|
on Urban and Real Estate Economics |
| By: | Fuess, Roland; Lerbs, Oliver |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates whether and how strongly the share of homeowners in a community affects residential property taxation by local governments. Different from renters, homeowners bear the full property tax burden irrespective of local market conditions, and the tax is more salient to them. \Homeowner communities" may hence oppose high property taxes in order to protect their housing wealth. Using granular spatial data from a complete housing inventory in the 2011 German Census and historical war damages as a source of exogenous variation in local homeownership, we provide empirical evidence that otherwise identical jurisdictions charge significantly lower property taxes when the share of homeowners in their population is higher. This result is invariant to local market conditions, which suggests tax salience as the key mechanism behind this effect. We find positive spatial dependence in tax multipliers, indicative of property tax mimicking by local governments. |
| Keywords: | Homeownership, public financing, residential property tax, spatial tax mimicking, yardstick competition |
| JEL: | D72 H20 H31 H71 R31 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usg:sfwpfi:2017:14&r=ure |
| By: | Rosa Sanchis-Guarner |
| Abstract: | An inflow of immigrants into a region impacts house prices in three ways. For a fixed level of local population, housing demand rises due to the increase in foreign-born population. In addition, immigrants can influence native location decisions and induce additional shifts in demand. Finally, changes in housing supply conditions can in turn affect prices. Existing reduced form estimates of the effect of immigration on house prices capture the sum of all these effects. In this paper, I propose a methodology to identify the different channels driving the total effect. I show that, conditional on supply, total changes in housing demand can be decomposed into the sum of direct immigrant demand and indirect demand changes from relocated population. The size and sign of the indirect demand effect depends on the impact of immigration on native mobility. I use Spanish data during the period 2001-2012 to estimate the different elements of the decomposition, applying an instrumental variables strategy to obtain consistent coefficients. The results show that overlooking the impact of immigration on native location induces a sizeable difference between the total and the immigrant demand effects, affecting the interpretation of the estimates. |
| Keywords: | immigration, housing, Spain, instrumental variables |
| JEL: | J61 R12 R21 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:sercdp:0223&r=ure |
| By: | Tommaso Frattini (University of Milan, LdA, CReAM and IZA); Elena Meschi (Department of Economics, University Of Venice Cà Foscari) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides new evidence on how the presence of immigrant peers in the classroom affects native student achievement. The analysis is based on longitudinal administrative data on two cohorts of vocational training students in Italy’s largest region. Vocational training institutions provide the ideal setting for studying these effects because they attract not only disproportionately high shares of immigrants but also the lowest ability native students. We adopt a value added model, and exploit within-school variation both within and across cohorts for identification. Our results show small negative average effects on maths test scores that are larger for low ability native students, strongly non-linear and only observable in classes with a high (top 20%) immigrant concentration. These outcomes are driven by classes with a high average linguistic distance between immigrants and natives, with no apparent role played by ethnic diversity. |
| Keywords: | Immigration, education, peer effects, vocational training, language |
| JEL: | I20 J15 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ven:wpaper:2017:20&r=ure |
| By: | Mariarosaria Comunale (Economics Department, Bank of Lithuania) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we examine the relationships between real, credit and house price cycles, by using a synchronicity index, and structural characteristics and macroeconomic variables of 17 EU countries. We find that the cycles between credit variables and the real cycle with the property or equity prices cycles seem relatively well synchronised. Credit and GDP fluctuations seem to be less synchronised, mostly because credit volumes tend to lag the real cycle by several quarters. The high rates of private homeownership tend to be associated with larger cycles in GDP, credit, and house prices. Higher Loan-To-Value ratios, seen as a proxy of borrowing constraints, and a higher percentage of flexible-rate mortgages, could also indicate that a country is more sensitive to shocks and possibly increase pro-cyclicality and increase cycle volatility. Finally, the pro-cyclicality of the credit and housing market to the GDP cycle can be linked to the fluctuation in current accounts and their misalignments with respect to the theoretical equilibrium value. The synchronicity and the cycles of credit may also be considered for signaling recessions. |
| Keywords: | cycles; synchronicity; housing market; credit; European Union |
| JEL: | E32 E44 F36 |
| Date: | 2017–09–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rtv:ceisrp:414&r=ure |
| By: | Büttner, Thiess |
