|
on Urban and Real Estate Economics |
| By: | Richard Florida; Andres Rodriguez-Pose; Michael Storper |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and its related economic, fiscal, social and political fallout on cities and metropolitan regions. We assess the effect of the pandemic on urban economic geography at the intra- and inter-regional geographic scales in the context of four main forces: the social scarring instilled by the pandemic; the lockdown as a forced experiment; the need to secure the urban built environment against future risks; and changes in the urban form and system. At the macro-geographic scale, we argue the pandemic is unlikely to significantly alter the winner-take-all economic geography and spatial inequality of the global city system. At the micro-geographic scale, however, we suggest that it may bring about a series of short-term and some longer-running social changes in the structure and morphology of cities, suburbs, and metropolitan regions. The durability and extent of these changes will depend on the timeline and length of the pandemic. |
| Keywords: | Cities, COVID-19, Pandemic, Urban Structure, Remote Work. |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:2041&r=all |
| By: | James Lennox |
| Abstract: | Experiences of and investments in working from home (WFH) during the COVID-19 pandemic may permanently alter commuting behaviour and employment practices, ultimately changing the shape and size of cities. Using a spatial computable general equilibrium (SCGE) model, we study the effects of a shift to working-from home on labour supply, housing demands and the sectoral and spatial structure of the Australian economy. The model accounts for households' choices of occupations, residence and work locations, and for trade and input-output linkages between firms in different locations and industries. Simulating increased WFH in selected occupations causes labour supply to shift towards these occupations at the expense of others. This is particularly favourable for many business services industries, which use the WFH occupations most intensively. Within cities, workers choosing WFH occupations opt for longer, but less frequent commutes from residential locations that are more attractive or have cheaper housing. Although this depresses house prices in inner areas, attracting workers choosing non-WFH occupations and non-working households, the net effects are flatter residential density gradients and increased urban sprawl. Jobs, become more centralised within cities and increase overall in the largest and most productive cities. Smaller cities and towns close to large employment centres attract more residents who commute out, but the majority of Australian cities and towns shrink, relative to the baseline. |
| Keywords: | commuting working from home telecommuting SCGE model COVID-19 |
| JEL: | C68 R12 R13 R41 |
| Date: | 2020–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cop:wpaper:g-306&r=all |
| By: | Bryson, Alex (University College London); Corsini, Lorenzo (University of Pisa); Martelli, Irene (Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies) |
| Abstract: | Italy's secondary school system has faced funding constraints for many years which limits availability of new permanent job slots for teachers. When permanent posts do arise they are allocated mostly on seniority while merit only plays a small role. Thus, the age distribution of teachers in schools reflects older teachers' preferences which include the amenity of being close to urban centres. Using schools' distance from main urban centres and population size in the school's vicinity to instrument for non-random exposure of schools to older teachers, we show older teachers are detrimental to pupil attainment in secondary schools. The effect is large: a six-year increase in the average age of teachers (roughly similar to the increase that has occurred in the last 20 years) leads to a one standard deviation reduction in the mean graduation mark. The findings suggest there may be value in altering the way teachers are allocated to secondary schools in Italy. |
| Keywords: | pupil attainment, school performance, teacher allocation, teacher age, permanent contracts |
| JEL: | J41 J44 J45 J48 J62 M51 M55 |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13669&r=all |
| By: | Polyakov, Maksym; Iftekhar, Sayed; Fogarty, James |
| Abstract: | The objective of this paper is to understand whether greater involvement of local councils in the planning and development of the infills generate a better outcome for the residents as reflected through house prices. The Australian population is growing at a rapid rate and is expected to double by 2061. Two main approaches to tackle increasing population are the development of greenfields at the urban growth boundary and densification in the established areas (commonly known as infill). Given the limitation of greenfields development, infill has become popular. Many cities and metropolitan areas have established infill target. For example, in Sydney it is expected that by 2031 60% to 70% of the new dwellings will be supplied from in-fill. Similar targets have been set for other cities, for example, in Melbourne 61% by 2051, in Perth 47% by 2031 and in Adelaide 70% by 2040. Given such high level of infill targets it is important to manage the process in an integrated fashion as unplanned infill development could induce loss of green infrastructure and natural waterways. Local Councils play an important role by working with developers to achieve community goals and provide more public benefits to the residents. It timely to know to what extent their direct involvement in infill and residential development improve social welfare. Such information will contribute to more effective implementation of the infill project through an optimal level of involvement by local governments. Our case study consists of the Cities of Salisbury, Onkaparinga and Port Adelaide in South Australia. We use sales of homes built after 2000 following a subdivision. We classify infill developments by the three levels of involvement of the local council into the planning and development process. The “limited” level of involvement from the Councils is primarily reliant on policies of the Councils’ Development Plans. The “preliminary” level of involvement is related to high-level land division design and layout outcomes, such as connectivity to adjoining open space, road network, stormwater infrastructure. The “high” level of involvement from the Councils may, in addition, include rezoning to enable specific development policy to more explicitly guide development outcomes or design guidelines for dwellings design. We estimate a hedonic pricing model which includes spatial and temporal fixed effects, house characteristics, and a categorical variable that indicates the level of involvement of the Local Councils into the planning and development process. The preliminary result indicates that the “high” level of involvement of the Councils is associated with higher house prices in comparison with the subdivisions with “limited” or “preliminary” input by the Council. These results demonstrate the value of the Councils’ more active involvement with residential development. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2020–09–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aare20:305242&r=all |
| By: | Elizabeth Ananat (Barnard College, Columbia University); Shihe Fu (Southwest University of Finance and Economics); Stephen L. Ross (University of Connecticut) |
