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on Urban and Real Estate Economics |
| By: | Popov, Alexander; Laeven, Luc |
| Abstract: | We exploit regional variation in US house price fluctuations during the boom-bust cycle of the 2000s to study the impact of the housing cycle on young Americans' choices related to education and employment. We find that in MSAs which experienced large increases in house prices between 2001 and 2006, young adults were substantially more likely to forego a higher education and join the workforce, lowering skill formation. During the bust years, the young, especially those without higher education, were more likely to be unemployed in areas which experienced higher declines in house prices. JEL Classification: E32, G21, J10, R21 |
| Keywords: | booms, education, house prices, unemployment |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20161892&r=ure |
| By: | OKUBO Toshihiro; OKAZAKI Tetsuji; TOMIURA Eiichi |
| Abstract: | Cluster policy is designed to facilitate inter-firm networking. We examine industrial clusters in Japan based on firm-level transaction data. Firms in clusters expand transaction networks at higher speeds, but do so significantly only with firms agglomerated in Tokyo and not with local firms within the same region. By disaggregating firms according to their main bank types, we find that cluster firms expanding networks are mainly financed by regional banks and not by banks with nationwide operations. This suggests the importance of intensive relationships with main banks for inter-firm network formation. |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:16071&r=ure |
| By: | Tyrefors Hinnerich, Bjorn (Dept. of Economics, Stockholm University); Vlachos, Jonas (Dept. of Economics, Stockholm University) |
| Abstract: | Sweden has a school voucher system with universal coverage and full acceptance of corporate providers. Using a value added approach, we find that students at upper- secondary voucher schools on average score 0.06 standard deviations lower on externally graded standardized tests in first year core courses. The negative impact is larger among lower achieving students (but not among immigrant students), the same students who are most prone to attend voucher schools. For high achieving students, the voucher school impact is around zero. Comparing internal and external evaluations of the same standardized tests, we find that voucher schools are 0.14 standard deviations more generous than municipal schools in their internal test grading. The greater leniency in test grading is relatively uniform across different groups, but more pronounced among students at academic than vocational programs. The findings are consistent with voucher schools responding more to differences in educational preferences than municipal schools. |
| Keywords: | Voucher schools; student achievement; grading standards |
| JEL: | H40 I21 I22 |
| Date: | 2016–06–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:sunrpe:2016_0002&r=ure |
| By: | Rangan Gupta (Department of Economics, University of Pretoria); Xiaojin Sun (Department of Economics and Finance, University of Texas at El Paso) |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates, for the first time, the impact of housing market spillovers on a small open economy, namely South Africa, using a small-open economy new Keynesian dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model (SOE-NKDSGE) which explicitly incorporates a housing sector. Using quarterly data covering the period of 1971:Q1-2015:Q3, we obtain the following set of results: (a) Over the business cycle, the housing preference shock and the technology shock in the consumption sector drive most of the fluctuations of real house price; (b) The spillover effects of the housing market to the boarder economy are not negligible; (c) The central bank of South Africa has actively responded to house price movements over the past 45 years; and (d) The flexible exchange rate policy has helped South Africa maintain the macroeconomic stability to a large extent. |
| Keywords: | Housing Market, Spillovers, Monetary Policy, Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium Model, South Africa |
| JEL: | E21 E32 E44 E52 R31 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pre:wpaper:201641&r=ure |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | Building on our 2015 report Urban Mobility System Upgrade: How Shared Self-driving Cars Could Change City Traffic, this study models the impact of replacing all car and bus trips in a city with mobility provided through fleets of shared vehicles. The simulation is, again, based on real mobility and network data from a mid-size European city, namely Lisbon, Portugal. |
| Date: | 2016–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:itfaac:21-en&r=ure |
| By: | Geiger, Felix; Muellbauer, John; Rupprecht, Manuel |
| Abstract: | House price booms in Anglo-Saxon economies and their collapse were an important part of the financial accelerator via consumption, construction and the banking system. This paper examines links for Germany between household portfolios, income and consumption in a six-equation system, for 1980-2012 data, for consumption, house prices, consumer credit, housing loans, liquid assets and permanent income with latent variables representing the shifts in the availability of the two types of credit. We find evidence of well specified consumption and house price functions and that Germany differs greatly from the Anglo-Saxon economies: rising house prices do not translate into higher consumer spending. This suggests that the transmission of monetary policy via asset prices, in particular house prices, on consumption is likely to be less effective, and any financial accelerator weaker, in Germany than in the US or the UK. There is little evidence of overvaluation of German house prices by 2012. JEL Classification: E21, E27, E44, E51, E58 |
