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on Urban and Real Estate Economics |
| By: | Alexander Daminger |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the effects of German homeownership subsidies on the intra-city rent structure. Using a large-scale micro data set on German rent offerings, I first construct novel city rent indexes that include various rings around cities’ CBDs. Using triple differences (TD) frameworks, I then estimate the introduction of the homeownership subsidies’ effects on rent for the cities that received varying subsidy rates. The empirical results indicate that subsidies to homeownership lower central apartment rent premiums in those cities, where they give the “biggest bang for the buck”. Consequently, I find that homeownership subsidies contribute to an increase in housing affordability through the price changes in the rental market: an increase in the subsidies leads potential homeowners to move away from the CBD, resulting in a decrease in the rental demand and lowering the rent. |
| Keywords: | homeownership, housing subsidies, homeownership subsidy, triple differences |
| JEL: | H22 H71 R31 R38 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bav:wpaper:210_daminger&r= |
| By: | Matteo Bobba; Tim Ederer; Gianmarco León-Ciliotta; Christopher A. Neilson; Marco Nieddu |
| Abstract: | This paper studies how increasing teacher compensation at hard-to-staff schools can reduce inequality in access to qualified teachers. Leveraging an unconditional change in the teacher compensation structure in Peru, we first show causal evidence that increasing salaries at less desirable locations attracts better quality applicants and improves student test scores. We then estimate a model of teacher preferences over local amenities, school characteristics, and wages using geocoded job postings and rich application data from the nationwide centralized teacher assignment system. Our estimated model suggests that the current policy is both inefficient and not large enough to effectively undo the inequality of initial conditions that hard-to-staff schools and their communities face. Counterfactual analyses that incorporate equilibrium sorting effects characterize alternative wage schedules and quantify the cost of reducing structural inequality in the allocation of teacher talent across schools. |
| Keywords: | Inequality, teacher school choice, teacher wages, matching with contracts |
| JEL: | J31 J45 I21 C93 O15 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upf:upfgen:1788&r= |
| By: | Hasan, Lubna; Chaudhry, Aqeel; Ahmad, Ayaz; Jalil, Hanzla |
| Abstract: | Islamabad is currently in the process of reviewing its Master Plan. Islamabad, planned in 1960 by C. A. Doxiadis on the principles of ‘Dynapolis’ – “the City of the Future” is a low-density administrative city, with single-family homes based on an American suburban model. There was no room for the poor, a central business district (CBD), or even a university. The city has 126 illegal private housing societies - operating without adhering to the modalities set for residential spaces. Islamabad also has 63 un/under-serviced slums housing 30% of the total city population. All this is the result of a restrictive zoning regime that encourages sprawl against high-density mixed-use development causing inefficient use of land. Urban Sprawl has disadvantages in terms of increased travel time, transport costs, pollution, destruction of arable lands. The World has moved on from restrictive master planning. Master plans are time and data-intensive. Being static and mostly non-inclusive, their stringent requirements leave little space for markets to develop. Islamabad is an over-regulated city favoring single-family houses. Successful cities have flexible zoning codes to adjust to changing physical requirements of a city. Islamabad is not an affordable city for low-income groups. Real estate prices increase where height restrictions are excessive. Rezoning helps the increase of supply land to keep prices in check. Policy needs to recognise cities as engines of growth. The zoning paradigm needs to favor density, high-rise mixed-use development, walkability, public and community spaces. Government ownership of city-center land needs to be reduced to allow cities adequate ownership of their land and resources. Commerce is to be given priority in city centers. City management should be professional and accountable. Cities must be able to hire out of their budgets. Decision-making must be an open consultative process. |
| Keywords: | Cities, City Planning, New Urbanism, Master Planning, |
| JEL: | R00 R14 R31 R58 |
| Date: | 2021–06–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:108735&r= |
| By: | Laura Pagani; Giovanni Pica |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates whether exposure to academically gifted peers of the same and opposite gender in primary school (grade 5, at age 10) affects later academic achievement (grade 8, at age 13) and high-school track choice. For identification we exploit random allocation of kids across classes within primary schools. We document that, conditional on primary school fixed effects and grade 8 class fixed effects, as well as on baseline achievement, a higher share of same/opposite-gender high-achievers in math in primary school is related, both for boys and girls, to better/worse later math academic achievement in grade 8 and to a higher/lower probability of choosing a scientific high-school track. We argue that these results are consistent with a role model channel. |
| Keywords: | Peer effects, early education stage, gender-specific effects |
| JEL: | I21 I24 J24 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mib:wpaper:474&r= |
| By: | Mark Huggett; Wenlan Luo |
| Abstract: | We derive an optimal labor income tax rate formula for urban models in which tax rates are determined by traditional forces plus a new term arising from urban forces: house price, migration and agglomeration effects. Based on the earnings distributions and housing costs in large and small US cities, we find that in a benchmark model (i) optimal income tax rates are U-shaped, (ii) urban forces serve to raise optimal tax rates at all income levels and (iii) adopting an optimal tax system induces agents with low skills to leave large, productive cities. While agglomeration effects enter the optimal tax formula, they play almost no quantitative role in shaping optimal labor income tax rates. |
| Keywords: | Housing; Income inequality; Urban economics; Optimal taxation |
| JEL: | R20 J10 H20 |
| Date: | 2021–07–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedmoi:92931&r= |
| By: | Kim, Youngjoon (KnowledgeWorks co., Ltd.); Lee, Jinhyung; Kim, Junghwan; Nakajima, Naoto |
| Abstract: | Transportation is a key element to understanding the socio-spatial structure of colonial cities and the lives of individuals living under colonial governance. This study investigates the disparity in transit-based travel time between colonial rulers (Japanese) and subjects (Koreans) in Colonial Seoul (Keijo) in 1936 using modern GIS and open-source transport analysis tools. Findings suggest a significant disparity in travel time to a major urban facility (i.e., City Hall) between the two population groups of the largest colonial city in the Korean peninsula. |
| Date: | 2021–07–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:qf65w&r= |
| By: | Dodson, Jago; Curtis, Carey; Ashmore, David; Woodcock, Ian; Kovacs, Stephen |
| Abstract: | This research explores how Australian urban transport programs and policies are responding to changes in transport technology, travel patterns, environmental imperatives and spatial development dynamics in order to offer guidance about future directions and options, and seeks to identify potential policy directions for Australia’s cities and policy arrangements. |
| Date: | 2021–07–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:n3g5d&r= |
| By: | Su, Xuejuan (University of Alberta, Department of Economics); Yu, Huayi (Renmin University of China) |
| Abstract: | We utilize government-sanctioned public school acquisitions in Beijing to estimate individuals’ willingness to pay for enrollment eligibility in sought after elementary schools. The spatial and temporal variation in these acquisitions allows us to estimate a hedonic pricing model in the differencein-difference framework. Comparing regular elementary schools that are acquired by sought-after schools to those that are not, we find an average price increase of 7% for apartments in the catchment areas of acquired schools. This percentage increase is both statistically and economically significant, and it does not vary by the size of the apartment. We also find heterogeneous price effects for different types of acquisitions, defined by their post-acquisition organizational structures, but these differences are not statistically significant. |
| Keywords: | school acquisition; public schools; housing price; hedonic model; difference-in-difference |
| JEL: | H75 I28 R21 |
| Date: | 2021–07–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:albaec:2021_004&r= |
| By: | Zaira Najam (University of Waikato); John Gibson (University of Waikato) |
| Abstract: | Knowing whether poverty rates converge within a country matters for regional development policy and for understanding growth processes. In this paper we use five poverty measures, calculated biennially from 2004 to 2014 for 100 districts in Pakistan, to test for poverty convergence. Spatial autoregressive models are used to capture spatial spillovers. Conventional money-metric poverty measures, such as the headcount index and poverty gap index, show unconditional convergence, and the convergence is more apparent if indirect impacts from spillovers are accounted for. In contrast, two multidimensional poverty indexes show no convergence and no indirect effects coming from spatial spillovers. Catch-up growth in initially poorer areas is apparent with the money-metric poverty measures traditionally used in Pakistan but not with the types of multidimensional poverty measures used officially since 2015. This difference in apparent poverty convergence may affect regional development policy choices. |
| Keywords: | convergence; multidimensional; poverty; spatial spillovers; Pakistan |
| JEL: | I32 R12 |
| Date: | 2021–07–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wai:econwp:21/07&r= |
| By: | Wahba Jackline (University of Southampton); Nelly Elmallakh |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of massive refugee inflows on the internal mobility of the host’s country population. We rely on panel data from before and after the Syrian war and exploit the geographical distribution of Syrians across Jordanian subdistricts. Using Difference-in-Differences, we find that the Syrian inflows increased Jordanian residential mobility. In particular, native outflows of the camp hosting areas increased by 27%. The increased residential mobility out of the camp areas seems to be triggered by an increase in rents and a crowding out of Jordanian students by Syrians in schools. Our results also show that the Syrian presence increased Jordanians’ job location mobility into the camp areas. These findings are robust to controlling for refugees’ locational sorting using instrumental variables, while auxiliary placebo regressions confirm that pre-existing trends in outcomes are not driving the results. We also provide a thorough discussion on the impact of refugees versus broader impacts of the Syrian war. |
| Keywords: | internal migration, job mobility, forced displacement, refugees, Jordan |
| JEL: | F22 J61 R23 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:2120&r= |
