|
on Urban and Real Estate Economics |
| By: | Christophe André; Jinwoan Beom; Mathilde Pak; Axel Purwin |
| Abstract: | Regional inequality is low in Sweden compared to most other OECD countries, but has been rising over the past decades, fuelling discontent in parts of the country, whose inhabitants feel left behind. The younger population is increasingly concentrated in the largest cities, which also enjoy the highest productivity growth. Demographic trends exacerbate the difficulty in providing equal public services across the country. Healthy public finances are allowing the government to increase its support to municipalities and regions to adjust to demographic developments and local operating conditions. Beyond this effort, keeping regional inequality in check will require upgrading the sub-national government fiscal framework, enhancing public service efficiency, especially through digitalisation, and promoting regional convergence further, especially by strengthening the role of universities in regional knowledge and innovation networks. |
| Keywords: | Regional economic activity, Regional government analysis, Regional inequality, Regional Studies, State and local budget and expenditures, State and local taxation, subsidies, and revenue, Sweden |
| JEL: | H71 H72 P48 R11 R50 |
| Date: | 2021–11–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1689-en&r= |
| By: | Hilber, Christian A. L.; Mense, Andreas |
| Abstract: | In most countries – particularly in supply constrained superstar cities – house prices have risen much more strongly than rents over the last two decades. We provide an explanation that does not rely on falling interest rates, changing credit conditions, unrealistic expectations, rising inequality, or global investor demand. Our model distinguishes between short- and long-run supply constraints and assumes housing demand shocks exhibit serial correlation. Employing panel data for England, our instrumental variable-fixed effect estimates suggest that in Greater London labor demand shocks in conjunction with supply constraints explain two-thirds of the 153% increase in the price-to-rent ratio between 1997 and 2018. |
| Keywords: | house prices; housing rents; price-to-rent ratio; price and rent dynamics; housing supply; demand persistence; land use regulation |
| JEL: | G12 R11 R21 R31 R52 |
| Date: | 2021–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:112668&r= |
| By: | William Barcelona; Nathan L. Converse; Anna Wong |
| Abstract: | This paper demonstrates that the measured stock of China's holding of U.S. assets could be much higher than indicated by the U.S. net international investment position data due to unrecorded historical Chinese inflows into an increasingly popular global safe haven asset: U.S. residential real estate. We first use aggregate capital flows data to show that the increase in unrecorded capital inflows in the U.S. balance of payment accounts over the past decade is mainly linked to inflows from China into U.S. housing markets. Then, using a unique web traffic dataset that provides a direct measure of Chinese demand for U.S. housing at the zip code level, we estimate via a difference-in-difference matching framework that house prices in major U.S. cities that are highly exposed to demand from China have on average grown 7 percentage points faster than similar neighborhoods with low exposure over the period 2010-2016. These average excess price growth gaps co-move closely with macro-level measures of U.S. capital inflows from China, and tend to widen following periods of economic stress in China, suggesting that Chinese households view U.S. housing as a safe haven asset. |
| Keywords: | China; Housing and real estate; Capital flows; Safe assets |
| JEL: | F30 F60 R30 |
| Date: | 2021–11–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgif:1332&r= |
| By: | Brad Chattergoon; William R. Kerr |
| Abstract: | U.S. invention has become increasingly concentrated around major tech centers since the 1970s, with implications for how much cities across the country share in concomitant local benefits. Is invention becoming a winner-takes-all race? We explore the rising spatial concentration of patents and identify an underlying stability in their distribution. Software patents have exploded to account for about half of patents today, and these patents are highly concentrated in tech centers. Tech centers also account for a growing share of non-software patents, but the reallocation, by contrast, is entirely from the five largest population centers in 1980. Non-software patenting is stable for most cities, with anchor tenants like universities playing important roles, suggesting the growing concentration of invention may be nearing its end. Immigrant inventors and new businesses aided in the spatial transformation. |
| JEL: | L86 O30 O31 O32 O33 O34 R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:29456&r= |
| By: | Christophe André; Mathilde Pak |
| Abstract: | Regional inequality has increased in Sweden over the past decades, albeit from a low level. While redistribution and other public policies can narrow regional gaps in income, well-being and access to services, productivity growth is key to maintaining economic dynamism, creating job opportunities and attracting and retaining skilled workers. Against this background, this paper documents the performance of Swedish large regions (TL2) on the main productivity drivers identified by the literature. Panel regressions on a dataset covering up to 125 OECD regions in 17 countries identify the factors associated with high regional productivity, namely rail and road connectivity, knowledge-intensive employment and research and education. Investment in construction and finance is linked to somewhat weaker productivity. Even after taking these factors into account, the Stockholm region benefits from a sizeable productivity advantage, which likely reflects agglomeration effects. |
| Keywords: | Productivity, Regional development, Regional economic activity, Regional Studies, Sweden |
| JEL: | O47 P48 R11 R12 R58 |
| Date: | 2021–11–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1688-en&r= |
| By: | Ms. Oana Luca; André Geis |
| Abstract: | Soaring real estate prices and valuations despite the economic downturn brought by the pandemic have focussed the attention of Dutch policymakers on potential macro-financial and socio-economic implications. In this context, our paper reviews the salient features of Dutch commercial and residential real estate markets with an eye to identify pertinent risks and challenges. While we find that the Dutch authorities have made considerable strides to strengthen real estate-related policies in recent years, some, and partly long-standing, issues remain, requiring additional efforts to bolster financial stability, address housing supply shortages and manage secular changes affecting property markets. |
| Keywords: | address housing supply shortage; property market; B. CRE market characteristic; market development; CRE investment cycle; Housing; Mortgages; Mutual funds; Real estate prices; COVID-19; Global |
| Date: | 2021–08–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2021/206&r= |
| By: | Hu, Ziwei; Swallow, Brent; Qiu, Feng |