| Keywords: | consumption, credit conditions, credit market liberalization, household debt, housing collateral, monetary transmission |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20161904&r=ure |
| By: | Mike Helal (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne); Michael Coelli (Department of Economics, The University of Melbourne) |
| Abstract: | Recent studies in Economics have found that the idiosyncratic effect of school leaders may be an important factor in improving student outcomes. The specific channels through which principals affect schools are, with minor exceptions, still largely unexplored in this literature. Employing a unique administrative panel data set from the Victorian public school system, we construct estimates of the idiosyncratic effects of principals on student achievement. We do so using fixed effects techniques and turnover of principals across schools to isolate the effect of principals from the effect of schools themselves. More importantly, through annual detailed staff and parent surveys, we investigate several potential mechanisms through which individual principals may affect student outcomes. Classification-I21 |
| Keywords: | Student achievement, school principals, value-added |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iae:iaewps:wp2016n18&r=ure |
| By: | Bai, Yu; Zhang, Linxiu; Liu, Chengfang; Shi, Yaojiang; Mo, Di; Rozelle, Scott |
| Abstract: | China’s rapid development and urbanization has induced large numbers of rural residents to migrate from their homes in the countryside to urban areas in search of higher wages. As a consequence, it is estimated that more than 60 million children in rural China are left behind and live with relatives, typically their paternal grandparents. These children are called Left Behind Children (or LBCs). There are concerns about the potential negative effects of parental migration on the academic performance of the LBCs that could be due to the absence of parental care. However, it might also be that when a child’s parents work in the city away from home, their remittances can increase the household’s income and provide more resources and that this can lead to better academic performance. Hence, the net impact of out-migration on the academic performance of LBCs is unclear. This paper examines changes in academic performance before and after the parents of students out-migrate. We draw on a panel dataset collected by the authors of more than 13,000 students at 130 rural primary schools in ethnic minority areas of rural China. Using difference-in-difference and propensity score matching approaches, our results indicate that generally parental migration has significant, positive impacts on the academic performance of LBCs (which we measure using standardized English test scores). Heterogeneous analysis using our data demonstrates that the positive impact on LBCs is greater for poorer performing students. |
| Keywords: | migration, academic performance, left-behind children, difference-in-difference, rural China, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Labor and Human Capital, Public Economics, O12, O15, |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236806&r=ure |
| By: | Carlianne Patrick (Georgia State University, Department of Economics); Amanda Ross (West Virginia University, Department of Economics); Heather Stephens (West Virginia University, Agricultural and Resource Economics) |
| Keywords: | policy development, economic growth, new business |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wvu:wpaper:16-04&r=ure |
| By: | Ma, Xinxin; Li, Shi |
| Abstract: | This paper explores industrial segregation and its impact on the wage gaps between rural-to-urban migrants and local urban residents in China. Using the Chinese Household Income Project (CHIP) 2002 and 2013 surveys, we analyzed the probabilities of entry to various industries for both migrant and local urban resident groups; using the model of Brown et al. (1980), we then undertook a decomposition analysis of the wage gaps. Several major conclusions emerge. First, although inter-industry differentials and intra-industry differentials both affect the wage gap between migrants and local urban residents, the effect of intra-industrial differentials is greater in both 2002 and 2013. Second, in considering the effect of intra-industry differentials, while the influence of explained differentials is greater than that of unexplained differentials in both 2002 and 2013, the influence of the unexplained component of the intra-industrial differentials rises steeply from 19.4% (2002) to 68.0% (2013). The results show that when other factors are held constant, the problem of discrimination against migrants in a given industry is becoming more serious. In addition, the influence of the explained component of the intra-industry differentials rises from 61.2% (2002) to 77.7% (2013). |
| Keywords: | industrial segregation, wage gaps, migrants, local urban residents, urban China |
| JEL: | J16 J24 J42 J71 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:hitcei:2016-4&r=ure |
| By: | Ketterer, Tobias; Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés |
