|
on Urban and Real Estate Economics |
| By: | Saeed Tajrishy (Sharif University of Technology); Mohammad Vesal (Sharif University of Technology) |
| Abstract: | Public housing projects are hotly debated, especially due to their impact on neighboring properties. This impact is theoretically ambiguous; public housing projects could enhance local amenities through agglomeration externalities or direct government provision, however, the concentration of low-income households could trigger negative spillovers. The expansion of the housing stock is also an important channel for large projects. While the impact of public housing projects is wellstudied in developed countries, to the best of our knowledge, there is no rigorous empirical study on developing countries. In this paper, we study a large public housing project known as the Mehr housing project in Iran that facilitated the construction of two million affordable apartments, making it the largest public housing project in the world. We use the exact delivery date of Mehr units and their postal region to set up a difference-in-differences strategy. Using the universe of house transactions for 19 large cities in Iran between 2010 and mid-2019, we compare house price changes in Mehr postal regions to non-Mehr ones before and after Mehr units were delivered. Our results show that Mehr units lowered house prices in the same postal region by around 11 percent (significant at five percent). This effect is robust to controlling for city by time fixed effects, differential trends for suburbs, and regions with higher initial property values. We also provide suggestive evidence on the role of disamenity effects by looking at the heterogeneity of results across different house types and cities over time. Finally, we find a significant positive effect of available schools in the Mehr postal region that fits well with the amenity story. |
| Date: | 2021–11–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:erg:wpaper:1505&r=ure |
| By: | Francisco Amaral (University of Bonn); Martin Dohmen (University of Bonn); Sebastian Kohl (Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies - Max-Planck-Gesellschaft); Moritz Schularick (University of Bonn, ECON - Département d'économie (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Federal Reserve Bank of New York) |
| Abstract: | We study long-term returns on residential real estate in twenty-seven "superstar" cities in fifteen countries over 150 years. We find that total returns in superstar cities are close to 100 basis points lower per year than in the rest of the country. House prices tend to grow faster in the superstars, but rent returns are substantially greater outside the big agglomerations, resulting in higher long-run total returns. The excess returns outside the superstars can be rationalized as a compensation for risk, especially for higher covariance with income growth and lower liquidity. Superstar real estate is comparatively safe. |
| Keywords: | Housing returns, Housing risk, Superstar cities, Regional housing markets |
| Date: | 2021–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03881493&r=ure |
| By: | S\'andor Juh\'asz; Gerg\H{o} Pint\'er; \'Ad\'am Kov\'acs; Endre Borza; Gergely M\'onus; L\'aszl\'o L\H{o}rincz; Bal\'azs Lengyel |
| Abstract: | Cities host diverse people and their mixing is the engine of prosperity. In turn, segregation and inequalities are common features of most cities and locations that enable the meeting of people with different socio-economic status are key for urban inclusion. In this study, we adopt the concept of economic complexity to quantify the ability of locations -- on the level of neighborhoods and amenities -- to attract diverse visitors from various socio-economic backgrounds across the city. Utilizing the spatial distribution of point of interests inside the city of Budapest, Hungary, we construct the measures of amenity complexity based on the local portfolio of diverse and non-ubiquitous amenities. We investigate mixing patterns at visited third places by tracing the daily mobility of individuals and characterizing their socio-economic status by the real-estate price of their home locations. Results suggest that measures of ubiquity and diversity of amenities do not, but amenity complexity correlates with the diversity of visitors to neighborhoods and to actual amenities alike. We demonstrate that, in this monocentric city, amenity complexity is correlated with the relative geographic centrality of locations, which in itself is a strong predictor of socio-economic mixing. Our work combines urban mobility data with economic complexity thinking to show that the diversity of non-ubiquitous amenities, central locations, and the potentials for socio-economic mixing are interrelated. |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2212.07280&r=ure |
| By: | Busso, Matías; Frisancho, Verónica |
| Abstract: | This study examines the gendered effects of early and sustained exposure to high-performing peers on female educational trajectories. Exploiting random allocation to classrooms within middle schools, we measure the effect of male and female high performers on girls' high school placement outcomes. We disentangle two channels through which peers of either sex can play a role: academic performance and school preferences. We also focus on the effects of peers along the distribution of baseline academic performance. Exposure to good peers of either sex reduces the degree to which high-achieving girls seek placement in more-selective schools. High-achieving boys have particularly strong, negative effects on high-performing girls' admission scores and preferences for more-selective schools. By contrast, high-achieving girls improve low-performing girls' placement outcomes, but exclusively through a positive effect on exam scores. |
| Keywords: | gender;Mexico;secondary education;Peer effects;High achievers |
| JEL: | I24 I21 J16 J24 C93 |
| Date: | 2021–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:11220&r=ure |
| By: | Basu, Arnab K. (Cornell University); Chau, Nancy H. (Cornell University); Lin, Gary C. (Johns Hopkins University) |
| Abstract: | We develop and estimate a theory-consistent gravity model for interregional migration flows in the presence of unemployment. Micro-founded in a setting where search friction regulates labor market transitions, we derive a migration gravity equation for bilateral mobility that embodies a co-determined local unemployment term. As a theory of migration, our model connects directly with longstanding migration puzzles (e.g. declining internal mobility) as well as more novel concepts (e.g. home bias). As a model of unemployment, a migration gravity approach uncovers hitherto under-appreciated interregional roots of local unemployment, and furnishes an unemployment sufficient statistic interpretation to the familiar multilateral migration resistance term. We empirically test the predictions of the model using U.S. county-level data on bilateral migration and unemployment rates, bilateral connectedness data such as Facebook friendship links, and instrumental variable identification based on a novel similarity index of counties' historical ethnic-composition. |
| Keywords: | friendship networks, gravity equation, internal migration |
| JEL: | J61 J64 R23 |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15808&r=ure |
| By: | Robert Collinson; John Eric Humphries (Cowles Foundation, Yale University); Nicholas Mader; Davin Reed; Daniel Tannenbaum; Winnie Van Dijk |
| Abstract: | More than two million U.S. households have an eviction case led against them each year. Policymakers at the federal, state, and local levels are increasingly pursuing policies to reduce the number of evictions, citing harm to tenants and high public expenditures related to homelessness. We study the consequences of eviction for tenants using newly linked administrative data from two large cities. We document that prior to housing court, tenants experience declines in earnings and employment and increases in financial distress and hospital visits. These pre-trends are more pronounced for tenants who are evicted, which poses a challenge for disentangling correlation and causation. To address this problem, we use an instrumental variables approach based on cases randomly assigned to judges of varying leniency. We find that an eviction order increases homelessness, and reduces earnings, durable consumption, and access to credit. Eects on housing and labor market outcomes are driven by impacts for female and Black tenants. |
| Keywords: | eviction, homelessness, poverty, tenant protections, rental housing markets |
| JEL: | J01 H00 R38 I30 |
| Date: | 2022–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cwl:cwldpp:2344&r=ure |
| By: | Wenli Li (Federal Reserve Bank Philadelphia); Costas Meghir (Yale University [New Haven], CEPR - Center for Economic Policy Research - CEPR); Florian Oswald (ECON - Département d'économie (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | We specify and estimate a lifecycle model of consumption, housing demand and labor supply in an environment where individuals may file for bankruptcy or default on their mortgage. Uncertainty in the model is driven by house price shocks, {education specific} productivity shocks, and catastrophic consumption events, while bankruptcy is governed by the basic institutional framework in the US as implied by Chapter 7 and Chapter 13. The model is estimated using micro data on credit reports and mortgages combined with data from the American Community Survey. We use the model to understand the relative importance of the two chapters (7 and 13) for each of our two education groups that differ in both preferences and wage profiles. We also provide an evaluation of the BACPCA reform. Our paper demonstrates importance of distributional effects of Bankruptcy policy. |
| Keywords: | Lifecycle, Bankruptcy, Mortgage Default, Housing, Labor Supply, Consumption, Education, Insurance, Moral hazard |
| Date: | 2022–03–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03882830&r=ure |
| By: | Berlinski, Samuel; Busso, Matías; Dinkelman, Taryn; Martínez, Claudia |
| Abstract: | We conducted an experiment in low-income schools in Chile to test the effects and behavioral changes triggered by a program that sends attendance, grade, and classroom behavior information to parents via weekly and monthly text messages. Our 18-month intervention raised average math GPA by 0.08 of a standard deviation and increased the share of students satisfying attendance requirements for grade promotion by 4.5 percentage points. Treatment effects were larger for students at higher risk of later grade retention and dropout. Leveraging existing school inputs for a light-touch, costeffective, and scalable information intervention can improve education outcomes in lower-income settings. |
| Keywords: | Education;Chile;Information experiment;Parent-School communication |
| JEL: | I25 N36 D8 |
| Date: | 2021–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:11234&r=ure |
| By: | Dina N. Elshahawany (Zagazig University); Eduardo A. Haddad; Michael L. Lahr |
| Abstract: | In 2014, Egypt started its national road project. This project is one of the greatest achievements in the history of Egyptian roads, and perhaps even all infrastructures. It is designed to connect the country's governorates through a 30% expansion of the existing 23, 500 km network of roads. Its costs are currently estimated at $9.8 billion. There are now about two-thirds of the National Roads Project plans; another 1, 300 km is still under construction. Another 1, 200 km will be built in the near future. The project has enhanced accessibility across the country enriching the opportunity for further expansion into industrial, agricultural and urban areas. Measuring the project's economic impacts would emphasize the project's importance and allow for better targeting of new road projects. In this paper, we explore how the National Road Project likely changed the country's economy at both the national and regional levels. We do this by applying the Computable Spatial General Equilibrium (SCGE) model in Egypt. We found that the project revitalized the national economy by engaging deeply in some of Egypt's least developed governorates. The increased accessibility brought by the corridor has translated into positive efficiency gains at the national and regional levels. The model allows for exploration of the areas most affected by the project and thus could assist planners in allocating infrastructure investments. |
| Date: | 2022–11–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:erg:wpaper:1610&r=ure |
| By: | Asimeng, Emmanuel Theodore; Altenburg, Tilman |
