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on Urban and Real Estate Economics |
| By: | Glaeser, Edward L. (Harvard University); Ponzetto, Giacomo A. M. (Universitat Pompeu Fabra and Barcelona GSE); Zou, Yimei (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) |
| Abstract: | Should China build mega-cities or a network of linked middle-sized metropolises? Can Europe's mid-sized cities compete with global agglomeration by forging stronger inter-urban links? This paper examines these questions within a model of recombinant growth and endogenous local amenities. Three primary factors determine the trade-off between networks and big cities: local returns to scale in innovation, the elasticity of housing supply, and the importance of local amenities. Even if there are global increasing returns, the returns to local scale in innovation may be decreasing, and that makes networks more appealing than mega-cities. Inelastic housing supply makes it harder to supply more space in dense confines, which perhaps explains why networks are more popular in regulated Europe than in the American Sunbelt. Larger cities can dominate networks because of amenities, as long as the benefits of scale overwhelm the downsides of density. In our framework, the skilled are more likely to prefer mega-cities than the less skilled, and the long-run benefits of either mega-cities or networks may be quite different from the short-run benefits. |
| Date: | 2015–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:harjfk:15-078&r=ure |
| By: | Avery, Christopher (Harvard University); Pathak, Parag A. (MIT) |
| Abstract: | School choice systems aspire to delink residential location and school assignments by allowing children to apply to schools outside of their neighborhood. However, the introduction of choice programs affects incentives to live in certain neighborhoods, which may undermine the goals of choice programs. We investigate this possibility by developing a model of public school and residential choice. We consider two variants, one with an exogenous outside option and one endogenizing the outside option by considering interactions between two adjacent towns. In both cases, school choice rules narrow the range between the highest and lowest quality schools compared to neighborhood assignment rules, and these changes in school quality are capitalized into equilibrium housing prices. This compressed distribution generates incentives for both the highest and lowest types to move out of cities with school choice, typically producing worse outcomes for low types than neighborhood assignment rules. Paradoxically, even when choice results in improvement in the worst performing schools, the lowest type residents may not benefit. |
| Date: | 2015–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:harjfk:15-053&r=ure |
| By: | Stuart Gabriel; Owen Hearey; Matthew E. Kahn; Ryan K. Vaughn |
| Abstract: | Over the years 2000 to 2013, the Los Angeles real estate market featured a boom, a bust, and then another boom. We use this variation to test how the hedonic valuation of school quality varies over the business cycle. Following Black (1999), we exploit a regression discontinuity design at elementary school attendance boundaries to test for how the implicit price of school quality changes. We find that the capitalization of school quality is counter-cyclical. While good schools always command a price premium, this premium grows during the bust. Possible mechanisms for these findings include consumers "trading down" from private to public schools during contractions as well as the effects of reduced household mobility during downturns in raising the value of the public school option. |
| JEL: | R21 R3 |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22668&r=ure |
| By: | Alexander N. Bogin (Federal Housing Finance Agency); William M. Doerner (Federal Housing Finance Agency); William D. Larson (Federal Housing Finance Agency) |
| Abstract: | We make two contributions to the study of house price index and mortgage credit modeling accuracy. First, we assess the predictive power of house price indices calculated at different levels of geographic aggregation. Lower levels of aggregation offer superior fit when appreciation rates vary substantially across submarkets and the indices are based on a sufficient number of transactions. Second, we estimate a competing options credit model using 15 years of mortgage performance data in the United States. Model accuracy is highest when using indices at a city or lower level of aggregation to construct current loan-to-value ratios. Fit is weaker when using state or national price indices. Overall, this research highlights the benefits of using more localized house price indices when predicting property values and mortgage performance. |
| Keywords: | house prices, loan-to-value, mortgage performance, credit model |
| JEL: | C55 G22 R30 R51 |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hfa:wpaper:16-04&r=ure |
| By: | Paco Martorel (University of California, Davis); Kevin Stange (University of Michigan); Isaac McFarlin Jr. (University of Michigan) |
| Abstract: | Public investments in repairs, modernization, and construction of schools cost billions. However, little is known about the nature of school facility investments, whether such investments actually change the physical condition of public schools, and the subsequent causal impacts on student achievement. We study the achievement effects of nearly 1,400 capital campaigns initiated and financed by local school districts, comparing districts where school capital bonds were either narrowly approved or narrowly defeated by district voters. Overall, we find little evidence that school capital campaigns improve student achievement. Our event-study analyses focusing on students that attend targeted schools and therefore are exposed to major campus renovations also generate very precise zero estimates of achievement effects. Thus, locally financed school capital campaigns - the predominant method through which facility investments are made - may represent a limited tool for realizing substantial gains in student achievement or closing achievement gaps. |
| Keywords: | School facilities, student achievement, school financing, school bonds |
| JEL: | I22 I24 H75 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upj:weupjo:16-256&r=ure |
| By: | BENASSI, FEDERICO; DEVA, MIRELA; ZINDATO, DONATELLA |
| Abstract: | The paper presents an original application of the recently proposed spatial data mining method named GraphRECAP on daily commuting flows using 2011 Albanian census data. Its aim is to identify several clusters of Albanian municipalities/communes; propose a classification of the Albanian territory based on daily commuting flows among municipalities/communes. Starting from 373 local units, we first applied a spatial clustering technique without imposing any constraining strategy. Based on the input variables, we obtained 16 clusters. In the second step of our analysis, we impose a set of constraining parameters to identify intermediate areas between the local level (municipality/commune) and the national one. We have defined 12 derived regions (same number as the actual Albanian prefectures but with different geographies). These derived regions are quite different from the traditional ones in terms of both geographical dimensions and boundaries. |
| Keywords: | GraphRECAP, regionalization, daily commuting flows, census data, Albania, territorial imbalances |
| JEL: | J61 R00 R11 R41 |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:73946&r=ure |
| By: | Shoag, Daniel (Harvard University); Carollo, Nicholas (University of California, Los Angeles) |