| Abstract: | This paper considers the welfare implications of a tax on real estate transfers. A theoretical analysis shows how the discouragement of mutually beneficial transactions as well as tax- sheltering activities give rise to a welfare loss that can be estimated using the empirical elasticity of the tax base. In the absence of tax planning and tax capitalization effects, the elasticity of the tax base is determined by the hazard rate to deter transactions at the margin. With tax planning, the elasticity of the tax base is also driven by the "technology" of tax sheltering. The paper also shows how tax capitalization effects can be accounted for in the welfare analysis. Empirical evidence on the deadweight loss is obtained from the analysis of real estate transfer taxes in Germany. After a constitutional reform has granted the German states the right to set the local rate of the real estate transfer tax, over the last ten years many states have made use of this discretion and have increased the tax rate - some of them repeatedly. Based on the empirical estimate of the revenue effect of these tax increases and of tax capitalization effects, the paper shows that the German experience points to a substantial welfare cost of real estate transfer taxation. |
| Keywords: | Real estate transfer tax,Marginal cost of funds,Tax rate elasticity of the tax base,Tax avoidance,Tax Capitalization |
| JEL: | H20 H26 R38 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc17:168308&r=ure |
| By: | Girum Abebe; Stefano Caria; Marcel Fafchamps; Paolo Falco; Simon Franklin; Simon Quinn |
| Abstract: | Do obstacles to job search contribute to labour market exclusion in developing countries? To answer this question, we contrast two very different interventions, designed to alleviate spatial and informational constraints for unemployed youth in a congested African city: a transport subsidy and a job-application workshop. Both treatments have large positive effects on the probability of finding stable and formal jobs. Neither treatment has a significant average effect on the overall probability of employment, but we detect a sizeable increase in earnings and employment rates among the most disadvantaged job-seekers. Our results highlight the importance of job-search constraints as mechanisms for exclusion of the most disadvantaged. They also show that, if targeted well, low-cost interventions can have large impacts, improving equity in the labour market. |
| JEL: | O18 J22 J24 J61 J64 M53 |
| Date: | 2017–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:sercdp:0224&r=ure |
| By: | Frondel, Manuel; Gerster, Andreas; Vance, Colin |
| Abstract: | Many countries have introduced Energy Performance Certificates to mitigate the information asymmetry with respect to the thermal quality of houses. Drawing on a stylized theoretical model that is coupled with comprehensive data on real estate advertisements in the German housing market, this paper investigates the causal effect of disclosing energy information on the offer prices of houses. We are particularly interested in testing whether house sellers who would not voluntarily disclose the house's energy consumption decrease the offer price upon a shift to a mandatory disclosure scheme. Employing both within-variation from panel data and an instrumental-variable approach to cope with the endogeneity of disclosure decisions, our analysis demonstrates the power of mandatory disclosure rules to increase market transparency and to reduce prices. |
| Keywords: | information asymmetry,mandatory disclosure,environmental certification |
| JEL: | D82 L15 Q58 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:684&r=ure |
| By: | Sebastian Till Braun (School of Economics and Finance, University of St Andrews); Anica Kramer (RWI); Michael Kvasnicka (Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the persistence of a large, unexpected, and regionally very unevenly distributed population shock, the inflow of eight million ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe to West Germany after World War II. Using detailed census data from 1939 to 1970, we show that the shock had a persistent effect on the distribution of population within local labor markets, but only a temporary effect on the distribution between labor markets. These results suggest that locational fundamentals determine population patterns across but not within local labor markets, and they can help to explain why previous studies on the persistence of population shocks reached such different conclusions. |
| Keywords: | Population shock, locational fundamentals, agglomeration economies, regional migration, post-war Germany |
| JEL: | J61 R12 R23 N34 |
| Date: | 2017–09–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:san:wpecon:1716&r=ure |
| By: | Susanne Kuger; Jan Marcus; C. Katharina Spiess |
| Abstract: | Both, a high quality of the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) setting and a high quality of the home learning environment foster children’s development. However, we know little about the interactions between ECEC quality and the home learning environment. We examine whether the child’s attendance in a high ECEC quality setting improves the quality of her home learning environment. We use very rich data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD), which provides detailed panel information through children`s age of 6 months to 9 years on ECEC quality and on the child’s home learning environment. Our analysis is based on a sample of 700 children who have been in non-family child care for at least 10 hours/week. We estimate level and value-added specifications and show that ECEC quality improves the home learning environment at various measurement points. The effects sizes indicate that anincrease in ECEC quality by one standard deviation increases the home learning environment by about 0.08 standard deviations. Furthermore, results differ by sub-groups: The home learning environment from more advantaged children benefits more from higher ECEC quality. Thus the potential of high ECEC quality on the home learning environment is not effectively used for disadvantaged children. Policies could work on this potential link, in particular. |