| Abstract: | The debate on whether institutions or geography prevail in driving economic growth has been rife (e.g. Sachs 2003 vs. Rodrik et al. 2004). Most of the empirical analyses delving into this debate have focused on world countries, whose geographical and institutional conditions differ widely. Subnational analyses considering groups of countries with, in principle, more similar institutional and geographical conditions have been limited and tended to highlight that geography is more important than institutions at subnational level. This paper aims to address whether this is the case by investigating how differences in institutional and "first-nature" geographical conditions have affected economic growth in Europe's regions in the period 1995-2009. In the analysis we use a newly developed dataset including regional quality of government indicators and geographical charactersitics and employ 2-SLS and IV-GMM estimation techniques with a number of regional historical variables as instruments. Our results indicate that at a regional level in Europe institutions rule. Regional institutional conditions - and, particularly, government effectiveness and the fight against corruption - play an important role in shaping regional economic growth prospects. This does not imply, however, that geography is irrelevant. There is evidence of geographical factors affecting regional growth, although their impact is dwarfed by the overriding influence of institutions. |
| Keywords: | Europe; Geography; institutions; NUTS-2 regions; quality of government; Regional economic growth |
| JEL: | O11 O43 R11 |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:11322&r=ure |
| By: | Nikita Malykhin; Philip Ushchev (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | We develop a simple partial-equilibrium model of endogenous city structure formation. No production externalities are at work, the only two forces shaping the spatial configurations of the city being love for variety (on the consumer side) and seeking for a better access to the market (on the firm side). We show that, unlike in existing models of a similar nature, our model generates clustering rather than co-agglomeration. Namely, if there are few firms relative to the urban population size, then firms tend to cluster at the city center, while consumers choose to reside on the outskirts. Otherwise, the opposite holds. Although a continuum of equilibrium city structures may emerge, we show that all spatial equilibria are segregated. In addition, the market outcome features spatial price dispersion, even though our framework does not involve imperfect information and search costs on the consumer side. |
| Keywords: | urban structure, monopolistic competition, agglomeration, clustering, quadratic preferences, segregated spatial equilibrium, price dispersion. |
| JEL: | R12 R14 D43 L13 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:140/ec/2016&r=ure |
| By: | Liang, Wenquan (Asian Development Bank Institute); Lu, Ming (Asian Development Bank Institute) |
| Abstract: | In cities, complementarity between a low-skilled and a high-skilled workforce can promote each other to improve labor productivity. In this study, we used earlier census data and 1% population survey data to examine the distribution of the skilled workforce in cities in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) along with its changes, and drew the following three conclusions. First, a highly skilled workforce is the engine of urban development, increasing urban wages and population. Second, big cities can promote complementarity between skill sets so that there are greater numbers of high-skilled and low-skilled workers in those cities. This explains why both low-skilled and high-skilled workforces agglomerate in big cities. Last, complementarity between the low-skilled and high-skilled workforce is inhibited in the PRC’s cities because of the biased household registration system (HRS) toward the high-skilled workforce, resulting in limited supply of low-skilled labor. This policy is not conducive to enhance labor productivity in big cities and to carry out its leading role of economic growth. |
| Keywords: | People’s Republic of China; urbanization; urban development; urban system; city; skill complementarities; skill composition; labor productivity; workforce; economic growth; household registration system; human capital; household income; wages; industrialization; education |
| JEL: | J24 J61 R12 |
| Date: | 2016–06–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbiwp:0575&r=ure |
| By: | Luca Flóra Drucker (ELTE Department of Economics and Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences); Daniel Horn (Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences and ELTE Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The Polish educational reform in 1999 is often considered successful as the results of the Polish students, and especially that of the low-performers, on the OECD PISA tests have improved significantly since the introduction of the new system. The reform extended the previous 8-year undivided comprehensive education to 9 years, core curricula were introduced and the examination, admission and assessment systems were changed. It has been argued before that this longer comprehensive education improved the test performance of worse performing students; hence increasing average performance and decreasing inter-school variation of test scores. However, the lack of reliable impact assessment on long-run labour market effects of this reform is awaiting. In this paper, we aim to fill this gap by looking at the causal effects of the reform. By comparing the labour market outcomes of the pre- and post-reform cohorts, we find a non-negligible and positive effect. We look at employment and wages as outcomes. Using data from the EU-Statistics on Income and Living conditions, and pooling the waves between 2005 and 2013 and taking the 20-27 year-olds, we generate a quasi-panel of observations to estimate the treatment effect by difference-in-difference estimation. We find evidence that the reform was successful on the long-run: the post-reform group is more likely to be employed and they also earn higher wages. On average, the treatment group is around 2-3% more likely to be employed, which effect is driven by the lowest educated. The post-reform cohort also earns more: we find an over 3% difference in real wages, which is also more pronounced for the lowest educated. |
