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on Urban and Real Estate Economics |
| By: | Moritz Schularick (University of Bonn); Alan Taylor (Department of Economics & Graduate School of Management); Oscar Jorda (Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco an) |
| Abstract: | This paper unveils a new resource for macroeconomic research: a long-run dataset covering disaggregated bank credit for 17 advanced economies since 1870. The new data show that the share of mortgages on banks’ balance sheets doubled in the course of the 20th century, driven by a sharp rise of mortgage lending to households. Household debt to asset ratios have risen substantially in many countries. Financial stability risks have been increasingly linked to real estate lending booms which are typically followed by deeper recessions and slower recoveries. Housing finance has come to play a central role in the modern macroeconomy. |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:red:sed016:185&r=ure |
| By: | Giroud, Xavier; Mueller, Holger M |
| Abstract: | Local labor market shocks are difficult to insure against. Using confidential micro data from the U.S. Census Bureau's Longitudinal Business Database, we document that firms redistribute the adverse employment impacts of local demand shocks across regions through their internal networks of establishments. We find large elasticities of non-tradable establishment-level employment with respect to house prices in other counties in which the firm has establishments. Consistent with theory, these elasticities increase with the extent of firms' financial constraints. Further, and consistent with the notion that firms smooth out the impacts of local demand shocks across regions, we find that establishments of firms with more expansive regional networks exhibit lower elasticities with respect to house prices in the establishment's own county. To account for general equilibrium adjustments, we also consider total non-tradable employment at the county level. Similar to what we found at the establishment level, we find that non-tradable county-level employment responds strongly to local demand shocks in other counties linked through firms' internal networks of establishments. These results are not driven by direct demand spillovers from nearby counties, common county-level shocks to house prices, or local demand shocks affecting non-tradable employment in distant counties indirectly through the trade channel. Overall, our results suggest that firms play an important role in the extent to which local labor market risks are shared across regions. |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:11384&r=ure |
| By: | Chengyu Li; Mark Wang; Jianghao Wang; Wenjie Wu |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the complexity in the connection between city liveliness and land use configurations for housing and consumption amenities. The sources of this complexity are captured by an integrated spatial and temporal non-stationary modelling approach that uses local linear methods to estimate heterogeneous dynamics of the spatial-temporal process. City liveliness is measured by aggregated space-time human activity intensities using mobile phone positioning data from Beijing. We find that the land use configurations for housing amenities contribute little to city liveliness, whereas consumption amenities play a significant role in attracting human activity intensities. However, such effects vary substantially over space and during a 24-hour life span. These results provide the estimates of the changes in hourly human activity distribution that would influence the form of social engagement, development patterns, and public investment policy. |
| Keywords: | big data, GTWR, local linear estimator, city liveliness, land use, China |
| JEL: | C14 P25 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:sercdp:0201&r=ure |
| By: | Li, Zhigang (Asian Development Bank); Xu, Hangtian (Hunan University) |
| Abstract: | This study addresses the debate on whether high-speed railroad (HSR) polarizes or balances economic geography. We find that both can occur: while the service sector tends to agglomerate, the manufacturing sector may decentralize; moreover, economic activities may agglomerate from distant areas to the core, while dispersing from the core toward its periphery at the same time. The service sector is crucial in this process because, unlike other land transport infrastructure, HSR mainly saves transport time for people, but not cargo. Incorporating this feature to the model of Ottaviano et al. (2002), we show that HSR can lead to either polarization or diffusion depending on sector and distance between cities. This is supported by empirical evidence from the 1982 opening of two major HSRs in Japan (Shinkansen), which saved intercity travel time by as much as half. We find that in noncore areas service employment decreased by 7%, while manufacturing employment increased by 21%; cities within approximately 100 kilometers of Tokyo expanded, while more distant cities shrank. In net, Tokyo metropolitan area agglomerates as a result of HSR. |
| Keywords: | economic corridor; high-speed rail; inclusive growth |
| JEL: | H54 O18 R12 |
| Date: | 2016–05–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbewp:0485&r=ure |
| By: | Taggert J. Brooks (University of Wisconsin-La Crosse); Brad R. Humphreys (West Virginia University, Department of Economics); Adam Nowak (West Virginia University, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The "secondary effects" legal doctrine allows municipalities to zone, or otherwise regulate, sexually oriented businesses. Negative "secondary effects" (economic externalities) justify limiting First Amendment protection of speech conducted inside strip clubs. One example of a secondary effect, cited in no fewer than four United States Supreme Court rulings, is the negative effect of strip clubs on the quality of the surrounding neighborhood. Little empirical evidence that strip clubs do, in fact, have a negative effect on the surrounding neighborhood exists. To the extent that changes in neighborhood quality are reflected by changes in property prices, property prices should decrease when a strip club opens up nearby. We estimate an augmented repeat sales regression model of housing prices to estimate the effect of strip clubs on nearby residential property prices. Using real estate transactions from King County, Washington, we test the hypothesis that strip clubs have a negative effect on surrounding residential property prices. We exploit the unique and unexpected termination of a 17 year moratorium on new strip club openings in order to generate exogenous variation in the operation of strip clubs. We find no statistical evidence that strip clubs have "secondary effects" on nearby residential property prices. |