| Abstract: | Recent research has stressed the importance of long-run place effects on income and economic mobility, but the literature has struggled to isolate the causal impact of location. This paper provides new evidence on these effects using administrative data on over 100,000 Japanese- Americans who were interned during World War II. Internees were conditionally randomly assigned to camps in seven different states and held for several years. Restitution payments paid in the early 1990s to the universe of surviving internees allow us to measure their locations and outcomes nearly half a century after the camp assignments. Using this unique natural experiment we find, first, that camp assignment had a lasting effect on individuals' long-term locations. Next, using this variation, we find large place effects on individual economic outcomes like income, education, socioeconomic status, house prices, and housing quality. People assigned to richer locations do better on all measures. Random location assignment affected intergenerational economic outcomes as well, with families assigned to more socially mobile areas (as designated by Chetty et al., 2014) displaying lower cross-generational correlation in outcomes. Finally, we provide evidence that assignment to richer places impacted people's values and political views, a new and intriguing mechanism through which place effects operate. Together, this new causal evidence on location effects has broad implications for urban economics, as well as potential policy implications for policymakers struggling to resettle and integrate large refugee or immigrant populations. |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:harjfk:16-022&r=ure |
| By: | Piazzesi, Monika; Schneider, Martin |
| Abstract: | This paper surveys the literature on housing in macroeconomics. We ï¬ rst collect facts on house prices and quantities in both the time series and the cross section of households and housing markets. We then present a theoretical model of frictional housing markets with heterogeneous agents that nests or provides background for many studies. Finally, we describe quantitative results obtained during the last 15 years on household behavior, business cycle dynamics and asset pricing, as well as boom bust episodes. |
| JEL: | E2 E3 E4 G1 R2 R3 |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:11519&r=ure |
| By: | Naik, Nikhil (MIT); Kominers, Scott Duke (Harvard University); Raskar, Ramesh (MIT); Glaeser, Edward L. (Harvard University); Hidalgo, Cesar A. (MIT) |
| Abstract: | Urban change involves transformations in the physical appearance and the social composition of neighborhoods. Yet, the relationship between the physical and social components of urban change is not well understood due to the lack of comprehensive measures of neighborhood appearance. Here, we introduce a computer vision method to quantify change in physical appearance of streetscapes and generate a dataset of physical change for five large American cities. We combine this dataset with socioeconomic indicators to explore whether demographic and economic changes precede, follow, or co-occur with changes in physical appearance. We find that the strongest predictors of improvement in a neighborhood's physical appearance are population density and share of college-educated adults. Other socioeconomic characteristics, like median income, share of vacant homes, and monthly rent, do not predict improvement in physical appearance. We also find that neighborhood appearances converge to the initial appearances of bordering areas, supporting the Burgess "invasion" theory. In addition, physical appearance is more likely to improve in neighborhoods proximal to the central business district. Finally, we find modest support for "tipping" and "filtering" theories of urban change. |
| Date: | 2015–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:harjfk:15-061&r=ure |
| By: | Strulik, Holger; Trimborn, Timo |
| Abstract: | Recent empirical research has shown that output and GDP per capita in the aftermath of natural disasters are not necessarily lower than before the event. In many cases, both are not significantly affected and, surprisingly, sometimes they are found to respond positively to natural disasters. Here, we propose a novel economic theory that explains these observations. Specifically, we show that GDP is driven above its pre-shock level when natural disasters destroy predominantly durable consumption goods (cars, furniture, etc.). Disasters destroying mainly productive capital, in contrast, are predicted to reduce GDP. Insignificant responses of GDP can be expected when disasters destroy both, durable goods and productive capital. We extend the model by a residential housing sector and show that disasters may also have an insignificant impact on GDP when they destroy residential houses and durable goods. We show that disasters, irrespective of whether their impact on GDP is positive, negative, or insignificant, entail considerable losses of aggregate welfare. |
| Keywords: | natural disasters,economic recovery,durable goods,residential housing,economic growth |
| JEL: | E20 O40 Q54 R31 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:tuweco:072016&r=ure |
| By: | Hansjörg Blöchliger; David Bartolini; Sibylle Stossberg |
| Abstract: | Across the OECD, GDP per capita is converging. In contrast, regional disparities – or differences in GDP per capita across jurisdictions – are rising, mainly as a result of widening productivity differences. Fiscal decentralisation could help reduce them again. According to new OECD research, assigning more ownsource revenue to sub-national governments dampens regional GDP disparities and underpins regional convergence. In more decentralised settings, catching-up regions appear to adopt policy innovations more rapidly and their policy innovations have a stronger impact. Conversely, intergovernmental grants tend to fuel disparities, probably because they discourage lagging regions to develop their economic and fiscal base. However, when replacing intergovernmental transfers by own-source revenue, lower disparities in regional output may come at the cost of larger disparities in regional income and more unequal public service standards. Reforms to intergovernmental fiscal frameworks should therefore be two-pronged: a rise in sub-national own-source revenue should be paired with a re-design of intergovernmental transfers and fiscal equalisation, in order to make all jurisdictions enjoy the benefits of more sub-central fiscal power. La décentralisation budgétaire encourage-t-elle la convergence régionale du PIB ? Si l’on observe une convergence des PIB par habitant au sein de la zone OCDE, en revanche, les disparités régionales, c’est-à-dire, les écarts de PIB par habitant entre régions d’un même pays, se creusent, essentiellement du fait de l’augmentation des écarts de productivité. La décentralisation budgétaire pourrait contribuer à ce que ces disparités se réduisent de nouveau. Une nouvelle étude de l’OCDE montre que les disparités régionales de PIB sont atténuées et la convergence entre les régions stimulée lorsque les administrations infranationales disposent de recettes propres plus importantes. Il semble que, dans un environnement plus décentralisé, les régions en phase de rattrapage adoptent plus rapidement les innovations de politique publique et que celles-ci aient un impact plus fort. À l’inverse, les transferts interadministrations tendent à alimenter les disparités, probablement parce qu’ils n’incitent pas les régions en retard à élargir leur assise économique et budgétaire. Toutefois, en remplaçant les transferts interadministrations par des recettes propres, on risque de voir la réduction des différences régionales au niveau de la production s’opérer au prix d’un creusement des disparités au niveau des revenus et d’un accroissement des inégalités en matière de normes de service public. Les réformes des cadres budgétaires interadministrations devraient donc être déployées en deux volets : l’augmentation des recettes infranationales propres devrait être couplée à une redéfinition des transferts interadministrations et de la péréquation budgétaire, de façon que toutes les juridictions profitent des avantages du renforcement du pouvoir budgétaire des administrations infranationales. |
| Keywords: | fiscal decentralisation, fiscal equalisation, intergovernmental transfers, regional disparities, intergovernmental relations, fiscal autonomy, autonomie budgétaire, décentralisation budgétaire |
| JEL: | D63 H10 H70 H71 H75 H77 I38 |
| Date: | 2016–09–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaab:17-en&r=ure |
| By: | Kincses, Áron; Nagy, Zoltán; Tóth, Géza |