| Keywords: | education reform, Poland, detracking, labor market, difference-in-difference |
| JEL: | I21 I24 I26 J24 |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:has:bworkp:1602&r=ure |
| By: | Van Der Weide,Roy; Lakner,Christoph; Ianchovichina,Elena |
| Abstract: | Household income surveys often fail to capture top incomes which leads to an underestimation of income inequality. A popular solution is to combine the household survey with data from income tax records, which has been found to result in significant upward corrections of inequality estimates. Unfortunately, tax records are unavailable in many countries, including most of the developing world. In the absence of data from tax records, this study explores the feasibility of using data on house prices to estimate the top tail of the income distribution. In an application to Egypt, where estimates of inequality based on household surveys alone are low by international standards, the study finds strong evidence that inequality is indeed being underestimated by a considerable margin. The Gini index for urban Egypt is found to increase from 36 to 47 after correcting for the missing top tail. |
| Keywords: | Poverty Diagnostics,Poverty Impact Evaluation,Inequality,Emerging Markets,Income |
| Date: | 2016–06–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7727&r=ure |
| By: | Bartalotti, Otávio C.; Brummet, Quentin O. |
| Abstract: | Regression Discontinuity designs have become popular in empirical studies due to their attractive properties for estimating causal effects under transparent assumptions. Nonetheless, most popular procedures assume i.i.d. data, which is unreasonable in many common applications. To relax this assumption, we derive the properties of traditional estimators in a setting that incorporates clustering at the level of the running variable, and propose an accompanying optimal-MSE bandwidth selection rule. Simulation results demonstrate that falsely assuming data are i.i.d. may lead to higher MSE due to inadequate bandwidth choice. We apply our procedure to analyze the impact of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits on neighborhood characteristics and low-income housing supply. |
| Date: | 2016–04–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isu:genres:3393&r=ure |
| By: | Giacomo De Giorgi; Anders Frederiksen; Luigi Pistaferri |
| Abstract: | In this paper we study consumption network effects. Does the consumption of our peers affect our own consumption? How large is such effect? What are the economic mechanisms behind it? We use long panel data on the entire Danish population to construct a measure of consumption based on administrative tax records on income and assets. We combine tax record data with matched employer-employee data so that we can construct peer groups based on workplace, which gives us a much tighter, precise, and credible definition of networks than used in previous literature. We use the available data to construct peer groups that do not perfectly overlap, and as such provide valid instruments derived from the network structure of one's peers group. The longitudinal nature of our data also allow us to estimate fixed effects models, which help us tackle reflection, self-selection, and common-shocks issues all at once. We estimate non-negligible and statistically significant endogenous and exogenous peer effects. Estimated effects are quite relevant for policies as they generate non-negligible multiplier effect. We also investigate what mechanisms generate such effects, distinguishing between "keeping up with the Joneses", a status model, and a more traditional risk sharing view. |
| JEL: | D12 D91 |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22357&r=ure |
| By: | Bó, Inácio; Heller, C.-Philipp |
| Abstract: | We show that Ergin & Sönmez's (2006) results which show that for schools it is a dominant strategy to truthfully rank the students under the Boston mechanism, and that the Nash equilibrium outcomes in undominated strategies of the induced game are stable, rely crucially on two assumptions. First, (a) that schools need to be restricted to find all students acceptable, and (b) that students cannot observe the priorities set by the schools before submitting their preferences. We show that relaxing either assumption eliminates the strategy dominance, and that Nash equilibrium outcomes in undominated strategies for the simultaneous induced game in case (a) and subgame perfect Nash equilibria in case (b) may contain unstable matchings. We also show that when able to manipulate capacities, schools may only have an incentive to do so if students submit their preferences after observing the reported capacities. |
| Keywords: | Mechanism Design,Two-Sided Matching,Boston Mechanism,School Choice |
| JEL: | C78 D63 D78 D82 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:wzbmbh:spii2016204&r=ure |