| By: | Koray Aktas; Gianluca Argentin; Gian Paolo Barbetta (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore; Dipartimento di Economia e Finanza, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore); Gianna Barbieri; Luca Vittorio Angelo Colombo (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore; Dipartimento di Economia e Finanza, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the educational choices of first- and second-generation immigrant students at the transition between lower-secondary school and high school by exploiting a large longitudinal dataset of about 50,000 students in Italy. We find that immigrant students are less likely to choose challenging academic track high schools compared with their Italian counterparts, after controlling for household characteristics, school fixed e ects, and students' performance. We show that systematic di erences in teachers' evaluations received by the two groups of students are an important driver of the observed di erences in educational choices by immigrant and native students. In particular, after controlling for observable characteristics, we find that immigrant students are more likely to be formally advised by their teachers to choose vocational or technical high schools rather than academic tracks, re ecting a discrimination bias that has not previously been emphasized in the literature. This suggests the role of a new dimension of policy intervention aimed at reducing the possibility of teachers' induced discrimination based on implicit stereotypes. |
| Keywords: | immigrant students, high school choice, academic track, discrimination biases, implicit stereotypes. |
| JEL: | I21 I24 I26 I28 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctc:serie1:def108&r= |
| By: | Abel Schumann; SWAC |
| Abstract: | The number of people living in African cities is expected to double over the next two decades. While the need to provide adequate infrastructure, create high quality jobs and manage pollution in fast growing cities has been well studied, these studies say little about subjective quality of city life. This paper presents findings from the first large-scale quality of life perception survey covering 27 cities in 17 countries in West Africa and the Sahel. Responses from nearly 9000 urban West Africans provide an insight into perceptions of city life, local government quality, and policy priorities with the intention of giving residents a voice in the policy dialogue on the future of African cities. In addition to comparing perceptions across cities, the paper demonstrates the feasibility of an online approach to run large-scale online surveys in West African cities of different sizes and cultural contexts. |
| Keywords: | cities, perception survey, urbanisation, well-being, West Africa |
| JEL: | R50 Y80 |
| Date: | 2021–08–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:swacaa:32-en&r= |
| By: | Lars J. Kirkebøen; Trude Gunnes (Statistics Norway); Lena Lindenskov; Marte Rønning |
| Abstract: | Can high-dosage tutoring help low-performing adolescents? We implement a randomized experiment to test a twofold intervention: A teacher training program customized for instructing 8th graders who perform poorly in mathematics and two 4-6 week periods of targeted math instruction for lowperforming 8th graders, a majority in small homogeneous groups and the rest in larger and more heterogeneous groups. We randomized 24 schools to treatment and 24 schools to control. For students receiving small-group instruction, we find that test scores increase by .06 SD. Moreover, the share of low-performing students decreases by up to 25 percent. We find no impact on treated students in large groups. Classroom observations and surveys to teachers indicate higher fidelity to the didactic methods among teachers managing small groups. |
| Keywords: | Low-performing students; Ability grouping; High-dosage tutoring; Classroom management; Didactic methods; Mathematics; RCT; Stratified randomization; Cost-benefit of interventions |
| JEL: | I21 I24 I28 |
| Date: | 2021–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssb:dispap:957&r= |
| By: | Stefano Basilico (Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Economics Department); Uwe Cantner (Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Economics Department, and University of Southern Denmark, Odense); Holger Graf (Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Economics Department) |
| Abstract: | Cluster policies aim at improving collaboration between co-located actors to address systemic failures. As yet, cluster policy evaluations are mainly concerned with effects on firm performance. Some recent studies move to the system level by assessing how the structure of actor-based knowledge networks is affected by such policies. We continue in that direction and analyze how technology-based regional knowledge spaces structurally respond to the introduction of a cluster policy. Taking the example of the German BioRegio contest, we examine how such knowledge spaces in winning and non-winning regions evolved before, during and after the policy. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we identify treatment effects of increased knowledge space embeddedness of biotechnology only in the post-treatment period. Our findings imply that cluster policies can have long-term structural effects typically not accounted for in policy evaluations. |
| Keywords: | BioRegio contest, network analysis, knowledge space, difference in differences, patents |
| JEL: | O31 O38 R11 |
| Date: | 2021–08–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2021-011&r= |
| By: | Bruno T. Rocha; Nuno Afonso; Patrícia C. Melo; João de Abreu e Silva |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the factors that influenced the allocation of motorways across municipalities in mainland Portugal over the period from 1981 to 2011. Our analysis, based on Poisson Pseudo-maximum Likelihood models, suggests that population size and market potential in 1981 are important determinants of motorway density in 2011. Likewise, physical and geographical variables also help explain the spatial distribution of motorway investment, as terrain ruggedness, distance to the coast, and distance to the border with Spain are negatively associated with motorway density. In addition, we consider the influence of the proximity to historical and pre-existing transport networks on the allocation of motorways; we find that municipalities that are closer to the 1800’s itineraries, the main roads of the 1945’s National Road Plan, and 1981’s train stations appear to have higher motorway densities in 2011, but this effect is concentrated in the vast and sparsely populated area of the country that excludes what we term the highdensity Portuguese “blue banana”. Interestingly, it is also only in this low-density region that partisan alignment between the municipal and the national levels of government appears to affect the allocation of transport investment, which suggests that motorways are more of a political asset in more remote or less urbanised areas. |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ise:remwps:wp01842021&r= |
| By: | Barbour, Elisa; Jin, Janet; Goldsmith, Emma; Grover, Salvador; Martinez, Jacqueline; Handy, Susan |
| Abstract: | This report provides research findings from the second year of a two-year research project on patterns of local policymaking in California to support transit-oriented development (TOD), transit, and active transport. Through survey research and case studies, the project assessed motivations, perceived obstacles, and priorities for development near transit, in relation to patterns of local policy adoption, from the perspective of city planners in the state’s four largest regions: the San Francisco Bay, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Sacramento metropolitan areas. The second research phase based on case study analysis identified tensions and trade-offs in policy “packaging” to support TOD in six large and five smaller cities in the same regions. View the NCST Project Webpage |
| Keywords: | Social and Behavioral Sciences, Transit-oriented development, transit, land-use planning, policy design and adoption |
| Date: | 2021–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsdav:qt49t729rc&r= |
| By: | Olof Ejermo; Katrin Hussinger; Basheer Kalash; Torben Schubert |
| Abstract: | We analyze the effect of the Öresund Bridge, a combined railway and motorway bridge between Swedish Malmö and the Danish capital Copenhagen, on inventive activity in the region of Malmö. Applying difference-in-difference estimation on individual-level data, our findings suggest that the Öresund Bridge led to a significant increase in the number of patents per individual in the Malmö region as compared to the two other major regions in Sweden, Gothenburg and Stockholm. We show that a key mechanism is the attraction of highly qualified workers to the Malmö region following the construction of the bridge. |
| Keywords: | Transportation infrastructure, innovation, Öresund Bridge, cross-border regions, patents; inventors, agglomeration effects |
| JEL: | O31 O33 R11 L91 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/7ell01j45s8loqtvgom5ci9i3h&r= |
| By: | Emanuela Sirtori (CSIL Centre for Industrial Studies); Alessandra Caputo (CSIL Centre for Industrial Studies); Domenico Scalera (Department of Law and Economics. University of Sannio, Italy) |
| Abstract: | This paper aims at identifying geographical patterns of Biopharma transformation trends in the EU over the period 2000-2016 through an analysis of cross-regional and cross-sectoral linkages. To this purpose, information on co-patenting, mergers and acquisitions, and joint ventures and alliances is used to carry out a network analysis at region level. Results show an increasing involvement of European regions in cross-sectoral Biopharma operations. However, while the network displays a tendency to enlarge toward the East (Poland) and West (Spain), a significant reduction in the activity of peripheral nodes in the Southern and Northern borders of the network is observed. More recently, the overall interconnectedness of the network slightly decreases; the network becomes sparser, showing a propensity toward regionalisation of cross-sectoral linkages. Finally, by exploiting information on the location of companies and inventors involved in cross-sectoral operations, the investigation allows pinpointing regional communities and their evolution throughout the yearsClassification-JEL: O18, R11, R58 |
| Keywords: | Biopharmaceutical industry, Cross-sectoral linkages, Emerging Industries, Network analysis |
| JEL: | R11 R12 L14 L65 |
| Date: | 2021–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mst:wpaper:202101&r= |
| By: | Myers, Caitlin Knowles (Middlebury College) |
| Abstract: | I compile and disseminate novel panel data sets measuring county-level travel distances to abortion facilities and resident abortion rates. Using these data and exploiting temporal and spatial variation in distances, I implement difference-in-difference research designs measuring the causal effects of distance to the nearest abortion facility. The results indicate large and non-linear effect: An increase in travel distance from 0 to 100 miles—a level that courts have generally treated as not unduly burdensome for women seeking abortions—is estimated to prevent 20.5% of women seeking an abortion from reaching a provider, and in turn to increase births by 2.4%. |
| Keywords: | travel distance, abortions, births |
| JEL: | I11 I12 J13 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14556&r= |
| By: | Johannes van der Pol (GREThA - Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée - UB - Université de Bordeaux - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Jean-Paul Rameshkoumar; Sarah Teulière; Thierry Bazerque |
