|
on Urban and Real Estate Economics |
| By: | Dora L. Costa; Matthew E. Kahn; Christopher Roudiez; Sven Wilson |
| Abstract: | At the end of the U.S Civil War, veterans had to choose whether to return to their prewar communities or move to new areas. The late 19th Century was a time of sharp urban growth as workers sought out the economic opportunities offered by cities. By estimating discrete choice migration models, we quantify the tradeoffs that veterans faced. Veterans were less likely to move far from their origin and avoided urban immigrant areas and high mortality risk areas. They also avoided areas that opposed the Civil War. Veterans were more likely to move to a neighborhood or a county where men from their same war company lived. This co-location evidence highlights the existence of persistent social networks. Such social networks had long-term consequences: veterans living close to war time friends enjoyed a longer life. |
| JEL: | J61 N91 R23 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22397&r=ure |
| By: | Joaquin A. Urrego; Catalina Gómez Toro; Hermilson Velásquez |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the relationship between permanent income and homicides, estimating an income-crime elasticity. We assume that this elasticity varies across geographical areas. We estimate different specifications of Spatial Panel Models using information of urban areas in Medellin (Colombia), areas known as communes. Spatial Models consider the importance of location and the type of neighbors of each commune. We simulate an intervention over permanent income in order to estimate the income elasticity for each commune and the average elasticity of income-crime on the city. We provide evidence about spatial dependence between the homicides per commune and their neighbors, and about a relationship between homicides and neighbor’s income. In our case of study, the average estimated impact of 1% increase in permanent income in a specific commune produces a decrease in the homicide rate on average in 0.39%. Finally, permanent income plays a crime deterrent role, but also this effect of income on crime varies across the city, showing that some areas are strategically located to this kind of intervention. |
| Keywords: | Permanent income, Homicides, Spatial panel, Elasticity |
| JEL: | K4 C23 R12 R23 |
| Date: | 2016–05–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000122:014967&r=ure |
| By: | christoph Eder (University of Innsbruck, Department of Public Finance, Universitätsstraβe 15/4, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria); Martin Halla (University of Innsbruck, and IZA, Bonn) |
| Abstract: | As a consequence of World War II, Austria was divided into four different occupation zones for 10 years. Before tight travel restrictions came into place, about 11 percent of the population residing in the Soviet zone moved across the demarcation line. We exploit this large internal migration shock to further our understanding of why economic activity is distributed unevenly across space. Our analysis shows that the distorted population distribution across locations has fully persisted until today (60 years after the demarcation line became obsolete). An analysis of more direct measures of economic activity shows an even higher concentration in the former non-Soviet zone. This gap in economic activity is growing over time, mainly due to commuting streams out of the former Soviet zone. This shows that a transitory shock is capable of shifting an economy to a new spatial equilibrium, which provides strong evidence for the importance of increasing returns to scale in explaining the spatial distribution of economic activity. |
| Keywords: | spatial equilibrium, agglomeration effects, population shock, World War II, Austria. |
| JEL: | R11 R12 R23 J61 N44 N94 |
| Date: | 2016–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hic:wpaper:230&r=ure |
| By: | Tyrefors Hinnerich, Björn (Department of economics, Stockholm University); Vlachos, Jonas (Department 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; granding standards |
| JEL: | H40 I21 I22 |
| Date: | 2016–05–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2016_009&r=ure |
| By: | Sebastian Galiani; Patrick J. McEwan; Brian Quistorff |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes a geographic quasi-experiment embedded in a cluster-randomized experiment in Honduras. In the experiment, average treatment effects on school enrollment and child labor were large—especially in the poorest blocks—and could be generalized to a policy-relevant population given the original sample selection criteria. In contrast, the geographic quasi-experiment yielded point estimates that, for two of three dependent variables, were attenuated. A judicious policy analyst without access to the experimental results might have provided misleading advice based on the magnitude of point estimates. We assessed two main explanations for the difference in point estimates, related to external and internal validity. |
| JEL: | O22 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22468&r=ure |
| By: | Henry, Mary E.; Squitieri, Amanda |