| Keywords: | ECEC quality, home learning environment, spill-over, disadvantaged children |
| JEL: | J13 I20 I24 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1687&r=ure |
| By: | Neeraj Baruah; Amanda Dahlstrand-Rudin; Guy Michaels; Dzhamilya Nigmatulina; Ferdinand Rauch; Tanner Regan |
| 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: | urban economics, economic development, slums, Africa |
| JEL: | R31 O18 R14 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:sercdp:0222&r=ure |
| By: | Mulyadi (Fakultas Ekonomi dan Bisnis, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Indonesia. Author-2-Name: Arif Rahman Hakim Author-2-Workplace-Name: Fakultas Ekonomi dan Bisnis, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Indonesia.) |
| Abstract: | "Objective – This research aims to analyze the impact of residential relocation to the change in social and economic conditions of the beneficiary. This change is then used to analyze whether it is related to the decision for selling, or putting out to lease, the relocation house. Methodology/Technique – Primary data is collected from 68 samples which are chosen by an area sampling method. The focus of the sample is on houses which are built between 2008 and 2010. The variables applied cover perception about the state of the relocation house, perceptions of change in social and economic conditions, perceptions of housing characteristics and perceptions of the existence of another residential house. This research uses a mixed method for analyzing and interpreting the results. A binary response model is used for quantitative analysis. Findings – The results shows that there is no significant change in the social and economic conditions of the beneficiary. The logistics model indicates there is no direct correlation between perceptions of the change in social economic conditions to the decision for selling or renting a relocation house. Novelty – The study looks at decisions for selling or renting s relocation house." |
| Keywords: | Relocation; Speculative Motive on Housing; Binary Respond Model. |
| JEL: | R21 R23 |
| Date: | 2017–04–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gtr:gatrjs:gjbssr463&r=ure |
| By: | Daichi Shimamoto (Waseda Institute of Political Economy, Waseda University); Yasuyuki Todo (Graduate School of Economics, Waseda University); Yu Ri Kim (Faculty of Political Science and Economics, Waseda University and Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo); Petr Matous (School of Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Tokyo and Complex Systems Research Group, Faculty of Engineering and IT, The University of Sydney) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates peer effects on firm managers’ decisions. We invited 131 randomly selected firm representatives to three one-day seminars on export promotion. We found that peers' invitation in the seminars has a positive effect on firms' participation. We distinguish between peers' invitation on the same day and other days, finding that the former has a positive effect while the latter has no significant effect. These results imply that peer effects arise mostly through a reduction of psychological cost of participation. Our results suggest that multiple equilibria in the share of participants within each network of firms may emerge. |
| Keywords: | peer effects, social networks, information confirmation, free riding, randomized controlled trials |
| JEL: | C93 D22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wap:wpaper:1704&r=ure |
| By: | Asmus Zoch (Department of Economics, University of Mannheim) |
| Abstract: | This study evaluates the relative importance of family, neighbourhood and school quality in explaining variation in standardized test results, reaching and passing matric, university attendance and labour market earnings. It adds to the literature, by using a spatial approach to link a neighbourhood wealth index from the Census 2011 community survey to a unique administrative school data set from the Western Cape. For the long-term perspective the household and school information from the National Income Dynamics Study are explored. The results from administrative school data show how student wealth and differences in school quality produce vastly different outcomes for a cohort of grade 6 to 12 learners in Cape Town. It shows how grade 6 children going to the richest 20% of all schools are 30% more likely to pass matric in time, furthermore by grade 9 the learning gap is approximately four grade-levels worth of learning in comparison to children going to the poorest 20% of schools. However, this study also demonstrates that even children from the poorest neighbourhood would perform well if they go to one of the richest 20% of schools. Yet, given the limited number of quality schools, the segregated location of quality schools, financial as well as transport constraints, only very few children from the poorest 60% actually attend a top quintile schools. These results can be replicated for the national data set and show that in order to achieve more equal education outcomes, the quality of schools in the poor neighbourhoods have to be drastically improved. In addition, using the new school wealth index as an instrument for school quality, there seems to be a significant premium for quality education in labour markets earnings regressions, which show the long-term implications of the schooling system. |
