|
on Urban and Real Estate Economics |
| By: | Michael Bailey; Patrick Farrell; Theresa Kuchler; Johannes Stroebel |
| Abstract: | We use anonymized and aggregated data from Facebook to explore the spatial structure of social networks in the New York metro area. We highlight the importance of transportation infrastructure in shaping urban social networks by showing that travel time and travel costs are substantially stronger predictors of social connectedness between zip codes than geographic distance is. We also document significant heterogeneity in the geographic breadth of social networks across New York zip codes, and show that much of this heterogeneity is explained by the ease of access to public transit, even after controlling for socioeconomic characteristics of the zip codes' residents. When we group zip codes with strong social ties into hypothetical communities using an agglomerative clustering algorithm, we find that geographically non-contiguous locations are grouped into socially connected communities, again highlighting that geographic distance is an imperfect proxy for urban social connectedness. We also explore the social connections between New York zip codes and foreign countries, and highlight how these are related to past migration movements. |
| JEL: | R1 R3 R4 |
| Date: | 2019–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:26029&r=all |
| By: | Brinkman, Jeffrey (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia); Lin, Jeffrey (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia) |
| Abstract: | Freeway revolts were widespread protests across the U.S. following early urban Interstate construction in the mid-1950s. We present theory and evidence from panel data on neighborhoods and travel behavior to show that diminished quality of life from freeway disamenities inspired the revolts, affected the allocation of freeways within cities, and changed city structure. First, actual freeway construction diverged from initial plans in the wake of the growing freeway revolts and subsequent policy responses, especially in central neighborhoods. Second, freeways caused slower growth in population, income, and land values in central areas, but faster growth in outlying areas. These patterns suggest that in central areas, freeway disamenity effects exceeded small access benefits. Third, in a quantitative general equilibrium spatial model, the aggregate benefits from burying or capping freeways are large and concentrated downtown. This result suggests that targeted mitigation policies could improve welfare and helps explain why opposition to freeways is often observed in central neighborhoods. Disamenities from freeways, versus their commuting benefits, likely played a significant role in the decentralization of U.S. cities. |
| Keywords: | central cities; amenities; commuting costs; suburbanization; highways |
| JEL: | N72 N92 O18 Q51 R14 R23 R41 R42 |
| Date: | 2019–07–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedpwp:19-29&r=all |
| By: | Knut Are Aastveit; Bruno Albuquerque; André Anundsen (-) |
| Abstract: | Recent developments in US house prices mirror those of the 1996-2006 boom, but the recovery in construction activity has been weak. Using data for 254 US metropolitan areas, we show that housing supply elasticities have fallen markedly in recent years. Housing supply elasticities have declined more in areas where land-use regulation has tightened the most, and in areas that experienced the sharpest housing busts. A lowering of the housing supply elasticity implies a stronger price responsiveness to demand shocks, whereas quantity reacts less. Consistent with this, we find that an expansionary monetary policy shock has a considerably stronger effect on house prices during the recent recovery than during the previous housing boom. At the same time, building permits respond less. |
| Keywords: | House prices, Heterogeneity, Housing supply elasticities, Monetary policy |
| JEL: | C23 E32 E52 R31 |
| Date: | 2019–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rug:rugwps:19/972&r=all |
| By: | Chris Bloor; Bruce Lu (Reserve Bank of New Zealand) |
| Abstract: | As part of sound regulatory practice, the Reserve Bank wants to further its understanding, and the public’s understanding, of how the policy has influenced financial stability. This paper contributes to this objective by developing a modelling framework that quantifies the extent that the loan-to-value ratio (LVR) policy has improved the resilience of the banking system to a severe downturn in house prices. We find that the LVR restrictions have significantly improved the resilience of the banking system. The LVR policy has reduced the scale of mortgage defaults and credit losses that would occur in a housing downturn, due to a reduction in risky loans on bank balance sheets and the mitigation of a potential house price decline. This resilience benefit has been partly offset by a fall in capital requirements that results from lower credit risk, reducing the banks’ buffer for absorbing credit losses. Nevertheless, the LVR policy is estimated to have reduced mortgage losses – as a share of the capital banks hold against their housing loans – by 12 percentage points. The policy is found to have mitigated about half of the deterioration in bank resilience from 2013 that would have occurred in the absence of the policy. Our estimates are sensitive to judgements on key variables and inputs. The resilience benefit of the LVR policy is contingent on the level of housing market risk that would exist without the policy. This suggests a stronger case to deploy the LVR tool when the risk of a house price decline is high. We were unable to model the resilience benefit of restricting property investor lending with confidence, although a provisional estimate suggests that the benefit may be large. Therefore, the headline estimate may understate the resilience benefit of the LVR intervention. A comprehensive assessment of the policy’s efficacy needs to consider the cost of the policy, which is outside the scope of this paper. |
| Date: | 2019–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nzb:nzbans:2019/07&r=all |
| By: | Jason Fletcher (Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs, University of Wisconsin); Stephen Ross (University of Connecticut); Yuxiu Zhang (Genentech) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of youth friendship links on student's own academic performance (grade point average) using the Add Health. We estimate a reduced form, high dimensional fixed effects model of within cohort or grade friendship links, and use this model to predict each student's number of friends whose mothers have a four year college degree. The effects of friendship links are identified using across-cohort, within school variation in demographic composition of the student's cohort or grade. We find that increases in number of friendship links with students whose mothers are college educated raises grade point average among girls, but not among boys. Additional analyses suggest a positive view of the school environment and a perception of one's self as functioning well in that environment as possible mechanisms. The effects are relatively broad based across students over maternal education, racial and ethnic composition and across schools that vary in demographic composition over the same variables. |
| Keywords: | Social Interactions; Friendships; Heterogeneous Peer Effects; Grades; Cohort Study; Non-Cognitive Effects |
| JEL: | I21 J13 R23 |
| Date: | 2019–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hka:wpaper:2019-043&r=all |
| By: | Nicholas Z. Muller; Caroline A. Hopkins |