| Abstract: | Educating youth on the relevance of agriculture to their daily lives is imperative to food security, as these future adults will be faced with land use decisions which call upon their perception of the value of agriculture. Though their food comes first from a farm, without opportunity to connect, students are often ignorant of their reliance on farms for food. Polk County, Florida, is fortunate to have abundant agriculture, yet many students, particularly those in urban areas, are unaware of the importance of agriculture to their daily lives. In 2011, Agrifest, a long standing agricultural awareness program for Polk County fourth graders, incorporated a new station to improve student perception of fruits and vegetables and increase the likelihood they would risk trying new ones. The station, highlighting the diversity and scope of Florida farms, emphasized the importance and excitement of eating fruits and vegetables using two enormous displays of more than 40 different kinds of real fruits and vegetables. More than 6,000 students experienced, touched and smelled new fruits and vegetables as a result of the Florida Farms station from 2011-2012. Teacher surveys showed the station was educationally relevant (80%, n= 82) and improved student awareness of Florida grown agricultural products (87%, n= 47). More than half of the teachers (53%, n=47) thought students were more likely to try new fruits and vegetables following the experience. |
| Keywords: | Youth, Nutrition, Fruits, Vegetables, Agriculture, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, Crop Production/Industries, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Health Economics and Policy, Labor and Human Capital, Land Economics/Use, Livestock Production/Industries, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, |
| Date: | 2015–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cars13:242084&r=ure |
| By: | William Elming (Institute for Fiscal Studies and Institute for Fiscal Studies); Andreas Ermler (Institute for Fiscal Studies) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses the large and heterogeneous house price shocks in Denmark from 2006-2009 to provide new evidence on the contested determinants of the correlation between house prices and saving. Crucially, to compare the savings behaviour of home-owners who experienced di fferent house price shocks but similar shocks to income expectations, we exploit the structure of the wage setting process in the Danish public sector. We fi nd strong evidence of a causal link between changes in house prices and saving for young and old home-owners, both through a direct wealth eff ect and through housing equity serving as collateral or precautionary wealth. |
| Keywords: | Housing, Saving, Wealth e ect, Collateral, Debt dynamics |
| JEL: | D14 D91 E21 R20 |
| Date: | 2016–08–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ifs:ifsewp:16/12&r=ure |
| By: | Girum Abebe; Stefano Caria; Marcel Fafchamps; Paolo Falco; Simon Franklin; Simon Quinn |
| Abstract: | We conduct a randomized evaluation of two job-search support programs for urban youth in Ethiopia. One group of treated respondents receives a subsidy to cover the transport costs of job search. Another group participates in a job application workshop where their skills are certified and they are given orientation on how to make effective job applications. The two interventions are designed to lower spatial and informational barriers to employment. We find that both treatments significantly improve the quality of jobs that young jobseekers obtain. Impacts are concentrated among women and the least educated. Using rich high-frequency data from a phone survey, we are able to explore the mechanisms underlying the results; we show that while the transport subsidy increases both the intensity and the efficacy of job search, the job application workshop mainly operates through an increase in search efficacy. Both interventions mitigate the adverse effects of spatial constraints on employment outcomes, and the job application workshop alleviates informational asymmetries by helping workers to signal their ability. |
| JEL: | J64 O15 O18 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22409&r=ure |
| By: | Katherine Michelmore; Susan Dynarski |
| Abstract: | Gaps in educational achievement between high- and low-income children are growing. Administrative datasets maintained by states and districts lack information about income but do indicate whether a student is eligible for subsidized school meals. We leverage the longitudinal structure of these datasets to develop a new measure of persistent economic disadvantage. Half of 8th graders in Michigan are eligible for a subsidized meal, but just 14 percent have been eligible for subsidized meals in every grade since kindergarten. These children score 0.94 standard deviations below those never eligible for subsidies and 0.23 below those occasionally eligible. There is a negative, linear relationship between grades spent in economic disadvantage and 8th grade test scores. This is not an exposure effect: the relationship is almost identical in 3rd grade, before children have been differentially exposed to five more years of economic disadvantage. Survey data show that the number of years that a child will spend eligible for subsidized lunch is negatively correlated with her current household income. Years eligible for subsidized meals can therefore be used as a reasonable proxy for income. Our proposed measure can be used in evaluations to estimate heterogeneous effects, to improve value-added calculations, and to better target resources. |
