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on Urban and Real Estate Economics |
| By: | James Cloyne; Kilian Huber; Ethan Ilzetzki; Henrik Kleven |
| Abstract: | We investigate the effect of house prices on household borrowing using administrative mortgage data from the UK and a new empirical approach. The data contain household-level information on house prices and borrowing in a panel of homeowners, who refinance at regular and quasi-exogenous intervals. The data and setting allow us to develop an empirical approach that exploits house price variation coming from idiosyncratic and exogenous timing of refinance events around the Great Recession. We present two main results. First, there is a clear and robust effect of house prices on borrowing, but the responsiveness is smaller than recent US estimates. Second, the effect of house prices on borrowing can be explained largely by collateral effects. We study the collateral channel in two ways: through a multivariate and non-parametric heterogeneity analysis of proxies for collateral and wealth effects, and through a test that exploits interest rate notches that depend on housing collateral. |
| JEL: | D14 E21 E32 E43 E51 G21 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:23861&r=ure |
| By: | Donald R. Davis; Jonathan I. Dingel; Joan Monras; Eduardo Morales |
| Abstract: | We provide measures of ethnic and racial segregation in urban consumption. Using Yelp reviews, we estimate how spatial and social frictions influence restaurant visits within New York City. Transit time plays a first-order role in consumption choices, so consumption segregation partly reflects residential segregation. Social frictions also have a large impact on restaurant choices: individuals are less likely to visit venues in neighborhoods demographically different from their own. While spatial and social frictions jointly produce significant levels of consumption segregation, we find that restaurant consumption in New York City is only about half as segregated as residences. Consumption segregation owes more to social than spatial frictions. |
| JEL: | D12 J15 L83 R2 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:23822&r=ure |
| By: | de Vuijst, Elise (Delft University of Technology); van Ham, Maarten (Delft University of Technology) |
| Abstract: | In the Netherlands, obtaining a higher education increases the chance to move to a better neighbourhood for native Dutch adults who grew up in a deprived parental neighbourhood. For non-Western minorities, education does not have this positive effect on socio-spatial mobility. In this study we investigate potential explanations for these ethnic differences in the relationship between educational attainment and neighbourhood outcomes over time. We use longitudinal register data from the Netherlands to study a complete cohort of parental home leavers who attained a higher education by the end of the measurement period (1999 to 2012). We supplemented this data with information gathered in the WoON-survey. We examined differences in income trajectories for highly-educated native Dutch and non-Western ethnic minorities; investigated the strength of intergenerational transmission of income for both groups; and assessed individual neighbourhood experiences and contentment. We find that the highly-educated native Dutch in our subpopulation have a substantially higher average income over time, and a weaker association to the income of their parents compared to the non-Western ethnic minorities. Additionally, for ethnic minorities, our results show that the level of contentment with their neighbourhood is highest in deprived neighbourhoods compared to more affluent residential environments, and they more often reside in close proximity to their parents compared to the native Dutch, both suggesting an element of choice in neighbourhood selection. |
| Keywords: | neighbourhood histories, intergenerational transmission, income, education, ethnicity, longitudinal data |
| JEL: | I30 J60 P46 R23 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10999&r=ure |
| By: | Isabelle Joumard (OECD); Hermes Morgavi (OECD); Hugo Bourrousse (OECD) |
| Abstract: | While India’s per capita income is converging towards that of the richer countries, inequality has drifted up. Spatial inequality – across states and between urban and rural areas – is pronounced, with large differences in output per capita and in access to core public services, such as electricity, roads, and education. Implementing the GST will contribute to reduce trade barriers across states while recent changes in the federalism model are empowering states and promoting experimentation. Prompting states to modernise product and labour market regulations should allow firms in the organised sector to reach an efficient size, and promote job creation and rising incomes in all states. Raising the living standards in poorer states would also require increasing productivity in the agricultural sector by supporting farm consolidation and improving infrastructure in rural areas, particularly roads that connect villages to market towns, crop storage infrastructure and access to sustainable irrigation technologies. As working population moves out of agriculture, urbanisation will gather pace. However, exploiting cities’ potential for job creation, productivity gains and improvement in the quality of life would require better physical and social urban infrastructure. Local spending and regulatory competences should be clarified. Performance of local bodies should be assessed regularly to make them accountable. Municipalities should also be granted clear revenue-raising power (in particular property taxes and user charges for urban infrastructure) to enable them to fund better public infrastructure and services. |
| Keywords: | agriculture, federalism, India, inequality, productivity, regional development, urbanisation |
| JEL: | H7 I13 O13 O18 O4 Q1 R1 R5 |
| Date: | 2017–09–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1412-en&r=ure |
| By: | Carlos Garriga; Aaron Hedlund; Yang Tang; Ping Wang |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the contribution of the structural transformation and urbanization process to China's housing-market boom. Rural to urban migration together with regulated land supplies and developer entry restrictions can raise housing prices. This issue is examined using a multi-sector dynamic general-equilibrium model with migration and housing. Our quantitative findings suggest that this process accounts for about 80 percent of urban housing price changes. This mechanism remains valid in extensions calibrated to the two largest cities with most noticeable housing booms and to several alternative setups. Overall, supply factors and productivity account for most of the housing price growth. |
| JEL: | E20 O41 R21 R31 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:23819&r=ure |
| By: | Delio Lucena Piquero; Jerome Vicente |
| Abstract: | The paper focuses on cluster policies with particular attention to the role of R&D collaborative incentives in the structuring of knowledge networks in clusters. We disentangle the main network failures in regional innovation systems, and discuss the selection procedures designed by policy makers to enhance the production of innovation outputs. We draw evidence from the French Aerospace Valley cluster from 2006 to 2015. The empirical analysis relies on a dataset of 248 granted research consortia, from which we build 4-cohorts knowledge networks enable us evidencing the evolving structural properties of the cluster over time. We suggest avoiding the bias and limitations of 1 and 2-mode network analysis by developing an original place- based network methodology that emphasizes on structural equivalence and groups behaviors. We discuss the results focusing on the convergence degree between the network statistical findings and the policy makersÕ objectives. Finally, the methodology allows us identifying who are the agents of the structural and technological changes observed during the period. |
| Keywords: | Cluster policy; Networks; Collaborative incentives; Groups behaviors; Aerospace Valley |
| JEL: | D85 O25 O30 R10 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:1723&r=ure |
| By: | Frick, Susanne A.; Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés |
| Abstract: | Policy-makers and academics frequently emphasize a positive link between city size and economic growth. The empirical literature on the relationship, however, is scarce and uses rough indicators for the size for a country's cities, while ignoring factors that are increasingly considered to shape the relationship. In this paper, we employ a panel of 113 countries between 1980 and 2010 to explore whether (1) there are certain city sizes that are growth enhancing and (2) how additional factors highlighted in the literature impact the city size/growth relationship. The results suggest a non-linear relationship which is dependent on the country's size. In contrast to the prevailing view that large cities are growth-inducing, for the majority of countries relatively small cities of up to 3 million inhabitants are more conducive to economic growth. A large share of the urban population in cities with more than 10 million inhabitants is only growth promoting in countries with an urban population of 28.5 million and more. In addition, the relationship is highly context dependent: a high share of industries that benefit from agglomeration economies, a well-developed urban infrastructure, and an adequate level of governance effectiveness allow countries to take advantage of agglomeration benefits from larger cities. |
| Keywords: | City size; Economic Growth; enabling factors |
| JEL: | R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:12324&r=ure |
| By: | Edward Glaeser; Joseph Gyourko |
| Abstract: | In this essay, we review the basic economics of housing supply and the functioning of US housing markets to better understand the distribution of home prices, household wealth and the spatial distribution of people across markets. We employ a cost-based approach to gauge whether a housing market is delivering appropriately priced units. Specifically, we investigate whether market prices (roughly) equal the costs of producing the housing unit. If so, the market is well-functioning in the sense that it efficiently delivers housing units at their production cost. Of course, poorer households still may have very high housing cost burdens that society may wish to address via transfers. But if housing prices are above this cost in a given area, then the housing market is not functioning well— and housing is too expensive for all households in the market, not just for poorer ones. The gap between price and production cost can be understood as a regulatory tax, which might be efficiently incorporating the negative externalities of new production, but typical estimates find that the implicit tax is far higher than most reasonable estimates of those externalities. |
| JEL: | D45 R12 R30 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:23833&r=ure |
| By: | Seo-Young Cho (Philipps-Universität Marburg) |
| Abstract: | Gender-matching school environments may provide benefits for girls to enhance their performance. By using PISA data from South Korea, this paper suggests that the effects of single-sex schooling and a student-teacher’s gender matching are heterogeneous across different student groups. The gender-matching school environments are most positive to non-cognitive outcomes of girls at the highest tail of cognitive performance levels. By attending an all-girls school and being taught by a female teacher, high performing girls are as motivated and interested in pursuing careers in STEM fields as boys. However, single-sex schooling and female teachers do not produce positive effects on girls in lower performing groups. For median girls, single-sex schooling can even be detrimental to their non-cognitive performance. These results corroborate that gender-matching school environments can be a useful tool to promote female talent in STEM fields, but the effect cannot be generalized for public education for all students. |
| Keywords: | gender-matching effects; student-teacher’s gender-matching; single-sex schooling; cognitive performance; non-cognitive performance; education production functions; propensity-score matching; South Korea |
| JEL: | C31 I21 I24 J16 O53 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mar:magkse:201738&r=ure |
| By: | Aaronson, Daniel (Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago); Hartley, Daniel (Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago); Mazumder, Bhashkar (Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago) |
| Abstract: | In the wake of the Great Depression, the Federal government created new institutions such as the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) to stabilize housing markets. As part of that effort, the HOLC created residential security maps for over 200 cities to grade the riskiness of lending to neighborhoods. We trace out the effects of these maps over the course of the 20th and into the early 21st century by linking geocoded HOLC maps to both Census and modern credit bureau data. Our analysis looks at the difference in outcomes between residents living on a lower graded side versus a higher graded side of an HOLC boundary within highly close proximity to one another. We compare these differences to “counterfactual” boundaries using propensity score and other weighting procedures. In addition, we exploit borders that are least likely to have been endogenously drawn. We find that areas that were the lower graded side of HOLC boundaries in the 1930s experienced a marked increase in racial segregation in subsequent decades that peaked around 1970 before beginning to decline. We also find evidence of a long-run decline in home ownership, house values, and credit scores along the lower graded side of HOLC borders that persists today. We document similar long-run patterns among both “redlined” and non-redlined neighborhoods and, in some important outcomes, show larger and more lasting effects among the latter. Our results provide strongly suggestive evidence that the HOLC maps had a causal and persistent effect on the development of neighborhoods through credit access. |
| Keywords: | Home ownership; housing; mortgage loans; redlining |
| JEL: | H81 O18 R21 R31 |
| Date: | 2017–09–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedhwp:wp-2017-12&r=ure |
| By: | Lisa D. Cook; Trevon D. Logan; John M. Parman |
| Abstract: | The literature on ethnic fractionalization and conflict has not been extended to the American past. In particular, the empirical relationship between racial residential segregation and lynching is unknown. The existing economic, social, and political theories of lynching contain hypotheses about the relationship between racial segregation and racial violence, consistent with theories of social conflict. Since Southern lynching occurred in rural and urban areas, traditional urban measures of racial segregation cannot be used to estimate the relationship. We use a newly developed household-level measure of residential segregation (Logan and Parman 2017), which can distinguish between racial homogeneity of a location and the tendency to racially segregate, to estimate the correlation between racial segregation and lynching in the southern counties of the United States. We find that conditional on racial composition, racially segregated counties were much more likely to experience lynchings. Consistent with the hypothesis that segregation is related to interracial violence, we find that segregation is highly correlated with African American lynching, but uncorrelated with white lynching. These results extend the analysis of racial/ethnic conflict into the past and show that the effects of social interactions and interracial proximity in rural areas are as important as those in urban areas. |
| JEL: | I1 J1 N3 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:23813&r=ure |
| By: | Gibbons, Steve; Overman, Henry G; Sarvimäki, Matti |
| Abstract: | We study the local economic impacts of a major regeneration programme aimed at enhancing the quality of life of local people in deprived neighbourhoods in the UK. The analysis is based on a panel of firm and area level data available at small spatial scales. Our identification strategies involve: a) exploiting the fine spatial scale of our data to study how effects vary with distance to the intervention area; and b) comparing places close to treatment in early rounds of the programme with places close to treatment in future rounds. We consider the long run impact of schemes funded between 1995 and 1997 on outcomes up to 2009. Our estimates suggest that the programme increased workplace employment in the intervention area but this had no impact on the employment rates of local residents. |
