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on Urban and Real Estate Economics |
| By: | Geoff Boeing |
| Abstract: | As the rental housing market moves online, the Internet offers divergent possible futures: either the promise of more-equal access to information for previously marginalized homeseekers, or a reproduction of longstanding information inequalities. Biases in online listings' representativeness could impact different communities' access to housing search information, reinforcing traditional information segregation patterns through a digital divide. They could also circumscribe housing practitioners' and researchers' ability to draw broad market insights from listings to understand rental supply and affordability. This study examines millions of Craigslist rental listings across the US and finds that they spatially concentrate and over-represent whiter, wealthier, and better-educated communities. Other significant demographic differences exist in age, language, college enrollment, rent, poverty rate, and household size. Most cities' online housing markets are digitally segregated by race and class, and we discuss various implications for residential mobility, community legibility, gentrification, displacement, housing voucher utilization, and automated monitoring and analytics in the smart cities paradigm. While Craigslist contains valuable crowdsourced data to better understand affordability and available rental supply in real-time, it does not evenly represent all market segments. The Internet promises information democratization, and online listings can reduce housing search costs and increase choice sets. However, technology access/preferences and information channel segregation can concentrate such information-broadcasting benefits in already-advantaged communities, reproducing traditional inequalities and reinforcing residential sorting and segregation dynamics. Technology platforms construct new institutions with the power to shape spatial economies and human interactions. |
| Date: | 2019–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1907.06118&r=all |
| By: | Fingleton, Bernard; Szumilo, Nikodem |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the impact of a multi-billion pound investment in Britain's rail transport infrastructure, in the form of high-speed rail links, on wage levels across each of 347 districts of England and Wales. The impacts are based on a dynamic spatial panel model adaptation of standard urban economics based on employment density and commuting patterns. This allows estimation of these global impacts operating via improved commuting times. We demonstrate that while estimates of a traditional market potential approach with fixed effects are to some extent qualitatively and quantitatively similar to our predictions, our predictions allow more heterogeneous effects and give more accurate forecasts. The study finds that on average wages increase by around 2% as employment centres gain improved access to more skilled workers and as spillover effects become spatially more extensive. While most areas see modest positive effects, some locations are negatively affected, in the extreme case by as much as 7%. |
| Keywords: | dynamic spatial panel model; simulation; prediction; transport infrastructure; commuting; wages; regional development |
| JEL: | C33 C53 J31 R40 R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2019–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:100014&r=all |
| By: | Plümper, Thomas; Laroze, Denise; Neumayer, Eric |
| Abstract: | Premature mortality exhibits strong spatial patterns in Great Britain. Local authorities that are located further North and West, that are more distant from its political centre London and that are more urban tend to have a higher premature mortality rate. Premature mortality also tends to cluster among geographically contiguous and proximate local authorities. We develop a novel analytical research design that relies on spatial pattern recognition to demonstrate that an empirical model that contains only socio-economic variables can eliminate these spatial patterns almost entirely. We demonstrate that socioeconomic factors across local authority districts explain 81 percent of variation in female and 86 percent of variation in male premature mortality in 2012–14. As our findings suggest, policy-makers cannot hope that health policies alone suffice to significantly reduce inequalities in health. Rather, it requires strong efforts to reduce the inequalities in socio-economic factors, or living conditions for short, in order to overcome the spatial disparities in health, of which premature mortality is a clear indication. |
| Keywords: | regional inequality; spatial pattern recognition; premature mortality; health inequality |
| JEL: | N0 |
| Date: | 2018–02–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:87311&r=all |
| By: | Martin W. Adler; Federica Liberini; Antonio Russo; Jos N. van Ommeren |
| Abstract: | We estimate the effect of public transport supply on travel times of motor-vehicle and bus users in Rome, Italy. We apply a quasi-experimental methodology exploiting hourly information on public transport service reductions during strikes. We find that a 10 percent reduction in public transit supply increases the travel time of motor-vehicles by about 1.6 percent in the morning peak. The effect on bus travel time is similar. The congestion-relief benefit of public transport is thus sizeable and bus travel time gains account for an important share of it. We also examine the welfare effects of providing bus lanes. All else given, a bus lane reduces bus travel time by at least 29 percent. We find that bus lanes are undersupplied in Rome, despite the potential costs due to reducing capacity available to cars. |
| Keywords: | congestion relief benefit, bus lanes, public transit, strikes |
| JEL: | H23 H42 R41 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7698&r=all |
| By: | Provan, Bert |
| Abstract: | Riots, social exclusion, and endless improvement programmes have been a feature of the poorest neighbourhoods in France and England for the last thirty-five years or more—particularly focused on large social housing estates. Programmes of improvement have followed similar paths in each country, with mixed success. This article sets out a short overview of these programmes in each country, then contrasts and compares the objectives, approaches, and outcomes. Each country has key elements of inter-agency working, local and resident participation and planning, large-scale building rehabilitation and demolition programmes, though the French system is more often based on specific local contracts between cities and the central departments. Similar evaluation outcome indicators and frameworks of ‘floor’ and ‘gap’ targets have been set, although evidence of success is limited and, particularly in France, there has been considerable criticism of the approach and framework. In parallel, however, the concept of ‘mixed communities’ has emerged as an alternative strategic approach—intuitively reasonable, politically popular, but lacking an evidence base and often ineffective in dealing with poverty. |
| Keywords: | housing; estate; regeneration; mixed communities; exclusion; ghettos; gentrification |
| JEL: | Q15 |
| Date: | 2017–07–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:84242&r=all |
| By: | Eunsik Chang (Department of Economics, University of Tennessee); María Padilla-Romo (Department of Economics, University of Tennessee) |
| Abstract: | Random shocks to cognitive performance on high-stakes standardized tests have long-lasting consequences, particularly when test results are used as the sole mechanism to determine school admissions. This study considers the effects of exposure to local violent crime on high-stakes standardized test outcomes in the context of Mexico Cityâs centralized high school admission system. To do so, we exploit within-school variation in exposure to local violent crime over time. Our results show that exposure to violent crime reduces test scores for female students but not for males, leading to a gender biased high school placement. That is, female studentsâ test scores decrease by 11 percent of a standard deviation after the exposure to violent crime occurring within 0.1 miles of their school during the week before the test, and approximately 19 percent of those students are assigned to less-preferred high schools than the ones to which they would have been assigned otherwise. The effect is highly localized both in time and geographic proximity, suggesting that temporary psychological harm is one of the main mechanisms through which exposure to violent crime affects cognitive performance. |
| Keywords: | Inequality; Violent crime; High-stakes tests; Gender inequality; Psychological well-being |
| JEL: | I14 I21 I24 I25 |
| Date: | 2019–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ten:wpaper:2019-03&r=all |
| By: | Boris Cournède; Sahra Sakha; Volker Ziemann |
