|
on Urban and Real Estate Economics |
| By: | Carlos Garriga (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis); Aaron Hedlund (University of Missouri) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes how arrangements in the in the mortgage market impact the dynamics of housing (boom-bust episodes) and the economy using a structural equilibrium model with incomplete markets and endogenous adjustment costs. In response to mortgage rates and credit conditions, the model can generate movements in house prices, residential investment, and homeownership consistent with the U.S. housing boom-bust. The propagation to the macroeconomy is asymmetric with much higher consumption sensitivity during the bust than the boom due to the endogenous fragility caused by mortgage debt. Mortgages with adjustable-rate increase the sensitivity of house prices to credit conditions relative to an economy with fixed-rate loans without refinancing. Macro prudential policies can mitigate fragility by reducing the magnitude of house price movements without curtailing homeownership. |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:red:sed018:354&r=ure |
| By: | Conklin, James (University of Georgia); Frame, W. Scott (Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta); Gerardi, Kristopher S. (Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta); Liu, Haoyang (Federal Reserve Bank of New York) |
| Abstract: | An expansion in mortgage credit to subprime borrowers is widely believed to have been a principal driver of the 2002–06 U.S. house price boom. Contrary to this belief, we show that the house price and subprime booms occurred in different places. Counties with the largest home price appreciation between 2002 and 2006 had the largest declines in the share of purchase mortgages to subprime borrowers. We also document that the expansion in speculative mortgage products and underwriting fraud was not concentrated among subprime borrowers. |
| Keywords: | mortgages; subprime; house prices; credit scores; housing boom |
| JEL: | D14 D18 D53 G21 G38 |
| Date: | 2018–08–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedawp:2018-10&r=ure |
| By: | Enrico Berkes (Northwestern University); Ruben Gaetani (University of Toronto) |
| Abstract: | We analyze the effect of the rise of knowledge-based activities on spatial inequality within U.S. cities, exploiting the network of patent citations to instrument for local trends in innovation. We find that innovation intensity is responsible for 20% of the overall increase in urban segregation between 1990 and 2010. This effect is mainly driven by the clustering of employment and residence of workers in knowledge-based occupations. We develop and estimate a spatial equilibrium model to quantify the contribution of productivity and residential externalities in explaining the observed patterns. Endogenous amenities account for two thirds of the overall effect. We illustrate the relevance of the model for policy analysis by studying the impact of four proposed projects for Amazon’s HQ2 on the structure of Chicago. |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:red:sed018:213&r=ure |
| By: | Jack Favilukis; Pierre Mabille (New York University); Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh (New York University) |
| Abstract: | Housing affordability has become one of the main policy challenges for the major cities of the world. Two key policy levers are zoning and rent control policies. We build a new dynamic equilibrium asset pricing model to evaluate the implications of such policies for house prices, rents, production and income, residential construction, income and wealth inequality, as well as the spatial distribution of households within the city. We calibrate the model to New York City, incorporating current zoning and rent control systems. Our model suggests large welfare gains from relaxing zoning regulations in Manhattan, and more modest gains from reducing the size of the rent control program. The former policy is progressive and a Pareto improvement, while rent control reform is regressive in nature and hurts the current beneficiaries. |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:red:sed018:867&r=ure |
| By: | OTAZAWA Toshimori; OHIRA Yuki; Jos VAN OMMEREN |
| Abstract: | This study contributes to the literature on the relationship between geographical and relation-based distances of economic agents. We aim to estimate the causal effect of a firm's position in the inter-firm transaction network on its spatial location within a city. Using micro data of inter-firm financial transactions for non-retail firms in the metropolitan areas of Japan, we demonstrate that the more central firms in transaction networks tend to have smaller inter-firm distances and therefore locate at more accessible places within the city. We also find that the results are robust to alternative specifications both of network centrality measures and spatial accessibility measures. It is also declared that the effect for single establishment firms are much stronger than that for multi-establishment firms. Furthermore, the result shows that this effect is noticeable for young firms in knowledge-intensive industries. The evidence suggests the potential importance of the inter-firm transaction pattern as a determinant of urban spatial configuration. |
| Date: | 2018–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:18054&r=ure |
| By: | MORI Tomoya |
| Abstract: | This paper reviews the extant formal models that explain the spatial pattern together with the size distribution of cities, and discusses the remaining research questions to be answered in this literature. To obtain meaningful results about the spatial patterns of cities, a model needs to depart from the most popular; a two-region and the systems-of-cities frameworks in urban and regional economics in which there is no variation in interregional distance. This is one of the major reasons that only few formal models have been proposed in this literature. To draw implications as much as possible from the extant theories, this review involves extensive discussions on the behavior of the many-region extension of the extant models. The mechanisms that link the spatial pattern of cities and the diversity in city sizes are also discussed separately in detail. |
| Date: | 2018–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:18053&r=ure |
| By: | Koster, Hans R.A.; van Ommeren, Jos; Volkhausen, Nicolas |
| Abstract: | Online short-term housing rental platforms such as Airbnb have grown spectacularly in recent years. We focus on Santa Monica, surrounded by the City of Los Angeles, which has severely restricted short-term rentals of entire homes and apartments. We apply a panel regression-discontinuity design around Santa Monica's border. Its 2015 Home Sharing Ordinance (HSO) reduced listings by 70% and prices of single-family homes by 5.5%, with stronger effects in locations attractive to tourists. We do not find that the HSO affected prices of apartments, which points to the presence of substantial negative external effects of short-term rentals within apartment buildings. These results explain why particularly cities with a high share of renters and apartments tend to oppose Airbnb. |
| Keywords: | externalities.; House Prices; regulation; short-term rentals; supply effects |
| JEL: | R21 R31 |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:13094&r=ure |
| By: | takashi nakamura (Tokyo City University) |
| Abstract: | In Japan, decline of the central urban area due to the suburbanization of various functions associated with the progress of motorization is posing to be a great challenge. In addition, in recent years, an increase in vacant houses has become an issue all over Japan due to population decrease and the aging population. There is also concern that the number of vacant houses will increase in central urban areas. In this research, we grasped the actual conditions of vacant houses and vacancy of the condominium in central urban areas of 35 local cities in Japan and analyzed location trends in the target 5 cities about vacant houses and 35 cities about vacancy of condominiums. We investigated the vacant houses and vacancy of condominiums in each central urban area and analyzed the location trend of vacant houses and vacancy of condominiums about the following points; ?Distance to station?, ?Road contact condition?, ?Floor area ratio designation?, ?Price? and ?age of a building?. We can mention to the tendency of vacant houses location is the house which is located far from station, have contact with narrow road, and have relatively small building area. About Vacancy of the condominium it is not related with a price but vacancy rate of condominium is high at the condominiums constructed in bubble economy period. |
