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on Urban and Real Estate Economics |
| By: | Edward L. Glaeser; Michael Scott Kincaid; Nikhil Naik |
| Abstract: | How much does the appearance of a house, or its neighbors, impact its price? Do events that impact the incentives facing homeowners, like foreclosure, impact the maintenance and appearance of a home? Using computer vision techniques, we find that a one standard deviation improvement in the appearance of a home in Boston is associated with a .16 log point increase in the home’s value, or about $68,000 at the sample mean. The additional predictive power created by images is small relative to location and basic home variables, but external images do outperform variables collected by in-person home assessors. A home’s value increases by .4 log points, when its neighbor’s visually predicted value increases by one log point, and more visible neighbors have a larger price impact than less visible neighbors. Homes that went through foreclosure during the 2008-09 financial crisis experienced a .04 log point decline in their appearance-related value, relative to comparable homes, suggesting that foreclosures reduced the incentives to maintain the housing stock. We do not find more depreciation of appearance in rental properties, or more upgrading of appearance by owners before resale. |
| JEL: | C40 G21 R30 Z11 |
| Date: | 2018–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:25174&r=ure |
| By: | Haller, Peter; Heuermann, Daniel F. |
| Abstract: | Since Marshall (1890), it has been widely held in urban economic theory that cities ensure workers against the risk of unemployment by offering a larger pool of potential jobs. Using a large administrative panel data set on workers affected by firm closures, we examine whether positive effects from a higher urban job density are offset by more intense competition between workers. When controlling for the sorting of workers between regions, we find no evidence that the number of days workers spend in unemployment decreases with local job density. Instead, longer unemployment periods in cities are partly driven by more intense competition for available jobs |
| Keywords: | agglomeration,thick labor markets,displacement |
| JEL: | J63 J64 R12 R23 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc18:181527&r=ure |
| By: | Wang, Haoying |
| Abstract: | This paper presents one of the first studies on flood risk evaluation in the US Northeast - a region where we are likely going to see increasing precipitation variability and associated risk of flood in the coming decades. In the paper, a spatial difference-in-differences framework based on floodplain boundary discontinuities is proposed to control for unobserved heterogeneities. Using parcel-level data from Juniata County and Perry County in Pennsylvania, the paper finds that on average there is a 5-6 percent housing value reduction due to exposure to 1 percent annual chance of flooding within the FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) 100-year flood zone. For Juniata County, it shows that on average there is a $3.28/sqft (in 2015 USD) discount for a full-time SFR (single family residential) property located within the flood zone. For an average housing unit of 1430 sqft living space in the sample, the estimate translates to a $4690 housing value reduction. For Perry County, the corresponding estimates are $4.00/sqft (in 2015 USD) and $6320 for an average housing unit of 1580 sqft. The paper also shows that with similar specifications, a standard hedonic price model underestimates the flood risk impact on housing value by a substantial amount as a result of failing to control for unobserved heterogeneities. |
| Keywords: | Flood Risk, Natural Hazards, Housing Value, Housing Market, Boundary Discontinuity, Susquehanna River Basin |
| JEL: | C1 H84 Q5 R3 |
| Date: | 2017–04–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:85493&r=ure |
| By: | W. Bentley MacLeod; Miguel Urquiola |
| Abstract: | Many observers have argued that giving parents freedom to choose schools would improve education (Friedman, 1955). We review the evidence, and find little indication that households systematically prefer higher value added schools. We show that this can be explained using a competitive labor market model that takes into account both student and employer choice. The setup implies that households will often rationally prefer schools with high absolute achievement rather than high value added. As a result, school choice can exacerbate inequality without improving opportunities for the most disadvantaged students. |
| JEL: | I2 J01 |
| Date: | 2018–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:25117&r=ure |
| By: | J. Meekes; W.H.J. Hassink |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we examine the structure of workers’ local labour market (LLM) and its economic consequences. We endogenise workers’ LLM to commuting outcomes and worker characteristics. The descriptive results indicate that both male workers and high-educated workers especially are characterised by large LLMs. The empirical results show that the urban wage premium (UWP), explained by the returns to agglomeration in wages, increases by a magnitude of two to three in the level of regional aggregation. We also focus on subgroup differentials in the returns to agglom-eration economies. High-educated workers experience a higher UWP than low-educated workers, but we find no systematic difference between the UWP of men and women when holding the re-gional aggregation level constant. In addition, we examine the returns to agglomeration in wages and employment for workers who experienced job displacement. We show that at a relatively high level of regional aggregation, displaced workers in dense LLMs, compared to displaced workers in more sparse LLMs, experience modest losses in wages and comparable losses in employment. |
| Keywords: | Local labour markets, Urban wage premium, Employment, Commuting, Regional aggregation, Tra |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:use:tkiwps:1803&r=ure |
| By: | Dabbs, Christine |
| Abstract: | Following the Great Recession, employment in the local education sector fell by about 364,000. This paper seeks to capture any effect of states' teacher layoff legislation on public high school graduation rates. I analyze whether state legislation that prohibits or limits the use of seniority in layoff decisions has an impact on graduation rates. I find that, all else held constant, such legislation increases the yearly growth of district graduation rates by 0.2 percentage points on average. This is economically significant, as the average yearly increase in the national graduation rate from 2010-11 to 2015-16 was 1 percentage point. When states prohibit or limit using seniority to determine a layoff order, districts must utilize other considerations such as teacher quality. In states with such legislation, teachers remaining following layoffs are likely more effective as opposed to ones in states that used seniority to determine the layoff order. |
| Keywords: | Efficiency; Human capital; Layoffs; Seniority; Rate of return; State legislation |
| JEL: | H75 I28 |
| Date: | 2018–08–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:89344&r=ure |
| By: | François Gerard; Lorenzo Lagos; Edson Severnini; David Card |
| Abstract: | A growing body of research shows that firms' employment and wage-setting policies contribute to wage inequality and pay disparities between groups. We measure the effects of these policies on racial pay differences in Brazil. We find that nonwhites are less likely to work at establishments that pay more to all race groups, a pattern that explains about 20% of the white-nonwhite wage gap for both genders. The pay premiums offered by different employers are also compressed for nonwhites relative to whites, contributing another 5% of the overall gap. We then ask how much of the under-representation of nonwhites at higher-paying workplaces is due to the selective skill mix at these establishments. Using a counterfactual based on the observed skill distribution at each establishment and the nonwhite shares in different skill groups in the local labor market, we conclude that assortative matching accounts for about two- thirds of the under-representation gap for both men and women. The remainder reflects an unexplained preference for white workers at higher-paying establishments. The wage losses associated with unexplained sorting and differential wage setting are largest for nonwhites with the highest levels of general skills, suggesting that the allocative costs of race-based preferences may be relatively large in Brazil. |