| Abstract: | Housing markets, which are large and subject to sharp swings, shape to a great extent countries’ exposure to economic crises and their capacity to recover from them. This paper analyses the transmission of housing-related shocks to the real economy: it investigates the role that policy plays in (a) mitigating or amplifying shocks and (b) facilitating or hampering a recovery. It considers macroprudential measures, rental regulation, taxation and land use restrictions. The aim is to investigate, which housing policy-related reforms can foster greater economic resilience. Among other results, it finds that a tighter macroprudential stance is generally linked to a lower likelihood of economic crisis and that higher effective rates of housing taxation are associated with smoother housing cycles. |
| Keywords: | housing, land use policy, macroprudential policy, rent regulation, resilience, taxation |
| JEL: | E37 E5 R31 |
| Date: | 2019–07–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1562-en&r=all |
| By: | Brummet, Quentin (University of Chicago); Reed, Davin (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia) |
| Abstract: | We use new longitudinal census microdata to provide the first causal evidence of how gentrification affects a broad set of outcomes for original resident adults and children. Gentrification modestly increases out-migration, though movers are not made observably worse off and neighborhood change is driven primarily by changes to in-migration. At the same time, many original resident adults stay and benefit from declining poverty exposure and rising house values. Children benefit from increased exposure to higher-opportunity neighborhoods, and some are more likely to attend and complete college. Our results suggest that accommodative policies, such as increasing the supply of housing in high-demand urban areas, could increase the opportunity benefits we find, reduce out-migration pressure, and promote long-term affordability |
| Keywords: | Gentrification; neighborhood change; migration; mobility |
| JEL: | J62 R11 R21 R23 R28 |
| Date: | 2019–07–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedpwp:19-30&r=all |
| By: | Cóndor Richard |
| Abstract: | Unlike other developed countries, the U.S. has a high proportion of long-term fixed-rate mortgages (30 years). This is partly because the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSE), which operate in the secondary mortgage market, reduce the interest rate of these contracts. This document measures the cost and studies the consequences of such policy. GSE's actions are modeled as an interest rate subsidy applied directly to 30-year mortgages, in the context of a general equilibrium model with two types of agents, housing and default. The cost of this policy is measured as the minimum subsidy that makes households choose 30-year fixed-rate contracts over one-year contracts, in equilibrium. The resulting subsidy is 36 basis points. Finally, I investigate how the results vary with the duration of the fixed-rate mortgage contract, and I find that mortgage terms under 30 years require smaller subsidies. |
| Keywords: | mortgage contracts;housing policy |
| JEL: | G12 G15 F31 |
| Date: | 2019–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdm:wpaper:2019-08&r=all |
| By: | José Gaspar (Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Católica Porto Business School and CEGE); Kiyohiro Ikeda (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tohoku University); Mikihasa Onda (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tohoku University) |
| Abstract: | We provide an analytical description of possible spatial patterns in economic geography models with three identical and equidistant regions by applying results from General Bifurcation mechanisms. We then use Pflüger’s (2004, Reg Sci UrbEcon) model to show what spatial patterns can be uncovered analytically. As the freeness of trade increases, a uniform distribution undergoes a direct bifurcation that leads to a state with two identical large regions and one small region. Before this bifurcation, the model encounters a minimum point above which a curve of dual equilibria with two small identical regions and one small region emerges. From further bifurcations, the equilibrium with one large region encounters agglomeration in a single region, while the equilibrium with one small region encounters a state with two evenly populated regions and one empty region. A secondary bifurcation then leads to partial agglomeration with one small region and one large region. We show that an asymmetric equilibrium h populated regions cannot be connected with other types of equilibria. Therefore, an initially asymmetric state will remain so and preserve the ordering between region sizes. |
| Keywords: | bifurcation, economic geography, multi-regional economy, footloose entrepreneur |
| JEL: | R10 R12 R23 |
| Date: | 2019–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cap:wpaper:042019&r=all |
| By: | Matysiak, George; Olszewski, Krzysztof |
| Abstract: | We employ two methodologies in order to identify groupings of cities and to analyse the factors which drive convergence in residential prices across Polish prime markets over the period 2007-2018. The Phillips and Sul (2007) methodology is used to identify convergence in primary residential prices in the major Polish cities. The results indicate that residential prices do not converge to a single common trend. However, we find the existence of three distinct sub-groups of cities (‘clubs’) where residential prices converge to their own steady-state paths. Using an ordered logit model, we investigate supply and demand factors determining club membership, which subsequently allocates 13 out of the 15 cities as belonging to the clubs identified by the Phillips and Sul procedure. |
| Keywords: | Polish residential prices, Phillips and Sul, panel convergence, relative transition, ordered logit model. |
| JEL: | R1 R15 R3 R31 R32 |
| Date: | 2019–06–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:94766&r=all |
| By: | Briglauer, Wolfgang; Dürr, Niklas S.; Gugler, Klaus |
| Abstract: | There is still hardly any empirical evidence on how divergent broadband technologies, and, by extension, bandwidth levels, influence GDP growth, or on the extent of spatial externalities at a regional level. Our study aims to assess the economic benefits of high-speed broadband networks within and across neighbouring counties in Germany. Utilizing a balanced panel dataset of 401 German counties with data from 2010-2015 as well as different panel estimation techniques, we find that the availability of high-speed broadband (which enables transfer rates of 50 Mbit/sec and higher) has a small but significant positive effect on regional GDP growth in the average German county, when compared to normal broadband availability. Furthermore, we find that broadband deployment in German counties induces substantial economic benefits in terms of direct effects and regional externalities. According to our main estimation results, an increase in bandwidth coverage of 50 Mbit/sec and higher by one percentage point induces arise in regional GDP of 0.05%. This effect is almost doubled if we also take regional externalities into account and is of particular relevance for urban counties. Furthermore, our cost-benefit analysis suggests substantial efficiency gains, as the total economic benefits of subsidy programs to encourage broadband expansion substantially exceeded their associated costs. |
| Keywords: | high-speed broadband infrastructure,economic growth,spatial externalities,German counties,panel data |
| JEL: | H23 H54 L96 L98 R11 R58 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:19026&r=all |
| By: | Nicola Bianchi; Michela Giorcelli; Enrica Maria Martino |
| Abstract: | This paper studies how fiscal decentralization a ects local services. It exploits a 1993 reform that increased the fiscal autonomy of Italian municipalities by introducing a local property tax. The identification leverages cross-municipal variation in the degree of decentralization stemming from Allied bombings during WWII. Decentralization reduced overall spending, but expanded municipal services, such as nursery schools. These effects are larger in areas with higher political competition. The paper also investigates how these changes in local services a ected the labor markets. Decen- tralization, likely through expanded nursery schools, increased female labor supply, reducing the gender gap in employment. |
| Keywords: | fiscal decentralization, female labor supply, child care, nursery schools, local property tax. |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cca:wchild:71&r=all |