| Keywords: | Sexually oriented business, secondary effects doctrine, repeat sales regression model |
| JEL: | K10 K23 R30 R38 R52 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wvu:wpaper:16-17&r=ure |
| By: | Richard Arnott (Department of Economics, University of California Riverside); Parker Williams (Department of Mathematics, University of California Riverside) |
| Abstract: | There has recently been considerable interest in cruising for curbside parking as a major contributor to traffic congestion in the downtown areas of major cities. The density of cars cruising for parking in the downtown area is related to the rate at which cars in transit in the downtown area start cruising for parking and the expected search time of a car that starts cruising for parking. This paper focuses on this expected search time. The literature has employed three different approaches to estimate expected cruising-for- parking time: direct measurement, inference based on the equilibrium condition that (for the marginal parker) the expected cost of curbside parking equals the expected cost of garage parking, and inference based on the observed occupancy rate of curbside parking and an assumed statistical relationship between expected cruising-for-parking time and the curbside parking occupancy rate. The last approach typically obtains estimates of expected cruising-for-parking times that are lower, and with high occupancy rates much lower, than those estimated using the other two approaches. This paper takes a step towards resolving this inconsistency by demonstrating, through computer simulation of cars cruising for parking around a circle in stochastic steady state, that an approximating assumption in the derived statistical relationship between expected cruising-for-parking time and the curbside parking occupancy rate leads to underestimation of average cruising-for-parking time, and at high occupancy rates very considerable underestimation. |
| Keywords: | Parking, traffic congestion |
| JEL: | R41 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucr:wpaper:201611&r=ure |
| By: | Burcu Cabuk (Ankara University) |
| Abstract: | In-class debate has been used starting from the older grades of primary school and above educational levels but it is not common in younger students’ classes. Research shows that in-class debate used in higher education levels has a positive effect on students’ development. It gives students the opportunity of cooperative learning and peer tutoring. This way, in-class debates cultivate the active engagement of the participating students. When teachers use debates as a daily activity in their classes, they can easily observe the students’ developmental levels in different areas and may plan activities for students who show low performance. Since it is an influential technique for both students and teachers when used in the older grades, it was thought that, after giving suitable education to kindergarteners, in-class debate can also be used in kindergarten level. The purpose of this qualitative study was to analyze teacher candidates’ perceptions on this new technique used in preschools: in-class debate. Based on this purpose, for 4 weeks, the researcher worked with 12 teacher candidates who have been teaching in the classrooms of 60 to 72-month-old-children. Before the study, the researcher conducted a one-week workshop for these teacher candidates on how in-class debate can be used in kindergartens. After the workshop, the teacher candidates prepared their two-week plans where they added “in-class debate games†in their daily activities. These plans were examined ahead by the researcher and conducted in the classes by the teacher candidates under the supervision of the researcher. For the last two week, the teacher candidates observed the children focusing on their cognitive, socio-emotional and language development. Finally, the teacher candidates were interviewed based on their comparisons of their observations of the children and what their perceptions about in-class debate technique used in kindergarten. The teacher candidates explained that in-class debates used as daily activities scaffold children’s development in different areas. They also mentioned that they learned how to involve children actively in their own learning and they overall evaluated the study as successful. According to findings of the study, suggestions were given to teachers and academicians who are working with teacher candidates. |
| Keywords: | In-class debate, kindergarten, teacher candidate |
| JEL: | I23 I29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:4006486&r=ure |
| By: | Berliant, Marcus; Tabuchi, Takatoshi |
| Abstract: | We consider the role of a nonlinear commuting cost function in determination of the equilibrium commuting pattern where all agents are mobile. Previous literature has considered only linear commuting cost, where in equilibrium, all workers are indifferent about their workplace location. We show that this no longer holds for nonlinear commuting cost. The equilibrium commuting pattern is completely determined by the concavity or convexity of commuting cost as a function of distance. We show that a monocentric equilibrium exists when the ratio of the firm agglomeration externality to commuting cost is sufficiently high. Finally, we find empirical evidence of both long and short commutes in equilibrium, implying that the commuting cost function is likely concave. |
| Keywords: | Commuting; Land rent; Wage gradient |
| JEL: | R13 R41 |
| Date: | 2016–07–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:72581&r=ure |
| By: | Lopamudra Chakraborti (Division of Economics, CIDE); David Ricardo Heres (Division of Economics, CIDE); Danae Hernández Cortés (Division of Economics, CIDE) |