| Abstract: | How can spatial location affect the operation of society, population or economic conditions? What is the role of neighbourhood and distance in social phenomena? In what way can a social organisation limit spatial barriers? How would spatial structures be affected by the attraction and repulsion of territorial units? Does society only use or also design regions? These questions are explored in this study. This work analyses some important issues, concepts and analysis procedures of the territorial structure of society and social processes of spatiality. It does not contain a comprehensive theory of spatiality and regional science; it is primarily a practical empirical research. Many theoretical works aim at defining the spatial structure of Europe. This article provides an overview of models describing the spatial structure of Europe. The study describes the economic spatial structure of Europe using bi-dimensional regression analysis, based on the gravity model. The spatial structure of Europe is illustrated with the help of the gravity model and spatial auto-correlation. With these patterns, it is possible to justify the appropriateness of the models based on different methodological backgrounds by comparing them with the results of this paper. The subject of field theory concepts and methods that can aid regional analyses is examined, and attempts to offer a synthesised knowledge with a wide variety of examples and methods. |
| Keywords: | bi-dimensional regression, Europe, gravity model, spatial autocorrelation, spatial models |
| JEL: | C5 R1 |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:73957&r=ure |
| By: | Alicia H. Munnell; Wenliang Hou; Geoffrey T. Sanzenbacher |
| Abstract: | Housing wealth, a major asset for most households entering retirement, is determined by two factors: 1) the value of the house; and 2) the amount of mortgage debt. Since 2000, house prices have been on a roller coaster, soaring to new highs during the bubble, plummeting when the bubble burst, and then beginning a gradual recovery towards their long-term trend level. In contrast, housing debt for older households has followed a consistent pattern: more retirees are carrying mortgage debt than ever before and the value of the debt has increased significantly. This brief examines how trends in house prices and borrowing affect retirement preparedness in the National Retirement Risk Index (NRRI). The NRRI is based on the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), which is conducted every three years. The current NRRI baseline uses data for 2013 (the most recent SCF). Our previous work showed that – even if households work to age 65 and annuitize all their financial assets, including their home equity – more than half are at risk of not being able to maintain their standard of living in retirement. The current exercise is to estimate the extent to which below-trend house prices and high housing debt contributed to the high percentage of households at risk in 2013 and what current trends suggest for the NRRI in the future. The discussion proceeds as follows. The first section describes the NRRI. The second section presents trends in house prices and borrowing, which show that – in 2013 – prices were still below their long-term trend, and debt levels were substantially higher for older households. The third section reports what the 2013 NRRI would have looked like absent the housing bubble, that is, a scenario with higher prices and lower borrowing levels. The fourth section considers what may lie ahead for house prices and borrowing, focusing on whether recent patterns are likely to be transitory or permanent. The final section concludes that the confluence of lower house prices after the bubble and greater borrowing was a key reason for the high percentage of households at risk in the 2013 NRRI baseline. Looking ahead, recent data suggest that house prices will fully recover, which will modestly improve the NRRI, but the future path of borrowing is less clear. |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crr:issbrf:ib2016-16&r=ure |
| By: | Tripathi, Sabyasachi; Kumar, Shamika |
| Abstract: | The present paper tries to investigate the economic determinants of firm location choice in the metropolitan/large cities in India by considering firm those are using FDI (i.e., more than 10 percent of foreign investment) in 2012-13. For the analysis binary Logit model is used in this paper by taking firm level data from Capital Line database, Prowess database provided by CMIE (Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy) and Ace Equity plus database. The empirical estimations shows that total value of output, capital, and exports have a negative effect on firm location choice in the large cities. On the other hand, total value of working capital, operating profits, age of the firm, fixed assets, material cost, and sales of a firm have a positive effect on firm location choice in the large cities in India. However, the effect of percentage of FDI and total value of imports is found to be statistically insignificant on the firm‘s location choice. Finally, the paper discusses several policies in terms of location choice of firms in the large cities such as higher level of infrastructure investment, etc. for higher and sustainable industry lead urban development in India. |
| Keywords: | Location choice, firm location, Metropolitan cities, India |
| JEL: | R12 R3 R58 |
| Date: | 2016–09–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:73995&r=ure |
| By: | Clark, William C. (Harvard University) |
| Abstract: | In this paper I sketch key episodes in the two thousand year history of interactions between society and environment that have shaped the City of London and its hinterlands. My purpose in writing it has been to provide an empirical puzzle for use in teaching and theorizing about the long term coevolution of social-environmental systems and the potential role of policy interventions in guiding that coevolution toward sustainability. I undertook it because while a lively body of theory has begun to emerge seeking to explain such coevolution, rich descriptive characterizations of how specific social-environmental systems have in fact changed over the long time periods (multi-decade to multi-century) relevant to sustainable development remain relatively rare. One result is that the field of sustainability science lacks a sufficient number of the rich empirical puzzles that any field of science needs to challenge its theorizing, modeling and predictions. This paper reflects the beginning of an effort to provide one such characterization on a topic central to sustainability: The long term development of cities and their hinterlands. |
| Date: | 2015–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:harjfk:15-047&r=ure |
| By: | Glaeser, Edward L. (Harvard University); Kominers, Scott Duke (Harvard University); Luca, Michael (Harvard University); Naik, Nikhil (MIT) |
| Abstract: | New, "big" data sources allow measurement of city characteristics and outcome variables higher frequencies and finer geographic scales than ever before. However, big data will not solve large urban social science questions on its own. Big data has the most value for the study of cities when it allows measurement of the previously opaque, or when it can be coupled with exogenous shocks to people or place. We describe a number of new urban data sources and illustrate how they can be used to improve the study and function of cities. We first show how Google Street View images can be used to predict income in New York City, suggesting that similar image data can be used to map wealth and poverty in previously unmeasured areas of the developing world. We then discuss how survey techniques can be improved to better measure willingness to pay for urban amenities. Finally, we explain how Internet data is being used to improve the quality of city services. |
| Date: | 2015–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:harjfk:15-075&r=ure |
| By: | Hausmann, Ricardo (Harvard University and Santa Fe Institute); Neffke, Frank (Harvard University) |
| Abstract: | Is labor mobility important in technological diffusion? We address this question by asking how plants assemble their workforce if they are industry pioneers in a location. By definition, these plants cannot hire local workers with industry experience. Using German social-security data, we find that such plants recruit workers from related industries from more distant regions and local workers from less-related industries. We also show that pioneers leverage a low-cost advantage in unskilled labor to compete with plants that are located in areas where the industry is more prevalent. Finally, whereas research on German reunification has often focused on the effects of east-west migration, we show that the opposite migration facilitated the industrial diversification of eastern Germany by giving access to experienced workers from western Germany. |