| Abstract: | In France, Regions do not make their own innovation policies, this is the role of the State. A Region implements national policies and uses grants and subsidies to create and dynamize innovation ecosystems important for its economic development. The Region's role is therefore largely influential. In order to influence one needs to how and when to exert this influence. A precise understanding of an innovation ecosystem is therefore of vital importance. On the occasion of the venue of a Nobel laureate to the French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine the regional counsel aimed to connect her with the regional innovation ecosystem around her research. The purpose of this paper is to show methods and techniques using patents, scientific publications and non-patent literature citations that can help with the identification of an innovation ecosystem and how to integrate a researcher into this ecosystem . |
| Keywords: | NPL,Technology Intelligence,Patents,innovation networks |
| Date: | 2021–07–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03287981&r= |
| By: | Thierry Kamionka (CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CREST - Centre de Recherche en Économie et Statistique - ENSAI - Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Analyse de l'Information [Bruz] - X - École polytechnique - ENSAE Paris - École Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Administration Économique - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris); Guy Lacroix (Département d'Economique, Université Laval - ULaval - Université Laval [Québec]) |
| Abstract: | The paper investigates the links between homeownership, employment and earnings for which no consensus exists in the literature. Our analysis is cast within a dynamic setting and the endogeneity of each outcome is assessed through the estimation of a flexible panel multivariate model with random effects. The data we use are drawn from the French sample of the EU Survey on Income and Living Conditions for the years 2004-2013. The error terms are both correlated across equations and autocorrelated. Individual random effects are also correlated across equations. The model is estimated using a simulated maximum likelihood estimator and particular care is given to the initial conditions problem. Our results show that while homeowners have longer employment and unemployment spells, they must contend with lower earnings than tenants upon reemployment. They also stress the importance of unobserved heterogeneity in explaining the transitions on the labour and housing markets, and the relationship between earnings and the latter two. Failure to properly account for this is likely to yield biased parameter estimates. |
| Keywords: | Homeownership,Unemployment,Earnings,Heterogeneity,Simulation based estimation,Panel data. |
| Date: | 2021–07–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03290646&r= |
| By: | Cameron LAPOINT; SAKABE Shogo |
| Abstract: | We estimate the dynamic effects of place-based tax incentives on local investment, job creation, and firm relocation decisions using a series of policy experiments in Japan as our laboratory. The Japanese government rolled out the Technopolis program between 1984 and 1989, offering firms bonus depreciation rates as high as 30% towards tangible capital investment in economically peripheral regions. A follow-up policy enacted in 1989 expanded the set of eligible areas and increased bonus depreciation for firms in certain non-tradable industries. Using detailed multi-plant firm balance sheet data and several staggered difference-in-differences (DD) approaches, we find both policies generated employment and investment in building construction and non-real estate assets, with little evidence of spillovers to ineligible firms in treated areas. The effects are driven by more financially constrained firms and firms which rely on relatively long-lived assets such as buildings in their operations. Our results point to the importance of providing large and immediate rather than deferred financial incentives for inducing firms to make irreversible investments in struggling regions. |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:21059&r= |
| By: | Andreas Fuster (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne; Swiss Finance Institute; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)); Aurel Hizmo (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System); Lauren Lambie-Hanson (Federal Reserve Banks - Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia); James I. Vickery (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia); Paul Willen (Federal Reserve Bank of Boston - Research Department; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)) |
| Abstract: | We study the evolution of US mortgage credit supply during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the mortgage market experienced a historic boom in 2020, we show there was also a large and sustained increase in intermediation markups that limited the pass-through of low rates to borrowers. Markups typically rise during periods of peak demand, but this historical relationship explains only part of the large increase during the pandemic. We present evidence that pandemic-related labor market frictions and operational bottlenecks contributed to unusually inelastic credit supply, and that technology-based lenders, likely less constrained by these frictions, gained market share. Rising forbearance and default risk did not significantly affect rates on “plainvanilla” conforming mortgages, but it did lead to higher spreads on mortgages without government guarantees and loans to the riskiest borrowers. Mortgage backed securities purchases by the Federal Reserve also supported the flow of credit in the conforming segment. |
| JEL: | G21 G23 G28 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chf:rpseri:rp2141&r= |
| By: | Duff, Cameron; Hill, Nicholas; Blunden, Hazel; valentine, kylie; Randall, Sean; Scutella, Rosanna; Johnson, Guy |
| Abstract: | The project will examine the coordination between residential treatment and housing and social support services using international comparisons and linked administrative data followed by testing in the field. It aims to enhance transition planning and reduce the risk of housing instability for individuals leaving treatment for mental health and/or substance use problems. |
| Date: | 2021–07–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:vypsj&r= |
| By: | Arik Levinson (Department of Economics, Georgetown University) |
| Abstract: | Most taxes in the United States are levied on income flows, not capital stocks. One notable exception is state and local property taxes. This note documents their magnitude and regressivity. Property taxes account for more than 30 percent of state and local tax revenue, and amount to an effective wealth tax rate of 0.86 percent on the assets of the median US homeowner. The effective property-wealth tax rates are highest for younger, lower-income homeowners. |
| Keywords: | Inequality, wealth tax, property tax |
| JEL: | H2 H7 |
| Date: | 2021–07–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:geo:guwopa:gueconwpa~21-21-18&r= |
| By: | Andrew F. Haughwout; Donghoon Lee; Joelle Scally; Wilbert Van der Klaauw |
| Abstract: | The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Center for Microeconomic Data today released its Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit for the second quarter of 2021. It showed that overall household debt increased at a quick clip over the period, with a $322 billion increase in balances, boosted primarily by a 2.8 percent increase in mortgage balances, a 2.2 percent increase in credit card balances, and a 2.4 percent increase in auto balances. Mortgage balances in particular were boosted by a record $1.22 trillion in newly originated loans. Although some borrowers are originating new loans, struggling borrowers remain in forbearance programs, where they are pausing repayment on their debts and creating an additional upward pressure on outstanding mortgage balances. |
| Keywords: | Consumer Credit Panel; CCP; forbearance |
| JEL: | D14 |
| Date: | 2021–08–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fednls:92929&r= |
| By: | Mahadevia, Darshini; Datt, Manish; Adhvaryu, Bhargav (Ahmedabad University); Killiyath, Suhair |
| Abstract: | The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), that has gripped the world since December 2019 and declared a pandemic has infected about 4.8 million people in India and counting. This pandemic is urban-centric globally and in India in the earlier stages. In this paper we argue that the virus’s spread in India has multiple routes, the housing conditions, socio-economic characteristics as well as the epidemiology route that influences the management of the infection contrary to attributing the spread geography to only vulnerable areas. Selecting Ahmedabad, a city that register higher number of infections in the early period, this paper attempt to understand the pattern of infection spread and explain these using recorded infections from March 17, 2020 to June 10, 2020 period. |
| Date: | 2021–07–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:ycnue&r= |
| By: | Philip Stessens; Frank Canters; Marijke Huysmans; Ahmed Z. Khan |
| Abstract: | For city dwellers urban green space is the primary source of contact with nature. Qualitative green space is increasingly perceived as an important factor for quality of life in urban areas and a key component of sustainable urban design and planning. In this study, the relation between different features of urban green spaces and perception of green space qualities was analyzed by combining the outcome of a survey on green space perception with GIS-based spatial metrics. A survey has been conducted among residents of the Brussels Capital Region and surroundings to assess the relative importance residents assign to different qualities of urban green spaces and how they value these qualities within visited spaces. Quietness, spaciousness, cleanliness and maintenance, facilities and feeling of safety are identified as important qualities of public green spaces, while naturalness, historical and cultural value are perceived as less important qualities. A GIS-based model was developed to infer naturalness, quietness and spaciousness as perceived by users of public green spaces from green space properties. Using variables describing biological value, land-cover composition, green space area and shape, good correlations were obtained between GIS-based assessment of naturalness and spaciousness and how green space users perceive these qualities. The model proposed may be useful for simulating green space development and improvement scenarios and assess their impact on perceived quality. Thus it may serve as a spatial decision support tool for improving the quality of urban green spaces. |
| Keywords: | Brussels; Ecosystem services; Environmental quality; GIS; Urban green space |
| Date: | 2020–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulb:ulbeco:2013/298795&r= |
| By: | Kaiser, Tim; Oberrauch, Luis; Pang, Ming Fai; Seeber, Günther |
| Abstract: | We administer an adapted version of the Test of Economic Competence (TEC) to a sample of secondary school students in Hong Kong and study the psychometric properties of the adapted scale relative to test statistics based on a sample of German secondary school students. The results indicate adequate psychometric properties of the adapted measurement scale. Reassuringly, we find no evidence of differential item functioning in the adapted test and student-level correlates of economic competence mirror the results from a large-scale assessment in Germany relying on the original scale. Collectively, these results underscore the construct validity of the adapted test and suggest that the adapted TEC may be well suited to study the economic competence of secondary school students in a variety of educational contexts. |