| By: | Gabriel Rodríguez (Departamento de Economía de la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú); Juan Palomino (Departamento de Economía de la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the process of spatial convergence of growth in Peru’s 24 regions over 1979-2017. We perform an exploratory analysis of spatial data with global and local statistics, such as Moran I, to provide empirical evidence of spatial dependencies in regional per capita GDP. We then estimate the convergence equation using spatial panel models that control for spatial heterogeneity and spatial interdependence, as well as other structural economic features at the regional level. The empirical results show that spatial convergence is a very reliable conclusion over this period, and prove that spatial regional per capita GDP spillovers play an essential role in determining growth at the local level. Furthermore, the Spatial Durbin model is preferred in the formation of four clusters of convergence. The first cluster is highly productive and dynamic; the second cluster is composed by Jungle and negative-productivity regions; the third cluster is formed by moderately productive and Coast regions; and the fourth cluster is composed by stagnating and Highland regions. Finally, these results may be instrumental in giving greater focus to long-run government policies targeting stagnant and poor regions. JEL Classification-JEL: C21, C23, R11 |
| Keywords: | Convergencia Regional; Regional Spillovers; Dependencia Espacial; Modelos Espaciales de Datos de Panel; Clubes de Convergencia |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pcp:pucwps:wp00478&r=all |
| By: | Lee, Neil; Clarke, Stephen |
| Abstract: | Do low-skilled workers benefit from the growth of high-technology industries in their local economy? Policymakers invest considerable resources in attracting and developing innovative, high-tech industries, but there is relatively little evidence on the distribution of the benefits. This paper investigates the labour market impact of high-tech growth on low and mid-skilled workers, using data on UK local labour markets from 2009-2015. It shows that high-tech industries – either STEM-intensive ‘high-tech’ or digital economy – have a positive jobs multiplier, with each 10 new high-tech jobs creating around 7 local non-tradeable service jobs, around 6 of which go to low-skilled workers. Employment rates for mid-skilled workers do not increase, but they benefit from higher wages. Yet while low-skilled workers gain from higher employment rates, the jobs are often poorly paid service work, so average wages fall, particularly when increased housing costs are considered. |
| Keywords: | wages; labour markets; multipliers; high-technology; cities; Inequality; ES/M007111/1 |
| JEL: | E24 J21 J31 L86 O18 R11 R31 |
| Date: | 2019–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:100926&r=all |
| By: | Dorothée Charlier (IREGE - Institut de Recherche en Gestion et en Economie - USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry] - Université Savoie Mont Blanc); Bérangère Legendre (IREGE - Institut de Recherche en Gestion et en Economie - USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry] - Université Savoie Mont Blanc); Anna Risch (GAEL - Laboratoire d'Economie Appliquée de Grenoble - Grenoble INP - Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UGA - Université Grenoble Alpes) |
| Abstract: | Between 50 and 125 million Europeans are unable to afford the energy needed for adequate heating, cooking, light, and use of appliances in the home. Tackling fuel poverty has thus become a public policy challenge. In this paper, we assess the effectiveness of social energy subsidies and social housing to reduce fuel poverty. The literature reports that rising fuel prices, low incomes, and energy-inefficient housing are the main causes of fuel poverty. Existing public policies focus mainly on price-and income-based measures to reduce fuel poverty, such as social energy subsidies. This type of policy is palliative as it does not permit to sustainably eradicate fuel poverty. Other policies aim to encourage renovation in order to improve energy efficiency. Those policies are curative as they sustainably reduce one cause of fuel poverty : energy inefficiency. In this paper, we focus on another public policy to tackle fuel poverty : social housing. We believe that this policy could be preventive, as the literature reports the better energy efficiency of social housing. We use matching methods and find that living in social housing decreases fuel poverty by 5.4% to 9.1%. On the contrary, social energy subsidies have no effect on fuel poverty. |
| Keywords: | Fuel poverty,social housing,social energy subsidy,matching method |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02145950&r=all |
| By: | Mouganie, Pierre (American University of Beirut); Wang, Yaojing (Peking University) |
| Abstract: | Women have historically been underrepresented in STEM majors and occupations, a gap that has persisted over time. There are concerns that this is related to academic choices made at an earlier age. The purpose of this paper is to examine how social environment affects women's STEM choices as early as high school. Using administrative data from China, we find that exposure to high-performing female peers in mathematics increases the likelihood that women choose a science track during high school, while more high-performing males decrease this likelihood. We also find that peer quality has persistent effects on college outcomes. Overall, there is little evidence of peer effects for boys. Our results suggest that girls doing well in mathematics provide an affirmation effect that encourages female classmates to pursue a STEM track. |
| Keywords: | STEM, peer quality, gender peer effects, China |
| JEL: | I21 I24 J24 |
| Date: | 2019–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12455&r=all |
| By: | Francesco Lamperti; Franco Malerba; Roberto Mavilia; Giorgio Tripodi |
| Abstract: | This paper empirically investigates how the inter-sectoral knowledge flows affect the international competitiveness of industries, once controlling for both cost and other technological factors. Using patent data on 14 manufacturing industries in 16 OECD countries over the period 1995-2009, we apply a network-based approach to capture the effect of industries' position in the flows of technological knowledge across industries, which we label inter-sectoral knowledge space. We find that (i) centrality and local clustering in the inter-sectoral knowledge space positively affect the export market shares of an industry, (ii) such two effects are rather redundant and, (iii) national-level knowledge flows' impacts on international competitiveness are way stronger than international ones. Network measures of position in the knowledge space are found to be more relevant than standard technological indicators such as patent counts. Our results point to the importance of industries being well located in the stream of knowledge flows, rather than being innovative per-se, and offers an novel yet robust proxy to measure technological factors affecting trade performances. In addition, we find evidence of geographical boundaries of knowledge flows. |
| Keywords: | international trade; industry competitiveness; knowledge flows; patent data. |
| Date: | 2019–07–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2019/23&r=all |
| By: | Martin Foureaux Koppensteiner (Department of Economics, University of Surrey & IZA Bonn); Jesse Matheson (Department of Economics, University of Sheffield) |
| Abstract: | This article investigates whether increasing secondary education opportunities influences childbearing among young women in Brazil. We examine a novel dataset reflecting the vast expansion of secondary education in Brazil between 1997 and 2009 and exploit variation in the introduction of schools across 4,884 municipalities to instrument for school enrolment. Our most conservative estimate suggests that for every 9.7 students enrolled there is one fewer teenage births. These findings are robust to a number of specifications and sensitivity tests. Our estimates imply that Brazil’s secondary school expansion accounts for 34% of the substantial decline in teenage childbearing observed over the same period. We further look at heterogeneous effects across a number of municipal characteristics and discuss what these results suggest about the mechanisms underlying the school-childbearing relationship. |
| Keywords: | Secondary education, teenage childbearing, Brazil |
| JEL: | I20 J13 |
| Date: | 2019–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:shf:wpaper:2019016&r=all |
| By: | Grillitsch, Markus (Lund University); Martynovich, Mikhail (Lund University); Dahl Fitjar, Rune (University of Stavanger); Haus-Reve, Silje (University of Stavanger) |
| Abstract: | Understanding the causes of regional growth has been of key concern for policy makers and scholars in economic geography and regional science. Regional growth models estimate the effect of various regional factors on the growth of an average region. However, these models leave a large share of regional growth unexplained. This is to be expected, as the embeddedness of regions at various spatial scales from the local to the global invariably leads to growth that is highly region-specific. However, existing quantitative approaches to regional growth are not able to cope with this, treating outliers in growth models as stochastic noise rather than as cases of empirical interest. The paper proposes a method to carve out the region-specific growth component in regional growth models and illustrates this empirically using data for Sweden from 1990-2016. We find robust patterns of periodic region-specific growth outweighing the effect of generic structural factors. This has important implications for how we should think about and empirically address regional growth. |