| Keywords: | Land Economics/Use, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods |
| Date: | 2021–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae21:315287&r= |
| By: | Bergholz, Christian; Hundt, Christian; Osigus, Torsten |
| Abstract: | Using the example of German districts and independent cities (kreisfreie Städte), we find that latter generate higher gross domestic product (GDP) per inhabitant as well as larger tax revenues per inhabitant. Accordingly, independent cities generate a GDP of €50,854 per inhabitant and record tax revenues of €1,739 per inhabitant, while in municipalities belonging to districts the GDP is €32,029 per inhabitant and tax revenues per inhabitant are €1,283. In order to analyze the positive correlation between GDP and tax revenues, we look in particular at the role of (net) agglomeration economies. Furthermore, we argue that agglomeration economies increase local governments´ tax revenues per inhabitant through two distinct channels. First, agglomeration economies lead to rising local value added that again ends up in a greater local tax base and in greater local tax revenues (indirect channel). Second, local governments can directly tax local agglomeration economies by increasing their tax multipliers (direct channel). Looking at total tax revenues, our empirical results suggest that the indirect channel is quantitatively more important than the direct channel. However, the extent to which both channels come into play varies considerably across the examined types of tax revenues. While the direct channel is most important for non-agricultural/non-forestry land property tax, the indirect channel plays a more important role for the three business-related taxes. Property tax for agricultural and forestry land shows a high negative effect, especially in the case of the direct channel. The reason for this is that there are no agglomeration-related rents for agricultural and forestry land that can be taxed. Finally, we can show that the business-related tax revenues (business tax, income tax, value added tax) per inhabitant are systematically lower in Eastern Germany than in Western Germany, which is mainly due to the lower average GDP per inhabitant of Eastern German districts and independent cities. |
| Keywords: | Public Economics |
| Date: | 2021–11–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:jhimwp:316072&r= |
| By: | Grace Bridgman (Department of Economics, Stellenbosch University); Dieter von Fintel (Department of Economics, Stellenbosch University) |
| Abstract: | Orphans who lack household or community support face significant socio-economic disadvantages. In particular, they are at greater risk of malnutrition and stunting in developing countries. Children who have no living parents, also called double orphans, are most likely to require support from extended families or public institutions. This paper explores how WASH infrastructure, and public health and social services relate to stunting. It is one of the first studies to analyse these factors with a specific focus on double orphans, who tend to live in under-serviced areas with high stunting rates and poor access to public resources. We collate a cross sectional spatial dataset with local child stunting rates from 2013, rates of double orphanhood, private household resources, and public services from 2011 for South Africa, a country where the HIV/AIDS pandemic has led to high rates of double orphanhood. We estimate spatial econometric models that account for unobserved regional shocks and measurement bias, but which do not address other biases. Our results show that high stunting rates, particularly in areas with high proportions of double orphans, overlap strongly with poor provision of WASH and the availability of household resources. By contrast, other softer services accessed outside the home, such as access to health, social welfare and early childhood development facilities are not correlated with stunting in the same way. WASH is more strongly related to reduced stunting when infrastructure covers larger geographic areas and with the combined use of services from adjacent areas. This occurs because of economies of scale in provision and preventing transmission of disease across regions. Policy makers can explore the option to reduce stunting by expanding geographic networks of WASH service delivery into under-serviced areas where double orphans tend to locate. |
| Keywords: | Stunting, double orphanhood, spatial inequality, WASH infrastructure, service delivery, spatial econometrics, South Africa |
| JEL: | I14 J13 H4 R1 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sza:wpaper:wpapers369&r= |
| By: | Díaz, Carlos (Catholic University of Uruguay); Patacchini, Eleonora (Cornell University); Verdier, Thierry (Paris School of Economics); Zenou, Yves (Monash University) |
| Abstract: | This paper presents a new theory of crime where leaders transmit a crime technology and act as a role model for other criminals. We show that, in equilibrium, an individual's crime effort and criminal decisions depend on the geodesic distance to the leader in his or her network of social contacts. By using data on friendship networks among U.S. high-school students, we structurally estimate the model and find evidence supporting its predictions. In particular, by using a definition of a criminal leader that is exogenous to the network formation of friendship links, we find that the longer is the distance to the leader, the lower is the criminal activity of the delinquents and the less likely they are to become criminals. We finally perform a counterfactual experiment that reveals that a policy that removes all criminal leaders from a school can, on average, reduce criminal activity by about 20% and the individual probability of becoming a criminal by 10%. |
| Keywords: | crime leaders, social distance, criminal decisions, closeness centrality |
| JEL: | C31 D85 K42 |
| Date: | 2021–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14801&r= |
| By: | Kuhn, Moritz (University of Bonn); Manovskii, Iourii (University of Pennsylvania); Qiu, Xincheng (University of Pennsylvania) |
| Abstract: | Spatial differences in labor market performance are large and highly persistent. Using data from the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom, we document striking similarities in spatial differences in unemployment, vacancies, job finding, and job filling within each country. This robust set of facts guides and disciplines the development of a theory of local labor market performance. We find that a spatial version of a Diamond-Mortensen-Pissarides model with endogenous separations and on-the-job search quantitatively accounts for all the documented empirical regularities. The model also quantitatively rationalizes why differences in job-separation rates have primary importance in inducing differences in unemployment across space while changes in the job-finding rate are the main driver in unemployment fluctuations over the business cycle. |
| Keywords: | local labor markets, unemployment, vacancies, search and matching |
| JEL: | J63 J64 E24 E32 R13 |
| Date: | 2021–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14791&r= |