| JEL: | E24 J15 J31 |
| Date: | 2018–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:25176&r=ure |
| By: | Thiess Büttner; Manuela Krause |
| Abstract: | This paper exploits a recent devolution of tax setting powers in the German federation to study the effects of fiscal equalization on subnational governments’ tax policy. Based on an analysis of the system of fiscal equalization transfers, we argue that the redistribution of revenues provides incentives for states to raise rather than to lower their tax rates. The empirical analysis exploits differences in fiscal redistribution among the states and over time. Using a comprehensive simulation model, the paper computes the tax-policy incentives faced by each state over the years and explores their empirical effects on tax policy. The results support significant and substantial effects. Facing full equalization a state is predicted to set the tax rate from the real estate transfer tax about 1.3 percentage points higher than without. Our analysis also shows that the incentive to raise tax rates is proliferated by the equalization system because the states’ decisions to raise their tax rates have intensified fiscal redistribution over time. |
| Keywords: | fiscal equalization, tax autonomy, real estate transfer tax |
| JEL: | H77 H24 R38 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7260&r=ure |
| By: | Denning, Jeffrey T. (Brigham Young University); Murphy, Richard J. (University of Texas at Austin); Weinhardt, Felix (DIW Berlin) |
| Abstract: | This paper considers a fundamental question about the school environment – what are the long run effects of a student's ordinal rank in elementary school? Using administrative data from all public school students in Texas, we show that students with a higher third grade academic rank, conditional on ability and classroom effects, have higher subsequent test scores, are more likely to take AP classes, graduate high school, enroll in college, and ultimately have higher earnings 19 years later. Given these findings, the paper concludes by exploring the tradeoff between higher quality schools and higher rank. |
| Keywords: | rank, education, subject choice |
| JEL: | I20 I23 I28 |
| Date: | 2018–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11808&r=ure |
| By: | Santos, Eleonora; Khan, Shahed |
| Abstract: | This paper aims to evaluate whether schools with better National Exams scores are located in regions NUTs III with greater purchasing power. Accordingly, we analyze the evolution of the ranking of schools in light of the purchasing power of the regions where they are located. Using data collected in the media, related to school rankings by region for 2008 and 2014; and in Pordata database for regional purchasing power in 2007 and 2011; we calculate location and specialization measures and perform a shift-share analysis of the regions. The results indicate that schools located in regions with very high and high purchasing power rank first; and both structural and regional changes were positive. A notable exception is the region of Alto Alentejo with a medium purchasing power. In contrast, regions with low purchasing power showed negative structural and regional changes. These results indicate that, although there may have been an improvement in a region of medium purchasing power, the gap between regions of low and high purchasing power has been perpetuated. |
| Keywords: | Regional Inequalities,Education Performance,Knowledge-Based Economy,Shift-Share Analysis,Human Capital |
| JEL: | I21 I24 I25 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esprep:183220&r=ure |
| By: | Burzynski, Michal (LISER); Deuster, Christoph (IRES, Université catholique de Louvain); Docquier, Frédéric (Université catholique de Louvain) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the factors underlying the evolution of the worldwide distribution of skills and their implications for global inequality. We develop and parameterize a two-sector, two-class, world economy model that endogenizes education and mobility decisions, population growth, and income disparities across and within countries. First, our static experiments reveal that the geography of skills matters for global inequality. Low access to education and sectoral misallocation of skills substantially impact income in poor countries. Second, we produce unified projections of population and income for the 21st century. Assuming the continuation of recent education and migration policies, we predict stable disparities in the world distribution of skills, slow-growing urbanization in developing countries and a rebound in income inequality. These prospects are sensitive to future education costs and to internal mobility frictions, which suggests that policies targeting access to all levels of education and sustainable urban development are vital to reduce demographic pressures and global inequality in the long term. |
| Keywords: | human capital, migration, urbanization, growth, inequality |
| JEL: | E24 J24 O15 |
| Date: | 2018–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11804&r=ure |
| By: | Patrick Lecomte |
| Abstract: | As technological innovations applied to the built environment become prevalent, real estate players (developers, owners, users) are confronted with a range of disruptions which are redefining the common understanding of what a commercial property stands for. The paper studies the role and positioning of commercial real estate in smart cities, and assesses the need for new tools to analyse this growing segment of the property market. |
| Keywords: | proptech; Real Estate; Smart Cities; Smart real estate |
| JEL: | R3 |
| Date: | 2018–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arz:wpaper:eres2018_46&r=ure |
| By: | Nicoló Barbieri; François Perruchas; Davide Consoli |
| Abstract: | The paper analyses whether and to what extent regional related and unrelated variety matter for the development of green technology, and whether their influence differs over the technology life-cycle. Using patent and socio-economic data on a thirty- year (1980-2009) panel of US States, our study finds that unrelated variety is a positive predictor of green innovative activities. When unpacked over the life cycle, we find that unrelated variety is the main driver of green technology development in early stages while related variety becomes more prominent as the technology enters into maturity. |
| Keywords: | Green technology; Technology life-cycle; Regional Diversification |
| JEL: | O33 Q55 R11 |
| Date: | 2018–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:1838&r=ure |
| By: | Bingley, Paul (VIVE - The Danish Centre for Applied Social Science); Heinesen, Eskil (Rockwool Foundation Research Unit); Krassel, Karl Fritjof (VIVE - The Danish Centre for Applied Social Science); Kristensen, Nicolai (KORA - Danish Institute for Local and Regional Government Research) |
| Abstract: | Instruction time varies among schools, subjects, pupils and grades. This variation is positively associated with test scores and has been used to identify modest positive causal effects for instruction hours in certain grades. We exploit administrative data on delivered and timetabled instruction time in each grade throughout compulsory school for three full cohorts of Danish children, and find positive marginal hours effects on 9th grade test scores using accumulated time which are twice as large as when using 9th grade time only. Effects are largest for low SES households and for boys with non-western immigrant background, especially in the early grades. |
| Keywords: | school resources, test scores, time in education |
| JEL: | C21 I2 I21 |
| Date: | 2018–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11807&r=ure |
| By: | Partridge, Mark D.; Tsvetkova, Alexandra |