| By: | Basu, Arnab K. (Cornell University); Chau, Nancy (Cornell University); Fields, Gary S. (Cornell University); Kanbur, Ravi (Cornell University) |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes an overlapping generations multi‐sector model of the labor market for developing countries with three heterogeneities – heterogeneity within self‐employment, heterogeneity in ability, and heterogeneity in age. We revisit an iconic paradox in a class of multi‐sector labor market models in which the creation of high‐wage employment exacerbates unemployment. Our richer setting allows for generational differences in the motivations for job search to be reflected in two distinct inverted U‐shaped relationships between unemployment and high‐wage employment, one for youth and a different one for adults. In turn, the relationship between overall unemployment and high‐wage employment is shown to be non‐monotonic and multi‐peaked. The model also sheds light on the implications of increasing high‐wage employment on self‐employed workers, who make up most of the world's poor. Non‐monotonicity in unemployment notwithstanding, increasing high‐wage employment has an unambiguous positive impact on high‐paying self‐employment, and an unambiguous negative impact on free‐entry (low‐wage) self‐employment. |
| Keywords: | multisector labor market, overlapping generations, poverty reduction, Harris‐Todaro model |
| JEL: | O17 I32 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9972&r=ure |
| By: | McEachin, Andrew; Atteberry, Allison |
| Abstract: | State and federal accountability policies are predicated on the ability to estimate valid and reliable measures of school impacts on student learning. The typical spring- to-spring testing window potentially conflates the amount of learning that occurs during the school-year with learning that occurs during the summer. We use a unique dataset to explore the potential for students’ summer learning to bias school-level value-added models used in accountability policies and research on school quality. The results of this paper raise important questions about the design of performance-based education policies, as well as schools’ role in the production of students’ achievement. |
| Date: | 2016–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ran:wpaper:1149&r=ure |
| By: | Kompas, Tom; Van Ha, Pham; Nguyen, Hoa |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare16:235368&r=ure |
| By: | Shengyuan Zhang (Division of Social Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology); Jimin Zhao (Division of Social Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; Institute for Emerging Market Studies, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) |
| Abstract: | This study aims to understand the existing urban passenger transport system in Hong and Shenzhen from the perspective of human travel behavior, examining closely what policy and individual factors influence individual travel behavior in the two cities. The research is based on comparisons drawn from household and individual travel surveys conducted in Shenzhen in 2014 and in Hong Kong in 2002 and 2011. Hong Kong operates a more efficient urban passenger transport system than Shenzhen in terms of prioritizing use of public transport and restricting the use of cars. However, due to lack of strong government leadership, Hong Kong lags behind Shenzhen in promoting EVs. Both cities have had little success promoting nonmotorized transportation because of the greater appeal of alternative transportation modes. |
| Keywords: | ASIF, carbon emissions, energy consumption, urban transportation, scenario analysis, transportation policy |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hku:wpaper:201634&r=ure |
| By: | Roman Römisch (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw) |
| Abstract: | Abstract The paper develops a model to consistently estimate agglomeration and agglomeration economies in European NUTS3 regions. It is based on the empirical observation that the size of population across regions as well as of other economic variables tend to follow a Zipf distribution. Furthermore, the model is extended to capture agglomeration effects in traditional regional convergence estimations. Agglomeration is analysed for 25 European countries, including Macedonia and Serbia, and the years 2000 to 2012. Results indicate significant agglomeration effects on the level and growth of regional economic development, with agglomeration and agglomeration economies generally declining in the Western European countries and increasing the Central East and South East European countries. |
| Keywords: | Zipf’s Law, agglomeration economies, Europe, Western Balkans |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wii:bpaper:117&r=ure |
| By: | Claude Diebolt (BETA, University of Strasbourg Strasbourg, France); Ralph Hippe (London School of Economics and Political Science, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment) |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:afc:wpaper:09-16&r=ure |
| By: | Jorge Díaz-Lanchas (Department of Economic Analysis: Economic Theory. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and Lawrence R. Klein Institute/CEPREDE. 28049 Cantoblanco. Madrid); Carlos Llano (Department of Economic Analysis: Economic Theory. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and Lawrence R. Klein Institute/CEPREDE. 28049 Cantoblanco. Madrid); Asier Minondo (Corresponding author. Deusto Business School, University of Deusto, Camino de Mundaiz 50, 20012 Donostia - San Sebastian (Spain). Research afiliate of Instituto Complutense de Estudios Internacionales.); Francisco Requena (Department of Economic Structure, University of Valencia, Avda. dels Tarongers s/n, 46022 Valencia (Spain).) |