| Keywords: | employment; neighbourhoods; regeneration; Single Regeneration Budget; urban policy |
| JEL: | H50 J08 R11 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:12311&r=ure |
| By: | Peter Blair (Clemson University) |
| Abstract: | I develop a revealed-preference method for estimating neighborhood tipping points. I find that census tract tipping points have increased from 15% (1970) to 42% (2010). The corresponding MSA tipping points have also increased from 13% (1970) to 35% (2010). While tipping points are traditionally associated with the racial attitudes of white households, I find that cross-sectional differences in MSA tipping points, going from 1970-2010, depend less on differences in the racial attitudes of white households and more on the outside options faced by white households. These results support a continued role for place-based policies in mitigating residential segregation. |
| Keywords: | preferences, race, Schelling model, tipping points, outside options |
| JEL: | J60 R23 R21 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hka:wpaper:2017-071&r=ure |
| By: | Agasisti, Tommaso; Gil-Izquierdo, María; Han, Seong Won |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we have employed data from the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA, 2012 edition) on the EU-15 countries in order to investigate the relationship between (i) the way in which students use ICT at home for school-related purposes and (ii) their test scores in reading, mathematics and science. By employing two different econometric techniques – namely, propensity score matching and instrumental variables – we can provide evidence that in most countries there is an association between using computers intensely for homework and achieving lower test scores across all subjects. No clear pattern emerges for differences between students with higher socio-economic status (SES) and their low-SES counterparts, although some models suggest that the negative effect of using ICT at home is slightly greater for high-SES students. These findings suggest that a more cautious approach should be taken with regards to the wide-spread use of digital innovation as a means to support students’ out-of-school work. Such an indication can potentially suggest that teachers should be trained to integrate this practice effectively into their strategies for assigning homework. |
| Keywords: | Digital learning, educational production function (EPF), OECD-PISA, propensity score matching, instrumental variables |
| JEL: | I21 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:81343&r=ure |
| By: | Clarke, Damian |
| Abstract: | I propose a method for difference-in-differences (DD) estimation in situations where the stable unit treatment value assumption is violated locally. This is relevant for a wide variety of cases where spillovers may occur between quasi-treatment and quasi-control areas in a (natural) experiment. A flexible methodology is described to test for such spillovers, and to consistently estimate treatment effects in their presence. This spillover-robust DD method results in two classes of estimands: treatment effects, and “close” to treatment effects. The methodology outlined describes a versatile and non-arbitrary procedure to determine the distance over which treatments propagate, where distance can be defined in many ways, including as a multi-dimensional measure. This methodology is illustrated by simulation, and by its application to estimates of the impact of state-level text-messaging bans on fatal vehicle accidents. Extending existing DD estimates, I document that reforms travel over roads, and have spillover effects in neighbouring non-affected counties. Text messaging laws appear to continue to alter driving behaviour as much as 30 km outside of affected jurisdictions. |
| Keywords: | Policy evaluation, difference-in-differences, spillovers, natural experiments, SUTVA |
| JEL: | C13 C21 D04 K42 R23 R41 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:81604&r=ure |
| By: | Baruah, Neeraj; Dahlstrand-Rudin, Amanda; Michaels, Guy; Nigmatulina, Dzhamilya; Rauch, Ferdinand; Regan, Tanner |
| Abstract: | What are the long run consequences of planning and providing basic infrastructure in neighborhoods, where people build their own homes? We study "Sites and Services" projects implemented in seven Tanzanian cities during the 1970s and 1980s, half of which provided infrastructure in previously unpopulated areas (de novo neighborhoods), while the other half upgraded squatter settlements. Using satellite images and surveys from the 2010s, we find that de novo neighborhoods developed better housing than adjacent residential areas (control areas) that were also initially unpopulated. Specifically, de novo neighborhood are more orderly and their buildings have larger footprint areas and are more likely to have multiple stories, as well as connections to electricity and water, basic sanitation and access to roads. And though de novo neighborhoods generally attracted better educated residents than control areas, the educational difference is too small to account for the large difference in residential quality that we find. While we have no natural counterfactual for the upgrading areas, descriptive evidence suggests that they are if anything worse than the control areas. |
| Keywords: | Africa; economic development; Slums; Urban Economics |
| JEL: | O18 R14 R31 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:12319&r=ure |
| By: | Ayhan, Sinem H. (IZA); Gatskova, Kseniia (Institute for East and Southeast European Studies, Regensburg); Lehmann, Hartmut (University of Bologna) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides evidence on the impacts of non-cognitive skills and attitudes towards risk on the decision to migrate from rural to urban areas. Our analysis is based on a unique four-wave panel of Ukrainian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey for the period between 2003 and 2012. Adopting the Five Factor Model of personality structure, and using it in the evaluation of non-cognitive skills, our results suggest that such personality traits as openness to new experience and the willingness to take risks increase the probability of migration. On the other hand, the non-cognitive skills conscientiousness and extraversion are found to be negatively associated with the propensity to migrate. The effects are statistically and quantitatively significant, and mainly driven by movements from rural areas into cities. Our results are robust to several sensitivity checks, including tests for reverse causality. |
| Keywords: | migration, non-cognitive skills, Big Five, risk attitudes |
| JEL: | J61 D03 D81 R23 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10982&r=ure |
| By: | Dauth, Wolfgang; Findeisen, Sebastian; Südekum, Jens; Woessner, Nicole |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of rising robot exposure on the careers of individual manufacturing workers, and the equilibrium impact across industries and local labor markets in Germany. We find no evidence that robots cause total job losses, but they do affect the composition of aggregate employment. Every robot destroys two manufacturing jobs. This accounts for almost 23% of the overall decline of manufacturing employment in Germany over the period 1994 - 2014, roughly 275,000 jobs. But this loss was fully offset by additional jobs in the service sector. Moreover, robots have not raised the displacement risk for incumbent manufacturing workers. Quite in contrast, more robot exposed workers are even more likely to remain employed in their original workplace, though not necessarily performing the same tasks, and the aggregate manufacturing decline is solely driven by fewer new jobs for young labor market entrants. This enhanced job stability for insiders comes at the cost of lower wages. The negative impact of robots on individual earnings arises mainly for medium-skilled workers in machine-operating occupations, while high-skilled managers gain. In the aggregate, robots raise labor productivity but not wages. Thereby they contribute to the decline of the labor income share. |