| Keywords: | Pre-college economic education,economic competence,IRT,economic literacy |
| JEL: | A21 G53 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esprep:236205&r= |
| By: | Pierluigi Sacco |
| Abstract: | The COVID-19 crisis has provided an opportunity to rethink the Veneto Region’s economic strategy. This paper examines the links between cultural and creative sectors and the regional manufacturing economy of the Veneto Region in the North of Italy, highlighting the important role that cultural production, and in particular Venice, can play in the region’s post-pandemic recovery strategies. |
| JEL: | O31 R12 Z18 |
| Date: | 2021–07–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:cfeaaa:2021/04-en&r= |
| By: | Jilleah G. Welch (Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville); Matthew N. Murray (Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville) |
| Abstract: | This report is the second of two reports exploring the relationship between coal activity and funding for elementary and secondary education. The first report provided a descriptive analysis while this report examines the impact of changes in coal employment or production on local revenues for education using an econometric analysis. Coal employment in the U.S. has significantly decreased over the last century due to multiple factors. However, there is still great variation in trends in coal employment across regions, counties, and time. Some areas have experienced growth in coal employment while other areas have experienced significant declines in coal employment. These changes in coal activity can impact he fiscal health of communities, which can impact communities' ability to make adequate investments in education and training, an essential component for economic development. Local changes in coal activity can impact funding for education through a number of potential different mechanisms, which are discussed. While it can be unknown how these different factors impact local schooling support, this research focuses on how variations in coal activity impact local revenues for education. |
| Keywords: | Education and Economic Development, Human Capital Skills, Occupational Choice, Rural and Regional Analysis |
| JEL: | I25 J24 O18 |
| Date: | 2020–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rri:wpaper:2020rp17&r= |
| By: | RUI EVANGELISTA; JOÃO ANDRADE E SILVA; ESMERALDA A. RAMALHO |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the impact of energy efficiency along the unconditional distribution of residential property prices in Portugal. Using a dataset of more than 256,000 residential property sales from 2009 to 2013, a period that covers an economic depression, unconditional quantile regression analysis reveals that the responsiveness to energy efficiency improvements is different not only as we move from low- to high-priced residential units but also for apartments and houses. While the former show a downward trend in the magnitude of energy efficiency coefficient estimates, the opposite occurs for houses. The latter market segment exhibits clear market discounts at the lowest quantiles of the price distribution, something that is not observable thought conditional mean and quantile regression analysis. Results suggest the existence of a different responsiveness to energy efficiency improvements in the Lisbon region when compared to the rest of the country and that the impact of the Energy Performance Certificate label increases throughout time across all price quantiles. As a by-product of this paper, an unconditional quantile price index shows that the impact of the crisis was not the same across the different market segments, with price decreases being more severe for low- than high-priced properties. |
| Keywords: | energy efficiency, residential property market, hedonic price models, conditional quantile regression, unconditional quantile regression |
| JEL: | C21 Q41 R21 R31 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ise:remwps:wp01862021&r= |
| By: | Vincent Meisner; Jonas von Wangenheim |
| Abstract: | Evidence suggests that participants in direct student-proposing deferred-acceptance mechanisms (DSPDA) play dominated strategies. To explain the observed data, we introduce expectation-based loss aversion into a school-choice setting and characterize choice-acclimating personal equilibria in DSPDA. We find that non-truthful preference submissions can be strictly optimal if and only if they are top-choice monotone. In equilibrium, DSPDA may implement allocations with justified envy. Specifically, it discriminates against students who are more loss averse or less con- fident than their peers, and amplifies already existing discrimination. To level the playing field, we propose sequential mechanisms as an alternative that is robust to these biases. |
| Keywords: | Market design, Matching, School choice, Reference-dependent preferences, Loss aversion, Deferred acceptance |
| JEL: | C78 D47 D78 D81 D82 D91 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bon:boncrc:crctr224_2021_312&r= |
| By: | Tal, Gil; Lee, Jae Hyun; Ji, Wei |
| Abstract: | This project creates a toolkit that run in ArcGIS and allows users to project where EV owners will live, work, and charge. There are three distinct modules: market analysis, workplace charging, and home charging presented in block group level. The tool can be updated by the MPO users to reflect new technologies and policies, and to be used by local planners using the web interface. DVRPC has uploaded the tool’s results to an ArcGIS online interface so that interested parties may use the results in their own analyses. The researchers expect these results to be useful for electric distribution companies, businesses, developers, EV charging companies, and all levels of governments in their EV planning efforts. View the NCST Project Webpage |
| Keywords: | Engineering, Electric vehicles, Charging infrastructure, planning toolbox, GIS |
| Date: | 2021–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsdav:qt1cg3322r&r= |
| By: | Loles Añón Higón (Department of Applied Economics II and ERI-CES, Faculty of Economics, Universitat de València, Avda. Tarongers, s/n, 46022 Valencia (Spain).); Alfonso Díez-Minguela (Department of Economic Analysis, Faculty of Economics, Universitat de València, Avda. Tarongers, s/n, 46022 Valencia (Spain).) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the extent to which the regional Higher Education System (HES) influences the location of foreign R&D. To do so, we use a dataset with information on the location choices of new foreign R&D establishments within Spain from 2005 to 2013. Likewise, we use a multiple measure of the university three missions, distinguishing between research capacity training, scientific research and technology transfer. We find that the probability of a foreign R&D establishment being located in a region is positively affected by the strength of the region’s HES missions, and more specifically by the quality of its scientific research, while its research training capacity and knowledge transfer activities do not seem to play a significant role. |
| Keywords: | Foreign R&D, universities, location, research activities, development |
| JEL: | F21 F23 O32 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eec:wpaper:2109&r= |
| By: | Nicholas Garvin (Reserve Bank of Australia); Alex Kearney (Reserve Bank of Australia); Corrine Rosé (Reserve Bank of Australia) |
| Abstract: | The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority implemented 2 credit limits between 2014 and 2018. Unlike similar policies in other countries, these imposed limits on particular mortgage products – first investor mortgages, then interest-only (IO) mortgages. With prudential bank-level panel data, we empirically identify banks' credit supply and interest rate responses and test for other effects of these policies. The policies quickly reduced growth in the targeted type of credit while total mortgage growth remained steady. Banks met the limits by raising interest rates on targeted mortgage products and this lifted their income temporarily. The largest banks substituted into non-targeted mortgage products while smaller banks did not. Practical implementation difficulties slowed effects of the (first) investor policy, and led to some disproportionate bank responses, but had largely been overcome by the time the (second) IO policy was implemented. |
| Keywords: | macroprudential policy; banks; mortgages; mortgage rates |
| JEL: | E43 E5 G21 G28 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rba:rbardp:rdp2021-07&r= |
| By: | Brad J. Hershbein (W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research); Isabel McMullen (W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research); Brian Pittelko (W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research); Bridget Timmeney (W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research) |
| Abstract: | We estimate the effects on workforce and location outcomes of the Kalamazoo Promise, a generous, place-based college scholarship. Drawing upon administrative unemployment insurance wage records merged with individual-level education data, we identify Promise effects by comparing eligible to ineligible graduates before and after the Promise’s initiation. We supplement this quantitative analysis with surveys and interviews. Despite earlier research showing that the Kalamazoo Promise substantially increased degree attainment, we find little evidence that the program affected average earnings within 10 years of high school graduation. However, the Kalamazoo Promise may have increased the likelihood of eligible graduates having earnings, within Michigan, in the middle of the distribution. We discuss the possible role of job availability in understanding these patterns and the implications for free-tuition college programs as a workforce development tool. |
| Keywords: | place-based scholarship, difference-in-differences, mixed methods, workforce outcomes, earnings, migration, education policy |
| JEL: | I21 I22 I24 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upj:weupjo:21-350&r= |
| By: | Jesús Otero (Facultad de Economía, Universidad del Rosario, Colombia); Theodore Panagiotidis (Department of Economics, University of Macedonia, Greece; Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis); Georgios Papapanagiotou (Department of Economics, University of Macedonia, Greece) |
| Abstract: | We undertake Monte Carlo simulation experiments to examine the effect of changing the frequency of observations and the data span on the Phillips, Shi, and Yu (2015) Generalised Supremum ADF (GSADF) test for explosive behaviour via Monte Carlo simulations. We find that when a series is characterised by multiple bubbles (periodically collapsing), decreasing the frequency of observations is associated with profound power losses for the test. We illustrate the effects of temporal aggregation by examining two real house price data bases, namely the S&P Case-Shiller real house prices and the international real house price indices available at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. |
| Keywords: | Exuberant/explosive behaviour, bubbles, Monte Carlo, house prices |
| JEL: | C15 C22 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rim:rimwps:21-13&r= |
| By: | Thomas Radinger; Luka Boeskens |