| Abstract: | The socioeconomic wellbeing of urban areas depends on a well-functioning transportation system that makes it easier for people to access goods and services. Whereas most urban areas in emerging economies are expanding in size and human population, high motorisation and inadequate public transport services have resulted in congestion, traffic accidents and increasing transport-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Urban rail development can help address the current transportation problem because trains can move a large number of people at high speed, provide reliable services, contribute to lower GHGs and have a low accident rate. However, urban rail is expensive and requires many technical and technological capabilities often unavailable in emerging economies because they are technology latecomers. This paper examines how two emerging economies, China and India, have adopted industrial policies to develop local capabilities for urban rail technology. The paper shows how the Chinese government has moved from purchasing urban rail technology from multinational companies (MNCs) to the current situation where it has developed local capabilities, owns rail technology patents and competes with the same MNCs on the international market. The paper also demonstrates how India is gradually improving the local manufacturing of rail subsystems as opposed to importation. Overall, the paper suggests a pathway to industrial policy adoption that demonstrates how emerging economies can catch up with urban rail technology development to address their local transportation needs. |
| Keywords: | China, India, industrial policy, multinational company, technology indigenisation, technology transfer, urban rail |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:diedps:142022&r=ure |
| By: | Fransham, Mark; Herbertson, Max; Pop, Mihaela; Bandeira Morais, Margarida; Lee, Neil |
| Abstract: | ‘Levelling up’ - a policy agenda focused on reducing regional inequalities - has become the new mantra in British politics. This paper critiques the policy programme from its emergence in 2019 to the publication of the 2022 levelling up white paper. While it is a welcome recognition of gross regional inequality, local institutions lack capacity to deliver, there has been little genuine devolution and our analysis shows that little new funding has been committed. “Levelling up” could simply become the latest in a list of politically useful but empty slogans which are used as a substitute for resources and devolution. |
| Keywords: | levelling up; inequality; regions; cities; funding; policy; ES/V013548/1 |
| JEL: | R10 R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2022–12–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:117569&r=ure |
| By: | Yigit Aydede; Jan Ditzen |
| Abstract: | The spread of viral pathogens is inherently a spatial process. While the temporal aspects of viral spread at the epidemiological level have been increasingly well characterized, the spatial aspects of viral spread are still understudied due to a striking absence of theoretical expectations of how spatial dynamics may impact the temporal dynamics of viral populations. Characterizing the spatial transmission and understanding the factors driving it are important for anticipating local timing of disease incidence and for guiding more informed control strategies. Using a unique data set from Nova Scotia, the objective of this study is to apply a new novel method that recovers a spatial network of the influenza-like viral spread where the regions in their dominance are identified and ranked. We, then, focus on identifying regional predictors of those dominant regions. |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2212.06684&r=ure |
| By: | Carozzi, Felipe; Provenzano, Sandro; Roth, Sefi |
| Abstract: | This paper revisits the debate around the link between population density and the severity of COVID-19 spread in the United States. We do so by conducting an empirical analysis based on graphical evidence, regression analysis and instrumental variable strategies borrowed from the agglomeration literature. Studying the period between the start of the epidemic and the beginning of the vaccination campaign at the end of 2020, we find that the cross-sectional relationship between density and COVID-19 deaths changed as the year evolved. Initially, denser counties experienced more COVID-19 deaths. Yet, by December, the relationship between COVID deaths and urban density was completely flat. This is consistent with evidence indicating density affected the timing of the outbreak – with denser locations more likely to have an early outbreak – yet had no influence on time-adjusted COVID-19 cases and deaths. Using data from Google, Facebook, the US Census and other sources, we investigate potential mechanisms behind these findings. |
| Keywords: | COVID-19; density; congestion forces; health; Springer deal |
| JEL: | I12 R12 |
| Date: | 2022–11–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:117261&r=ure |
| By: | Clément Bosquet (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Pierre-Philippe Combes (ECON - Département d'économie (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CEPR - Center for Economic Policy Research - CEPR); Emeric Henry (ECON - Département d'économie (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CEPR - Center for Economic Policy Research - CEPR); Thierry Mayer (ECON - Département d'économie (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CEPR - Center for Economic Policy Research - CEPR) |
| Abstract: | Using an instrument based on a national contest in France determining researchers' location, we find evidence of peer effects in academia, when focusing on precise groups of senders (producing the spillovers) and receivers (benefiting from the spillovers), defined based on field of specialisation, gender and age. These peer effects are present even outside formal co-authorship relationships. Furthermore, the match between the characteristics of senders and receivers plays a critical role. In particular, men benefit a lot from peer effects provided by other men, while all other types of gender combinations produce spillovers twice as small. Part of the peer effects results from researchers switching research fields. |
| Keywords: | Economics of science,Peer effects,Research productivity,Gender publication gap |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03874070&r=ure |
| By: | Ghasri, Milad; Stone, Wendy; Easthope, Hazel; Veeroja, Piret |
| Abstract: | This study explores how critical life events can be used to predict short-term, medium-term and long-term periods of housing stress for individuals and households, which might, in turn, lead to further housing and related forms of disadvantage and support needs. It considers how the identification of ‘risk pathways’ support an early intervention model of housing assistance for different population groups. Critical life events experienced by individual household members—or households as a unit—can result in housing shocks. These critical life events include positive events—for example, partnership formation, birth of child, promotion at work—as well as negative events. Negative events typically have a negative effect on household income—for example, separation or divorce, unexpected job loss and acute health conditions. They can be short-term or long-term in duration; can be planned or unanticipated; and can have acute or chronic impacts on housing and living arrangements and other spheres of life. The resulting ‘housing shocks’ can include inability to afford rent or mortgage payments; eviction; overcrowding; or housing precarity. Many such shocks are underpinned by housing stress, in which household resources are inadequate to manage affordability pressures when combined with a critical life event. The socio-demographic attributes of household members most vulnerable to entering into housing stress are young to early middle-aged adults (18–44 years); looking for work; or living in rental housing (including both private and social rental). Understanding more about critical life events as contributors to housing stress can support policy development options that go beyond the usual administrative boundaries and support intersectional approaches to reducing housing stress. |
| Date: | 2022–12–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:shk5j&r=ure |
| By: | Riley Sullivan |
| Abstract: | Households and businesses throughout New England rely on roads, bridges, dams, sewers, drinking water systems, and other elements of public infrastructure daily. However, the region’s states and municipalities have long been acknowledged as spending less than much of the rest of country on these public capital assets. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 (IIJA) represents a massive and historic opportunity that will fund billions of dollars’ worth of repairs and improvements to public infrastructure across the region. The $1.2 trillion package contains $550 billion in new federal spending on public transit, broadband access, roads and bridges, water treatment, and the power grid. Notwithstanding these appropriations, state and local capital investments remain an important component of maintaining the public capital stock. This brief describes how elements of the IIJA will affect infrastructure in the region, discusses how new federal spending will fill the existing gap between infrastructure needs and spending, and reviews current state and local capital expenditures in the New England states. |
| Keywords: | New England; NEPPC; infrastructure spending; Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act; Bipartisan Infrastructure Law |
| Date: | 2022–11–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedbrb:95300&r=ure |
| By: | Ata Atay (University of Barcelona and BEAT); Ana Mauleon (CEREC and CORE/LIDAM, UCLouvain); Vincent Vannetelbosch (CORE/LIDAM, UCLouvain) |
| Abstract: | We consider priority-based school choice problems with farsighted students. We show that a singleton set consisting of the matching obtained from the Top Trading Cycles (TTC) mechanism is a farsighted stable set. However, the matching obtained from the Deferred Acceptance (DA) mechanism may not belong to any farsighted stable set. Hence, the TTC mechanism provides an assignment that is not only Pareto efficient but also farsightedly stable. Moreover, looking forward three steps ahead is already sufficient for stabilizing the matching obtained from the TTC. |
| Keywords: | School choice, top trading cycle, stable sets, farsighted students. |
| JEL: | C70 C78 D47 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ewp:wpaper:437web&r=ure |
| By: | Echeverría, Lucía; Gimenez-Nadal, J. Ignacio; Molina, José Alberto |
| Abstract: | Research has shown that commuting is related to the health of workers, and that mode choice may have differential effects on this relationship. We analyze the relationship between commuting by different modes of transport and the health status reported by US workers, using the 2014-2016 Eating and Health (EH) Module of the American Time Use Survey (ATUS). We estimate Ordinary Least Squares models on a measure of subjective health, that is the self-reported assessment of individual general health status, and on the body mass index. We find that longer commutes by bicycle are significantly related to higher levels of subjective health and to lower body mass index, while commuting by walking is weakly related to both health measures. We test the robustness of our results to possible measurement errors in commuting times, to the exclusion of compensating factors, and to the estimation method. We additionally instrument individual use of bicycles with an indicator of individual green attitudes, based on the General Social Survey (GSS), and the results consistently show that individuals who commute longer by bicycle report better subjective health and lower body mass index. Our results may help policy makers in evaluating the importance of having infrastructures that facilitate the use of bicycles as a means of transport, boosting investment in these infrastructures, especially in large cities. |
| Keywords: | Commuting; Salud; Trabajadores; Medios de Transporte; Estados Unidos; 2014-2016; |
| Date: | 2022–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nmp:nuland:3778&r=ure |