| Keywords: | Germany; labor market effects; robots; skill-biased technological change |
| JEL: | F16 J24 O33 R11 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:12306&r=ure |
| By: | Laetitia Dablanc (IFSTTAR/AME/SPLOTT - Systèmes Productifs, Logistique, Organisation des Transports et Travail - IFSTTAR - Institut Français des Sciences et Technologies des Transports, de l'Aménagement et des Réseaux - Communauté Université Paris-Est); Eléonora Morganti (University of Leeds); Niklas Arvidsson (RISE Research Institutes of Sweden); Johan Woxenius (GU - University of Gothenburg); Michael Browne (GU - University of Gothenburg); Neila Saidi (École d'architecture de la ville et des territoires de Marne-la-Vallée) |
| Abstract: | This exploratory paper contributes to a new body of research that investigates the potential of digital market places to disrupt transport and mobility services. We are specifically looking at the urban freight sector, where numerous app-based services have emerged in recent years. The paper specifically looks at 'instant deliveries,' i.e. services providing on-demand delivery within two hours - by either private individuals, independent contractors, or employees - by connecting consignors, couriers and consignees via a digital platform. The paper provides an overview of the main issues concerning instant deliveries, supported by data (including a survey of 96 courier delivery providers) and examples. After presenting a typology of companies (digital platforms) involved in 'instant deliveries,' we question in what way they transform the urban freight current patterns. We highlight four issues, discussing their potential to impact urban freight services and related policies in European cities: 1) Freight trips and data; 2) Business models; 3) Labor legislation and work conditions; and 4) Local public policies. We conclude by saying that predicting the medium-term consequences of these changes is difficult, but it is essential that city planning and policies take account of these developments and consider how planning and possibly regulation needs to be adapted to these new ways of doing things. |
| Keywords: | ON DEMAND DELIVERY,INSTANT DELIVERY,LIVRAISON INSTANTANEE,CROWDSHIPPING,SMART MOBILITY,LOGISTIQUE,ZONE URBAINE |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01589316&r=ure |
| By: | Lars EHLERS; Thayer MORRILL |
| Abstract: | In public school choice, students with strict preferences are assigned to schools. Schools are endowed with priorities over students. Incorporating different constraints from applications, priorities are often modeled as choice functions over sets of students. It has been argued that the most desirable criterion for an assignment is fairness; there should not be a student having justified envy in the following way: he prefers some school to his assigned school and has higher priority than some student who got into that school. Justified envy could cause court cases. We propose the following fairness notion for a set of assignments : a set of assignments is legal if and only if any assignment outside the set has justified envy with some assignment in the set and no two assignments inside the set block each other via justified envy. We show that under very basic conditions on priorities, there always exists a unique legal set of assignments, and that this set has a structure common to the set of fair assignments : (i) it is a lattice and (ii) it satisfies the rural-hospitals theorem. This is the first contribution providing a “set-wise” solution for many-to-one matching problems where priorities are not necessarily responsive and schools are not active agents. |
| JEL: | C78 D61 D78 I20 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mtl:montec:04-2017&r=ure |
| By: | Xiao CHEN (Department of Finance, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510630, China.); Bihong HUANG (Asian Development Bank Institute, Kasumigaseki Building 8F, 3-2-5 Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-6008, Japan.); Dezhu YE (Department of Finance, Research Institute of Finance, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510630, China.) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the role of punctuation in the peer-to-peer (P2P) lending market. Using data from Renrendai, one of the largest P2P lending platforms in China, we investigate how the amount of punctuation used in loan descriptions influences the funding probability, borrowing rate, and default. The empirical evidence shows that the amount of punctuation is negatively associated with the funding probability and borrowing rate. We propose that the usage of punctuation affects the readability of a loan description and reflects borrowers’ self-control and cognitive ability. Within a given number of words, excessive usage of punctuation makes loan description informal and reduces the readability of the text, thereby impairing investors’ trust in borrowers. Moreover, borrowers that overuse punctuation may have lower ability of self-control, and tend to underestimate the risk of borrowing and offer lower borrowing rate due to overconfidence. |
| Keywords: | P2P lending; information asymmetry; word; punctuation |
| JEL: | G10 G11 G14 G20 G23 G29 |
| Date: | 2017–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nan:wpaper:1707&r=ure |
| By: | Tom Broekel; Lars Mewes |
| Abstract: | Existing studies on regional diversification highlight the importance of local path dependencies and related competences. However, little attention has been paid to other factors potentially contributing to diversification processes. Foremost, this concerns the role of R&D policy. This study investigates the relation between R&D policy and regional technological diversification in German labor market regions from 1996 to 2010. We find no evidence for proactive R&D policies, as subsidized R&D projects do not promote regional technological diversification. In contrast, R&D subsidies? allocation is rather risk-averse with subsidies being more likely allocated to already established technologies and those related to region?s technology portfolio. |
| Keywords: | regional diversification, innovation, policy, R&D subsidies, relatedness |
| JEL: | R11 O31 O33 O38 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:1726&r=ure |
| By: | Danny Yagan |
| Abstract: | This paper uses U.S. local areas as a laboratory to test whether the Great Recession depressed 2015 employment. In full-population longitudinal data, I find that exposure to a 1-percentage-point-larger 2007-2009 local unemployment shock caused working-age individuals to be 0.4 percentage points less likely to be employed at all in 2015, likely via labor force exit. These shocks also increased 2015 income inequality. General human capital decay and persistently low labor demand each rationalize the findings better than lost job-specific rents, lost firm-specific human capital, or reduced migration. Simple extrapolation suggests the recession caused most of the 2007-2015 age-adjusted employment decline. |
| JEL: | E0 H0 L0 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:23844&r=ure |
| By: | Sansani, Shahar |
| Abstract: | In this paper, I test for discrimination against the religiously observant in the Israeli rental housing market. I perform a correspondence study where half of the requests have a religious signal (‘basad’ written at the top of the request), while the other half do not. Because the requests are identical otherwise, differences in call-back rates represent the causal effect of writing ‘basad’ at the top of the request. I find that requests with a religious signal receive 12 percent less responses than requests with no such signal, with this differential being greater in cities with more left-leaning voters and when the contact person is female. For comparison, requests signaling individuals from the Former Soviet Union receive about the same percentage of call-backs as religious requests, while requests signaling an Arab individual receive significantly fewer call-backs than the other groups. |
| Keywords: | Discrimination; religiosity; housing; correspondence study |
| JEL: | C93 J15 Z12 |
| Date: | 2017–09–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:81424&r=ure |
| By: | Mehmet Karakaya; Bettina Klaus; Jan Christoph Schlegel |
