|
on Urban and Real Estate Economics |
| By: | Michele Battisti (Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Italy; Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis); Giovanni Bernardo (Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Italy); Andrea Mario Lavezzi (Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Italy); Giuseppe Maggio (Department of Geography, University of Sussex, UK) |
| Abstract: | In this work, we assess the role of a specific type of organized crime in influencing choices on where living within the city territory, and consequently, volatility in house prices. More specifically, we test how organized crime killing may influence house pricing behaviors. Firstly, we show evidences about how organized crime is associated with higher inequality of housing prices for Italian cities in 2011. Then, by collecting and geo referencing data on the city of Naples for the period 2002-2016, we test for the direct influence of homicides on the relevant territory, as on the neighboring districts. Results show a negative and significant impact of killing on the house prices either for sales or for rents and a positive effect in neighboring district, driving increases in within-city inequality. |
| Keywords: | organized crime, spatial interactions, panel data estimations |
| JEL: | C40 D01 O33 |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rim:rimwps:19-05&r=all |
| By: | Ali Ardeshiri; Akshay Vij |
| Abstract: | This study develops a hierarchical latent class choice model that captures the concurrent influence of lifestyles on household residential neighbourhood location and individual transport mode use decisions. The model is empirically evaluated using data from the 2010-12 California Household Travel Survey. The model identifies six household-level classes that differ in terms of their preferences for different neighbourhood attributes when deciding where to live and their household characteristics. Coincidentally, the model also identifies six individual-level classes that differ in terms of the travel modes that they consider when deciding how to travel, their sensitivity to different level-of-service attributes, and their individual characteristics. Household preferences for neighbourhood types and individual preferences for travel modes show expected patterns of correlation. In general, households that prefer to live in suburban neighbourhoods are more likely to consist of individuals that are car-dependent, and households that prefer to live in inner-city neighbourhoods are more likely to consist of individuals that are multimodal. However, our analysis also reveals interesting patterns of deviation. For example, high-income migrant households and median-income white households display strong preferences for suburban neighbourhoods, but individuals belonging to these households also have a high likelihood of being multimodal, with a strong preference for bicycling. We discuss how these patterns of correlation can be used to inform transport and land use policy in novel ways. |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1902.01986&r=all |
| By: | Edmark, Karin (Stockholms universitet) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the location decisions of Swedish start-up independent schools. It makes use of the great expansion of independent schools following a reform implemented in 1992 to test what local market characteristics are correlated with independent school entry. The results suggest that independent schools are more likely to choose locations with a higher share of students with high-educated parents; a higher student population density; and a lower share of students with Swedish-born parents. There is also some evidence that independent schools are less likely to locate in municipalities with a left-wing political majority. These results are robust to various alternative and flexible definitions of local school markets, which were employed in order to alleviate the Modifiable Areal Unit Problem. For some of the included variables, the definition of the local market however had a large impact on the results, suggesting that the issue of how to define regions in spatial analyses can be important. |
| Keywords: | Private provision; mixed markets; education sector; Modifiable Areal Unit Problem |
| JEL: | H44 I28 L19 R32 |
| Date: | 2018–10–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2018_016&r=all |
| By: | Franz, Thorsten |
| Abstract: | House-purchasing decisions and the possibility of existing homeowners to tap into their housing equity depend decisively on prevailing loan-to-value (LTV) ratios in mortgage markets with borrowing constrained households. Utilizing a smooth transition local projection (STLP) approach, I show that monetary policy shocks in the U.S. evoke stronger reactions in the housing sector in times of high LTV ratios, which, through changes in mortgage lending and mortgage equity withdrawals (MEWs), translate into larger effects of consumption. This result is more pronounced for contractionary shocks, in line with occasionally binding constraints. The strong procyclicality of LTV ratios reconciles these findings with past evidence on a less powerful transmission of monetary policy during recessions. |
| Keywords: | monetary policy,LTV ratio,mortgage equity withdrawals,collateral constraints,local projections,non-linear impulse responses |
| JEL: | E21 E52 G21 R31 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:bubdps:022019&r=all |