| Abstract: | The averange resident of Mexico City suffers unhealthy levels of air quality for the most part of the year. Nevertheless, the uneven distribution of firms and road traffic across the city, together with wind patterns and differences in microclimates generates localized pollution concentrations. The objective of this study is to investigate wheter residents of Mexico City value cleaner air taking advantage of the variation in pollution levels and land values observed across neighborhoods within the city. Contrary to most studies of this type, commonly focused in developed countries, ours is based on land values reported by external appraisals. The panel nature of our data and inclusion of time varying controls for neighborhood characteristics and local economic conditions allows for correction of potential endogeneity bias arising due to unobserved factors that influence both current pollution levels and property values. Our results suggets that air quality improvements lead to an increase in land values by approximately 3% in Mexico City which is equivalent to a marginal willingsess to pay of up to %178 (2010) pesos per m^2. Thus, we provide an estimate of the possible benefits of public policy dedicated to air quality improvements, measured as the value that Mexico City's residents have for cleaner air. |
| Keywords: | Air Quality, Hedonic Valuation, Willingness to Pay, Environmental amenities, Mexico City |
| JEL: | Q51 Q53 R14 R21 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:emc:wpaper:dte596&r=ure |
| By: | Sutanuka Roy (London School of Economics, London, UK); Prakarsh Singh (Amherst College, Amherst, MA, US) |
| Abstract: | Using a large-scale novel panel dataset (2005–14) on schools from the Indian state of Assam, we test for the impact of violent conflict on female students’ enrollment rates. We find that a doubling of average killings in a district-year leads to a 13 per cent drop in girls’ enrollment rate with school fixed effects. Additionally, results remain similar when using an alternative definition of conflict from a different dataset. Gender differential responses are more negative for lower grades, rural schools, poorer districts, and for schools run by local and private unaided bodies. |
| Keywords: | conflict, education, gender discrimination, human capital, India |
| JEL: | I2 J1 O1 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hic:wpaper:225&r=ure |
| By: | Miriam Hortas-Rico; Vicente Rios |
| Abstract: | This study analyzes the drivers of urban income inequality. To that aim, we focus on the case of Spain and derive a novel data set of inequality metrics for a sample of municipalities over the period 2000-2006. Spatial Bayesian Model Averaging techniques are used in order to examine the empirical relevance of a large set of factors taking into account the role of spatial interactions. Our findings suggest that urban inequality is mainly explained by human capital, economic factors and local politics rather than amenities or demography. The results are robust to the use of different spatial functional forms and spatial weight matrices. |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fda:fdaeee:eee2016-26&r=ure |
| By: | Dobridge, Christine L. |
| Abstract: | I provide empirical evidence that the effect of high-cost credit access on household material well-being depends on if a household is experiencing temporary financial distress. Using detailed data on household consumption and location, as well as geographic variation in access to high cost payday loans over time, I find that payday credit access improves wellbeing for households in distress by helping them smooth consumption. In periods of temporary financial distress—after extreme weather events like hurricanes and blizzards—I find that payday loan access mitigates declines in spending on food, mortgage payments, and home repairs. In an average period, however, I find that access to payday credit reduces well-being. Loan access reduces spending on nondurable goods overall and reduces housing- and food-related spending particularly. These results highlight the state dependent nature of the effects of high-cost credit as well as the consumption-smoothing role that it plays for households with limited access to other forms of credit. |
| Keywords: | Household finance ; Consumption ; Consumer credit ; Payday loans |
| JEL: | D14 E21 G23 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2016-56&r=ure |
| By: | Hanley Chiang; Stephen Lipscomb; Brian Gill |
| Abstract: | In this paper, the authors isolate principals’ effects on student achievement growth and examine the extent to which school value added captures the effects that principals persistently demonstrate. |
| Keywords: | School Value-Added, Principal Quality, student achievement, education |
| JEL: | I |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:f3d8e5bf9fd149c29f4e2eb9bec210e3&r=ure |
| By: | Ruth Lupton; Polina Obolenskaya; Bert Provan |
| Abstract: | The Social Policy in a Cold Climate research programme had two major components: first an analysis of the social policies and spending of Labour and Coalition governments from 1997 to 2015, and theirimpacts on poverty, inequality, and distribution; and second an analysis of the changing distribution of economic outcomes (such as qualifications, earnings, income and wealth) since the recession, including regional breakdowns. Here we bring together some of these data to give a broad picture of regional disparities in economic and social outcomes and in spending and resource allocation, and trends over time. Are the regions pulling together, or apart, and in what ways? |
| Keywords: | Regional, London, North, recession, crisis, England, social, outcomes |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:spccwp:23&r=ure |