| Abstract: | Racial social isolation within workplaces may reduce firm productivity. We provide descriptive evidence that African-Americans feel socially isolated from whites. To test whether isolation affects productivity, we estimate models of Total Factor Productivity for manufacturing firms allowing the returns to concentrated economic activity and human capital to vary by the match between each establishment’s racial and ethnic composition and the composition of local area employment. Higher own-race representation increases the productivity return from employment density and concentrations of college educated workers. Looming demographic changes suggest that this drag on economic productivity may increase over time. |
| Keywords: | agglomeration economies, firm productivity, human capital externalities, information networks, racial and ethnic isolation |
| JEL: | J15 J24 L11 R32 R12 R23 |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hka:wpaper:2020-069&r=all |
| By: | Cook, Will |
| Abstract: | The Covid-19 crisis has led to disruption to schooling across the world. Though it is recognized that pupils are suffering immediate learning loss, there exists a lack of understanding as to how this disruption might affect longer-term educational outcomes. This study considers this issue by examining the effect of school disruption in England due to restrictions put in place to manage the Foot and Mouth Disease epidemic in cattle in 2001. Using a difference in difference approach, I analyze whether primary schools that had been significantly disrupted by the epidemic experienced lower performance in standardized tests in English, maths and science for 11 year olds in the year of the outbreak and in subsequent years. I find that primary schools that had been significantly disrupted by the measures to contain the epidemic exhibited achievement falls in the year immediately after the outbreak, driven by sizeable falls in maths performance. The negative effects weaken in subsequent years suggesting that the effects of school disruption may fade out as cohorts progress through schooling. |
| Keywords: | Covid, school disruption |
| JEL: | I21 |
| Date: | 2020–07–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:102732&r=all |
| By: | Florent Dubois (EconomiX - UMR 7235, Université Paris Nanterre, France); Christophe Muller (Aix-Marseille Univ, CNRS, AMSE, Marseille, France.) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we contend that local segregation should be an essential component of the analyzes of the determination of socio-ethnic income gaps. For this, we adopt a thorough distribution decomposition approach, as a general preliminary descriptive step to prospective specific structural analyses. Focusing on the contemporary White/African gap in South Africa, we first complete Mincer wage equations with an Isolation index that reflects the level of segregation in the local area where individuals dwell. Second, we decompose the income gap distribution into detailed composition and structure components. Third, we explore the heterogeneity of segregation effects on wage gaps along three theoretical lines: racial preferences, labor market segmentation, and networks links. Segregation is found to be the main contributor of the structure effect, ahead of education and experience, and to make a sizable contribution to the composition effect. Moreover, segregation is harmful at the bottom of the African income distribution, notably in relation to local informal job-search networks, while it is beneficial at the top of the White income distribution. Only minor influences of racial preferences and labor market segmentation are found. Specific subpopulations are identified that suffer and benefit most from segregation, including for the former, little educated workers in agriculture and mining, often female, immersed in their personal networks. Finally, minimum wage policies are found likely to attenuate most segregation’s noxious mechanisms. |
| Keywords: | post-apartheid South Africa, generalized decompositions, income distribution, residential segregation |
| JEL: | J15 D31 R23 |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aim:wpaimx:2029&r=all |
| By: | Riley Sullivan |
| Abstract: | COVID-related public health concerns and declining tax revenues raised or continue to raise important questions throughout the country about when and how to restart schools and how to fund them in the near term. For communities across northern New England, there are also fundamental, longer-term concerns over declines in the student population that will still confront districts well beyond the current academic year. In every county in New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont, the number of young residents has declined over the last two decades. Northern New England is not alone in facing this demographic shift, but it nonetheless poses challenges to the sustainability of local economies and public services, particularly schools. Rising costs have combined with declining enrollment to drive up per-pupil expenditures on elementary and secondary education. Each New England state saw a substantial decline in revenue in fiscal year 2020 and is projected to see more losses in FY2021. In response, school administrators and policymakers have taken steps to try to reduce the anticipated budget shortfalls. State policymakers and local districts across the region have also responded to the longer-term issue of declining school-age population by consolidating school districts, closing schools, and in some cases, reducing K–12 expenditures. Fourteen percent of the northern New England public schools that were open in 2000 are now closed. The communities with the largest declines in enrollment are among those that reduced school expenditures by a rate that nearly matched the rate at which their enrollment decreased; nevertheless, per-pupil spending rose in their counties and nearly every other county. Projections call for the school-age population of northern New England to continue to decline into 2030, suggesting that additional changes may be needed to adequately serve the residents of the affected communities. |
| Keywords: | COVID-19 |
| Date: | 2020–09–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedbrb:88731&r=all |
| By: | Chen,Xiaomeng; Mungai,Rose; Nakamura,Shohei; Pearson,Thomas Patrick; Wambile,Ayago Esmubancha; Yoshida,Nobuo |
| Abstract: | Measuring and comparing the levels of household welfare and poverty in a country require cost-of-living differences across regions to be properly adjusted. In measuring the spatial cost of living, the recent literature underscores the importance of detailed product quality information in the price data. Taking advantage of the price data availability in Ghana, this case study explores the Consumer Price Index price data as a source for spatial price measurement. It applies the country product dummy method to the Consumer Price Index price data and compares the results with other methods based on different price data. The empirical analysis indicates a potential bias in estimating spatial prices stemming from the lack of product quality information and, therefore, suggests the potential usefulness of the Consumer Price Index price data for spatial price adjustment in poverty analysis in low- and middle-income countries. |