| Keywords: | Vacant house, Vacancy of the condominium, Local City, Central urban area |
| JEL: | R21 R31 P21 |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:7708488&r=ure |
| By: | Head, Allen; Lloyd-Ellis, Huw; Stacey, Derek |
| Abstract: | A theory of the distribution of housing tenure in a city is developed. Het- erogeneous houses are built by a competitive development industry and either rented competitively or sold to households which dier in their income and sort over housing types through a directed search process. In the absence of either nancial or supply restrictions, higher income households are more likely to own and lower quality housing is more likely to be rented. The composition of the housing stock and the rate of home-ownership depend on the distribution of income, the age of the population and construction costs. When calibrated to match average features of housing markets within U.S. cities, observed dif- ferences in these variables account well for the variation observed across cities in home-ownership and the price-rent ratio. A policy designed to improve housing aordability signicantly raises home-ownership among lower income households while lowering the quality supplied to high income households. |
| Keywords: | Financial Economics |
| Date: | 2018–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:quedwp:274722&r=ure |
| By: | Benjamin Dachis (C.D. Howe Institute) |
| Abstract: | Canadian municipalities are hurting housing affordability by imposing expensive water charges on development, according to a new report published by the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Hosing Homebuyers: Why Cities Should Not Pay for Water and Wastewater Infrastructure with Development Charges”, author Benjamin Dachis argues cities should revamp development charges to improve housing affordability across the country. |
| Keywords: | Public Investments and Infrastructure |
| JEL: | H5 R2 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdh:ebrief:281&r=ure |
| By: | Shibaev, Sergei S. |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a statistical model for measuring spatial interactions when estimating macroeconomic regimes and regime shifts. The model is applied to study the contagion and propagation of recessions in small regional economies in the United States from 1990 to 2015. The empirical analysis identifies two geographical concentrations (or clusters) where small regional economies were affected by recessions in similar ways. These clusters are interpreted as groups of regions that are potentially at-risk to collective economic distress, which is useful for national and regional policy makers. The first identified cluster is characterized by regional economies with important roles in the financial sector, while the second cluster is characterized by the oil and gas extraction sector. The empirical findings uncover an important propagation dynamic that would be overlooked if one were to apply the model without the spatial extension developed in this paper. Specifically, the evidence shows significant spatial spillovers between small regional economies, meaning that shocks to regions are expected to be higher, when shocks to neighboring regions are high on average. The magnitude of this effect is amplified for the period spanning and following the Great Recession. |
| Keywords: | Financial Economics, Public Economics |
| Date: | 2016–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:quedwp:274695&r=ure |
| By: | Kevin Milligan (C.D. Howe Institute); Tammy Schirle (C.D. Howe Institute) |
| Abstract: | Canadian municipalities are hurting housing affordability by imposing expensive water charges on development, according to a new report published by the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Hosing Homebuyers: Why Cities Should Not Pay for Water and Wastewater Infrastructure with Development Charges”, author Benjamin Dachis argues cities should revamp development charges to improve housing affordability across the country. |
| Keywords: | Retirement Saving and Income; Insurance;Intergenerational Equity;Poverty and Inequality;Public Pension Plans;Seniors' Benefits |
| JEL: | H55 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdh:ebrief:282&r=ure |
| By: | Blaudin de Thé, Camille; Carantino, Benjamin; Lafourcade, Miren |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the impact of urban form on households' fuel consumption and car emissions in France. We analyze more particularly three features of cities commonly referred to as the `three D's' (Cervero and Kockelman, 1997): Density, Design and an innovative measure of Diversity. Individual data allow us to circumvent selection issues, as some households may live in a location consonant to their socioeconomic characteristics or travel predispositions, while instrumental variables help control for other endogeneity issues. The results suggest that, by choosing to live at the fringe of a metropolitan area instead of its city-center, our mean-sample household would bear an extra-consumption of approximatively six fuel tanks per year. More generally, doubling residential Density would result in an annual saving of approximatively two tanks per household, a gain that would be much larger if compaction were coupled with better Design (stronger jobs centralization, improved rail-routes or buses transiting to job centers and reduced pressure for road construction), and more Diversity (continuous morphology of the built-up environment). Another important finding is that the relationship between metropolitan population and car emissions is not linear but bell-shaped in France, contrary to the US, which suggests that small cities do compensate lack of Density by either a better Design or more Diversity. |
| Keywords: | car emissions; carbon footprint; public transport; Smart Cities; Sprawl |
| JEL: | Q4 R1 R2 R4 |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:13086&r=ure |
| By: | Bergbauer, Annika B. (Ifo Institute for Economic Research); Hanushek, Eric A. (Stanford University); Woessmann, Ludger (Ifo Institute for Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | School systems regularly use student assessments for accountability purposes. But, as highlighted by our conceptual model, different configurations of assessment usage generate performance-conducive incentives of different strengths for different stakeholders in different school environments. We build a dataset of over 2 million students in 59 countries observed over 6 waves in the international PISA student achievement test 2000-2015. Our empirical model exploits the country panel dimension to investigate reforms in assessment systems over time, where identification comes from taking out country and year fixed effects along with a rich set of student, school, and country measures. We find that the expansion of standardized external comparisons, both school-based and student-based, is associated with improvements in student achievement. The effect of school-based comparison is stronger in countries with initially low performance. Similarly, standardized monitoring without external comparison has a positive effect in initially poorly performing countries. By contrast, the introduction of solely internal testing and internal teacher monitoring including inspectorates does not affect student achievement. Our findings point out the pitfalls of overly broad generalizations from specific country testing systems. |
| Keywords: | student assessment, testing, accountability, student achievement, international, PISA |
| JEL: | I28 H52 L15 D82 P51 |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11683&r=ure |
| By: | Philippe Bracke; Silvana Tenreyro |
| Abstract: | Using data on the universe of housing transactions in England and Wales over a twenty-year period, we document a robust pattern of history dependence in housing markets. Sale prices and selling propensities are affected by house prices prevailing in the period in which properties were previously bought. We investigate the causes of history dependence complementing our analysis with administrative data on mortgages and online house listings, which we match to actual sales. We find that cognitive and financial frictions explain the history dependence in the data. Both contributed to the collapse and slow recovery of the volume of housing transactions in the post-crisis period. |