| By: | Foremny, Dirk; Solé-Ollé, Albert |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the distribution of discretionary transfers from higher tiers of government in the process of fiscal adjustment in local jurisdictions which were hit by a negative revenue shock in formula transfers. Spanish local governments experienced a 30% fall in their revenue-sharing revenues at the beginning of the Great Recession. We use a 'difference-in-discontinuities' design to identify the causal effect of that shock on the amount of discretionary grants provided by three higher tiers of government (i.e., central, regional, and provincial) and on other budget items (i.e., spending and taxation). We identify these effects using an exogenous variation in formula transfers, as the losses during the crisis of municipalities above the 5,000 population threshold were greater than the losses of those below this threshold. We find that, on average, municipalities above and below the 5,000 inhabitant threshold did not differentially adjust their budgets during the crisis. Rather, we find that for themost indebted municipalities, a substantial share of the shock was absorbed by discretionary grants provided by regional and provincial governments. |
| Keywords: | intergovernmental transfers,bailouts,fiscal consolidation |
| JEL: | E62 H72 R5 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:16049&r=ure |
| By: | Dettmann, Eva; Brachert, Matthias; Titze, Mirko |
| Abstract: | The German government provides discretionary investment grants to structurally weak regions to reduce regional disparities. We use a regression discontinuity design that exploits an exogenous discrete jump in the probability of receiving investment grants to identify the causal effects of the investment grant on regional outcomes. We find positive effects for regional gross value-added and productivity growth, but no effects for employment and gross wage growth. |
| Keywords: | evaluation,industrial policy,regression discontinuity design |
| JEL: | A11 D61 H20 Z00 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:iwhdps:iwh-18-16&r=ure |
| By: | Martin HOESLI (University of Geneva, University of Aberdeen, and Kedge Business School); Anjeza KADILLI (University of Geneva); Kustrim REKA (University of Geneva) |
| Abstract: | We conduct an empirical investigation of the pricing and economic sources of commonality in liquidity in the U.S. REIT market. Taking advantage of the specific characteristics of REITs, we analyze three types of commonality in liquidity: within-asset commonality, cross-asset commonality (with the stock market), and commonality with the underlying property market. We find evidence that the three types of commonality in liquidity are priced in REIT returns but only during bad market conditions. We also find that using a linear approach, rather than a conditional, would have underestimated the role of commonality in liquidity risk. This explains (at least partly) the small impact of commonality on asset prices documented in the extant literature. Finally, our analysis of the determinants of commonality in liquidity favors a demand-side explanation. |
| Keywords: | Real Estate Securities; REITs; Commonality in Liquidity; Liquidity Risk; Asset Pricing; Threshold Regression; Panel Data |
| JEL: | G12 G01 G02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chf:rpseri:rp1430&r=ure |
| By: | Jørgen Modalsli (Statistics Norway) |
| Abstract: | This paper documents, for the first time, municipality- and occupation-level estimates of income inequality between individuals in a European country in the nineteenth century, using a combination of several detailed data sets for Norway in the late 1860s. Urban incomes were on average 4.5 times higher than rural incomes, and the average city Gini coefficient was twice the average rural municipality Gini. All high- or medium-income occupation groups exhibited substantial withinoccupation income inequality. Across municipalities, income inequality is positively associated with manufacturing, average crop, and historical land inequality, and is negatively associated with distance to the nearest city, pastoral agriculture, and fisheries. The income Gini for Norway as a whole is found to have been 0.546, slightly higher than estimates for the UK and US in the same period. |
| Keywords: | Income inequality; economic development; rural-urban differences; economic history |
| JEL: | N33 D31 O15 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssb:dispap:842&r=ure |
| By: | Nico Palesch |
| Abstract: | This report documents the labour market, educational, and economic development outcomes for the Inuit in Inuit Nunangat by examining past and present labour market outcomes and tying these together with developments in the major industries across the four regions of Inuit Nunangat. The current status and future outlook for employment and growth in the dominant sectors of Inuit Nunangat, namely the public sector and mining, are also examined. In addition, the effects of low education, limited skills, high living costs, reduced mobility, and insufficient housing, all common factors of life in Inuit Nunangat, are discussed. Finally, the report makes some broad recommendations for how the crisis in labour market and educational outcomes among the Inuit may be ameliorated, while identifying further areas of study that could help increase the understanding of Inuit Nunangat’s economic performance. |
| Keywords: | Inuit, Inuit Nunangat, Nunavik, Nunavut, Inuivialuit Region, Nunatsiavut, Canada, Education, Labour Market |
| JEL: | E24 J13 J15 N32 J45 O18 O11 O12 I25 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sls:resrep:1612&r=ure |
| By: | Emilie Bagby; Anca Dumitrescu; Cara Orfield; Matt Sloan |
| Abstract: | The IMAGINE project, an effort to improve school infrastructure in Niger, helped strengthen academic performance, particularly among girls. |
| Keywords: | international, education, girls, infrastructure, literacy, Niger |
| JEL: | F Z I |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:a6deb8328fcc41ee8ed007d3e0bff452&r=ure |
| By: | Genesove, David; Hansen, James |
| Abstract: | Using Sydney and Melbourne transactions, we show that how properties sell matters for housing price dynamics. Auction prices forecast better and display much less momentum than negotiated prices. This is consistent with the two mechanisms transmitting buyer vs. seller shocks to prices differently and, in light of auction and bargaining theories, suggests the source of momentum is sluggishness in sellers’ valuations. Other explanations, such as differences in precision, slow diffusion of shocks among buyers, or endogenous selection of the sales mechanism, fail to explain our findings. Our estimates also indicate that sellers have at most equal bargaining power in negotiations. |
