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on Urban and Real Estate Economics |
| By: | Ellen Greaves; Hélène Turon |
| Abstract: | Geographic school admissions criteria bind residential and school choices for some parents, and could create externalities in equilibrium for non-parents through displacement or higher rent. Through a dynamic structural model, we show that the policy decision of geographic versus non-geographic school admissions criteria has important implications for equilibrium outcomes in school and housing markets. Geographic admissions criteria segregate schools, but integrate neighborhoods according to income. Incorporating non-parents into the model challenges the existing understanding of how public schools affect the housing market: non-parent households dampen the equilibrium price premium around popular schools; non-parent households are never better off under geographic admissions. |
| Date: | 2023–11–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bri:uobdis:24/779&r=ure |
| By: | Hafemann, Lucas |
| Abstract: | This paper focuses on the downside risks to the German residential real estate market. It applies the "at-risk" methodology to the German housing market. Quantile regressions reveal that different quantiles of the house price forecast distribution are heterogeneously affected by the same exogenous variables. While past house prices have a very pronounced impact on the median, variations in interest rates predominantly affect the lower quantiles of the distribution. Other factors, such as employment, affect different quantiles more equally. The at-risk model shows that, in the recent era of high inflation and rising interest rates, the forecast distribution of house prices has shifted to the left, resulting in lower expected growth rates of real house prices. Additionally, we find that sparsely populated districts have more pronounced downside risks than densely populated ones. |
| Keywords: | residential real estate, housing, growth-at-risk, quantile regression, Germany |
| JEL: | C32 E37 G01 R31 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:bubtps:283351&r=ure |
| By: | Rangel, Marcos; Marotta, Luana; van der Werf, Cynthia; Duryea, Suzanne; Drouet Arias, Marcelo; Rodríguez Guillén, Lucina |
| Abstract: | We investigate the assimilation of immigrant youth in Ecuador. Focusing on formal schooling and employing administrative data from high schools, we document subtle ways by which assessment biases against students with an immigrant background play a significant role in this assimilation process. We find that, after holding constant performance on blindly scored proficiency tests, teacher-assigned grades in Mathematics and Spanish are consistently lower for students from immigrant families. We show that these results are robust with respect to the omission of socio-emotional and behavioral traits that are likely valued by teachers. These differentials are larger for male students and those attending urban schools. While these grading differentials have direct impact over high school graduation rates, they may also discourage future human capital investments, potentially leading to lower college attendance, distorted choice of major, and sub-optimal labor market outcomes, which are all well know elements for the economic assimilation of immigrants. |
| Keywords: | Immigration assimilation;human capital;teacher discrimination;grading bias |
| JEL: | I24 J15 |
| Date: | 2024–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:13434&r=ure |
| By: | Congressional Budget Office |
| Abstract: | CBO compared the housing standards used to determine the military’s basic allowance for housing (BAH) with the housing units rented by comparable civilians. It also compared BAH rates with the rental costs paid by those civilians. The agency found that BAH rates for military personnel were typically higher than what similar civilians paid for rent and utilities. It also found that in high-cost areas in particular, comparable civilians often rented smaller housing units than the military housing standard. |
| JEL: | D14 G51 H56 I28 J31 J33 J38 J45 L38 M52 N42 R21 R31 R38 |
| Date: | 2024–03–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cbo:report:59570&r=ure |
| By: | Holmlund, Helena (IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy); Häggblom, Josefin (IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy); Lindahl, Erica (IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy) |