| Abstract: | This study uses hedonic property models to explore how coastal real estate markets subject to heterogeneous information treatments respond to flood risk. We identify reactions to flood risk, distinctly from price effects due to flood damage, by examining non-local flooding events. Utilizing a difference-in-difference methodology, we test whether the coastal real estate market in New Jersey responds to several well-publicized hurricanes and tropical storms that did not strike the Atlantic seaboard. We find that homes in high flood risk zones situated in towns that participate in public flood awareness activities incur a 7 to 16 percent decrease in price after the non-local shock. |
| JEL: | H41 Q51 Q54 R31 |
| Date: | 2019–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:25984&r=all |
| By: | ITF |
| Abstract: | This reports benchmarks road safety performance for 72 urban areas, mostly in Europe, and illustrates governance solutions to improve urban road safety with case studies conducted in Lisbon (Portugal) and Riga (Latvia). The report proposes new road safety indicators to assess the level of risk for each mode of transport. It finds that a modal shift away from private motor vehicles could significantly enhance road safety in dense urban areas and deliver public health benefits associated with increased physical activity and improved air quality. |
| Date: | 2019–04–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:itfaac:67-en&r=all |
| By: | F. Cerina; E. Dienesch; A. Moro; M. Rendall |
| Abstract: | In this paper we study the allocation of skills across space and time in the U.S. We start by documenting two facts on the phenomenon of employment polarization - i) it is stronger in larger vs smaller cities and ii) it is mainly driven by heads rather than hours. We then build a spatial general equilibrium model in which workers with heterogeneous skills choose the location in which they live and work. The model provides a theory based measure of skills that we use to investigate how the skill distribution changes across time and space in the U.S. Consistent with the empirical evidence on employment polarization by city size, we find that between 1980 and 2008 larger cities display a higher increase in the fraction of both high- and low-skilled workers relative to smaller cities, which in turn display a higher increase in the fraction of medium- skilled. We calibrate the model to evaluate the role of technology and find that faster skill-biased technological change in larger cities can account for a substantial fraction of the differential emergence of fat tails and employment polarization between large and small cities. |
| Keywords: | Employment Polarization;Spatial Sorting;City Sizes |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cns:cnscwp:201909&r=all |
| By: | Golsteyn, Bart H.H. (Maastricht University); Jansen, Maria W. J. (Maastricht University); Van Kann, Dave H. H. (Fontys University of Applied Sciences); Verhagen, Annelore (Maastricht University) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates whether encouraging children to become more physically active in their everyday life affects their primary school performance. We use data from a field quasi-experiment called the Active Living Program, which aimed to increase active modes of transportation to school and active play among 8- to 12-year-olds living in low socioeconomic status (SES) areas in the Netherlands. Difference-in-differences estimations reveal that while the interventions increase time spent on physical activity during school hours, they negatively affect school performance, especially among the worst-performing students. Further analyses reveal that increased restlessness during instruction time is a potential mechanism for this negative effect. Our results suggest that the commonly found positive effects of exercising or participating in sports on educational outcomes may not be generalizable to physical activity in everyday life. Policymakers and educators who seek to increase physical activity in everyday life need to weigh the health and well-being benefits against the probability of increasing inequality in school performance. |
| Keywords: | health behavior, field quasi-experiment, education, physical activity |
| JEL: | I12 C93 I20 |
| Date: | 2019–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12454&r=all |
| By: | Alessandra, Michelangeli; Umut, Türk |
| Abstract: | Intergenerational mobility refers to children moving up from the social class position held by their parents. Previous studies indicate family background as one of the major determinants of socioeconomic mobility and, in general, of individual life chances. This paper extends the standard approach to measure intergenerational social mobility by examining the role of cities where offspring grew up. The idea is that cities can provide resources and opportunities able to increase the chance of employment and status attainment. We assess intergenerational mobility in Italy, the most immobile country in Europe together with Greece and Portugal. We use a data survey provided by the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), which provides information on the individual-level track of Italian students’ life path from high school to occupation. We merge these data with city-level data on economic conditions, human capital, and social capital. We distinguish between students who attended university in the same province where they presumably grew up and those who migrated to another province for higher education. This allows us to test whether migration affects the shift in occupation type and, if so, which characteristics of cities enhance upward mobility. |
| Keywords: | Intergenerational social mobility; spatial mobility; cities. |
| JEL: | J62 R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2019–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mib:wpaper:397&r=all |
| By: | Sylvain Dejean (CE.RE.GE - CEntre de REcherche en GEstion - ULR - Université de La Rochelle - IAE Poitiers - Institut d'Administration des Entreprises (IAE) - Poitiers - Université de Poitiers - Université de Poitiers) |
| Abstract: | This article aims to estimate the cost of distance in the geographical flow of crowdfunding, and to show how social ties between the 94 French metropolitan regions shape the geography of funding. Our analysis draws upon a unique database provided by the French leader in rewards-based crowdfunding. The main result is that the elasticity of distance remains important (around 0.5), and that social ties between regions determine the flow of funding. Doubling the number of immigrants in a region increases the number of investments by 24% and reduces the impact of distance. |
| Keywords: | Crowdfunding,economic geography,social networks,gravity |
| Date: | 2019–06–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01645147&r=all |
| By: | Francisco Azpitarte; Olga Alonso-Villar; Felipe Hugo-Rojas |
| Abstract: | We study changes in the spatial distribution of socioeconomic groups in Australia using a new dataset with harmonised census data for 1991 and 2011. We find a general increase in residential segregation by education and occupation groups across the major capital cities. Importantly, results from our counterfactual analyses show this increase cannot be explained in general by changes in the demographic structure of groups and areas but rather by the rise in the over and underrepresentation of the groups across areas. Our analysis reveals clear diverging trends in the spatial configuration of high and low socioeconomic groups. While high-skilled groups became more concentrated in the inner parts of cities between 1991 and 2011, the low-skilled became increasingly overrepresented in outer areas. This pattern is observed in all five major capital cities but it is especially marked in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. |
| Date: | 2019–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vig:wpaper:1903&r=all |
| By: | ITF |