| By: | Zhang, W. |
| Abstract: | This paper develops and estimates a spatial general equilibrium job search model to study the effects of local and universal (federal) minimum wage policies. In the model, firms post vacancies in multiple locations. Workers, who are heterogeneous in terms of location and education types, engage in random search and can migrate or commute in response to job offers. I estimate the model by combining multiple databases including the American Community Survey (ACS) and Quarterly Workforce Indicators (QWI). The estimated model is used to analyze how minimum wage policies affect employment, wages, job postings, vacancies, migration/ commuting, and welfare. Empirical results show that minimum wage increases in local county lead to an exit of low type (education |
| Keywords: | spatial equilibrium, local minimum wage policy, labor relocation |
| JEL: | J61 J63 J64 J68 R12 R13 |
| Date: | 2018–12–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:1889&r=all |
| By: | Pierre-Philippe Combes (Institut d'Études Politiques [IEP] - Paris); Sylvie Démurger (GATE Lyon Saint-Étienne - Groupe d'analyse et de théorie économique - ENS Lyon - École normale supérieure - Lyon - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - UCBL - Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 - Université de Lyon - UJM - Université Jean Monnet [Saint-Étienne] - Université de Lyon - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Shi Li (Beijing Normal University); Jianguo Wang (Beijing Information Science and Technology University) |
| Abstract: | We assess the role of internal migration and urbanisation in China on the nominal earnings of three groups of workers (rural migrants, low-skilled natives, and high-skilled natives). We estimate the impact of many city and city-industry characteristics that shape agglomeration economies, as well as migrant and human capital externalities and substitution effects. We also account for spatial sorting and reverse causality. Location matters for individual earnings, but urban gains are unequally distributed. High-skilled natives enjoy large gains from agglomeration and migrants at the city level. Both conclusions also hold, to a lesser extent, for low-skilled natives, who are only marginally negatively affected by migrants within their industry. By contrast, rural migrants slightly lose from migrants within their industry while otherwise gaining from migration and agglomeration, although less than natives. The different returns from migration and urbanisation are responsible for a large share of wage disparities in China. |
| Keywords: | urban development,agglomeration economies,wage disparities,migrants,human capital externalities,China |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-01989668&r=all |
| By: | Elisabetta Cornago (OECD); Alexandros Dimitropoulos (OECD); Walid Oueslati (OECD) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of congestion pricing on the demand for clean transport modes. To this end, it draws on an empirical analysis of the effect of Milan’s congestion charge on the use of bike sharing. The analysis indicates that congestion pricing increases daily bike-sharing use by at least 5% in the short term. Extending the schedule of the congestion charge in the early evening increases bike-sharing use in the affected time window by 12%. The impact of the policy on bike-sharing use mainly occurs through the reduction of road traffic congestion, which makes cycling safer and more pleasant. The findings of the study indicate that policies aiming to reduce car use also have positive repercussions on the uptake of green mobility options. Relying solely on direct incentives for cycling, which often involve infrastructure projects, is likely insufficient to remove barriers to bike use. |
| Keywords: | bike sharing, Congestion pricing, sustainable mobility, urban road pricing |
| JEL: | Q58 R41 R48 |
| Date: | 2019–02–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:envaaa:143-en&r=all |
| By: | Frondel, Manuel; Kussel, Gerhard; Sommer, Stephan; Vance, Colin |
| Abstract: | Given the rapid expansion of wind power capacities in Germany, this paper estimates the effects of wind turbines on house prices using real estate price data from Germany's leading online broker. Employing a hedonic price model whose specification is informed by machine learning techniques, our methodological approach provides insights into the sources of heterogeneity in treatment effects. We estimate an average treatment effect (ATE) of up to -7.1% for houses within a one-kilometer radius of a wind turbine, an effect that fades to zero at a distance of 8 to 9 km. Old houses and those in rural areas are affected the most, while home prices in urban areas are hardly affected. These results highlight that substantial local externalities are associated with wind power plants. |
| Keywords: | wind power,hedonic price model |
| JEL: | Q21 D12 R31 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:rwirep:791&r=all |
| By: | José María Cabrera; Dinand Webbink. |