| By: | Contini, Dalit (University of Turin); Di Tommaso, Maria Laura (University of Turin); Muratori, Caterina (University of Torino); Piazzalunga, Daniela (University of Trento); Schiavon, Lucia (University of Torino) |
| Abstract: | Italy was the first Western country hit by Covid-19 in February 2020, responding with a tight lockdown and full school closure until the end of the school year. This paper estimates the effect of the pandemic and school closure on the math skills of primary school pupils in Italy. We compare the learning achievements of two cohorts of pupils, the pre-Covid and the Covid cohort. For both cohorts, we match scores on the national standardised assessment in grade 2 with scores on a standardised test delivered by the researchers at the end of grade 3. The pandemic had a large negative impact on the pupils' performance in mathematics (-0.19 standard deviations). Among children of low-educated parents, the learning loss was larger for the best-performing ones (up to -0.51 s.d.) and for girls (-0.29 s.d.). |
| Keywords: | COVID-19, school closure, learning loss, mathematics, standardised tests, inequality, primary school |
| JEL: | I21 I24 |
| Date: | 2021–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14785&r= |
| By: | Tom Gillespie (Department of Economics, Trinity College Dublin); Ronan C. Lyons (Department of Economics, Trinity College Dublin); Thomas K. J. McDermott (Discipline of Economics, NUI Galway) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we test the effect of new information about flood risk on housing prices in Ireland. Our core finding is that information matters. Sales prices responded dramatically to the release of flood risk maps in 2011, with the emergence of a 3.1% price discount for dwellings at risk of flooding. This flood discount is not observed prior to the release of the new risk information, for dwellings defended by flood relief schemes, or for rental dwellings. We also document public attitudes to flood risk through survey findings that suggest a continuing information deficit in relation to flood risk. |
| Keywords: | Flood Hazards, Hedonic Prices, Urban Planning, Information Updating, Risk Assessments |
| JEL: | H54 Q54 R21 |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tcd:tcduee:tep1620&r= |
| By: | Ricciardelli, Alessandra; Raimo, Nicola; Manfredi, Francesco; Vitolla, Filippo |
| Abstract: | In recent years, the integration of sustainability principles in urban planning has become increasingly important. The growing attention to economic, social and environmental aspects is also influencing the practice and policy of urban regeneration. In particular, the search for new ways to regenerate cities in a sustainable way has led to the concept of sustainable urban regeneration. However, despite the relevance of this concept, only a few contributions have quantitatively examined the actual sustainability outcomes of different urban regeneration interventions. This study aims to fill this important gap by examining the level of sustainability of urban regeneration interventions in the Apulian context. The results of the multiple case study analysis show a high level of sustainability of the interventions in all three contexts examined. However, they show some weaknesses related mainly to the absence of strategies aimed at the inclusion of women in the labour market and to the low efficiency in the use of energy. The results offer important implications and guidelines for municipalities implementing urban regeneration projects. |
| Keywords: | Urban regeneration,Urban sustainability,Sustainable urban regeneration,Sustainability indicators,Apulia |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esconf:246779&r= |
| By: | Lukas Kuld (Department of Business and Economics, TU Dortmund); Sara Mitchell (Department of Business and Economics, TU Dortmund); Christiane Hellmanzik (Department of Business and Economics, TU Dortmund) |
| Abstract: | We investigate quantity and quality effects of agglomeration in the careers of American authors. We combine novel yearly data on publications and work location of 471 eminent authors with US Census data to provide a complete picture of industry concentration and agglomeration economies from 1850-2000. We find that, on aggregate, an author has 40\% higher odds of publishing while living in New York City. The effect size increases with industry concentration but declines with industry maturity and technological progress after WWII. Taking relocation of working-age authors to New York City as an event study, we see a significant immediate increase in publications after arriving. In comparison, the penalty of moving away from the city is mild. Works published while an author lived in New York City were more likely to achieve critical acclaim and are more likely to have lasting influence in terms of present-day popularity. |
| Keywords: | Agglomeration economies, urban history, geographic clustering, productivity, literature, creativity |
| JEL: | N30 N90 R11 Z11 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tcd:tcduee:tep0821&r= |
| By: | Kristian S. Blickle; Sarah Ngo Hamerling; Donald P. Morgan |
| Abstract: | Not very. We find that weather disasters over the last quarter century had insignificant or small effects on U.S. banks’ performance. This stability seems endogenous rather than a mere reflection of federal aid. Disasters increase loan demand, which offsets losses and actually boosts profits at larger banks. Local banks tend to avoid mortgage lending where floods are more common than official flood maps would predict, suggesting that local knowledge may also mitigate disaster impacts. |
| Keywords: | hurricanes; wildfires; floods; climate change; weather disasters; FEMA; banks; financial stability; local knowledge |
| JEL: | G21 H84 |
| Date: | 2021–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fednsr:93339&r= |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | Public policy can play an important role in steering the large-scale diffusion of teleworking. Various communities around the world are experimenting with innovative solutions. In Italy, the Autonomous Province of Trento has plans to design a comprehensive plan for teleworking as a way to foster local economic and social development. Opportunities and challenges for a smooth transition to an ever more hybrid work environment are explored in view of a number of societal objectives, including an improvement in living standards, territorial cohesion and competitiveness. The paper identifies six policy areas for recommendations, reflecting the conditions needed to achieve these objectives. |
| Keywords: | Italy, local development, place-based policy, remote work, teleworking, Trentino |
| JEL: | J58 J68 O33 R12 R23 R58 |
| Date: | 2021–11–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:cfeaaa:2021/07-en&r= |
| By: | Jan-Luca Hennig (Trinity College Dublin) |