| JEL: | I24 I28 I32 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22474&r=ure |
| By: | Eric A. Hanushek; Steven G. Rivkin; Jeffrey C. Schiman |
| Abstract: | It is widely believed that teacher turnover adversely affects the quality of instruction in urban schools serving predominantly disadvantaged children, and a growing body of research investigates various components of turnover effects. The evidence at first seems contradictory, as the quality of instruction appears to decline following turnover despite the fact that most work shows higher attrition for less effective teachers. This raises concerns that confounding factors bias estimates of transition differences in teacher effectiveness, the adverse effects of turnover or both. After taking more extensive steps to account for nonrandom sorting of students into classrooms and endogenous teacher exits and grade-switching, we replicate existing findings of adverse selection out of schools and negative effects of turnover in lower-achievement schools. But we find that these turnover effects can be fully accounted for by the resulting loss in experience and productivity loss following the reallocation of some incumbent teachers to different grades. |
| JEL: | H4 I20 J45 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22472&r=ure |
| By: | Jörn-Steffen Pischke |
| Abstract: | Many economists suspect that downward nominal wage rigidities in ongoing labor contracts are an important source of employment fluctuations over the business cycle but there is little direct empirical evidence on this conjecture. This paper compares three occupations in the housing sector with very different wage setting institutions, real estate agents, architects, and construction workers. I study the wage and employment responses of these occupations to the housing cycle, a proxy for labor demand shocks to the industry. The employment of real estate agents, whose pay is far more flexible than the other occupations, indeed reacts less to the cycle than employment in the other occupations. However, unless labor demand elasticities are large, the estimates do not suggest that the level of wage flexibility enjoyed by real estate agents would buffer employment fluctuations in response to demand shocks by more than 10 to 20 percent compared to completely rigid wages. |
| JEL: | E24 J20 J44 |
| Date: | 2016–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22496&r=ure |
| By: | Sullivan, Riley (Federal Reserve Bank of Boston); Fisher, Ronald C. (Michigan State University) |
| Abstract: | This report explores several hypotheses as to why state and local governments in New England have been spending less on capital investment than the national average, on a normalized basis. Census data show that state and local capital spending in all six New England states was well below the national average between 2000 and 2012, whether measured on a per capita basis, as a share of personal income, or as a share of state and local government spending. To explore why this is so, this report considers how capital spending has changed over time, how capital spending differs by state and across spending category, and the quality and quantity of capital stock in New England’s states. The report also considers the relationship between debt issuance and capital spending. The authors find that economic, social, and political characteristics used in previous research are insufficient to fully explain the observed normalized levels of state and local capital spending in the New England states relative to their rates in the national average of all U.S. states. The report does suggest that the relatively large role of state government in New England and government officials’ concerns about debt levels may have contributed to lower capital spending. |
| Date: | 2016–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedbpr:2016_001&r=ure |
| By: | Bertolini, P.; Pagliacci, F. |
| Abstract: | The Italian National Strategy for Inner Areas explicitly draws policymakers’ attention to inner municipalities. It stresses the importance of improving socio-economic conditions of people as the only way to reverse negative demographic trends in those areas. To this respect, improving quality of life (QoL) represents one of the key drivers. Given such an important policy implication, this work provides a statistical tool to measure existing gaps in QoL levels across Italian NUTS 3 regions, by explicitly disentangling urban and inner areas. Nevertheless, QoL is a multidimensional concept, thus a composite indicator is computed following a non-compensatory approach: the QoL Mazziotta-Pareto Index. Firstly, we consider the variability of the comprehensive indicator across Italy, with respect to the presence of inner areas. As a major result, this analysis seems breaking down the supposed negative relationship between QoL and presence of inner areas, which the paper proves to be mostly overlapping with rural ones, when controlling for sub-national structural divides occurring throughout Italy. Secondly, spatial aspects make the picture even more complex. Even the neighbouring space is expected to affect QoL at local level. In particular, by means of both global and local indicators of spatial autocorrelation, groups of NUTS 3 regions sharing similar QoL levels with their neighbours are detected. From a policy perspective, such a locked-in path among neighbouring regions can influence the effectiveness of place-based policies. |