| Abstract: | We examine the effects of three broad groups of socioeconomic factors on poverty, income and employment growth in US counties before and after the Great Recession. The factors reflect different aspects of county economic structure, social/demographic attributes, and natural amenities, as well as position within the urban-rural hierarchy. Our main focus is on the dynamic adjustments within local labor markets, which we approximate with novel measures that capture the ability of a county to rewire by reallocating employees from shrinking to expanding sectors. We use cross-sectional, first-difference and quantile regressions and find that county industrial composition (if it is fast- or slow-growing) and the rewiring ability are of increasing importance. Some of our most policy-relevant findings come from the quantile analysis of differenced job growth. For counties that are lower at the distribution of the response function, the labor-market measures of flexibility emerge as important predictors of growth, suggesting that removing barriers to flow of resources within lagging economies might be a viable policy option. |
| Keywords: | Regional growth; local labor markets; worker reallocation |
| JEL: | J62 R11 |
| Date: | 2018–05–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:89313&r=ure |
| By: | Vijaya Bandyopadhyaya (Chandragupt Institute of Management Patna); Ranja Bandyopadhyaya (National Institute of Technology Patna); Chitranjan Prashad (District Transport Officer) |
| Abstract: | Road traffic congestion is a major problem with rapid urbanization, increased travel demand and use of personal vehicles. In old cities of developing nations, with narrow roads and unmanaged raodside parkings, congestion problems require special attention. Parking management and pricing, including penalty for illegal parking, can go a long way in reducing congestion of the city. This paper attempts to understand the underlying factors determining level of awareness of people about congestion and its effects, their willingness to take responsibility, their perception about parking management and pricing and its effectiveness through study of perception of people of Patna, Bihar, India using structured questionnaire. Factor Analysis is done to identify the factors which can be modeled with willingness to pay. |
| Keywords: | Road traffic congestion, Congestion pricing, Parking Management, Perception Survey, Factor Analysis |
| JEL: | R41 |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:6509693&r=ure |
| By: | Tom Broekel; Marcel Bednarz |
| Abstract: | The analysis of spatial networks' evolution has predominantly concentrated on the formation process of links. However, the evolution of networks is similarly shaped by the dissolution of links, which has thus far received considerably less attention. The paper presents separable temporal exponential random graph models (STERGMs) as a promising method in this context, which allows for the disentangling of both processes. Moreover, the applicability of the method to two-mode network data is demonstrated. We illustrate the use of these models for the R&D collaboration network of the German biotechnology industry as well as for testing for the relevance of different forms of proximities for its evolution. The results reveal proximities varying in their relative importance for link formation and link dissolution. |
| Keywords: | STERGM, inter-organizational network structure, bipartite, proximity, dissolution, R&D subsidies |
| JEL: | R11 O31 O38 D83 D85 |
| Date: | 2018–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:1837&r=ure |
| By: | Sun, Tianyu; Chand, Satish; Sharpe, Keiran |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effect of aging on housing prices. It provides a theoretical explanation to address the on-going debate about this issue. The analysis demonstrates that aging has divergent effects on housing prices, depending on the net effects of a fall in fertility vis-à-vis a rise in longevity on demand for housing. In addition, the results suggest that aging could cause a turning point in the price dynamics. Before this turning point, aging would boost the prices; however, after this point, the prices are depressed because of aging. Furthermore, inequality of household utility is enlarged during the aging processes. |
| Keywords: | Aging Population; OLG Model; House Prices; Land Prices; Turning Point |
| JEL: | E21 E31 J11 R21 R31 |
| Date: | 2018–02–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:89347&r=ure |
| By: | Wang, Haoying |
| Abstract: | This study analyzes the economic impact of oil and natural gas development in the Permian Basin with a focus on the NM part of the Basin. The analysis looks at the impacts on state revenue, local employment and income levels. Several existing economic impact reports from other states have been criticized by the peer-review literature that the impact estimates are very likely overstated due to questionable methodologies. In this analysis, a panel data regression model with county fixed effects and year effects is deployed to identify the impact of oil and natural gas production on employment and per job annual income at the county level. The analysis covers 62 counties (12 counties in NM and 50 counties in TX) for the time period of 1998 – 2016. The main findings of the analysis can be summarized as: 1. Over the last decade, according to different estimates the state revenue generated by the oil and natural gas industries in NM has been consistently exceeding one billion dollars per year. In the meantime, a large amount of intensive direct investment has been capitalized into the southeast NM. 2. In aggregate, per job annual income (in the real term) and the number of jobs have both experienced significant growth in the last two decades of active oil and natural gas development in the region. It is reasonable to speculate that much of the growth can be attributed to the ongoing energy development. 3. It is estimated that on average additional one million BBLs of oil equivalent production brings 54 jobs and about $170 (2015 dollar) extra annual income per job (or a 0.5% increase) in the county of production. 4. The intensive oil and natural gas production around the center of the basin (Lea County and Eddy County in NM) have had significant spatial spillover effects to the surrounding counties. Depending on the distance from the given county to the center of the Basin and for additional one million BBLs of oil equivalent production, the employment effect ranges from 35 to 10 jobs and the income effect ranges from $170 to $90 (2015 dollar) extra annual income per job. The paper also provides details on methodology and guidelines on how to interpret estimation results. The estimated economic impact coefficients can be used for prediction purpose with available future production scenarios. The paper includes instructions and suggestions on how the prediction may proceed. |
| Keywords: | Oil and Natural Gas, Permian Basin, Economic Impact, New Mexico |
| JEL: | C33 H2 H71 Q4 R11 |
| Date: | 2018–09–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:89280&r=ure |
| By: | Quis, Johanna Sophie; Mehl, Simon |
| Abstract: | A large literature aims to establish a causal link between education and health using changes in compulsory schooling laws. It is however unclear how well more education is operationalized by marginal increases in school years. We shed a new light on this discussion by analyzing the health effects of a reform in Germany where total years of schooling for students in the academic track were reduced from nine to eight while keeping cumulative teaching hours constant by increasing instruction intensity. .e sequential introduction of the reform allows us to implement a triple difference-in-differences estimation strategy with data from the German Socio-Economic Panel. We find that increased weekly instruction time has negative health effects for females while they are still in school. However, a.er graduation, females even seem to benefit from reduced school years. We find no effects on males’ health. |
| Keywords: | education and health,instruction intensity,natural experiment,SOEP |
| JEL: | I19 I21 I28 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc18:181619&r=ure |
| By: | Ron Jarmin; CJ Krizan; Adela Luque |
| Abstract: | Using 2002-2011 data from the Longitudinal Business Database linked to the 2002 and 2007 Survey of Business Owners, this paper explores whether (through a collateral channel) the rise in home prices over the early 2000’s and their subsequent fall associated with the Great Recession had differential impacts on business performance across owner race, ethnicity and gender. We find that the employment growth rate of minority-owned firms, particularly black and Hispanic-owned firms, is more sensitive to changes in house prices than is that of their nonminority-owned counterparts. |