| Abstract: | This report presents a new urban accessibility framework. It identifies which destinations can be reached on foot, by bicycle, public transport or car within a certain time (accessibility). It then measures how many destinations are close by (proximity). The comparison between accessible destinations and nearby destinations shows how well each transport mode performs (transport performance). These three indicators are calculated for destinations such as schools, hospitals, food shops, restaurants, people, recreational opportunities and green spaces in 121 cities in 30 European countries. |
| Date: | 2019–05–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:itfaac:68-en&r=all |
| By: | James A. Kahn; Benjamin S. Kay |
| Abstract: | We provide new evidence that credit supply shifts contributed to the U.S. subprime mortgage boom and bust. We collect original data on both government and private mortgage insurance premiums from 1999-2016, and document that prior to 2008, premiums did not vary across loans with widely different observable characteristics that we show were predictors of default risk. Then, using a set of post-crisis insurance premiums to fit a model of default behavior, and allowing for time-varying expectations about house price appreciation, we quantify the mispricing of default risk in premiums prior to 2008. We show that the flat premium structure, which necessarily resulted in safer mortgages cross-subsidizing riskier ones, produced substantial adverse selection. Government insurance maintained an even flatter premium structure even post-crisis, and consequently also suffered from adverse selection. But after 2008 it reduced its exposure to default risk through a combination of hi gher premiums and rationing at the extensive margin. |
| Keywords: | Default Risk ; Financial Crisis ; Housing Finance ; Mortgage Insurance |
| JEL: | E32 G21 E44 |
| Date: | 2019–06–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2019-46&r=all |
| By: | Sophie Augustin (Department of Economics, Vienna University of Economics and Business); Daniela Rroshi (Department of Economics, Vienna University of Economics and Business); Alyssa Schneebaum (Department of Economics, Vienna University of Economics and Business) |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes a method to study the relationship between voters' attitudes towards immigration and the educational attainment of immigrants and their children, and applies it to Austrian data. We measure attitudes towards immigration using data on political parties' positions regarding immigration and the share of votes that each party received at the regional level. We then study the educational attainment and intergenerational educational mobility of immigrants who grew up in the regions whose political environment we observe. Preliminary results for Aus- tria suggest that, surprisingly, better attitudes towards migration are associated with lower educational attainment for immigrants. However, immigrants are more likely than their native peers to obtain more education than their parents. Here, the returns to more positive attitudes towards immigration play a large role in explaining the mobility gap across migration background. |
| Keywords: | educational attainment, immigration, voting behaviour, social attitudes |
| JEL: | I24 J15 I21 D72 |
| Date: | 2019–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwwuw:wuwp287&r=all |
| By: | Alessandro Cepparulo (Department of Economics, Society & Politics, Universit? di Urbino Carlo Bo); Antonello Zanfei (Department of Economics, Society & Politics, Universit? di Urbino Carlo Bo) |
| Abstract: | Using a novel dataset on the diffusion of public eServices at the city level in EU 15, this paper contributes to extant empirical literature in three ways. First, it extends the coverage of public eServices beyond eGovernment, investigating four service categories: Infomobility, eProcurement, eGovernment and eHealth. Second, it provides information for both a cross-country and cross-municipality comparison. Third, on the methodological side, it also extends the literature on composite indicators at a municipal level. Cities exhibiting the highest diffusion of public eServices are found to be medium-large, highly endowed with well-educated human capital, and characterised by a lively industrial atmosphere favoured by a reasonable number and variety of production and service activities. The relative performance of the European cities helps identify plausible directions to be taken for policies aimed at favoring the diffusion of public service innovation in Europe. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, eGovernment, Public eServices, Information Policy, ICT. |
| JEL: | O33 O38 L96 H83 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:urb:wpaper:19_04&r=all |
| By: | Aris Christodoulou (European Commission - JRC); Panayotis Christidis (European Commission – JRC) |
| Abstract: | The report provides a set of indicators and tools that allow policy makers to measure accessibility and connectivity of border regions in Europe at both national and international levels. The methodology can be used to identify areas where transport infrastructure may be lacking and prioritize potential investments based on specific policy relevant criteria. The approach uses very detailed spatially disaggregate data covering EU28 plus Norway and Switzerland at grid level (1km by 1km), as well as the complete road network. This level of resolution allows many of the specificities of the areas covered to be taken into account. |
| Keywords: | accessibility, road transport, border regions, network efficiency |
| JEL: | R00 R40 O18 L91 |
| Date: | 2019–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc113364&r=all |
| By: | Agarwal, Sumit (National University of Singapore); Ambrose, Brent W. (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia); Diop, Moussa (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia) |
| Abstract: | Prior studies debating the effects of changes to the minimum wage concentrate on impacts on household income and spending or employment. We extend this debate by examining the impact of changes to the minimum wage on expenses associated with shelter, a previously unexplored area. Increases in state minimum wages significantly reduce the incidence of renters defaulting on their lease contracts by 1.29 percentage points over three months, relative to similar renters who did not experience an increase in the minimum wage. This represents 25.7% fewer defaults post treatment in treated states. To put this into perspective, a 1% increase in minimum wage translates into a 2.6% decrease in rental default. This evidence is consistent with wage increases having an immediate impact on relaxing renter budget constraints. However, this effect slowly decreases over time as landlords react to wage increases by increasing rents. Our analysis is based on a unique data set that tracks household rental payments. |
| Keywords: | minimum wage increase; lease defaults; rental market; household income |
| JEL: | G0 G13 G18 G28 R3 R31 R38 |
| Date: | 2019–07–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedpwp:19-28&r=all |
| By: | Astrid Pennerstorfer; Dieter Pennerstorfer |
| Abstract: | Equal access to childcare services is a key concern of childcare policy. This article analyses social inequalities in the availability of such services. We explore how observed disparities are related to the socio-economic status of neighbourhoods and investigate how different provider types contribute to such differences. To do so, we use data on all childcare centres in the city of Vienna, Austria, on the spatial distribution of children aged under six and on three measures of neighbourhood status, over a period of eight years. We find that spatial accessibility is highest in neighbourhoods with the highest socioeconomic status, that such inequality has increased over time and that both effects can be attributed to the role of non-profits. The results indicate that the policy change undertaken in Vienna towards increased communitarisation – that is, a shift towards non-profit provision – has undermined the universal character of the city’s childcare system. |