| Keywords: | auctions; Bargaining; housing prices |
| JEL: | D44 L11 R31 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:11392&r=ure |
| By: | Alex Fenton |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates changes in the composition and spatial distribution of income poverty in London from 2001 to 2013, and considers them as evidence of gentrification. It is first argued that income poverty measures address some of the shortcomings of conventional occupational class statistics in gentrification research. The empirical analysis, using poverty proxies and spatial microsimulation income estimates, show that in the poorest, eastern parts of inner London, poverty rates fell. Here there was intense development and valorisation of land and housing around the financial districts, rapid population growth, and absolute falls in the numbers of the out-of-work poor. Poverty rates rose in the relatively disadvantaged parts of outer London. This is accounted for partly by rises in out-of-work poverty, but predominantly by the impoverishment of low-income workers through their wages becoming insufficient relative to housing costs. The paper thus confirms broad changes in the spatial distribution of poverty identified in recent studies, while pointing to the exploitation of labour and land as central mechanisms in explaining patterns of gentrification and proletarianisation in the city. |
| Keywords: | London, gentrification, poverty |
| JEL: | R23 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:sticas:/195&r=ure |
| By: | Heider, Bastian; Kauffmann, Albrecht; Rosenfeld, Martin T. W. |
| Abstract: | Public sector activities are often neglected in the economic approaches used to analyze the driving forces behind urban growth. The institutional status of a regional capital is a crucial aspect of public sector activities. This paper reports on a quasi-natural experiment on county towns in East Germany. Since 1990, cities in East Germany have demonstrated remarkable differences in population development. During this same period, many towns have lost their status as a county seat due to several administrative reforms. Using a difference-in-difference approach, the annual population development of former county capitals is compared to population change in towns that have successfully held on to their capital status throughout the observed period. The estimations show that maintaining county capital status has a statistically significant positive effect on annual changes in population. This effect is furthermore increasing over time after the implementation of the respective reforms. |
| Keywords: | urban economic growth,centrality,institutions,public sector,East Germany,post-socialist cities,capital cities,county towns,county government reform |
| JEL: | H1 H7 P2 R1 R5 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:iwhdps:242016&r=ure |
| By: | Döpke, Jörg; Knabe, Andreas; Lang, Cornelia; Maschke, Philip |
| Abstract: | Using data from the OECD Regional Well-Being Index - a set of quality-of-life indicators measured at the sub-national level, we construct a set of composite well-being indices. We analyse the extent to which the choice of five alternative aggregation methods affects the well-being ranking of regions. We find that regional inequality in these composite measures is lower than regional inequality in gross-domestic product (GDP) per capita. For most aggregation methods, the rank correlation across regions appears to be quite high. It is also shown that using alternative indicators instead of GDP per capita would only have a small effect on the set of regions eligible for aid from EU Structural Funds. The exception appears to be an aggregation based on how individual dimensions of welfare relate to average life satisfaction across regions, which would substantially change both the ranking of regions and which regions would receive EU funds. |
| Keywords: | well-being,regional economic policy,EU structural funds,composite index |
| JEL: | C31 I31 R10 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:iwhdps:iwh-13-16&r=ure |
| By: | Iritié, B. G. Jean Jacques |
| Abstract: | Criticisms vis-à-vis cluster policy are numerous, often confusing and really unhelpful; while some authors systematically question the merits, others on the contrary play a genuine role of counsel in his favour. This paper attempts to refocus the debate and analyses the economic issues, impacts and implications of the innovation clusters policy. To do this, we take a critical view of the literature on clusters, focusing on analysis of the effects of three industrial dynamics in perpetual movement within clusters, especially research and development, industrial location and technology cooperation. We assume that innovation cluster "potentiates", by a synergistic action, the beneficial effect of each of these three industrial dynamics in favour of localised firms. However, it appears from the analysis that the hopes and expectations invested in cluster policy must be reconsidered and relativised. So the reasons for the rising power of cluster policies must be sought elsewhere than in a necessarily consensual and tangible evidence of positive impacts of clusters. |
| Keywords: | cluster,innovation,competitiveness pole,research and development,industrial location,technology cooperation,localised knowledge spillovers,LKS,epistemic communities |
| JEL: | O25 O30 R10 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esprep:142746&r=ure |
| By: | Kjetil Storesletten (University of Oslo); Gueorgui Kambourov (University of Toronto); Loren Brandt (University of Toronto) |