| By: | Lockwood, Ben (University of Warwick and Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation); Simmler, Martin (Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation and Thuenen Institute of Rural Economics); Tam, Eddy H. F. (King’s College London and Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation) |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of commercial property taxation on vacancy rates and rents in the UK, using a new data-set, and exploiting exogenous variations in property tax rates from reliefs in the UK system: small business rate relief (SBRR), retail relief and empty property relief. We estimate that the retail relief reduces vacancies by 85%, and SBRR relief by up to 49%, while empty property exemption increases them by up to 89%. The effect of retail relief on clusters of urban properties (the “High St†) is no different to its overall effect. SBRR increases (decreases) the likelihood that a property is occupied by a small (large) business. We also use data on asking prices for rental properties to study the effect of reliefs on rental rates. Rental rates move in the opposite direction to vacancy rates, except in the case of empty property relief. All these findings are consistent with a novel model of directed search in the commercial property market, also presented in the paper. |
| Keywords: | Commercial Property, Vacancy, Occupancy, Property Taxation JEL Codes: H25 ; H32 ; R30 ; R38 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:648&r=ure |
| By: | Kitsos, Anastasios; Grabner, Simone Maria; Incera, Andre Carrascal |
| Abstract: | We study the role of local industrial embeddedness (the share of regional inter-industry economic activity that is anchored to a region) on regional resistance (the difference between pre- and post-crisis employment) to the 2008 Great Recession (GR) in EU and UK NUTS2 regions. The recession had profound effects in regional economies, which showed diverse performance based on their capacity to absorb the shock. The concept of economic resilience has been brought to the center of attention with several contributions exploring its determinants. However, the impact of the embeddedness of local economic systems in terms of sales and supplies has been largely unexplored. We use regional input-output tables to approximate the embeddedness of local economies between and, fixed-effects and quantile regressions to test its relationship to regional resistance between 2008 and 2011. We find that during the GR, regional industries opted to change input rather than output markets. Additionally, embeddedness has a curvilinear relationship to regional resistance which varies across the distribution of regional resistance performance. Finally, at the industry level we find regional embeddedness to be important to the resistance of manufacturing and financial and business services and sectoral embeddedness to matter more for the resistance of construction and wholesale, retail & IT. Our findings highlight nuances that policymakers should be aware of in planning for resilience. |
| Date: | 2022–12–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:b759j&r=ure |
| By: | Bo Zhao |
| Abstract: | In New England, municipal governments provide a variety of public services that are vital to residents and businesses, such as public works, police and fire services, and general government administration. However, the region and its local governments face an increasing threat from climate change. As recorded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, New England states have become hotter and wetter and have experienced an increased number of extreme precipitation events since 1900. Rising temperatures and more frequent extreme precipitation events are projected for the region through the end of this century. These changes in weather conditions could damage public infrastructure, disrupt the delivery of public services, and increase the costs of snow removal, road maintenance, the heating and cooling of public buildings, and other local services. Using Massachusetts data from 1990 through 2019, this report examines how weather affects municipal expenditures. It finds that temperature and precipitation have a significant impact on local spending. Based on the estimated historical relationship between temperature and local spending, the report finds that municipal expenditures will increase considerably in the coming decades as a result of projected rising temperatures. These cost increases could create significant fiscal stress on municipalities and force them to raise taxes and fees. Among the findings highlighted in this report is that during the 1990–2019 period, a 1 degree Fahrenheit increase in average temperature, on average, resulted in a 3.2 percent increase in per capita municipal general-fund expenditures in Massachusetts. During the same period, a 1 per centage point increase in the percentage of days in each year with at least 1 inch of snowfall, on average, led to an increase in per capita municipal expenditures of about 0.4 percent. This report estimates that if global emissions continue to grow at their current rates, resulting in significantly higher temperatures in Massachusetts, per capita annual municipal expenditures will increase 30 percent for the 2090–2099 decade relative to average per capita annual municipal expenditures for the 1990–2019 period. Given the substantial similarities in fiscal structures and weather patterns throughout New England, these findings are likely to apply to other states in the region. This report recommends that municipalities account for climate change in their long-term municipal financial planning, since early policy actions are often more cost effective than later ones. Investing in improvements to the climate resilience of public infrastructure is important, and it is particularly urgent for New England, given how dated the region’s infrastructure systems are. |
| Keywords: | New England; NEPPC; Massachusetts; weather; climate; local government spending |
| JEL: | H72 Q51 Q54 |
| Date: | 2022–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedbcr:95398&r=ure |
| By: | Sarah El-Khishin (The British University in Egypt); Mohamed Rashwan (The British University in Egypt) |
| Abstract: | The Egyptian housing market is a very dynamic market and has many interactions with monetary and financial markets in the economy. In this paper, we investigate the macro-financial fundamentals, institutional as well as specific behavioural and cultural factors that are argued to play a role in housing demand and prices in Egypt. We design a field survey for a representative sample of household homebuyers and sellers as well as real estate developers and brokers. We then run an Ordinal Logistic Regression Model (OLM) based on the results of the field survey and a constructed housing price index. Analysis reveal many important findings, firstly, land construction and licensing costs, government real estate and housing policies are all perceived as main determinants of housing prices in the Egyptian market. On the contrary, macro-financial variables, namely inflation and interest rates were not significant indicating a possibly weak monetary transmission mechanism through the theoretically explained asset-price channel. Results also affirm that housing investment is perceived by Egyptians as the safest form of investment during uncertainty shocks and good hedge against inflation and other financial turbulence. Finally, findings reveal a huge discrepancy in information and data on housing dynamics and expectations across the sampled groups, households and Developers & Brokers. Lack of information makes market actors more vulnerable to principal-agent problems and result into asymmetric information moral hazard outcomes. The above results altogether reinforce the importance of constructing a micro dataset on housing prices in Egypt and constructing a housing price index for the Egyptian market as was initiated in this research and planned to be further developed in future research. |
| Date: | 2022–11–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:erg:wpaper:1603&r=ure |
| By: | Cédric Chambru (UZH - Universität Zürich [Zürich] = University of Zurich); Emeric Henry (ECON - Département d'économie (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CEPR - Center for Economic Policy Research - CEPR); Benjamin Marx (ECON - Département d'économie (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CEPR - Center for Economic Policy Research - CEPR) |
| Abstract: | How do radical reforms of the state shape economic development over time? In 1790, France's first Constituent Assembly overhauled the kingdom's organization to set up new administrative entities and local capitals. In a subset of departments, new capitals were chosen quasi-randomly as the Assembly abandoned its initial plan to rotate administrative functions across multiple cities. We study how exogenous changes in local administrative presence affect the state's coercive and productive capacity, as well as economic development in the ensuing decades. In the short run, proximity to the state increases taxation, conscription, and investments in law enforcement capacity. In the long run, the new local capitals and their periphery obtain more public goods and experience faster economic development. One hundred years after the reform, capitals are 40% more populated than comparable cities in 1790. Our results shed new light on the intertemporal and redistributive impacts of state-building in the context of one of the most ambitious administrative reforms ever implemented. |
| Keywords: | State Capacity, State-Building, Administrative Reform, Economic Development |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:spmain:hal-03812820&r=ure |
| By: | Hakan Ercan (Middle East Technical University); Ahmet Ozturk (Statistical, Economic, and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC)); Semih Tumen (TED University) |
| Abstract: | Improving the later outcomes of children through increasing their school attainment is a key policy priority in developing countries; yet, whether increasing government spending can improve school attainment is still an issue of debate. In this paper, we investigate the effect of a massive primary school construction program—which was launched as part of the 1997 schooling reform—on high school completion and labor force participation rates in Turkey. With this program, Turkey increased the number of primary education classrooms approximately by 31 percent from 1998 to 2002. Using the 2011 Population and Housing Census, we employ an identification strategy based on provincial differences in the intensity of construction program and the variation in exposure across birth cohorts induced by the timing of the program. The estimates suggest that the construction program increased high school completion rates by 2.1-2.4 percentage points for men and by 2.3-2.5 percentage points for women. While the program had no significant effect on male labor force participation, it led to a 2.2-2.6 percentage-point rise in female labor force participation. These findings suggest that the program has been effective in reducing the gender gaps in later outcomes. The results suggest that increasing primary school availability helps reducing gender gaps in later outcomes in a developing country context. |
| Date: | 2021–12–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:erg:wpaper:1522&r=ure |
| By: | Jan‐luca Hennig (AMSE - Aix-Marseille Sciences Economiques - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - ECM - École Centrale de Marseille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how labour market regulations alter the adverse impact of rising import competition from China in European local labour markets between 1997 and 2006. The paper constructs measures of regional exposure to Chinese imports based on previous literature and on regional labour market frictions exploiting involuntary labour reallocations. Taking into account the endogeneity of import competition and its interaction with labour market regulations, 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 labour market frictions; 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 labour force participation rate and wages in all sectors are unresponsive to import competition from China. |
| Keywords: | empirical trade, employment structure, labour reallocation, regional labour markets |
| Date: | 2022–05–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03856251&r=ure |
| By: | Casadei, Patrizia; Vanino, Enrico; Lee, Neil |
| Abstract: | Creative services have become an important, but understudied, part of global trade. This paper presents new evidence on the transformation, geography and industrial relatedness of creative service exports in the UK, using the Inquiry in International Trade in Services (ITIS) database. Creative services exports have grown over the past decade, but there are pronounced patterns of geographical specialization in the export of creative and non-creative services. We develop a measure of relatedness between exports of creative and non-creative services and of manufacturing goods. We argue that creative services are economically significant because of their interrelationship with other local sectors. |
| Keywords: | creative services; trade; exports; services; relatedness; T&F deal |
| JEL: | R11 F10 R12 |
| Date: | 2022–10–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:115568&r=ure |