| Abstract: | We study the effects of a policy aimed at attracting more experienced and better qualified teachers in primary schools in disadvantaged neighborhoods in Uruguay. Teachers in these schools could earn higher salaries. Estimates from regression discontinuity models show that the policy increased experience by two to three years. The policy was especially successful in ‘hiring experience from other schools’, but also increased tenure. However, the effect on student outcomes appears to be small. The distinction between ‘hiring or keeping’ teachers seems important for explaining this result. Keeping teachers appears to be more beneficial for students than hiring experienced teachers. We also find that the effect of the policy is better for schools that replaced teachers with less than five years of experience. |
| Keywords: | teacher salaries, teacher experience, student performance, disadvantaged students |
| JEL: | I2 J24 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mnt:wpaper:1804&r=all |
| By: | Huttunen, Kristiina (VATT, Helsinki); Pekkarinen, Tuomas (VATT, Helsinki); Uusitalo, Roope (University of Jyväskylä); Virtanen, Hanna (ETLA - The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy) |
| Abstract: | We study the effect of post-compulsory education on crime by exploiting a regression discontinuity design generated by admission cut-offs to upper secondary schools in Finland. We combine data on school applications with data on criminal convictions and follow individuals for 10 years. Our results show that successful applicants are less likely to commit crimes during the first five years after admission. Crime is reduced both during and outside the school year, indicating that the channel through which schooling affects crime cannot be explained by incapacitation alone. We find no effect on crime committed after 6 years from admission. |
| Keywords: | crime, education, school admission, incapacitation, human capital |
| JEL: | K42 I2 |
| Date: | 2019–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12084&r=all |
| By: | Sebastian Weinand; Ludwig von Auer |
| Abstract: | Our paper uses micro price data collected from Germany’s Consumer Price Index to compile a highly disaggregated regional price index for the 402 counties and cities of Germany. We introduce a multi-stage version of the weighted Country-Product-Dummy method. The unique quality of our price data allows us to depart from previous spatial price comparisons and to compare only exactly identical products. We find that the price levels are spatially autocorrelated and largely driven by the cost of housing. The price level in the most expensive region is about 27 percent higher than in the cheapest region. |
| Keywords: | spatial price comparison, regional price index, PPP, CPD-method, hedonic regression, consumer price data |
| JEL: | C21 C43 E31 O18 R10 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:trr:wpaper:201903&r=all |
| By: | Helm, Ines (Dept. of Economics, Stockholm University) |
| Abstract: | Using a broad set of national industry trade shocks, I employ a novel approach to estimate agglomeration effects by exploiting within industry variation in indirect exposure to the other local industries’ (national) trade shocks across local labor markets. This variation stems from differences in local industry composition and allows to test for the existence of heterogeneous agglomeration effects across industries. I find considerable employment spillovers from other tradable industries’ trade shocks and even stronger effects within the same broad sector. Spillovers are larger for industries employing similar workers and are triggered predominantly by shocks to high technology industries. |
| Keywords: | Agglomeration; Local Labor Markets; Trade Shocks |
| JEL: | F16 J20 R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2019–01–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:sunrpe:2019_0001&r=all |
| By: | Congressional Budget Office |
| Abstract: | In 2013, at the direction of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac began to transfer some of the credit risk of their mortgage guarantees to investors. This report examines how they have done so and analyzes two approaches for expanding their efforts: increasing the amount of risk shared on new guarantees and transferring some of the risk on mortgages guaranteed before 2013. |
| JEL: | G18 G28 R31 R38 |
| Date: | 2017–12–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cbo:report:53380&r=all |
| By: | Ana Balsa; Carlos Díaz |
| Abstract: | We review the economic literature of the past 20 years on peer effects in health behaviors and conditions. We find consistent evidence of peer effects across a wide range of behaviors and outcomes (alcohol, body weight, food and nutrition, physical fitness, sexual behaviors, fertility, and mental health use) and across a diverse set of identification techniques (instrumental variables, network analysis, reduced form models, random assignment of peers, and discrete choice models of endogenous interactions). Despite the thorough evidence on the existence of peer effects, we still know little about the underlying mechanisms. Understanding these mechanisms is critical for the design of effective policies and constitutes the new stage in the research agenda. |
| Keywords: | Peer effects, social interactions, peer influence, health behaviors, health conditions, systematic review, substance use, obesity, sexual behavior, mental health |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mnt:wpaper:1802&r=all |
| By: | Sari Pekkala Kerr; William R. Kerr |