| Keywords: | Regional growth; regional development; evolutionary economic geography; path-dependency; embeddedness; outliers |
| JEL: | O18 R10 |
| Date: | 2019–07–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2019_010&r=all |
| By: | Antonio Russo; Martin W. Adler; Federica Liberini; Jos N. van Ommeren |
| Abstract: | We estimate the marginal external congestion cost of motor-vehicle travel for Rome, Italy, using a methodology that accounts for hypercongestion (a situation where congestion decreases a road’s throughput). We show that the external cost – even when roads are not hypercongested – is substantial, equaling about two thirds of the private (time) cost of travel. About one third of this cost is borne by public transport users. Most roads are never hypercongested, but some are hypercongested for more than one hour per day. Hypercongestion accounts for about 40 percent of congestion-related welfare losses. Welfare losses incurred on roads that are hypercongested are substantial, predominantly because of a reduction in speed rather than throughput. Our results suggest policies that reduce congestion can result in important welfare gains. |
| Keywords: | marginal external congestion cost, deadweight loss, hypercongestion, public transport |
| JEL: | D62 R41 H23 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7693&r=all |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | This case study examines the Pomorskie local entrepreneurship ecosystem and regional smart specialisation approach. It identifies bottlenecks and enablers in the local entrepreneurship ecosystem and makes policy recommendations on how to further strengthen local entrepreneurship and industrial renewal. The case study offers a number of policy suggestions and models for Pomorskie and for other regions interested in promoting entrepreneurship and emerging industries. |
| Date: | 2019–07–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:cfeaaa:2019/05-en&r=all |
| By: | Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés; von Berlepsch, Viola |
| Abstract: | Does population diversity matter for economic development in the long-run? Is there a different impact of diversity across time? This paper traces the short-, medium-, and long-term economic impact of population diversity resulting from the big migration waves of the late 19th and early 20th centuries to the United States (US). Using census data from 1880, 1900, and 1910, the settlement pattern of migrants across the counties of the 48 US continental states is tracked in order to construct measures of population fractionalization and polarization at county level. Factors which may have influenced both the individual settlement decision at the time of migration as well as county-level economic development in recent years are controlled for. The results of the analysis show that high levels of population fractionalization have a strong and positive influence on economic development in the short-, medium-, and long-run. High levels of polarization, by contrast, undermine development. Despite a stronger effect on income levels in the first 30 years, we find these relationships to be extremely long-lasting: counties with a more heterogeneous population composition over 130 years ago are significantly richer today, whereas counties that were strongly polarized at the time of the migration waves have endured persistent negative economic effects. |
| Keywords: | diversity; fractionalization; polarization; economic development; counties; USA; 269868 |
| JEL: | O1 |
| Date: | 2018–12–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:91024&r=all |
| By: | Rita Maghularia; Silke Uebelmesser |
| Abstract: | The paper analyses the empirical relationship between immigrants and crime using panel data for 391 German administrative districts between 2003 and 2016. Employing different standard panel estimation methods, we show that there is no positive association between the immigrant rate and the crime rate. We assess the robustness of this result by considering the heterogeneity of immigrant groups with respect to gender, age, country of origin and – if applicable – refugee status, and study naturalized immigrants. We also take into account possible spillover effects of immigrants on criminal activities by Germans, omitted variables and spatial correlation. Furthermore, taking advantage of the panel-structure of the data set we employ an instrumental variable approach that deals with the possibly endogenous allocation of immigrants and allows for causal interpretation of the estimates. There is no evidence that immigrants increase crime. |
| Keywords: | immigrants, crime, Germany, panel data, IV approach |
| JEL: | F22 J15 K42 R10 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7696&r=all |
| By: | Arthur Charpentier (CREM - Centre de recherche en économie et management - UNICAEN - Université de Caen Normandie - NU - Normandie Université - UR1 - Université de Rennes 1 - UNIV-RENNES - Université de Rennes - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UQAM - Département de mathématiques [Montréal] - UQAM - Université du Québec à Montréal); Alfred Galichon (CIMS - Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences [New York] - New York University [New York]); Lucas Vernet (Sciences Po - Sciences Po, Banque de France - Banque de France - Banque de France) |
| 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: | 2019–07–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-02173210&r=all |
| By: | Christopher L. House (University of Michigan & NBER); Christian Proebsting (Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne); Linda L. Tesar (University of Michigan & NBER) |
| Abstract: | Unemployment differentials are bigger in Europe than in the United States. Migration responds to unemployment differentials, though the response is smaller in Europe. Mundell (1961) argued that factor mobility is a precondition for a successful currency union. We use a multi-country DSGE model with cross-border migration and search frictions to quantify the benefits of increased labor mobility in Europe and compare this outcome to a case of fully flexible exchange rates. Labor mobility and flexible exchange rates both work to reduce unemployment and per capita GDP differentials across countries provided that monetary policy is sufficiently responsive to national output. |
| Keywords: | Labor mobility, currency union, unemployment |
| JEL: | E24 E42 E52 E58 F15 F16 F22 F33 |
| Date: | 2018–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mie:wpaper:671&r=all |
| By: | David R. Agrawal; David E. Wildasin |
| Abstract: | Technological innovations facilitating e-commerce have well-documented effects on consumer behavior and firm organization in the retail sector, but the effects of these new transaction technologies on fiscal systems remain unknown. By extending models of commodity tax competition to include urban spatial structure (agglomeration) and online commerce, one can analyze strategic tax-policy interactions among neighboring localities. Consumers buy different types of commodities, sold either by traditional or by online vendors. When the cost of online shopping falls, we show that equilibrium tax rates and revenues increase in small jurisdictions and decrease in large jurisdictions with retail shopping centers. Policy commentators warn that e-commerce erodes tax revenue - true enough for some localities - but, more accurately, changing transaction costs can generate entirely new commercial and fiscal equilibria that ultimately “redistribute” tax revenues from localities with concentrations of traditional vendors toward other, typically smaller, localities. |
| Keywords: | sales tax, retail shopping, agglomeration, e-commerce, fiscal competition |
| JEL: | H25 H71 H73 L81 R50 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7742&r=all |
| By: | Teresa Garcia-Milà; Therese J. McGuire |
| Abstract: | We provide new insights into whether existing fiscal federal systems are achieving the best possible outcomes. Our new insights are based on the results of Calsamiglia, Garcia-Milà, and McGuire (2013). The authors introduce solidarity preferences into the standard model of fiscal federalism and find that a system with a common (countrywide) minimal level of spending combined with subnational revenue-raising authority dominates other typically considered systems. We use these results to develop a new lens through which to assess fiscal federal systems and we apply this new approach to the systems in Canada, Germany, Spain and the United States. We show that with fairly straightforward reforms, existing fiscal federal systems could be improved, resulting in higher social welfare. |