| Keywords: | childcare, spatial accessibility, welfare mix, non-profit sector, Austria |
| JEL: | R53 H44 J13 |
| Date: | 2019–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jku:econwp:2019_15&r=all |
| By: | Arthur Charpentier; Alfred Galichon; Lucas Vernet |
| Abstract: | This article presents a set of tools for the modeling of a spatial allocation problem in a large geographic market and gives examples of applications. In our settings, the market is described by a network that maps the cost of travel between each pair of adjacent locations. Two types of agents are located at the nodes of this network. The buyers choose the most competitive sellers depending on their prices and the cost to reach them. Their utility is assumed additive in both these quantities. Each seller, taking as given other sellers prices, sets her own price to have a demand equal to the one we observed. We give a linear programming formulation for the equilibrium conditions. After formally introducing our model we apply it on two examples: prices offered by petrol stations and quality of services provided by maternity wards. These examples illustrate the applicability of our model to aggregate demand, rank prices and estimate cost structure over the network. We insist on the possibility of applications to large scale data sets using modern linear programming solvers such as Gurobi. In addition to this paper we released a R toolbox to implement our results and an online tutorial (http://optimalnetwork.github.io) |
| Date: | 2019–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1907.02320&r=all |
| By: | Sarah Dolfin; Scott Richman; Jane Choi; Andrei Streke; Cheryl DeSaw; Alicia Demers; Dmitriy Poznyak |
| Abstract: | Mathematica’s report on the Teacher Potential Project, an initiative of EL Education, finds that the program—which includes an English language arts standards-aligned curriculum and embedded professional development for teachers—can improve teacher instructional practices and student achievement. |
| Keywords: | teacher professional development, instructional practices, Common Core State Standards, middle grades teachers, novice teachers, English Language Arts |
| JEL: | I |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:9962d3854795415d967d4e13b3d74cc5&r=all |
| By: | Robert J. Hill (Department of Economics, University of Graz); Miriam Steurer (Department of Economics, University of Graz); Sofie R. Waltl (Department of Economics, Vienna University of Economics and Business) |
| Abstract: | The treatment of owner-occupied housing (OOH) is probably the most important unresolved issue in inflation measurement. How -- and whether -- it is included in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) affects inflation expectations, the measured level of real interest rates, and the behavior of governments, central banks and market participants. We show that none of the existing treatments of OOH are fit for purpose. Hence we propose a new simplified user cost method with better properties. Using a micro-level dataset, we then compare the empirical behavior of eight different treatments of OOH. Our preferred user cost approach pushes up the CPI during housing booms (by 2 percentage points or more). Our findings relate to the following important debates in macroeconomics: the behavior of the Phillips curve in the US during the global financial crisis, and the response of monetary policy to housing booms, secular stagnation, and globalization. |
| Keywords: | Measurement of inflation, Owner occupied housing, User cost, Rental equivalence, Quantile regression, Hedonic imputation, Housing booms and busts, Inflation targeting, Leaning against the wind, Phillips curve, Disinflation puzzle, Secular stagnation |
| JEL: | C31 C43 E01 E31 E52 R31 |
| Date: | 2019–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwwuw:wuwp285&r=all |
| By: | ITF |
| Abstract: | This report explores the impacts that the introduction of higher capacity vehicles has on road freight transport markets, modal shift, infrastructure and safety. It investigates how appropriate regulation together with ITS measures could be applied for relaxing the weight and dimension restrictions and allowing the use of these vehicles in specific geographical areas or on specific routes. |
| Date: | 2019–05–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:itfaac:69-en&r=all |
| By: | Hyslop, Dean R.; Rea, David |
| Abstract: | A major concern with demand side housing subsidies to low-income tenants is the extent to which they may be captured by landlords in the form of higher rents. The Accommodation Supplement (AS) benefit is the largest housing subsidy policy in New Zealand. A 2005 policy change created a new AS-area around central Auckland that resulted in an increase in AS entitlement for residents within the area compared to those outside. In this paper we exploit the natural experiment created by this policy change to evaluate whether the increase in accommodation support for recipients in the new area led to relatively higher rents than paid by recipients outside the boundary. We use administrative data for a sample of AS recipients on either side of the new area boundary over the four-year period spanning the policy change. Our analysis shows that as a result of the policy change, recipients on the inside of the boundary received around $6.81 per week more in total accommodation support in the second year after the policy was implemented. We estimate that weekly rents increased on average about $2.44 more inside the boundary (36 percent of the increase in AS) and, as expected, the impacts were stronger at higher quantiles of the rent distribution. We also find that the rent increases were concentrated among families with children, and present some evidence that this reflected increased spending on housing (which may have reduced over-crowding), rather than a wider increase in rental prices. |
| Keywords: | Food Security and Poverty |
| Date: | 2018–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:motuwp:290501&r=all |
| By: | Laliotis, Dimitrios; Buesa, Alejandro; Leber, Miha; Población García, Francisco Javier |
| Abstract: | We assess the effects of regulatory caps in the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio using agent-based models (ABMs). Our approach builds upon a straightforward ABM where we model the interactions of sellers, buyers and banks within a computational framework that enables the application of LTV caps. The results are first presented using simulated data and then we calibrate the probability distributions based on actual European data from the HFCS survey. The results suggest that this approach can be viewed as a useful alternative to the existing analytical frameworks for assessing the impact of macroprudential measures, mainly due to the very few assumptions the method relies upon and the ability to easily incorporate additional and more complex features related to the behavioral response of borrowers to such measures. JEL Classification: D14, D31, E50, R21 |
| Keywords: | borrower-based measures, HFCS survey, house prices, macroprudential policy |
| Date: | 2019–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20192294&r=all |
| By: | Alfredo Cartone; Geoffrey JD Hewings; Paolo Postiglione |
| Abstract: | The presence of \b{eta}-convergence in European regions is an important issue to be analyzed. In this paper, we adopt a quantile regression approach in analyzing economic convergence. While previous work has performed quantile regression at the national level, we focus on 187 European NUTS2 regions for the period 1981-2009 and use spatial quantile regression to account for spatial dependence. |
| Date: | 2019–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1906.04613&r=all |