| By: | Ying Shi (Center for Policy Research, Maxwell School, Syracuse University, 426 Eggers Hall, Syracuse, NY 13244); Maria Zhu (Center for Policy Research, Maxwell School, Syracuse University, 426 Eggers Hall, Syracuse, NY 13244) |
| Abstract: | The fast-growing demographic group of Asian Americans is often perceived as a “model minority.” This paper establishes empirical evidence of this stereotype in the context of education and then analyzes its consequences. We show that teachers rate Asian students’ academic skills more favorably than observationally similar White students in the same class, even after accounting for test performance and behavior. This contrasts with teachers’ lower likelihood of favoring Black and Hispanic students. Notably, teachers respond to the presence of any Asian student in the classroom by exacerbating Black-White and Hispanic-White assessment gaps. This suggests that the “model minority” stereotype can negatively impact other minority groups de-spite its ostensibly positive connotation. |
| Keywords: | Teacher Evaluation, Racial Bias, Asian Americans |
| JEL: | I24 J15 |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:max:cprwps:253&r=ure |
| By: | Alexia Lochmann (Center for International Development at Harvard University) |
| Abstract: | This report analyzes the economic legacy of spatial exclusion in South Africa, focusing on the long-term effects of the former Bantustan policy. Through quantitative analysis, the report explores the spatial dimension of economic activity in South Africa and specifically how this particular spatial institution has continued to shape current economic outcomes, despite past and present attempts to reverse the effect. The report also identifies areas for further research and potential intervention to enable more effective economic inclusion of the former homeland areas of the country. |
| Keywords: | Spatial Exclusion, South Africa, Migration |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cid:wpfacu:140a&r=ure |
| By: | Aromi, Daniel; Bonel, María Paula; Cristia, Julian P.; Llada, Martín; Palomino, Luis |
| Abstract: | This study analyzes mobility patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic for eight large Latin American cities. Indicators of mobility by socioeconomic status (SES) are generated by combining georeferenced mobile phone information with granular census data. Before the pandemic, a strong positive association between SES and mobility is documented. With the arrival of the pandemic, in most cases, a negative association between mobility and SES emerges. This new pattern is explained by a notably stronger reduction in mobility by high-SES individuals. A comparison of mobility for SES decile 1 vs decile 10 shows that, on average, the reduction is 75% larger in the case of decile 10. According to estimated lasso models, an indicator of government restrictions provides a parsimonious description of these heterogeneous responses. These estimations point to noticeable similarities in the patterns observed across cities. We also explore how the median distance traveled changed for individuals that travel at least 1 km (the intensive margin). We find that the reduction in mobility in this indicator was larger for high-SES individuals compared to low-SES individuals in six out of eight cities analyzed. The evidence is consistent with asymmetries in the feasibility of working from home and in the ability to smooth consumption under temporary income shocks. |
| Keywords: | mobility;COVID-19;COVID-19;COVID-19;COVID-19;COVID-19;Socioeconomic status |
| JEL: | I1 R4 R2 |
| Date: | 2021–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:11312&r=ure |
| By: | Maren Springsklee; Fabian Scheller |
| Abstract: | This research article explores potential influencing factors of solar photovoltaic (PV) system adoption by municipal authorities in Germany in the year 2019. We derive seven hypothesized relationships from the empirical literature on residential PV adoption, organizational technology adoption, and sustainability policy adoption by local governments, and apply a twofold empirical approach to examine them. First, we explore the associations of a set of explanatory variables on the installed capacity of adopter municipalities (N=223) in an OLS model. Second, we use a logit model to analyze whether the identified relationships are also apparent between adopter and non-adopter municipalities (N=423). Our findings suggest that fiscal capacity (measured by per capita debt and per capita tax revenue) and peer effects (measured by the pre-existing installed capacity) are positively associated with both the installed capacity and adoption. Furthermore, we find that institutional capacity (measured by the presence of a municipal utility) and environmental concern (measured by the share of green party votes) are positively associated with municipal PV adoption. Economic factors (measured by solar irradiation) show a significant positive but small effect in both regression models. No evidence was found to support the influence of political will. Results for the role of municipal characteristics are mixed, although the population size was consistently positively associated with municipal PV adoption and installed capacity. Our results support previous studies on PV system adoption determinants and offer a starting point for additional research on non-residential decision-making and PV adoption. |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2212.05281&r=ure |
| By: | Demirci, Murat (Koc University); Foster, Andrew (Brown University); Kirdar, Murat G. (Bogazici University) |
| Abstract: | This study examines disparities in health and nutrition among native and Syrian-refugee children in Turkey. With a view toward understanding the need for targeted programs addressing child well-being among the refugee population, we analyze, in particular, the Turkey Demographic and Health Survey (TDHS). The TDHS is one of few data sets providing representative data on health and nutrition for a large refugee and native population. We find no evidence of a difference in infant or child mortality between refugee children born in Turkey and native children. However, refugee infants born in Turkey have lower birthweight and ageadjusted weight and height than native infants. When we account for a rich set of birth and socioeconomic characteristics that display substantial differences between natives and refugees, the gaps in birthweight and age-adjusted height persist, but the gap in age-adjusted weight disappears. Although refugee infants close the weight gap at the mean over time, the gap at the lower end of the distribution persists. The rich set of covariates we use explains about 35% of the baseline difference in birthweight and more than half of the baseline difference in current height. However, even after that, refugee infants' average birthweight is 0.17 standard deviations (sd) lower and their current height is 0.23 sd lower. These gaps are even larger for refugee infants born prior to migrating to Turkey, suggesting that remaining deficits reflect conditions in the source country prior to migration rather than deficits in access to maternal and child health services within Turkey. |
| Keywords: | Syrian refugees, birthweight, anthropometric measures, forced displacement, Turkey |
| JEL: | J61 O15 F22 R23 R58 |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15819&r=ure |
| By: | Badi H. Baltagi (Department of Economics and Center for Policy Research, Syracuse University); Yusuf Soner Baskaya (University of Glasgow, Adam Smith Business School) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates spatial wage curves for formal and informal workers in Turkey using individual level data from the Turkish Household Labor Force Survey (THLFS) provided by TURKSTAT for the period 2008- 2014. Unlike previous studies on wage curves for formal and informal workers, we extend the analysis to allow for spatial effects. We also consider household characteristics that would affect the selection into formal employment, informal employment, and non-employment. We find that the spatial wage curve relation holds both for formal and informal workers in Turkey for a variety of specifications. In general, the wages of informal workers are more sensitive to the unemployment rates of the same region and other regions than formal workers. We find that accounting for the selection into formal and informal employment affects the magnitudes but not the significance of the spatial wage curves for the formal and informal workers with the latter always being larger in absolute value than that for formal workers. |
| Date: | 2022–04–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:erg:wpaper:1544&r=ure |
| By: | Murat Demirci (Koç University); Murat Güray Kirdar |
| Abstract: | Turkey hosts the largest population of refugees globally; however, we know little about their labor market outcomes at the national level. We use the 2018 round of the Turkey Demographic and Health Survey, which includes a representative sample of Syrian refugees in Turkey for the first time, to examine a rich set of labor market outcomes. We find that the native-refugee gap in men’s employment in Turkey (in favor of natives) is much smaller than that reported for most developed countries. Moreover, men’s employment peaks quite early (one year) after arrival and remains there, whereas women’s employment is lower, to begin with, and changes little over time. Once we account for demographic and educational differences, the native-refugee gap in men’s (women’s) paid employment reduces to 4.7 (4.0) percentage points (pp). These small gaps conceal that refugees’ formal employment is much lower. Even after accounting for the differences in covariates, refugee men’s formal employment rate is 58 pp lower. In addition, the native-refugee employment gap is the smallest in manufacturing for men and agriculture for women, and the gap is also much smaller in wage-employment than self-employment and unpaid family work. Finally, accounting for the covariates, the native-refugee employment gap widens for older and for more educated groups, and the gap in men’s employment vanishes for refugees whose mother tongue is Turkish but persists for refugees whose mother tongue is Arabic or Kurdish. |
| Date: | 2022–09–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:erg:wpaper:1588&r=ure |
| By: | Bo Zhao |
| Abstract: | While there is a new and rapidly growing literature on the effects of climatic factors on economic and social outcomes, little research has been conducted to understand the fiscal impact of weather, especially at the sub-state level. Using data from Massachusetts municipalities from 1990 through 2019, this paper estimates government spending as a function of temperature and precipitation while controlling for municipality and year fixed effects and municipality-specific time trends. The results show that weather has statistically significant and economically meaningful effects on local government spending. A 1 degree Fahrenheit increase in the average temperature results in a 3.2 percent increase in real per capita total general fund expenditures. Some government functions, such as public works and general government, are affected more by weather than others. The impact of weather may be persistent and heterogeneous across municipalities. There is some evidence that municipalities adapt to rising temperatures over time. |
| Keywords: | weather; climate; local government spending |
| JEL: | H72 Q51 Q54 |
| Date: | 2022–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedbwp:95396&r=ure |
| By: | Feir, Donn. L. (University of Victoria); Jones, Maggie E. C. (University of Victoria); Scoones, David (University of Victoria) |
| Abstract: | Recent changes in Canadian legislation have enabled First Nations to adopt property taxation and other forms of taxation on reserves, thereby allowing them to directly finance their local governments through local tax revenues. In this paper, we compile data on the passage of First Nations tax laws over a thirty year period from a centralized national database on First Nations by-laws, the First Nations Gazette. We combine these data with additional sources to analyze the factors that are associated with First Nations exercising their taxation authority. We find evidence of geographic policy diffusion consistent with First Nations learning from their neighbours and direct evidence that formal educational and institutional resources are important correlates of tax law adoption. Understanding this process informs the broader literature on the evolution of taxation structures and local political incentives, and may contain important lessons for Indigenous tax jurisdiction in other contexts. It is also a critical first step towards assessing the long-term consequences of First Nations' new fiscal powers. |