| Abstract: | A large literature has shown that trade shocks, such as the rise of China in the global markets, have had negative effects on employment in manufacturing both in the United States and in Europe. This paper analyzes how trade shocks interact with labor market regulations. More specifically, it investigates whether differences in labor market frictions mitigate or amplify the labor market effects of Chinese imports on European regions between 1997 and 2006. To do so, the paper constructs measures of regional exposure to China based on previous literature and on regional labor market frictions exploiting involuntary labor reallocations. The paper finds that regions more exposed to the rise of China have suffered from a reduction in manufacturing employment shares. This shock grows larger with regional labor market friction, hence it exacerbates the impact of trade shock on employment. Moreover, the paper finds that employment in public services, and not in construction or private services sector, absorbed the negative shock to the manufacturing sector. The unemployment rate, the labor force participation rate, and wages in all sectors are unresponsive to import competition from China. |
| Keywords: | Empirical Trade, Regional Labor Markets, Employment Structure, Labor Reallocation |
| JEL: | F14 F16 J21 R23 |
| Date: | 2020–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tcd:tcduee:tep1420&r= |
| By: | Huang, Justin T. (U of Michigan); Narayanan, Sridhar (Stanford U) |
| Abstract: | In this study, we examine the impacts of attention and recognition received by a user's content on a social network on that user's subsequent engagement on the network, content creation and content sharing. The study of the impact of attention and recognition is typically challenging because they are not randomly assigned. Systematic differences within and across users in the degree of attention and recognition received by content shared by them makes the identification of effects difficult. To solve this identification problem, we implemented a field experiment in collaboration with an art-sharing social network, where we experimentally manipulated attention and recognition by selectively featuring users' content. A unique aspect of our experimental context is that we are able to observe both on-network and off-network activity of the individuals concerned. The main results of our experiment are that our manipulation shifting attention and recognition on the network increases engagement, tie-formation, posting of creative output and the usage of underlying software tools used to create content. We explore the temporal variation, heterogeneity, and mediation in these effects. |
| Date: | 2020–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:stabus:3919&r= |
| By: | Seul-Ki Kim (Department of Economics, Sogang University, Seoul); Young-Chul Kim (Department of Economics, Sogang University, Seoul) |
| Abstract: | There is a growing debate around the differential cognitive impacts of coeducational and single-sex education; however, little is known about their non-cognitive impacts. This study inves-tigates the effects of single-sex schooling on students' mental health, focusing on feeling blue, happiness, and suicidal ideation. Employing a nationally representative large-scale dataset regarding middle school students in South Korea, we found that single-sex schooling has significant positive effects on mental health outcomes, especially for girls. Subsequent examination of the possible channels revealed that while single-sex schooling increases the pressure regarding test scores, it reduces the mental stress that can arise from students' peer relationships or personal appearance. Further examination using separate national-level youth panel data confirmed that single-sex schooling reduces depression and improves self-esteem and school aspirations. These findings imply that the bene ts of single-sex education may be stronger than previously thought and more comprehensive discussions on school formation policies should be pursued. |
| Keywords: | Single-sex Schooling; Mental Health; Non-cognitive Outcomes; School Formation |
| JEL: | I10 I21 I31 J16 |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sgo:wpaper:2103&r= |
| By: | Monica Deza; Thanh Lu; Johanna Catherine Maclean |
| Abstract: | We estimate the effect of local access to office-based mental healthcare on juvenile arrest outcomes. We leverage variation in the number of mental healthcare offices within a county over the period 1999 to 2016 in a two-way fixed-effects model. Office-based treatment is the most common modality of mental healthcare received by juveniles. We find that ten additional office-based mental healthcare providers in a county leads a decrease of 2.3% to 2.6% in the per capita costs to society of juvenile arrest. Findings are similar for arrest rates although often less precise, which suggests that accounting for social costs is empirically important. Crime imposes substantial costs on society and individuals, and interventions during early life can have more pronounced effects than those received at later stages, therefore our results imply increased juvenile access to mental healthcare may have an unintended benefit for the current and future generations. |
| JEL: | I1 I12 J13 |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:29465&r= |
| By: | Jeffrey Clemens (University of California, San Diego and National Bureau of Economic Research); Benedic N. Ippolito (American Enterprise Institute); Stan Veuger (American Enterprise Institute) |
| Abstract: | The likely impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on state and local government revenues is increasingly well understood. |
| Keywords: | Coronavirus, Federalism, Fiscal Policy, Medicaid, State And Local Budgets |
| JEL: | A |
| Date: | 2020–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aei:rpaper:1008586598&r= |
| By: | Sarah Cattan (Institute for Fiscal Studies); Gabriella Conti (University College London); Christine Farquharson (Institute for Fiscal Studies); Rita Ginja (University of Bergen); Maud Pecher (Institute for Fiscal Studies) |
| Abstract: | We evaluate the short- and medium-term heath impacts of Sure Start, a large-scale and universal early childhood program in England. We exploit the rollout of the program and implement a difference-in-difference approach, combining data on the exact location and opening date of Sure Start centers with administrative data on the universe of admissions to public-sector hospitals. Exposure to an additional Sure Start center per thousand age-eligible children increases hospitalization by 10% at age 1 (around 6,700 hospitalizations per year), but reduces them by 8-9% across ages 11 to 15 (around 13,150 hospitalizations per year). These findings show that early childhood programs that are less intensive than small-scale ‘model programs’ can deliver significant health benefits, even in contexts with universal healthcare. Impacts are driven by hospitalizations for preventable conditions and are concentrated in disadvantaged areas, suggesting that enriching early childhood environments might be a successful strategy to reduce inequalities in health. |
| Keywords: | health, difference-in-difference |
| JEL: | I10 I14 I18 |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hka:wpaper:2021-051&r= |
| By: | Tal, Gil; Davis, Adam |