| Keywords: | Municipal Management and Reform,Urban Housing,Urban Governance and Management,Urban Housing and Land Settlements,Inequality,Poverty Diagnostics,Poverty Lines,Poverty Assessment,Poverty Impact Evaluation,Small Area Estimation Poverty Mapping,Poverty Monitoring&Analysis,Macroeconomic Management,Food Security,Nutrition |
| Date: | 2020–09–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:9388&r=all |
| By: | Pyddoke, Roger (Swedish National Road & Transport Research Institute (VTI)) |
| Abstract: | Recently several papers have analyzed optimal supply of public transport in the sense of optimal prices, frequencies, bus sizes, spacing of bus stops for a public transport authority facing a certain static demand for trips. This paper is motivated by the observation that demand for bus services varies between weekdays even for the same departure analyzes the magnitude of this variation and its implications for optimal supply. This analysis was enabled by the relatively recent adaption of technologies for counting passengers boarding and alighting and motivated by the relatively few published studies of such data. This paper therefore uses calculated rates between bus stops in the Swedish city Uppsala, and analyses the average variation in geography, between directions and between the same departure times and directions. The central results are that; there are parts of lines with systematically higher and lower occupancy rate than average without corresponding supply adaptions, there is substantial variance in the occupancy on buses leaving the same bus stop at the same time on week days, and welfare optimization indicates that providing capacity to cover maximum observed demand with seats in buses is not necessarily optimal. |
| Keywords: | Public transport; Bus; Occupancy; Load factor; Variation in time and space |
| JEL: | R41 R49 |
| Date: | 2020–09–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:vtiwps:2020_008&r=all |
| By: | Nicholas Chiumenti; Bo Zhao |
| Abstract: | Despite multiple court cases and repeated efforts at reform, there are still significant concerns about the equity and the adequacy in Connecticut’s public K–12 education funding. One vital component of any attempt to reform education finance is a methodologically rigorous evaluation of what it would cost school districts across the state to achieve target performance standards given their student characteristics. This report addresses that need, evaluating the equity and the adequacy of school spending in Connecticut based on education costs. Different from actual school expenditure, a district’s education cost is an estimation based on its cost factors that are outside the direct control of local officials at any given point in time; efficiency levels are held constant across school districts in the estimation. This report finds large disparities in education costs due to differences among school districts in cost factors. It also finds that, despite existing state aid programs, disparities in cost-adjusted spending across the state remain large. Spending in some districts is well below the levels needed to achieve common performance goals. Among the specific findings of this report is that in the last year for which data were analyzed, the average costs of school districts with the lowest socioeconomic status and highest level of student need were 62 percent greater than those of districts with the highest socioeconomic status and the lowest level of student need. When this report holds every district’s efficiency at the statewide average level, it finds that more than half of Connecticut’s public school students attended districts where spending was insufficient to meet the “predicted costs” to achieve the statewide average student test performance level. A direct, negative consequence of spending inadequacy is student underperformance relative to the common student performance target. This report recommends that the state consider adopting the cost measure as the basis of a new, scientifically grounded, equitable, and adequate formula that allocates more state aid to districts with higher costs. It also suggests that many districts need to increase their spending to meet their predicted costs and close the gap between student performance and the common goal. The exact amount of the additional spending needed partly depends on the state’s choices for the student performance target and the common level of district efficiency. For example, this report estimates that in the last year analyzed, with district efficiency held at the statewide average level, an additional $940 million, or an increase of 12.3 percent from statewide public K–12 school spending, would have been needed to fully fund the predicted costs required to achieve the statewide average student test performance level in every district. While the state and local governments now face great fiscal difficulties induced by the COVID-19 pandemic, they should remain committed to the investment in public education, because it will affect Connecticut’s economic growth in the long run. |
| Keywords: | NEPPC; Connecticut; municipal aid; education funding; COVID-19 |
| Date: | 2020–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedbcr:88728&r=all |
| By: | Kathryn Bokun; Laura E. Jackson; Kevin L. Kliesen; Michael T. Owyang |
| Abstract: | We construct a real-time dataset (FRED-SD) with vintage data for the U.S. states that can be used to forecast both state-level and national-level variables. Our dataset includes approximately 28 variables per state, including labor market, production, and housing variables. We conduct two sets of real-time forecasting exercises. The first forecasts state-level labor-market variables using five different models and different levels of industrially-disaggregated data. The second forecasts a national-level variable exploiting the cross-section of state data. The state-forecasting experiments suggest that large models with industrially-disaggregated data tend to have higher predictive ability for industrially-diversified states. For national-level data, we find that forecasting and aggregating state-level data can outperform a random walk but not an autoregression. |
| Keywords: | space-time autogregression; factor model; VAR; industrial diversity |
| JEL: | C33 R11 |
| Date: | 2020–08–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedlwp:88720&r=all |
| By: | Amuedo-Dorantes, Catalina (University of California, Merced); Bucheli, Jose R. (New Mexico State University) |
| Abstract: | For the first time in U.S. history, approximately 10 percent of the U.S. House of Representatives is Hispanic. The greater engagement of Hispanics in national politics has occurred after unprecedented growth in interior immigration enforcement disproportionately impacting Latinos. Using county-level data on all candidates running for congressional elections over the 2008–2018 decade, we find evidence of intensified immigration enforcement suppressing Hispanics' willingness to run for Congress. The effect, which is not present for female or Black minorities, is driven by local police-based measures, and more prevalent in localities without a sanctuary policy and in states with a Republican governor. |
| Keywords: | diversity, electoral candidates, immigration enforcement, United States |
| JEL: | D72 H0 J15 |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13698&r=all |
| By: | Gruber, Noam |