| Date: | 2016–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:cpaper:2016-08&r=ure |
| By: | Fehn, Rebecca; Frings, Hanna |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the returns to regional mobility based on a sample of job-to-job transitions in Germany. Additionally, we provide evidence for the selection mechanisms into regional mobility and sorting into firms and matches. Using linked employer-employee data we estimate a wage decomposition including individual, firm and match fixed effects. Our (preliminary) results suggest a wage level increase of 28% for regionally mobile individuals, whereas workers making a job-to-job transition in their local labor market region experience an increase of 24%. Further, workers generally experience a move to higher paying firms, whereas this effect is smallest for regionally mobile workers. In addition, workers find relatively better matches due to the job-to-job transition; with regionally mobile workers benefiting most form this increase in match quality. |
| Keywords: | regional mobility,wage growth,job-to-job transitions,firm effects,match effects |
| JEL: | J31 J62 R23 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc18:181609&r=ure |
| By: | Bell, Brian (King's College London); Costa, Rui (London School of Economics); Machin, Stephen (London School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Prior research shows reduced criminality to be a beneficial consequence of education policies that raise the school leaving age. This paper studies how crime reductions occurred in a sequence of state-level dropout age reforms enacted between 1980 and 2010 in the United States. These reforms changed the shape of crime-age profiles, reflecting both a temporary incapacitation effect and a more sustained, longer run crime reducing effect. In contrast to the previous research looking at earlier US education reforms, crime reduction does not arise solely as a result of education improvements, and so the observed longer run effect is interpreted as dynamic incapacitation. Additional evidence based on longitudinal data combined with an education reform from a different setting in Australia corroborates the finding of dynamic incapacitation underpinning education policy-induced crime reduction. |
| Keywords: | crime age profiles, school dropout, compulsory schooling laws |
| JEL: | I2 K42 |
| Date: | 2018–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11805&r=ure |
| By: | Edward L. Glaeser; Giacomo A.M. Ponzetto |
| Abstract: | Will politics lead to over-building or under-building of transportation projects? In this paper, we develop a model of infrastructure policy in which politicians overdo things that have hidden costs and underperform tasks whose costs voters readily perceive. Consequently, national funding of transportation leads to overspending, since voters more readily perceive the upside of new projects than the future taxes that will be paid for distant highways. Yet when local voters are well-informed, the highly salient nuisances of local construction, including land taking and noise, lead to under-building.This framework explains the decline of urban mega-projects in the US (Altshuler and Luberoff 2003) as the result of increasingly educated and organized urban voters. Our framework also predicts more per capita transportation spending in low-density and less educated areas, which seems to be empirically correct. |
| Keywords: | infrastructure, political economy, transportation investment, nuisance mitigation, elections, imperfect information |
| JEL: | D72 D82 H54 H76 R42 R53 |
| Date: | 2017–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bge:wpaper:1058&r=ure |
| By: | Erik Scherpf; Benjamin Cerf |
| Abstract: | Estimates the effect of fluctuations in local labor conditions on the likelihood that existing participants are able to transition out of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Our primary data are SNAP administrative records from New York (2007-2012) linked to the 2010 Census at the person-level. We further augment these data by linking to industry-specific labor market indicators at the county-level. We find that local labor markets matter for the length of time individuals spend on SNAP, but there is substantial heterogeneity in estimated effects across local industries. While employment growth in industries with small shares of SNAP participants has no impact on SNAP exits, growth in local industries with creases the likelihood that recipients exit the program. We also observe corresponding increases in entries when these industries experience localized contractions. Notably, estimated industry effects vary across race groups and parental status, with Black Alone non-Hispanic, Hispanic, and mothers benefiting the least from improvements in local labor market conditions. |
| Date: | 2016–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:cpaper:2016-10&r=ure |
| By: | Thurston Domina; Quentin Brummet; Nikolas Pharris-Ciurej; Sonya R. Porter; Andrew Penner; Emily Penner; Tanya Sanabria |
| Abstract: | Educational researchers often use National School Lunch Program (NSLP) data as a proxy for student poverty. Under NSLP policy, students whose household income is less than 130 percent of the poverty line qualify for free lunch and students whose household income is between 130 percent and 185 percent of the poverty line qualify for reduced-price lunch. Linking school administrative records for all 8th graders in a California public school district to household-level IRS income tax data, we examine how well NSLP data capture student disadvantage. We find both that there is substantial disadvantage in household income not captured by NSLP category data, and that NSLP categories capture disadvantage on test scores above and beyond household income. |
| Date: | 2017–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:cpaper:2017-09&r=ure |
| By: | ITF |
| Abstract: | This report discusses the street design and pricing implications of a large-scale introduction of ride-sharing services and other innovative mobility options in urban settings. It looks at the potential for a shift away from a model of the use of curb space focused on street parking to one that makes more flexible use of curb space for pick-up and drop-off zones for passengers and freight. The study presents the results of quantitative modelling of alternative curb-use scenarios and discusses their relative efficiency, contribution to wider policy objectives and implications on city revenues. |
| Date: | 2018–05–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:itfaac:56-en&r=ure |
| By: | MORI Tomoya; Jens WRONA |
| Abstract: | We propose and apply a new theory-consistent algorithm, which uses disaggregated inter-city trade data to identify a pyramidic city system with central places and associated hinterlands. Because central places possess more industries than the cities in their hinterlands, and because industries, which are exclusive to central places, are more likely to export to the small, peripheral cities in the central place's hinterland, we find that aggregate exports from central places to their hinterlands are two to five times larger than predicted by gravity forces. Using a simple decomposition approach, we show that this upward bias results from aggregation along the extensive industry margin, which explains the much smaller and only marginally significant bias if estimation is conducted in a theory-consistent way at the disaggregated industry level. |
| Date: | 2018–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:18067&r=ure |
| By: | Randall Akee; Maggie R. Jones; Sonya R. Porter |