| JEL: | J23 J24 M13 M50 O15 O33 R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2016–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:harjfk:16-006&r=ure |
| By: | Declan French; Frank Kee; Mark O'Doherty |
| Abstract: | Using the work disability vignettes from the third wave of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) in 2006/07, we explore the geographical variation in how participants rate the level of work limitation of people described in hypothetical scenarios and its association with wealth and income inequality. The results show that areas with higher levels of wealth inequality, but not income inequality, have more favourable attitudes to work disability and are more likely to rate the vignettes as work-limited. These differences persist when controlling for other local authority area- level characteristics such as social capital and diversity characteristics as well as a large number of individual-level characteristics. Our robust findings provide support for the hypothesis that individuals have interdependent preferences displaying an aversion to inequality. |
| Keywords: | Wealth; Disability; Inequality; Work; Social capital |
| JEL: | D63 I14 P16 |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qub:charms:1604&r=ure |
| By: | Maier, Michael F.; Sprietsma, Maresa |
| Abstract: | Decisions taken at the start of one's career have long-term consequences and one important decision graduates have to make is whether to be regionally mobile when looking for the first job. We investigate whether being regionally mobile for the first job following graduation rather than to stay in the place of graduation pays off. Existing research on regional mobility mostly focuses on job-to-job mobility. We analyse the determinants of early career mobility and estimate a bivariate probit model to account for the dependency between the migration decisions for tertiary education and for the first job. In order to account for self-selection with respect to migration decisions, we exploit variation in the availability of university places at the regional level. Our results show that there is significant dependency between migration decisions made before and after tertiary education. Secondly, using an IV estimation strategy, we find significantly positive wage returns to regional mobility for the first job. |
| Keywords: | regional mobility,wages,university education,early career |
| JEL: | J31 J61 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:16060&r=ure |
| By: | Timothy J. Bartik (W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research); JOnathan A. Belford (Child Trends); William T. Gormley Author-Workplace-Georgetown University; Sara Anderson Author-Workplace-West Virginia University |
| Abstract: | In this paper, benefits and costs are estimated for a universal pre-K program, provided by Tulsa Public Schools. Benefits are derived from estimated effects of Tulsa pre-K on retention by grade 9. Retention effects are projected to dollar benefits from future earnings increases and crime reductions. Based on these estimates, Tulsa pre-K has benefits that exceed costs by about 2-to-1. This benefit cost ratio is far less than the much higher benefit-cost ratios (ranging from 8-to-1 to 16-to-1) for more targeted and intensive pre-K programs, such as Perry Preschool and the Chicago Child-Parent Center (CPC) program. Comparing benefit-cost results from different studies suggests that our more modest estimates are due to two factors: 1) smaller percentage effects of pre-K on future earnings and crime in Tulsa than in Perry and CPC, and 2) smaller baseline crime rates in Tulsa than in the Perry and CPC comparison groups. |
| Keywords: | Universal pre-K, benefit-cost analysis, grade retention, crime reduction effects of education, increased earnings effects of education |
| JEL: | I21 I22 I24 |
| Date: | 2016–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upj:weupjo:16-261&r=ure |
| By: | Rácz, Szilárd |
| Abstract: | Researching territorial development in the independent Croatia is an interesting subject for research from many aspects. Unique developments – state formation, war, spatial restructuring of population – have been taking place up until the turn of the millennium, which have also been accompanied by several significant regional impacts. The historical differences have been escalated by the time of transition, the process of Euro-Atlantic integration, and eventually, by the world economic crisis. This study takes into account the most important spatial forming factors and developments on a county level, focusing on the time frame, at the end of which Croatia became a full member of the European Union. |
| Keywords: | Croatia, regions, territorial inequalities, demography, urban network |
| JEL: | R0 R1 R11 R19 |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:73960&r=ure |
| By: | Ryohei HAYASHI |
| Abstract: | This paper deals with the data of dormitory students in National Institute of Technology, Kagoshima College to demonstrate the existence of peer effects in academic performance. The data have unique advantages to avoid the difficulties of the self-selection problem and reflection problem. The data shows freshmen’s academic performance and previous year’s junior high school records, and roommate’s previous year’s academic performance for using an instrumental variable method. The results of my findings suggest that peer’s academic performance does not have any effects on freshmen’s. In spite of considering the asymmetric relationship between roommates, self-selection bias when choosing subjects, and nonlinearities of effects, there is no significance in any models. |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dpr:wpaper:0979&r=ure |
| By: | Jóna, György |
| Abstract: | The basic assumption of the paper is that numerous similarities exist between the patterns of economic growth and territorial capital growth. The rush economic growth and rush growth of territorial capital are compared empirically at Hungarian micro-regional level from 2004 until 2010. After normalizing the dataset, a very novel spatial econometric method is applied, called a penalty for bottleneck. The results show that the constant rush growth of territorial capital is as harmful as economic recession. On the other hand, the decrease of infrastructural and social capital caused the rush growth of territorial capital in this period. Moreover, the key findings of two case studies suggest that the balanced growth of territorial capital will be created by the falling social inequalities and increasing infrastructural capital. |
| Keywords: | territorial capital, rush growth, balanced development, endogenous assets |
| JEL: | R00 R10 R11 R12 R13 |
| Date: | 2015–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:73951&r=ure |
| By: | Neil Bhutta; Daniel R. Ringo |
| Abstract: | An important question arising out of the financial crisis is whether the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) played a significant role in the subprime mortgage boom and bust by pushing banks to make loans to risky borrowers. |
| Date: | 2015–05–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgfn:2015-05-26-1&r=ure |
| By: | Tóth, Géza; Kincses, Áron |
| Abstract: | The most commonly applied types of accessibility models are based on the gravity analogy. In these models, researchers use different types of resistance factors, but they rarely give any elaborate explanation for their choice of a specific type of factor in their research. Another problem with this kind of analysis is that in many cases, the authors do not describe precisely how they determine the constants for a line of calculations in a given model. Thus, the results cannot be fully accepted since they cannot be reproduced by the reader. Finally, we consider it to be yet another huge problem that the results of the models are rarely compared to the real (for example traffic) parameters, therefore, it is also impossible to detect what would happen if the researcher used a different model. In this study, we tried to line up the most commonly used models, and by enlightening the resistance factors, examine their possible usage and their boundaries through exact Hungarian examples. |
| Keywords: | accessibility models, gravity analogy, resistance factors |