| By: | Jonathan Norris (Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Within the economic literature, studies in identity economics, peer effects, and skill development have all suggested that social influences have an important role in determining choices. In this review, I draw on lessons learned from the identity economics literature to examine implications from the peer effects and skill development literature. I focus on the role of social identity in generating social group effects from peers and what role identity may have in shaping the development of skills from broader environments, parents and peers during childhood and adolescence. |
| Keywords: | identify economics, skill development, peer effects, parental skill investments |
| JEL: | I3 J0 |
| Date: | 2019–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:str:wpaper:1908&r=all |
| By: | Sin, Isabelle; Stillman, Steven; Fabling, Richard |
| Abstract: | As in other OECD countries, women in New Zealand earn substantially less than men with similar observable characteristics. In this paper, we use a decade of annual wage and productivity data from New Zealand’s Linked Employer-Employee Database to examine different explanations for this gender wage gap. Sorting by gender at either the industry or firm level explains less than one-fifth of the overall wage gap. Gender differences in productivity within firms also explain little of the difference seen in wages. The relationships between the gender wage-productivity gap and both age and tenure are inconsistent with statistical discrimination being an important explanatory factor for the remaining differences in wages. Relating across industry and over time variation in the gender wage-productivity gap to industry-year variation in worker skills, and product market and labour market competition, we find evidence that is consistent with taste discrimination being important for explaining the overall gender wage gap. Explanations based on gender differences in bargaining power are less consistent with our findings. |
| Keywords: | Labor and Human Capital |
| Date: | 2017–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:motuwp:290511&r=all |
| By: | Wouter Zant (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | We investigate to what extent the roll-out of the mobile phone network in Mozambique reduced transport costs and search costs, and thereby decreased spatial price dispersion and improved market efficiency. Estimations are based on data of transport costs of maize grain and maize market prices. The mobile phone rollout explains a 10%-13% reduction in maize price dispersion. Around half of this reduction is associated with search costs related to transport, the other half with other search costs, for example for the collection of maize in source markets. Search costs are substantial and also a substantial component of total transport costs. Benefits of increased market efficiency are biased towards consumer markets. Results are robust for non-random rollout of the mobile phone network and several other threats. |
| Keywords: | search costs, transport costs, mobile phones, agricultural markets, maize prices, Mozambique, sub-Sahara Africa |
| JEL: | Q13 O13 O33 Q11 |
| Date: | 2019–07–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20190047&r=all |
| By: | Nicolas Apfel |
| Abstract: | The widely used shift-share instrument is generated by summing the products of regional shares and aggregate shifts. All products must fulfill the exclusion restriction, for the instrument to be valid. I propose applying methods which can preselect invalid products when either more than half or the largest group of products is valid. I discuss extensions of these methods for fixed effects models. I illustrate the procedures with three applications: a simulation study, the labor market effect of Chinese import competition and the effect of immigration to the US. My results help explain why previous studies have found low effects of immigration. |
| Date: | 2019–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1907.00222&r=all |
| By: | Khorunzhina, Natalia; Miller, Robert |
| Abstract: | This paper develops and estimates a dynamic model of discrete choice for labor supply, fertility and transition from tenant to homeowner, to investigate the secular decline in homeownership over the past several decades, wholly attributable to households postponing the purchase of their first home. House prices only partly explain the decline; higher base level wages led to lower fertility also contributing to the decline, because households with children are more likely to own a home than those without. Somewhat surprisingly we find higher levels of female education ameliorated this trend, highly educated women placing greater value on homeownership. |
| Keywords: | Housing Demand, Fertility, Labor Supply |
| JEL: | D14 D91 J13 J22 R21 |
| Date: | 2019–07–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:94832&r=all |
| By: | Chris Dempsey (No Boston Olympics); Victor Matheson (Department of Economics and Accounting, College of the Holy CrossAuthor-Name: Victor Matheson; Department of Economics, Smith College) |
| Abstract: | The Olympic Games are a major undertaking that promise both large costs and potentially large benefits to host cities. This paper lays out the potential economic benefits of hosting the Olympics and details how, in the vast majority of cases, these gains are unlikely to cover the costs of hosting the event. The ideas are then applied to the experience of Boston in its ultimately unsuccessful bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics. |
| Keywords: | Olympics, mega-events, impact analysis, Boston, tourism |
| JEL: | O18 R53 |
| Date: | 2019–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hcx:wpaper:1902&r=all |
| By: | Coates, Dermot (Central Bank of Ireland); Daly, Pierce (Central Bank of Ireland); Keenan, Enda (Central Bank of Ireland); Kennedy, Gerard (Central Bank of Ireland); McCarthy, Barra (Central Bank of Ireland) |
| Abstract: | Real estate markets are important to the financial sector and the economy as a whole, due to their size and interconnectedness. While data availability in respect of banks’ real estate exposures and the risks involved in property-related lending by the banking sector have been examined extensively, the same cannot be said of the growing role of the non-banking sector in the property market. By drawing together a variety of internal Central Bank of Ireland sources with data published by external bodies, this Financial Stability Note aims to help address existing gaps in data and knowledge surrounding the involvement of non-bank entities in the Irish commercial property market. A detailed breakdown of domestic CRE ownership, along institutional lines is provided for the first time, showing the dominant role of real estate investment funds (REIFs), and to a lesser extent, real estate investment trusts (REITs), insurance corporations and pension funds. The funding profiles of REIFs and REITs are explored. This reveals that as much as half of their liabilities originates from abroad. Evidence surrounding the existence of interlinkages between REIFs, REITs and the Irish banking sector is also presented. Finally, potential financial stability risks arising from these connections, current ownership structures and funding practices, are briefly discussed. |
| Date: | 2019–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cbi:fsnote:6/fs/19&r=all |
| By: | Abha D. Jain |
| Abstract: | School students have strong needs to understand and influence their environment. Unfortunately all schools too often provide students with limited opportunities for meeting these needs. Indeed significant number of students seems to view schools as confusing places in which they have little or no ability to influence their environment. The present study intents to assess the effect of school environment on the XIIth standard students with reference to the demographic variables. Key Words: school, environment, school environment Policy |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vor:issues:2017-23-02&r=all |