| Abstract: | Networking and the giving and receiving of advice outside of one's own firm are important features of entrepreneurship and innovation. We study how immigrants and natives utilize the potential networking opportunities provided by CIC, formerly known as the Cambridge Innovation Center. CIC is widely considered the center of the Boston entrepreneurial ecosystem. We surveyed 1,334 people working at CIC in three locations spread across the Boston area and CIC's first expansion facility in St. Louis, MO. Survey responses show that immigrants value networking capabilities in CIC more than natives, and the networks developed by immigrants at CIC tend to be larger. Immigrants report substantially greater rates of giving and receiving advice than natives for six surveyed factors: business operations, venture financing, technology, suppliers, people to recruit, and customers. The structure and composition of CIC floors has only a modest influence on these immigrant versus native differences. |
| JEL: | D85 F22 M13 O30 |
| Date: | 2019–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:25509&r=all |
| By: | Stéphane Gauthier (PSE - Paris School of Economics, CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Fanny Henriet (PSE - Paris School of Economics, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | We study the optimal design of consumption taxes when both global and local externalities matter. Local externalities make the social impact of the consumption of externality-generating commodities varying across consumers. A typical example involves the greater damage caused by pollution from urban fuel consumers. We provide a condition for the validity of the targeting principle according to which externality concerns should only fall on the taxes on externality-generating commodities. When this condition is satisfied, one can decompose the tax on an externality-generating commodity into equity/efficiency and Pigovian contributions. The Pigovian contribution should exceed the average social damage if the fuel consumption of the greatest polluters is more responsive to fuel price. In an empirical illustration we find that the fuel tax in France is mostly explained by Pigovian considerations. |
| Keywords: | Pigovian tax,targeting principle,local externality,pollution,commodity taxes |
| Date: | 2018–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-01826330&r=all |
| By: | Kelly, Jane; Le Blanc, Julia; Lydon, Reamonn |
| Abstract: | Using household survey data, we document evidence of a loosening of credit standards in Euro area countries that experienced a property price boom-and-bust cycle. Borrowers in these countries exhibited significantly higher loan-to-value (LTV) and loan-to-income (LTI) ratios in the run up to the financial crisis, and an increasing tendency towards longer-term loans compared to borrowers in other countries. In recent years, despite the long period of historically low interest rates and substantial house price increases in some countries, we do not find similar credit easing as before the crisis. Instead, we find evidence of a considerable change in borrower characteristics since 2010: new borrowers are older and have higher incomes than before the crisis. JEL Classification: E5, G01, G17, G28, R39 |
| Keywords: | bubbles, financial crises, financial regulation, financial stability indicators, macroprudential policy, real estate markets, systemic risk |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:srk:srkwps:201987&r=all |
| By: | Andrea Geraci (European Commission JRC); Mattia Nardotto (KU Leuven); Tommaso Reggiani (Masaryk University); Fabio Sabatini (Sapienza University of Rome) |
| Abstract: | We study how the diffusion of broadband Internet affects social capital using two data sets from the UK. Our empirical strategy exploits the fact that broadband access has long depended on customers’ position in the voice telecommunication infrastructure that was designed in the 1930s. The actual speed of an Internet connection, in fact, rapidly decays with the distance of the dwelling from the specific node of the network serving its area. Merging unique information about the topology of the voice network with geocoded longitudinal data about individual social capital, we show that access to broadband Internet caused a significant decline in forms of offline interaction and civic engagement. Overall, our results suggest that broadband penetration substantially crowded out several aspects of social capital. |
| Keywords: | ICT, broadband infrastructure, networks, Internet, social capital, civic capital |
| JEL: | C91 D9 D91 Z1 |
| Date: | 2018–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mub:wpaper:19&r=all |
| By: | Fornaro, Paolo; Maliranta, Mika; Rouvinen, Petri |
| Abstract: | Abstract We study immigrants’ effects on firm-level innovativeness. Managers, innovators, and other employees are considered as separate groups both in firm employment and in local areas. For each, we estimate the effects of foreignness, the share of immigrants in each group, and diversity, while controlling for an extensive set of employment and other firm characteristics. Pooled cross-section estimates suggest that a higher initial share of immigrant innovators is associated with a subsequently higher probability of a product innovation; the reverse holds for process innovation. In other words, product innovation benefits from a wider spectrum of innovator perspectives brought about by foreign influence, while process innovation suffers from it. The estimated effect for product innovation is modestly large but nevertheless indicates that a host of other covariates besides immigration are important for innovation. When measured by a fractionalization index, diversity among innovators does not promote product innovation. However, culturally the closest groups of migrants have a positive effect, when considered independently. Thus, in our interpretation, diversity does offer some benefits, provided that enough cultural homogeneity of the group is retained. |