| JEL: | R00 R40 R41 R49 |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:73952&r=ure |
| By: | C. Malgouyres |
| Abstract: | The rapid rise of Chinese exports over the past two decades has raised concerns about manufacturing jobs and wage inequality in high-income countries. Spill-overs beyond the manufacturing sector are an important issue given the large size of the non-traded sector in modern economies as well as the imperfect spatial mobility of households. In this paper, I estimate the impact of Chinese import competition onto the structure of employment and wages of local labor markets in France, with an emphasis on spill-overs effects beyond manufacturing and the degree of local wage inequality. Local employment and total labor income in both manufacturing and non-manufacturing are negatively affected by rising exposure to imports. The estimates imply that each local manufacturing job destroyed by Chinese import competition results in the loss of about 1.5 local job outside of manufacturing. These substantial “local multiplier effects” are however much lower when expressed in terms of hours worked or earnings rather than job count. Import competition from China polarized the local structure of employment in the manufacturing sector. The wage distribution is uniformly negatively affected in manufacturing while the non-traded sector experiences wage polarization, i.e. a rise in upper-tail inequality and a decline in bottom-tail inequality. While overall wage inequality is on average not affected, I show that it increased in response to trade shocks in areas where the minimum wage is only weakly binding. |
| Keywords: | wage distribution, international trade, import competition, local labor markets. |
| JEL: | F16 J23 J31 R11 R23 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bfr:banfra:603&r=ure |
| By: | Tullio Jappelli (Università di Napoli Federico II and CSEF); Annalisa Scognamiglio (Università di Napoli and CSEF) |
| Abstract: | Using the 2008-2014 Italian Survey of Household Income and Wealth (SHIW), we study whether the drop in interest rates following the Great Recession was associated with a reduction in mortgage payments for households with Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARM) relative to those with Fixed Rate Mortgages (FRM). Preliminary results indicate that after the shock, consumption of ARM holders increases relative to FRM but the implied marginal propensity to consume (MPC) is not statistically different from zero. We suggest two explanations for the weak consumption response to the income shock. First, most mortgagors believed that the income shock was transitory, and that interest rates would likely increase in the future, implying a small effect on consumption. Second, the shock is offset partly by a reduction in income from financial assets owned by mortgagors. The paper has implications for the conduct of monetary policy interventions and the credibility of the future path of interest rates, pass-through of monetary policy through household balance sheets, and design of the mortgage market. |
| Date: | 2016–09–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sef:csefwp:454&r=ure |
| By: | Susanne James-Burdumy; Nicholas Beyler; Kelley Borradaile; Martha Bleeker; Alyssa Maccarone; Jane Fortson |
| Abstract: | The Playworks program places coaches in low-income urban schools to engage students in physical activity during recess. The purpose of this study was to estimate the impact of Playworks on students’ physical activity separately for Hispanic, non-Hispanic black, and non-Hispanic white students. |
| Keywords: | accelerometry, intervention study, youth, Playworks |
| JEL: | I |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:40999424f8ed4a6a956afb2de000cc34&r=ure |
| By: | Szabó, Norbert |
| Abstract: | The present paper introduces the most common methods of regionalizing national input-output tables. First we describe the different groups of methods based on our review of the international literature regarding regionalization. Then we focus on particular methods that can be applied for Hungarian counties highlighting their advantages and disadvantages and synthetize the empirical results of them again based on the literature. On the basis of these experiences we attempt to create a complex method fitted to the available Hungarian regional data. For better understanding in the end we apply our method on an illustrative example consisting of three regions with hypothetical sectors and data. |
| Keywords: | input-output table, regionalization, interregional trade |
| JEL: | P33 P45 R00 R15 |
| Date: | 2015–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:73947&r=ure |
| By: | Larcker, David F. (Stanford University); Tayan, Brian (Stanford University) |
| Abstract: | Keller Williams is one of the most successful real estate franchises in the world. The leaders of the company attribute its growth in large part to a cultural model that emphasizes profit sharing, interdependence, and success through the efforts of others. However, in general, the impact of culture on performance remains an open question. We conducted a large-scale survey of Keller Williams team members to understand how associates of Keller Williams view the company's culture and whether perceptions of culture are associated with performance. We find evidence of an exceptionally strong and unique culture. We review our findings in detail and ask: Does a company with a strong business model perform better if it also has a strong culture? How important is it that associates feel their company "cares" about them? What role does leadership play in shaping culture? What role does the average associate play? Are there costs to having a strong culture? |
| Date: | 2016–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:stabus:3405&r=ure |
| By: | Jacques-Francois Thisse (National Research University Higher School of Economics; Catholic University of Louvain) |
| Abstract: | This paper discusses the reasons for the spatial impossibility theorem, which states that the competitive paradigm cannot explain the formation of large urban agglomerations and trade ows. This result is especially meaningful insofar as it is internal to the theory itself. We then briey explores dierent solutions to remedy to this methodological failure. |
| Keywords: | space, transport costs, land rent, general equilibrium |
| JEL: | D50 F12 Q54 Q58 R13 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:151/ec/2016&r=ure |
| By: | Andrew D. Paciorek |
| Abstract: | The labor market for construction workers suffered a massive shock in the wake of the housing bust, as demand for new homes dried up and firms rapidly shed workers. |
| Date: | 2015–02–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgfn:2015-02-26-2&r=ure |
| By: | Biermann, Franziska; Wedemeier, Jan |
| Abstract: | This paper aims at analyzing the hinterland position of the German port of Hamburg in Central Europe. As a first step, we identify Koper and Gdansk ports that could act as potential competitors to the German ports, since they exhibit a dynamic development in container throughput over the last five years. As a next step, we compute the contestable economic potential of the hinterland from Hamburg, and from their possible emerging competitors, respectively, by using simple travel time matrices for different transport modes. Afterwards, we analyze the planned infrastructure improvements based on the EU's TEN-T projects. We show how much the economic potential can be increased due to infrastructure improvements, and how this affects the competitive position in hinterland transport. However, besides the hinterland infrastructure there are other determinants relevant for port competition; inter alia the clustering of logistic activities, efficiency of port operations, and liners connectivity. |
| Keywords: | TEN-T corridor,transport infrastructure hinterland connections,liner shipping,port of Gdansk,Hamburg and Koper,travel time and connectivity |
| JEL: | R1 R41 O24 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:hwwirp:175&r=ure |
| By: | James E. Kennedy; Maria G. Perozek; Paul A. Smith |
| Abstract: | The level of outstanding home mortgage debt in the United States has declined about $1.5 trillion, or 13 percent, since its peak six years ago. This large drop in mortgage debt has been the primary driver of the reduction in household liabilities often referred to as "household deleveraging" and frequently measured by statistics such as aggregate household debt relative to income. |