| Abstract: | Using PISA truancy and tardiness data to generate estimates of school discipline comparable across countries, this paper finds a strong relation between both individual and school-level discipline and student performance. Furthermore, the data shows that the effect of discipline grows with class size, so that students in large classes can benefit the most from an atmosphere of discipline. This finding explains how Asian education systems in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong-Kong and Singapore are top performers in international student achievement tests while having exceptionally large classes. It also implies that some Western countries, enjoying high levels of discipline but opting for small classes, are inefficient in the use of their educational resources, leading to sub-optimal results by their students. |
| Keywords: | Education, PISA, International Tests, Discipline, Tardiness, Punctuality, Truancy, Class Size |
| JEL: | I21 I28 |
| Date: | 2020–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:102733&r=all |
| By: | Giulietti, Corrado (University of Southampton); Vlassopoulos, Michael (University of Southampton); Zenou, Yves (Monash University) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates whether exposure to peer depression in adolescence affects own depression in adulthood. We find a significant long-term depression peer effect for females but not for males in a sample of U.S. adolescents who are followed into adulthood. An increase of one standard deviation of the share of own-gender peers (schoolmates) who are depressed increases the probability of depression in adulthood by 2.6 percentage points for females (or 11.5% of mean depression). We also find that the peer effect is already present in the short term when girls are still in school and provide suggestive evidence for why it persists over time. In particular, we show that peer depression negatively affects the probability of college attendance and the likelihood of working, and leads to a reduction in income of adult females. Further analysis reveals that individuals from families with a lower socioeconomic background are more susceptible to peer influence, thereby suggesting that family can function as a buffer. |
| Keywords: | peer effects, depression, contagion, gender, family background, adolescence, policy |
| JEL: | I12 Z13 |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13680&r=all |
| By: | Alejandro Puerta; Andr\'es Ram\'irez-Hassan |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes a Bayesian approach to perform inference regarding the size of hidden populations at analytical region using reported statistics. To do so, we propose a specification taking into account one-sided error components and spatial effects within a panel data structure. Our simulation exercises suggest good finite sample performance. We analyze rates of crime suspects living per neighborhood in Medell\'in (Colombia) associated with four crime activities. Our proposal seems to identify hot spots or "crime communities", potential neighborhoods where under-reporting is more severe, and also drivers of crime schools. Statistical evidence suggests a high level of interaction between homicides and drug dealing in one hand, and motorcycle and car thefts on the other hand. |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2009.05360&r=all |
| By: | Stephen J. Redding |
| Abstract: | This paper reviews recent research on geography and trade. One of the key empirical findings over the last decade has been the role of geography in shaping the distributional consequences of trade. One of the major theoretical advances has been the development of quantitative spatial models that incorporate both exogenous first-nature geography (natural endowments) and endogenous second-nature geography (the location choices of economic agents relative to one another) as determinants of the distribution of economic activity across space. These models are sufficiently rich to capture first-order features of the data, such as gravity equations for flows of goods and people. Yet they remain sufficiently tractable as to permit an analytical characterization of the properties of the general equilibrium and facilitate counterfactuals for realistic policy interventions. We distinguish between models of regions or systems of cities (where goods trade and migration take center stage) and models of the internal structure of cities (where commuting becomes relevant). We review some of key empirical predictions of both sets of theories and show that they have been remarkably successful in rationalizing the empirical findings from reduced-form research. Looking ahead, the combination of recent theoretical advances and novel geo-coded data on economic interactions at a fine spatial scale promises many interesting avenues for further research, including discriminating between alternative mechanisms for agglomeration, understanding the implications of new technologies for the organization of work, and assessing the causes, consequences and potential policy implications of spatial sorting. |
| JEL: | F1 J4 R1 R4 |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27821&r=all |
| By: | Filmer,Deon P.; Habyarimana,James Paul; Sabarwal,Shwetlena |
| Abstract: | This study evaluates the impacts of low-cost, performance-based incentives in Tanzanian secondary schools. Results from a two-phase randomized trial show that incentives for teachers led to modest average improvements in student achievement across different subjects. Further, withdrawing incentives did not lead to a"discouragement effect"(once incentives were withdrawn, student performance did not fall below pre-baseline levels). Rather, impacts on learning were sustained beyond the intervention period. However, these incentives may have exacerbated learning inequality within and across schools. Increases in learning were concentrated among initially better-performing schools and students. At the same time, learning outcomes may have decreased for schools and students that were lower performing at baseline. Finally, the study finds that incentivizing students without simultaneously incentivizing teachers did not produce observable learning gains. |
| Keywords: | Effective Schools and Teachers,Educational Institutions&Facilities,Educational Sciences,Public Sector Administrative&Civil Service Reform,De Facto Governments,Public Sector Administrative and Civil Service Reform,Administrative&Civil Service Reform,Democratic Government |
| Date: | 2020–09–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:9382&r=all |
| By: | Treb Allen; Costas Arkolakis; Xiangliang Li |
| Abstract: | In this note, we consider a broad class of network models where a large number of heterogeneous agents simultaneously interact in many ways. We provide an iterative algorithm for calculating an equilibrium and offer sufficient and “globally necessary” conditions under which the equilibrium is unique. The results arise from a multi-dimensional extension of the contraction mapping theorem which allows for the separate treatment of the different types of interactions. We illustrate that a wide variety of heterogeneous agent economies – characterized by spatial, production, or social networks – yield equilibrium representations amenable to our theorem's characterization. |
| JEL: | C6 D85 E23 F4 O18 R13 |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27837&r=all |