| Abstract: | We evaluate the “Boost for Reading”, an in-service training program for teachers aimed at improving the teaching of literacy and boosting students’ reading and writing proficiency. The program provides research summaries about teaching strategies as a basis for group-based discussion, lesson preparations and evaluations under the supervision of a coach. The program was rolled out across Swedish compulsory schools in school years 2015/16–2017/18. We analyze the effects of the intervention using a staggered difference-in-differences strategy excluding treated schools as controls. We find that in lower secondary school, the program shifted the teaching towards a stronger focus on “reading strategies” and raised student test scores in the Swedish language, social study subjects, and science studies by on average 2–5 percent of a standard deviation, respectively. However, we find no effects on teaching practices at stage 1, and accordingly, no effects on the youngest students’ test scores. |
| Keywords: | teacher training; professional development; literacy; |
| JEL: | I20 I28 |
| Date: | 2024–03–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2024_006&r=ure |
| By: | García-Suaza, Andres (Facultad de Economía Universidad del Rosario); Varela, Daniela (Universidad del Rosario) |
| Abstract: | Monitoring patterns of segregation and inequality at small area geographic levels is extremely costly. However, the increased availability of data through nontraditional sources such as satellite imagery facilitates this task. This paper assess the relevance of data from nightlight and day-time satellite imagery as well as building footprints and localization of points of interest for mapping variability in socioeconomic outcomes, i.e., household income, labor formality, life quality perception and household informality. The outcomes are computed at a granular level by combining census data, survey data, and small area estimation. The results reveal that non traditional sources are important to predict spatial differences socio-economic outcomes. Furthermore, the combination of all sources creates complementarities that enable a more accurate spatial distribution of the studied variables. |
| Keywords: | Remote sensing; Satellite imagery; nightlights; points of interest; spatial segregation; urban footprints; informal housing. |
| JEL: | C21 E26 R12 |
| Date: | 2024–02–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000092:021025&r=ure |
| By: | Dan Anderberg; Gordon B. Dahl; Christina Felfe; Helmut Rainer; Thomas Siedler |
| Abstract: | What makes diversity unifying in some settings but divisive in others? We examine how the mixing of ethnic groups in German schools affects intergroup cooperation and trust. We leverage the quasi-random assignment of students to classrooms within schools to obtain variation in the type of diversity that prevails in a peer group. We combine this with a large-scale, incentivized lab-in-field-experiment based on the investment game, allowing us to assess the in-group bias of native German students in their interactions with fellow natives (in-group) versus immigrants (out-group). We find in-group bias peaks in culturally polarized classrooms, where the native and immigrant groups are both large, but have different religious or language backgrounds. In contrast, in classrooms characterized by non-cultural polarization, fractionalization, or a native supermajority, there are significantly lower levels of own-group favoritism. In terms of mechanisms, we find empirical evidence that culturally polarized classrooms foster negative stereotypes about immigrants’ trustworthiness and amplify taste-based discrimination, both of which are costly and lead to lower payouts. In contrast, accurate statistical discrimination is ruled out by design in our experiment. These findings suggest that extra efforts are needed to counteract low levels of inclusivity and trust in culturally polarized environments. |
| Keywords: | in-group bias, discrimination, diversity |
| JEL: | J15 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10965&r=ure |
| By: | Dr. Matthias Burgert; Johannes Eugster; Victoria Otten |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how house prices have historically responded to interest rates and how their reaction has depended on preexisting conditions. We identify exogenous variations in short-term interest rates for 29 OECD countries relying on international spillovers from US monetary policy. Our results suggest that the average house price reaction is larger and more protracted than most of the previous estimates suggest. Amplitude and speed, however, depend considerably on the specific context. The reaction of house prices is larger and faster when interest rates are low, when their increase occurs during a recession, and when credit conditions are already tight. A preceding boom in house prices slows the price reaction at first but amplifies the decline in the medium term. Based on these results, we estimate how the cyclical conditions prevalent in 2022 typically influenced the house price reaction in our historical sample. |
| Keywords: | House prices, Interest rates, Local projection, Smooth transition function |
| JEL: | R21 E51 E32 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:snb:snbwpa:2024-01&r=ure |