| Keywords: | state evolution, First Nations, Indigenous, taxation, property, public finance |
| JEL: | H11 H12 H71 P48 |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15820&r=ure |
| By: | Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés; Vidal-Bover, Miquel |
| Abstract: | Decentralisation has frequently been sold as a means to increase well-being and development. Yet, questions remain as to whether decentralisation improves economic performance. This is possibly because decentralisation processes have often led to “unfunded mandates”, that is a mismatch between the powers transferred to subnational tiers of government and the resources allocated to them. In this paper we analyse how unfunded mandates shape regional economic growth across 518 regions in 30 OECD countries over the period 1997-2018. There is a negative, statistically significant, and robust impact of unfunded mandates on economic growth. This effect is higher in more politically and less fiscally decentralised regions and in regions with a higher level of wealth. Unfunded mandates thus represent a serious drag on the potential positive economic effect of political decentralisation. Hence, for those benefits to materialise, better not more decentralisation —ensuring that finance follows function— should be pursued. |
| Keywords: | political decentralisation; fiscal decentralisation; unfunded mandates; economic growth; regions; OECD; Sage deal |
| JEL: | H70 H77 O47 |
| Date: | 2022–11–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:116908&r=ure |
| By: | Golin, Marta (University of Zurich); Romarri, Alessio (University of Milan) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we empirically evaluate the effect of exposure to broadband Internet on attitudes towards immigrants. We combine innovative survey data from Spain with information on the characteristics of the Spanish telephony infrastructure. To address the endogeneity of Internet availability, we exploit the fact that high-speed Internet in its early phases was supplied through the existing fixed telephone lines. We use landlines penetration as an instrument for broadband diffusion at the municipality level, and use data from both the pre- and post-Internet period to estimate a difference-in-difference instrumental variable model. We document a positive effect of broadband Internet penetration on attitudes towards immigrants at the municipality level. This result is particularly strong among young and urban individuals. Looking at mechanisms, we find that broadband Internet is associated with a better knowledge of (national) immigration dynamics and smaller concerns about the effects of migration on the labor market. Finally, using a combination of survey and electoral data, we find that broadband Internet penetration reduces political support for the Partido Popular, Spain's traditional right-wing party. |
| Keywords: | internet, attitudes, immigration |
| JEL: | D72 D83 J15 |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15804&r=ure |
| By: | Arthur Lewbel (Boston College); Xi Qu (Shanghai Jiao Tong University); Xun Tang (Rice University) |
| Abstract: | We propose an adjusted 2SLS estimator for social network models when some existing network links are missing from the sample (due, e.g., to recall errors by survey respondents, or lapses in data input). In the feasible structural form, missing links make all covariates endogenous and add a new source of correlation between the structural errors and endogenous peer outcomes (in addition to simultaneity), thus invalidating conventional estimators used in the literature. We resolve these issues by rescaling peer outcomes with estimates of missing rates and constructing instruments that exploit properties of the noisy network measures. We apply our method to study peer effects in household decisions to participate in a microfinance program in Indian villages. We find that ignoring missing links and applying conventional instruments would result in a sizeable upward bias in peer effect estimates. |
| Keywords: | social networks, 2SLS, missing links |
| Date: | 2022–12–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:boc:bocoec:1056&r=ure |
| By: | Nada O. Eissa (Georgetown University); Hamid Eltgani Ali (School of Economics, Administration and Public Policy) |
| Abstract: | It is fitting that the modern history of Sudan is tightly intertwined with the call for federalism, starting with the Southerners' push for regional autonomy since independence. In this paper, we examine the design and practice of one dimension of federalism – the ability of citizens to govern their fiscal affairs at the local level and how the central government designed and implemented fiscal relations with the states, focusing largely on intergovernmental transfers over the past decade. We documented the evolution of the institutional framework and fiscal trends over several decades. Severe fiscal fragility meant that transfers to states varied substantially over time and heavily oil exports facilitated higher transfers, the loss of the South sharply curtailed them. The study shows the underlying differences in standards of living across states to set the scene for understanding the distribution per-capita transfers. The results suggest that the current system in Sudan does little to offset existing inequities across states and may exacerbate them. If fiscal federalism is to support the rebuilding of the state in Sudan, it must address disparities and empower citizens to engage in determining their local public choice of taxing and spending.Length: 46 |
| Date: | 2022–11–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:erg:wpaper:1596&r=ure |
| By: | Dina N. Elshahawany (Zagazig University); Ramy H. Elazhary (Zagazig University) |
| Abstract: | Poverty is one of the major socio-economic problems facing most developing countries. In Egypt, 29.7 percent of citizens live below the poverty line. The problem is more evident at the regional level, especially in Upper Egypt. Reducing poverty could be achieved through better allocation of government spending as it is considered an essential factor to promote economic growth, improve income distribution, and reduce poverty. Understanding the relationship between government spending and regional poverty reduction will help policymakers to design and implement programs that have the ability to reduce regional poverty and lessen income inequality effectively. This study aims to analyze the impact of government spending in alleviating regional poverty in Egypt. A panel data set for Egypt's 27 governorates through (2010-2018) has been employed. Using the two-way fixed effect regression model, the study finds that social government spending significantly affects poverty reduction across regions. At the regions level, health, education and social government expenditures have a significant negative impact on poverty, especially in Upper Egypt and Cairo regions. |
| Date: | 2022–11–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:erg:wpaper:1609&r=ure |
| By: | Robert Bifulco (Center for Policy Research, Maxwell School, Syracuse University, 426 Eggers Hall, Syracuse, NY 13244); Minch Lewis (The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, 215G Eggers Hall, Syracuse, NY 13244); Iuliia Shybalkina (he Martin School, University of Kentucky, 415 Patterson Office Tower, Lexington, KY 40506) |
| Abstract: | We examine spending on retiree health care as a percentage of revenues for a sample of New York State school districts. The fiscal burden of these benefits grew from 2010 to 2021, and big city school districts have faced the largest burdens. Assuming CBO forecasts regarding growth in health care costs and continuation of recent trends in revenue growth, we project that the burden of retiree health care benefits will exceed 10 percent of revenue by 2050. Projected burdens are greatest big city and high need rural districts. We discuss cutting benefits and pre-funding as possible policy responses. |
| Keywords: | Retiree benefits; health care benefits; school district finance; public budgeting; fiscal sustainability |
| JEL: | H72 H75 I13 I22 |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:max:cprwps:252&r=ure |
| By: | F. Marta L. Di Lascio (Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy); Ilan Noy (School of Economics and Finance, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand); Selene Perazzini (DMS StatLab, Department of Economics and Management, University of Brescia, Italy) |
| Abstract: | Earthquake insurance is a critical risk management strategy that contributes to improving recovery and thus greater resilience of individuals. Insurance companies construct premiums without taking into account spatial correlations between insured assets. This leads to potentially underestimating the risk, and therefore the exceedance probability curve. We here propose a mixed-effects model to estimate losses per ward that is able to account for heteroscedasticity and spatial correlation between insured losses. Given the significant impact of earthquakes in New Zealand due to its particular geographical and demographic characteristics, the government has established a public insurance company that collects information about the insured buildings and any claims lodged. We thus develop a two-level variance component model that is based on earthquake losses observed in New Zealand between 2000 and 2021. The proposed model aims at capturing the variability at both the ward and territorial authority levels and includes independent variables, such as seismic hazard indicators, the number of usual residents, and the average dwelling value in the ward. Our model is able to detect spatial correlation in the losses at the ward level thus increasing its predictive power and making it possible to assess the effect of spatially correlated claims that may be considerable on the tail of loss distribution. |
| Keywords: | Earthquake losses, Insurance, Mixed-effects model, Spatial correlation, Variance component model. |
| JEL: | C10 C21 |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bzn:wpaper:bemps98&r=ure |
| By: | GALASSO Giovanna; MONTINO Carlo; GORI Matteo; RASMUSSEN Morten; ROMAN Laura; MCCOLGAN Owen; LIVA Giovanni; REBESCO Emanuele; BRYNSKOV Martin; MULQUIN Michael; MICHELI Marina (European Commission - JRC); SCHADE Sven (European Commission - JRC); SMITH Robin; KOTSEV Alexander (European Commission - JRC) |
| Abstract: | Data sharing plays a fundamental role in strengthening the European economy. The reuse of data have great potential at local level, as this allows informing and improvement of a range of services that citizens utilise in their lives. Accordingly, different European cities have been investing in data ecosystems as a structural solution for an effective sharing of data among stakeholders, namely public actors, private actors and/or citizens. However, these stakeholders have to deal with organisational and/or technical barriers hampering the development of such ecosystems, and, more extensively, the growth of the entire data economy. Therefore, the need to find effective and sustainable approaches for the use of data is becoming ever more urgent, and innovative practices can constitute a relevant solution. Local authorities, just like other stakeholders, may leverage on testing of technical or organisational mechanisms before adopting – and investing in them. This report aims to be a practical guide to adopt innovative solutions for data sharing at the local level by leveraging on the sandboxing approach. It is conceived as a practical orientation for a wide range of public administrators who are eager to develop, or improve, data ecosystems in their local contexts. By 'sandbox' we refer to an environment that allows to safely experiment with innovative solutions that allows for an agile and inclusive approach to foster hands-on experience for testing new applications or new organisational approaches. |
| Keywords: | data sharing, sandboxes, data spaces, digital innovation, data infrastructures |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipt:iptwpa:jrc130555&r=ure |
| By: | Balza, Lenin; De Los Rios, Camilo; Jimenez Mori, Raul Alberto; Manzano, Osmel |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the impacts of oil exploitation on human capital accumulation at the local level in Colombia, a resource-rich developing country. We provide evidence based on detailed spatial and temporal data on oil exploitation and education, using the number of wells drilled as an intensity treatment at the school level. To find causal estimates we rely on an instrumental variable approach that exploits the exogeneity of international oil prices and a proxy of oil endowments at the local level. Our results indicate that oil has a negative impact on human capital since it reduces enrollment in higher education. Furthermore, it generates a delay in the decision to enroll in higher education and leads students to prefer technical areas of study and programs in social science, business, and law. However, we do not find any effects on quality or tertiary education completion. Our results are robust to a number of relevant specification changes and we stress the role of local markets and spillovers as the main transmission channel. In particular, we find that higher oil production causes an increase in formal wages but that there is no premium to tertiary education enrollment. |