| Keywords: | housing market, fluctuations, down-payment effects, reference dependence, anchoring, loss aversion |
| JEL: | E30 R21 R31 |
| Date: | 2018–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1568&r=ure |
| By: | Borowiecki, Karol Jan; Graddy, Kathryn |
| Abstract: | In order to investigate the role of immigrant artists on the development of artistic clusters in U.S. cities, we use the US Census and American Community Survey, collected every 10 years since 1850. We identify artists and art teachers, authors, musicians and music teachers, actors and actresses, architects, and journalists, their geographical location and their status as a native or an immigrant. We look at the relative growth rate of the immigrant population in these occupations over a ten year period and how it affects the relative growth rate of native-born individuals in these artistic occupations. We find that cities that experienced immigrant artist inflows also see a greater inflow of native artists. |
| Keywords: | artistic occupations; artists; Immigration |
| JEL: | J4 J6 N3 N9 Z1 |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:13070&r=ure |
| By: | Vasiliki Fouka (Stanford University); Soumyajit Mazumder (Harvard University); Marco Tabellini (Harvard Business School, Business, Government and the International Economy Unit) |
| Abstract: | How does the appearance of a new out-group affect the economic, social, and cultural integration of previous outsiders? We study this question in the context of the first Great Migration (1915-1930), when 1.5 million African Americans moved from the US South to urban centers in the North, where 30 million Europeans had arrived since 1850. We test the hypothesis that black inflows led to the establishment of a binary black-white racial classification, and facilitated the incorporation of - previously racially ambiguous - European immigrants into the white majority. We exploit variation induced by the interaction between 1900 settlements of southern-born blacks in northern cities and state-level outmigration from the US South after 1910. Black arrivals increased both the effort exerted by immigrants to assimilate and their eventual Americanization. These average effects mask substantial heterogeneity: while initially less integrated groups (i.e. Southern and Eastern Europeans) exerted more assimilation effort, assimilation success was larger for those that were culturally closer to native whites (i.e. Western and Northern Europeans). These patterns are consistent with a framework in which perceptions of racial threat among native whites lower the barriers to the assimilation of white immigrants. |
| Keywords: | Immigration, assimilation, Great Migration, race, group identity. |
| JEL: | J11 J15 N32 |
| Date: | 2018–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hbs:wpaper:19-018&r=ure |
| By: | Burgess, Simon (University of Bristol); Heller-Sahlgren, Gabriel (London School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | We study attitudes to education among English adolescents. Using PISA data, we show there is considerable variation in these attitudes depending on background: immigrant students have substantially and significantly more positive attitudes to school than native children, a difference that amounts to around 0.2 standard deviations. There is no difference between first- and second-generation immigrants, and the attitude gap does not appear to depend on particular schools' policies. We also show that students in London have more positive attitudes to education on average, but this is entirely accounted for by the distribution of children of immigrants in that city. |
| Keywords: | education, human capital, motivation, immigrants |
| JEL: | I21 I24 |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11678&r=ure |
| By: | Miriam Manchin; Sultan Orazbayev |
| Abstract: | Using a large individual-level survey spanning several years and more than 150 countries, we examine the importance of social networks in influencing individuals' intention to migrate internationally and locally. We distinguish close social networks (composed of friends and family) abroad and at the current location, and broad social networks (composed of same-country residents with intention to migrate, either internationally or locally). We find that social networks abroad are the most important driving forces of international migration intentions, with close and broad networks jointly explaining about 37% of variation in the probability intentions. Social networks are found to be more important factors driving migration intentions than work-related aspects or wealth (wealth accounts for less than 3% of the variation). In addition, we nd that having stronger close social networks at home has the opposite effect by reducing the likelihood of migration intentions, both internationally and locally. |
| Keywords: | intention to migrate; social networks; international migration; local migration; remittances |
| JEL: | F22 F24 R23 O15 |
| Date: | 2018–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cid:wpfacu:90a&r=ure |
| By: | Edward L. Glaeser; Ming Lu |
| Abstract: | This paper provides evidences of heterogeneous human-capital externality using CHIP 2002, 2007 and 2013 data from urban China. After instrumenting city-level education using the number of relocated university departments across cities in the 1950s, one year more city-level education increases individual hourly wage by 22.0 percent, more than twice the OLS estimate. Human-capital externality is found to be greater for all groups of urban residents in the instrumental variable estimation. |
| JEL: | E02 H23 J0 J24 P20 R11 R19 R39 |
| Date: | 2018–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:24925&r=ure |
| By: | Eric Parsons (Department of Economics, University of Missouri-Columbia); Cory Koedel (Department of Economics, University of Missouri-Columbia); Li Tan |
| Abstract: | We study the relative performance of two policy relevant value-added models – a one-step fixed effect model and a two-step aggregated residuals model – using a simulated dataset well grounded in the value-added literature. A key feature of our data generating process is that student achievement depends on a continuous measure of economic disadvantage. This is a realistic condition that has implications for model performance because researchers typically have access to only a noisy, binary measure of disadvantage. We find that one- and two-step value-added models perform similarly across a wide range of student and teacher sorting conditions, with the two-step model modestly outperforming the one-step model in conditions that best match observed sorting in real data. A reason for the generally superior performance of the two-step model is that it better handles the use of an error-prone, dichotomous proxy for student disadvantage. |
| Keywords: | Value-added modeling, two-step value-added model, value-added simulation, measurement error |
| JEL: | C1 I2 |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:umc:wpaper:1813&r=ure |
| By: | Goel, Deepti (Delhi School of Economics); Barooah, Bidisha (International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie)) |
| Abstract: | We examine the role of teachers and students in the formation of test scores at the higher secondary level (grade 12) in public schools in Delhi, India. Using the value added approach, we find substantial variation in teacher and student quality within schools: over the period spanning grades 11 and 12, being taught by a one standard deviation better than average teacher raises test scores by 0.373 standard deviation; and being a one standard deviation better than average student raises it by 0.799 standard deviation. Being permanent (tenured) positively predicts teacher effectiveness, while educational qualifications, training, experience and personality traits have no predictive power. Relative to families where only fathers earn, those where both parents earn negatively predict student effectiveness, while religion, caste and parents' education have no predictive power. |
| Keywords: | value added, test scores, teacher quality, student quality, India |
| JEL: | I20 I23 |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11670&r=ure |
| By: | Michela Carlana (Harvard Kennedy School and IZA); Eliana La Ferrara La Ferrara (Università Bocconi); Paolo Pinotti (Department of Social and Political Sciences and DONDENA, Bocconi University, CReAM Centre, fRDB, IR- VAPP, and CEPR) |