| By: | Haugan, Gregory L. (University of Chicago); Santos, Rafael (Universidad de los Andes) |
| Abstract: | In 2008, a powerful Colombian crime lord (Don Berna) was extradited to the United States. Homicides doubled in his stronghold of Medellin immediately following the extradition. We use variation in time generated by the pre- and post-extradition periods, and variation in space generated by areas of Medellin originally controlled by Don Berna to estimate the impact of the extradition on homicides. We then use the extradition as an instrument for homicides, and show that the wave of violence had downstream effects on education outcomes in the city. Homicide exposure led to a decrease in test scores, increased student dropout (driven by males and poorer students), and increased teacher turnover among teachers with the highest qualifications. Homicides disproportionately affect the test scores of high-performing and non-poor students. |
| Keywords: | Extradition; Homicides; Gang Violence; Education; Test scores |
| JEL: | D74 I25 J24 K42 O12 O15 |
| Date: | 2024–03–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000089:021073&r=ure |
| By: | Woodbridge, Joshua |
| Abstract: | Using data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics (HILDA) survey, I explore the effects of housing wealth on healthcare utilisation in Australia. I use exogenous variations in house prices to estimate the potential direct and indirect effects of housing wealth on homeowners’ healthcare utilisation. I find no evidence of a direct wealth effect on healthcare utilisation, nor do I find evidence of an indirect healthcare insurance effect. However, my findings indicate an indirect health investment effect. Increases in housing wealth cause improvements in homeowners’ health which in turn reduces their use of GP services |
| Keywords: | Housing wealth ; healthcare utilisation ; house prices ; health wellbeing ; Australia ; HILDA JEL classifications: I12; D14; C26 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wrk:wrkesp:69&r=ure |
| By: | Shaheen, Susan PhD; Martin , Elliot PhD; Cohen, Adam |
| Abstract: | This brief explores how shared micromobility (bikesharing and scooter sharing) has evolved since the pandemic. Primary data for this report were collected through four surveys: An Operator Survey (n=25) and an Agency Survey (n=52) distributed between January 2022 and May 2022 to all known shared micromobility operators and agencies and included questions about the attributes of shared micromobility systems1 operating within those agency jurisdictions and operator markets; and a similar Operator Survey (n=29) and an Agency Survey (n=52) distributed between January 2023 and June 2023 to all known shared micromobility operators and agencies. |
| Keywords: | Engineering |
| Date: | 2024–03–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsrrp:qt4h04w8m1&r=ure |
| By: | Martin Berka, (School of Economics and Finance, Massey University, Palmerston North); Yiran Mao (School of Economics and Finance, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand) |
| Abstract: | We develop a new social media sentiment index by quantifying the tone of posts about housing on Weibo between 2010 and 2020 in 35 largest cities in China. We find that the social media sentiment index significantly predicts house price changes for up to six quarters ahead, after controlling for the economic fundamentals. A 1% increase in an accumulated social media sentiment index results in an 0.81% increase in the house price inflation the following quarter, ceteris paribus. Our results cannot be explained by changes to policy, unobserved fundamentals, or censorship bias, and survive a battery of robustness checks. We show they support theories where disperse information has direct economic effects by facilitating social learning as in Burnside et al. (2016); Bailey et al. (2018); Bayer et al. (2021) |
| Keywords: | Sentiment, social learning, house prices, China |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mas:dpaper:2301&r=ure |
| By: | Luca, Davide |
| Abstract: | Despite a large body of work on the impacts of institutions on subnational growth and development, economic geographers have, in the last decades, frequently overlooked the role of politics and, in particular, that of national political economies. Drawing on the political science literature, the paper argues that studying national political dynamics is still key to understand the cumulative process of uneven regional development. Using data from Turkey over the period 2004-2016, the paper shows how national electoral politics and government actions have significantly affected provincial growth patterns. The impact is substantive and increases in election years. Results also suggest that the central government may have influenced sub-national growth trajectories in different ways, including boosting the construction sector and expanding public employment. |