| Keywords: | South Africa, Education, Spatial analysis, Neighbourhood effects, Family effects |
| JEL: | D10 I24 J15 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sza:wpaper:wpapers284&r=ure |
| By: | Dorothee Bohle |
| Abstract: | This paper is concerned with the development of housing finance in peripheral European states. Interestingly, the biggest mortgage and housing booms and busts prior to the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) have occurred in these countries, rather than in the core. This is surprising, given the comparatively low level of mortgage debt and the unsophisticated financial sectors in the periphery. The mortgage and housing booms and busts have also made these countries highly vulnerable to the fallout from the GFC, and have often been associated with severe banking and even sovereign debt crises. The paper asks why peripheral countries have been particularly vulnerable to housing and mortgage booms and busts; how these have shaped their exposure to the GFC, and how the GFC has affected peripheral housing finance. Building on literature on housing financialization and varieties of residential capitalism, the paper traces trajectories of housing-induced financialization before and after the GFC in four European peripheral countries: Hungary, Latvia, Ireland and Iceland. The paper argues that their differences notwithstanding, Europe’s East and peripheral Northwest have been characterized by high homeownership rates and unsophisticated mortgage markets. The evolving EU framework for free movement of capital and provision of financial services as well as the availability of ample and cheap credit has induced a trajectory of financialization, which has taken two major but not mutually exclusive forms: domestic financial institutions’ reliance on funding from wholesale markets, and direct penetration of foreign financial institutions. These two forms of financialization attest to a core-periphery relationship in the recent episode of housing financialization, whose hierarchical character played out in the crisis. Peripheral European countries experienced sudden stops and reversals of capital flows, which badly affected their banking systems. Unable to solve the looming banking crises on their own, they had to turn to creditors to gain access to much needed capital inflows. Different combinations of international conditionality, domestic policy responses and the original level of mortgage debt result in different trajectories in housing finance after the crisis. |
| Keywords: | comparative political economy, international political economy, housing, financialization, peripheral capitalism |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eiq:eileqs:124&r=ure |
| By: | Ida Johnsson; Hyungsik Roger Moon |
| Abstract: | We propose a method of estimating the linear-in-means model of peer effects in which the peer group, defined by a social network, is endogenous in the outcome equation for peer effects. Endogeneity is due to unobservable individual characteristics that influence both link formation in the network and the outcome of interest. We propose two estimators of the peer effect equation that control for the endogeneity of the social connections using a control function approach. We leave the functional form of the control function unspecified and treat it as unknown. To estimate the model, we use a sieve semiparametric approach, and we establish asymptotics of the semiparametric estimator. |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1709.10024&r=ure |
| By: | Galbiati, Roberto; Ouss, Aurélie; Philippe, Arnaud |
| Abstract: | We study how local labor market conditions and information about jobs affect recidivism among former inmates. Our identification strategy exploits daily variations on new job vacancies and news coverage of job openings and closings at the county level, merged with individual-level administrative data on inmates released from French prisons. Overall job creations do not affect recidivism, but inmates released when more jobs in manufacturing are created are less likely to recidivate. We also show that media coverage of job creation reduces recidivism, beyond actual employment opportunities, suggesting implications for crime-control policies: information about employment contributes to reduce recidivism. |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:iastwp:32063&r=ure |
| By: | Philippe, Arnaud |
| Abstract: | This paper documents the effect of peers’ incarceration on an individual’s criminal activity within small criminal groups. Using established criminal groups, I built a 48-month panel that records the criminal status, Individual imprisonment status and imprisonment status of group members. Panel regressions with individual fixed effects allows me to document five facts. First, the incarceration of a peer is associated with a 5 per cent decrease in the arrest rate among groups composed of two persons. No effect is observed among bigger groups. Second, this effect is present even for incarceration following lone crimes, ruling out an explanation based on common shocks. Third, the probability of committing a group crime strongly decreases, and there is no shift to crime with other peers or lone crimes. Four, this general effect hides significant within-group heterogeneity. The results are consistent with the idea that ‘leaders’ are not affected by the incarceration of ‘followers’. Five, the effect seems to be driven by lower risky behaviour among offenders who remain free, and not by ‘criminal capital’ loss or deterrence. |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:iastwp:32041&r=ure |