| Abstract: | We study the educational choices of children of immigrants in a tracked school system. We first show that immigrants in Italy enroll disproportionately into vocational high schools, as opposed to technical and academically-oriented high schools, compared to natives of similar ability. The gap is greater for male students and it mirrors an analogous differential in grade retention. We then estimate the impact of a large-scale, randomized intervention providing tutoring and career counseling to high-ability immigrant students. Male treated students increase their probability of enrolling into the high track to the same level of natives, also closing the gap in terms of grade retention. There are no significant effects on immigrant girls, who exhibit similar choices and performance as native ones in absence of the intervention. Increases in academic motivation and changes in teachers’ recommendation regarding high school choice explain a sizable portion of the effect, while the effect of increases in cognitive skills is negligible. Finally, we find positive spillovers on immigrant classmates of treated students, while there is no effect on native classmates. |
| Keywords: | tracking, career choice, immigrants, aspirations, mentoring |
| Date: | 2018–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:1812&r=ure |
| By: | Carlana, Michela (Harvard Kennedy School) |
| Abstract: | I study whether exposure to teachers' stereotypes, as measured by the Gender-Science Implicit Association Test, affects student achievement. I provide evidence that the gender gap in math performance substantially increases when students are assigned to teachers with stronger gender stereotypes. Teachers' stereotypes induce girls to underperform in math and self-select into less demanding high-schools, following the track recommendation of their teachers. These effects are at least partially driven by a lower self-confidence on own math ability of girls exposed to gender biased teachers. The findings are consistent with the hypothesis that stereotypes impair the test performance of ability-stigmatized groups, who end up failing to achieve their full potential. |
| Keywords: | gender, math, teachers, implicit stereotypes, IAT, self-confidence, track choice |
| JEL: | J16 J24 I24 |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11659&r=ure |
| By: | Li, Liyao (School of Economics, Singapore Management University); Yang, Zhenlin (School of Economics, Singapore Management University) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, M-estimation and inference methods are developed for spatial dynamic panel data models with correlated random effects, based on short panels. The unobserved individual-specific effects are assumed to be correlated with the observed time-varying regressors linearly or in a linearizable way, giving the so-called correlated random effects model, which allows the estimation of effects of time-invariant regressors. The unbiased estimating functions are obtained by adjusting the conditional quasi-scores given the initial observations, leading to M-estimators that are consistent, asymptotically normal, and free from the initial conditions except the process starting time. By decomposing the estimating functions into sums of terms uncorrelated given idiosyncratic errors, a hybrid method is developed for consistently estimating the variance-covariance matrix of the M-estimators, which again depends only on the process starting time. Monte Carlo results demonstrate that the proposed methods perform well in finite sample. |
| Keywords: | Adjusted quasi score; Dynamic panels; Correlated random effects; Initial-conditions; Martingale difference; Spatial effects; Short panels |
| JEL: | C10 C13 C15 C21 C23 |
| Date: | 2018–08–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:smuesw:2018_015&r=ure |
| By: | Cornelissen, Thomas (University of York); Dustmann, Christian (University College London); Raute, Anna (University of Mannheim); Schönberg, Uta (University College London) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we examine the heterogeneous treatment effects of a universal child care (preschool) program in Germany by exploiting the exogenous variation in attendance caused by a reform that led to a large staggered expansion across municipalities. Drawing on novel administrative data from the full population of compulsory school entry examinations, we find that children with lower (observed and unobserved) gains are more likely to select into child care than children with higher gains. This pattern of reverse selection on gains is driven by unobserved family background characteristics: children from disadvantaged backgrounds are less likely to attend child care than children from advantaged backgrounds but have larger treatment effects because of their worse outcome when not enrolled in child care. |
| Keywords: | universal child care, child development, marginal treatment effects |
| JEL: | J13 J15 I28 |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11688&r=ure |
| By: | Johanna Lacoe; Matthew P. Steinberg |
| Abstract: | Discipline reformers claim that suspensions negatively affect suspended students, while others suggest reforms have unintended consequences for peers. |
| Keywords: | discipline policy reform, out-of-school suspensions, student absences, student achievement |
| JEL: | I |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:509224f347bf45a4afbb7abf87c35a3a&r=ure |
| By: | Seah, Kelvin (National University of Singapore) |
| Abstract: | A large body of research has found that, by being better able to serve as cultural translators and role models, demographically-similar teachers can increase students' achievement. These studies have tended to focus on the role of race and gender similarities between student and teacher. This study is the first to examine the role of native language similarity. Using a nationally representative dataset from the United States which allows each student to be matched with two of his subject teachers, this study exploits variation in contemporaneous test scores and whether the student shares the same native language as the teacher across two different academic subjects, within-student, to identify the effect of being assigned to a linguistically-similar teacher. The effect is examined separately for students who are native Spanish-speakers and students who are native English-speakers. It finds that, unconditional on teacher ethnicity, assignment to a native Spanish-speaking teacher reduces the achievement of native Spanish-speaking students, particularly in Science and English. However, once differences in teacher ethnicity are controlled for, a native Spanish-speaking student does no worse or better on his test score when assigned to a native Spanish-speaking teacher than when assigned to a non-native Spanish-speaking teacher. For native English-speaking students, assignment to a linguistically-similar teacher has no impact on achievement. This finding applies regardless of whether teacher ethnicity is controlled for. |
| Keywords: | native language, student achievement, student fixed effects |
| JEL: | I21 J15 |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11685&r=ure |
| By: | Basteck, Christian (ECARES Brussels); Klaus, Bettina (University of Lausanne); Kübler, Dorothea (WZB Berlin Social Science Center) |
| Abstract: | The use of lotteries is advocated to desegregate schools. We study lottery quotas embedded in the two most common school choice mechanisms, namely deferred and immediate acceptance mechanisms. Some seats are allocated based on merit (e.g., grades) and some based on lottery draws. We focus on the effect of the lottery quota on truth-telling, the utility of students, and the student composition at schools, using theory and experiments. We find that the lottery quota strengthens truth-telling in equilibrium when the deferred acceptance mechanism is used while it has no clear effect on truth-telling in equilibrium for the immediate acceptance mechanism. This finds support in the experiment. Moreover, the lottery quota leads to more diverse school populations in the experiments, as predicted. Comparing the two mechanisms, students with the lowest grades profit more from the introduction of the lottery under immediate than under deferred acceptance. |
| Keywords: | school choice; immediate acceptance mechanism; deferred acceptance mechanism; lotteries; experiment; market design; |
| JEL: | C78 C91 D82 I24 |
| Date: | 2018–08–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rco:dpaper:114&r=ure |
| By: | Milad Pirayegar Emrouzeh (University of New Brunswick); Greg Fleet (University of New Brunswick) |