| Keywords: | Immigration, Ethnicity, Diversity, Innovation, Knowledge production function, Finland |
| JEL: | D22 F22 J61 O31 |
| Date: | 2019–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rif:wpaper:63&r=all |
| By: | Michael Byrne (School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice, University College Dublin.) |
| Abstract: | Across numerous jurisdictions, a growing share of households are living in the private rental sector. What is most puzzling about this development is that several decades in which government and market forces coalesced around the promotion of homeownership appear to have undermined access to homeownership and triggered a resurgence of renting. This paper analyses these developments through three case studies: Ireland, the UK and Spain. The article argues that financialization intensifies the cyclical dynamics of housing markets in a manner which tends to undermine homeownership over the medium term. Although the paper identifies this common trend across the three case study countries, this must be nuanced with an analysis of the ways in which national housing policy regimes have shaped this trend such that it manifests in different ways. The paper contributes to our understanding of the drivers and implications of the decline in homeownership and the growth of ‘generation rent’. |
| Date: | 2019–01–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucd:wpaper:201902&r=all |
| By: | Martin, Carolin; Schmitt, Noemi; Westerhoff, Frank |
| Abstract: | Based on a behavioral stock-flow housing market model in which the expectation formation behavior of boundedly rational and heterogeneous investors may generate endogenous boom-bust cycles, we explore whether central banks can stabilize housing markets via the interest rate. Using a mix of analytical and numerical tools, we find that the ability of central banks to tame housing markets by increasing the base (target) interest rate, thereby softening the demand pressure on house prices, is rather limited. However, central banks can greatly improve the stability of housing markets by following an interest rate rule that adjusts the interest rate with respect to mispricing in the housing market. |
| Keywords: | housing markets,heterogeneous expectations,variance beliefs,endogenous boom-bust cycles,interest rates,nonlinear dynamics |
| JEL: | D91 E58 R31 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:bamber:142&r=all |
| By: | Ole Henning Nyhus (Department of Economics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology); Bjarne Strøm (Department of Economics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology) |
| Abstract: | Changes in population age composition is challenging in modern welfare states. Intergenerational conflicts may have important consequences for provision of services directed towards specific age groups as schooling and care for elderly. A relevant question is to what extent the supply side responds to changes in the age composition of the electorate in terms of actual spending policies. This paper exploits a novel experiment that took place in Norway in the 2011 local elections to estimate the causal relationship between local government school spending and the age composition of the electorate. We exploit that the voting age was reduced from 18 to 16 years in local elections in selected local governments (experimental governments), while voting age was kept at 18 in the rest (control governments). Using a difference in differences strategy, we find that compulsory school spending decreased by approximately 2% in the experimental governments. The results are robust across a number of econometric specifications and robustness checks. Since all the newly enfranchised voters had just finished compulsory school and receive no direct benefits from local government school spending, the result is consistent with selfish voter behavior. |
| Keywords: | Youth voting franchise; Compulsory school spending; Local governments |
| JEL: | D72 H10 H70 |
| Date: | 2019–01–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nst:samfok:17719&r=all |
| By: | Adrien Montalbo (PSE - Paris School of Economics, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | This article investigates the relation between industrial activities and the expansion of primary instruction in early nineteenth-century France. To do so, I use a newly constituted database on the location and characteristics of primary schools at the level of municipalities. This database is extracted from the Guizot Survey conducted in 1833, before the implementation of the first national law making the opening of a school mandatory in any municipality more than 500 inhabitants. By using mineral deposits as an instrument, I first show that the presence of industrial activities and the level of industrial production in a given municipality were positively influencing the presence of primary schools. Second, I show that this was due to an income effect thanks to which municipalities were capable of attracting teachers and of more frequently paying them on a regular basis. Other economic factors, as the agricultural resources of districts, and geographical or demographical factors as population dispersion were also important in explaining the location of primary schools. Finally, I show that this came at a price in terms of children enrolment in schools. The same economic factors were contributing to a diversion of children from schools, either because of a relative impoverishment of workers or because of an increased opportunity cost of schooling. |