| Date: | 2014–10–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgfn:2014-10-31-1&r=ure |
| By: | Chen, Shannon (University of TX); De Simone, Lisa (Stanford University); Hanlon, Michelle (MIT); Lester, Rebecca (Stanford University) |
| Abstract: | We study whether innovation box tax incentives, which reduce tax rates on innovation-related income, are associated with tax-motivated income shifting, investment, and employment in the countries that implement these regimes. Using a sample of European and U.S. multinationals' subsidiaries operating in Europe and three income shifting models, we find some evidence that firms shift less income out of relatively high statutory tax rate countries following the implementation of an innovation box. We also find that innovation box regimes successfully increase employment but do not result in significant increases in fixed asset investment. Our study contributes to the literature by evaluating multiple income shifting models and informing the ongoing policy debate regarding the economic effects of innovation box regimes. |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:stabus:3453&r=ure |
| By: | Maria De Paola; Francesca Gioia; Vincenzo Scoppa (Dipartimento di Economia, Statistica e Finanza, Università della Calabria) |
| Abstract: | We investigate whether and how social ties affect performance in teams by implementing a field experiment in which a sample of undergraduate students are randomly assigned to either teams composed by friends or teams composed by individuals not linked by friendship relationships. Students undertake an intermediate exam divided into two parts: one graded on the basis of individual performance and the other graded on the basis of the team performance. We find that students assigned to socially connected teams perform significantly better than control students in both the team part and the individual part of the exam, suggesting that social ties are relevant both for solving free-riding problems and for inducing knowledge spillovers among teammates. The positive effect of friendship in teams persists over time and treated students have a better performance also in a second test evaluated exclusively on the basis of their individual performance. |
| Keywords: | Free-Riding, Knowledge Spillover, Social Ties, Randomized Field Experiment |
| JEL: | J33 J24 D82 D86 L14 C93 |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:clb:wpaper:201609&r=ure |
| By: | Gill, Brian P. (Mathematica Policy Research); Lerner, Jennifer S. (Harvard University); Meosky, Paul (Harvard University) |
| Abstract: | The primary lever American policymakers have used to improve school performance is "accountability" in the form of high-stakes testing. But the behavioral literature, overlooked in the education policy debate, shows that accountability exists in a variety of forms that evoke different psychological mechanisms and can have positive or negative effects. Examining the psychological/behavioral literature alongside the education literature, we identify four forms of accountability relevant to K-12 schooling: outcome-based (high-stakes testing), rule-based, market-based, and professional accountability. Promoting continuous improvement in schools is likely to require multiple forms of accountability that not only offer rewards and sanctions but also increase the transparency of educational practice and provide mechanisms for improving practice. This suggests that professional accountability--which has historically been underutilized in schools--merits particular attention. |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:harjfk:16-018&r=ure |
| By: | Flip Klijn; Joana Pais; Marc Vorsatz |
| Abstract: | In the context of school choice, we experimentally study how behavior and outcomes are affected when, instead of submitting rankings in the student proposing or receiving deferred acceptance (DA) mechanism, participants make decisions dynamically, going through the steps of the underlying algorithms. Our main results show that, contrary to theory, (a) in the dynamic student proposing DA mechanism, participants propose to schools respecting the order of their true preferences slightly more often than in its static version while, (b) in the dynamic student receiving DA mechanism, participants react to proposals by always respecting the order and not accepting schools in the tail of their true preferences more often than in the corresponding static version. As a consequence, for most problems we test, no significant differences exist between the two versions of the student proposing DA mechanisms in what stability and average payoffs are concerned, but the dynamic version of the student receiving DA mechanism delivers a clear improvement over its static counterpart in both dimensions. In fact, in the aggregate, the dynamic school proposing DA mechanism is the best performing mechanism. |
| Keywords: | dynamic school choice, deferred acceptance, stability, efficiency |
| JEL: | C78 C91 C92 D78 I20 |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bge:wpaper:926&r=ure |
| By: | KOMLÓSI, ÉVA; PÁGER, BALÁZS |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to elaborate the role of Jacobs-type of agglomeration effects on countries’ competitiveness and entrepreneurial performance. Our research allows for a better understanding of the relationship that exists between a country’s urban system, characterized by spatial agglomeration (concentration) or deglomeration (deconcentration) processes, and its competitiveness and entrepreneurial performance. Urbanization economies refer to considerable cost savings generated through the locating together of people, firms and organizations across different industries. It has recently become an axiom that the better performance of global cities (as they are important nodes of innovation and creativity) is derived from agglomeration effects. This general assumption follows that the more concentrated an urban system of a country, the more competitive and better its entrepreneurial performance. Even though this notion has gained quick and ardent acceptance from practitioners, the related literature shows contradictory results;this has induced a heated debate in academic circles, because it has raised serious doubts about the “bigger is better” theory. We hope to contribute to this debate with our detailed analysis. To understand the impact of urban concentration, we selected 70 countries and calculated the so-called ROXY Index measuring the degree of agglomeration or deglomeration in their urban systems. To exemplify country-level competitiveness, we applied the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) while the Global Entrepreneurship and Development Index (GEDI) was used to demonstrate country level entrepreneurial performance. Using these indexes correlation and cluster analysis were designed to obtain understanding of the relationship between them. Our analysis indicates that as urban concentration initially increases competitiveness, entrepreneurial performance also increases, but at a decreasing rate. Both of them eventually reaches a maximum, and then after a certain point decrease with further concentration. Therefore, the curve for this relationship is non-linear and folds back. This indicates that over- or under-concentration of the population within an urban system does not necessarily result in a better outcome. However, we should consider that a high concentration of population is only one important factor for competitiveness and entrepreneurial performance while other effects may exist. |
| Keywords: | urbanization economies, entrepreneurship, competitiveness, spatial cycles, ROXY Index |
| JEL: | R00 R10 R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2016–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:73950&r=ure |
| By: | Jens K. Perret (European Institute for International Economic Relations at the University of Wuppertal) |