| Abstract: | We study the house allocation with existing tenants model (introduced by Abdulkadiroglu and Sonmez, 1999) and consider rules that allocate houses based on priorities. We introduce a new acyclicity requirement for the underlying priority structure which is based on the acyclicity conditions by Ergin (2002) and Kesten (2006) for house allocation with quotas and without existing tenants. We show that for house allocation with existing tenants a top trading cycles rules is consistent if and only if its underlying priority structure satisfies our acyclicity condition. Moreover, even if no priority structure is a priori given, we show that a rule is a top trading cycles rule based on ownership adapted acyclic priorities if and only if it satisfies Pareto-optimality, individual-rationality, strategy-proofness, reallocation-proofness, and consistency. |
| Keywords: | consistency; house allocation; matching; strategy-proofness; top trading cycles |
| JEL: | C78 D70 D78 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lau:crdeep:17.12&r=ure |
| By: | Celia Melguizo (Department of Econometrics, University of Barcelona, Av. Diagonal 696; 08034 Barcelona,Spain.); Vicente Royuela (Department of Econometrics, University of Barcelona, Av. Diagonal 696; 08034 Barcelona,Spain.) |
| Abstract: | In Spain, economic disparities between regions have traditionally played a relevant role in migration. Nevertheless, during the previous high-instability period, analyses provided conflicting results about the effect of these variables. In this work, we aim to determine the role that labour market factors play in internal migration during the Great Recession, paying special attention to the migration response of the heterogeneous population groups. To do so, we resort to an extended gravity model and we consider as a territorial unit the 45 Spanish Functional Urban Areas. Our results point to real wages as having a significant influence on migration motivations. |
| Keywords: | Migration, Spanish urban areas, Labour market factors. JEL classification: C23, J61, R23. |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ira:wpaper:201717&r=ure |
| By: | Muehlenbachs, Lucija (Resources for the Future, Washington DC); Staubli, Stefan (University of Calgary); Chu, Ziyan (Resources for the Future, Washington DC) |
| Abstract: | How much risk does a heavy truck impose on highway safety? To answer this question, we look at the rapid influx of trucks during the shale gas boom in Pennsylvania. Using quasi-experimental variation in truck traffic, we isolate the effect of adding a truck to the road. We find an additional truck raises the risk of a truck accident – and, at an even higher rate, the risk of nontruck accidents. These accidents pose an external cost in cases in which the truck is not found liable, not fully insured, or not directly involved. We show this external cost is capitalized in the insurance market: car insurance premiums of other road users increase when trucks are added to the road. |
| Keywords: | externality, trucking, hydraulic fracturing, traffic fatalities |
| JEL: | G22 H23 I18 Q58 R41 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10989&r=ure |
| By: | Daphna Bassok; Thomas Dee; Scott Latham |
| Abstract: | In an effort to enhance the quality of early childhood education (ECE) at scale, nearly all U.S. states have recently adopted Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS). These accountability systems give providers and parents information on program quality and create both reputational and financial incentives for program improvement. However, we know little about whether these accountability reforms operate as theorized. This study provides the first empirical evidence on this question using data from North Carolina, a state with a mature QRIS. Using a regression discontinuity design, we examine how quasi-random assignment to a lower quality rating influenced subsequent outcomes of ECE programs. We find that programs responded to a lower quality rating with comparative performance gains, including improvement on a multi-faceted measure of classroom quality. Programs quasi-randomly assigned to a lower star rating also experienced enrollment declines, which is consistent with the hypothesis that parents responded to information about program quality by selectively enrolling away from programs with lower ratings. These effects were concentrated among programs that faced higher levels of competition from nearby providers. |
| JEL: | H7 I2 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:23859&r=ure |
| By: | LIEDTKE, Rainer |
| Abstract: | This article outlines the urban development of Athens between the 1830s and 1970s and by doing so questions the validity of the concept of the “European City” by concentrating on a Southern European example. It proposes a more inclusive view of European urbanisation by drawing attention to the social phenomenon of clientelism as an element of civil society and as a major factor in the development of the urban environment. |
| Keywords: | Urbanisation, Athens, Europe, Clientelism, Migration |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hit:ccesdp:67&r=ure |
| By: | John V. Winters (Oklahoma State University) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effects of college graduates educated in STEM fields on patenting intensity in U.S. metropolitan areas. Some prior research suggests a positive effect on urban innovation from foreign-born STEM workers, but little is known about the effects of native STEM graduates on innovation. My preferred results use time-differenced 2SLS regressions, and I introduce a novel approach to instrumenting for the growth in native STEM graduates. I find positive effects of foreign STEM on innovation, roughly consistent with previous literature. However, my preferred approach yields a negative coefficient estimate for native STEM graduates on innovation that is not statistically significant but suggests that a meaningfully large positive effect is unlikely during the 2009-2015 time-period. I discuss possible explanations and implications. |
| Keywords: | STEM; innovation; patents; human capital; higher education |
| JEL: | I25 J24 J61 O31 R12 |
| Date: | 2017–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:okl:wpaper:1714&r=ure |
| By: | Cattan, Sarah (Institute for Fiscal Studies, London); Kamhöfer, Daniel A. (University of Paderborn); Karlsson, Martin (University of Duisburg-Essen); Nilsson, Therese (Lund University) |
| Abstract: | Instructional time is seen as an important determinant of school performance, but little is known about the effects of student absence. Combining historical records and administrative data for Swedish individuals born in the 1930s, we examine the impacts of absence in elementary school on short-term academic performance and long-term socio-economic outcomes. Our siblings and individual fixed effects estimates suggest absence has a moderate adverse effect on academic performance. The detrimental effect fades out over time. While absence negatively correlates with final education, income and longevity, we only find robust evidence that it lowers the probability of employment at age 25–30. |
| Keywords: | absence in school, educational performance, long-term effects, register data |
| JEL: | C23 I14 I21 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10995&r=ure |
| By: | Fabio Fonti (ESC Rennes School of Business - ESC Rennes School of Business); Massimo Maoret (IESE Business School - IESE Business School) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we adopt a core-periphery approach to specify the direct and indirect effects of social capital on organizational performance. We suggest that social capital deriving from stable task relationships between organizational members has a direct positive effect on organizational performance. Said effect depends, in both strength and functional form, on whether actors involved in stable dyads are located at the core or at the periphery of the organization. We also argue that core and peripheral social capital affect performance indirectly by moderating the organization’s ability to leverage its human capital to improve performance. Results from a 48-year study of the National Basketball Association support our arguments and bear important implications for strategic human resource practices and organizational performance in competitive settings. |