| Keywords: | primary instruction,industrial activities,nineteenth-century France |
| Date: | 2018–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-01826346&r=all |
| By: | Alex Bryson (University College London, National Institute of Social and Economic Research and Institute for the Study of Labor); Lucy Stokes (National Institute of Social and Economic Research and Institute for the Study of Labor); David Wilkinson (University College London and National Institute of Social and Economic Research and Institute for the Study of Labor) |
| Abstract: | Linking the Workplace Employment Relations Surveys 2004 and 2011 to administrative data on pupil attainment in England we examine whether secondary and primary schools who deploy more intensive human resource management (HRM) practices have higher pupil attainment. We find intensive use of HRM practices is positively and significantly correlated with higher labour productivity and quality of provision, and with better financial performance, most notably in primary schools, but it is not associated with higher pupil attainment as indicated by assessment scores at Key Stage 2, Key Stage 4 and value-added measures based on assessments at these points. |
| Keywords: | school performance; pupil attainment; value-added; human resource management |
| JEL: | I21 |
| Date: | 2018–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qss:dqsswp:1809&r=all |
| By: | Jeffrey Terziev; Elias Walsh |
| Abstract: | Student growth measures aim to describe gains in learning among a group of students, such as those in a teacher’s class or a school during a school year, based on how much their test scores changed. |
| Keywords: | rel, ma, mid-atlantic, fact sheet, student growth measures |
| JEL: | I |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:ce066170a2444ef5bae19e6e8e45c7ef&r=all |
| By: | Congressional Budget Office |
| Abstract: | The Federal Housing Administration insures the mortgages of people who might otherwise have trouble getting a home loan. This report analyzes policy options to reduce FHA’s exposure to risk from its program to guarantee single-family mortgages—including creating a larger role for private lenders and restricting the availability of FHA’s guarantees—while continuing to fulfill the agency’s primary mission of ensuring access to credit for first-time homebuyers and low-income borrowers. |
| JEL: | G18 G28 R31 R38 |
| Date: | 2017–09–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cbo:report:53084&r=all |
| By: | Garance Genicot |
| Abstract: | In this paper, individuals are characterized by their identity — an ideal code of conduct — and by a level of tolerance for behaviors that differ from their own ideal. Individuals first choose their behavior, then form social networks. This paper studies the possibility of compromise, i.e. individuals choosing a behavior different from their ideal point, in order to be accepted by others, to "belong.'' I first show that when tolerance levels are the same in society, compromise is impossible: individuals all choose their preferred behavior and form friendships only with others whose ideal point belong to their tolerance window. In contrast, I show that heterogeneity in tolerance allows for compromise in equilibrium. Moreover, if identity and tolerance are independently distributed, any equilibrium involves some compromise. |
| JEL: | D85 L14 O12 Z13 |
| Date: | 2019–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:25506&r=all |
| By: | Simon Briole (PSE - Paris School of Economics, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Keywords: | test scores,education,TIMSS,teacher quality,teaching practices,instruction time |
| Date: | 2019–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:psewpa:halshs-01993616&r=all |
| By: | Cohen, Jeffrey P. (University of Connecticut); Coughlin, Cletus C. (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis); Zabel, Jeffrey (Tufts University) |
| Abstract: | In this study, we develop and apply a new methodology for obtaining accurate and equitable property value assessments. This methodology adds a time dimension to the Geographically Weighted Regressions (GWR) framework, which we call Time-Geographically Weighted Regressions (TGWR). That is, when generating assessed values, we consider sales that are close in time and space to the designated unit. We think this is an important improvement of GWR since this increases the number of comparable sales that can be used to generate assessed values. Furthermore, it is likely that units that sold at an earlier time but are spatially near the designated unit are likely to be closer in value than units that are sold at a similar time but farther away geographically. This is because location is such an important determinant of house value. We apply this new methodology to sales data for residential properties in 50 municipalities in Connecticut for 1994-2013 and 145 municipalities in Massachusetts for 1987-2012. This allows us to compare results over a long time period and across municipalities in two states. We find that TGWR performs better than OLS with fixed effects and leads to less regressive assessed values than OLS. In many cases, TGWR performs better than GWR that ignores the time dimension. In at least one specification, several suburban and rural towns meet the IAAO Coefficient of Dispersion cutoffs for acceptable accuracy. |