| Abstract: | In the US, the market share of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs)—including battery electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles—has been rapidly increasing as a variety of new PEVs have been introduced. Knowing where PEV users are located is important to ensure that electric vehicle charging infrastructure is installed in areas where it is needed. Information on PEV location can also inform electricity supply planning to prepare for a future with higher PEV adoption. Previous studies have looked at the spatial distribution of new PEVs but not of used PEVs. Yet these spatial distributions will likely differ because the buyers of used PEVs have different characteristics than new PEV buyers. Therefore, planning charging infrastructure and electricity supply based solely on new PEV data may not serve both new and used PEV buyers. Policies developed to support drivers of used PEVs may ultimately attract a broader group of people into the PEV market, as used vehicles are less expensive than new ones. Researchers at the University of California, Davis used aggregated data at the zip code level to understand where buyers of second-hand PEVs are located, and to explore differences in the location and characteristics of regions with more original owners vs. second owners of PEVs. This policy brief summarizes the findings from that research and provides policy implications. View the NCST Project Webpage |
| Keywords: | Social and Behavioral Sciences, Automobile ownership, Consumers, Electric vehicles, Market share, Spatial analysis, Used cars |
| Date: | 2021–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsdav:qt01p6x4np&r= |
| By: | James Carroll (Department of Economics, Trinity College Dublin); Eleanor Denny (Department of Economics, Trinity College Dublin); Ronan C. Lyons (Department of Economics, Trinity College Dublin) |
| Abstract: | With buildings accounting for roughly 40% of energy consumption in the US and Europe, energy efficiency upgrades will be central in meeting climate targets. Based on the hypothesis that there is imperfect information regarding the cost-saving implications of efficiency improvements, we add property-specific energy cost labels to sales advertisements in a randomized controlled trial covering the entire Irish housing market. This is the first energy framing field trial for property, the household’s largest energy consuming investment and the household technology which likely has the highest variation in energy consumption due to heterogeneity in efficiency and size. Our analysis of over 31,000 transacted properties finds strong evidence that energy cost forecasts change homebuyer behaviour, with the energy efficiency premium increasing by 0.7 percentage points in treatment counties. We also find that more energy efficient properties sell faster and, for the first time, show that treatment further shortened this time-to-sell. While a major departure from existing property labelling policy, these results suggest that framing property energy efficiency according to cost implications rather than kilowatt-hours increases the demand for energy efficiency. |
| Keywords: | Energy Labels, Energy Efficiency Premium, Energy Performance Certificate, Randomized Controlled Trial |
| JEL: | D12 Q40 C93 |
| Date: | 2020–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tcd:tcduee:tep1520&r= |
| By: | Autor, David (MIT); Dorn, David (University of Zurich); Hanson, Gordon H. (University of California, San Diego) |
| Abstract: | We evaluate the duration of the China trade shock and its impact on a wide range of outcomes over the period 2000 to 2019. The shock plateaued in 2010, enabling analysis of its effects for nearly a decade past its culmination. Adverse impacts of import competition on manufacturing employment, overall employment-population ratios, and income per capita in more trade-exposed U.S. commuting zones are present out to 2019. Over the full study period, greater import competition implies a reduction in the manufacturing employment-population ratio of 1.54 percentage points, which is 55% of the observed change in the value, and the absorption of 86% of this net job loss via a corresponding decrease in the overall employment rate. Reductions in population headcounts, which indicate net out-migration, register only for foreign-born workers and the native-born 25-39 years old, implying that exit from work is a primary means of adjustment to trade-induced contractions in labor demand. More negatively affected regions see modest increases in the uptake of government transfers, but these transfers primarily take the form of Social Security and Medicare benefits. Adverse outcomes are more acute in regions that initially had fewer college-educated workers and were more industrially specialized. Impacts are qualitatively—but not quantitatively—similar to those caused by the decline of employment in coal production since the 1980s, indicating that the China trade shock holds lessons for other episodes of localized job loss. Import competition from China induced changes in income per capita across local labor markets that are much larger than the spatial heterogeneity of income effects predicted by standard quantitative trade models. Even using higher-end estimates of the consumer benefits of rising trade with China, a substantial fraction of commuting zones appears to have suffered absolute declines in average real incomes. |
| Keywords: | import competition, China trade, local labor markets, manufacturing decline, job loss |
| JEL: | E24 F14 F16 J23 J31 L60 O47 R12 R23 |
| Date: | 2021–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14804&r= |
| By: | Mr. Yannick Timmer; Mr. Nicola Pierri; Toni Ahnert; Sebastian Doerr |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the importance of information technology (IT) in banking for entrepreneurship. To guide our empirical analysis, we build a parsimonious model of bank screening and lending that predicts that IT in banking can spur entrepreneurship by making it easier for startups to borrow against collateral. We provide empirical evidence that job creation by young firms is stronger in US counties that are more exposed to ITintensive banks. Consistent with a strengthened collateral lending channel for IT banks, entrepreneurship increases more in IT-exposed counties when house prices rise. In line with the model's implications, IT in banking increases startup activity without diminishing startup quality and it also weakens the importance of geographical distance between borrowers and lenders. These results suggest that banks' IT adoption can increase dynamism and productivity. |
| Keywords: | technology in banking, entrepreneurship, information technology, collateral, screening; banks' IT adoption; importance of information technology; IT in banking; startup activity; bank screening; Collateral; Self-employment; Employment; Job creation |
| Date: | 2021–08–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2021/214&r= |
| By: | Wen Hsu (Jimmy); Bing-Fang Hwang (Jimmy); Chau-Ren Jung (Jimmy); Yau-Huo (Jimmy); Shr |
| Abstract: | Air pollution has been linked to elevated levels of risk aversion. This paper provides the first evidence showing that such effect reduces life-threatening risky behaviors. We study the impact of air pollution on traffic accidents caused by risky driving behaviors, using the universe of accident records and high-resolution air quality data of Taiwan from 2009 to 2015. We find that air pollution significantly decreases accidents caused by driver violations, and that this effect is nonlinear. In addition, our results suggest that air pollution primarily reduces road users' risky behaviors through visual channels rather than through the respiratory system. |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2111.06837&r= |