| Keywords: | Social capital,social networks,relational stability,core/periphery,organizational performance |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01478950&r=ure |
| By: | Stephan Litschig (National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Tokyo, Japan); Maria Lombardi (University of Gothenburg, Sweden) |
| Abstract: | We estimate the effect of initial income inequality on subsequent income per capita growth using sub-national data from Brazil over the period 1970-2000. Holding initial income per capita and standard confounders constant, we find that places with higher initial inequality exhibit higher subsequent growth. This effect is entirely driven by the lower tail of the initial income distribution: compared to more equal places, sub-national units with a higher share of income going to the middle quintile at the expense of the bottom quintile grow more rapidly, while places with a higher share of income going to the top quintile at the expense of the middle quintile get no growth boost at all. We document that both physical and human capital accumulation in places with higher inequality in the lower tail of the initial income distribution outpace capital accumulation in more equal places, while inequality in the upper tail of the distribution is uncorrelated with subsequent physical or human capital growth. These results are consistent with theories on credit constraints and setup costs for human and physical capital investments. |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ngi:dpaper:17-08&r=ure |
| By: | Fuhai HONG (Division of Economics, Nanyang Technological University, 14 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 637332.); Yohanes E. RIYANTO (Division of Economics, Nanyang Technological University, 14 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 637332.); Ruike ZHANG (Division of Economics, Nanyang Technological University, 14 Nanyang Drive, Singapore 637332.) |
| Abstract: | Social identity is embedded in social structures, generated by various social processes, and has multiple dimensions. We report ?ndings from a laboratory experiment eliciting two-dimensional social identities: a horizontal identity determined either randomly or by preferences and a vertical identity de?ned by income status and determined either by luck or performance. We also vary income gaps between vertical identity groups. Participants make redistributive allocation decisions between two others di¤ering in identity attributes. We ?nd robust evidence of in-group favoritism and that both the identity distance between the allocator and the in-group recipient and income gaps in?uence the degree of in-group favoritism. |
| Keywords: | Social Identities, Horizontal and Vertical Identity Attributes, In-group Favoritism, Income Inequality |
| JEL: | C91 D03 |
| Date: | 2016–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nan:wpaper:1701&r=ure |
| By: | Bütikofer, Aline (Dept. of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration); Peri, Giovanni (UC Davis) |
| Abstract: | There is growing evidence that cognitive and noncognitive skills affect the economic and social outcomes of individuals. In this paper, we analyze how they affect the migration decisions of individuals during their lifetimes. We use data that combine military enlistment and administrative records for the male population born in 1932 and 1933 in Norway. Records of interviews with a psychologist at age 18 allow us to construct an index of `sociability' and `adaptability' for each individual, as well as an index of cognitive ability, the intelligence quotient. We find that adaptability and cognitive ability have significant and positive impacts on the probability of an individual migrating out of his area, whether this involves rural{urban, long distance, or international migration. Adaptability has a particularly strong impact on migration for individuals with low cognitive skills, implying a strong positive selection of less educated migrants with respect to the (previously unobserved) adaptability skill. We also show that cognitive skills have a strong positive effect on the pre- and post-migration wage differential, whereas adaptability has no significant effect. Moreover, individuals with high cognitive ability migrate to areas with large wage returns to cognitive abilities, whereas this is not true for individuals with high adaptability. This evidence suggests that adaptability reduces the psychological cost of migrating, whereas cognitive skills increase the monetary returns associated with migration. |
| Keywords: | Noncognitive Skills; Mobility Costs; Returns to Migration |
| JEL: | J24 J61 R23 |
| Date: | 2017–09–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:nhheco:2017_017&r=ure |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | As educators know well, there are many barriers to learning that originate outside of school, such as those that arise from socio-economic disadvantage. In many education systems, the concentration of disadvantaged students in certain schools poses an additional challenge. Yet it is also true that schools with effective learning environments and high-quality resources can compensate, at least partially, for larger social inequalities. If school systems are to level the playing field, so that all children, regardless of their family background, are offered the best possible education, then the types of practices and resources that are related to better student performance need to be used in every school, not just in advantaged schools. |
| Date: | 2017–09–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduddd:76-en&r=ure |
| By: | Laura A. Bakkensen; Lint Barrage |
| Abstract: | How will climate risk beliefs affect coastal housing market dynamics? This paper provides both theoretical and empirical evidence: First, we build a dynamic housing market model with heterogeneity in home types, consumer preferences, and flood risk beliefs. The model incorporates a Bayesian learning mechanism allowing agents to update their beliefs depending on whether flood events occur. Second, to quantify these elements, we implement a door-to-door survey campaign in Rhode Island. The results confirm significant heterogeneity in flood risk beliefs, and that selection into coastal homes is driven by both lower risk perceptions and higher coastal amenity values. Third, we calibrate the model to simulate coastal home price trajectories given a future flood risk increase and policy reform across different belief scenarios. Accounting for heterogeneity increases the projected home price declines due to sea level rise by a factor of four, and increases market volatility by an order of magnitude. Studies assuming homogeneous rational expectations may thus substantially underestimate the home price implications of future climate risks. We conclude by highlighting potential implications for welfare and flood policy. |
| JEL: | G12 Q54 R21 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:23854&r=ure |
| By: | James J. Heckman (The University of Chicago); John Eric Humphries (Yale University); Gregory Veramendi (W.P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the non-market benefits of education and ability. Using a dynamic model of educational choice we estimate returns to education that account for selection bias and sorting on gains. We investigate a range of non-market outcomes including incarceration, mental health, voter participation, trust, and participation in welfare. We find distinct patterns of returns that depend on the levels of schooling and ability. Unlike the monetary benefits of education, the benefits to education for many non-market outcomes are greater for low-ability persons. College graduation decreases welfare use, lowers depression, and raises self-esteem more for less-able individuals. |
| Keywords: | education, Inequality, returns to education, government policy, health inequality, household behavior, family economics |
| JEL: | I14 I24 I28 D10 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hka:wpaper:2017-072&r=ure |