| Abstract: | We study the effect of a large SOE (State-Owned Enterprises) sector on economic growth and document that localities (prefectures) in China with a large SOE sector in 1995 experienced a smaller economic growth than those with a small SOE sector in 1995. We show that one important mechanism through which the size of the SOE sector affects economic growth is the effect on firm entry in the non-SOE sector. In prefectures with a high SOE output share, non-SOE firm entry is small and the entrants have low TFP, labor productivity, and level of capital. We also infer the capital and output wedges that firms in the non-SOE and the SOE sector are facing in 1995 and 2004. We conclude that these wedges alone cannot account for the documented facts on non-SOE firm entry and that the analysis needs to incorporate a feature that would operate as a start-up cost (or an entry wedge). We build a heterogeneous firm model with endogenous entry to help understand the non-SOE entry patterns in the cross section in 1995. Then, we use the model to analyze the effect of a number of changes in the economic environment in China between 1995 and 2004. |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:red:sed016:182&r=ure |
| By: | Horbach, Jens; Janser, Markus (Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]) |
| Abstract: | "The environmental sector is supposed to yield a dual benefit: its goods and services are intended to help to tackle environmental challenges and its establishments should create new jobs. However, it is still unclear in empirical terms whether that really is the case. This paper investigates whether employment growth in 'green' establishments with 'green' products and services is higher compared to other establishments. Furthermore, the main factors determining labor demand in this field are analyzed. We use linked employment and regional data for Germany. The descriptive results show that the environmental sector is characterized by disproportionately high employment growth. The application of both a generalized linear mixed model and an instrumental variables regression reveals that especially innovation and industry agglomeration foster employment growth in establishments in the environmental sector. Establishments without green products and services show a smaller increase in employment, even if they are also innovative." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) |
| Keywords: | Umweltschutzindustrie, Beschäftigungseffekte, Innovation, Arbeitskräftenachfrage |
| JEL: | J23 Q52 Q55 R23 |
| Date: | 2015–05–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iab:iabdpa:201516&r=ure |
| By: | Hasan, Zubair |
| Abstract: | For financing consumer durables like houses, cars or computers, conventional banks use what are called the equated monthly installment (EMI) models. EMI is the fixed payment a borrower makes to a lender to pay off both interest and principal each month so that over a specified number of years, the loan is cleared off in full. Islamic banks have followed suit using EMI on diminishing musharakah partnership basis. The model is popularly known as the MMP abbreviating its Arabic nomenclature. The defining character of this model is increasing amortization of capital through a customer buy back provision in the agreement. I have shown more than once that models of the sort invariably involve compounding of return on capital and pass the ownership of property to the client at a lower rate than the rate of capital amortization until the contract is concluded. This paper provides additional evidence and documentation to reinforce the contention that on both counts the MMP violates Shari’ah requirements and may be replaced with the model we propose to escape the non-compliance; there are additional advantages as well. |
| Keywords: | Home financing, law and economics; Islamic baking, Shari’ah permissibility Home financing, law and economics; Islamic baking, Shari’ah permissibility Home financing, law and economics; Islamic baking, Shari’ah permissibility Home financing, law and economics; Islamic baking, Shari’ah permissibility Home financing, law and economics; Islamic baking, Shari’ah permissibility hOME FINANCING; Law and economics, Islamic banks, Shari'ah admissibility; constructive possession |
| JEL: | G2 M21 |
| Date: | 2016–07–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:72272&r=ure |
| By: | Ambra, Poggi |
| Abstract: | By applying a stochastic production frontier approach to the matching process of unemployed and vacancies, this paper provides novel detailed insights into the process of job creation in Spain over the 2006-2012 period. The methodology produces estimates of the relative importance of demand and supply factors for the creation of new jobs, and of regional inefficiencies of job creation. This paper represents a first attempt to test whether a more flexible labour market as designed by the 2010 reform affects the matching efficiencies. We also investigate the possible link existing between local democracy (as factor influencing labour market governance) and inefficiency, handling endogeneity. Results suggest that the matching process was inefficient before the 2008 crisis. Efficiency increased during recession/rebound probably as consequence of policies aims to strengthen the economic system. In particular, the 2010 reform appears to have improved on average the matching efficiencies. Local democracy positively influences efficiency (and the effect is substantially higher when endogeneity in the inefficiency is handled). Despite these considerations, regional disparities in matching efficiencies persisted over time. Therefore, these results support the recommendation of further reducing matching inefficiencies before implementing policies aimed to increase the stock of vacancies at least in regions characterized by persistent inefficiencies. |
| Keywords: | matching functions, regional labour market, stochastic frontier, democracy, endogeneity |
| JEL: | J64 A13 D63 |
| Date: | 2016–07–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mib:wpaper:348&r=ure |
| By: | Guglielmo Barone (Bank of Italy); Francesco David (Bank of Italy); Guido de Blasio (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | EU regional policies aim to push regions into self-sustaining growth. Successful interventions would imply a higher growth rate, not only during the treatment (when the region benefits from the transfers), but also after the expiry of the program (when the financing terminates). We investigate to what extent this happened in the case of Italy’s Abruzzi region, which entered into the Objective 1 (Convergence) program in 1989 and exited it in 1996 (without a transitional regime). More specifically we focus upon the post expiry period by implementing a synthetic control approach. Our results indicate that exiting the program had a negative effect on regional per-capita GDP growth. This result is a confirmation of the widespread evidence that during their implementation EU regional policies help boost the economic performance of the treated regions. However, additional evidence suggests that the permanent effect of the treatment is negligible: the policies fail to transfer the treated regions to a permanently higher GDP growth path. |