| Keywords: | politics of development; electoral politics; distributive politics; regional economic growth; Turkey |
| JEL: | C20 D72 H73 O18 O40 R11 |
| Date: | 2022–07–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:112682&r=ure |
| By: | Adriana R. Cardozo Silva; Yuliya Kosyakova; Aslıhan Yurdakul |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the gender-specific impact of settlement policies on the labor market integration of refugees in Germany, utilizing a gender-specific approach. Analyzing data from the IAB- BAMF-SOEP Refugees Survey (2016-2020) through a pooled logit model with an intention-to-treat design, we explore how restrictive residency obligation policies, in conjunction with local conditions in the assigned county—such as local labor market conditions and ethnic enclaves – influence outcomes. Results reveal that female refugees experience reduced employment prospects, independent of mobility restrictions, while the residency obligation policy bears a significant negative impact on employed male refugees. In turn, the impact of analyzed local labor market characteristics and linguistic enclaves on employment probability remains consistent across gender and residency obligation. Our results highlight the multidimensional nature of refugees’ labor market integration and underscore the significance of gender-sensitive approaches. |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp1203&r=ure |
| By: | Jakub Lonsky; Isabel Ruiz; Carlos Vargas-Silva |
| Abstract: | The role of ethnic immigrant networks in facilitating international trade is a well-established phenomenon in the literature. However, it is less clear whether this relationship extends to illegal trade and unauthorized immigrants. In this paper, we tackle this question by focusing on the case of the heroin trade and unauthorized Chinese immigrants in the early 1990s United States. Between mid-1980s and mid-1990s, Southeast Asia became the dominant source of heroin in the US. Heroin from this region was trafficked into the US by Chinese organized criminals, whose presence across the country can be approximated by the location of unauthorized Chinese immigrants. Instrumenting for the unauthorized Chinese immigrant enclaves in 1990 with their 1900 counterpart, we first show that Chinese presence in a community led to a sizeable increase in local opiates-related arrests, a proxy for local heroin markets. This effect is driven by arrests for sale/manufacturing of the drugs. Next, we examine the consequences of Chinese-trafficked heroin by looking at its impact on US Vietnam-era veterans – a group particularly vulnerable to heroin addiction in the early 1990s. Using a triple-difference estimation, we find mostly small but statistically significant detrimental effects on labor market outcomes of Vietnam veterans residing in unauthorized Chinese enclaves in 1990. |
| Keywords: | Trade networks, heroin markets, Vietnam veterans, labor market outcomes |
| JEL: | F16 F22 J15 K42 |
| Date: | 2022–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:liv:livedp:202203&r=ure |
| By: | Effrosyni Adamopoulou (ZEW, University of Mannheim, and IZA); Jeremy Greenwood (University of Pennsylvania); Nezih Guner (CEMFI, Centro de Estudios Monetarios y Financieros); Karen Kopecky (FRB Cleveland and Emory University) |
| Abstract: | The role of friends in the US opioid epidemic is examined. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health (Add Health), adults aged 25-34 and their high school best friends are focused on. An instrumental variable technique is employed to estimate peer effects in opioid misuse. Severe injuries in the previous year are used as an instrument for opioid misuse in order to estimate the causal impact of someone misusing opioids on the probability that their best friends also misuse. The estimated peer effects are significant: Having a best friend with a reported serious injury in the previous year increases the probability of own opioid misuse by around 7 percentage points in a population where 17 percent ever misuses opioids. The effect is driven by individuals without a college degree and those who live in the same county as their best friends. |
| Keywords: | Opioid, peer-group effects, friends, instrumental variables, Add Health, severe injuries. |
| JEL: | C26 D10 I12 J11 |
| Date: | 2024–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cmf:wpaper:wp2024_2403&r=ure |
| By: | Patrick Bennett; Aline Butikofer; Kjell G. Salvanes; Darina Steskal |
| Abstract: | We analyze the change in the urban wage premium over the last 60 years. We focus on differences by gender and skill levels, with an emphasis on changes throughout the earnings distribution. We assess the importance of both changing selection into urban areas, as well as the importance of shifts in demand for skills. Both forces explain the dramatic drop in urban premium. Event study analysis reveals that the positive selection into urban mobility declines over time. Among men at the bottom of the distribution, changes in selection are key in accounting for the collapse of the urban wage premium. |