| Abstract: | Using unique linked data, we examine income inequality and mobility across racial and ethnic groups in the United States. Our data encompass the universe of tax filers in the U.S. for the period 2000 to 2014, matched with individual-level race and ethnicity information from multiple censuses and American Community Survey data. We document both income inequality and mobility trends over the period. We find significant stratification in terms of average incomes by race and ethnic group and distinct differences in within-group income inequality. The groups with the highest incomes - Whites and Asians - also have the highest levels of within-group inequality and the lowest levels of within-group mobility. The reverse is true for the lowest-income groups: Blacks, American Indians, and Hispanics have lower within-group inequality and immobility. On the other hand, our low-income groups are also highly immobile when looking at overall, rather than within-group, mobility. These same groups also have a higher probability of experiencing downward mobility compared with Whites and Asians. We also find that within-group income inequality increased for all groups between 2000 and 2014, and the increase was especially large for Whites. In regression analyses using individual-level panel data, we find persistent differences by race and ethnicity in incomes over time. We also examine young tax filers (ages 25-35) and investigate the long-term effects of local economic and racial residential segregation conditions at the start of their careers. We find persistent long-run effects of racial residential segregation at career entry on the incomes of certain groups. The picture that emerges from our analysis is of a rigid income structure, with mainly Whites and Asians confined to the top and Blacks, American Indians, and Hispanics confined to the bottom. |
| Date: | 2017–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:cpaper:2017-01&r=ure |
| By: | Rachel M. Shattuck |
| Abstract: | This study investigates whether low-income young children’s experience of Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF)-subsidized childcare is associated with a lower subsequent likelihood of being held back in grades K-12. High-quality childcare has been shown to improve low-income children’s school readiness. However, no previous study has examined the link specifically between subsidized care and grade retention. I do so here by matching information on children from CCDF administrative records to later observations of the same children in the American Community Survey (ACS). I use logistic regression to compare the likelihood of grade retention between CCDF-recipient children and non-recipient children who also appear in the ACS in the years 2008-2014 (N=2,284,857). I find strong evidence for an association between CCDF-subsidized care and lower risk of grade retention, especially among non-Hispanic Black children and Hispanic children. I also find evidence that receiving CCDF-subsidized center-based care in particular is associated with a lower risk of being held back than CCDF-subsidized family daycare, babysitter care, or relative care, again with the largest apparent benefit to non-Hispanic Black children and Hispanic children. |
| Date: | 2017–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:cpaper:2017-06&r=ure |
| By: | Nicodemo, Catia (University of Oxford); Raya, Josep M. (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) |
| Abstract: | Using a unique dataset a non-parametric decomposition, we determined whether immigrants with native name, immigrants with foreign name and natives have different outcomes in Spain's housing market. Results suggest there are significant price discounts for immigrants with native names relative to immigrants with non-Spanish names. As a robustness check we prove that this is not due to the country of birth. We observe that most of the difference in price across immigrant groups remains unexplained, which may imply some form of discrimination (pure or statistical) against immigrants with non-native names. |
| Keywords: | house price, price cut, discrimination, housing, matching method |
| JEL: | R1 R3 J7 |
| Date: | 2018–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11811&r=ure |
| By: | Delalibera, Bruno Ricardo; Ferreira, Pedro Cavalcanti |
| Abstract: | We study the effects of early childhood skill formation on productivity and schooling. We add early childhood human capital to a standard continuous time life cycle economy and assume complementarity between educational stages. Agents are homogenous and choose the intensity of preschool education, how long to stay in formal school, labor effort and consumption. The model is calibrated to the U.S. from 1961 to 2008 and matches the data very well We study the effects of early childhood skill formation on productivity and schooling. We add early childhood human capital to a standard continuous time life cycle economy and assume complementarity between educational stages. Agents are homogenous and choose the intensity of preschool education, how long to stay in formal school, labor effort and consumption. The model is calibrated to the U.S. from 1961 to 2008 and matches the data very well and closely reproduces the paths of schooling, hours worked, relative prices and GDP. We find that early childhood education can explain a large part of the observed increase of years of schooling in the U.S. since 1961, and it was as important as formal education for the increase of labor productivity in the period. Furthermore, we show that small reallocations of public expenditures from formal education to early childhood education would have sizable impacts on income per capita and productivity. |
| Date: | 2018–10–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fgv:epgewp:802&r=ure |
| By: | Alex Moss |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of combining listed real estate securities with infrastructure and real asset allocations. The study looks at how the time variant the results are , as well as the extent of regional variations. Following on from the academic evidence, the paper examines the practical applications of this strategy. |
| Keywords: | Blended Portfolios; Infrastructure; Portfolio Management; Real Assets; REITs |
| JEL: | R3 |
| Date: | 2018–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arz:wpaper:eres2018_301&r=ure |
| By: | Rose, Jonathan D. |
| Abstract: | This paper studies mortgage contract choices in US history using a first-of-its-kind sample of residential loans from 1930 and 1940, linked to the decennial censuses. Contract choices reflected borrowers' reactions to the risks posed by different contracts. The majority of borrowers chose contracts with the longest available terms, despite required frequent amortization, likely in order to avoid refinancing risk and to maximize leverage. In contrast, the most creditworthy borrowers with high socioeconomic status preferred short-term contracts, confident that they could refinance at will. The combination of short terms and frequent amortization was unpopular, used disproportionately by the least creditworthy. Between 1930 and 1940, contract use shifted toward longer term contracts, reflecting the advent of federal involvement in the residential mortgage market. |
| Keywords: | Contract; mortgages; mortgage loans |
| JEL: | G21 G28 |
| Date: | 2018–09–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedhwp:wp-2018-13&r=ure |
| By: | Daniel Piazolo |
| Abstract: | Data are the new currency of our time. Various digital technologies drive the successful business models of today, but will also determine the real estate industry in the future. The paper examines the relevant digital technologies and various real estate tech startups. The underlying modes of operation can be condensed to four types:1.) Increasing transparency2.) Raising efficiency3.) Enhancing flexibility4.) Enabling new opportunities, new contents, and new insights.Based on these modes of operation it is possible to describe the successful companies, the driving forces behind real estate digitalization and thus our industry in the near future. |
| Keywords: | BIM; Digital Asset Management; Digital Modes of Operation; Digital Transformation; Structural Change |
| JEL: | R3 |
| Date: | 2018–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arz:wpaper:eres2018_106&r=ure |
| By: | Agarwal, Sumit (National University of Singapore); Mikhed, Vyacheslav (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia); Scholnick, Barry (University of Alberta) |
| Abstract: | We examine whether relative income differences among peers can generate financial distress. Using lottery winnings as plausibly exogenous variations in the relative income of peers, we find that the dollar magnitude of a lottery win of one neighbor increases subsequent borrowing and bankruptcies among other neighbors. We also examine which factors may mitigate lenders’ bankruptcy risk in these neighborhoods. We show that bankruptcy filers obtain more secured but not unsecured debt, and lenders provide additional credit to low-risk but not high-risk debtors. In addition, we find evidence consistent with local lenders taking advantage of soft information to mitigate credit risk. |