| Abstract: | Smart City is a multi-dimensional concept, which includes several disciplines such as social, economic, and technological sciences. By using smart city data, city authorities and stakeholders are able to explore opportunities to enhance quality of life, to improve economic conditions, and to provide better services. Smart city data and its indicators have been conventionally applied for three goals: (a) emphasizing current strengths of a community; (b) measuring smartness in existing cities; and (c) creating a new (smarter) city. This paper explores smart cities ability to overcome economic challenges within cities in three phases. The first phase studies the existing literature of smart cities, their criteria and indicators. The second phase reviews specific previous and ongoing projects in order to identify the multi-dimensional aspect of the concept. The last phase investigates a new practical perspective of smart cities, which addresses economic challenges. The outcome of this study is a unique conceptualization of smart cities in economic and social projects. |
| Keywords: | Smart City; Economic Challenges; Smart City Indicators; City Management |
| JEL: | P25 R51 I31 |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:7808622&r=ure |
| By: | Pereira dos Santos, João; Tavares, José |
| Abstract: | We take advantage of a quasi-natural experiment to assess the impact of European funds on firm dynamics in regions that, while not having their status changed, saw their neighbours increased access to European funds. Causality is established in a difference-in-differences intention to treat setting, using a rich dataset that considers the universe of Portuguese mainland municipalities from 2003 to 2010, and controlling for socio-economic, political and demographic variables. Our findings suggest a causal impact of between 1 and 2 percent in private sector firms´ entry and net entry rates, while we find no impact on firm exit rates. We consider time and space placebos to assure the reliability of our estimates. Our findings suggest that EU regional funds have a greater impact in times of distress, such as the world economic crisis, as far as entry rates are concerned. The analysis of the cross-section of firm demonstrates it is domestic owned micro firms in the primary and tertiary sectors that are most impacted by regional funds. |
| Keywords: | European funds; firm creation; municipalities.; quasi-natural experiment |
| JEL: | C21 R10 |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:13082&r=ure |
| By: | Florin Mihai (Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași [Romania]); Corneliu Iatu; Adrian Grozavu (Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași [Romania]) |
| Abstract: | The paper examines the waste management issues in the villages annexed to administrative-territorial units of the Romanian cities which have been frequently neglected by urban waste operators. The lack of waste collection services in such peri-urban communities favored the illegal waste disposal practices particularly prior to EU accession. The extension of waste collection services from main cities to such areas is compulsory in order to mitigate the environmental risks and the public health threats. The paper estimates the amounts of household waste susceptible to be uncontrolled disposed of by peri-urban villages in different geographical areas of NorthEast region with a particular focus on Neamt county. The paper points out that these rural settlements should receive the same attention concerning the municipal waste management services as the main urban areas. Traditional recovery of waste fractions at the household level (e.g., home composting) should be further promoted in such areas in order to avoid illegal dumping issue and to prevent the landfill of biodegradable waste as requested by EU regulations. |
| Keywords: | waste management,illegal waste dumping,peri-urban areas,pollution |
| Date: | 2018–06–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01838486&r=ure |
| By: | Wei-Shiuen Ng (International Transport Forum); Ashley Acker (International Transport Forum) |
| Abstract: | Gender is one of the key socio-demographic variables that can influence travel behaviour, but it is often the least understood. Understanding travel behaviour by gender will help better design transport policies that are efficient and equitable. Due to the gendered division of work in households, women often have multiple tasks and activities. As a result, women are more likely to have shorter commute distances, to chain trips, to have more non-work related trips, to travel at off-peak hours, and to choose more flexible modes. This study examines travel behaviour by gender in eight different cities, across three different continents, focusing on transport mode, trip purpose, travel distance and departure time for Auckland, Dublin, Hanoi, Helsinki, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Lisbon and Manila. The most common trends found in the cities are that women tend to travel shorter distances and prefer public transport and taxi services to cars more than men. |
| Date: | 2018–02–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:itfaab:2018/01-en&r=ure |
| By: | Elias Walsh; Dallas Dotter; Albert Y. Liu |
| Abstract: | Value-added models used for evaluating teachers typically rely on controls for previous-grade student achievement to isolate teachers’ contributions to students’ current achievement. |
| Keywords: | Value-added models, teacher evaluation, teacher effectiveness, student growth models |
| JEL: | I |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:c61e6b4de71b4741b12bc978d6d29bcf&r=ure |
| By: | Penney, Jeffrey; Tolley, Erin; Goodyear-Grant, Elizabeth |
| Abstract: | We analyze the results of a large-scale experiment wherein subjects participate in a hypothetical primary election and must choose between two fictional candidates who vary by sex and race. We find evidence of affnities along these dimensions in voting behaviour. A number of phenomena regarding these affnities and their interactions are detailed and explored. We find that they compete with each other on the basis of race and gender. Neuroeconomic metrics suggest that people who vote for own race candidates tend to rely more on heuristics than those who do not. |
| Keywords: | Financial Economics, Public Economics |
| Date: | 2016–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:quedwp:274696&r=ure |
| By: | Glenn Ellison; Ashley Swanson |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the dynamics of the gender gap in high math achievement over the high school years using data from the American Mathematics Competition. A clear gender gap is already present by 9th grade and the gender gap widens over the high school years. High-achieving students must substantially improve their performance from year to year to maintain their within-cohort rank, but there is nonetheless a great deal of persistence in the rankings. Several gender-related differences in the dynamics contribute to the widening of the gender gap, including differences in dropout rates and in the mean and variance of year-to-year improvements among continuing students. A decomposition indicates that the most important difference is that fewer girls make large enough gains to move up substantially in the rankings. An analysis of students on the margin of qualifying for a prestigious second stage exam provides evidence of a discouragement effect: some react to falling just short by dropping out of participating in future years, and this reaction is more common among girls. |
| JEL: | I20 J16 |
| Date: | 2018–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:24910&r=ure |
| By: | Borut Zgonc (Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana); Metka Tekav?i? (Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana); Marko Jak?i? (Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of distance on choosing between combined and unimodal road transport. In doing so, the break-even distances between the two modes are calculated. The calculation relies on a Monte Carlo simulation that takes account of a randomly generated shipper and receiver?s locations in two separated market areas, independently of a certain transport corridor. Methodically, the ideas and elements of the transport system analytical modelling found in the literature are used. The results confirm the importance of distance on the mode choice and show there is not only one but in fact many break-even distances between the two modes. They vary considerably depending on different travel plans, and shipper/receiver locations within market areas. Despite the inevitable assumptions made in such general analysis, the results reveal combined transport can provide a good alternative to unimodal road transport even over relatively very short distances if the drayage costs are not too high. We believe the research helps better understand competitiveness in the freight transport sector and may also be useful for policy- and other decision-makers seeking to improve their evaluation of the opportunities and competitiveness of combined transport. Nevertheless that could lead to a more sustainable transport system. |