| Date: | 2022–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:liv:livedp:2022&r=ure |
| By: | Cipollina, Maria; De Benedictis, Luca; Scibè, Elisa |
| Abstract: | The article provides cross-sectional evidence of domestic and international human migration associated with environmental shocks, with a specific emphasis on genderspecific heterogeneity and geographical distance. Both sudden and gradual environmental changes may influence the decision to migrate. However, the response is conditional to the cost and opportunity to move, which can vary based on gender and the distance between the location affected by the environmental shock and the hosting destination, within the country or internationally. Using the 5-year estimates of internal and international domestic migration flow disaggregated by sex, representative of the period 2005-2010, we estimate a structural gravity model and we find that migration can be influenced by environmental risks, as people may seek safer or more stable environments when their home regions are prone to disasters, albeit differently for each gender, both within a country and across borders. |
| Keywords: | Migration; Climate change; Natural disasters; Gender; Structural Gravity model. |
| JEL: | C13 F22 J61 Q51 Q54 Q56 |
| Date: | 2024–03–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mol:ecsdps:esdp24093&r=ure |
| By: | Iv\'an Belenky |
| Abstract: | The Argentinian real estate market presents a unique case study characterized by its unstable and rapidly shifting macroeconomic circumstances over the past decades. Despite the existence of a few datasets for price prediction, there is a lack of mixed modality datasets specifically focused on Argentina. In this paper, the first edition of ARED is introduced. A comprehensive real estate price prediction dataset series, designed for the Argentinian market. This edition contains information solely for Jan-Feb 2024. It was found that despite the short time range captured by this zeroth edition (44 days), time dependent phenomena has been occurring mostly on a market level (market as a whole). Nevertheless future editions of this dataset, will most likely contain historical data. Each listing in ARED comprises descriptive features, and variable-length sets of images. |
| Date: | 2024–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2403.00273&r=ure |
| By: | Andreas Ferrara; Patrick A. Testa; Liyang Zhou |
| Abstract: | In applied historical research, geographic units often differ in level of aggregation across datasets. One solution is to use crosswalks that associate factors located within one geographic unit to another, based on their relative areas. We develop an alternative approach based on relative populations, which accounts for heterogeneities in urbanization within counties. We construct population-based crosswalks for 1790 through 2020, which map county-level data across U.S. censuses, as well as from counties to congressional districts. Using official census data for congressional districts, we show that population-based weights outperform area-based ones in terms of similarity to official data. |
| JEL: | N01 N9 R12 |
| Date: | 2024–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:32206&r=ure |
| By: | Füner, Lena; Berger, Marius; Bersch, Johannes; Hottenrott, Hanna |
| Abstract: | New business formation is a key driver of regional transformation and development. While we know that a region's attractiveness for new businesses depends on its resources, infrastructure, and human capital, we know little about the role of local business networks in promoting or impeding the birth of new firms. We construct local business networks connecting more than 350 million nodes consisting of managers, owners and firms using administrative data on all German businesses from 2002 to 2020. Differentiating between serial and de-novo entrepreneurs, we show a positive but decreasing relation between a region's connectedness and firm entry of serial entrepreneurs. Networks are, moreover, positively linked to firm survival. Relating our findings to a measure of ownership concentration, we show that networks provide additional explanations for regional variation in new business formations. These patterns are robust to synthetic instrumental variable estimations |
| Keywords: | New Firm Formation, Business Networks, Serial Entrepreneurship, RegionalDynamics, Ownership Concentration |
| JEL: | L14 L26 M13 O31 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:283589&r=ure |
| By: | Calignano, Giuseppe (Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences); Nilsen, Trond (Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences) |