| By: | Luc Behaghel (PSE - Paris School of Economics); Clément De Chaisemartin (University of Warwick [Coventry]); Marc Gurgand (PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | Boarding schools substitute school to home, but little is known on the effects this substitution produces on students. We present results of an experiment in which seats in a boarding school for disadvantaged students were randomly allocated. Boarders enjoy better studying conditions than control students. However, they start outperforming control students in mathematics only two years after admission, and this effect mostly comes from strong students. Boarders initially experience lower levels of well-being but then adjust. This suggests that substituting school to home is disruptive: only strong students benefit from the school, once they have adapted to their new environment. |
| Keywords: | boarding school, cognitive skills, non-cognitive skills, randomized controlled,trial, heterogeneous effects |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01590806&r=ure |
| By: | Ambrogio Cesa-Bianchi; Andrea Ferrero; Alessandro Rebucci |
| Abstract: | House prices and exchange rates can potentially amplify the expansionary effect of capital inflows by inflating the value of collateral. We first set up a model of collateralized borrowing in domestic and foreign currency with international financial intermediation in which a change in leverage of global intermediaries leads to an international credit supply increase. In this environment, we illustrate how house price increases and exchange rates appreciations contribute to fueling the boom by inflating the value of collateral. We then document empirically, in a Panel VAR model for 50 advanced and emerging countries estimated with quarterly data from 1985 to 2012, that an increase in the leverage of US Broker-Dealers also leads to an increase in cross-border credit flows, a house price and consumption boom, a real exchange rate appreciation and a current account deterioration consistent with the transmission in the model. Finally, we study the sensitivity of the consumption and asset price response to such a shock and show that country differences are associated with the level of the maximum loan-to-value ratio and the share of foreign currency denominated credit. |
| JEL: | C33 E44 F3 F44 R0 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:23841&r=ure |
| By: | Artz, Georgeanne M.; Eathington, Liesl; Francois, Jasmine; Masinde, Melvin; Orazem, Peter F. |
| Abstract: | We compare the entry decisions and relative success of rural and urban retail start-ups in Iowa from 1992 through 2011. We use an expanded variant of the pull factor idea to predict the level of local retail sales. We then examine how the factors that increase sales affect the incentive to enter or exit an urban or rural market. We show that the same factors that affect retail sales also affect new retail firm entry and retail firm exit. Our findings are consistent with a model where the very best generally skilled entrepreneurs sort into thicker, urban locations where they are subjected to frequent arrival of other potential entrepreneurs who have some probability of having an even higher valued use for the site. Urban entrepreneurs may decide to sell their site to another entrepreneur, even if the first entrepreneur has a successful venture. On the other hand, the scarcity of potential successors in thinner rural markets means that a large share of the skill set for rural entrepreneurs is specific to the match between the entrepreneur and the location. Because the value of the rural firms are tied to the first entrepreneur, much of the venture’s value cannot be priced were the venture to be sold, and so rural markets have little turnover in retail sites. |
| Date: | 2017–09–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:isu:genstf:201709140700001034&r=ure |
| By: | Yuvraj Pathak (University of Chicago); Karen Macours (PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, PSE - Paris School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the long-term impacts of reservation of local political seats for women on children's learning and nutritional outcomes in rural Andhra Pradesh. Using the random rotation of seats reserved for women over different election cycles, and three rounds of a panel dataset, we analyze the impact of exposure to political reservation during critical periods in early childhood. The paper shows that the reservation policy for female leaders had the largest impact on learning outcomes in primary school when children were exposed to reservation in utero and very early in life. |
| Keywords: | Nutrition |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01590823&r=ure |
| By: | Daniel Kreisman; Kevin Stange |
| Abstract: | Vocational education is a large part of the high school curriculum, yet we have little understanding of what drives vocational enrollment or whether these courses help or harm early careers. To address this we develop a framework for curriculum choice, taking into account ability and preferences for academic and vocational work. We test model predictions using detailed transcript and earnings information from the NLSY97. Our results are two-fold. First, students positively sort into vocational courses, suggesting the belief that low ability students are funneled into vocational coursework is unlikely true. Second, we find higher earnings among students taking more upper-level vocational courses – a nearly 2% wage premium for each additional year, yet we find no gain from introductory vocational courses. These results suggest (a) policies limiting students’ ability to take vocational courses may not be welfare enhancing, and (b) the benefits of vocational coursework accrue to those who focus on depth over breadth. |
| JEL: | I21 J24 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:23851&r=ure |
| By: | James Mabli; Martha Bleeker; Mary Kay Fox |
| Abstract: | The Healthy Harlem program, which is focused on improving health, nutrition, and physical fitness among children enrolled in the Harlem Children’s Zone, had positive impacts on students’ nutrition knowledge, self-efficacy, fitness, and body mass index (BMI). |
| Keywords: | childhood obesity, Harlem Children's Zone, body mass index, nutrition, physical fitness, afterschool program |
| JEL: | I0 I1 I |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:1883f3b528d345c6a957c5e1e5b173c8&r=ure |
| By: | Neyt, Brecht (Ghent University); Omey, Eddy (Ghent University); Verhaest, Dieter (KU Leuven); Baert, Stijn (Ghent University) |
| Abstract: | We review the theories put forward, methodological approaches used, and empirical conclusions found in the multidisciplinary literature on the relationship between student employment and educational outcomes. A systematic comparison of the empirical work yields new insights that go beyond the overall reported negative effect of more intensive working schemes and that are of high academic and policy relevance. One such insight uncovered by our review is that student employment seems to have a more adverse effect on educational choices and behaviour (study engagement and the decision to continue studying) than on educational performance (in particular, graduation). |
| Keywords: | student employment, education, self-selection, review |
| JEL: | I21 J22 J24 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11023&r=ure |
| By: | Budi Eko Soetjipto (Universitas Negeri Malang, Indonesia. Author-2-Name: Indra Maipita Author-2-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Economics, State University of Medan, Indonesia Author-3-Name: Idris Author-3-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Economics, State University of Padang, Indonesia Author-4-Name: Haikal Rahman Author-4-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Economics, State University of Medan, Indonesia) |
| Abstract: | "Objective – In this study, the impact of earthquake/tsunami threat on land prices is measured using the Hedonic Price Method (HPM). The location of the research is in Padang, West Sumatra. The subject of study is land owners who purchased their land later than September 30, 2009. Methodology/Technique – The linear model and Double-log model with Ordinary Least Square (OLS) are used to estimate variable. Findings – The findings reveal that the Linear model have five variables with a significant effect. Those variables are: (1) Environmental quality, (2) Distance to the seafront, (3) Distance to educational facilities, (4) Availability of clean water and (5) Position of the land, whereas the double-log model also have 5 variables: (1) Distance to the seafront, (2) Distance to educational facilities, (3) Access to evacuation routes, (4) Availability of clean water and (5) Position of the land. Novelty – The possibility of earthquake and tsunami threat in the future has raised a new parameter associated with the environment in the city of Padang, namely land distance towards the seafront. The findings of the study contribute the understanding in land pricing." |