| Keywords: | Break-even distance; freight mode choice; combined transport; Monte Carlo simulation |
| JEL: | L91 R40 |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:7809650&r=ure |
| By: | Lockwood, Ben |
| Abstract: | This paper integrates the distributive politics literature with the literature on decentralization by incorporating inter-regional project externalities into a standard model of distributive policy. A key …nding is that the degree of uniformity (or “universalism”) of the provision of regional projects is endogenous, and depends on the strength of the externality. The welfare bene…ts of decentralization, and the performance of “constitutional rules” (such as majority voting) which may be used to choose between decentralization and centralization, are then discussed in this framework. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, Political Economy |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uwarer:268795&r=ure |
| By: | Isabella Giorgetti (Universita' Politecnica delle Marche, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali); Matteo Picchio (Universita' Politecnica delle Marche, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali) |
| Keywords: | Early childcare services; public early childhood education; government transfers; difference-in-differences |
| JEL: | C23 H52 H70 J13 R10 |
| Date: | 2018–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anc:wpaper:430&r=ure |
| By: | Becker, Sascha O.; Heblich, Stephan; Sturm, Daniel M. |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the impact of public employment on private sector activity using the relocation of the German federal government from Berlin to Bonn in the wake of the Second World War as a source of exogenous variation. To guide our empirical analysis, we develop a simple economic geography model in which public sector employment in a city can crowd out private employment through higher wages and house prices, but also generates potential productivity and amenity spillovers. We nd that relative to a control group of cities, Bonn experiences a substantial increase in public employment. However, this results in only modest increases in private sector employment with each additional public sector job destroying around 0.2 jobs in industries and creating just over one additional job in other parts of the private sector. We show how this nding can be explained by our model and provide several pieces of evidence for the mechanisms emphasised by the model. |
| Keywords: | Financial Economics |
| Date: | 2017–12–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uwarer:269086&r=ure |
| By: | Jingong Huang (University of Melbourne) |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a multi-sector endogenous growth model which embeds a technology network that captures heterogeneous intersectoral knowledge spillovers. Each sector serves both as a distributor and a consumer of knowledge: the former depends on a sector's position in the network; the latter depends on its efficiency in utilising knowledge. The interaction of these forces influences long-run economic growth, sectoral shares and the firm size distribution. The sparsity of the network imposes an upper bound on the impact of knowledge spillovers. In this model, sectors converge to the same growth rate if they belong to the same irreducible network. However, their contributions to economic growth differ substantially, depending on their positions in the technology network and their efficiency in conducting innovation. Consequently, the model has implications for the allocation of innovation subsidies. The gain in economic growth derived from promoting innovation in the sector that utilises knowledge most efficiently is over 10,000 times larger than gain derived from promoting innovation in the least efficient sector. |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:red:sed018:178&r=ure |
| By: | Aguirregabiria, Victor; Clark, Robert; Wang, Hui |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the integration of deposit and loan markets, which may be constrained by the geographic dispersion of depositors, borrowers, and banks. This dispersion results in problems of asymmetric information, monitoring and transaction costs, which in turn may prevent deposits from owing from areas of low demand for loans to areas of high demand. We provide systematic evidence on the extent to which deposits and loans are geographically imbalanced, and develop a methodology for investigating the contribution of (i) branch networks, (ii) local market power, and (iii) economies of scope to this imbalance using data at the bank-county- year level from the US banking industry for 1998-2010. Our results are based on the construction of an index which measures the geographic imbalance of deposits and loans, and the estimation of a structural model of bank oligopoly competition for deposits and loans in multiple geographic markets. The estimated model shows that a bank's total deposits have a significant effect on the bank's market shares in loan markets. We also find evidence of significant economies of scope between deposits and loans at the local level. Counterfactual experiments show that multi-state branch networks contribute significantly to the geographic ow of credit but benefit especially larger/richer counties. Local market power has a very substantial negative effect on the ow of credit to smaller/poorer counties. |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis, Financial Economics |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:quedwp:274728&r=ure |
| By: | John Hicks (Charles Sturt University); Girijasankar Mallik (University of Western Sydney); Parikshit Basu (Charles Sturt University) |
| Abstract: | It is generally accepted that the key characteristics of labour markets in Australian capital cities differ from those of the labour markets in the rest of Australia although labour market policy is typically conducted at the national level without taking regional differences into account. Gender issues have frequently been highlighted in the many analyses of urban Australian labour markets. Other studies have focused on the urban-regional dichotomy of the labour market. However, although studies of labour market features and outcomes in Australia have focused on issues related to location or gender, they rarely address both. This paper seeks to establish if discrimination by gender differs between regional and urban communities in the Australian context. The conceptual framework used in this research is in the tradition of human capital analysis. We first analyse, separately, determinants of hourly wage rates and weekly incomes by gender in Australian metropolitan cities and regional areas. We then utilise the Blinder-Oaxaca procedure, to decompose the mean outcome differences between men and women within a region into that part that is ?explained? by gender differences in endowments and that part which remains unexplained by such differences and which therefore provides a measure of discrimination. The data is drawn from individual level confidentialised unit record files (CURF) data of the 2006 Australian Census. Gender-based analysis is conducted for each region, Sydney, regional NSW, Melbourne and regional Victoria, with a view to discerning if the impact of the determinants vary spacially. The research confirmed that gender plays an important role in influencing labour market outcomes. The research also identified a number of factors that impact on both hourly wages and weekly earnings and assessed how these factors impacted differently for men and women across metropolitan and regional areas. The results indicate that, in general, differences exist between men and women in hourly wage rate and weekly income earned. The determinants of these differences varied between metropolitan cities and regional areas. With respect to issues of gender discrimination in employment, the use of the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition technique confirmed the presence of discrimination against women in all regions. Wage discrimination is more pronounced in metropolitan areas whilst discrimination in weekly earnings is more important in non-metropolitan areas. The latter discrimination is likely to reflect both fewer job opportunities for women and a lower ownership of income earning assets by women. |