| Abstract: | Many countries have considered extending their school days to improve students’ outcomes, promote equity or support parents to combine work and family lives. Given the impact of such reforms, identifying conditions for their successful implementation is an important concern. This working paper reviews the available evidence and synthesises common lessons from six European and Latin American countries that extended and reorganised their school days. Each case study describes the reform’s context and goals, design and implementation, and resource implications. The paper highlights that lengthening the school day might be an efficient strategy for some schools and systems, but not for others, depending on policy goals and alternatives. To reap any potential benefits, reforms need to consider the quality and articulation of the activities taking place and related adjustments to school resources. As the paper suggests, school-day extensions provide an opportunity to rethink schools as places not just for learning, but for holistic student development, engagement and support. |
| Date: | 2021–07–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduaab:252-en&r= |
| By: | Manasan, Rosario G. |
| Abstract: | In 2019, the Supreme Court ruled with finality on separate petitions filed by Batangas Governor Herminaldo Mandanas et al. and Bataan Governor Enrique Garcia regarding the share of local government units (LGUs) in national internal revenue taxes as mandated under Section 284 of the 1991 Local Government Code (LGC). According to the petitioners, there are errors in the computation of the internal revenue allotment (IRA). As a result, the IRA in 2022 will increase by PHP 225.3 billion relative to what it would have been prior to the promulgation of the said ruling to reach PHP 1,102.7 billion. To ensure the sustainability of the national government’s fiscal position, this study proposes that said increase in the IRA be sourced by unfunding programs, activities, and projects (PAPs) in the budgets of some national government agencies that are actually intended to deliver functions assigned to LGUs under the LGC. It then proceeds to these PAPs on the basis of the 2020 General Appropriations Act. It also evaluates the impact of this financing scheme on the vertical fiscal balance across different levels of local government and horizontal fiscal balance across individual LGUs within each level of local government. |
| Keywords: | local government, fiscal decentralization, Fiscal federalism, Fiscal Sustainability, Local Expenditure, Gross Regional Product, Revenue Collection, Fiscal Capacity ? |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:phd:dpaper:dp_2020-18&r= |
| By: | Jilleah G. Welch (Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville); Matthew N. Murray (Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville) |
| Abstract: | This is the first of two reports exploring the relationship between coal activity and funding for elementary and secondary education in the Appalachian Region. In this first report, patterns in funding for elementary and secondary education are explored using annual data from 1995 to 2016. Counties that had some level of coal employment over this time period (coal counties) are compared to counties that had no coal employment over the same time (non-coal counties). Through a descriptive analysis, we find that educational attainment rates in the Appalachian Region lag behind national rates, often by a significant margin. There is considerable heterogeneity in educational attainment across and within Appalachia, with coal communities within states sometimes outperforming non-coal communities and vice versa. The Appalachian region is also characterized by higher incidences of poverty, higher unemployment rates, and lower per capita incomes. These weaker economic conditions can impact communities’ ability to generate taxes from their own tax base such as local tax revenues which fund education. Education is essential for economic development and prosperity, particularly in incidences where declines in coal activity has been devasting for communities that already have lower levels of educational attainment. Encouragingly, we find that coal counties generally have similar levels of spending and local revenues per student as the nation as a whole. However, there is significant variation across counties and states. This descriptive analysis is followed by a second report, which aims to isolate the impacts of coal activity, including employment and production, on local revenues for elementary and secondary education. |
| Keywords: | Education and Economic Development, Human Capital Skills, Occupational Choice, Rural and Regional Analysis |
| JEL: | I25 J24 O18 |
| Date: | 2020–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rri:wpaper:2020rp18&r= |
| By: | Buesa, Alejandro; De Quinto, Alicia; Población García, Francisco Javier |
| Abstract: | This paper describes a novel methodology of measuring risky and conservative mortgage credit using household survey data for 18 European Union countries and the United Kingdom. In addition, we construct time series for both types of credit and embed them into a global vector autoregressive (GVAR) model, so as to study how shocks to both variables affect domestic output and propagate across countries through cross-border banking exposures. The results show that a decrease in risky credit can have long-lasting positive effects on GDP, both in the originating country and its most exposed peers, while a fall in conservative credit is detrimental. In some geographies, negative shocks to both types of credit reduce output, a feature linked to the lower relevance of homeownership which implies that mortgage credit plays a less prominent role in the domestic economy. JEL Classification: C32, F47, G21, G51 |
| Keywords: | borrower-based measures, cross-border spillovers, LTV limits, Mortgage rating |
| Date: | 2021–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:srk:srkwps:2021123&r= |
| By: | Orbeta, Aniceto C. Jr.; Potestad, Maropsil V.; Melad, Kris Ann M. |
| Abstract: | To provide evidence on the drivers of the quality of education in the country, this study focuses on the correlates of test performance of 15-year-old students in the Philippines. It aims to quantitatively measure the roles of individual, family, and school characteristics in test performance. It uses the 2018 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) which include a rich set of student, family, and school characteristics. In addition to the average relationship between the variables provided by ordinary least squares, it also provides an analysis for high and low performing students using quantile regressions. The estimation results show that, in terms of individual characteristics, there is consistent negative correlation between grade repetition, age at start of primary schooling and incidence of bullying and test scores across mathematics, science and reading. For household characteristics, parental occupation and emotional support are positively correlated with test scores. For school characteristics, disciplinary climate provided a consistent positive correlation with test scores. In addition, to these results the paper also found puzzling results that require in-depth studies. The paper also provided recommendations in the light of the estimation results. <p> Comments to this paper are welcome within 60 days from date of posting. Email publications@mail.pids.gov.ph. |
| Keywords: | basic education, K to 12, test scores, PISA, correlates, test performance, junior high school |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:phd:dpaper:dp_2020-57&r= |
| By: | Haroon Bhorat; Adaiah Lilenstein; Jabulile Monnakgotla; Amy Thornton; Kirsten van der Zee (Development Policy Research Unit, University of Cape Town) |
| Abstract: | How does South Africa’s extremely concentrated income inequality affect the incidence of property crime? Studies based on developed countries with much lower inequality levels show that property crime increases monotonically with inequality; but this is not the case for South Africa. We use 2011 South African census data and property crime data locally disaggregated to the police precinct level. The best fitting model is a flexible one including non-linear inequality and income effects as well as an interaction between these two variables. We link this result to extreme inequality signalling both that local elites should invest in security but also relative credit-constraints for potential criminals. Our results are robust to seven different inequality measures, but the precise form of these results varies based on how sensitive measures are to the top or bottom of the income distribution. We conclude that the usual monotonic relationship between property crime and inequality is not robust in high-inequality contexts like South Africa and that measurement of inequality matters in order to correctly specify this relationship. |
| Keywords: | property crime; inequality; GAM; South Africa; non-monotonic |
| JEL: | D63 D74 R12 |
| Date: | 2020–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctw:wpaper:202001&r= |
| By: | Laura Alfaro (Harvard Business School & NBER); Ester Faia (Goethe University Frankfurt & CEPR); Nora Lamersdorf (Goethe University Frankfurt); Farzad Saidi (University of Bonn & CEPR) |
| Abstract: | Externalities and social preferences, such as patience and altruism, play a key role in the endogenous choice of social interactions, which in turn affect the diffusion of a pandemic or patterns of social segregation. We build a dynamic model, augmented with an SIR block, in which agents optimally choose the intensity of both general and group-specific social interactions. The equilibria in the baseline and the SIR-network model result from a matching process governed by optimally chosen contact rates. Taking into account agents’ endogenous behavior generates markedly different predictions relative to a naıve SIR model. Through a planner’s problem, we show that neglecting agents’ response to risk leads to misguided policy decisions. Mobility restrictions beyond agents’ restraint are needed to the extent that aggregate externalities are not curtailed by social preferences. |
| Keywords: | social interactions, pandemics, SIR network models, social preferences, social planner, targeted policies |
| JEL: | D62 D64 D85 D91 E70 I10 I18 |
| Date: | 2021–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ajk:ajkdps:110&r= |
| By: | Christian Bartelheimer (Paderborn University; Paderborn University; Paderborn University; Paderborn University) |
| Abstract: | Digital platforms are intermediating entities that enable interactions between distinct but interdependent groups of actors in two- or multi-sided markets. While research has investigated the management and economic effects of platforms, there is little design knowledge on digital platforms that constitute actor engagement ecosystems. We set out to design, implement, and evaluate DigiStreet—a digital actor engagement platform for local high streets, providing location-based advertising (LBA) via Bluetooth low-energy (BLE) beacons. DigiStreet is the first instantiation of a digital actor engagement platform connecting stores, service providers, and restaurants with consumers in a local high street. Based on detailed field evidence from three interventions—including 150 SMEs and over 2,300 citizens—we develop a design theory for a new class of IT artifacts: digital actor engagement platforms for local high streets. Our empirical analysis also provides unique insights on how digital actor engagement platforms impact on actors in a high street and thus assesses the prospects and limitations of providing LBA via BLE beacons, contextualizing previous insights on digital platforms. |
| Keywords: | Digital Platform, Action Design Research, Design Theory, Actor Engagement, Engagement Platform, Location-Based Advertising, Bluetooth Low-Energy |