| Keywords: | inner areas, rural areas, quality of life, spatial effects, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Public Economics, O18, R00, R10, R11, |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aiea16:242317&r=ure |
| By: | Maarten Goos; Joep Konings; Marieke Vandeweyer |
| Abstract: | This paper shows that high-tech employment - broadly defined as all workers in high-tech sectors but also workers with STEM degrees in low-tech sectors - has increased in Europe over the past decade. Moreover, we estimate that every high-tech job in a region creates five additional low-tech jobs in that region because of the existence of a local high-tech job multiplier. The paper also shows how the presence of a local high-tech job multiplier results in convergence between Europe's regions. That is, employment in Europe's lagging regions is becoming more similar to Europe's high-tech hubs. However, our estimates suggest that this convergence is happening at a glacial pace, and some suggestive evidence is presented that lifting several institutional barriers to innovation in Europe's lagging regions would speed up convergence leading to faster high-tech as well as overall employment while also addressing Europe's regional inequalities. |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ete:vivwps:547246&r=ure |
| By: | Maarten Goos; Joep Konings; Marieke Vandeweyer |
| Abstract: | This paper shows that high-tech employment - broadly defined as all workers in high-tech sectors but also workers with STEM degrees in low-tech sectors - has increased in Europe over the past decade. Moreover, we estimate that every high-tech job in a region creates five additional low-tech jobs in that region because of the existence of a local high-tech job multiplier. The paper also shows how the presence of a local high-tech job multiplier results in convergence between Europe's regions. That is, employment in Europe's lagging regions is becoming more similar to Europe's high-tech hubs. However, our estimates suggest that this convergence is happening at a glacial pace, and some suggestive evidence is presented that lifting several institutional barriers to innovation in Europe's lagging regions would speed up convergence leading to faster high-tech as well as overall employment while also addressing Europe's regional inequalities. |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ete:ceswps:547246&r=ure |
| By: | Schwerdt, Guido (University of Konstanz); Woessmann, Ludger (University of Munich) |
| Abstract: | The central vs. local nature of high-school exit exam systems can have important repercussions on the labor market. By increasing the informational content of grades, central exams may improve the sorting of students by productivity. To test this, we exploit the unique German setting where students from states with and without central exams work on the same labor market. Our difference-in-difference model estimates whether the earnings difference between individuals with high and low grades differs between central and local exams. We find that the earnings premium for a one standard-deviation increase in high-school grades is indeed 6 percent when obtained on central exams but less than 2 percent when obtained on local exams. Choices of higher-education programs and of occupations do not appear major channels of this result. |
| Keywords: | Central exit exams, labor-market sorting, earnings, measurement error, difference-in-difference, Germany JEL Classification: I20, J24, J31 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:293&r=ure |
| By: | Jo Reynaerts; Jakob Vanschoonbeek |
| Abstract: | Reynaerts and Vanschoonbeek (2016) propose a semi-parametric procedure to estimate the economic impact of secession, finding empirical evidence that declaring independence significantly lowered per capita GDP in newly formed states. To demonstrate that these findings appear to hold irrespective of the estimation procedure employed, this addendum formulates a parametric approach to estimate the independence dividend. Our preferred parametric specifications comprise a dynamic, quasi-myopic model of per capita GDP dynamics that controls for country and year fixed effects, the rich dynamics of GDP, finite anticipation effects and a vector of alternative growth determinants. The results indicate that declaring independence reduces per capita GDP by around 15-20% in the long run. These results are qualitatively confirmed when we use non-regional secession waves to instrument for local incentives to secede. |
| Keywords: | Independence dividend, panel data, dynamic model, generalized method of moments, bootstrap-based bias correction, instrumental variable regression |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ete:vivwps:547242&r=ure |
| By: | Philip Brookins; Jennifer Brown; Dmitry Ryvkin |