| By: | Emilie Arnoult (LIRSA - Laboratoire interdisciplinaire de recherche en sciences de l'action - CNAM - Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers [CNAM], CEET - Centre d'études de l'emploi et du travail - CNAM - Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers [CNAM] - M.E.N.E.S.R. - Ministère de l'Education nationale, de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche - Ministère du Travail, de l'Emploi et de la Santé); Richard Duhautois (CEET - Centre d'études de l'emploi et du travail - CNAM - Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers [CNAM] - M.E.N.E.S.R. - Ministère de l'Education nationale, de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche - Ministère du Travail, de l'Emploi et de la Santé, LIRSA - Laboratoire interdisciplinaire de recherche en sciences de l'action - CNAM - Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers [CNAM]) |
| Abstract: | The understanding of the spatial location of jobs and people has a long tradition in the economic literature because it can induce changes in the social and economic conditions between regions within countries. Most studies analyzing which comes first, jobs or people, focus on variations in jobs and people instead of worker and people flows. Generally, only stock measures are available so that they are used as proxy to estimate flows. In this paper, we aim to augment our knowledge of the spatial dynamics of jobs and population by distinguishing inflows and outflows. We mobilize several available data on residential mobility and labor movements between 2012 and 2013 in France. Our results show that population and job adjustments are not simultaneous, and a rise in job exits does not have an immediate impact on population exits. |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02932126&r=all |
| By: | Aalto, Aino-Maija (SOFI, Swedish Institute for Social Research, Stockholm University.) |
| Abstract: | Same-gender teachers may affect educational preferences by acting as role models for their students. I study the importance of the gender composition of teachers in mathematics and science in lower secondary schools on the likelihood of continuing on math-intensive tracks in the next levels of education. I use population wide register data from Sweden and control for family fixed effects to account for sorting into schools. According to my results, if the share of female science teachers is increased from none to all, there is, if at all, only a slight positive effect on the likelihood of girls completing a STEM track at upper secondary school, while the probability of completing a math-intensive degree at university increases by 26 percent. There is no positive impact on the performance of students by the higher share of female science teachers. As only the likelihood of choosing science is affected, these results suggest that the effects indeed arise because female teachers of these subjects serve as role models for female students. However, compared to earlier studies, the effects found are very modest. |
| Keywords: | Role models; gender segregation; human capital; STEM |
| JEL: | J16 J24 |
| Date: | 2020–08–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2020_010&r=all |
| By: | Bo Zhao |
| Abstract: | Facing legal challenges and public pressures, Connecticut needs an objective and rigorous study of its public education costs. This study is the first to estimate the cost function of Connecticut public K–12 education and to evaluate the equity and the adequacy in the state’s school spending based on regression-estimated education costs. It finds large disparities across districts in education costs and cost-adjusted spending. Districts with the largest enrollments, the highest school-age-child-poverty rates, or the least amount of property wealth, on average, have the highest costs and the lowest cost-adjusted spending. A large percentage of the state’s public school students are enrolled in districts where spending is inadequate relative to the predicted cost of achieving a common student performance target, which contributes to student underperformance. Thus, school districts, especially the high-cost ones, need a large amount of additional spending to improve student performance. The research approach used in this paper can be generalized and applied to other states. |
| Keywords: | cost function; education costs; school spending; equity in education finance; adequacy in education finance |
| JEL: | H75 I21 I22 I28 |
| Date: | 2020–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedbwp:88729&r=all |
| By: | Diaz-Serrano, Luis (Universitat Rovira i Virgili); Stoyanova, Alexandrina P. (University of Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | One of the most claimed links in the health and education literature is that education prevents from the risk of overweight, and the negative link between education and BMI is up to now out of questioning. More educated adults tend to have lower body mass index (BMI) and a lower risk of overweight and obesity. However, recent literature started questioning the mechanism behind this education gradient in BMI. A more recent and alternative explanation is that the BMI-education gradient hides a selection mechanism, which makes adolescents with higher BMI are less likely to plan for, attend, and complete higher levels of education. In this paper we test for the selection mechanism behind the link between education and BMI by estimating the impact of adolescents' BMI on medium-long-term educational expectations and short-term school choices, while controlling for the potential endogeneity of BMI. Our IV estimates indicate that individuals with higher BMI have lower academic aspirations and are less likely to attend high school after finishing compulsory education, which is a pre-condition of the intentions to go college. These results support the selection (reverse causality) mechanism. |
| Keywords: | students' expectations, BMI, overweight, school choices, university, educational achievement |
| JEL: | I24 I29 |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13685&r=all |
| By: | Ila Fazzio; Alex Eble; Robin L. Lumsdaine; Peter Boone; Baboucarr Bouy; Pei-Tseng Jenny Hsieh; Chitra Jayanty; Simon Johnson; Ana Filipa Silva |
| Abstract: | Children in many extremely poor, remote regions are growing up illiterate and innumerate despite high reported school enrollment ratios. Possible explanations for such poor outcomes include demand – for example, low perceived returns to education compared to opportunity cost; and supply – poor state provision and inability of parents to coordinate and finance better schooling. We conducted a cluster-randomized trial in rural Guinea Bissau to understand the effectiveness and cost of concerted supply-based interventions in such contexts. Our intervention created simple schools offering four years of education to primary-school aged children in lieu of the government. At endline, children receiving the intervention scored 58.1 percentage points better than controls on early grade reading and math tests, demonstrating that the intervention taught children to read and perform basic arithmetic, from a counterfactual condition of very high illiteracy. Our results provide evidence that particularly needy areas may require more concerted, dramatic interventions in education than those usually considered, but that such interventions hold great potential for increasing education levels among the world’s poorest people. |
| JEL: | I21 I24 I25 J24 O15 |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27799&r=all |