| By: | Juan Luis Gómez-Reino; Santiago Lago-Peñas; Jorge Martinez-Vazquez |
| Abstract: | The standard theory of optimal jurisdictional size hinges importantly on the existence of economies of scale in the provision of local public goods and services. However, despite its relevance for forced local amalgamation programs and related policies, the empirical evidence on the existence of such economies of scale remains elusive. The main goal of this paper is to produce an updated and comprehensive quantitative review of the existence of economies of scale in the provision of local public goods using a meta-analysis approach to systematize the wide range of empirical approaches and modeling frameworks found in the previous literature. Our analysis confirms the presence of moderately increasing to constant returns to scale in the provision of local services across traditional local service sectors such as education, water and sanitation, and garbage collection. Overall, larger “client†bases do not reduce average costs of production in the delivery of most local public services beyond certain modest jurisdiction size which has been referred to in the literature as 10,000 residents. These findings have significant policy implications for countries considering jurisdictional consolidation programs. |
| Keywords: | Economies of scale, local public service provision; meta-analysis. |
| JEL: | H11 H40 H73 |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gov:wpaper:2103&r= |
| By: | Eric A. Hanushek; Babs Jacobs; Guido Schwerdt; Rolf van der Velden; Stan Vermeulen; Simon Wiederhold |
| Abstract: | The extensive literature on intergenerational mobility highlights the importance of family linkages but fails to provide credible evidence about the underlying family factors that drive the pervasive correlations. We employ a unique combination of Dutch survey and registry data that links math and language skills across generations. We identify a causal connection between cognitive skills of parents and their children by exploiting within-family between-subject variation in these skills. The data also permit novel IV estimation that isolates variation in parental cognitive skills due to school and peer quality. The between-subject and IV estimates of the key intergenerational persistence parameter are strikingly similar and close at about 0.1. Finally, we show the strong influence of family skill transmission on children’s choices of STEM fields. |
| JEL: | I24 |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:29450&r= |
| By: | Stan Veuger (American Enterprise Institute); Leah Brooks (The George Washington University Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration); Jonathan Rose (Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago); Daniel Shoag (Case Western Reserve University Weatherhead School of Management) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the urban development impacts of the civil disturbances that took place in Washington, DC following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. |
| Keywords: | capital investment, Civil rights, development, Economic development, Washington D.C. |
| JEL: | A |
| Date: | 2020–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aei:rpaper:1008572642&r= |
| By: | Jason Fletcher; Hamid Noghanibehambari |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the long-run health benefits of education for longevity. Using mortality data from the Social Security Administration (1988-2005) linked to geographic locations in the 1940-census data, we exploit changes in college availability across cohorts in local areas. We estimate an intent to treat effect of exposure to an additional 4-year college around age 17 of increasing longevity by 0.13 months; treatment on the treated calculations suggest increases in longevity between 1-1.6 years. Some further analyses suggest the results are not driven by pre-tends, endogenous migration, and other time-varying local confounders. This paper adds to the literature on the health and social benefits of education. |
| JEL: | I1 I23 I26 |
| Date: | 2021–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:29423&r= |
| By: | Boucher, Vincent (Université Laval); Del Bello, Carlo L. (Paris School of Economics); Panebianco, Fabrizio (Bocconi University); Verdier, Thierry (Paris School of Economics); Zenou, Yves (Monash University) |
| Abstract: | We propose a model of intergenerational transmission of education wherein children belong to either highly educated or low-educated families. Children choose the intensity of their social activities while parents decide how much educational effort to exert. Using data on adolescents in the United States, we structurally estimate this model and find that, on average, children's homophily acts as a complement to the educational effort of highly educated parents but as a substitute for the educational effort of low-educated parents. We also perform some counterfactual policy simulations. We find that policies that subsidize kids' socialization efforts can backfire for low-educated students because they tend to increase their interactions with other low-educated students (i.e., homophily), which reduces the education effort of their parents and, thus, their chance of becoming educated. On the contrary, policies that increase heterophily by favoring friendship links between kids from different education backgrounds can be effective in reducing the education gap between them. |
| Keywords: | social networks, education, homophily, cultural transmission |
| JEL: | D85 I21 Z13 |
| Date: | 2021–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14802&r= |
| By: | Benjamin Lester; David A. Rivers; Giorgio Topa |
| Abstract: | We document a new set of facts regarding the impact of referrals on labor market outcomes. Our results highlight the importance of distinguishing between different types of referrals—those from family and friends and those from business contacts—and different occupations. Then we develop an on-the-job search model that incorporates referrals and calibrate the model to key moments in the data. The calibrated model yields new insights into the roles played by different types of referrals in the match formation process and provides quantitative estimates of the effects of referrals on employment, earnings, output, and inequality. |
| Keywords: | Labor Markets; Referrals; Networks; Search Theory; Asymmetric Information |
| JEL: | E42 E43 E44 E52 E58 |
| Date: | 2021–10–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedpwp:93315&r= |
| By: | Britta Glennon; Francisco Morales; Seth Carnahan; Exequiel Hernandez |