| Keywords: | financial distress; social comparisons among peers |
| JEL: | D14 D31 G02 K35 |
| Date: | 2018–10–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedpwp:18-22&r=ure |
| By: | YAGASAKI Masayuki; NAKAMURO Makiko |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we investigate how competitiveness and risk attitudes are related to math achievement among middle school students. We conduct an experiment at six public middle schools in Japan to collect incentivized measures of competitiveness and risk attitudes and merge them with an administrative dataset containing information on students' cognitive achievements. The results from the experiment show that girls are less competitive and exhibit greater risk aversion compared to boys, which are in line with the previous literature. We find that competitiveness is positively correlated with math achievement conditional on students' prior achievements and demographics, while greater risk aversion is associated with higher math achievement (but not with reading and English). Taken together, the results indicate that the gender differences in competitiveness are widening the gender gap in math achievement, but that the gender differences in risk attitudes contribute to narrowing it. |
| Date: | 2018–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:18066&r=ure |
| By: | Wabbe de Vries; Jan Veuger |
| Abstract: | This paper discusses sustainable real estate and the role of ethics within real estate. Both terms ‘sustainability’ and ‘ethics’ needs an explanation. With this discussion the tripartite system of ‘morals – principles - laws’ is described in order to have more grip on sustainable real estate and ethics. |
| Keywords: | principles and rules concerning real estate; Sustainable real estate and ethics morals |
| JEL: | R3 |
| Date: | 2018–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arz:wpaper:eres2018_67&r=ure |
| By: | Matthew Grennan; Charu Gupta; Mara Lederman |
| Abstract: | When firms span related product categories, spillovers across categories become central to firm strategy and industrial policy, due to their potential to foreclose competition and affect innovation incentives. We exploit major new product innovations in one medical device category, and detailed sales data across related categories, to develop a causal research design for spillovers at the customer level. We find evidence of spillovers, primarily associated with complementarities in usage. These spillovers imply large benefits to multi- vs. single-category firms, accounting for nearly one quarter of sales in the complimentary category (equivalent to four percent of revenue in the focal category). |
| JEL: | D22 D4 D43 D62 I11 K21 L1 L13 L25 L38 L4 L5 M2 M21 O25 O31 O32 O33 |
| Date: | 2018–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:25183&r=ure |
| By: | Blesse, Sebastian; Diegmann, André |
| Abstract: | Policy makers often try to optimize local law enforcement by reorganizing police forces. We study the effects of police reallocation via station closures on municipal crime by exploiting a quasi-experiment where a centrally administered reform substantially reduced the number of police stations. Combining a matching strategy with an event-study design, we do not find aggregate effects on crime. Instead, we find changes in the way theft is committed. We observe increases in car theft, apartment and basement burglary but less bicycle theft. We argue that station closures provide an opportunity for criminals to shift from low-value to high-value theft. |
| Keywords: | Crime,Deterrence,Police Centralization,Efficiency of Law Enforcement |
| JEL: | K42 R53 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:18044&r=ure |
| By: | IINO Takashi; INOUE Hiroyasu; SAITO Yukiko; TODO Yasuyuki |
| Abstract: | This study examines how the research collaboration of firms affects the quality of their innovation outcomes using comprehensive patent data for firms in the world from 1991 to 2010. Identifying research collaboration by co-patenting relationships, we find that research collaboration with other firms, particularly with foreign firms, leads to substantial improvement in innovation quality. We also observe an inverted U-shaped effect of the density of a firm's ego network and a positive effect of brokerage in the global network, especially for firms with international collaboration experiences. These results are applicable to the effect on the quality of innovation achieved individually without any collaboration, suggesting that the knowledge of firms diffuses to and is acquired by their collaboration partners. Finally, we find that the collaboration effect is larger in the 2000s than in the 1990s and varies across countries. |
| Date: | 2018–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:18070&r=ure |
| By: | Hannah Druckenmiller; Solomon Hsiang |
| Abstract: | We propose a simple cross-sectional research design to identify causal effects that is robust to unobservable heterogeneity. When many observational units are adjacent, it may be sufficient to regress the "spatial first differences" (SFD) of the outcome on the treatment and omit all covariates. This approach is conceptually similar to first differencing approaches in time-series or panel models, except the index for time is replaced with an index for locations in space. The SFD approach identifies plausibly causal effects so long as local changes in the treatment and unobservable confounders are not systematically correlated between immediately adjacent neighbors. We illustrate how this approach can mitigate omitted variables bias through simulation and by estimating returns to schooling along 10th Avenue in New York and I-90 in Chicago. We then more fully explore the benefits of this approach by estimating effects of climate and soil on maize yields across US counties. In each case, we demonstrate the performance of the research design by withholding important covariates during estimation. SFD has multiple appealing features, such as internal robustness checks that exploit rotation of the coordinate system or double-differencing across space, it is immediately applicable to spatially-gridded data sets, and it can be easily implemented in statical packages by replacing a single index in pre-existing time-series functions. |
| JEL: | C21 Q15 Q51 Q54 |
| Date: | 2018–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:25177&r=ure |
| By: | Jose Soltero (DePaul University); Sonia Soltero (DePaul University) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the connection between immigration status, English language proficiency, educational achievement, time in the U.S., and economic sector of employment as determinants of poverty among Mexico-born migrants in Chicago, U.S. The theoretical framework of the study uses Human Capital Theory and the analysis is based on a multi-stage cluster probabilistic sample (2005-2006) of Mexican migrants obtained in Cook County which includes the City of Chicago. Analyses of logistic regression models show that the most relevant connections occur between poverty (dependent variable) and immigration status, time in the U.S., economic sector of employment, and English language proficiency. Thus, Mexican immigrants with citizenship status or residency permits (?green cards?) and Mexican immigrants with English language proficiency have a lower probability to be below the poverty threshold than their counterparts. Furthermore, female migrants, older migrants, and the unemployed or out of the labor force have a higher probability to be poor than their counterparts. The analysis of the sample?s educational achievement in Mexico shows that these migrants tend to have low levels of education. Similarly, the educational achievement obtained in the U.S. is significantly low among the individuals in the sample. These results point to the plight of the large levels of undocumented workers with low English proficiency and suggest the existence of structural problems that impede significant returns to human capital investments on Mexican education in the U.S. labor market. |