| By: | Amel Attour (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - UNS - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (... - 2019) - COMUE UCA - COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015 - 2019) - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Marco Baudino (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - UNS - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (... - 2019) - COMUE UCA - COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015 - 2019) - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Jackie Krafft (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - UNS - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (... - 2019) - COMUE UCA - COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015 - 2019) - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Nathalie Lazaric (GREDEG - Groupe de Recherche en Droit, Economie et Gestion - UNS - Université Nice Sophia Antipolis (... - 2019) - COMUE UCA - COMUE Université Côte d'Azur (2015 - 2019) - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the determinants of smart energy tracking app usage by citizens residing in French cities. Our framework is inspired by the extant strands of literature on smart cities and smart home technology adoption, but also contributing to them as smart energy applications reveal specificities that need to be incorporated; the latter include, for instance, the distinction between adoption and frequency of use, or the consideration of additional determinants such as privacy or environmental concerns. For our study, we build an original survey and rely upon citizen-level data, testing a Zero-Inflated Ordered Probit (ZIOP) model which allows to differentiate between adoption of the smart energy app and its frequency of utilisation. Our empirical findings reveal how the drivers related to smart city characteristics mainly affect the decision of adoption of energy tracking apps. Conversely, the more individual characteristics related to the perceived benefits of using energy tracking apps, dwelling type, and privacy concerns, primarily affect the frequency of utilisation. Our results bear policy implications on the issue of privacy, premising additional research on energy challenges in the utilization of energy apps in smart versus non-smart environments. |
| Date: | 2020–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02942483&r=all |
| By: | Moshoeshoe,Ramaele Elias |
| Abstract: | Many Sub-Saharan African countries have instituted free primary education policies, and this has led to a significant increase in the primary school enrollment rate. However, many children who are in school are not learning. It is not clear whether free primary education policies have contributed to the decline in the quality of education and whether these learning effects are long-lasting. This paper addresses the latter question and estimates the long-term effects of free primary education on educational achievement in Lesotho where the program was phased-in on a grade-by-grade basis, beginning with grade one in 2000. The timing of the implementation created changes in program coverage across age (and grade) groups over time. A semiparametric difference-in-differences strategy is employed that exploits these variations to identify the long-term effects of the free primary education policy on educational achievement, using university examinations records data for student cohorts with and without free primary education. The results indicate that the effect of free primary education on academic performance is bounded between 2 and 19 percentage points, implying that the program increased enrollment without hurting education quality. |
| Keywords: | Educational Sciences,Primary Education,Gender and Development,Secondary Education |
| Date: | 2020–09–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:9404&r=all |
| By: | Nikita Melnikov; Carlos Schmidt-Padilla; Maria Micaela Sviatschi |
| Abstract: | We study how two of the world’s largest gangs—MS-13 and 18th Street—affect economic development in El Salvador. We exploit the fact that the emergence of these gangs was the consequence of an exogenous shift in American immigration policy that led to the deportation of gang leaders from the United States to El Salvador. Using a spatial regression discontinuity design, we find that individuals living under gang control have significantly less education, material wellbeing, and income than individuals living only 50 meters away but outside of gang territory. None of these discontinuities existed before the emergence of the gangs. The results are confirmed by a difference-in-differences analysis: after the gangs’ arrival, locations under their control started experiencing lower growth in nighttime light density compared to areas without gang presence. A key mechanism behind the results is that, in order to maintain territorial control, gangs restrict individuals’ freedom of movement, affecting their labor market options. The results are not determined by exposure to violence or selective migration from gang locations. We also find no differences in public goods provision. |
| JEL: | O1 O17 O54 |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27832&r=all |
| By: | Roesti, Matthias |
| Abstract: | I examine the effect of local police militarisation on violent crime using evidence from the 1033-programme in the US. Exogenous cost shifters due to the particular logistics of the programme are exploited to instrument for the amount of equipment received by local law enforcement. The results do not support previous county-level studies, who find strong and consistent negative effects on crime. I show that those findings are likely based on a combination of (i) inconsistencies in the underlying data and (ii) limited comparability of different subsamples. Accounting for these factors, I find only weak evidence of a negative impact on violent crime – notably for more rural areas, which form a majority of US counties. For this subsample, the results do not support the notion that military equipment enhances the effectiveness of enforcement agencies: if anything, arrests fall while any resulting crime reduction is of negligible economic significance. |
| Keywords: | Police militarization, 1033-program, violent crime, police violence |
| JEL: | H56 H76 K42 Z18 |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usg:econwp:2020:17&r=all |
| By: | Leaver, Clare (University of Oxford); Ozier, Owen (Williams College); Serneels, Pieter (University of East Anglia); Zeitlin, Andrew (Georgetown University) |
| Abstract: | This paper reports on a two-tiered experiment designed to separately identify the selection and effort margins of pay-for-performance (P4P). At the recruitment stage, teacher labor markets were randomly assigned to a pay- for-percentile or fixed-wage contract. Once recruits were placed, an unexpected, incentive-compatible, school-level re-randomization was performed, so that some teachers who applied for a fixed-wage contract ended up being paid by P4P, and vice versa. By the second year of the study, the within-year effort effect of P4P was 0.16 standard deviations of pupil learning, with the total effect rising to 0.20 standard deviations after allowing for selection. |
| Keywords: | pay-for-performance, selection, incentives, teachers, field experiment |
| JEL: | C93 I21 J45 M52 O15 |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13696&r=all |
| By: | Jordi Paniagua (University of Valencia); María Santana-Gallego (Universitat Illes Balears) |