| Keywords: | fiscal federalism, fiscal decentralization, solidarity, revenue-raising authority |
| Date: | 2018–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upf:upfgen:1663&r=all |
| By: | Eliasson, Jonas |
| Abstract: | This paper compares the performance of several models forecasting travel time variability for road traffic, using before/after data from the introduction of the Stockholm congestion charges. Models are estimated on before-data, and the models’ forecasts for the after-situation are compared to actual after measurements. The accuracy of the models vary substantially, but several models are able to forecast the benefits from reduced travel time variability with sufficient accuracy to make them useful for decision making. |
| Keywords: | Travel time variability; reliability; cost benefit analysis; congestion pricing |
| JEL: | R41 |
| Date: | 2019–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:94817&r=all |
| By: | Farnia, Luca; Cavalli, Laura; Vergalli, Sergio |
| Abstract: | In this paper we calculate the Italian Cities Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Composite Index potentially useful for policy analysis and dissemination of sustainable development at local level in Italy. Structured into several dimensions representing 16 out of 17 SDGs adopted by the United Nations at the end of September 2015, the index merges 53 available economic, social and environmental elementary indicators into a single composite dimension, highlighting a geographical and demographic heterogeneity within the country. By using the Spectral Value Decomposition technique, the index offers an urban focus of sustainability, showing some differences among the goals and the cities of Italy. Finally, it identifies the Goal concerning quality education and decent work and economic growth as the main key Goals for sustainability. |
| Keywords: | Community/Rural/Urban Development |
| Date: | 2019–07–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:feemec:291803&r=all |
| By: | Black Anthony; Edwards Lawrence; Ismail Faizel; Makundi Brian; Morris Mike |
| Abstract: | Regional integration is making steady progress in Africa and a key objective is to improve the prospects for industrialization by expanding the regional market. This paper draws on a combination of trade data analysis and industry case studies to better understand the links and synergies between regional value chains and regional integration.The trade data and case studies of three diverse sectors (apparel, food retailing, and automotive) demonstrate the expansion and diversity of regional trade and regional value chains in Southern Africa. This diverse composition of regional exports is suggestive of an opportunity to further enhance industrial development through intra-regional trade.The long-term sustainability of Southern African regionalism depends on the recognition of the importance of regional industrial policy that takes account of the dynamics driving global and regional value chains and facilitates regional linkages across all these sectors. |
| Keywords: | Apparel industry,Automotive industry,Food retailing,Regional integration,Southern African Development Community,Value chains |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2019-48&r=all |
| By: | Daniel A. Dias; Joao B. Duarte |
| Keywords: | Monetary policy ; Housing rents ; Inflation dynamics ; “Price puzzle” ; Housing tenure |
| JEL: | E31 E43 R21 |
| Date: | 2019–05–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgif:1248&r=all |
| By: | Grillitsch, Markus (Lund University); Rekers, Josephine (Lund University); Sotarauta, Markku (Tampere University) |
| Abstract: | The promise of connecting agency and structure in studies of regional development is to disentangle causal effects and to better understand to what extent and how individuals, groups of individuals, and organisations can shape regional trajectories. This is not without challenges because agency and structure are deep theoretical constructs, which are not easily translated into empirical research. We have devoted a research project to study how agency and structure are connected in the context of regional development and have faced many difficulties on the way. Here, we would like to share our experiences and proposed solutions grouped into six challenges, which were present in all of the 12 comparative case studies in Finland, Norway and Sweden. The challenges refer to the ontology of agency and structure, the research design, the time period of study, the spatial scale, the research instrument, and the data collection. |
| Keywords: | agency; structure; regional development; research design; comparative case study; critical junctures; key events |
| JEL: | P48 R10 R58 |
| Date: | 2019–07–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2019_012&r=all |
| By: | Michael Devereux (Vancouver school of economics, University of British Columbia, NBER - National Bureau of Economic Research - National Bureau of Economic Research, CEPR - Center for Economic Policy Research - CEPR); Karine Gente (AMSE - Aix-Marseille Sciences Economiques - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - ECM - Ecole Centrale de Marseille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Changhua Yu (China Center for Economic Research, National School of Development, Peking University) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the impact of fiscal spending shocks in a multi-country model with international production networks. In contrast to standard results suggesting that production network linkages are unimportant for the aggregate response to macro shocks in a closed economy, we show that network structures may place a central role in the international propagation of fiscal shocks, particularly when wages are slow to adjust. The paper first develops a simple general equilibrium multi-country model and derives some analytical results on the response to fiscal spending shocks. We then apply the model to an analysis of fiscal spillovers in the Eurozone, using the calibrated sectoral network structure from the World Input Output Database (WIOD). In a version of the model with sticky wages, we find that fiscal spillovers from Germany and other some other large Eurozone countries may be large, and within the range of empirical estimates. More importantly, we find that the Eurozone production network very important for the international spillovers. In the absence of international production network linkages, spillovers would be only a third as large as predicted by the baseline model. Finally, we explore the diffusion of identified German government spending at the sectoral level, both within and across countries. We find that government expenditures have both significant upstream and downstream effects when these links are measured by the direction of sectoral production linkages. |
| Keywords: | production network,fiscal policy,spillovers,Eurozone,terms of trade,nominal rigidities |
| Date: | 2019–06–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-02179890&r=all |
| By: | Lee, Neil |
| Abstract: | The concept of “Inclusive Growth” – a concern with the pace and pattern of growth – has become a new mantra in local economic development. Despite enthusiasm from some policymakers, others argue it is a buzzword which is changing little. This paper summarises and critiques this agenda. There are important unresolved issues with the concept of Inclusive Growth, which is conceptually fuzzy and operationally problematic, has only a limited evidence base, and reflects an overconfidence in local government’s ability to create or shape growth. Yet, while imperfect, an Inclusive Growth model is better one which simply ignores distributional concerns. |
| Keywords: | growth; cities; inequality; inclusive growth; ES/M007111/1 |
| JEL: | J1 |
| Date: | 2018–06–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:87881&r=all |
| By: | Crafts, Nicholas (University of Warwick) |
| Abstract: | This paper updates the classic growth accounting research of the early 1980s taking account of improved data that has subsequently become available. The picture of long-run growth which results from incorporating many revisions is considerably different. The long-run path of productivity growth is now that of a roller-coaster with twin peaks in the third quarters of the 19th and 20th centuries rather than a U-shape. Productivity growth appears to have been very slow to accelerate in the Industrial Revolution, the notion of an Edwardian climacteric is not persuasive and the current productivity slowdown stands out as unprecedented. |
| Keywords: | Climacteric; Golden Age; Growth Accounting; Industrial Revolution; Productivity Growth; Productivity Puzzle JEL Classification: N13; N14: O47: O52 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:430&r=all |
| By: | Francesco Agostinelli; Morteza Saharkhiz; Matthew J. Wiswall |