| Abstract: | Set in the context of the neoclassical growth model this study revisits the discussion of economic convergence in the context of the Russian Federation. Compared to previous similar studies, here a larger more comprehensive data set is implemented (1994-2013) allowing in particular to check for differences in convergence during different time periods. Using a panel approach more reliable results are achieved which point to absolute convergence occurring across the regions of the Russian Federation. The stability of these results is strengthened by estimating Kernel density to test for the presence of potential groups of regions with different steady states, on the one hand, and Markov transition matrices to test for the temporal stability of the regions on the other. Finally, a quantile regression approach is used to assure overall stability of the convergence speed. All results show that Russia reports absolute convergence up to Vladimir Putin's the second term as president and occurring again during his third term in office and conditional convergence in all time periods. All results remain stable even when including spatial effects or when testing for temporal stability. Quantile regression analysis also reports a more or less stable speed of convergence across the whole time horizon which is significantly higher than comparable results for the US or the regions of the European Union. |
| Keywords: | Russian Federation, USA, Innovation System, Knowledge Production Function, Knowledge Generation, Quantile Regression, Regional Economics |
| JEL: | C21 P25 O47 R11 |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bwu:schdps:sdp16004&r=ure |
| By: | Horton, John J. (New York University); Zeckhauser, Richard J. (Harvard University) |
| Abstract: | Workers respond to the output choices of their peers. What explains this well documented phenomenon of peer effects? Do workers value equity, fear punishment from equity-minded peers, or does output from peers teach them about employers' expectations? We test these alternative explanations in a series of field experiments. We find clear evidence of peer effects, as have others. Workers raise their own output when exposed to high-output peers. They also punish low-output peers, even when that low output has no effect on them. They may be embracing and enforcing the employer's expectations. (Exposure to employer-provided work samples influences output much the same as exposure to peer-provided work.) However, even when employer expectations are clearly stated, workers increase output beyond those expectations when exposed to workers producing above expectations. Overall, the evidence is strongly consistent with the notion that peer effects are mediated by workers' sense of fairness related to relative effort. |
| JEL: | J01 J24 |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:harjfk:16-027&r=ure |
| By: | BODOR, ÁKOS; GRÜNHUT, ZOLTÁN; HORECZKI, RÉKA |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates socio-cultural differences among European countries. The theoretical roots of our defined socio-cultural dimensions are elaborated in a multidisciplinary field. According to the considerable scientific literature, various socio-cultural aspects such as trust, tolerance, civic norms and social networks have a serious impact on the development potential of a country or a region. We empirically tested the characteristics of these socio-cultural aspects on the European Social Survey database. The main conclusion of the paper is that there is a definite socio-cultural cleavage between the northern/western and the Central and Eastern European countries. |
| Keywords: | Socio-cultural differences, Europe |
| JEL: | R0 R1 R11 |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:73961&r=ure |
| By: | Cuong Viet Nguyen |
| Abstract: | Recently, there is a call for replication research to validate empirical findings, especially findings important for development policies. Thus, this study tried to replicate estimation results from Mu and van de Walle ("Rural Roads and Local Market Development in Vietnam" published in Journal of Development Studies 2011). Overall, the author is able to replicate the most estimates from Mu and van de Walle. He finds the positive effect of rural road on local market development. In addition to the pure replication, the author also estimates the effect of the road project on additional outcomes including access to credit and migration, but do not find significant effects on these outcomes. |
| Keywords: | replication,impact,evaluation,propensity,score,matching,rural,road,Vietnam |
| JEL: | H43 O12 C14 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwedp:201640&r=ure |
| By: | PÁGER, BALÁZS; ZSIBÓK, ZSUZSANNA |
| Abstract: | The information society has become a crucial area of the socio-economic processes over the last two to three decades, yet it was unable to reduce the differences between the development levels of different regions. The developed regions perform better and poorer regions have weaker performance in the development of info-communication technologies. It can be assumed that the lack of the info-communication tools may broaden the divide between the developed and underdeveloped regions. Therefore, it is important to measure and mitigate these differences. The results of such measurements may contribute to the formation of the regional development policy issues. This paper focuses on the analysis of the factors that play a role in the information society. These factors can help to characterize the information society on both the national and the sub-national level. Our goal is to investigate the territorial inequalities in the information society on a highly disaggregated level since the article studies the relative development of the settlements in the South Transdanubian Region. As a methodological background, we introduce a new and composite index referred to as “the territorial index of information society”, which relies on settlement and micro-regional level data collected by the Central Statistical Office of Hungary and other private institutions. Our results indicate that the best performing settlements are in micro-regions with advantageous positions and that they are the more populated towns or locate within their agglomeration. The less populated settlements in an underdeveloped micro-region have a more disadvantageous position in the information society. Therefore, the information readiness may create differences in a similar way to economic development. |
| Keywords: | information society, territorial differences, infrastructure, regional development |
| JEL: | R0 R1 R10 R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2015–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:73958&r=ure |
| By: | Ioana Marinescu; Roland Rathelot |
| Abstract: | Could we significantly reduce U.S. unemployment by helping job seekers move closer to jobs? Using data from the leading employment board CareerBuilder.com, we show that, indeed, workers dislike applying to distant jobs: job seekers are 35% less likely to apply to a job 10 miles away from their ZIP code of residence. However, because job seekers are close enough to vacancies on average, this distaste for distance is fairly inconsequential: our search and matching model predicts that relocating job seekers to minimize unemployment would decrease unemployment by only 5.3%. Geographic mismatch is thus a minor driver of aggregate unemployment. |
| JEL: | E24 J21 J61 J62 J64 |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22672&r=ure |
| By: | Blane Lewis |
| Abstract: | This study examines the impact of local elections on public service delivery in Indonesia, focusing particular attention on the interaction between directly elected executives and politically fragmented parliaments. The investigation considers two common measures of political fragmentation: the number of parliament seats and the number of political parties in parliament. The analysis finds that the impact of direct elections on service access is not conditional on parliament size but that it is significantly dependent on the number of political parties represented in parliament. When parliaments comprise a small number of political parties the impact of direct elections on service delivery is positive; as the number of parties grows election benefits decline; and when the proliferation of political parties becomes particularly pronounced the influence of direct elections on service outcomes turns negative. Evidence suggests that the adverse impact of direct elections at high levels of party proliferation may be due to increased difficulties in achieving government-wide consensus on planning and executing expenditure budgets and an associated decline in spending. |