| Keywords: | Colombia;human capital;natural resource exploitation |
| JEL: | Q32 Q35 |
| Date: | 2021–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:11379&r=ure |
| By: | Stephen J Terry (BU - Boston University [Boston], NBER - National Bureau of Economic Research [New York] - NBER - The National Bureau of Economic Research); Thomas Chaney (USC - University of Southern California, ECON - Département d'économie (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CEPR - Center for Economic Policy Research - CEPR); Konrad B Burchardi (Stockholm University); Lisa Tarquinio (UWO - University of Western Ontario); Tarek A Hassan (BU - Boston University [Boston], NBER - National Bureau of Economic Research [New York] - NBER - The National Bureau of Economic Research, CEPR - Center for Economic Policy Research - CEPR) |
| Abstract: | We show a causal impact of immigration on innovation and growth in US counties. To identify the causal impact of immigration, we use 130 years of detailed data on migrations from foreign countries to US counties to isolate quasi-random variation in the ancestry composition of US counties; interacting this plausibly exogenous variation in ancestry composition with the recent inflows of migrants from different origins, we predict the total number of migrants flowing into each US county in recent decades. We show immigration has a positive causal impact on innovation, measured as patenting of local firms, and on economic growth, measured as real income growth for native workers. We interpret those results through the lens of a quantitative model of endogenous growth and migrations. A structural estimation of this model targeting the well identified causal impact of migration on innovation suggests the large inflow of foreign migrants into the US since 1965 may have contributed to an additional 8% growth in innovation and 5% growth in wages. |
| Keywords: | Migrations, Innovation, Patents, Endogenous growth, Dynamism |
| Date: | 2022–11–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:spmain:hal-03869993&r=ure |
| By: | Marouane Alaya (Portland State University) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we study the export diversification neighboring effects in 15 MENA countries for the period spanning from 2000 to 2019. The determinants of MENA export diversification and local potential spillovers are explored via a bundle of spatial econometric tools. The estimation results show the existence of feedback loops between neighboring countries in favor of export concentration. However, this could be mitigated by several economic factors that are under the control of MENA countries. |
| Date: | 2022–11–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:erg:wpaper:1612&r=ure |
| By: | Shroff, Ravi; Vamvourellis, Konstantinos |
| Abstract: | Field studies in many domains have found evidence of decision fatigue, a phenomenon describing how decision quality can be impaired by the act of making previous decisions. Debate remains, however, over posited psychological mechanisms underlying decision fatigue, and the size of effects in high-stakes settings. We examine an extensive set of pretrial arraignments in a large, urban court system to investigate how judicial release and bail decisions are influenced by the time an arraignment oc-curs. We find that release rates decline modestly in the hours before lunch and before dinner, and these declines persist after statistically adjusting for an extensive set of ob-served covariates. However, we find no evidence that arraignment time affects pretrial release rates in the remainder of each decision-making session. Moreover, we find that release rates remain unchanged after a meal break even though judges have the opportunity to replenish their mental and physical resources by resting and eating. In a complementary analysis, we find that the rate at which judges concur with prosecutorial bail requests does not appear to be influenced by either arraignment time or a meal break. Taken together, our results imply that to the extent that decision fatigue plays a role in pretrial release judgments, effects are small and inconsistent with previous explanations implicating psychological depletion processes. |
| Keywords: | decision fatigue; judicial decision making; mental depletion; pretrial detention |
| JEL: | C1 |
| Date: | 2022–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:117579&r=ure |
| By: | Léa Marchal; Guzmán Ourens; Giulia Sabbadini |
| Abstract: | We use French employer-employee data to reassess the wage gap between native and foreign workers. We find that the wage gap varies with the export intensity of the firm and the occupation of the worker. A model with heterogeneous firms and workers shows that our findings are consistent with white-collar immigrants capturing an informational rent. The evidence supports this mechanism. First, we show that the wage gap is positively correlated with the complexity of the firm export activity. Second, we show that wages react to changes in export intensity when the export destination coincides with the origin of foreign workers. |
| Keywords: | export, firm, immigrants, wage inequality |
| JEL: | F14 F22 F16 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10092&r=ure |
| By: | Kevin André Pineda-Hernández; François Rycx; Mélanie Volral |
| Abstract: | As immigrants born in developing countries and their descendants represent a growing share of the working-age population in the developed world, their labour market integration constitutes a key factor for fostering economic development and social cohesion. Using a granular, matched employer-employee database of 1.3 million observations between 1999 and 2016, our weighted multilevel log-linear regressions first indicate that in Belgium, the overall wage gap between workers born in developed countries and workers originating from developing countries remains substantial: it reaches 15.7% and 13.5% for first- and second-generation immigrants, respectively. However, controlling for a wide range of observables (e.g. age, tenure, education, type of contract, occupation, firm-level collective agreement, firm fixed effects), we find that, whereas first-generation immigrants born in developing countries still experience a sizeable adjusted wage gap (2.7%), there is no evidence of an adjusted wage gap for their second-generation peers. Moreover, our reweighted, recentered influence function Oaxaca-Blinder decompositions agree with these findings. Indeed, while the overall wage gap for first-generation immigrants born in developing countries is driven by unfavourable human capital, low-paying occupational/sectoral characteristics, and a wage structure effect (e.g. wage discrimination), the wage gap for their second-generation peers is essentially explained by the fact that they are younger and have less tenure than workers born in developed countries. Furthermore, our results emphasize the significant moderating role of geographical origin, gender, and position in the wage distribution. |
| Keywords: | Immigrants; intergenerational studies; labour market integration; wage decompositions; unconditional quantile regressions; employer-employee data |
| JEL: | J15 J16 J21 J24 J31 J61 |
| Date: | 2022–12–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sol:wpaper:2013/352284&r=ure |
| By: | Mois\'es Ram\'irez; Raziel Ru\'iz; Nathan Klarer |
| Abstract: | Fooji Inc. is a social media engagement platform that has created a proprietary "Just-in-time" delivery network to provide prizes to social media marketing campaign participants in real-time. In this paper, we prove the efficacy of the "Just-in-time" delivery network through a cluster analysis that extracts and presents the underlying drivers of campaign engagement. We utilize a machine learning methodology with a principal component analysis to organize Fooji campaigns across these principal components. The arrangement of data across the principal component space allows us to expose underlying trends using a $K$-means clustering technique. The most important of these trends is the demonstration of how the "Just-in-time" delivery network improves social media engagement. |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2212.12285&r=ure |
| By: | Mann, Katja (Copenhagen Business School); Pozzoli, Dario (Copenhagen Business School) |
| Abstract: | Changes in the supply of low-skill labor may affect robot adoption by firms. We test this hypothesis by exploiting an exogenous increase in the local labor supply induced by a large influx of immigrants into Danish municipalities. Using the Danish employer-employee matched dataset over the period 1995-2019, we show in a shift-share regression that a larger share of migrants in a municipality leads to fewer imports of robots at the firm-level. We rationalize this finding in a simple model of robot adoption in which robots and low-skill workers are substitutes. As many advanced economies are facing labor shortages, this paper sheds light on the future of robotization. |
| Keywords: | labor supply, immigration, robots, shift-share |
| JEL: | E22 J20 J61 R23 |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15791&r=ure |
| By: | Sylvain Dessy; Luca Tiberti; David Zoundi |
| Abstract: | When exposed to an adverse income shock, cash-constrained households may lean on culture to select the gender of offspring whose outcomes will be sacrificed to enhance survival. We test this by studying how culture mediates the impact of drought on the gender education gap in two separate settings: Malawi and Indonesia. In so doing, we proxy culture with kinship traditions (matrilocality and patrilocality) and exploit drought episodes' spatial and temporal randomness as a source of exogenous variation in rural households' exposure to adverse income shocks. After accounting for the grid and year-fixed effects, we find that patrilocal households, but not matrilocal ones, sacrifice their daughters' schooling in favor of sons' when they experience droughts and schooling requires payment of fees. These results survive numerous robustness checks and are driven by disparities in women's empowerment and the extent of son preference between matrilocal and patrilocal groups. |
| Keywords: | Drought; Kinship traditions; Matrilocality; Patrilocality; Gender education gap. |
| JEL: | I24 I25 I28 O12 O57 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:frz:wpaper:wp2022_25.rdf&r=ure |
| By: | Napp, Clotilde (CNRS); Breda, Thomas (Paris School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Most teenagers spend several hours per day on social media. We provide a large-scale investigation of the relationship between social media daily usage and body dissatisfaction among a sample of more than 50,000 15 y.o. students. This relation is positive and large for girls—higher use of social networks is associated with higher dissatisfaction about their body—and negative for boys. The positive relation for girls is observed in all eight countries included in the study, covering very different cultural contexts (e.g., Georgia, Ireland, Spain, Mexico, Panama or Hong Kong). It is observed for all girls, no matter their body mass index (BMI), their academic performance, and their socioeconomic background. Instrumenting social networks consumption by students' or students' peers' internet access at home while controlling finely for other students' or students' peers' household characteristics suggests that the relationship between social media consumption and girls' body dissatisfaction could be causal. |
| Keywords: | social media, body dissatisfaction |
| JEL: | I12 L82 |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15811&r=ure |
| By: | Michel Grabisch (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Agnieszka Rusinowska; Xavier Venel |