| By: | Niu, Honglei; Lekse, William |
| Abstract: | Historically, global urbanization has been an essential ingredient for national economic growth and beneficial social transformation. However, with the global urban population currently generating two-thirds of all carbon emissions, global policymakers are urging mayors and regional leaders to make difficult decisions to reduce the negative impacts of urbanization on the environment. The authors begin their examination of the implications of local and regional factors by applying the Dynamic Spatial Durbin Panel Model to empirically examine aspects of developing low-carbon strategies for the rapidly expanding size and number of the world's urban areas. Their results indicate that the contribution of urbanization to carbon emissions can be positively affected when regional policy makers collaborate to focus on spillover effects to simultaneously manage the scope, diversity, and complexity of economic and environmental issues from the perspective of creating a balance between rapid urbanization and relevant regional factors. Regional leaders can make a difference by creating both short-term goals and long-term strategies for maintaining low-carbon urbanization, nurturing regional coordination, monitoring and managing eco-friendly regional spillover effects, supporting low-carbon technology innovations, and maintaining optimal city size. |
| Keywords: | carbon emission effect,urbanization,local and regional focus,STIRPAT,dynamic spatial Durbin error model,panel data |
| JEL: | Q51 R11 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwedp:201762&r=ure |
| By: | Kuehnle, Daniel; Oberfichtner, Michael |
| Abstract: | While recent studies mostly find that attending child care earlier improves the skills of children from low socio-economic and non-native backgrounds in the short-run, it remains unclear whether such positive effects persist. We identify the short- and medium-run effects of early child care attendance in Germany using a fuzzy discontinuity in child care starting age between December and January. This discontinuity arises as children typically start formal child care in the summer of the calendar year in which they turn three. Combining rich German survey and administrative data, we follow one cohort from age five to 15 and examine standardised cognitive test scores, non-cognitive skill measures, and school track choice. We find no evidence that starting child care earlier affects children's outcomes in the short- or medium-run. Our precise estimates rule out large effects for children whose parents have a strong preference for sending them to early child care. |
| Keywords: | child care,child development,skill formation,cognitive skills,non-cognitive skills,fuzzy regression discontinuity |
| JEL: | J13 I21 I38 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc17:168241&r=ure |
| By: | Nor Aniza Ahmad (Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia. Author-2-Name: Siti Aishah Hassan Author-2-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia. Author-3-Name: Abdul Razak Ahmad Author-3-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia. Author-4-Name: Chua Lay Nee Author-4-Workplace-Name: Raja Melewar Teacher Trainee College, Malaysia. Author-5-Name: Nor Hashim Othman Author-5-Workplace-Name: SMK Mambau, Jalan Port Dickson, Malaysia) |
| Abstract: | Objective – The aim of this study is to identify and explore the relationship of parental engagement on teaching practices, student motivation, self-concept and academic achievement. Methodology/Technique – This study applies the perspectives of relevant ecological, socio-cultural and psychological theories. Samples comprise 1075 high school students who were randomly stratified across Malaysia. Data were extracted from questionnaires which were analyzed by Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) AMOS. Findings – Findings show that parental engagement, teaching practices, student motivation and self-concept have a significant relationship with academic achievement. Novelty – This study provides significant implications to the development of theoretical models for parental engagement, teaching practices, student motivation, self-concept and academic achievement in the Malaysian education system. |
| Keywords: | Academic Achievement; Motivation; Parental Engagement; Self-Concept; Teaching Practices. |
| JEL: | I21 I23 |
| Date: | 2016–12–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gtr:gatrjs:jmmr111&r=ure |
| By: | Yang Hu (University of Waikato); Les Oxley (University of Waikato) |
| Abstract: | This paper subjects one of the most documented asset price bubbles of the 1980-90s in Japan, to the rigors of recent time series-based econometric tests. We focus on testing for bubbles in the Japanese stock and real estate markets from 1970Q1 to 1999Q4 using the right-tailed unit root test of Phillips, Shi and Yu (2015, PSY). We also utilize the econometric methods of Greenaway-McGrevy and Phillips (2016) to explore the possibility of contagion between these two markets. We find significant econometric based evidence of bubbles in both markets during this period in Japan and importantly, for the first time in the literature, signs of bubble contagion from Japan's stock market to its real estate market. |