| Keywords: | geographically weighted regression; assessment; property value; coefficient of dispersion; price-related differential |
| JEL: | C14 H71 R31 R51 |
| Date: | 2019–01–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedlwp:2019-005&r=all |
| By: | McCoy, Daire; Curtice, John |
| Abstract: | In order to better understand the potential for both policy and technological improvements to aid carbon abatement, long-term historical information on the time-path of transition from more traditional to cleaner fuels is useful. This is a relatively understudied element of the fuel switching literature in both developed and emerging economies. This research adds to this literature by examing the adoption time-path of network gas as a heating fuel. We merge a unique dataset on gas network roll-out over time, with other geo-coded data and employ an instrumental variables technique in order to simultaneously model supply and demand. Results indicate a non-linear relationship between the proportion of households using gas as their primary means of central heating and the length of time the network has been in place in each area. Proximity to the gas network, peat bogs, and areas which have banned the consumption of bituminous coal also affect gas connections. Variations in socioeconomic and dwelling characteristics at area level can also help explain connections to the gas network. A better understanding of this variation is crucial in designing targeted policies and can aid network expansion decisions |
| Keywords: | Residential fuel choice; Spatial economics; Instrumental variables estimation |
| JEL: | C31 Q40 |
| Date: | 2018–01–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:86625&r=all |
| By: | Quis, Johanna Sophie (University of Bamberg); Bela, Anika (Leibniz-Institut für Bildungsverläufe (LIfBi)); Heineck, Guido (University of Bamberg) |
| Abstract: | Are there skill differentials in young children's competence levels by their self-regulation abilities and do such early life differences mark the onset of increasing disparities in competence development? We add to previous research by investigating the relationship between preschoolers' self-regulation and their mathematical competence and its development early in primary school. We use data from the kindergarten cohort of the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) which provides observations of self-regulatory behavior as well as mathematical skills and allows controlling for a rich set of relevant background variables. Our results imply a positive association between children's self-regulation and their mathematical competence levels, even when holding general cognitive ability in kindergarten constant. Yet, self-regulation is not related to competence development over the first two years of primary school, meaning that the initial skill gap neither widens nor narrows substantially. Heterogeneity analyses indicate that self-regulation benefits children with low initial levels of mathematical competence at the transition from kindergarten to primary school. No growth gradient, however, is observable between grade 1 and grade 2. |
| Keywords: | self-regulation, skill formation, competence development |
| JEL: | I21 |
| Date: | 2019–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12072&r=all |
| By: | Anderson, D. Mark (Montana State University); Charles, Kerwin Kofi (Harris School, University of Chicago); Rees, Daniel I. (University of Colorado Denver) |
| Abstract: | This is a rejoinder to a comment written by Cutler and Miller on our recent paper, "Public Health Efforts and the Decline in Urban Mortality" (IZA DP No. 11773), which reanalyzes data used by Cutler and Miller to investigate the determinants of the urban mortality decline from 1900 to 1936. Two main results emerge from our reanalysis of their data: (1) correcting infant mortality counts reduces the estimated effect of filtration on infant mortality by two-thirds, from -43 log points to -13 log points; and (2) using a consistent method of the calculating the total mortality rate shrinks the estimated effect of filtration on total mortality by half, from -16 log points to -8 log points. In this rejoinder, we argue that the much-reduced estimate of the effect of water filtration on infant mortality is a dramatic and surprising departure from the consensus view in the literature. In addition, we show that the estimated effect of water filtration on total mortality is extremely fragile. Evidence of this fragility may also be found in recent work by Catillon, Cutler and Getzen (2018). |
| Keywords: | public health, mortality, chlorination, filtration, pasteurization, sewage |
| JEL: | I15 I18 |
| Date: | 2019–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12077&r=all |