| JEL: | C71 D85 L22 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pdn:dispap:80&r= |
| By: | Matthias Fahn; Takeshi Murooka |
| Abstract: | This paper theoretically investigates how an increase in the supply of homogenous workers can raise wages, generating new insights on potential drivers for the observed non-negative wage effects of immigration. We develop a model of a labor market with frictions in which firms can motivate workers only through informal incentives. A higher labor supply increases firms’ chances of filling a vacancy, which reduces their credibility to compensate workers for their effort. As a response, firms endogenously generate costs of turnover by paying workers a rent, and this rent is higher if an increase in labor supply reduces a firm’s credibility. By this effect, a higher labor supply — for example caused by immigration — can increase workers’ compensation. Moreover, an asymmetric equilibrium exists in which native workers are paid higher wages than immigrants and work harder. In such an equilibrium, an inflow of immigrants increases productivity, profits, and employment. |
| Keywords: | Informal Incentives, Labor Supply, Immigration. |
| JEL: | D21 D86 F22 J21 J61 L22 |
| Date: | 2021–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jku:econwp:2021-12&r= |
| By: | Viktor Slavtchev (Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH)); Michael Wyrwich (University of Groningen, Faculty of Economics and Business) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes empirically whether individuals’ decisions to start an own business can be influenced via television (TV). To identify its effect, we utilize exogenous regional variation in the availability of TV that conveyed images conducive to entrepreneurship and the notion that self-reliance, self-determination and proactive behavior are desirable from individual and social point of view. We use both regional-level as well as geo-referenced individual level data and show that the entrepreneurship incidence is higher among the residents of regions that had TV signal than in regions without TV, indicating a first-order effect on the directly exposed individuals. We find that the effect would fade out if only directly treated individuals are more likely to become entrepreneurs and the last exposed cohort becomes ‘too old’. However, we also find that non-directly exposed successive cohorts and descendants of directly exposed individuals also wish to become entrepreneurs more often. We provide evidence that is consistent with second-order effects due to the intergenerational transmission of entrepreneurial mindset and suggests a formation of a self-sustaining entrepreneurial culture, which can cause long lasting differences between treated and non-treated population groups or regions. |
| Keywords: | Entrepreneurship, TV, Culture, Occupational choice |
| JEL: | L26 J24 M13 P20 P30 O30 D02 D03 Z10 |
| Date: | 2021–07–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2021-010&r= |
| By: | Laura Alfaro (Harvard Business School & NBER); Ester Faia (Goethe University Frankfurt & CEPR); Nora Lamersdorf (Goethe University Frankfurt); Farzad Saidi (University of Bonn & CEPR) |
| Abstract: | Social preferences facilitate the internalization of health externalities, for ex-ample by reducing mobility during a pandemic. We test this hypothesis using mobility data from 258 cities worldwide alongside experimentally validated measures of social preferences. Controlling for time-varying heterogeneity that could arise at the level at which mitigation policies are implemented, we find that they matter less in regions that are more altruistic, patient, or exhibit less negative reciprocity. In those regions, mobility falls ahead of lockdowns, and remains low after the lifting thereof. Our results elucidate the importance, independent of the cultural context, of social preferences in fostering cooperative behavior. |
| Keywords: | social preferences, pandemics, mobility, health externalities, mitigation policies |
| JEL: | D01 D62 D64 D91 I10 I18 |
| Date: | 2021–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ajk:ajkdps:109&r= |
| By: | Abrahamsen, Signe A.; Ginja, Rita; Riise, Julie |
| Abstract: | This paper provides new evidence that preventive health care services delivered at schools and provided at a relatively low cost have positive and lasting impacts. We use variation from a 1999‐reform in Norway that induced substantial differences in the availability of health professionals across municipalities and cohorts. In municipalities with one fewer school nurse per 1,000 schoolage children before the reform there was an increase in the availability of nurses of 35% from the pre‐ to the post‐reform period, attributed to the policy change. The reform reduced teenage pregnancies and increased college attendance for girls. It also reduced the take‐up of welfare benefits by ages 26 and 30 and increased the planned use of primary and specialist health care services at ages 25‐35, without impacts on emergency room admissions. The reform also improved the health of newborns of affected new mothers and reduced the likelihood of miscarriages. |
| Keywords: | School Health Services, Teenage Pregnancy, Welfare Dependency, Utilization of Health Services, Health Status |
| Date: | 2021–07–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ajt:wcinch:74644&r= |
| By: | Daron Acemoglu (Massachusetts Institute of Technology); Toumas Pekkarinen (Aalto University School of Business); Kjell Salvanes (Norges Handelshøyskole); Matti Sarvimäki (Aalto University School of Business) |
| Abstract: | Upon assuming power for the first time in 1935, the Norwegian Labour Party delivered on its promise for a major schooling reform. The reform raised minimum instruction time in less developed rural areas and boosted the resources available to rural schools, reducing class size and increasing teacher salaries. We document that cohorts more intensively affected by the reform significantly increased their education and experienced higher labor income. Our main result is that the schooling reform also substantially increased support for the Norwegian Labour Party in subsequent elections. This additional support persisted for several decades and was pivotal in maintaining support for the social democratic coalition in Norway. These results are not driven by the direct impact of education and are not explained by higher turnout, or greater attention or resources from the Labour Party targeted towards the municipalities most affected by the reform. Rather, our evidence suggests that cohorts that benefited from the schooling reform, and their parents, rewarded the party for delivering a major reform that was beneficial to them. |
| Keywords: | education, human capital, labor, schooling reforms, social democracy, voting |
| JEL: | P16 I28 J26 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hka:wpaper:2021-040&r= |
| By: | Manejar, Arvie Joy A.; Domingo, Sonny N. |
| Abstract: | The study looks into the disaster risk resilience of provincial governments in the Philippines using World Bank (WB) socioeconomic resiliency estimates and cross-sectional data generated by the Department of Interior and Local Government and the Philippine Statistics Authority. Treating provincial governments as decisionmaking units (DMUs) with bureaucratic sub-units at the provincial and city/municipal levels, composite efficiency scores were generated using an integrated Data Envelopment Approach. A WB-generated socioeconomic resiliency scorecard at the provincial level provided comparative output references for the model. Results show that disaster risk reduction and management inputs at the provincial and sub-province levels greatly contribute to improving socioeconomic capacity and decreasing asset risk. However, DMU efficiency scores varied across the different sub-regional domains. A majority of provincial subDMUs also got higher efficiency ratings compared to their municipal/community subDMU counterparts, implying the need to rebalance support and disaster resilience -related initiatives at the sub-provincial levels. |
| Keywords: | Disaster Risk Reduction and Management, Disaster Resiliency, Data Envelopment Analysis, provincial government |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:phd:dpaper:dp_2020-19&r= |
| By: | Yose Rizal Damuri (Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Indonesia); Prabaning Tyas (Tenggara Strategics, Indonesia); Haryo Aswicahyono (Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Indonesia); Lionel Priyadi (Tenggara Strategics, Indonesia); Stella Kusumawardhani (Tenggara Strategics, Indonesia); Ega Kurnia Yazid (Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Indonesia) |
| Abstract: | A timely and reliable prediction of economic activities is crucial in policymaking, especially in the current COVID-19 pandemic situation, which requires real-time decisions. However, making frequent predictions is challenging due to the substantial delays in releasing aggregate economic data. This study aims to nowcast Indonesia’s economic activities during the COVID-19 pandemic using the novel high-frequency Facebook Mobility Index as a predictor. Employing mixed-frequency, mixed-data sampling, and benchmark least-squares models, we expanded the mobility index and used it to track the growth dynamics of the gross regional domestic product of provinces in Java and Bali and performed a bottom-up approach to estimate the aggregated economic growth of the provinces altogether. Our results suggested that the daily Facebook Mobility Index was a considerably reliable predictor for projecting economic activities on time. All models almost consistently produced reliable directional predictions. Notably, we found the mixed data sampling-autoregressive model to be slightly superior to the other models in terms of overall precision and directional predictive accuracy across observations. |
| Keywords: | COVID-19, nowcasting, GDP, mobility, Mixed-frequency |
| JEL: | C20 C53 R11 |
| Date: | 2021–07–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:era:wpaper:dp-2021-18&r= |
| By: | Pedro Elosegui (Central Bank of Argentina); Marcos Herrera-Gómez (CONICET-IELDE, Universidad Nacional de Salta); Jorge Colina (Institute for the Argentine Social Development (IDESA)) |
| Abstract: | This paper is part of a broader agenda and constitutes a first step to empirically understand the main determinants of the inter-provincial trade in Argentina. We use a novel database of regional trade flows between the 24 Argentinean provinces for 2017. Using a structural gravity model and novel econometric techniques we analyze the main variables influencing trade between the provinces. In addition to the traditional variables of the canonical gravity model we add some variables of interest that ca possible affect trade between sub national jurisdictions. With an especial focus in financial flows we analyze the impact of co-participation transfers, income distribution and household’s payment methods, among other variables that may be correlated with formal trade. Additionally, we analyze the potential impact of trade concentration in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (CABA) and Buenos Aires. Trade flows are analyzed considering both, origin and destination. The results indicate that national transfers from the redistribution federal arrangement are an important determinant of inter provincial trade generating relevant (and negative in the origin) spillover effects between the provinces. Also, the concentration in CABA and Buenos Aires discourages inter-provincial trade. |
| Keywords: | gravity model, spatial interactions, redistribution federal arrangement |