| Keywords: | Australian labour markets; discrimination against women; rural disadvantage |
| JEL: | J70 |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:7809499&r=ure |
| By: | Luz Karime Abadía Alvarado, Silvia Gómez Soler, Juanita Cifuentes González, Ignacio Penagos Montoya; Silvia Gómez Soler; Juanita Cifuentes González; Ignacio Penagos Montoya |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the impact of grade retention on the results of Colombian students in the 2015 PISA exam. We use a Switching Regression Model (SRM) approach to control for self-selection bias due to unobserved characteristics, such as student’s ability or attitude towards studying that may affect both the probability of being retained and students’ academic performance. We find that those students who have repeated at least a school year get on average lower math, science and reading scores. Moreover, our findings show that the impact of grade retention on academic performance is greater on female students. |
| Keywords: | grade retention, student academic performance, endogenous Switching regression model |
| JEL: | I21 I24 D63 |
| Date: | 2018–07–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000416:016518&r=ure |
| By: | Joseph J. Sabia; Joseph P. Price; H. Elizabeth Peters; Reginald Covington |
| Abstract: | Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97), we examine the relationship between teenage childbearing and four measures of adult civic engagement: charitable giving, volunteerism, political awareness, and voting. |
| Keywords: | Teenage childbearing , Social capital , Civic engagement , Charitable giving |
| JEL: | I |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:6c5d96b339794a148b72d3d002548bc7&r=ure |
| By: | Mintchev, Vesselin; Boshnakov, Venelin |
| Abstract: | This article reviews issues related to re-migration/return of Bulgarian migrants and its sustainability. Information is provided about the scale of re-migration to Bulgaria. An assessment is made of the possibilities of the local labour market to provide incentives for returning from abroad. Based on an empirical sociological survey conducted in 2017 (as part of the project “Return Migrants: Segmentation and Stratification of Economic Mobility” financed by the National Research Fund) categories of return migrants are differentiated based on their plans for the future – whether to stay or to leave Bulgaria again. The profile of the individual categories of return migrants is presented summarizing their socio-demographic characteristics and prior migration experience. Applying a binary logistic regression the social and demographic factors as well as the factors based on migration experience, that induce the attitudes toward staying or moving again, are identified. |
| Keywords: | Return Migration |
| JEL: | F22 O15 |
| Date: | 2018–07–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:88546&r=ure |
| By: | Bejamin Eden (Vanderbilt University) |
| Abstract: | I use a model of rational bubbles to account for housing cycles and to discuss the effects of government loans and its real interest policy on the possibility of cycles. Cycles occur when the government is willing to lend to the young generation. Cycles do not occur if the government does not lend and the interest rate is sufficiently high. The level of interest required to discourage cycles (in the no lending case) is high when the rate of technological change in the non-housing sector is high relative to the rate of technological change in the housing sector. |
| Keywords: | Housing-cycles, Interest Rate, Bubbles, Government loans. |
| JEL: | E0 G0 |
| Date: | 2018–08–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:van:wpaper:vuecon-18-00006&r=ure |
| By: | Hombert, Johan (HEC Paris - Finance Department); Matray, Adrien (Princeton University) |
| Abstract: | We use French matched employer-employee data to track skilled individuals entering the labor market during the late 1990s tech bubble. The boom led to a sharp increase in the share of skilled entrants in the tech sector, which offers relative higher wages at the time. When the boom ends, however, the wage premium reverses and these skilled workers end up with a 5.5% wage discount ten years out, relative to similar peers who started in a non-tech sector. Other moments of the wage distribution of the boom, pre-boom, and post-boom cohorts are inconsistent with explanations based on a selection effect or a cycle effect. Instead, we provide suggestive evidence that workers allocated to the booming tech sector accumulate human capital early in their career that rapidly becomes obsolete. |
| Keywords: | ICT; ICT boom; wage dynamics |
| JEL: | J31 |
| Date: | 2018–02–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ebg:heccah:1294&r=ure |
| By: | Joyce Hahn (U.S. Census Bureau); Henry Hyatt (US Census Bureau); Hubert Janicki (U.S. Census Bureau) |
| Abstract: | We use matched employer-employee data to consider the impact of the recent slowdown in the job ladder on wage and earnings growth in the U.S. from 1996 to 2015. We develop an accounting method that measures how earnings changes experienced by workers moving onto and up the job ladder contribute to aggregate growth in earnings. While the higher rate of workers changing employers during expansions tends to increase overall earnings growth, nonemployment transitions offset most of the gains. As a result, the relatively high growth seen in the late 1990s and 2015 is largely driven by the earnings pattern of job stayers. We further investigate the contribution of employer-to-employer transitions and find large “match effects” lead to greater gains in hours than wages. |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:red:sed018:908&r=ure |
| By: | Miguel Mujica Mota (Aviation Academy, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences); Geert Boosten (Aviation Academy, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences); Catya Zuniga (Aeronautic University of Querétaro) |
| Abstract: | Air traffic numbers have been steadily increasing and are projected to so in the future. Most traffic growth pertains to a small fraction of the total available airport capacity worldwide; particularly the main airport hubs present these trends. As a consequence, they are becoming increasingly congested, which results in the increase of delays and reduction of reliability. For these reasons it is important to look for ways in which the existing assets can take up more traffic. These solutions should go beyond long-term considerations to build more infrastructures. In the current paper we discuss of different ways of increasing capacity. First we define capacity and then we discuss techniques for identifying bottlenecks and room for improvement. We exemplify them by providing two examples of airports in different continents, Schiphol Airport and Mexico City Airport. |
| Date: | 2017–09–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:itfaab:2017/26-en&r=ure |
| By: | Catia Batista (Universidade Nova de Lisboa, CReAM, IZA and NOVAFRICA); Julia Seither (Universidade Nova de Lisboa, University of California at Berkeley, and NOVAFRICA); Pedro C. Vicente (Universidade Nova de Lisboa, BREAD, and NOVAFRICA) |
| Abstract: | What is the role of international migrants and, specifically, migrant networks in shaping political attitudes and behavior in migrant sending countries? Our theoretical framework proposes that migration might change individual social identities and thus stimulate intrinsic motivation for political participation, while it may also improve knowledge about better quality political institutions. Hence, international migration might increase political awareness and participation both by migrants and by other individuals in their networks. To test this hypothesis, we use detailed data on different migrant networks (geographic, kinship, and chatting networks), as well as several different measures of political participation and electoral knowledge (self-reports, behavioral, and actual voting measures). These data were purposely collected around the time of the 2009 elections in Mozambique, a country with substantial emigration to neighboring countries – especially South Africa - and with one of the lowest political participation rates in the region. The empirical results show that the number of migrants an individual is in close contact with via regular chatting significantly increases political participation of residents in that village – more so than family links to migrants. Our findings are consistent with both improved knowledge about political processes and increased intrinsic motivation for political participation being transmitted through migrant networks. These results are robust to controlling for self-selection into migration as well as endogenous network formation. Our work is relevant for the many contexts of South-South migration where both countries of origin and destination are recent democracies. It shows that even in this context there may be domestic gains arising from international emigration. |