| By: | Esposito, Piero; Collignon, Stefan; Schicchitano, Sergio |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we assess the impact of immigration and unemployment for a sample of 15 EU countries between 1997 and 2016. We test for the existence of a core-periphery dualism based on differences in macroeconomic fundamentals and labour market characteristics. We use a Panel Error Correction Model to assess the direction and persistence of the impact of immigration on domestic unemployment in the short and in the long run. In the long run, immigration is found to reduce unemployment in all peripheral-countries. In core countries, we find no long-run impact of immigration on unemployment due to substantial heterogeneity. As for short-run dynamics, we find a confirmation of the result that immigration reduces unemployment for the whole sample. Based on differences in employment protection and activity rates, larger impacts are found for Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon countries, while lower and less significant impacts are found for Italy, Greece and Portugal. |
| Keywords: | International Migration,Unemployment,European Union,Panel Data |
| JEL: | C23 E23 F22 J61 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:310&r=all |
| By: | Steffen Andersen; Philippe d'Astous; Jimmy Martínez-Correa; Stephen H. Shore |
| Abstract: | We study consumers’ responses to removing a saving constraint. Mortgage run-offs predictably relax a saving constraint for borrowers whose mortgage committed them to save by paying down principal. Using the entire Danish population, we identify mortgages on track to run off between 1995 and 2014. We measure the effect of run-offs on earnings and the household balance sheet. We find that borrowers use 39 percent of previous mortgage payments to decrease labor income, and use 53 percent to pay down other debts. Borrowers run up non-mortgage debt prior to the run-off and this run-up stops once the mortgage is repaid. |
| Keywords: | earnings, savings, mortgage run-off |
| JEL: | E21 G21 J01 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rsi:irersi:1&r=all |
| By: | Vernby, Kåre (Stockholms universitet); Dancygier, Rafaela (Princeton university) |
| Abstract: | How pervasive is labor market discrimination against immigrants and what options do policymakers and migrants have to reduce it? To answer these questions, we conducted a field experiment on employer discrimination in Sweden. Going beyond existing work, we test for a large range of applicant characteristics using a factorial design. We examine whether migrants can affect their employment chances – by adopting citizenship, acquiring work experience, or signaling religious practice – or whether fixed traits such as country of birth or gender are more consequential. We find no evidence that immigrants can affect their employment chances by any of the tested means. Rather, ethnic hierarchies are critical: callback rates decline precipitously with the degree of ethno-cultural distance, leaving Iraqis and Somalis, especially if they are male, with much reduced employment chances. These findings highlight that immigrants have few tools at their disposal to escape ethnic penalties and that efforts to reduce discrimination must address employer prejudice. |
| Keywords: | country of birth; citizenship; gender; work-experience; religion; discrimination; field experiment; labor market |
| JEL: | J23 J71 |
| Date: | 2018–11–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2018_017&r=all |
| By: | Bindler, Anna (University of Gothenburg); Ketel, Nadine (University of Gothenburg) |
| Abstract: | Little is known about the costs of crime to victims and their families. In this paper, we use unique and detailed register data on victimisations and labour market outcomes from the Netherlands to overcome data restrictions previously met in the literature and estimate event-study designs to assess the short- and long-term effects of criminal victimisation. Our results show significant decreases in earnings (6.6-9.3%) and increases in the days of benefit receipt (10.4-14.7%) which are lasting up to eight years after victimisation. We find shorter-lived responses in health expenditure. Additional analyses suggest that the victimisation can be interpreted as an escalation point, potentially triggering subsequent adverse life-events which contribute to its persistent impact. Heterogeneity analyses show that the effects are slightly larger for males regarding earnings and significantly larger for females regarding benefits. These differences appear to be largely (but not completely) driven by different offence characteristics. Lastly, we investigate spill-over effects on nonvictimised partners and find evidence for a spill-over effect of violent threat on the partner's earnings. |
| Keywords: | crime, victimisation, labour market outcomes, event-study design |
| JEL: | K4 J01 J12 I1 |
| Date: | 2019–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12082&r=all |
| By: | Daniel Goya |
| Abstract: | I construct a network of input-output linkages in Chilean manufacturing and show that a negative demand shock has an impact on the number of firms producing in sectors that supply the sectors affected by the shock. Approximately one-third of the effect of increased Chinese competition on the extensive margin can be attributed to these network effects. The observed effect is a combination of multiproduct firms dropping varieties and firms leaving the market. I also study whether there is evidence of 'cascading failures' that could amplify the impact of idiosyncratic shocks. I find no evidence of these 'cascading effects'. |
| Keywords: | production networks, extensive margin, propagation of shocks, input-output, Chinese competition. |
| JEL: | D57 L25 |
| Date: | 2019–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucv:wpaper:2019-01&r=all |