| Abstract: | Do large and small cities exhibit different patterns of export specialization? Using highly disaggregated product-level trade data for Brazilian cities in year 2013, we find that more populated urban areas export proportionately more complex and skill-intensive goods than less populated urban areas. We also show that Brazilian urban areas that have increased more in population have also augmented more than proportionately the exports of complex and skill-intensive goods. Our empirical findings support recent models which argue that large cities attract more skilled workers and exhibit a wide range of capabilities, providing them a comparative advantage in skill-intensive and complex goods. |
| Keywords: | urban areas, exports, complexity, skills, comparative advantage, Brazil |
| JEL: | F11 F14 R12 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eec:wpaper:1604&r=ure |
| By: | Mattia GUERINI (Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna); Mauro Napoletano (OFCE); Andrea Roventini (Laboratory of Economics and Management (Pisa) (LEM)) |
| Abstract: | We develop an agent-based model in which heterogeneous firms and households interact in labor and good markets according to centralized or decentralized search and matching protocols. As the model has a deterministic backbone and a full-employment equilibrium, it can be directly compared to Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) models. We study the effects of negative productivity shocks by way of impulse-response func- tions (IRF). Simulation results show that when search and matching are centralized, the economy is always able to return to the full employment equilibrium and IRFs are similar to those generated by DSGE models. However, when search and matching are local, co- ordination failures emerge and the economy persistently deviates from full employment. Moreover, agents display persistent heterogeneity. Our results suggest that macroeco- nomic models should explicitly account for agents’ heterogeneity and direct interactions |
| Keywords: | Agent-based model; Local interactions; Heterogenous agents; DGSE Model |
| JEL: | E3 E32 E37 |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/20d1ncsepb9ssq3b3v4s6nbc41&r=ure |
| By: | Christian Basteck; Marco Mantovani |
| Abstract: | Unsophisticated applicants can be at a disadvantage under manipulable and hence strategically demanding school choice mechanisms. Disclosing information on applications in previous admission periods makes it easier to assess the chances of being admitted at a particular school, and hence may level the playing field between applicants who differ in their cognitive ability. We test this conjecture experimentally for the widely used Boston mechanism. Results show that, absent this information, there exists a substantial gap between subjects of higher and lower cognitive ability, resulting in significant differences in payoffs, and ability segregation across schools. The treatment is effective in improving applicants. strategic performance. However, because both lower and higher ability subjects improve when they have information about past demands, the gap between the two groups shrinks only marginally, and the instrument fails at levelling the playing field. |
| Keywords: | laboratory experiment, school choice, strategy-proofness, cognitive ability, mechanism design |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2016-065&r=ure |
| By: | Kazenin, Konstantin Igorevich (Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy) |
| Abstract: | The preprint reviews the phenomenon of institutional competition regulators in solving commercial disputes in the two cities of Dagestan - Makhachkala and Khasavyurt. On the basis of field research data shows that some types of business conflicts in these cities are solved with the use of such controls as Islamic law and traditional ("conventional") right. The reasons for this phenomenon and propose recommendations for policy authorities against him. |
| Keywords: | institutional competition regulators, Dagestan, Makhachkala, Khasavyurt |
| Date: | 2016–05–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rnp:wpaper:456&r=ure |
| By: | Joshua Hall (West Virginia University, Department of Economics); Shree Baba Pokharel (West Virginia University, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Using cross-sectional data from fifty states of the United States and the District of Columbia for two different time periods, this paper examines the degree to which special interests or the median voter determines state highway expenditures. In addition to finding that previous estimates of the determinants of state highway expenditures are robust, we find that that special interests that were important in 1984 were no longer significant nearly 20 years later. Like the previous literature, we conclude that the reduced form median voter model performs well in explaining state highway expenditures. |
| Keywords: | median voter model, special interests, highway expenditures |
| JEL: | H41 H49 H60 H72 H76 |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wvu:wpaper:16-09&r=ure |
| By: | Steven Glazerman; Dallas Dotter |
| Abstract: | This brief summarizes a technical report that describes what DC parents look for when they choose a school for their child. |
| Keywords: | school choice, segregation, lottery, education, district of Columbia, market signals |
| JEL: | I |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:c35ddf08a6084d18baff7aeaa2b9a004&r=ure |