| Keywords: | International migration, social networks, political participation, information, diffusion of political norms, governance |
| JEL: | D72 D83 F22 O15 |
| Date: | 2018–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:1813&r=ure |
| By: | Rogus, Stephanie; Guthrie, Joanne; Ralston, Katherine |
| Abstract: | The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) of the National School Lunch Program allows high-poverty schools to provide USDA school meals at no charge to all of their students. USDA reimbursement for meals is simplified by making use of routinely collected administrative data, such as participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps) or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), rather than collecting school meal applications. Schools and districts with at least 40 percent of enrolled students identified as participating in these assistance programs through the administrative data—also known as the Identified Student Percentage, or ISP—are eligible to participate in the CEP. This report examines the characteristics of school districts that participated in the CEP in school year 2015-16—with participation defined as CEP being implemented in at least one eligible school in the district—using administrative data from USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service, the National Center for Education Statistics, and State education agencies, where available. The highest school-level ISP in the district was found to be significantly associated with CEP participation, holding other factors constant, although the association varied for different sized districts. Participation also varied significantly by region and length of time since CEP became available. |
| Keywords: | Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uersrr:276219&r=ure |
| By: | Luigi Bonatti; Andrea Fracasso |
| Abstract: | How can the euro area tackle its perennial problems of core/periphery imbalances and anaemic long-term growth? According to network members Luigi Bonatti and Andrea Fracasso, Università di Trento, there is no quick-fix solution. Temporary fiscal stimulus does not produce permanent improvements, while the upfront costs and short-term negative impact of structural reforms can feed distributional conflicts. Permanent cross-national transfers provide local relief, but also exacerbate tensions among member states. The authors advocate a nuanced approach focused on the key role of structural differences in affecting income and growth differentials, as well as competitive imbalances across the euro area. |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:econwp:_6&r=ure |
| By: | Gimenez-Nadal, J. Ignacio (University of Zaragoza); Molina, José Alberto (University of Zaragoza); Velilla, Jorge (University of Zaragoza) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the relationship between commuting time and sick-day absence of US workers. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics for the years 2011, 2013, and 2015, we find that a 1% increase in the daily commute of male workers is associated with an increase of around 0.018% in sick-day absences per year. In the case of women, the relationship is not significant. These results hold after controlling for individual fixed effects and socio-demographic characteristics, changes in jobs and places of residence, and differences in the self-reported health status of workers. By determining how commuting time is related to sickness absenteeism, we shed light on the relationship between commuting behavior and workers' health-related outcomes, measured by their labour supply. |
| Keywords: | commuting time, sickness absence, health-related outcomes, labour supply |
| JEL: | I10 J22 R2 R40 |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11700&r=ure |
| By: | Bakucs, Zoltan |
| Abstract: | The enlargement of the European Union (EU) led to an increase in regional development differences, challenging the EU structural policy. Whilst there are a wealth of papers discussing international and across EU development convergence, the issue seems under-researched at national level, especially when small territorial units are considered. This paper aims to partially fill this gap, by using low aggregation (Local Administrative Unit 1, LAU1) territorial data between 2002 and 2013 - a period that comprises Hungary’s EU accession and also the years of the recent global financial crisis. We employ a novel approach to circumvent the lack of income, productivity or competitiveness data at LAU1 level by deriving two Regional Development Indices (RDI) resting on the estimation of an internal migration functions. Once the RDIs are estimated, we proceed to a test sigma, beta and unit root convergence. Further, we assess the probabilities of LAU1 region specific RDIs of changing their positions within distributional quartiles. Results regional divergence and low mobility of regions with rather bleak consequences for Hungarian and indeed European cohesion aims. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy, International Development |
| Date: | 2018–04–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aesc18:273487&r=ure |
| By: | Arindrajit Dube; Laura Giuliano; Jonathan Leonard |
| Abstract: | We analyze how separations responded to arbitrary differences in own and peer wages at a large U.S. retailer. Regression-discontinuity estimates imply large causal effects of own wages on separations, and on quits in particular. However, this own-wage response could reflect comparisons either to market wages or to peer wages. Estimates using peer-wage discontinuities show large peer-wage effects and imply the own-wage separation response mostly reflects peer comparisons. The peer effect is driven by comparisons with higher-paid peers—suggesting concerns about fairness. Separations appear fairly insensitive when raises are similar across peers—suggesting search frictions and monopsony are relevant in this low-wage sector. |
| JEL: | D9 D91 J01 J3 J42 J63 |
| Date: | 2018–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:24906&r=ure |
| By: | Andreas Gulyas (University of Mannheim) |
| Abstract: | Studying wage inequality requires understanding how workers and firms match. I propose a novel strategy to identify the complementarities in production between unobserved worker and firm attributes, based on the idea that positive (negative) sorting implies that firms upgrade (downgrade) their workforce quality when they grow in size. I use German matched employer-employee data to estimate a search and matching model with worker-firm complementarities, job-to-job transitions, and firm dynamics. The relationship between changes in workforce quality and firm growth rates in the data informs the strength of complementarities in the model. Thus, this strategy bypasses the lack of identification inherent to environments with constant firm types. I find evidence of negative sorting and a significant dampening effect of worker-firm complementarities on wage inequality. Worker and firm heterogeneity, differential bargaining positions, and sorting contribute 71%, 20%, 32% and -23% to wage dispersion, respectively. Reallocating workers across firms to the first-best allocation without mismatch yields an output gain of less than one percent. |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:red:sed018:856&r=ure |
| By: | Purvi Sevak; John O'Neill; Andrew Houtenville; Debra Brucker |
| Abstract: | In this study, the authors examined the relationship between employment outcomes and features of the state and county physical, economic, and policy environment among a national sample of individuals with disabilities. |
| Keywords: | disability, employment, area effects |
| JEL: | I J |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:60281df59b624807abd8c987629e4b5f&r=ure |