| Keywords: | EU cohesion policy, Regional growth, Synthetic control method |
| JEL: | R11 O47 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_1071_16&r=ure |
| By: | Heimer, Rawley (Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland) |
| Abstract: | Social interaction contributes to some traders’ disposition effect. New data from an investment-specific social network linked to individual-level trading records builds evidence of this connection. To credibly estimate causal peer effects, I exploit the staggered entry of retail brokerages into partnerships with the social trading web platform and compare trader activity before and after exposure to these new social conditions. Access to the social network nearly doubles the magnitude of a trader’s disposition effect. Traders connected in the network develop correlated levels of the disposition effect, a finding that can be replicated using workhorse data from a large discount brokerage. |
| Keywords: | Social Network; Investments; Disposition Effect; Influence; |
| JEL: | G01 G11 |
| Date: | 2016–07–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedcwp:1618&r=ure |
| By: | Daniel A. Brent; Austin Gross |
| Abstract: | High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes that use dynamic pricing to manage congestion and generate revenue are increasingly popular but poorly understood. In this paper we estimate the behavioral response of drivers to dynamic pricing in a HOT lane. The challenge in estimation lies in the simultaneity of price and demand: the structure of dynamic tolling ensures that prices increase as more drivers enter the HOT lane. Prior research has found that higher prices in HOT lanes increase usage. We find that after controlling for simultaneity arising from autocorrelation HOT drivers instead respond to tolls in a manner consistent with economic theory. The average response to a 10% increase in the toll is a 2% reduction in usage. Drivers primarily value travel reliability over time savings, although there is heterogeneity in the relative values of time and reliability based on time of day and destination to or from work. The results highlight the importance of both controlling for simultaneity when estimating demand for dynamically priced toll roads and treating HOT lanes with dynamic prices as a di erentiated product with bundled attributes. |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lsu:lsuwpp:2016-07&r=ure |
| By: | Paolo Chiades (Bank of Italy); Luciano Greco (University of Padova); Vanni Mengotto (Bank of Italy); Luigi Moretti (University of Bologna); Paola Valbonesi (University of Padova) |
| Abstract: | Local governments may increase expenditure arrears to relax the financial constraints induced by intergovernmental transfer cuts. We assess this hypothesis using information from accounting and financial reports from Italian municipalities for the period 2003-2010. By exploiting the long-lasting effect of the 1977-1978 structural reform of Italian local public finance, we employ an instrumental variable approach to address endogeneity concerns. We find robust empirical evidence that the lower the intergovernmental grants, the larger the use of arrears in public investment expenditures by municipalities. We argue that, when local governments are not subject to effective controls on the formation of arrears but fiscal rules impose binding budget constraints, a cut in intergovernmental transfers can partially diminish the effectiveness of fiscal consolidation at local level. |
| Keywords: | local public finance, fiscal consolidation, fiscal rules, instrumental variables |
| JEL: | H30 H72 H77 C33 C36 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_1076_16&r=ure |
| By: | Martinez, Isabel Z. |
| Abstract: | Tax competition raises the question to which extent taxpayers respond to differences in income tax rates by migrating to low-tax areas. This paper analyzes a large, two-step tax reform in the canton of Obwalden in central Switzerland in 2006 and 2008. The canton first introduced a regressive income tax scheme with the explicit purpose of attracting affluent taxpayers, followed by a flat rate tax, thereby lowering taxes for all taxpayers. DiD estimations comparing Obwalden and two neighboring cantons confirm that the reform was successful in increasing the canton’s tax base by increasing the share of rich and their average income. Using individual tax data I apply a 2SLS approach to estimate how responsive migration was to the tax reduction. I find an elasticity of the stock of rich taxpayers in the canton with respect to the average net-of-tax rate of 1.9–2.4. The elasticity of the inflow of rich taxpayers is even larger, ranging from 5 to 12. These large elasticities can be explained by (i) the large pool of intentionally treated in the present institutional setting, which puts almost no restrictions on taxpayers to take advantage of the low tax, and (ii) the initially low share of rich taxpayers in Obwalden combined with the small size of the canton. A small number of rich taxpayers relocating therefore translates into a large elasticity. DiD estimates of cantonal revenue, however, suggest that the tax cuts despite attracting and retaining a substantial number of rich taxpayers, did not lead to an increase |
| Keywords: | Tax-induced mobility; Personal income tax; Local taxes; Tax competition; Elasticity of taxable income ETI |
| JEL: | H71 H73 R23 H31 H24 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usg:econwp:2016:08&r=ure |
| By: | Lees, Kirdan (New Zealand Institute of Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we decomposed growth in residential land into population growth, household size, and land use per capita. We found that the growth in residential land between 1996 and 2013 was identical to the rate of population growth: 28%. Population density has not change significantly during that period. Auckland's urban regulations have pushed Auckland outwards, but not upwards. |