| By: | Estelle Xue Liu (IMF); Zijun Liu (HKMA) |
| Abstract: | In recognition of the potential risk arising from the rapidly increasing cross-border interbank funding in Asia, we examine the contagion of funding shocks through the regional interbank network. We find that the breadth and the final impact of the shock crucially hinge on the magnitude of the shock, initial liquidity buffers and the structure of the interbank network. Liquidity hoarding during financial distress aggravates the severity of the shock, while the interconnectedness of the interbank network may either aggravate or mitigate the shock depending on the size of the shock. |
| Keywords: | funding runs, interbank, network analysis, financial crisis, liquidity ratio, Asia |
| JEL: | G18 G21 L14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cth:wpaper:gru_2018_019&r=all |
| By: | Preston, Kate; Mare, David; Grimes, Arthur; Donovan, Stuart |
| Abstract: | We analyse which factors attract people and firms (and hence jobs) to different settlements across New Zealand. Using theoretically consistent measures derived within the urban economics literature, we compile quality of life and quality of business indicators for 130 ‘cities’ (settlements) from 1976 to 2013, using census rent and wage data. Our analyses both include and exclude the three largest cities (Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch). Places that are attractive to live in tend to be sunny, dry and near water (i.e. the sea or a lake). Since the mid-1990s, attractive places have also had relatively high shares of the workforce engaged in education and (to a lesser extent) health. Attractive places have high employment shares in the food, accommodation, arts and recreation service sectors; however (unlike for education and health) we find no evidence that quality of life is related to changes in employment share for these sectors. The quality of business is highest in larger cities, and this relationship is especially strong when the country’s three largest cities are included in the analysis. |
| Keywords: | Consumer/Household Economics, Public Economics |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:motuwp:290497&r=all |
| By: | Fouarge, Didier (ROA, Maastricht University); Özer, Merve Nezihe (Maastricht University); Seegers, Philipp K. (Maastricht University) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the relationship between Big Five personality traits and individuals' intentions to migrate in countries that vary in their culture. Using data collected from university students in Germany, we find that extraversion and openness are positively associated with migration intentions, while agreeableness, conscientiousness, and emotional stability negatively relate to migration intentions. Openness positively and extraversion negatively relate to the willingness to move to culturally distant countries after controlling for geographic distance and economic differences between countries. Using language as a cultural distance indicator provides evidence that extravert and conscientious individuals are less likely to prefer linguistically distant countries while agreeable individuals tend to consider such countries as potential destinations. |
| Keywords: | migration intentions, destination choice, cultural distance, Big Five personality traits |
| JEL: | D91 J61 Z1 |
| Date: | 2019–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12444&r=all |
| By: | Fiona Price (Reserve Bank of Australia); Benjamin Beckers (Reserve Bank of Australia); Gianni La Cava (Reserve Bank of Australia) |
| Abstract: | We explore the relationship between owner-occupier mortgage debt and spending using detailed panel data on Australian households. We find evidence consistent with a 'debt overhang effect' – households cut back on their spending when they have higher levels of outstanding mortgage debt. This overhang effect holds even when households' net housing wealth remains constant, implying that households reduce their spending when the gross value of both their debt and assets increases. This suggests that changes in the composition of household balance sheets affect spending, which runs counter to macroeconomic models that combine assets and liabilities into a single measure of net wealth. We find the overhang effect to be pervasive across owner-occupier households and not exclusively driven by households that are financially constrained or that have strong precautionary saving motives. We find evidence that indebted households reduce their spending by more than other households during adverse macroeconomic shocks, such as the global financial crisis, but the negative effect of debt is also pervasive at other times. |
| Keywords: | household debt; consumption; borrowing constraints; liquidity constraints; precautionary saving; household survey data |
| JEL: | D12 D14 E21 |
| Date: | 2019–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rba:rbardp:rdp2019-06&r=all |
| By: | Dobrescu, Isabella (University of New South Wales); Faravelli, Marco (University of Queensland); Megalokonomou, Rigissa (University of Queensland); Motta, Alberto (University of New South Wales) |
| Abstract: | In a 1-year randomized controlled trial involving thousands of university students, we provide real-time private feedback on relative performance in a semester-long online assignment. Within this setup, our experimental design cleanly identifies the behavioral response to rank incentives (i.e., the incentives stemming from an inherent preference for high rank). We find that rank incentives not only boost performance in the related assignment, but also increase the average grade across all course exams taken over the semester by 0.21 standard deviations. These beneficial effects remain sizeable across all quantiles and extend beyond the time of the intervention. The mechanism behind these findings involves social learning: rank incentives make students engage more in peer interactions, which lead them to perform significantly better across the board. Finally, we explore the virtues of real-time feedback by analyzing a number of alternative variations in the way it is provided. |
| Keywords: | relative performance feedback, rank incentives, social learning, academic performance, randomized controlled trial |
| JEL: | J24 J18 |
| Date: | 2019–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12437&r=all |
| By: | Chambru, Cédric |
| Abstract: | Did weather shocks increase interpersonal conflict in early modern Europe? I address this question by exploiting year-to-year seasonal variations in temperature and detailed crime data I assembled from Savoyard criminal procedures over the period 1749–89. I find that temperature shocks had a positive and significant effect on the level of property crimes, but no significant effect on violent crimes. I further document how seasonal migration may help to increase the coping capacity of local communities in which they were widely used. Migrant labourers brought remittances to supplement communities’ resources and also temporarily relieve their communities of the burden of feeding them. I show that temperature shocks were strongly associated with increase in the property crimes rate, but the effect is much lower in provinces with high levels of seasonal migration. I provide historical evidence to show that the inflow of remittances may drive this relationship. |
| Keywords: | Weather shocks, Migration, Crime, Grain prices, Savoy, 18th Century |
| JEL: | J61 N33 N53 Q10 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gnv:wpaper:unige:120722&r=all |
| By: | Alessandro Palma (University of Naples Parthenope & CEIS University of Rome "Tor Vergata"); Inna Petrunyk (Leuphana University Lueneburg); Daniela Vuri (CEIS & DEF University of Rome "Tor Vergata") |