| Abstract: | We investigate the phenomenon of diffusion in a countably infinite society of individuals interacting with their neighbors in a network. At a given time, each individual is either active or inactive. The diffusion is driven by two characteristics: the network structure and the diffusion mechanism represented by an aggregation function. We distinguish between two diffusion mechanisms (probabilistic, deterministic) and focus on two types of aggregation functions (strict, Boolean). Under strict aggregation functions, polarization of the society cannot happen, and its state evolves towards a mixture of infinitely many active and infinitely many inactive agents, or towards a homogeneous society. Under Boolean aggregation functions, the diffusion process becomes deterministic and the contagion model of Morris (2000) becomes a particular case of our framework. Polarization can then happen. Our dynamics also allows for cycles in both cases. The network structure is not relevant for these questions, but is important for establishing irreducibility, at the price of a richness assumption: the network should contain at least one complex star and have enough space for storing local configurations. Our model can be given a game-theoretic interpretation via a local coordination game, where each player would apply a best-response strategy in a random neighborhood. |
| Keywords: | diffusion, countable network, aggregation function, polarization, convergence, bestresponse |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:halshs-03881455&r=ure |
| By: | Omar Mohsen Hussein (University of Essex and Institute for Social and Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | The objective of this paper is to investigate empirically the role of social networks in the determination of labour match quality in the Egyptian labour market. We study the differentials in wages and turnover between workers who found their jobs through social contacts compared to those who found them through other search methods. Using individual level data from the 2018 round of Egypt Labour Market Panel Survey (ELMPS), we build a worker fixed effect model for wages, and an employment survival model for turnover, and introduce interactions with tenure, skill level, and occupation to assess the possible heterogeneities of network effects. Our findings indicate an overall insignificant effect on initial wages, but there exists a wage penalty that appears on long run for connected workers. The effect on wage is insignificant for low skilled workers and negative for skilled workers. Contacts have a positive and significant effect on job duration for low skilled workers and the effect is insignificant for skilled workers |
| Date: | 2022–02–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:erg:wpaper:1536&r=ure |
| By: | Gino Sturla; Benedetto Rocchi |
| Abstract: | The work of Rocchi and Sturla (2021) presents an analysis of the pressure of the economic system on water resources in Tuscany at the regional level; in a following development Sturla and Rocchi (2022) incorporate temporal the hydrological variability to the regional model, with endogenous effects on agricultural and water for dilution demand. In this study, spatiotemporal variability is incorporated through i) a spatial disaggregation of the economic system based on an interregional input-output model (IRIO model) of Tuscan economy, ii) a spatial disaggregation of the hydrological components based on subregional data, and iii) a spatiotemporal model for the hydrological components based on a spatial stochastic model of precipitation. The spatial analysis scale corresponds to the Local Labor System (LLS), groups of contiguous municipalities classified based on economic criteria. Using the model developed, it is estimated the extended water exploitation index (EWEI), considering the extended demand (ED) and the feasible supply (FS) of water for each LLS; 100 hydrological years are simulated using a Montecarlo procedure. A novel endogenous scarcity threshold (ST) is proposed based on the results of the model and the intra-annual economic and hydrological characteristics of each LLS. With the EWEI and the ST, the hydro-economic equilibrium (HEE) for average hydrological conditions is characterised and the opportunity cost of the HEE is estimated. The latter corresponds to the minimum reduction of regional gross output compatible with the existence HEE in all LLS. Finally, the analysis is replicated considering a hydrology scenario under climate change. |
| Keywords: | interregional input-output, hydrological variability, local economies, water stress, hydro-economic equilibrium, climate change. |
| JEL: | C67 Q25 Q50 |
| Date: | 2022 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:frz:wpaper:wp2022_26.rdf&r=ure |
| By: | Riccardo Bruni (University of Florence); Alessandro Gioffré (University of Florence); Maria Marino (Universitat de Barcelona) |
| Abstract: | Using a new survey and experimental data, we investigate how information on inequality and immigration affect preferences for redistribution in Italy. Our randomized treatments show that preferences for redistribution are often inelastic to information. However, we find that provision of information on poverty statistics related to the native-immigrant composition of poverty reduces economic in-group bias by affecting exclusionary redistributive preferences: respondents are less likely to support policies which exclude immigrants from access to the welfare state once they learn that immigrants are less represented among the poor and natives are not as poor as they used to believe. Finally, we find some evidence of in-group bias by investigating the presence of heterogeneous treatment effects across groups. |
| Keywords: | Redistribution, Survey, Perceptions, Immigration, Inequality, Online Experiment. JEL classification: D72, D91, H2, H23, H41. |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ira:wpaper:202223&r=ure |
| By: | Aysegul Kayaoglu (Istanbul Technical University); Zeynep Sahin Mencutek (Bonn International Centre for Conflict Studies); Ching-An Chang (National Chengchi University) |
| Abstract: | Refugee entrepreneurship is key to promoting self-reliance and resilience among refugees. It ensures a smoother transition from humanitarian to development programs, so it is considered mutually beneficial for the refugees, their hosts, and the overall humanitarian-development aid sector. Its success, however, relies on the development of multidimensional resilience strategies since refugee entrepreneurship is a complex phenomenon related to capabilities and structures for integration. Little is known about the resilience strategies of urban refugee entrepreneurs in the face of legal, economic, and sociocultural challenges; therefore, they should be addressed. Studying the case of Syrian refugees in Turkey, we show that urban refugee entrepreneurs are heterogenous and their resilience strategies depend on factors such as the size of their businesses, sectoral dynamics, access to financial markets, trade options, social acceptance in the host society, local economic structure, and costs of production. Our empirical analysis shows that they navigate these challenges by adopting certain strategies according to their capabilities. |
| Date: | 2022–11–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:erg:wpaper:1601&r=ure |
| By: | Leonardo Bursztyn (University of Chicago, NBER - National Bureau of Economic Research [New York] - NBER - The National Bureau of Economic Research); Thomas Chaney (ECON - Département d'économie (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Tarek Alexander (BU - Boston University [Boston], NBER - National Bureau of Economic Research [New York] - NBER - The National Bureau of Economic Research); Hassan Aakaash Rao (Harvard University [Cambridge]) |
| Abstract: | We study how decades-long exposure to individuals of a given foreign descent shapes natives' attitudes and behavior toward that group. Using individualized donations data from large charitable organizations, we show that long-term exposure to a given foreign ancestry leads to more generous behavior specifically toward that group's ancestral country. To shed light on mechanisms, we focus on attitudes and behavior toward Arab Muslims, combining several existing large-scale surveys, cross-county data on implicit prejudice, and a newly-collected national survey. We show that greater long-term exposure: (i) decreases both explicit and implicit prejudice against Arab-Muslims, (ii) reduces support for policies and political candidates hostile toward Arab-Muslims, (iii) leads to more personal contact with Arab-Muslim individuals, and (iv) increases knowledge of Arab-Muslims and Islam in general. |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-03870145&r=ure |
| By: | Ma, Ji (The University of Texas at Austin); Bekkers, Rene (VU Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | The research field of nonprofits and philanthropy has grown exponentially. To what extent do nonprofit scholars share a common language? Answering this question is crucial to assessing the field's intellectual cohesiveness. We studied how coauthor networks, scholarly reputation, and the prevalence of female authors influence consensus formation. We found that the degree of consensus for all major research topics in the field has increased over time---for every 10% growth in the volume of literature, shared language increased by 1.4%. A cohesive research community on nonprofits and philanthropy has been forming since the early 2000s. Female scholars are fewer in number and less cited than males; their presence did not exceeded 40% for most topics. The citation counts of scholars and small-world property of networks are positively associated with consensus, suggesting that star researchers and knowledge brokers bridging different intellectual communities are key to sharing research interests and language. |
| Date: | 2022–12–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:6b7qg&r=ure |
| By: | Torre Leonardo; González Eva; Casillas Ramón; Alvarado Jorge |
| Abstract: | This paper uses, for the first time, information in text format from 9, 802 interviews performed between January 2016 and January 2021 from the Programa Trimestral de Entrevistas a Directivos, employed to elaborate Banco de Mexico's Regional Economic Report, to estimate regional and national sentiment indexes. These indexes are next associated with different "soft" and "hard" data of economic activity. The results show positive and statistically significant correlations between both types of indicators, mainly at the national level, suggesting that data in text format contained in the Programa Trimestral de Entrevistas a Directivos can be useful to complement the information provided by traditional indicators of economic activity. |
| Keywords: | Sentiment Analysis;Regional Analysis;Mexico |
| JEL: | C45 R11 R15 |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdm:wpaper:2022-18&r=ure |
| By: | Pereira, Rafael H. M.; Vieira, Renato. S.; Bizzarro, Fernando (Harvard University); Barbosa, Rogério J.; Dahis, Ricardo; Ferreira, Daniel Travassos |
| Abstract: | Transportation costs are an under-appreciated barrier to political participation. Here we examine whether a large-scale intervention to lower these costs, the adoption of a fare-free transit policy on election day in Brazil, increases voter turnout. Taking into account the different timing of when municipalities adopted a fare-free transit policy between the first and second rounds of the country's 2022 presidential election, we use different event study designs to examine the policy impact on voter turnout rates, election outcomes, and human mobility levels. We find no effect of the policy on turnout or election outcomes, but we find a positive effect, between 7.2\% and 17.5\% increase, on mobility levels on election day. While reducing transportation monetary costs may improve people’s access to polling places, our findings suggest it is not sufficient on its own to increase voter turnout. |
| Date: | 2022–12–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:fzwgq&r=ure |
| By: | Keefer, Philip; Roseth, Benjamin |
| Abstract: | Do targeted transparency interventions reduce corrupt behavior when corrupt actors are few and politically influential; their behavior imposes small costs on numerous individuals; and corrupt behavior is difficult to observe? Results from a study of informal audits and text messages to parents, meant to curb corruption in the School Meals Program of Colombia, suggests that they can. Theory is pessimistic that transparency interventions can change the behavior of actors who exert significant influence over supervisory authorities. Moreover, inherent methodological obstacles impede the identification of treatment effects. Results substantiate the presence of these obstacles, especially considerable spillovers from treated to control groups. Despite spillovers, we find that parental and operator behavior are significantly different between treatment and control groups. Additional evidence explains why operator behavior changed: out of concern that systematic evidence of corrupt behavior would trigger enforcement actions by high-level enforcement agencies outside of the political jurisdictions where they are most influential. |