| Keywords: | Japanese asset price bubble; contagion; stock market; real estate market |
| JEL: | C12 G12 R30 |
| Date: | 2017–09–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wai:econwp:17/20&r=ure |
| By: | Crafts, Nicholas (University of Warwick); Alexander Klein, Alexander (University of Kent) |
| Abstract: | We construct spatially-weighted indices of the geographic concentration of U.S. manufacturing industries during the period 1880 to 1997 using data from the Census of Manufactures. Several important new results emerge from this exercise. First, we find that average spatial concentration was much lower in the late 20th- than in the late 19th-century and that this was the outcome of a continuing reduction over time. Second, the persistent tendency to greater spatial dispersion was characteristic of most manufacturing industries. Third, even so, economically and statistically significant spatial concentration was pervasive throughout this period.Keywords: manufacturing belt; spatial concentration; transport costs. JEL Classification: N62; N92; R12. |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:339&r=ure |
| By: | Krishna Dasaratha |
| Abstract: | In many social and economic networks, agents' outcomes depend substantially on the centrality of their network position. Our current understanding of network centrality is largely restricted to deterministic settings, but in many applications data limitations or theoretical concerns lead practitioners to use random network models. We provide a foundation for understanding how central agents in random networks are likely to be. Our main theorems show that on large random networks, centrality measures are close to their expected values with high probability. By applying these theorems to stochastic block models, we study how segregated networks contribute to inequality. When networks are segregated, benefits from peer effects tend to accrue unevenly to the advantage of more central individuals and groups. We also discuss applications to more general network formation models, including models where link probabilities are governed by geography. |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1709.10402&r=ure |
| By: | Evi Gravitiani (Faculty of Economics and Business, UniversitasSebelas Maret, Surakarta, Indonesia Author-2-Name: Suryanto Author-2-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Economics and Business, UniversitasSebelas Maret, Surakarta, Indonesia) |
| Abstract: | "Objective – This research aims to map and identify the areas vulnerable to flood in Central Java Province, Indonesia, using Geography Information System (GIS) and value the economic impact on flood mitigation using Contingent Valuation Methods (CVM). Methodology/Technique – The data regarding geographical, demographical, socio-economic, and topographical condition collected from local governments in Central Java Province, Meteorology and Geophysics Board, the Statistical Bureau, and Planning and Development Boar. Findings – Spatial analysis with GIS provides evidence that Surakarta, Sragen, and Sukoharjo districts are more vulnerable to flood than other districts in Central Java Province. This evidence points the need to conduct a thorough study on these areas. Novelty – This research contributes to empirical study, methodology, and policy implications." |
| Keywords: | Spatial Analysis; Flood Impact; Local Wisdom; Economic Valuation; Willingness to Pay. |
| JEL: | C21 Q51 Q54 |
| Date: | 2017–03–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gtr:gatrjs:jber126&r=ure |
| By: | Schnepel, Kevin T.; Schurer, Stefanie |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the effect of improved early-life health care, through assignment to a special care nursery (SCN), on childhood development and school achievement. We use linked administrative data in the Northern Territory of Australia and exploit the fact that assignment to SCN is largely based on rules of thumb involving low birth weight thresholds. We find large positive effects of SCN assignment on development at age five and some persistent improvements in test scores. Our results suggest that costly early-life health interventions, that are shown to increase survival probabilities of children in the short run, can also substantially boost cognitive and non-cognitive skills. |
| Keywords: | Early-life health treatments,special care nurseries,school achievements,noncognitive skills,school readiness |
| JEL: | J13 I14 I18 I24 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc17:168240&r=ure |
| By: | Christopher F. Goetz |
| Abstract: | This paper introduces a novel data set combining survey data from the American Community Survey (ACS) with administrative data on employment from the Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics program, in order to study geographic labor mobility. With its rich set of information about individuals at the time of the migration decision, large sample size, and near-comprehensive ability to detect labor mobility, the new combined ACS-LEHD data offers several advantages over the existing data sets that are typically used in the study of migration, such as the Decennial Census, Current Population Survey, and Internal Revenue Service data. An overview of how these different data sets can be employed, and examples demonstrating the usefulness of the newly proposed data set, are provided. Aggregate statistics and stylized facts are generated from the ACS-LEHD data which reveal many of the same features as the existing data sets, including the decline of aggregate mobility throughout the past decade, as well as many of the known demographic differences in migration propensity. |