| Abstract: | We investigate the impact of fetal exposure to air pollution on health outcomes at birth in Italy in the 2000s combining information on mother’s residential location from birth certificates with information on PM10 concentrations from air quality monitors. The potential endogeneity deriving from differential pollution exposure is addressed by exploiting as-good-as-random variation in rainfall shocks as an instrumental variable for air pollution concentrations. Our results show that both average levels of PM10 and days above the hazard limit have detrimental effects on birth weight, duration of gestation as well as overall health status at birth. These effects are mainly driven by pollution exposure during the third trimester of pregnancy and further differ in size with respect to the maternal socio-economic status, suggesting that babies born to socially disadvantaged mothers are more vulnerable. Given the non negligible effects of pollution on birth outcomes, further policy efforts are needed to fully protect fetuses from the adverse effects of air pollution and to mitigate the environmental inequality of health at birth. |
| Keywords: | pollution, particulate matter, birth weight, pre-term birth, environmental policies. |
| JEL: | I18 J13 Q53 Q58 |
| Date: | 2019–07–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rtv:ceisrp:464&r=all |
| By: | Amin, Vikesh (Central Michigan University); Behrman, Jere R. (University of Pennsylvania); Fletcher, Jason M. (University of Wisconsin-Madison); Flores, Carlos A. (California Polytechnic State University); Flores-Lagunes, Alfonso (Syracuse University); Kohler, Hans-Peter (University of Pennsylvania) |
| Abstract: | It is well-established that (1) there is a large genetic component to mental health, and (2) higher schooling attainment is associated with better mental health. Given these two observations, we test the hypothesis that schooling may attenuate the genetic predisposition to poor mental health. Specifically, we estimate associations between a polygenic score (PGS) for depressive symptoms, schooling attainment and gene-environment (GxE) interactions with mental health (depressive symptoms and depression), in two distinct United States datasets at different adult ages- 29 years old in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) and 54 years old in the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS). OLS results indicate that the association of the PGS with mental health is similar in Add Health and the WLS, but the association of schooling attainment is much larger in Add Health than in the WLS. There is some suggestive evidence that the association of the PGS with mental health is lower for more-schooled older individuals in the WLS, but there is no evidence of any significant GxE associations in Add Health. Quantile regression estimates also show that in the WLS the GxE associations are statistically significant only in the upper parts of the conditional depressive symptoms score distribution. We assess the robustness of the OLS results to omitted variable bias by using the siblings samples in both datasets to estimate sibling fixed-effect regressions. The sibling fixed-effect results must be qualified, in part due to low statistical power. However, the sibling fixed-effect estimates show that college education is associated with fewer depressive symptoms in both datasets. |
| Keywords: | schooling, mental health, genetics, gene-environment interactions |
| JEL: | I21 I10 |
| Date: | 2019–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12452&r=all |
| By: | Lucas W. Davis; James M. Sallee |
| Abstract: | In many countries the revenue from gasoline taxes is used to fund highways and other transportation infrastructure. As the number of electric vehicles on the road increases, this raises questions about the effectiveness and equity of this financing mechanism. In this paper, we ask whether electric vehicle drivers should pay a mileage tax. Though the gasoline tax has been traditionally viewed as a benefits tax, we take instead the perspective of economic efficiency. We derive a condition for the optimal electric vehicle mileage tax that highlights a key trade-off. On the one hand, there are externalities from driving including traffic congestion and accidents that imply a mileage tax is efficient. On the other hand, gasoline tends to be underpriced, so a low (or even negative) mileage tax might be justified to encourage substitution away from gasoline-powered vehicles. We then turn to an empirical analysis aimed at better understanding the current policy landscape for electric vehicles in the United States. Using newly available nationally-representative microdata we calculate that electric vehicles have reduced gasoline tax revenues by $250 million annually. We show that the foregone tax revenue is highly concentrated in a handful of states and is highly regressive, as most electric vehicles are driven by high-income households, and we discuss how this motivates and informs optimal policy. |
| JEL: | D12 L62 Q41 Q54 Q55 |
| Date: | 2019–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:26072&r=all |
| By: | Hao Jiang (RSM - Département Réseaux, Sécurité et Multimédia - UEB - Université européenne de Bretagne - European University of Brittany - Télécom Bretagne - Institut Mines-Télécom [Paris]); Eric Ballot (Service d'immunologie et hématologies biologiques [Saint-Antoine] - UPMC - Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 - APHP - Assistance publique - Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) - CHU Saint-Antoine [APHP]); Shenle Pan (CGS i3 - Centre de Gestion Scientifique i3 - MINES ParisTech - École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris - PSL - PSL Research University - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | Urban logistics is becoming more complicated and costlier due to new challenges in recent years. Since the main problem lies on congestion, the clean vehicle is not necessarily the most effective solution. There is thus a need to redesign the logistics networks in the city. This paper proposes a methodology to evaluate different distribution schemes in the city among which we find the most efficient and sustainable one. External impacts are added to the analysis of schemes, including accident, air pollution, climate change, noise, and congestion. An optimization model based on an analytical model is developed to optimize transportation means and distribution schemes. Results based on Bordeaux city show that PI scheme improves the performances of distribution. |
| Keywords: | urban logistics,distribution scheme,optimization,sustainability,urban freight transportation,analytical model,Physical Internet |
| Date: | 2019–07–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02172073&r=all |
| By: | Grace Lordan; Alistair McGuire |
| Abstract: | As the UK government prepares to make personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education compulsory, a recent trial shows how these subjects can be taught successfully. Grace Lordan and Alistair McGuire evaluate the effects of Healthy Minds - a new four-year curriculum for secondary schools - on physical health, emotional health and behaviour. Overall, the effects of this new PSHE curriculum are positive. |
| Keywords: | Healthy Minds, HM, health education, UK secondary schools, social and emotional learning, relationships, healthy living |
| Date: | 2019–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepcnp:558&r=all |
| By: | Swetha Sridharan; Poonam Ravindranath; Emma Pottinger; Clemencia Cosentino |
| Abstract: | This study, in support of the Partnership to Strengthen Innovation and Practice in Secondary Education (PSIPSE), offers action-oriented lessons and policy implications for changemakers committed to building, implementing, and scaling life skills programming. |