| Abstract: | As a result of the role played by migrants in supporting host economies, the interest in understanding the impact of migration is growing. However, the literature remains silent on the channels by which migration affects tourism. The present paper aims to isolate the effect of migrant networks on tourism by exploring the role of information, travel costs, and demand for visiting friends and relatives. To this end, a theoretical framework that rests upon a structural gravity model is developed. The model allows not only a better understanding of the relationship between tourism and migration but also to overcome several empirical biases like the omission of multilateral resistance in tourism flows or controlling for endogeneity. The empirical analysis considered a sample of 34 OECD countries as destination/home and 157 origin/countries-of-birth for tourist arrivals/migration stock. A positive and robust effect of migration on inbound tourism is estimated and the three channels proposed to drive this nexus become relevant. |
| Keywords: | Tourism, Migration, Gravity equation |
| Date: | 2020–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eec:wpaper:2004&r=all |
| By: | Bietenbeck, Jan (Department of Economics, Lund University); Collins, Matthew (Department of Economics, Lund University) |
| Abstract: | We revisit and substantially extend the evidence on the importance of instruction time for student achievement on international assessments. We first successfully replicate the estimate of a positive effect of weekly instruction time in the seminal paper by Lavy (Economic Journal, 125, F397-F424) in a narrow sense. We then extend the analysis to data from other international student assessments and find effects that are consistently smaller in magnitude. We provide suggestive evidence that this divergence is partly due to different measurement of instruction time in the data used in the original paper. Our results suggest that differences in instruction time play a less important role than previously thought for explaining international gaps in student achievement. |
| Keywords: | instruction time; student achievement; PISA; TIMSS |
| JEL: | I21 |
| Date: | 2020–09–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lunewp:2020_018&r=all |
| By: | Austin L. Wright (University of Chicago - Harris School of Public Policy); Konstantin Sonin (University of Chicago - Harris School of Public Policy); Jesse Driscoll (University of California at San Diego); Jarnickae Wilson (University of Chicago - Harris School of Public Policy) |
| Abstract: | Shelter-in-place policies reduce social contact and mitigate the spread of COVID-19. In-consistent compliance with social distancing creates local and regional interpersonal trans-mission risks. Using county-day measures on population movement derived from cellphone location data, we investigate whether compliance with local shelter-in-place ordinances varies across US counties with different economic endowments. Our theoretical model implies economic endowments will influence compliance with social distancing. We find evidence that low income areas do comply less than counties with stronger economic endowments. Findings suggest targeted economic relief could improve future compliance with public health interventions. |
| Keywords: | COVID-19, shelter-in-place, compliance |
| JEL: | H12 I18 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bfi:wpaper:2020-40&r=all |
| By: | Andersen, Asbjørn G. (Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research); Franklin, Simon (Queen Mary University London); Kotsadam, Andreas (Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research); Somville, Vincent (Dept. of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration); Villanger, Espen (Chr. Michelsen Institute); Getahun, Tigabu (EDRI) |
| Abstract: | We provide causal evidence of how an increase in wealth affects support for redistribution and beliefs about the causes of poverty. Exploiting the variation in wealth created by an Ethiopian housing lottery, we show that general attitudes toward redistribution and inequality acceptance are relatively insensitive to economic circumstances although winners are less favorable of taxing homeowners. Further, we find evidence of endogenous beliefs: relative to losers, the wealthier winners are more likely to attribute poverty to character traits and less likely to emphasize the role of luck. We interpret this as evidence of a self-serving bias. |
| Keywords: | Inequality; Poverty; |
| JEL: | I30 |
| Date: | 2020–09–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:nhheco:2020_018&r=all |
| By: | Elsner, Benjamin (University College Dublin); Concannon, Jeff (University College Dublin) |
| Abstract: | One of the fundamental questions in the social sciences is whether modern welfare states can be sustained as countries welcome more immigrants. On theoretical grounds, the relationship between immigration and support for redistribution is ambiguous. Immigration may increase ethnic diversity, which may reduce the support for redistribution. On the other hand, natives may demand more redistribution as an insurance against labour market risks brought by immigration. In this chapter, we review the theoretical and empirical literature on immigration and redistribution from across the social sciences. We focus on two themes, namely the effect of immigration on natives' support for redistribution, and the effect on the actual setting of tax and spending policies. Recent empirical evidence suggests that immigration lowers the support for redistribution and leads to lower taxation and spending. However, the magnitude of these effects appears to be highly context-dependent. |
| Keywords: | migration, redistribution, public policy |
| JEL: | F22 H2 H4 |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13676&r=all |
| By: | Adman, Per (Department of Government, Uppsala University,); Larsson Taghizadeh, Jonas (Department of Government, Uppsala University,) |
| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to investigate the occurrence of discrimination based on ethnicity in public officials’ treatment of welfare clients. Previous research has confirmed the existence of ethnic discrimination, but we argue that further investigations are needed. Field experiments in the form of correspondence tests, as we use here, are in many ways appropriate for discovering discrimination. However, an ethnic minority background is often perceived to be associated with low socioeconomic status (SES), which most previous field experiments have not paid attention to. Hence, ethnic discrimination may have been confused with socioeconomic discrimination. Our research design provides possibilities to take this problem into consideration. Furthermore, the research design allows investigation of whether ethnic discrimination occurs primarily among individuals with certain SES levels, which is currently an open question in the literature. Discrimination is assessed through a field experiment in which one administrator at each Swedish municipality is randomly contacted by an individual with an Arabic-sounding or a Swedish-sounding name who is interested in moving to the municipality. We find no statistically significant signs of ethnic discrimination. Admittedly, this may be due to the limited sample size and not only to our efforts of separating ethnic and socioeconomic dimensions. Furthermore, no signs of ethnic discrimination occurring at any particular SES level are discovered. |