| Abstract: | We develop a unified empirical framework for child development which nests the key features of two previously parallel research programs, the Child Development literature and the Education Production Function literature. Our framework allows for mis-measured cognitive and non-cognitive skills, classroom effects, parental influences, and complementarities. Although both are important, we estimate that differential parental investments are the more important source of end-of-kindergarten inequality than classroom quality. Quality classrooms have a larger effect on children entering kindergarten with skill deficits. Our estimated model replicates out-of-sample patterns by excluded race and family income variables and experimental results from the Tennessee STAR experiment. |
| JEL: | I21 J13 |
| Date: | 2019–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:26037&r=all |
| By: | Georgieva, Daniela |
| Abstract: | Digitization of education and implementation of online learning platforms are changing not only the way in which knowledge is provided from the universities but also the profile of students. In this respect, distance learning is preferred by individuals who, for one reason or another, are unable to physically attend lectures. A priority objective of the paper is to determine the willingness of distance learning students from International Business School - Botevgrad (Bulgaria) to apply for a mobility of a minimum 3 months study period under the Erasmus + program (KA1). Primary data is collected on the basis of in-depth interviews (n = 15). As a main conclusion of the data analyses, it can be stated that the participation of students in Erasmus + (KA1) study mobility, for at least 3 months period of time, is perceived as "difficult to be achieved" by the respondents participating in the survey. The present research paper helps to better understand the extent to which distance learning students are motivated to participate in mobility. |
| Keywords: | mobility, distance learning, in-depth interviews, Erasmus + |
| JEL: | A20 A29 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:95075&r=all |
| By: | Felipe Carozzi; Sefi Roth |
| Abstract: | We study whether urban density affects the exposure of city dwellers to ambient air pollution using satellite-derived measures of air quality for the contiguous United States. For identification, we rely on an instrumental variable strategy, which induces exogenous variation in density without affecting pollution directly. For this purpose, we use three variables measuring geological characteristics as instruments for density: earthquake risks, soil drainage capacity and the presence of aquifers. We find a positive and statistically significant pollution-density elasticity of 0.13. We also assess the health implications of our findings and find that doubling density in an average city increases annual mortality costs by as much as $630 per capita. Our results suggest that, despite the common claim that denser cities tend to be more environmentally friendly, air pollution exposure is higher in denser cities. This in turn highlights the possible trade-off between reducing global greenhouse gas emissions and preserving environmental quality within cities. |
| Keywords: | air pollution, urban congestion, density, health |
| JEL: | Q53 R11 I10 |
| Date: | 2019–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1635&r=all |
| By: | Konstantina Manou (Bank of Greece); Panagiotis Palaios (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens); Evangelia Papapetrou (Bank of Greece and National and Kapodistrian University of Athens) |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the asymmetric transmission effects of housing wealth, household debt and financial assets on consumption spending in Greece over the period 1999Q4 to 2017Q4. We apply the Enders and Siklos (2001) methodology and use Stevans’s (2004) modification to capture these effects in a multivariate framework. Our results show that consumption responds asymmetrically to all types of changes applied. We provide evidence for the predominance of negative changes compared to positive ones. Our empirical findings are consistent with a stronger consumption response to decreases in financial assets and housing wealth. Furthermore, our results add to the existing literature in that the driving force of the rapidly reducing consumption spending is the deleveraging change. We also check the robustness of our results by applying Hansen’s (2017) kink regression model analysis. The empirical results provide evidence that consumption and wealth component data fit better a threshold model than a linear model. |
| Keywords: | Consumption; financial wealth; housing wealth; household debt;asymmetric adjustment |
| JEL: | E21 E44 D12 |
| Date: | 2019–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bog:wpaper:263&r=all |
| By: | Maggie Jones (Department of Economics, University of Victoria); Michael Barber (Department of Economics, Queen's University) |
| Abstract: | This paper documents a robust achievement gap between the math scores of Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth in Canada between 1996 and 2008. Using data from the restricted-access National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth we show that after controlling for a rich set of observables, students who self-identify as Indigenous perform 0.31 standard deviations lower on a standardized math test compared to their non-Indigenous counterparts. We find that this test gap emerges by the age of 12,and it did not decline between 1996 and 2008, despite the recommendations of the 1996 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples to ameliorate the public education system for Indigenous students. Counterfactual estimates from the decomposition method of Lemieux (2002) suggest that the test gap among the lowest performing students would have been eliminated if Indigenous students faced the same level of and returns to observable characteristics as non-Indigenous students. This exercise does not result in a narrowing of the test gap in the upper tail, suggesting that unobservables, rather than observables, are driving the majority of the test gap among high achieving students. |
| Keywords: | test gap, Indigenous peoples, decomposition methods |
| Date: | 2019–07–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vic:vicddp:1904&r=all |
| By: | Sullivan, Riley (Federal Reserve Bank of Boston) |
| Abstract: | In hundreds of communities across northern New England, the population is aging rapidly and becoming smaller. The entire country is aging, but northern New England stands out: Among the populations of all US states, those of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont have the top-three highest median ages, respectively. The situation is even more extreme in northern New England’s rural counties, where the populations of the smallest towns generally are substantially older than those of the rest of the region. These communities also have seen the slowest, or even negative, population growth over the last three decades. As the populations of the rural regions become older and smaller, policymakers are concerned about the ability of the local communities to maintain their labor force, sustain local businesses and the tax base, and provide care for the growing number of senior residents. This regional brief explores changes in the size and age of the populations of the cities and towns in the three northern New England states. It also considers the role immigration plays in sustaining the stability and growth of those populations. |
| Keywords: | New England; rural; immigration; NEPPC |
| Date: | 2019–07–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedbrb:2019_002&r=all |
| By: | Molin, Francois (TIER TA); Cabus, Sofie (ku leuven); Haelermans, Carla (General Economics 2 (Macro)); Groot, Wim (Maastricht Graduate School of Governance) |
| Abstract: | This study evaluates the effectiveness of an intervention of formative assessments with a clicker-based technology on anxiety and academic performance. We use a randomized experiment in physics education in one school in Dutch secondary education. For treated students the formative assessments are operationalized through quizzing at the end of each physics class, where clickers enable students to respond to questions. Control students do not receive these assessments and do not use clickers, but apart from that the classes they attend are similar. Findings from multilevel regressions indicate that the formative assessments significantly reduce anxiety in physics, and improve academic performance in physics in comparison with a traditional teaching. Furthermore, a mediation effect of anxiety in physics on academic performance is observed. In sum, this implies that an easily to implement technique of formative assessments can make students feel more at ease, which contributes to better educational performance. |
| Keywords: | formative assessment, physics, Clicker Devices, Secondary education, anxiety, academic performance |
| JEL: | I20 I21 |
| Date: | 2019–05–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:umagsb:2019014&r=all |