| Keywords: | Earthquake/Tsunami; Environmental Quality; Land Prices; Padang. |
| JEL: | Q24 Q54 |
| Date: | 2017–06–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gtr:gatrjs:jber141&r=ure |
| By: | Olivier CARDI (Université de Tours, LEO (CNRS UMR 7322) and Université de Paris 2 CRED); Peter CLAEYS (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Faculteit Economische en Sociale Wetenschappen); Romain RESTOUT (Université de Lorraine, BETA and UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES)) |
| Abstract: | Our paper investigates the impact of government spending shocks on relative sector size and contrasts the effects across countries. Using a panel of sixteen OECD countries over the period 1970-2007, our VAR evidence shows that a rise in government consumption i) increases the share of non tradables in labor and real GDP and lowers the share of tradables, and ii) causes a significant increase in non traded wages relative to traded wages. While the first finding reveals that the non traded sector is more intensive in the government spending shock and experiences a labor inflow that increases its relative size, the second finding suggests the presence of labor mobility costs preventing wage equalization across sectors. Turning to cross-country differences, empirically we detect a positive relationship between the magnitude of the impact responses of sectoral output shares and the degree of labor mobility across sectors. To account for our evidence, we develop an open economy version of the neoclassical model with tradables and non tradables. Our quantitative analysis shows that the model is successful in replicating the responses of sectoral output shares to a fiscal shock, as long as we allow for a difficulty in reallocating labor across sectors along with adjustment costs to capital accumulation. Finally, calibrating the model to country-specific data, we are able to generate a cross-country relationship between the degree of labor mobility and the responses of sectoral output shares which is similar to that in the data. |
| Keywords: | Fiscal policy; Labor mobility; Investment; Non tradables; Sectoral wages |
| JEL: | E22 E62 F11 F41 J31 |
| Date: | 2017–08–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctl:louvir:2017015&r=ure |
| By: | Trivikram Dokka Venkata Satyanaraya; Fabrice Talla Nobibon; Sonali Sen Gupta; Alain Zemkoho |
| Abstract: | We study a robust toll pricing problem where toll setters and users have different level of information when taking their decisions. Toll setters do not have full information on the costs of the network and rely on historical information when determining toll rates, whereas users decide on the path to use from origin to destination knowing toll rates and having, in addition, more accurate traffic data. In this work, we first consider a single origin-destination parallel network and formulate the robust toll pricing problem as a distributionally robust optimization problem, for which we develop an exact algorithm based on a mixed-integer programming formulation and a heuristic based on two-point support distribution. We further extend our formulations to more general networks and show how our algorithms can be adapted for the general networks. Finally, we illustrate the usefulness of our approach by means of numerical experiments both on randomly generated networks and on the road network of the city of Chicago. |
| Keywords: | Toll-pricing, Conditional value at risk, Robust optimization |
| JEL: | C61 C63 D80 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lan:wpaper:194217799&r=ure |
| By: | Patricia Funk (Department of Economics, Universita della Svizzera italiana); Stephan Litschig (National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Tokyo, Japan) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates whether the form of the legislative institution - assembly versus parliament - affects the level and composition of local public expenditure. We collect data at the commune level in Switzerland over the period 1945-2010 and use two research designs: fixed-effects and regression discontinuity (RD) based on local population. Analyzing communes that switched the form of their legislative institution over time, we find that introducing a parliament leads to a 12 percent increase in both general administration and education spending per capita and an increase in total spending and revenue of about 6 percent. In contrast, regression discontinuity estimates cannot be distinguished from zero for any spending category or overall. These contrasting results highlight the local nature of discontinuity estimates since population is an order of magnitude larger in our switcher sample compared to the RD sample. To understand the mechanism at play, we run a survey among assembly participants and document a sizeable under-representation of 20- to 40-year-olds as well as of women in town meetings compared to both the electorate and to voters in elections. Switching from assembly democracy to parliament thus increases the representation of two demographics that are known for their relatively high preference for education spending. |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ngi:dpaper:17-07&r=ure |
| By: | Lee Branstetter; Neil Gandal; Nadav Kuniesky |
| Abstract: | A large and growing literature has used patent and patent citation data to measure knowledge spillovers across inventions and organizations, but relatively few papers in this literature have explicitly considered the collaboration networks formed by inventors as a mechanism for shaping and transmitting these knowledge flows. This paper utilizes an approach developed by Fershtman and Gandal (2011) to examine the incidence and nature of knowledge flows mediated by the collaboration networks of inventors active in the information security industry. This is an industry in which a number of nations outside the United States, including Israel, have emerged as important centers of innovation. Using data from U.S. PTO patent grants in information security, we find that the quality of Israeli information security inventions is systematically linked to the structure of the collaborative network generated by Israeli inventors in this sector. Using the Fershtman and Gandal (2011) model, this suggests that there are knowledge spillovers from the network. In some other nations, invention quality is less closely linked to the collaboration networks of inventors. This research highlights the importance of direct interaction among inventors as a conduit for flows of frontier scientific knowledge. |
| JEL: | O31 O33 O57 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:23808&r=ure |
| By: | Christian Desmaris (LAET - Laboratoire Aménagement Économie Transports - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - École Nationale des Travaux Publics de l'État [ENTPE] - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, IEP Lyon - Sciences Po Lyon - Institut d'études politiques de Lyon) |
| Abstract: | The European railway industry continues to undergo reform and liberalization due to European law incentives. Recent events in Italy give the country a special place in this process: a new competitor has commenced operations in the high-speed rail (HSR) market based on a private initiative. This paper aims to investigate this rail transport innovation looking for the driving forces and obstacles and to identify the main impacts for the Italian consumers. We also try to provide some interesting results helpful for other countries regarding passenger rail reforms. Based on the Italian case, it seems that open access competition in the HSR market is able to produce significant improvements in favour of passengers and also a ‘win-win’ game between all railway actors. |
| Keywords: | high-speed rail (HSR),Competition,Italy,Railway Reform,impacts for the Italian consumers |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-01370373&r=ure |