| Keywords: | Poverty, Language, Education, Mexican Migrants |
| JEL: | A14 |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:8209497&r=ure |
| By: | Sheila Nokuthula Matoti (Central University of Technology, Free State); Patricia Lulama Ndamani (Sol Plaatjie University) |
| Abstract: | As lecturers we often go to classes to present lectures without knowing exactly what our students want, what their problems are, and what academic, social and emotional support they need. One way of getting to know students better is to engage them in various aspects of their academic life. There are different ways of looking at student engagement. Student engagement can be linked to students? enthusiasm and motivation to learn. On the other hand the lecturers can devise various strategies to stimulate students? enthusiasm in their classrooms. Hence it is important for lecturers to actively engage students in various aspects of their academic life. Engagement can take the form of intellectual, emotional, behavioural, physical, social and cultural engagement. This study is undertaken to examine student teachers? perceptions of their various educational experiences. The target population for the study are second and third-year education students at an institution of higher learning in South Africa. A questionnaire which consists of closed and open-ended questions was used to collect data from the respondents. The questions focused on the course material, teaching methods used by lecturers, assessment strategies, reading and study habits of the students, various forms of support given to students, as well as the skills that the students have acquired by attending this institution. The information obtained from the study will yield valuable information that the lecturers can use to understand their students better and devise strategies that will be suitable and relevant to their needs. Since the respondents are student teachers it is hoped that such information will help them when they deal with their future learners in schools. |
| Keywords: | Student engagement, skills, academic activities, academic support. |
| JEL: | I23 |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sek:iacpro:6509098&r=ure |
| By: | Elliot Fishman (Institute for Sensible Transport); Paul Schepers (Utrecht University) |
| Abstract: | This paper reviews available research on the safety impacts associated with the growth in bike share use. In the last 20 years the global fleet of dock-based and dockless bike share systems has grown to well over 4 500 000; making bike share one of the fastest growing modes of transport. This rapid increase in popularity has made bike safety a priority for policy makers and calls for a framework where bike share crash data is collected consistently to ensure safety risks can be identified and reduced, in order to encourage more sustainable urban mobility. |
| Date: | 2018–07–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:itfaab:2018/02-en&r=ure |
| By: | B Ferreira Neto, Amir |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effect of public library programs and participation on unemployment and labor force participation in Appalachia. Appalachia is an economically distressed area, mostly rural, and with a sustained lower level of labor force participation and a higher level of unemployment. As public library programs can be countercyclical to labor market outcomes, I use public library staff and the amount of print resources and computers available as instruments. The results show that neither adult nor children’s programs and participation affect local labor market outcomes. These results are robust across different specifications. Spatial econometric estimates corroborate the main results and provide evidence of spatial spillover effects, especially for children’s programs. |
| Keywords: | Local Labor Market, Labor Force Participation, Public Library, Unemployment, Appalachia |
| JEL: | H40 J64 L39 R59 |
| Date: | 2018–10–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:89584&r=ure |
| By: | Luca Bittarello (Northwestern University); Francis Kramarz (CREST); Alexis Maitre (Sciences Po.) |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates how an increase in the supply of skilled labor affects task assignment within and between occupations. Guided by a simple theoretical framework; we exploit detailed information about individual workers’ tasks from multiple surveys to examine the impact of a twofold rise in the share of university graduates in the French workforce between 1991 and 2013. Our identification strategy uses variation in the change in the graduate share across local labor markets. We find that higher average educational attainment is associated with more routine; fewer cognitive and fewer social tasks within occupations and with fewer routine; more cognitive and more social tasks across occupations. |
| JEL: | J21 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2018–10–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crs:wpaper:2018-16&r=ure |
| By: | Bob Thompson |
| Abstract: | An accelleration in the use of technology to automate core real estate services is likely to mean that the surveyor of the future will need a dramatically different skillset than that being taught today.Building on work undertaken for the RICS this paper examines the curricula of a sample of real estate courses around the world in the light of the findings published in ""The Impact of Emerging Technologies on the Surveying Profession"" published by the RICS in July 2017.The subjects at greatest risk of functional redundancy are highlighted and alternatives proposed, rounding up with an assessment of the likely impact upon courses and student numbers in the future. |
| Keywords: | Teaching; Technology |
| JEL: | R3 |
| Date: | 2018–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arz:wpaper:eres2018_162&r=ure |
| By: | Inho Hong; Morgan R. Frank; Iyad Rahwan; Woo-Sung Jung; Hyejin Youn |
| Abstract: | Is there a general economic pathway recapitulated by individual cities over and over? Identifying such evolution structure, if any, would inform models for the assessment, maintenance, and forecasting of urban sustainability and economic success as a quantitative baseline. This premise seems to contradict the existing body of empirical evidences for path-dependent growth shaping the unique history of individual cities. And yet, recent empirical evidences and theoretical models have amounted to the universal patterns, mostly size-dependent, thereby expressing many of urban quantities as a set of simple scaling laws. Here, we provide a mathematical framework to integrate repeated cross-sectional data, each of which freezes in time dimension, into a frame of reference for longitudinal evolution of individual cities in time. Using data of over 100 millions employment in thousand business categories between 1998 and 2013, we decompose each city's evolution into a pre-factor and relative changes to eliminate national and global effects. In this way, we show the longitudinal dynamics of individual cities recapitulate the observed cross-sectional regularity. Larger cities are not only scaled-up versions of their smaller peers but also of their past. In addition, our model shows that both specialization and diversification are attributed to the distribution of industry's scaling exponents, resulting a critical population of 1.2 million at which a city makes an industrial transition into innovative economies. |
| Date: | 2018–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1810.08330&r=ure |
| By: | Carin van der Cruijsen; Joris Knoben |
| Abstract: | For stakeholders in the payment system seeking to influence the usage of specific payment instruments, it is important to know what drives consumers' choice of payment instrument. However, little is known about how the social environment influences payment behaviour. This study fills this gap by researching the relevance of peer effects for payment behaviour. We used the detailed payment diary data of Dutch consumers. Our findings show that payment behaviour is strongly influenced by the environment that people live in, especially when the environment is characterised by strong social cohesion. Hence, our study offers new insights into the diffusion of payment behaviour. |
| Keywords: | payment diaries; payment behaviour; peer effects; consumer survey |