| By: | Véronique Favre-Bonté (IREGE - Institut de Recherche en Gestion et en Economie - USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry] - Université Savoie Mont Blanc); Elodie Gardet (IREGE - Institut de Recherche en Gestion et en Economie - USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry] - Université Savoie Mont Blanc); Catherine Thevenard-Puthod (IREGE - Institut de Recherche en Gestion et en Economie - USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry] - Université Savoie Mont Blanc) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the influence of the type of geographical location on the characteristics of innovation networks in the tourism industry, specifically in mountain resorts. It compares the innovation network forms of two types of mountain resorts (high-altitude and medium-altitude resorts) regarding four characteristics: the nature of the relationships between members, the mode of regulation used, the architecture, and the geographical scope. Our results show that according to the type of territory, innovation networks differ in type of partners, geographical scope, and regulation mode. However, the type of territory does not seem to influence the architecture of the network since all the networks studied have a hub organization that orchestrates the partners' actions. |
| Keywords: | Innovation,Mountain Resorts,Tourism,Networks,Geographical Location |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02145911&r=all |
| By: | Dincecco, Mark (University of Michigan); Fenske, James (University of Warwick); Menon, Anil (University of Michigan); Mukherjee, Shivaji (University of Toronto) |
| Abstract: | We analyze the relationship between pre-colonial warfare and long-run development patterns in India. We construct a new, geocoded database of historical conflicts on the Indian subcontinent, from which we compute measures of local exposure to pre-colonial warfare. We document a positive and significant relationship between pre-colonial conflict exposure and local economic development across India today. The main results are robust to numerous checks, including controls for geographic endowments, initial state capacity, colonial-era institutions, ethnic fractionalization, and colonial and post-colonial conflict, and an instrumental variables strategy that exploits variation in pre-colonial conflict exposure driven by the cost distance to the Khyber Pass. Using rich archival and secondary data, we show that early state-making and fiscal development, greater political stability, and basic public goods investments are channels through which pre-colonial warfare has influenced local economic development. |
| Keywords: | JEL Classification: |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:426&r=all |
| By: | Cédric Chambru (Department of Economics, University of Zurich) |
| Abstract: | I use spatial and temporal variation in temperature shocks to examine the effect of adverse weather conditions on the onset of social conflicts in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century France. The paper’s contribution is threefold. First, I document the effect of temperature shocks on standards of living using cross-section and panel prices data. Second, I link high-resolution temperature data and a new database of 8,528 episodes of social conflicts in France between 1661 and 1789. I use a linear probability model with subregional and year fixed effects to establish a causal connection between temperature shocks and conflicts. One standard deviation increase in temperature increased the probability of social conflicts by about 5.3 per cent. To the best of my knowledge, these results are the first to quantify the effect of temperature shocks on intergroup conflict in pre-industrial Europe. Finally, I investigate the role of local leaders– the intendants– in the mitigation of temperature shocks. I show that leaders with higher level of local experience were better able to cope with adverse weather conditions. I argue that years of local experience were a key determinant in the intendant’s ability to administer efficiently his province. This interpretation is supported by historical evidence. |
| Keywords: | Weather shocks, Institutions, Social Conflicts, Grain Prices, France, Ancien Régime |
| JEL: | H12 N53 Q54 |
| Date: | 2019–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hes:wpaper:0161&r=all |
| By: | Long, Abby; Jablonski, Becca B. R.; Costanigro, Marco; Frasier, W. Marshall |
| Keywords: | Agricultural and Food Policy |
| Date: | 2019–06–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea19:290925&r=all |
| By: | Bosio, Giulio (University of Bergamo); Origo, Federica (University of Bergamo) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to study whether and how teaching style (i.e., traditional vs active mode) affects academic performance of young individuals in tertiary education. We focus on entrepreneurship education as an ideal subject for experimenting alternative teaching methods. Identification relies on Triple Differences (DDD) estimates based on detailed administrative data for the universe of students in a Master's program in Management and Finance in Italy over 2011-2015. We measure academic achievement through several indicators, both right after the end of the entrepreneurship course (short run) and at the end of the program (long run). Our preferred estimates show no significant effects of the teaching mode on student's achievement, both in the short and in the long run. However, further estimates reveal interesting heterogeneities across students, being active teaching more effective in the case of females and students from secondary schools with an academic track. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship education, teaching modes, academic performance, triple difference, difference-in-differences |
| JEL: | I20 J24 L26 |
| Date: | 2019–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12445&r=all |
| By: | Kelly, Jane (Central Bank of Ireland); Myers, Samantha (Central Bank of Ireland) |
| Abstract: | In recent years, there has been a rapid shift away from traditional variable-rate mortgages toward fixed-rate mortgages in Irish and other European mortgage markets. While many of these products are equivalent to short-term ‘teaser-rate’ mortgages, the fixation periods available appear to be slowly lengthening. There is no clear framework to help policymakers and other stakeholders analyse the effects of a shift from variable-rate to fixed-rate mortgage contracts (or vice-versa). We address this gap, focussing on financial stability and with reference to the Irish context. We find that while fixed-rate mortgages can build household resilience, this should increase the cost of a mortgage. Pricing risk is shifted from households to banks, who must then diversify it away through funding markets or through market hedges, and pass the costs of their risk management strategies through to households. We analyse jurisdictions that have large quantities of long-term fixed-rate mortgages, and determine that the ability of banks to diversify away their pricing risk depends on numerous jurisdiction-specific regulatory and institutional factors. |
| Date: | 2019–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cbi:fsnote:5/fs/19&r=all |
| By: | Kevin J. Boudreau; Matt Marx |
| Abstract: | Young workers typically enter the professional labor market only after completing higher education. We investigate how earlier professional work experience affects skilled worker development. In a field experiment, 1,787 Engineering majors were randomly assigned to 6-month work terms to begin either in the second or third year of studies. Early exposure caused systematic differences in inclination to take Engineering elective courses, choice of major, and the probability of persisting in Engineering years later—consistent with engagement, retention, and sorting effects. Early exposure notably increased academic and professional outcomes of lower-income students. |
| JEL: | I21 J2 O3 |
| Date: | 2019–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:26013&r=all |
| By: | Eva De Francisco |
| Keywords: | The Great Recession, housing choices, consumption, heterogeneity, wealthy hand-to-mouth consumers |
| JEL: | E13 E21 E62 C61 R21 |
| Date: | 2019–05–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgif:1249&r=all |
| By: | Resnick, Danielle |
| Abstract: | In 2009, Ghana passed Local Government Instrument 1961 (LI 1961) to devolve a set of functions from the central government to the country’s 216 Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies (MMDA). Agriculture, along with public works and social welfare, was among the first sectors to be devolved. This transfer was formally institutionalized in 2012. In addition, LI 1961 stipulated that the staff of the MMDA departments were to be transferred from the national civil service to a newly created Local Government Services (LGS). A composite budget system also was introduced, which integrated the budgets of all departments of the MMDAs into the overall budget for the MMDA. |