| Keywords: | corruption;audits;contracting out |
| JEL: | D73 H40 H42 |
| Date: | 2021–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:11331&r=ure |
| By: | Heyman, Fredrik (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)); Olsson, Martin (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines whether recent advancements in automation and robotics have affected intergenerational income mobility. Using detailed data on all individuals and firms registered in Sweden, we study whether parental exposure to robots at the occupational level and heterogeneous adoption of robots across industries and regions influence children’s outcomes in adulthood. We find that occupational exposure to robots is associated with lower income mobility for children. Based on a shift-share IV approach, we show that the lower intergenerational income mobility originates from industry-regions with a relatively large increase in robot adoption. In addition, we show that these children are worse off in a number of labor market and family-related outcomes. Our results indicate a new channel through which technological changes affect intergenerational mobility and that automation and exposure to new technologies can have long-lasting effects. |
| Keywords: | Intergenerational Mobility; Automation; Robots; Matched Employer-Employee Data |
| JEL: | J24 J31 J62 O33 |
| Date: | 2022–12–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1451&r=ure |
| By: | Simona Galano (Universita' degli Studi di Napoli "Parthenope"); Luca Sessa (Bank of Italy); Simone Zuccolalà (Bank of Italy) |
| Abstract: | The quality of energy supply is an important determinant of competitiveness for firms and of welfare for families. Analyzing the gaps among Italian regions in the continuity of electrical power supply, this study shows how, on average per user, interruptions are in the South at least double both in number and in duration compared to the Center-North, while the frequency of voltage dips is approximately triple (quadruple for those of major severity). Interruptions are costly: an econometric exercise shows a significant loss of productivity for firms, higher for those with a lower capital intensity (more present in the South) which are likely less equipped with machinery that immunizes them from the risks of supply discontinuity. The persistent disparities in power quality reflect those in the capacity, density and meshing of grid infrastructures, all higher in the Center-North where the demand for electricity is greater and all independent in the South from local government behaviors. Although the Regulatory Authority has set up a system of incentives to foster offered quality, the possibility of offsetting penalties received in the South with bonuses in the North may have contributed to the persistence of the gaps. Recent regulatory innovations, targeted primarily to areas with greater room for improvement, and the programs to intensify and upgrade the electricity infrastructure along the entire supply chain, reserving a relevant quota of investment to Southern regions, could help raising and standardizing the quality of supply throughout the Italian territory, alleviating a context factor that adds up to those impairing the attractiveness of the Southern regions. |
| Keywords: | electricity, quality, continuity of supply, interruptions, voltage dips, regional inequality, productivity, competitiveness, regulation, infrastructures |
| JEL: | L94 L51 H44 H54 D24 |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_737_22&r=ure |
| By: | Ali, Umair (Center for Evaluation and Development (C4ED)); Brown, Jessica H. (University of South Carolina); Herbst, Chris M. (Arizona State University) |
| Abstract: | Immigrants comprise nearly 20% of the child care workforce in the U.S. This paper studies the impact of a major immigration enforcement policy, Secure Communities (SC), on the structure and functioning of the child care market. Relying on the staggered introduction of SC across counties between 2008 and 2014, we find that the program reduced children's participation in center-based child care programs. The estimated reductions are substantially larger among disadvantaged children, raising questions about the possibility of health and developmental spillovers. We also find that SC reduced the supply and wages of immigrant and native child care workers in the center-based sector. We provide descriptive evidence that immigrants and natives may not compete for the same jobs: immigrant child care teachers are more highly skilled, and the children assigned to their classrooms differ on some observable characteristics. Therefore, immigrants and natives are likely to be complements to child care service production. |
| Keywords: | child care, maternal employment, immigration, Secure Communities |
| JEL: | J13 J15 J21 K39 |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15821&r=ure |
| By: | Rodríguez Chatruc, Marisol; Rozo, Sandra |
| Abstract: | How are natives attitudes towards migrants shaped by economic crises? Natives could show more compassion towards migrants as everyone faces a common threat. Alternatively, natives prejudice could rise as competition for scarce economic opportunities increases. We conduct an online survey to 3,400 Colombian citizens and randomly prime half of them to think about the economic consequences of COVID-19, before eliciting their altruism and attitudes towards Venezuelan migrants. We find that natives attitudes towards migrants are substantially more negative in the treatment relative to the control group. Individuals ages 18 to 25 years, however, respond to the treatment by showing more altruism. |
| Keywords: | Migration;COVID-19;Priming;Altruism;COVID-19;COVID-19;COVID-19;COVID-19;attitudes |
| JEL: | D72 O15 R23 F20 |
| Date: | 2021–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:11326&r=ure |
| By: | Timothy N. Bond; Osea Giuntella; Jakub Lonsky |
| Abstract: | We develop a theoretical framework to analyze the effects of immigration on native job amenities, focusing on work schedules. Immigrants have a comparative advantage in production at, and lower disamenity cost for nighttime work, which leads them to disproportionately choose nighttime employment. Because day and night tasks are imperfect substitutes, the relative price of day tasks increases as their supply becomes relatively more scarce. We provide empirical support for our theory. Native workers in local labor markets that experienced higher rates of immigration are more likely to work day shifts and receive a lower compensating differential for nighttime work. |
| JEL: | F60 J31 J6 |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:30742&r=ure |
| By: | Roberto Rendeiro Martín-Cejas; Rafael Suárez Vega; Pedro Pablo Ramirez Sanchez |
| Abstract: | Current public transport supply on the Island of Lanzarote is clearly insufficient, and opportunities to substitute private automobiles are extremely limited, for residents and tourists alike. Therefore, this paper analyzes the possibility of introducing a tourist bus service to connect Lanzarote’s main tourist attractions, and it also focuses on a move towards public transport by tourists to reduce the CO2 emitted by excessive private car usage. This work assesses the impact of road transport in accessing tourist activities on Lanzarote Island and its implications for sustainable tourism development. The evaluation is based on the volume of CO2 emissions for the current tourist mobility model on the island and an alternative option such as a tourist bus route. The methodology employed here is the application of a geographical information system (GIS). The study analyzes how to manage the impact of road access to tourist sites through the implementation of a new tourist bus line. The study seeks to evaluate the design of a new bus to deliver tourists to key tourist activities on Lanzarote Island. A GIS-T algorithm is used to compare the level of CO2 emissions from the current tourist mobility model versus the implementation of a new touristic bus. The levels of pollution produced by the present system and the tourist route are compared, and different levels of demand for the new circuit are considered. We conclude that in order to reduce the current levels of emissions by around 15%, some 19.4% of the tourists that currently use hire cars would have to switch to the new tourist bus service. |
| Keywords: | sustainability; road transport; tourism activity; carbon dioxide emission; geographical information system |
| Date: | 2021–10–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulb:ulbeco:2013/351788&r=ure |
| By: | Ingwersen, Kai (Leibniz University of Hannover); Thomsen, Stephan L. (Leibniz University of Hannover) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effects of the introduction of a statutory minimum wage in Germany on the wages and employment of migrants. Migrants are an overrepresented group in the low-wage sector and can be expected to particularly benefit from a minimum wage. We combine a "differential trend adjusted difference-in-differences estimator" (DTADD) and descriptive evidence to evaluate the impact of the minimum wage introduction in 2015 on hourly wages, monthly salaries, working hours and changes in employment and wage distribution. Contrary to expectations, our results show that the introduction of the minimum wage has weakened the position of migrants in the low-wage sector compared to their native counterparts. We observe an increase in part-time employment, a less pronounced decline in unemployment and a greater reduction in weekly working hours among migrants. The introduction of the minimum wage caused a temporary convergence in hourly wages between migrants and natives, which subsequently turned into a wage divergence. Migrant men in the low-wage sector have been particularly negatively affected by the introduction of the minimum wage. Moreover, increasing hourly wages have not translated into higher monthly salaries, thus widening wage inequality between migrants and natives. |
| Keywords: | minimum wage, migrants, differential trend adjusted difference-in-differences, SOEP |
| JEL: | J31 J63 J38 J21 |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp15823&r=ure |
| By: | Yufei Xie; Xiang Liu; Qizhong Yuan |
| Abstract: | Based on the practical process of innovation and entrepreneurship education for college students in the author's university, this study analyzes and deconstructs the key concepts of AI knowledge-based crowdsourcing on the basis of literature research, and analyzes the objective fitting needs of combining AI knowledge-based crowdsourcing with college students' innovation and entrepreneurship education practice through a survey and research of a random sample of college students, and verifies that college students' knowledge and application of AI knowledge-based crowdsourcing in the learning and practice of innovation and entrepreneurship The study also verifies the awareness and application of AI knowledge-based crowdsourcing knowledge by university students in the learning and practice of innovation and entrepreneurship. |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2212.05906&r=ure |
| By: | Jan Brzozowski (Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland.); Nicola Daniele Coniglio (University of Bari Aldo Moro, Italy) |
| Abstract: | International migration represents a potential channel for the transmission of norms, attitudes, and values back to the home countries. In this paper, we explore how the international migration of individuals affects tax morale and aversion to the free-riding of their household members left in the home country. We use a rich longitudinal household-level database which is representative of Polish society in the period 2007- 2015 — one of the most important countries of emigration in the EU — and allows us to observe social attitudes and values of individuals before and after the actual migration of a member of the household. Our results show that having a migrant in the household has a significant and positive effect on tax morale and increases aversion toward free-riding of those who stay put. We demonstrate that the transmission of this important form of social remittances crucially depends on the characteristics — gender, level of education, role in the household — of both those who migrate and those who stay put within the household. The identification of the effects relies on individual-level longitudinal data which allows us to rule out any time-constant confounding factor affecting both international migrations of family members and individual attitudes toward tax avoidance. |
| Keywords: | international migration, social remittances, values’ transfer, tax morale |
| JEL: | D83 F22 F24 H26 P20 Z10 |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bai:egeiwp:egei_wp-3_2022&r=ure |