| Abstract: | Incentive schemes that reward participants based on their relative performance are often thought to be particularly risk-inducing. Using a novel, real-effort task experiment in the laboratory, we find that the relationship between incentives and risk-taking is more nuanced and depends critically on the availability of information about peers’ strategies and outcomes. Indeed, we find that when no peer information is available, relative rewards schemes are associated with significantly less risk-taking than non-competitive rewards. In contrast, when decision-makers receive information about their peers’ actions and/or outcomes, relative incentive schemes are associated with more risk-taking than non-competitive schemes. The nature of the feedback—whether subjects receive information about peers’ strategies, outcomes, or both—also affects risk-taking. We find no evidence that competitors imitate their peers when they face only feedback about other subjects’ risk-taking strategies. However, decision-makers take more risk when they see the gaps between their performance score and their peers’ scores grow. Combined feedback about peers’ strategies and performance—from which subjects may assess the overall relationship between risk-taking and success—is associated with more risk-taking when rewards are based on relative performance; we find no similar effect for non-competitive rewards. |
| JEL: | C72 C91 C92 D81 G17 M52 |
| Date: | 2016–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22486&r=ure |
| By: | Christian Fons-Rosen; Vincenzo Scrutinio; Katalin Szemeredi |
| Abstract: | This paper uses the entry of large corporations into U.S. counties during the 1980s and 1990s to analyse the effect of plant opening on knowledge spillovers to local inventors. We use a difference-in-differences identification strategy exploiting information on the revealed ranking of possible locations for large plants in the US. Under the identifying assumption that locations not chosen (losers) are a counterfactual for the chosen location (winner), we find that patents of these large corporations are 68% more likely to be cited in the winning counties relative to the losing counties after entry. The effect materializes after the opening of the plant, rather than after the entry decision itself. The increase in citations is stronger for more recent patents whereas patent quality does not seem to play an important role. We find that the increase in citations is larger from patents belonging to the same technology class of the cited patent. |
| Keywords: | productivity, innovation, knowledge diffusion |
| JEL: | O3 R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2016–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1447&r=ure |
| By: | Jennifer L. Doleac; Benjamin Hansen |
| Abstract: | Jurisdictions across the United States have adopted "ban the box" (BTB) policies preventing employers from conducting criminal background checks until late in the job application process. Their goal is to improve employment outcomes for those with criminal records, with a secondary goal of reducing racial disparities in employment. However, removing information about job applicants' criminal histories could lead employers who don't want to hire ex-offenders to try to guess who the ex-offenders are, and avoid interviewing them. In particular, employers might avoid interviewing young, low-skilled, black and Hispanic men when criminal records are not observable. This would worsen employment outcomes for these already-disadvantaged groups. In this paper, we use variation in the details and timing of state and local BTB policies to test BTB's effects on employment for various demographic groups. We find that BTB policies decrease the probability of being employed by 3.4 percentage points (5.1%) for young, low-skilled black men, and by 2.3 percentage points (2.9%) for young, low-skilled Hispanic men. These findings support the hypothesis that when an applicant's criminal history is unavailable, employers statistically discriminate against demographic groups that are likely to have a criminal record. |
| JEL: | J15 J7 J78 K42 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22469&r=ure |
| By: | Christian Dustman (University College London); Uta Schönberg (University College London); Jan Stuhler (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid) |
| Abstract: | By exploiting a commuting policy that led to a sharp and unexpected inflow of Czech workers to areas along the German-Czech border, we examine the impact of an exogenous immigration-induced labor supply shock on local wages and employment of natives. On average, the supply shock leads to a moderate decline in local native wages and a sharp decline in local native employment. These average effects mask considerable heterogeneity across groups: while younger natives experience larger wage effects, employment responses are particularly pronounced for older natives. This pattern is inconsistent with standard models of immigration but can be accounted for by a model that allows for a larger labor supply elasticity or a higher degree of wage rigidity for older than for young workers. We further show that the employment response is almost entirely driven by diminished inflows of natives into work rather than outflows into other areas or non-employment, suggesting that “outsiders†shield “insiders†from the increased competition. |
| Keywords: | Immigration, wage effects, labor supply elasticity, internal migration |
| JEL: | J21 J22 J61 R23 |
| Date: | 2016–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:1617&r=ure |