| Keywords: | GHANA; WEST AFRICA; AFRICA SOUTH OF SAHARA; AFRICA; agriculture; decentralization; devolution; local government; agricultural planning; agricultural policies; service delivery; civil servants |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:gssppn:14&r=all |
| By: | Pogorelskiy, Kirill (University of Warwick); Shum, Matthew (Caltech) |
| Abstract: | More voters than ever get political news from their friends on social media platforms. Is this bad for democracy? Using context-neutral laboratory experiments, we find that biased (mis)information shared on social networks affects the quality of collective decisions relatively more than does segregation by political preferences on social media. Two features of subject behavior underlie this finding: 1) they share news signals selectively, revealing signals favorable to their candidates more often than unfavorable signals; 2) they na¨ively take signals at face value and account for neither the selection in the selection in the shared signals nor the differential informativeness of news signals across different sources. |
| Keywords: | news sharing, social networks, voting, media bias, fake news, polarization, filter bubble, lab experiments JEL Classification: C72, C91, C92, D72, D83, D85 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:427&r=all |
| By: | Tullio Buccellato (Economic Research Department, Confindustria.); Giancarlo Corò (Department of Economics, University Of Venice Cà Foscari) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to analyze how the heterogeneous structure of the European regions has affected their patterns of convergence or divergence. We analyse data collected by Eurostat, from a balanced panel of 191 regions and 55 economic branches over the period 2003-2015. In this way, we are able to describe and capture technological proximity across the regions and analyse how it has evolved over space and time. Limiting the analysis to the manufacturing activities, we are also able to measure the degree of economic complexity of the regional production systems and assess how this affects their patterns of growth. Our findings suggest that there are pushing (enhancing convergence) and pulling (exacerbating economic gaps) forces to economic convergence. Spatial effects tend to push towards convergence, with the Eastern regions that started from relatively low levels of GDP per capita and experienced higher growth rates. Nevertheless, the different level of economic complexity tends to widen the gaps between territories: for example, the German regions, whose economic structures are more complex, have kept on widening the gap between themselves and the other European regions. The two different forces are also interconnected as the Eastern regions combine a relatively low level of GDP per capita with a significant level of economic complexity. During the period considered, the improvement in living standards has corresponded to the upgrade of their manufacturing production structures. |
| Keywords: | Regional disparities, growth, convergence, structural change, relatedness, economic complexity, spatial effects |
| JEL: | O10 O25 P25 R10 L16 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ven:wpaper:2019:15&r=all |
| By: | Stefania Garetto (BU, CEPR, and NBER); Lindsay Oldenski (Georgetown University); Natalia Ramondo (UCSD and NBER) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the expansion patterns of the multinational enterprise (MNE) in time and space. Using a long panel of US MNEs, we document that: MNE affiliates grow by exporting to new markets; the activities of MNE affiliates persist during the affiliate’s life, usually starting with sales to their host market and eventually expanding to export markets; and MNE affiliates’ entry into new locations does not depend on the location of preexisting affiliates. Informed by these facts, we develop a multi-country quantitative dynamic model of the MNE that features heterogeneity in firm-level productivity, persistent aggregate shocks, and a rich structure of costs that affect MNE expansion. Importantly, MNE affiliates can decouple their locations of production and sales, and endogenously choose to enter or exit the host and the export markets. We introduce a compound option formulation that allows us to capture in a tractable way the rich heterogeneity that is observed in the data and that is necessary for quantitative analysis. Using the calibrated model, our quantitative application to Brexit reveals that export platforms are important for understanding the reallocation of MNE activity in time and space, and that the nature of the frictions to MNE activities matters for aggregate firm dynamics. |
| Keywords: | Economic Growth, Innovation, Credit Constraints, Convergence, Policy Analysis, Money, Inflation |
| JEL: | O11 O23 O31 O33 O38 O42 |
| Date: | 2019–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bos:wpaper:wp2019-008&r=all |
| By: | Kuralbayeva, Karlygash |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a general equilibrium model that incorporates specific features pertaining to developing countries: a large informal sector and rural-urban migration. A calibrated version of the model is used to study the effects of energy tax changes and a reduction in agricultural-sector energy subsidies on labor market outcomes. The results indicate that the incidence of energy taxes is partly shifted on to the rural sector through rural-urban migration. The results thus highlight the importance of modeling the features particular to developing countries and the economic general equilibrium effects when assessing the impact of environmental taxation in those countries. |
| Keywords: | informal sector; matching frictions; energy taxes; subsidies; rural-urban migration |
| JEL: | H20 H23 H30 |
| Date: | 2018–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:76561&r=all |
| By: | Hinz, Tina; Lechmann, Daniel S. J. |
| Abstract: | This paper scrutinizes the effect of job satisfaction on labor turnover. We use German SOEP data to estimate a multinomial logit model with random effects for the probability of a worker-job separation. In line with the previous literature, we find a negative relationship between job satisfaction and separations. We show that this relationship is entirely driven by less satisfied individuals, as the separation probability of more satisfied workers does not vary with job satisfaction. We also find that even among the most dissatisfied individuals, most workers remain in their current jobs. Finally, we show that the effect of job satisfaction varies with both local labor market conditions and the kind of separation under consideration (job-to-job or job-to-non-employment). |
| Keywords: | Germany,job satisfaction,labor market tightness,labor turnover,SOEP |
| JEL: | J28 J63 R23 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:faulre:109&r=all |
| By: | Cécile Couharde; Olivier Damette; Rémi Generoso; Kamiar Mohaddes |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the growth effects of ENSO events through their interactions with local weather conditions using the Standardized Precipitation and Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) from 1975 to 2014 and over a sample of 74 countries. The inclusion of SPEI in panel estimation makes it possible to control for time-varying country-specific effects of ENSO events, therefore outlining their heterogeneous effects on growth and eliminating a potential source of omitted-variable bias. By better identifying the persistence of ENSO effects on local weather conditions, we evidence that ENSO events generate heterogeneous and local effects depending not only on countries’ climate regime but also on their weather patterns. Our results suggest that examining the growth effects of ENSO events should thus explicitly account for their interaction with weather patterns to capture more precisely the heterogeneity across countries. |
| Keywords: | Economic growth, ENSO events, Weather conditions. |
| JEL: | C33 O13 Q54 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulp:sbbeta:2019-27&r=all |
| By: | Teodora Erika Uberti - Claudia Rotondi |
| Abstract: | Are Social Network Analysis (SNA) techniques useful to identify and map relations among key actors in development areas? In particular, is this technique able to disentangle the complexity of formal and informal actors involved in health and nutrition issues? Using this methodology we map relations among formal and informal actors living in Kenya, in Migori County. The analysis aims at detecting how different actors (i.e. institutions, community health workers and income generating activities groups) interact in order to share knowledge and information on health and nutrition projects. In this way we identify the main characteristics of the relations and understand how to enforce strengths and to reduce weaknesses, in order to enforce the projects implemented. |
| Keywords: | social network analysis; health and nutrition networks; Kenya |
| JEL: | I18 C81 L31 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crn:wpaper:crn1901&r=all |