not converging across departments. The limited impact of labor productivity convergence on poverty could be tied to the facts that not all sectors are experiencing productivity convergence, poorer people are employed in sectors where convergence has been slower (such as agriculture), and there is very little labor reallocation toward converging sectors (such as manufacturing). |
| Keywords: | Labor Markets,Trade and Regional Integration,Economic Theory&Research,Regional Economic Development,Labor Policies |
| Date: | 2015–11–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7499&r=ure |
| By: | Hunt Allcott; Daniel Keniston |
| Abstract: | Do natural resources benefit producer economies, or is there a "Natural Resource Curse," perhaps as Dutch Disease crowds out manufacturing? We combine new data on oil and gas abundance with Census of Manufactures microdata to estimate how oil and gas booms have affected local economies in the United States. Migration does not fully offset labor demand growth, so local wages rise. Notwithstanding, manufacturing is actually pro-cyclical with resource booms, driven by growth in upstream and locally traded sectors. The results highlight the importance of highly local demand for many manufacturers and underscore how natural resource linkages can drive manufacturing growth. |
| JEL: | J2 L6 O4 Q43 R1 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:15-41&r=ure |
| By: | Helena Nielsen (Aarhus University); Juanna Joensen (Stockholm School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we specify and test a model of how the aggregate skill supply is shaped by institutions and social peer groups. First, we exploit a universal policy reform signaling less importance of advanced math-science in high school. We show how it amplified the fall in skill supply in peer groups with a stronger math-science norm. We also document a gender convergence in math-science skills. This is mainly triggered by boys strongly crowding in the policy reform as they face a higher social cost of not conforming. Second, we analyze the underlying mechanism by estimating causal sibling peer effects in the math-science choice. We exploit quasi-experimental variation stemming from a pre-reform pilot scheme. The pilot induced some older siblings to choose advanced math-science at a lower cost, while not directly affecting the course choices of younger siblings. Therefore, any influences of the pilot scheme on the younger siblings may be attributed to the peer influence of the older sibling. Our results suggest that peer effects among siblings are strongest among closely spaced siblings, in particular brothers. We argue that competition is likely the driving force behind younger siblings conforming to their older siblings' choices. |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:red:sed015:1343&r=ure |
| By: | Ruan, Jianqing; Zhang, Xiaobo |
| Abstract: | An industrial cluster is a locality with a high concentration of firms in related businesses. Although relatedness and concentration are the two defining features of an industrial cluster, the commonly used measures of clustering often fail to simultaneously capture both dimensions. Based on the product space literature, we first compute the degree of relatedness based on the concept of industrial proximity. Next, we develop a clustering index that takes into account both proximity and concentration. Finally, we calculate this new proximity-based index using the 1995 China Industrial Census and the 2004 and 2008 China Economic Census. The new index predicts China’s top 100 industrial clusters much more accurately than existing cluster measures. |
| Keywords: | economic development, industrial sector, industrial development, markets, regulations, economic policies, industrial clusters, proximity, concentration, |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1468&r=ure |
| By: | Birg, Laura |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the effect of an online retailer on spatial tax competition with cross-border shopping. For low fixed cost of online shopping, the online retailer is active in both markets and tax rates are higher in the online equilibrium than in the online equilibrium. For intermediate fixed cost of online shopping, the online retailer is active in only one market and tax rates are lower in the online equilibrium than in the online equilibrium. For asymmetric countries, the entry of the online retailer may disperse or reverse the tax differential. |
| Keywords: | tax competition,cross-border shopping,online retailer |
| JEL: | F12 H20 L13 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cegedp:265&r=ure |
| By: | Chen Song (Department of Economics/Institute for International Economic Policy, George Washington University); Chao Wei (Department of Economics/Institute for International Economic Policy, George Washington University) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we use five decades of time use surveys, including the annual American Time Use Survey between 2003 and 2013, to document travel time uses in the aggregate and across demographic groups. We find that total travel time features an inverted-U shape over time, registering a 20 percent increase from 1975 to 1993, but an 18 percent decline from 1993 to 2013. We find that demographic shifts explain around 45 percent of the increase in total travel time from 1975 to 1993. Increases in educational attainment alone contribute to around 28 percent of the increase. Demographic shifts play a much smaller role in the evolution of total travel time afterwards. From 2003 to 2013 the shift of time allocation from travel-intensive non-market work to travel-non-intensive leisure accounts for around 50 percent of the decline in total travel time. |
| Keywords: | Travel time use; Time use survey; Market work; Non-market work; Leisure |
| JEL: | J22 R41 D13 |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gwi:wpaper:2015-19&r=ure |