| Keywords: | land use; population growth |
| Date: | 2016–07–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:nzierw:2016_003&r=ure |
| By: | Andersson, Tommy (Department of Economics, Lund University); Ehlers , Lars (Département de sciences économiques and CIREQ, Université de Montréal) |
| Abstract: | In Sweden, asylum seekers are either deported or granted a residence permit. Refugee families with a residence permit are assigned to the different local municipalities. Since almost all accommodation options are exhausted in Sweden, households in some municipalities are asked to state their willingness to accommodate refugee families. In line with the European NGO “Refugees Welcome”, a refugee family and a landlord (household) are mutually acceptable if they have a language in common and if the number of offered beds of the household exceeds the number of beds needed by the refugee family. This paper proposes an algorithm that finds a maximum matching (filling the maximal number of beds) which in addition is stable. |
| Keywords: | Refugees; landlords; stability; maximum matchings; market design |
| JEL: | C71 C78 D71 D78 |
| Date: | 2016–07–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lunewp:2016_018&r=ure |
| By: | Efobi Uchenna (Covenant University, Nigeria) |
| Abstract: | This study provides an ex-ante analysis of the welfare effect from the improvement of border road infrastructure in Nigeria. It starts by describing the income distribution in the Nigerian states contained in the sample. It then analyses the relationship between income, household food expenditures, and household expenditures on imported rice. it is aimed at assessing how changes in the price of food commodities induced by border road improvements would affect different types of households. Finally, it investigates how simulated changes in local transportation costs stemming from road improvements would affect local prices of imported rice taking into consideration the simulated price changes effect on household welfare across household head gender and household area (rural and urban households). Results indicate that policies aiming to improve border roads and thereby lower transportation costs, and subsequently the price of imported rice, would be more beneficial for rural than urban households. Such policies would likely produce larger welfare gains for poorer households than richer households, and would be more beneficial for the poorest female-headed households than their male counterparts. |
| Keywords: | ECOWAS; Gender; Household; Nigeria; Poverty; Trade; Welfare |
| JEL: | D1 D6 F1 F2 R2 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:agd:wpaper:16/025&r=ure |
| By: | Zsolt Csáfordi (Hungarian Academy of Sciences CERS, Institute of Economics); László Lőrincz (Hungarian Academy of Sciences CERS, Institute of Economics); Balázs Lengyel (Hungarian Academy of Sciences CERS, Institute of Economics); Károly Miklós Kiss (Hungarian Academy of Sciences CERS, Institute of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Labor flows are major source of knowledge spillover between companies, in which the characteristics of the companies play an important role. Previous research found the more productive the sending firm is he bigger effect of labor flows on the productivity of the receiving firm. Another literature claims that domestic firms benefit from labor flows from multinational enterprises (MNE). We test these arguments by analyzing an anonymized employer-employee linked panel database from Hungary for the 2003-2011 period and also look at the similarity of necessary skills in the sending and receiving firm because industry-specific skills of employee’s matter in organizational learning and therefore in productivity growth. We construct the skill-relatedness network of industries based on inter-industry labor mobility and distinguish related and non-related labor inflows by comparing the observed level of mobility to an expected level of mobility. Our results suggest that labor flows from more productive firms increases the effect of labor flows significantly. Domestic companies obtain productivity gains from labor inflows coming from MNEs; however, inflows from MNEs have the greatest positive effect if the receiving firm is also a MNE. The effect of flows from skill-related industries, and particularly from the same industry outperform the effect of flows from unrelated industries, however, these effects are mitigated by the relative productivity effect. |
| Keywords: | skill-relatedness network, firm productivity, knowledge spillover, labor mobility, productivity gap, firm ownership |
| JEL: | D22 J24 J60 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:4006263&r=ure |
| By: | Alex Fenton |
| Abstract: | Spatial microsimulation (SMS) is a range of techniques for estimating the local distribution of a variable - here, household income - by combining social survey microdata with Census or administrative population totals. This paper makes a case for the value of these methods in social policy analysis of spatial economic differences because unlike other methods and sources, they permit distributional analysis of income, encompass both market outcomes and secondary distribution through taxes and transfers, and measure income poverty in standard national terms. As a demonstration of spatial microsimulation by iterative proportional fitting (IPF), the household income distribution in London's 33 boroughs in 2001/02 and 2011/12 is estimated in this paper. The coherence and plausibility of the results in comparison to other official statistics is examined in some detail. Two refinements to standard IPF methods are presented, including "multi-level IPF", which allows the use of both person- and household-level data; this is found to improve the estimation of poverty rates. The paper confirms the value of SMS for synchronic spatial analysis, and argues for its hitherto little-explored use in modelling spatial differences in the effects of fiscal and welfare policy changes. |
| Keywords: | microsimulation, income estimation, poverty, spatial inequality |
| JEL: | C81 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:sticas:/196&r=ure |