| By: | Fiorillo, Damiano; Lubrano Lavadera, Giuseppe; Nappo, Nunzia |
| Abstract: | Although structural and cognitive social capital have been hypothesized to have positive influence on psychological health, few papers found positive correlation and causal relationship between social capital dimensions and psychological wellbeing. This longitudinal study investigates the effect of social participation in associations - member, active, member and active - on self-rated psychological health using five waves of the British Household Panel Survey that follows the same individuals between years 1991 and 1995. Self-rated psychological health is assessed by single items of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12). Using ordered logit fixed effect methods the paper shows that being member and active in associations increases all “positive” items of self-rated psychological health and decreases two main “negative” items of psychological wellbeing. |
| Keywords: | Social capital, social participation, psychological health, ordered logit fixed effect, British Household Panel Survey |
| JEL: | C23 D71 I1 I3 Z1 |
| Date: | 2016–08–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:72879&r=ure |
| By: | Sasaki, Hiroki |
| Abstract: | For some time, individuals in multiple contexts have been moving from rural to urban areas for economic reasons. In recent years, however, young people in Japan have been increasingly turning to rural areas to embrace a slower, less-hectic lifestyle. Despite this interesting development, researchers have thus far failed to identify determinants of residents’ well-being in rural and urban areas in Japan. Moreover, recent empirical work has shown that stated happiness or subjective well-being (SWB) can serve as an empirical proxy for perceived utility. To expand upon this line of research, in this paper, I use SWB to gauge disparities between the Japanese rural and urban environments. In addition, I determine how natural capital and social capital affect SWB for both rural and urban residents. Results show that on average, rural residents report higher SWB than urban residents despite low average income. I also identify multiple factors other than household income that affect SWB; these relationships are particularly pronounced for rural residents. Finally, results demonstrate that residents that migrate from urban to rural areas reported high levels of SWB. Taken together, the results of this study provide new insight into rural values and the attractiveness of rural residency. |
| Keywords: | happiness, subjective well-being, Natural Capital, Social Capital, Community/Rural/Urban Development, I31, D63, Q15, |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aiea16:242325&r=ure |
| By: | Juan Carlos Suárez Serrato; Philippe Wingender |
| Abstract: | We propose a new source of cross-sectional variation that may identify causal impacts of government spending on the economy. We use the fact that a large number of federal spending programs depend on local population levels. Every ten years, the Census provides a count of local populations. Since a different method is used to estimate non-Census year populations, this change in methodology leads to variation in the allocation of billions of dollars in federal spending. Our baseline results follow a treatment-effects framework where we estimate the effect of a Census Shock on federal spending, income, and employment growth by re-weighting the data based on an estimated propensity score that depends on lagged economic outcomes and observed economic shocks. Our estimates imply a local income multiplier of government spending between 1.7 and 2, and a cost per job of $30,000 per year. A complementary IV estimation strategy yields similar estimates. We also explore the potential for spillover effects across neighboring counties but we do not find evidence of sizable spillovers. Finally, we test for heterogeneous effects of government spending and find that federal spending has larger impacts in low-growth areas. |
| JEL: | E62 H5 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22425&r=ure |
| By: | Jean-Noel Barrot; Ramana Nanda |
| Abstract: | In 2011, the federal government accelerated payments to their small business contractors, spanning virtually every county and industry in the US. We study the impact of this reform on county-sector employment growth over the subsequent three years. Despite firms being paid just 15 days sooner, we find payroll increased 10 cents for each accelerated dollar, with two-thirds of the effect coming from an increase in new hires and the balance from an increase in earnings. Importantly, however, we document substantial crowding out of non-treated firms employment, particularly in counties with low rates of unemployment. Our results highlight an important channel through which financing constraints can be alleviated for small firms, but also emphasize the general-equilibrium effects of large-scale interventions, which can lead to a substantially lower net impact on aggregate outcomes. |
| JEL: | E2 G2 H57 J2 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22420&r=ure |
| By: | Craig Wesley Carpenter |