| Keywords: | life skills, youth, education, secondary education, employment, Africa, Asia |
| JEL: | F Z |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:b4dc0a9a004e4de7a95210a30480165e&r=all |
| By: | BURZYNSKI Michal; GOLA Pawel |
| Abstract: | This paper quanti fies the effects of Mexican migration to the United States on individual welfare along the continuous distribution of skills in both countries. We develop a model that focuses on the sorting of workers within and across national labor markets. Mexican workers self-select into migration, and then, within each country, all workers match with productivity-differentiated fi rms. Firms operate in monopolistically competitive international markets, which they can freely enter or exit. These features of the model ensure that workers with similar skills are substitutes and dissimilar workers are complements. Thus, migration redistributes welfare in the source and host country. In particular, the observed Mexican immigration to the United States depresses the wages of below-median local workers. However, the welfare losses in the United States are modest in scope: A $1.70 per day lump-sum tax on Mexican immigrants is sufficient to fi nance a compensating transfer for all U.S. citizens. |
| Keywords: | Migration; matching; selection; welfare |
| JEL: | C68 C78 F22 J24 |
| Date: | 2019–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:irs:cepswp:2019-10&r=all |
| By: | Nicoletta Berardi; Marie Lalanne; Paul Seabright |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how networks of professional contacts contribute to the development of the careers of executives of North American and European companies. We build a dynamic model of career progression in which career moves may both depend upon existing networks and contribute to the development of future networks. We test the theory on an original dataset of nearly 73 000 executives in over 10 000 firms. In principle professional networks could be relevant both because they are rewarded by the employer and because they facilitate job mobility. Our econometric analysis suggests that, although there is a substantial positive correlation between network size and executive compensation, with an elasticity of around 20%, almost all of this is due to unobserved individual characteristics. The true causal impact of networks on compensation is closer to an elasticity of 1 or 2% on average, all of this due to enhanced probability of moving to a higher-paid job. And there appear to be strongly diminishing returns to network size. |
| Keywords: | professional networks, labor mobility, executive compensation. |
| JEL: | E02 E32 E62 F41 H20 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bfr:banfra:723&r=all |
| By: | Yin-Wong Cheung (City University of Hong Kong); Kenneth K. Chow (Hong Kong Monetary Authority); Matthew S. Yiu (Hong Kong Institute for Monetary Research) |
| Abstract: | The revival of strong capital flows to emerging economies following the Global Financial Crisis in 2008-09 has rekindled the debate on effects of excessive capital inflows. We study the effects of official and illicit capital flows on Hong Kong, which is a small and open economy with minimal restrictions on cross-border fund movements. It is found that the official and illicit capital flow measures display a low level of comovement and exhibit differential effects on Hong Kong’s equity and residential housing markets. The results highlight the complexity of managing capital flows, and the relevance of sector-specific capital management policies. |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cth:wpaper:gru_2017_012&r=all |
| By: | Moroni, Gloria (University of York); Nicoletti, Cheti (University of York); Tominey, Emma (University of York) |
| Abstract: | Informed by the psychological literature and our empirical evidence we provide new insights into the technology of socio-emotional skill formation in middle childhood. In line with economic evidence, increasing parental inputs that enrich the child home environment and reduce stress has larger returns for children with higher socio-emotional skills in early childhood (complementarity), but only for levels of inputs that are high. For low levels of inputs, i.e. levels implying a stressful home environment, an increase has a higher return for children with lower socio-emotional skills in early childhood (substitutability). Consequently, well targeted policies can reduce middle childhood socio-emotional gaps. |
| Keywords: | socio-emotional skills, complementarities, substitutabilities, parenting styles, mother's mental health, time investment, child behavioural disorders, diathesis-stress hypothesis |
| JEL: | J13 D10 I10 I31 |
| Date: | 2019–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12432&r=all |
| By: | Lordan, Grace (London School of Economics); McGuire, Alistair (London School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | From 2020 Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education will be compulsory in UK schools for adolescents, however less is known about how it can be taught in a an effective manner. We examine, through a randomised trial, the impact of an evidenced based health related quality of life (HRQoL) curriculum called Healthy Minds that ran in 34 high schools in England over a four-year period. We find robust evidence that Healthy Minds positively augments many physical health domains of treated adolescents. We also find some evidence that Healthy Minds positively affects behaviour, but has no impact on emotional wellbeing. We find notable gender effects, strongly favouring boys. We also present evidence that Healthy Minds changes career aspirations, with those exposed to treatment being less likely to choose competitive work and more likely to choose work that involves "people-skills". Overall our work illustrates the potential for later childhood interventions to promote HRQoL and develop the career aspirations of adolescents. |
| Keywords: | soft skills, health related quality of life, character, high school curriculum, personal, social, health and economic education |
| JEL: | I18 I20 |
| Date: | 2019–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12439&r=all |
| By: | Sarah Deschênes (PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, PSE - Paris School of Economics); Rozenn Hotte (PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, PSE - Paris School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we examine the effect of an education policy on women's well- being through the analysis of the impact of a school construction program in Benin. We exploit a sharp increase in school constructions in the 1990s in this country, to assess the causal impact of a primary education program on primary school attendance, age at marriage and tolerance of intimate partner violence (IPV). Using a double dfference method, along with a regression kink design, we find that the program increased the probability to attend primary school in rural areas. The policy also increased age at marriage and decreased the probability to find wife beating tolerable. We show that, in this context, the benefits of girls' education have percolated down to women's well-being beyond the initial goal of the policy. |
| Keywords: | Education,Marriage,Intimate Partner Violence,Women,Sub- Saharan Africa |
| Date: | 2019–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:psewpa:halshs-02179704&r=all |
| By: | Swetha Sridharan; Poonam Ravindranath; Emma Pottinger; Clemencia Cosentino |
| Abstract: | This issue brief for government officials offers lessons on how to successfully devise, roll out, scale, and strengthen life skills policies for youth in low-and middle-income countries. |
| Keywords: | life skills, youth, education, employment, Africa, Asia |
| JEL: | F Z |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:f39094a24c164854ab70cf5a0299db2a&r=all |