| By: | enoch hill (university of minnesota); Fabrizio Perri (University of Minnesota); Alessandra Fogli (Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses micro-spatial data and develops a simple theory that explicitly includes a spatial dimension to better understand the start and the diffusion of business cycles. We first document how unemployment has diffused across US counties during recent recessions and find a recurring spatial pattern. Unemployment does not increase in all counties at the same time; at the start of the recession it increases in a few specific areas and then spreads from there to the rest of the country, following an epidemic pattern, i.e. increasing first in areas that are closer to areas of high unemployment. Our theory develops a stylized model of a country, composed by many locations, where each location is connected to its neighbors by explicit trade links. In particular we assume that each location produces a differentiated good which is demanded more heavily by locations which are nearby. Labor markets are segmented at the location level and in each location there can be unemployment due to sticky wages. We then model an aggregate shock as an event that affects, at the same time, the productivity or the demand (modeled as government demand for a good produced by a given location) of many different (random) locations. We have two main findings. The first is that our setup is able to account for the spatial pattern of business cycles we document in the data. The second is that the intensity of the local trade links is an important determinant of the amplification and propagation of the initial aggregate shock. If trade links are strong, small shocks tend to be muted and not persistent, while large shocks can be very disruptive. If trade links are weak, the opposite is true, small shocks |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:red:sed015:1356&r=ure |
| By: | Esad Smajlbegovic |
| Abstract: | This study analyzes the link between regional economic conditions and stock returns. I identify all U.S. states that are economically relevant for a firm through textual analysis of annual reports and construct a novel proxy for future regional economic activity. Using this proxy, I find that forecasts on economic conditions of firm-relevant U.S. regions positively predict stock returns on a monthly basis. This finding is robust to short-term reversal, individual stock momentum, industry momentum, geographic dispersion and a list of standard controls. A zero-cost trading strategy based on this new predictive variable generates a risk-adjusted return of 5.75 (5.30) percent per year using an equal-weighted (value-weighted) portfolio. Additionally, these results indicate that information arising from all relevant states matters over and above the information content of the mere headquarter state. Further evidence indicates that forecasts of regional activity also predict firms' real operations, suggesting that economic conditions of U.S. regions capture an important cash flow component of stock returns. Finally, I show that the gradual diffusion of regional information is slower among difficult-to-arbitrage firms. |
| JEL: | G12 G14 M41 R11 |
| Date: | 2015–11–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jmp:jm2015:psm196&r=ure |
| By: | Chatterjee S.; Peters H.J.M.; Storcken A.J.A. (GSBE) |
| Abstract: | It is shown that in a model where agents have single-peaked preferences on the sphere, every Pareto optimal social choice function that is strict or coalitional strategy-proof, is dictatorial. |
| Keywords: | Social Choice; Clubs; Committees; Associations; |
| JEL: | D71 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:umagsb:2015028&r=ure |
| By: | Bover, Olympia; Casado, José Maria; Costa, Sonia; Du Caju, Philip; McCarthy, Yvonne; Sierminska, Eva; Tzamourani, Panagiota; Villanueva, Ernesto; Zavadil, Tibor |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is twofold. First, we present an up-to-date assessment of the differences across euro area countries in the distributions of various measures of debt conditional on household characteristics. We consider three different outcomes: the probability of holding secured debt, the amount of secured debt held and the interest rate paid on the main mortgage. Second, we examine the role of legal and economic institutions in accounting for these differences. We use data from the first wave of a new survey of household finances, the Household Finance and Consumption Survey. Adjusting for household composition, we find substantial cross-country variation in secured debt outcomes and in their distribution across age and income groups. Among all the institutions considered, the length of asset repossession periods best accounts for the differences across countries in the distribution of secured debt. In countries with longer repossession periods, the fraction of people who borrow is smaller, the youngest group of households borrow lower amounts (conditional on borrowing), and the mortgage interest rates paid by low-income households are higher. Regulatory loan-to-value ratios, the taxation of mortgages and the prevalence of fixed-rate mortgages deliver less robust results. |
| Keywords: | Fixed rate mortgages; Household debt and interest rate distributions; Loan-to-Value ratios; Taxation; Time to Foreclose |
| JEL: | D14 G21 G28 K35 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:10934&r=ure |
| By: | Ana Ramos (Rede (Universidade de Vigo)); Alberto Gago (Rede (Universidade de Vigo)); Xavier Labandeira (Rede (Universidade de Vigo) and European University Institute); Pedro Linares (Universidad Pontificia Comillas) |
| Abstract: | In spite of the large potential and existing efforts to foster energy efficiency in the residential sector, much remains to be achieved. This may be partially due to the many barriers and market failures faced by energy efficiency, which are even greater in the residential sector. In particular, informational failures seem to be pervasive and relevant in this area. Addressing these issues requires specific policy instruments and strategies. This paper reviews the empirical evidence on the effectiveness of such instruments, focusing on energy certificates, feedback programs, and energy audits. Results show that energy certificates and feedback programs can be effective, but only if they are carefully designed. Yet energy audits seem to have little effect on efficiency. In addition, the paper points out the large potential for new instruments as well as combinations of existing ones. |
| Keywords: | Energy efficiency, information, behavior. |
| JEL: | Q40 Q48 Q58 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:efe:wpaper:04-2014&r=ure |