| By: | Ashley Hirashima (University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization (UHERO) and Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper seeks to investigate the effects of Ban-the-Box laws across the United States. Ban-the-Box laws make it illegal to ask whether an applicant has been convicted of a crime on a job application. The effects are consistent with that of statistical discrimination where the policy is having adverse effects on individuals labor market outcomes. I find that without perfect information about an individual's criminal history, firms base their perceived productivity of a potential applicant on an expected relationship between race and criminality. This results in negative effects on labor market outcomes for all individuals, especially for black males, who are particularly vulnerable. |
| Keywords: | Labor discrimination; Public Policy; Labor Demand |
| JEL: | J23 J38 J71 J78 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hai:wpaper:201606&r=ure |
| By: | Halim, Asyraf Abdul; Ariff, Muhammad; Masih, A. Mansur M. |
| Abstract: | The numerous financial crises in the 20th and 21st century demonstrate the role of excessive credit as the main instigator of financial crises. Could this excessive credit be natural byproducts of lingering economic ailments such as, income inequality, property bubbles and persistent current account imbalances? This study attempts to answer this question by applying the Least Squares Dummy Variable (LSDVC) and dynamic GMM estimations based on the data of ten countries from the year 2004 to 2012. Whilst past literature have investigated the effect of income inequality, dominant real estate sector and current account imbalances on excessive credit separately, this study extends the literature by examining the impact of all three variables on excessive credit aggregately. Our findings tend to indicate that there do exist a positive relationship between all three variables and excessive credit. However, we found that only income inequality and the real estate sector contribute significantly to excessive credit but current account imbalances only marginally do so. We also discovered that the contribution to excessive credit by the banking sector is just about twice the amount of all three variables combined. Our results serve as evidence for policymakers interested in reducing excessive credit by controlling all three variables as well as the banking sector. |
| Keywords: | Excessive Credit, Inequality, Real Estate, Current Account Imbalances, Credit-to- GDP Gap. |
| JEL: | C22 C58 E44 G15 |
| Date: | 2016–06–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:72093&r=ure |
| By: | Tapsuwan, Sorada; Mathot, Claire; Walker, Iain |
| Keywords: | Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Environmental Economics and Policy, |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare16:235634&r=ure |
| By: | Julia Garlick; Murray Leibbrandt; James Levinsohn |
| Abstract: | We estimate the returns to internal migration in South Africa. These appear to be the first nationally representative estimates of the return to migration for any African country-- a somewhat surprising claim for a literature that's over 60 years old. We develop a framework to analyze individual migration in the context of income pooling within endogenously formed households. We apply this framework to estimate the return to migration from the perspective of the migrant (as is typically done) as well as from the perspectives of the sending and receiving households. |
| JEL: | O1 O12 O15 |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22326&r=ure |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | The Port of Koper is the single national port of Slovenia and has been growing fast in recent years. It is expected that the existing rail link to and from the port will reach capacity in a few years. A new additional track, involving a tunnel on a separate alignment, has been proposed as a solution. The ITF was asked to perform a broad risk analysis of the project and investigate options for the delivery of the project through a PPP. Within this broad scope the ITF addressed several questions: would the potential for growing traffic at the port justify added capacity; what are the options for increasing capacity on the existing track to buy time; is the cost of the new rail link adequately estimated; what would be the best way to enable private participation in the project? |
| Date: | 2015–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:itfaac:15-en&r=ure |
| By: | Volovik, Nadezhda (Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA)) |
| Abstract: | At the present time in Russia created 30 SEZ. In addition, in accordance with special federal laws functioning special economic zone in the Kaliningrad region in Magadan region, in the Crimea, the possibility of the use of the customs procedure of free customs zone in the areas of advanced development. Preparing a bill on the introduction of free warehouses, the creation of regional special economic zones. This diversity of organizational forms enables us to provide state support for a wide range of economic subjects. However, when assessing the effectiveness of the SEZ on the specific types of functioning of the Accounts Chamber in late 2013 it noted that conventionally can be regarded as effective only to the activities of SEZ and technology development. Tools specific government support measures within the individual areas are gaining popularity. At the same time, under the conditions of the Eurasian Economic Union regulation of SEZ creation, management, use of certain types of state support is governed by Union law. |
| Keywords: | Russia, Eurasian Economic Union, special economic zones |
| Date: | 2016–04–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rnp:wpaper:2546&r=ure |