| Date: | 2017–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:17-55&r=ure |
| By: | Jean-François BRUN (Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches sur le Développement International(CERDI)); Tiangboho SANOGO |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the effect of the transfers from central government to municipalities on the revenue mobilization by municipalities in Côte d’Ivoire over the period 2001-2014. The analysis is based on a new carefully-constructed dataset covering the conflict and post conflict periods for 115 municipalities. A two-stage least squares estimator is combined with the Grouped Fixed Effects estimator to address a potential endogeneity bias and to allow for unobserved heterogeneity varying over time. The results show a statistically significant and positive effect of central transfers on revenue mobilization by municipalities for both tax revenue and non-tax revenue. The effect of transfers is found to be higher for tax revenue than for non-tax revenue. The conflict eroded the capacity of municipalities to raise revenue. During the conflict, a 10 percent increase in transfers is associated with a 3.3 percent increase in revenue mobilized by municipalities, while this increase reaches 5.9 percent after the conflict. |
| Keywords: | Municipality, Own revenue, Fiscal decentralization, Grouped fixed effect, Conflict, Côte d’Ivoire. |
| JEL: | O18 H71 H77 |
| Date: | 2017–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdi:wpaper:1888&r=ure |
| By: | Mouhcine Guettabi (ISER and Department of Economics and Public Policy, University of Alaska Anchorage); Alexander James (Department of Economics and Public Policy, University of Alaska Anchorage) |
| Abstract: | Oil booms have been shown to enhance local employment and wages. But such conclusions reflect the aggregated experience of residents, commuters, and recent migrants alike. But from a local policy perspective, understanding how such economic booms affect existing resident populations is clearly important. This paper takes advantage of a unique data set that identifies labor market outcomes based off of an individual?s place of residence, rather than their place of work. Exploiting this feature of the data, we examine the effect of a major oil boom on employment and wage outcomes in the oil-rich North Slope Borough of Alaska. This analysis is juxtaposed with a more conventional one that relies on the use of Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) data, which is based off of where individuals work, regardless of where they live. Using a difference-in-difference estimation strategy, we find that the oil boom of the late 2000s generated significant economic gains. While the majority of the gains appear to have gone to temporary migrant workers, residents did experience some gains in the form of enhanced wages and employment. We conclude that the residential impact of resource booms may not be accurately reflected in BEA data. |
| Keywords: | Oil Boom, Alaska, Regional development, Employment effects |
| JEL: | Q3 Q4 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ala:wpaper:2017-04&r=ure |
| By: | Aamna Irshad ("Centre for Counseling and Career Advisory, National University of Sciences and Technology, Pakistan" Author-2-Name: Irshad Ullah Author-2-Workplace-Name: "Education Department, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 44000, Islamabad, Pakistan ") |
| Abstract: | "Objective – In the study, a teaching model was devised named as “concept formation teaching model” and its effect on grade IX students’ academic achievement was investigated over lecture method. Methodology/Technique – Experimental group (143 students) and control group (147 students) were chosen for experiment from three Government Girls and Boys High Schools of Rawalpindi. Pretest, posttest Non-equivalent-Groups Design was selected for the study. Pre and post-test were given to experimental and control groups at the start and end of the study. Lessons plans were based on the format of direct instruction. Experimental and control groups were compared by applying t-test and analysis of covariance. Findings – The results showed that concept formation teaching model was more effective for clarification and strengthening of concepts than lecture method. Novelty – The study proves that this model is better than lecture method for strengthening Chemistry concepts. " |
| Keywords: | "Concept; Concept Formation; Teaching; Teaching Chemistry; Concept Formation Teaching Model. " |
| JEL: | P46 I21 O31 |
| Date: | 2017–03–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gtr:gatrjs:jmmr125&r=ure |
| By: | Joseph J. Capuno (School of Economics, University of the Philippines Diliman) |