| Abstract: | We investigate the effect of hiring skilled immigrant employees on the performance of organizations. This relationship has been difficult to establish in prior work due to theoretical ambiguity, limited data, and inherent endogeneity. We overcome these difficulties by studying European football (soccer) clubs during 1990-2020. Detailed microdata from this setting offers unusual transparency on the migration and hiring of talent and their contribution to collective performance. Further, the industry is characterized by country-level rule changes that govern the number of immigrant players clubs can hire. Using these rule changes as the basis for instrumental variables, we find a positive local average treatment effect of the number of immigrant players on the club’s in-game performance. To examine the theoretical mechanisms, we explore whether immigrants cause superior performance because they are more talented than natives or because they enhance the national diversity of their clubs. We find strong evidence for the talent mechanism. We find contingent evidence for the national diversity mechanism: national diversity has a positive relationship with club performance only when the club employs an immigrant manager (coach). The presence of an immigrant manager also strengthens the positive relationship between the number of immigrant players and club performance. |
| JEL: | F16 F22 F23 J61 |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:29446&r= |
| By: | Andrew G. Biggs (American Enterprise Institute); Jason Richwine |
| Abstract: | Studies relying upon household survey data have concluded that public school teachers receive substantially lower salaries than comparably-educated private sector workers. However, any given level of formal educational attainment found in household surveys can encompass a wide range of skills as valued in the labor market. We use a recently developed Census Bureau dataset, the Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO), that allows us to analyze annual earnings up to 10 years following completion of a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree while controlling for both the educational institution attended and the field of study in which the degree was granted. We find that the teacher salary gap appears to be largely a function of higher salaries paid to holders of STEM degrees. Education degree holders receive median salaries that are not substantially different from those received by other non-STEM degree holders graduating from the same institutions. |
| Keywords: | College Degrees, Economics, Employment, Teachers |
| JEL: | A |
| Date: | 2021–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aei:rpaper:1008593429&r= |
| By: | Julie Buhl-Wiggers; Jason T. Kerwin; Juan S. Muñoz-Morales; Jeffrey A. Smith; Rebecca Thornton |
| Abstract: | We document substantial variation in the effects of a highly-effective literacy pro-gram in northern Uganda. The program increases test scores by 1.40 SDs on average, but standard statistical bounds show that the impact standard deviation exceeds 1.0SD. This implies that the variation in effects across our students is wider than the spread of mean effects across all randomized evaluations of developing country education interventions in the literature. This very effective program does indeed leave some students behind. At the same time, we do not learn much from our analyses that attempt to determine which students benefit more or less from the program. We reject rank preservation, and the weaker assumption of stochastic increasingness leaves wide bounds on quantile-specific average treatment effects. Neither conventional nor machine-learning approaches to estimating systematic heterogeneity capture more than a small fraction of the variation in impacts given our available candidate moderators. |
| JEL: | C18 C21 I21 I25 J24 |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:29459&r= |
| By: | Stefano Mengoli (Università di Bologna); Marco Pagano (University of Naples Federico II, CSEF and EIEF.); Pierpaolo Pattitoni (Università di Bologna) |
| Abstract: | Retail investors pay over twice as much attention to local companies than non-local ones, based on Google searches. News volume and volatility amplify this attention gap. Attention appears causally related to perceived proximity: first, acquisition by a nonlocal company is associated with less attention by locals, and more by nonlocals close to the acquirer; second, COVID-19 travel restrictions correlate with a drop in relative attention to nonlocal companies, especially in locations with fewer ights after the outbreak. Finally, local attention predicts volatility, bid-ask spreads and nonlocal attention, not viceversa. These findings are consistent with local investors having an information-processing advantage. |
| Keywords: | attention, retail investors, local investors, distance, news, liquidity, volatility. |
| JEL: | D83 G11 G12 G14 G50 L86 R32 |
| Date: | 2021–11–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sef:csefwp:630&r= |
| By: | Conti, Gabriella (University College London); Poupakis, Stavros (University College London); Ekamper, Peter; Bijwaard, Govert (NIDI - Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute); Lumey, Lambert H. (Columbia University) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates impacts, mechanisms and selection effects of prenatal exposure to multiple shocks, by exploiting the unique natural experiment of the Dutch Hunger Winter. At the end of World War II, a famine occurred abruptly in the Western Netherlands (November 1944 - May 1945), pushing the previously and subsequently well-nourished Dutch population to the brink of starvation. We link high-quality military recruits data with objective health measurements for the cohorts born in the years surrounding WWII with newly digitised historical records on calories and nutrient composition of the war rations, daily temperature, and warfare deaths. Using difference-in-differences and triple differences research designs, we show that the cohorts exposed to the Dutch Hunger Winter since early gestation have a higher Body Mass Index and an increased probability of being overweight at age 18, and that this effect is partly accounted for by warfare exposure and a reduction in energy-adjusted protein intake. Moreover, we account for selective mortality using a copula-based approach and newly-digitised data on survival rates, and find evidence of both selection and scarring effects. These results emphasise the complexity of the mechanisms at play in studying the consequences of early conditions. |
| Keywords: | health, fetal origins hypothesis, famine, prenatal exposure |
| JEL: | I10 J13 |
| Date: | 2021–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14789&r= |
| By: | Bergantino, Angela Stefania; Capozza, Claudia; Spiru, Ada |
| Abstract: | Firms as part of an ecosystem are constrained by many context facets, having different dimensions and effects on their performance. In this work, we explore differences in firm performance in emerging economies by introducing contextual factors at country-level along with firm-level factors into the analysis. Especially, our focus is on a country's transport infrastructure endowment and logistics services as a source of heterogeneity in firm performance. We perform a multilevel analysis that allows us to define a two-level hierarchical structure, where firms are nested in countries. The empirical framework adopted allows us not to neglect other contextual bases by relying on their multidimensionality and global diversity. Our results confirm that part of the country-level variability in firm performance is explained by transport infrastructure and logistics services. The impact is, however, heterogeneous across infrastructures: network-type infrastructures, such as roads, railways, and logistics services, have a larger effect on firm-level performance, while transport nodes, such as airports and ports, show little or no effect. This research provides useful implications for both theory and practice, especially for policymakers and organizations. |