| Keywords: | ethnic discrimination; field experiment; Sweden; socioeconomic discrimination; correspondence test |
| JEL: | C93 D63 D73 D91 I24 |
| Date: | 2020–09–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2020_012&r=all |
| By: | Bhuller, Manudeep; Kostøl, Andreas R.; Vigtel, Trond C. |
| Abstract: | How the internet affects job matching is not well understood due to a lack of data on job vacancies and quasi-experimental variation in internet use. This paper helps fill this gap using plausibly exogenous roll-out of broadband infrastructure in Norway, and comprehensive data on recruiters, vacancies and job seekers. We document that broadband expansions increased online vacancy-postings and lowered the average duration of a vacancy and the share of establishments with unfilled vacancies. These changes led to higher job-finding rates and starting wages and more stable employment relationships after an unemployment-spell. Consequently, our calculations suggest that the steady-state unemployment rate fell by as much as one-fifth. |
| Keywords: | Unemployment, Information, Job Search, Matching |
| JEL: | D83 J63 J64 L86 |
| Date: | 2020–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bno:worpap:2020_01&r=all |
| By: | Lydia Cheung; Philip Gunby (University of Canterbury) |
| Abstract: | In this research note we document the decrease in victimisation rates during the COVID-19 lockdown period in New Zealand. We show that the changes in mobility patterns in the same period are significantly correlated with these changes in crime rates. We discuss how our preliminary empirical results accord with the theories of crime in economics and criminology. |
| Keywords: | COVID-19; crime; mobility; lockdown |
| JEL: | K42 R00 |
| Date: | 2020–08–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cbt:econwp:20/17&r=all |
| By: | Maria Tsouri; ; |
| Abstract: | The proximity literature usually treats proximity in terms of common attributes shared by agents, disregarding the relative position of an actor inside the network. This paper discusses the importance of such dimension of proximity, labelled as in-network proximity, and proposes an empirical measurement for it, assessing its impact (jointly with other dimensions of proximity) on the creation of strong knowledge network ties in ICT in the region of Trentino. The findings show that actors with higher in-network proximity are more attractive for both other central actors and peripheral ones, which is further strengthening their position within the network. |
| Keywords: | knowledge networks, in-network proximity, strong ties, proximity dimensions |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:2039&r=all |
| By: | Alexander Klein; Guy Tchuente |
| Abstract: | This paper derives identification, estimation, and inference results using spatial differencing in sample selection models with unobserved heterogeneity. We show that under the assumption of smooth changes across space of the unobserved sub-location specific heterogeneities and inverse Mills ratio, key parameters of a sample selection model are identified. The smoothness of the sub-location specific heterogeneities implies a correlation in the outcomes. We assume that the correlation is restricted within a location or cluster and derive asymptotic results showing that as the number of independent clusters increases, the estimators are consistent and asymptotically normal. We also propose a formula for standard error estimation. A Monte-Carlo experiment illustrates the small sample properties of our estimator. The application of our procedure to estimate the determinants of the municipality tax rate in Finland shows the importance of accounting for unobserved heterogeneity. |
| Date: | 2020–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2009.06570&r=all |
| By: | Ambarish Chandra |
| Abstract: | I examine the case of a firm that practices both second-degree and third-degree price discrimination. I present a model showing conditions under which the premium for higher quality can either rise or fall as the firm implements group pricing. I then use new data from a regional airline to estimate how the two kinds of price discrimination interact, and how each is affected by changes in competition. I establish three key results, all new to the literature. First, in different markets, the two kinds of price discrimination can either offset or reinforce each other, in a manner that fits the model's predictions. Second, inter-temporal differences in prices are purely driven by price discrimination, rather than by scarcity pricing. Third, competition increases the extent of both kinds of price discrimination. |
| Keywords: | Price Discrimination; Airlines; Advance Purchases; Competition |
| JEL: | L1 L9 |
| Date: | 2020–09–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tor:tecipa:tecipa-676&r=all |
| By: | Asadi, Ghadir; Mostafavi-Dehzooei, Mohammad H. |
| Keywords: | Labor and Human Capital, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Risk and Uncertainty |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea20:304554&r=all |
| By: | Radu Barza; Cristian Jara-Figueroa; César A. Hidalgo; Martina Viarengo |
| Abstract: | Do knowledge intense jobs exhibit lower gender gaps in wages? Here we use a linked employeremployee dataset of the entire Brazilian formal labor force to study the relationship between gender wage gaps and the knowledge intensity of industries and occupations. We find that employees in high-skilled occupations and industries experience lower gender wage gaps, and that the effect of knowledge intensity is stronger when the demand for skilled labor is high and the supply of skilled labor is low. We also find evidence that the gender wage gap of skilled workers, but not that of unskilled workers, decreases when knowledge intense industries grow. These effects are robust to controlling for individual, occupation, sector, and location characteristics. To address endogeneity concerns, we use a Bartik instrument based on labor demand shocks. Together, these findings suggest that competition for skilled labor in knowledge intense industries contributes to the reduction of gender wage gaps. |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_8543&r=all |
| By: | Sulin Sardoschau; Arthur Silve; Hillel Rapoport |
| Abstract: | We examine both theoretically and empirically how migration affects cultural change in home and host countries. Our theoretical model integrates various compositional and cultural transmission mechanisms of migration-based cultural change for which it delivers distinctive testable predictions on the sign and direction of convergence. We then use the World Value Survey for the period 1981-2014 to build time-varying measures of cultural similarity for a large number of country pairs and exploit within country-pair variation over time. Our evidence is inconsistent with the view that immigrants are a threat to the host country’s culture. While migrants do act as vectors of cultural diffusion and bring about cultural convergence, this is mostly to disseminate cultural values and norms from host to home countries (i.e., cultural remittances). |
| Keywords: | migration, cultural change, globalization |
| JEL: | F22 Z10 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_8547&r=all |
| By: | Bigelow, Daniel P.; Kuethe, Todd H. |
| Keywords: | Community/Rural/Urban Development, Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea20:304291&r=all |