| JEL: | R10 F14 C21 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bcr:wpaper:202194&r= |
| By: | Maddawin, Ricxie B.; Adaro, Catharine E.; Diokno-Sicat, Charlotte Justine |
| Abstract: | The study examines the use of Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) as a tool in drafting the local Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP). By understanding the current planning process, areas for improvement could be identified to improve local development planning, which will then lead to more efficient use of scarce public resources. Results of a nationwide survey of 1,373 municipalities show that majority of municipalities use CBMS, not just for ecological profiling in development planning but also for budget preparations and priority setting. Local governments allocate funds for CBMS data collection (primarily to hire data enumerators), but not regularly so. Furthermore, there was evidence that there could be improved utilization of existing CBMS data and indicators. These results seem to suggest that municipal development planning practices generally follow the Department of Interior and Local Government-prescribed development planning and recognize the importance of this being evidence-based. Likewise, some areas for improvement include reorientation of local planners with the CBMS and regular updating of development indicators for more relevant and impactful development policies. |
| Keywords: | governance, local government, development planning, ecological profile, subnational government, Local Government Support Fund Assistance to Municipalities, community-based monitoring system |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:phd:dpaper:dp_2020-07&r= |
| By: | Gutiérrez, Eduardo; Moral-Benito, Enrique; Oto-Peralías, Daniel (Universidad Pablo de Olavide); Ramos, Roberto |
| Abstract: | We exploit the GEOSTAT 2011 population grid to document that Spain presents the lowest density of settlements among European countries. Only a small fraction of the Spanish territory is inhabited, particularly in its southern half, which goes hand in hand with a high degree of population concentration. We uncover through standard regression analysis and spatial regression discontinuity that this anomaly cannot be accounted for by adverse geographic and climatic conditions. The second part of the paper takes a historical perspective on Spain's settlement patterns by showing that the spatial distribution of the population has been very persistent in the last two centuries, and that the abnormally low density of settlements with respect to European neighbors was already visible in the 19th century, which indicates that this phenomenon has not emerged recently as a consequence of the transformations associated with industrialization and tertiarization. Using data on ancient sites, we find that Spain did not feature scarcity of settlements in comparison to other countries in pre-medieval times, suggesting that its current anomalous settlement pattern has not always existed and is therefore not intrinsic to its geography. |
| Date: | 2021–07–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:f4de6&r= |
| By: | Pistochini, Theresa; Mande, Caton; Modera, Mark; Outcault, Sarah; Sanguinetti, Angela; Chan, Wanyu Rengie; Dutton, Spencer; Singer, Brett; Li, Xiwang |
| Abstract: | This project developed and demonstrated approaches to synergistically improve ventilation and indoor environmental quality during replacements of packaged heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in California schools. The research team 1) characterized HVAC systems, carbon dioxide concentration, and indoor thermal conditions in 104 classrooms that had replaced packaged HVAC systems serving a single classroom (single-zone) between 2013 and 2016; 2) evaluated HVAC system retrofits with regard to energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality performance at two field sites; and 3) completed building energy and indoor environmental quality modeling of HVAC equipment and filter selection for four climate and outdoor air conditions representative of California’s regional variation and two different classroom vintages. Inspections of 104 classrooms with HVAC equipment installed between 2013-2016 showed that only 15 percent of classrooms’ estimated median daily ventilation rates met the 7.1 liters per second per person Title 24 code requirement, and 9 percent had carbon dioxide levels above 2,000 parts per million for significant portions of the school day, which implies a ventilation rate of less than half of that required. Where under-ventilation occurred, it tended to affect several observed classrooms within a given school and not occur as an isolated case. Periodic testing of ventilation systems and continuous real-time carbon dioxide monitoring could help to detect ventilation problems. Field testing and modeling of HVAC technologies determined that variable speed motors for indoor blowers, two-speed compressors, economizers, demand control ventilation technology, and air filters with a minimum efficiency reporting value of 13 constitute an HVAC package suitable for all of California’s climates. The combination of technologies can save between 28 and 57 percent of HVAC electricity use, depending on climate. Filters with a minimum efficiency reporting value of 13 can reduce indoor particulate matter exposures by 40 percent or more compared to filters with a value of 8. |
| Keywords: | Engineering, Social and Behavioral Sciences |
| Date: | 2020–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsdav:qt1jp1q4xb&r= |
| By: | Catia Batista |
| Abstract: | We test the predictions of different classic migration theories by using incentivized laboratory experiments to investigate how potential migrants decide between working in different destinations. We test theories of income maximization, migrant skill-selection, and multidestination choice as we vary migration costs, liquidity constraints, risk, social benefits, and incomplete information. We show the standard income maximization model of migration with selection on observed and unobserved skills leads to a much higher migration rate and more negative skill-selection than is obtained when migration decisions take place under more realistic assumptions. Second, we investigate whether the independence of irrelevant alternatives (IIA) assumption holds. We find it holds for most people when decisions just involve wages, costs, and liquidity constraints. However, once we add a risk of unemployment and incomplete information, IIA no longer holds for about 20 percent of our sample. |
| Keywords: | Migrant Selection, Destination Choice, Lab Experiment, IIA |
| JEL: | F22 O15 C91 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:2123&r= |
| By: | Chau, Nancy H.; Garip, Filiz; Oritz-Bobea, Ariel |
| Abstract: | We study the self-selection of migrants at crossing locations along the Mexican-U.S. border distinguished by stark differences in physiography and border enforcement intensities. We model the triggers of hazardous crossings, and reveal self-selection patters that are alternative-specific: individuals with low economic prospects at origin communities are favorably selected at high-risk, high-reward crossing locations. Using comprehensive migrant journey level trajectories from the Mexican Migration Project (1980-2005), and identification based on enforcement reforms, community-level trade and weather shocks, as well as migrant-specificc characteristics, we estimate a McFadden choice model of border crossing. Results confirm the negative-selection of migrants in high-risk, high-likelihood of success border crossing locations, in addition to nuanced variations when economic shocks are idiosyncratic rather than permanent. The implications of these observations on the effectiveness of border walls and trade walls in mediating cross-border migration flows are also discussed. |
| Keywords: | Environmental Economics and Policy |
| Date: | 2021–03–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:cudaeb:312520&r= |
| By: | Cuenca, Janet S. |
| Abstract: | The study proposes an analytical framework that examines the effects of fiscal decentralization on health service delivery using difference-in-differences (DID) method. It draws up the standard measure of the extent/degree of fiscal decentralization affecting the health sector. The findings of the DID analysis suggest that greater health decentralization has negative impact on access to hospital inpatient services and access to sanitation (toilet). It contradicts the hypothesis of the study that greater health decentralization will result in better health services. Nevertheless, it is consistent with the narrative in the literature that points out the lower province-level spending on hospitals due to mismatch between the cost of devolved hospitals and the internal revenue allotment (IRA), i.e., block grant transferred to the LGUs. Such negative effect has remained over the years because most LGUs do not have adequate health budget to maintain and upgrade devolved health facilities. Comments to this paper are welcome within 60 days from date of posting. Email publications@mail.pids.gov.ph. |
| Keywords: | health devolution, devolution, fiscal decentralization, difference-in-differences (DID) analysis |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:phd:dpaper:dp_2020-04&r= |
| By: | Duha Tore Altindag; Elif S. Filiz; Erdal Tekin |
| Abstract: | The pandemic has revived the longstanding debate about the effect of online versus face-to-face instruction on student achievement. The goal of this paper is to provide new evidence on the impact of online versus face-to-face instruction on student learning outcomes, using rich, transcript-level longitudinal data from a public university. We pay particular attention to eliminating selection bias by incorporating student and instructor fixed effects into the empirical analysis as well as to separate out the impact of online versus in-person education from COVID-19-related confounding factors. Our results indicate that students in face-to-face courses perform better than their online counterparts with respect to their grades, the propensity to withdraw from the course, and the likelihood of receiving a passing grade. However, our investigation also reveals that instructor-specific factors, such as leniency in grading or actions towards preventing violations of academic integrity, play a significant role in determining the studied relationship. Without accounting for these instructor-specific factors, the relationship is severely biased, causing one to mistakenly conclude that online instruction is better for student learning than face-to-face instruction. Our analysis further documents a rise in grades associated with COVID-19-triggered changes to student assessment policies embraced by universities as well as instructors adopting a more flexible approach to grading. While these developments led to an increase in grades for all students overall, those who began Spring 2020 in face-to-face courses appear to have benefitted more generously from them. Finally, an auxiliary analysis shows that living in neighborhoods with better broadband technology is associated with a larger increase in grades among students who had to switch from in-person to online instruction during COVID-19. This finding supports the argument that unequal access to technology might have caused learning disparities to get deepened during the pandemic. |
| JEL: | H75 I21 I23 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:29113&r= |
| By: | Corinna Ghirelli (Banco de España); Andrea González (Banco de España); José Luis Herrera (Banco de España); Samuel Hurtado (Banco de España) |