| Date: | 2021 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sit:wpaper:21_2&r= |
| By: | Udaykumar, M.S.; Basegowda, Umesh Kotrakere |
| Keywords: | Food Security and Poverty, Community/Rural/Urban Development |
| Date: | 2021–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae21:315873&r= |
| By: | Anna Laura Mancini (Bank of Italy); Giulio Papini (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides an ex-post evaluation of the 2006 Turin Winter Olympic Games by means of a synthetic control approach on a number of potential outcomes for an event of such magnitude. We find a positive impact on tourism and the ratio between prices in the centre and in the outskirts of the city. We also find, however, a positive effect on municipal per capita debt. Other variables that are often advertised as the main beneficiaries of the staging of an event such as the Olympics (value added per capita, employment rate, trade openness and the level of house prices) show no significant improvement. |
| Keywords: | big events, olympic games, synthetic control |
| JEL: | Z20 R11 |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_1355_21&r= |
| By: | Tobias Berg; Andreas Fuster; Manju Puri |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we review the growing literature on FinTech lending – the provision of credit facilitated by technology that improves the customer-lender interaction or lenders’ screening and monitoring of borrowers. FinTech lending has grown rapidly, though in developed economies like the U.S. it still only accounts for a small share of total credit. An increase in convenience and speed appears to have been more central to FinTech lending’s growth than improved screening or monitoring, though there is certainly potential for the latter, as is the case for increased financial inclusion. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown potential vulnerabilities of FinTech lenders, although in certain segments they have displayed rapid growth. |
| JEL: | G2 G20 G21 G23 |
| Date: | 2021–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:29421&r= |
| By: | Isphoring, Ingo E.; Diederichs, Marc; van Ewijk, Reyn; Pestel, Nico (ROA / Labour market and training, RS: GSBE other - not theme-related research) |
| Abstract: | We use event-study models based on staggered summer vacations in Germany to estimate the effect of school re-openings after the summer of 2021 on the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Estimations are based on daily counts of confirmed coronavirus infections across all 401 German counties. Our results are consistent with mandatory testing contributing to containment of cases by uncovering otherwise undetected (asymptomatic) cases. Case numbers in school-aged children spike in the first week after the summer breaks but then turn not significantly different from zero. Case numbers in prime-aged age groups gradually decrease after school re-openings, arguably as a result of detected clusters through the school testing. The age group 60+ remains unaffected by the school re-openings. We conclude that the combination of mandatory testing and compulsory school attendance can provide an unbiased and near-complete surveillance of the pandemic. Thus, under certain conditions open schools can play a role in containing the spread of the virus. The trade-off between reducing contacts and losing an important monitoring device has to be taken seriously when re-considering school closures as a nonpharmaceutical intervention under the current circumstances. |
| JEL: | I12 I18 I28 |
| Date: | 2021–11–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:umaror:2021008&r= |
| By: | Khan, Iqrar Ahmad |
| Abstract: | Like elsewhere, migration-led peri-urban (rural clusters) growth of cities has been an important element of rural-urban transformation for centuries. However, only recently, in this process, the rural landscape also benefits from these changes, owing to better communication and market access. Peri-urban areas are consuming peripheral villages. This has put pressure on land and water resources putting environmental health at stake. Loss of biodiversity is imminent due to changing ecological frame conditions in an increasingly human-made environment. In many areas rural populations are also shifting away from traditional farming towards white-collar jobs. While this could have positive implications for the socio-economic structure of the society at large, it will also present new challenges for meeting the food and nutritional requirements of the population as a whole. New farming models and marketing innovations are required to meet increasing food demands and changes of consumption habits. This working paper describes the ongoing rural-urban transition and discuss the potential for carving new cropping systems and entrepreneurship options in newly formed agro-ecologies and semi-urban rural clusters of Pakistan. It is hoped that it will also help initiating further study and compilation of empirical evidence. |
| Date: | 2021–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ajy:icddwp:37&r= |
| By: | Dang, Hai-Anh (World Bank); Trinh, Trong-Anh (World Bank); Verme, Paolo (World Bank) |
| Abstract: | Hardly any evidence currently exists on the causal effects of mental illness on refugee labor market outcomes. We offer the first study on this topic in the context of Australia, one of the host countries with the largest number of refugees per capita in the world. Analyzing the Building a New Life in Australia longitudinal survey, we exploit the variations in traumatic experiences of refugees interacted with time as an instrument for refugee mental health. We find that worse mental health, as measured by a one standard deviation increase in the Kessler mental health score, reduces the probability of employment by 14.1% and labor income by 26.8%. We also find some evidence of adverse impacts of refugees' mental illness on their children's mental health and education performance. These effects appear more pronounced for refugees that newly arrive or are without social networks, but they may be ameliorated with government support. Our findings suggest that policies that target refugees' mental health may offer a new channel to improve their labor market outcomes. |
| Keywords: | refugees, mental health, labor outcomes, instrumental variable, BNLA longitudinal survey, Australia |
| JEL: | I15 J15 J21 J61 O15 |
| Date: | 2021–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp14766&r= |
| By: | Adong, Annet; Kirui, Oliver; Kornher, Lukas |
| Keywords: | Land Economics/Use |
| Date: | 2021–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iaae21:314940&r= |