| Abstract: | This paper takes advantage of the Michigan Census Research Data Center to merge limited access Census Bureau data with county level information to investigate the impact of Latino-owned business (LOB) employment share on local economic performance measures, namely per capita income, employment, poverty, and population growth. Beginning with OLS and then moving to the Spatial Durbin Model, this paper shows the impact of LOB overall employment share is insignificant. When decomposed into various industries, however, LOB employment share does have a significant impact on economic performance measures. Significance varies by industry, but the results support a divide in the impact of LOB employment share in low and high-barrier industries. |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:16-34&r=ure |
| By: | Vona, Francesco; Marin, Giovanni; Consoli, Davide |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the nature and the key empirical regularities of green employment in US local labor markets between 2006 and 2014. We construct a new measure of green employment based on the task content of occupations. Descriptive analysis reveals the following: 1. the share of green employment oscillates between 2 and 3 percent, and its trend is strongly pro-cyclical; 2. green jobs yield a 4 percent wage premium; 3. despite moderate catching-up across areas, green jobs remain more geographically concentrated than similar non-green jobs; and 4. the top green areas are mostly high-tech. As regards the drivers, changes in environmental regulation are a secondary force compared to the local endowment of green knowledge and resilience in the face of the great recession. To assess the impact of moving to greener activities, we estimate that one additional green job is associated with 4.2 (2.4 in the crisis period) new jobs in non-tradable activities in the local economies. |
| Keywords: | Green Employment, Local Labor Markets, Environmental Regulation, Environmental Technologies, Local Multipliers, Labor and Human Capital, J23, O33, Q52, R23, |
| Date: | 2016–07–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:feemmi:243149&r=ure |
| By: | Nathan Goldschlag; Stefano Bianchini; Julia Lane; Joseba SanMartin Sola; Bruce Weinberg |
| Abstract: | Public support of research typically relies on the notion that universities are engines of economic development, and that university research is a primary driver of high wage localized economic activity. Yet the evidence supporting that notion is based on aggregate descriptive data, rather than detailed links at the level of individual transactions. Here we use new micro-data from three countries - France, Spain and the United States - to examine one mechanism whereby such economic activity is generated, namely purchases from regional businesses. We show that grant funds are more likely to be expended at businesses physically closer to universities than at those farther away. In addition, if a vendor has been a supplier to a grant once, that vendor is subsequently more likely to be a vendor on the same or related grants. Firms behave in a way that is consistent with the notion that propinquity is good for business; if a firm supplies a research grant at a university in a given year it is more likely to open an establishment near that university in subsequent years than other firms. |
| Keywords: | Science policy, innovation, regional economic development, UMETRICS |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:16-32&r=ure |
| By: | Gregory F. Nemet; Martina Kraus; Vera Zipperer |
| Abstract: | Moving non-incremental innovations from the pilot scale to full commercial scale raises questions about the need and implementation of public support. Heuristics from the literature put policy makers in a dilemma between addressing a market failure and acknowledging a government failure: incentives for private investments in large scale demonstrations are weak (the valley of death) but the track record of governance in large demonstration projects is poor (the technology pork barrel). We reassess these arguments in the literature, particularly as to how they apply to sup- porting demonstration projects for decarbonizing industry. Conditions for the valley of death exist with: low appropriability, large chunky investments, unproven reliability, and uncertain future markets. We build a data set of 511 demonstration projects in nine technology areas and code characteristics for each project, including timing, motivations, and scale. We argue that the literature and the results from the case studies have five main implications for policy makers in making decisions about demonstration support. Policy makers should consider: 1) prioritizing learning, 2) iterative upscaling, 3) private sector engagement, 4) broad knowledge dissemination, and 5) making demand pull robust. |
| Keywords: | Demonstrations, technology push, demand pull |
| JEL: | Q55 O31 O38 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1601&r=ure |
| By: | Lara Hulsey; Kimberly Boller |
| Abstract: | The Northside Achievement Zone (NAZ) serves a contiguous 13-by-18-block area in North Minneapolis, selected because it encompasses a region with the highest concentration of negative indicators related to poverty, violence, and low educational achievement in the area. |
| Keywords: | Promise Neighborhoods, cradle-to-career, place-based, two-generation, collective impact |
| JEL: | I |
| Date: | 2015–02–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:c269626ee7c94c70ab4325a4d04a3053&r=ure |