| Abstract: | We estimate the effective reproduction number (Rt) of the current Covid-19 pandemic, with US daily infections data between February and September of 2020, at the county level. This is then used to estimate the effect of weather and mobility on the spread of the pandemic. We find a strong and significant effect of the weather: lower temperaturas are associated with a higher Rt, and this effect is bigger at temperatures below 0ºC. At low temperatures, precipitations are also associated with a higher Rt. We also find that mobility reductions related to certain types of locations (retail and recreation, transit stations, and workplaces) are effective at reducing Rt, but it is an increase of the time spent in parks that helps reduce the spread of the pandemic. The negative effect of increased general mobility is bigger in counties with higher population density, worse numeracy and literacy PIAAC scores, or a lower share of employment in the services sector. Quantitatively, our estimates imply that a 20ºC fall in temperatures from summer to winter would increase Rt by +0.35, which can be the difference between a wellcontrolled evolution and explosive behavior; and, if this can’t be neutralized through general improvements in the fight to stop the pandemic, the additional reduction in mobility that would be needed to compensate for this would be equivalent to returning, from the more relaxed levels observed in the summer, back to the strictest mobility reductions recorded in the US in April. |
| Keywords: | pandemic, Covid-19, coronavirus, temperature, weather, mobility, panel data |
| JEL: | I18 C23 I12 |
| Date: | 2021–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bde:wpaper:2109&r= |
| By: | Stella Teddy Kanyesigye; Imelda Kemeza |
| Abstract: | The study of electromagnetic waves helps physics students acquire knowledge which is relevant to solving problems in their daily life. Helping students maximize knowledge acquisition has become key in science education research. The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of Problem-Based Learning Instruction on physics students’ understanding of electromagnetic waves. A quasi-experimental, non-equivalent pretest-posttest control group design was used in this study with PBL instruction as the intervention. This study involved 419 students from 16 public and private secondary schools in Mitooma district-South Western Uganda. Descriptive statistics, paired and independent samples t tests were used in data analysis. Findings from the study indicated that PBL did improve significantly students’ understanding of electromagnetic waves more than traditional methods with those exposed to both pretest and posttest scoring significantly more than those exposed only to the posttest. However, students still exhibited difficulties such as arranging the electromagnetic spectrum in order of either increasing or decreasing wavelength/frequency. We recommend that school officials devise means of supplementing book libraries with internet connected computers to help students visualize the nature of electromagnetic waves to enhance their understanding of intended concepts. Key Words: : understanding, electromagnetic waves, physics’ students, Problem-Based Learning instruction |
| Date: | 2021–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vor:issues:2021-38-01&r= |
| By: | Kumar, Anand; Sahoo, Soham |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the role of social identity, namely gender and caste of individuals, in stream choice at the higher secondary level of schooling in India. We analyze the choice of science stream that is a crucial determinant of subsequent science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) related education and labour market outcomes. Using three rounds of nationally representative surveys between 2007 and 2018, we estimate regression models including household characteristics and fixed effects to control for region-specific unobserved heterogeneity. We find that females and individuals belonging to historically disadvantaged social groups (castes) are significantly less likely to study science. On average, female students enrolled in higher secondary education have 9 percentage points lower probability than male students to study science during the period considered for the analysis. For students belonging to the socially disadvantaged groups – Scheduled Tribes (ST), Scheduled Caste (SC), and Other Backward Classes (OBC), the likelihood of studying science is significantly lower by 6.9, 4.4, and 2.7 percentage points, respectively, than students from the less-disadvantaged groups. Using decomposition analysis, we show that the differences in the observable characteristics such as economic affluence and household head’s education significantly explain some portion of the caste-based gaps, but they do not explain the gender gap that persists even in an intra-household comparison. We also test for the intersectionality of the overlapping identities of gender and caste in this context. We find evidence of cumulative disadvantages for females of SC and OBC groups, but lower gender disparity among ST students indicating the presence of intersectionality for this group. Thus, our paper highlights social identity as an important determinant of STEM-related education that may have long-term implications for the economic welfare of disadvantaged groups. |
| Keywords: | Post-secondary education,STEM,Gender,Caste,Intersectionality,India |
| JEL: | I24 J15 J16 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:900&r= |
| By: | Cuenca, Janet S. |
| Abstract: | The study analyzes the efficiency implications of fiscal decentralization using stochastic frontier analysis (SFA). It uses health expenditure (in per capita real terms) data from local government units (LGUs) as input. The output variables of interest include access to safe water and sanitation, health facility-based delivery, and access to hospital inpatient services. It also uses LGU income and its major components (i.e., own-source revenue and income revenue allotment, in per capita real terms) as covariates, as well as the health expenditure decentralization ratio, to account for fiscal autonomy on the expenditure side. Two measures of fiscal decentralization were also used as factors affecting efficiency to account for financial/fiscal autonomy of the LGUs on the income side (i.e., the ratio of own-source revenue to expenditures and ratio of own-source revenue to income). Issues on mismatch between local government fiscal capacity and devolved functions, fragmentation of health system, existence of two-track delivery system, and unclear expenditure assignments, among others, inevitably create inefficiency. These issues should be addressed to fully reap the potential benefits (e.g., efficiency gains) from fiscal decentralization, particularly health devolution. |
| Keywords: | efficiency, Philippines, fiscal decentralization, health devolution, stochastic frontier analysis |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:phd:dpaper:dp_2020-06&r= |
| By: | Keagile Lesame (Department of Economics, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield 0028, South Africa); Elie Bouri (Adnan Kassar School of Business, Lebanese American University, Beirut, Lebanon); David Gabauer (Data Analysis Systems, Software Competence Center Hagenberg, Hagenberg, Austria); Rangan Gupta (Department of Economics, University of Pretoria, Private Bag X20, Hatfield 0028, South Africa) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we investigate the time-varying interconnectedness of international REIT markets using daily REIT prices in eleven major REIT countries since the Global Financial Crisis. We construct dynamic total, net total and net pairwise return and volatility connectedness measures to better understand systemic risk and the transmission of shocks across REIT markets. Our findings show that REIT market interdependence is dynamic and increases signicantly during times of heightened uncertainty including the COVID-19 pandemic. We also find that the US REIT market alongside with major European REITs are generally sources of shocks to Asian-Pacific REIT markets. Furthermore, US REITs appear to dominate European REITs. US and to a lesser extent European REITs are generally affected from cross market shocks. These findings highlight that portfolio diversification opportunities decline during times of market uncertainty. |
| Keywords: | REITs, TVP-VAR, Dynamic connectedness |
| JEL: | C32 C50 G10 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pre:wpaper:202152&r= |
| By: | Minh-Lý Liêu (University of Paderborn) |
| Abstract: | Social trading platforms allow investors to interact with each other. This paper studies the impact of peer attention on social trading platforms on investors' disposition effect. Using a difference-in-differences approach, I find a significant increase in the disposition effect when investors receive attention from their peers. This disposition effect increases as the number of other investors distributing likes to one another's trading decisions increases. This effect is driven both by holding on to losing positions longer and by closing winning positions faster. This finding may be explained by social facilitation theory. In the presence of others, investors want to achieve superior outcomes and limit their losses. |
| Keywords: | Social trading, transparency, disposition effect, online trading platforms. |
| JEL: | D14 G11 G23 G24 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pdn:dispap:81&r= |
| By: | Reyes, Celia M.; Arboneda, Arkin A.; Vargas, Anna Rita P. |
| Abstract: | The Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS), which is an organized technology-based system of collecting, processing and validating local-level data based on a census of households in the locality, was institutionalized by virtue of Republic Act No. 11315 in April 2019. This paper aims to illustrate uses of the CBMS in relation to the planning process of local government units. The study finds that since the CBMS provides disaggregated local-level data, local planners can use the CBMS to better identify and target vulnerable members of the society. Regular conduct of CBMS also offers the possibility of generating panel data, which can help monitor the impact of policies and programs on vulnerable households in the long run. Moreover, geotagging of households also support local officials in locating those at risk from natural hazards. <p> Comments to this paper are welcome within 60 days from date of posting. Email publications@mail.pids.gov.ph. |
| Keywords: | local government units, Comprehensive Development Plan, community-based monitoring system, Local planning process, RA 7160 |
| Date: | 2020 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:phd:dpaper:dp_2020-50&r= |
| By: | Markus Brueckner |
| Abstract: | I examine whether action-based fiscal consolidations are exogenous to contemporaneous GDP growth. Based on the narrative record, these fiscal consolidations had the primary objective to reduce a budget deficit. I find that temperature changes, the GDP growth rate of trading partners, and an international commodity price index have significant: (i) negative contemporaneous effects on action-based fiscal consolidations; (ii) positive contemporaneous effects on GDP growth. These results imply that it is highly unlikely that action-based fiscal consolidations are exogenous to contemporaneous GDP growth. Using an instrumental variables approach, I find that action-based fiscal consolidations have significant positive effects on GDP growth. |
| Keywords: | Fiscal Consolidations, GDP Growth, Identification, Narrative Approach, Simultaneous Systems of Equations |
| JEL: | E0 O4 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:een:camaaa:2021-57&r= |