| JEL: | A14 D12 D14 E42 E58 Z13 |
| Date: | 2018–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dnb:dnbwpp:611&r=ure |
| By: | Petr Jansky (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University in Prague, Smetanovo nabrezi 6, 111 01 Prague 1, Czech Republic); Marek Sedivy (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University in Prague, Smetanovo nabrezi 6, 111 01 Prague 1, Czech Republic) |
| Abstract: | Regional differences in prices levels are substantial in many countries, but little is known about how important they are for income inequality and relative poverty. To bridge this gap, we provide new evidence on the basis of the best available data and a novel two-step approach. First, we collect the largest cross-country dataset of regional price level estimates from 12 countries and use it to predict regional price levels in other countries. We then combine all these regional prices levels with household-level data from the Luxembourg Income Study, which gives us results for a final sample of 21 countries. We find that for some countries Gini coefficients and headcount poverty ratios are statistically significantly different when adjusted for regional price levels. For example, we show that adjusting for regional price levels would lower the Gini coefficients by 2% for Italy, 3% for Columbia and by 4% for Georgia, while it would increase the headcount poverty ratio by 6% for France and by 7% for Ireland. We conclude that regional price levels affect income inequality to a varying extent and should be taken into account by policy makers and in future research. |
| Keywords: | income inequality; relative poverty; regional price levels; regional purchasing power parities; Luxembourg Income Study |
| JEL: | D63 O18 R11 R58 |
| Date: | 2018–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fau:wpaper:wp2018_24&r=ure |
| By: | John Voorheis |
| Abstract: | A growing body of literature suggests that pollution exposure early in life can have substantial long term effects on an individual’s economic well-being as an adult, however the mechanisms for these effects remain unclear. I contribute to this literature by examining the effect of pollution exposure on several intermediate determinants of adult wages using a unique linked dataset for a large sample of individuals from two cohorts: an older cohort born around the 1970, and a younger cohort born around 1990. This dataset links responses to the American Community Survey to SSA administrative data, the universe of IRS Form 1040 tax returns, pollution concentration data from EPA air quality monitors and satellite remote sensing observations. In both OLS and IV specifications, I find that pollution exposure at birth has a large and economically significant effect on college attendance among 19-22 year olds. Using conventional estimates of the college wage premium, these effects imply that a 10 µg/m3 decrease in particulate matter exposure at birth is associated with a $190 per year increase in annual wages. This effect is smaller than the wage effects in the previous literature, which suggests that human capital acquisition associated with cognitive skills cannot fully explain the long term wage effects of pollution exposure. Indeed, I find evidence for an additional channel working through non-cognitive skill -pollution exposure at birth increases high school non-completion and incarceration among 16-24 year olds, and that these effects are concentrated within disadvantaged communities, with larger effects for non-whites and children of poor parents. I also find that pollution exposure during adolescence has statistically significant effects on high school non-completion and incarceration, but no effect on college attendance. These results suggest that the long term effects of pollution exposure on economic well-being may run through multiple channels, of which both non-cognitive skills and cognitive skills may play a role. |
| Date: | 2017–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:cpaper:2017-05&r=ure |
| By: | Raven S. Molloy; Eric Nielsen |
| Abstract: | In this note, we assess whether AVM estimates or owner valuations are better at approximating the market value of a home. |
| Date: | 2018–10–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgfn:2018-10-11&r=ure |
| By: | Claudio A. Mora-García; Tomás Rau |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the effects of peers in the adoption of a Youth Employment Subsidy in Chile since its inception. We study the effects that former classmates’ and coworkers’ adoption has on one’s adoption. Identification comes from discontinuities in the assignment rule that allow us to construct valid instrumental variables for peers’ adoption. Using a comprehensive set of administrative records, we find that classmates and, especially, coworkers play a significant role in the adoption of the subsidy. Peer effects are determined during the early stages of the program’s implementation and vary by network characteristics and the strength of network ties. |
| Keywords: | Peer effects; subsidy adoption; partial population approach. |
| JEL: | H53 I38 C31 |
| Date: | 2018–10–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000518:016839&r=ure |
| By: | Anelí Bongersy (Universidad de Málaga); Carmen Díaz-Roldán (Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha); José L. Torres (Universidad de Málaga) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the implications of highly skilled labor international migration in a two-country Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium model. The model considers hree types of workers: STEM workers, non-STEM college educated workers, and non-college educated workers. Only high skilled workers can move internationally from the relative low productivity (sending) country to the high productivity (host) country. Aggregate productivity in each economy is a function of innovations, which can be produced only by STEM workers. The model predicts i) the existence of a wage premium of STEM workers relative to non-STEM college educated workers, ii) this wage premium is higher in the destination country and increases with positive technological shocks, iii) a reduction in migration costs increases output, wages and total labor in the destination country, with opposite effects in the country of origin, and iv) high skilled immigrants reduce skilled native labor and do not affect unskilled labor. |
| Keywords: | STEM workers; Migration; Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium models; Innovation |
| JEL: | F43 J61 O31 |
| Date: | 2018–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aee:wpaper:1802&r=ure |
| By: | Petr Pleticha (Institute of Economic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University in Prague, Smetanovo nabrezi 6, 111 01 Prague 1, Czech Republic; CERGE EI, Politickych veznu 7, 11000 Prague, Czech Republic) |
| Abstract: | Decelerating productivity in recent years raised questions about technology diffusion in the economy. This study focuses on one particular diffusion channel, entrepreneurship, and inspects the mechanics through which it interacts with digitalization. The composite indicator of digitalization is split into separate components which enables analyzing digitalization’s interplay with entrepreneurship as a dynamic process. Based on the econometric analysis of Eurostat regional data covering the period 2008-2015, I find significant links between digitalization and entrepreneurship. Specifically, digitalization is associated with an increase in the rate at which firms are created and with a decrease in their survival rate after 3 years. The paper demonstrates that the interaction is dynamic in its nature as the effects of initial stages of digitalization reverse or vanish in its later phases. A sectoral analysis shows the persistence of the results across industries. Moreover, there is evidence that professional, scientific and technical activities are especially sensitive towards digitalization, experiencing strong, yet short-term shock in the firms’ birth, death, and survival rates. Accounting for geographic variation reveals heterogeneity between regions but not large enough to affect the overall results. |
| Keywords: | Digitalization, Entrepreneurship, Technology dissemination |
| JEL: | L16 L26 O33 R11 |
| Date: | 2018–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fau:wpaper:wp2018_26&r=ure |