| Abstract: | The Philippines has a long history of internecine warfare or conflicts, especially in Mindanao where the secessionist conflicts alone since the 1970s have resulted in enormous human and economic costs. That violent social discords remain varied and widespread in Mindanao underscores the need for a better understanding of their causes to guide policy. Applying regression analysis on a panel dataset for 2011-2014, we examine the factors behind the municipal- and city-level incidence of violent conflicts related to political, identity and shadow-economy issues in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. Indicating that geography matters, we find evidence that conflicts spill over between neighboring localities, although the type of conflicts in one locality may not be same as that in its neighbors. Having many neighbors makes a locality more susceptible to political or identity conflicts, while those lying along the coast are more prone to shadow-economy conflicts. Indicating the importance of the quality of local governance, there are fewer cases of identity conflicts in localities where the mayor was re-elected, but more cases of shadow-economy and identity conflicts where the mayor and the vice-mayor or the district representative to Congress are relatives or belong to the same political clan. Also, we find the level of local government fiscal resources to be associated with lower incidence of identity conflicts, but also with higher incidence of disputes related to the underground economy. Moreover, the incidence of identity or shadow economy conflicts is higher in cities and in highly-urbanized provincial capitals than in municipalities. Finally, we find that political conflicts are indeed more frequent in 2013 (election year), and that both identity and shadow economy conflicts have become prevalent in 2014 than in 2011. These results identify some critical areas for interventions to reduce the occurrence or spread of violent discords in ARMM. |
| Keywords: | Political conflicts; identity conflicts; shadow economy; local governments; negative binomial model; Mindanao |
| JEL: | O17 O18 R10 H77 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:phs:dpaper:201707&r=ure |
| By: | Hidalgo-Gallego, Soraya; Núñez-Sánchez, Ramón; Coto-Millán, Pablo |
| Abstract: | This study analyses the possible existence of spatial non-price competition in the port industry. We propose a dynamic two-stage model that allows: (1) to estimate the sensitivity of generation and diversion of traffic caused by port capacity expansions; (2) to quantify the degree of capacity competition; (3) to simulate a hypothetical scenario of cooperation agreements among different port authorities. The econometric specification is based on a structural model of demand, cost and market equilibrium. The empirical results suggest that non-price competition exists in port infrastructure services. Furthermore, using a simulation analysis, we show that incentives to invest in port capacity decrease under a cooperative setting. |
| Keywords: | Strategic interdepence; imperfect competition; port capacity; port alliances |
| JEL: | D24 D4 L1 L9 |
| Date: | 2017–05–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:80417&r=ure |
| By: | Raymond (R.H.J.M.) Gradus (School of Business and Economics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; Tinbergen Institute, The Netherlands); Elbert (E.) Dijkgraaf (Erasmus) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes whether Dutch municipalities became greener between 1999 and 2014 by investigating whether they implement different unit-based pricing systems. Based on their incentive, systems are ranged from green ('weight' ) to less green ('volume' ), or not green ('flat rate' ). In one-third of the municipalities, shifts took place, with 83 percent becoming greener and 17 percent less green. Political fragmentation (measured in three ways) plays a key role in explaining these shifts. There is less evidence for political motivation. Particularly, Conservative Liberals are not in favor of unit-based pricing, whereas Social Liberals are in favor. In addition, municipalities in rural and shrinking areas are more in favor of unit-based pricing. |
| Keywords: | local government; unit-based waste pricing; greener; less green; ideological motivation |
| JEL: | D72 H76 H79 |
| Date: | 2017–09–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20170086&r=ure |
| By: | Irshad Ullah (Education Department, Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan Author-2-Name: Aamna Irshad Author-2-Workplace-Name: Centre for Counseling and Career Advisory, National University of Sciences and Technology, Pakistan) |
| Abstract: | "Objective – In the classroom, computers can be used for its better learning arrangements. Computers can be used either by the teacher or the learner but whatever way it is used, it is an important tool in the teaching-learning environment. Without proper class room arrangement and management, it becomes difficult to create a proper environment for learning. It can also affect the learning behaviors of students. Student may learn more effectively and efficiently in a cool environment. Different educationalists from the education field put in a lot of effort in this respect, suggesting many different methods for solving learning problems. In this paper an attempt has been made to demonstrate how computers may assist in the arrangement of classes for better learning environments. Methodology/Technique – Different perspectives are investigated by collecting data from both students and teachers with different levels of familiarity with the use of computers in the learning environment. Findings – Based on the analysed results, different techniques and strategies are proposed for use in the classroom to achieve better learning environments. Novelty – The study suggests an approach for classroom arrangement though the use of computers." |
| Keywords: | Computer; Internet; Management; Students; Class. |
| JEL: | I21 O32 |
| Date: | 2017–01–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gtr:gatrjs:gjbssr453&r=ure |