| Keywords: | local government, elections, political fragmentation, public service delivery, regression discontinuity, Indonesia |
| JEL: | H72 H75 H76 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pas:papers:2016-16&r=ure |
| By: | Vanschoonbeek, Jakob |
| Abstract: | Despite a rich theoretical literature on regional (in)stability, little is known about its empirical validity. This paper presents simulated experimental findings on spatial heterogeneity in regional (in)stability accross 264 regions belonging to 26 European countries. To do so, it develops a broad model of state fragmentation that reconciles the views of the dominant strands in the literature. In order to apply the model, a novel indicator of regional political distinctiveness is proposed, rooted in the discrepancy between regional and national electoral behavior. Calibrating our model to the current European situation, we find that Cataluña, Flanders and the Basque country are the regions currently most likely to break away. In line with these results, governments in all three regions have consistently vocalized demands for increased autonomy - or even secession - in recent years. Denmark, Hungary and Slovenia show up as the most secession-robust European countries. |
| Keywords: | Political heterogeneity, European Union, state fragmentation, secession and unification |
| JEL: | C63 C70 H77 |
| Date: | 2016–09–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:73976&r=ure |
| By: | Odolinski, Kristofer (VTI) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we estimate the impact of axle loads on rail infrastructure maintenance costs in Sweden. The results are contrasted to the cost impact of ton density, a common measure in the literature on rail infrastructure costs. We find non-linear cost elasticities with respect to a ton per axle density measure, with an estimate at the sample median that is larger than the corresponding estimate for ton density. The results are relevant for the setting of track access charges in Europe, considering that the econometric results in this paper give support to the engineering perspective - that is, axle loads are important to consider when estimating the damage caused by traffic. |
| Keywords: | Axle load; Maintenance; Railways; Infrastructure costs |
| JEL: | L92 R48 |
| Date: | 2016–09–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ctswps:2016_021&r=ure |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | Instructional leadership is the set of practices that principals use in relation to the improvement of teaching and learning. It is a strong predictor of how teachers collaborate and engage in a reflective dialogue about their practice. In most countries and economies, the majority of principals act as instructional leaders, though one-third rarely engage in any of this type of action. Distributed leadership is the ability of schools to incorporate different stakeholders in their decisionmaking processes. This type of leadership appears to advance the creation of a shared sense of purpose within schools. Nearly all schools involve their staff in decision-making processes, but they differ concerning the opportunities that are offered to students and their parents/guardians to be involved in school decisions. Principals who acquired instructional leadership competencies through training, or in a separate course, are more engaged in instructional leadership actions in their school than principals who have not participated in such training. |
| Date: | 2016–09–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduaah:15-en&r=ure |
| By: | Pirmin Fessler (Economic Analysis Division, Oesterreichische Nationalbank); Alyssa Schneebaum (Department of Economics, Vienna University of Economics and Business) |
| Abstract: | Preschool attendance is widely recognized as a key ingredient for later socioeconomic success, mothers' labor market participation, and leveling the playing field for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. However, the empirical evidence for these claims is still relatively scarce, particularly in Europe. Using data from the 2011 Austrian European Union Statistics of Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC), we contribute to this literature in all mentioned dimensions. In particular, we investigate the effect of preschool attendance on an individual's later educational attainment, the probability that they work full time and their hourly wages, the likelihood of the mother working when the child is 14 years old, and on the overall distribution of wages. We find strong and positive effects of preschool attendance on educational attainment, the probability of working full time, hourly wages, and the probability that the mother is in the labor market. Full time workers at the bottom and the top of the distribution tend to benefit less than those in the middle. Women in particular benefit more in terms of years of schooling and the probability of working full time. Other disadvantaged groups (second migration migrants; people with less educated parents) also often benefit more in terms of education and work. |
| Keywords: | returns to preschool/kindergarten, early childhood education, education, inequality |
| JEL: | I26 J62 I24 H52 I38 |
| Date: | 2016–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwwuw:wuwp233&r=ure |
| By: | Christian Tilk (Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Germany) |
| Abstract: | Many governments worldwide have imposed hours of service regulations for truck drivers to ensure that break and rest periods are regularly taken. Transport companies have to take these into account and plan the routes and schedules of their truck drivers simultaneously. This problem is called vehicle routing and truck driver scheduling problem (VRTDSP). With their paper “An exact method for vehicle routing and truck driver scheduling problems” [Technical Report No. 33, Jacobs University, School of Engineering and Science, Bremen, Germany] Goel and Irnich presented the ?rst exact approach to the VRTDSP.They include hours of service regulations in a vehicle routing problem with time windows and use a branch-and-price algorithm to solve it. The main contribution of the paper at hand is to present a sophisticated branch-and-price-and-cut algorithm for the VRTDSP that is based on the parameter-free auxiliary network and the resource extension functions (REFs) de?ned in the work of Goel and Irnich. Their labeling algorithm is extended by means of de?ning backward REFs in order to build a bidirectional labeling. Feasible routes are constructed by a non-trivial merge procedure. Di?erent acceleration techniques are used to speed up the solution process of the pricing problem. In addition, several classes of known valid inequalities are used to further strengthen the LP-relaxation of the master program. We present a detailed computational study to analyze the impact of the di?erent techniques. The resulting algorithm is able to solve all VRTDSP benchmark instances with 25 customers and 44 out of 56 instances with 50 customers in two hours of computation time to proven optimality. |
| Keywords: | truck driver, routing and scheduling, branch-and-price-and-cut |
| Date: | 2016–08–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jgu:wpaper:1616&r=ure |
| By: | Matthew T. Johnson |
| Abstract: | Job Skills and Minority Youth: New Program Directions is motivated by the high unemployment rate of minority youth in the United States and the long lasting implications early unemployment can have on future employment and wages. |
| Keywords: | job skills, minority youth, unemployment |
| JEL: | J |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:1f9634f8948f4c1abdfa76acbfb9461f&r=ure |
| By: | Vladimir D. Churakov (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The paper is dedicated to the formal investigation of regional legislation in the sphere of the regulatory impact assessment (RIA). RIA is a crucial instrument for the evaluation of the effectiveness of law. It provides a solid basis for the objective assessment of proposed regulations in the sphere of business activity. The federal form of the Russian government requires the analysis of regional experience for the further development of RIA procedure. |
| Keywords: | regulatory impact assessment, law effectiveness, regional legislation. |
| JEL: | K00 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:68/law/2016&r=ure |