| Abstract: | The study of agency has received increasing attention in recent years. The focus on change processes at the micro-level has brought new insights into the field of regional development. However, in debates about change and regional development, agents and leaders themselves have received far less attention than agency as a process. We provide an analytical model to show how political leaders and their leadership act as drivers of change through what we call actor properties (i.e., knowledge, networks and resources). We discuss how actor properties interact with the institutional context in which leaders operate and the various transitions from a political leader's legitimacy to the legacy of their political action. Empirical investigations of two peripheral regions in Italy and Norway illustrate how political leaders act as agents of change in geographical areas characterized by different socioeconomic and institutional contexts. |
| Keywords: | Human agency; political leaders; place-based leadership; regional development; development paths; analytical framework |
| JEL: | R00 R10 R50 |
| Date: | 2024–03–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2024_004&r=ure |
| By: | Schulte, Emily; Bruckner, Thomas; Scheller, Fabian |
| Abstract: | Despite their relevance for adoption levels in spatial analyses, previous studies on adoption intention excluded measures characterizing the living environment of participants such as population density and previous photovoltaic (PV) installations so far. To fill this gap, this study was designed to investigate relations between residential PV adoption intention and characteristics of the living environment of respondents. A quantitative survey was performed on a representative sample of 1, 800 homeowners in Germany and matched with registered spatial characteristics on the zip-code level. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the adoption intention between groups with low and high expressions of the independent variables with the total sample, and with consumer segments using the Sinus-Milieu model. The results for the total sample demonstrated that actual PV diffusion, population density, city-type and share of (semi-) detached houses are not significantly related to the individual adoption intention, whereas perceived diffusion is. Two milieu groups showed higher intentions with lower actual PV diffusion in their spatial environment, and two groups revealed higher intentions along with relatively higher incomes. Perceived diffusion is only weakly related to actual diffusion levels, implying a gap between reality and perceptions. Overall, the results imply that spatial characteristics on the zip-code level are not related to individual adoption intention, whereas the perceived presence of PV systems in the social and spatial environment positively influences adoption intention. |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:iirmco:278114&r=ure |
| By: | Lena Abou El-Komboz; Moritz Goldbeck |
| Abstract: | Are national borders an impediment to online collaboration in the knowledge economy? Unlike in goods trade, knowledge workers can collaborate fully virtually, such that border effects might be eliminated. Here we study collaboration patterns of some 144, 000 European developers on the largest online code repository platform, GitHub. To assess the presence of border effects we deploy a gravity model that explains developers’ inter-regional collaboration networks. We fnd a sizable border effect of –16.4%, which is, however, fve to six times smaller than in trade. The border effect is entirely explained by cultural factors such as common language, shared interests, and historical ties. The international border effect in Europe is much larger than the state border effect in the US, where cross-border cultural differences are much less pronounced, further strengthening our conjecture that culture is a main driver of the border effect in virtual collaboration. |
| Keywords: | digitization, software development, knowledge work, culture, language |
| JEL: | F66 J61 O31 O33 O36 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ifowps:_407&r=ure |
| By: | Timothy J. Hatton |
| Abstract: | From 1860 to 1913 the six colonies that became states of Australia strove to attract migrants from the UK with a variety of assisted passages. The colonies/states shared a common culture and sought migrants from a common source, the UK, but set policy independently of each other. This experience provides a unique opportunity to examine the formation of assisted immigration policies. Using a panel of colonies/states over the years 1862 to 1913 I investigate the association between measures of policy activism and a range of economic and political variables. Assisted migration policies were positively linked with government budget surpluses and local economic prosperity. They were also associated with political participation including the widening of the franchise and remuneration of members of parliament. While the reduction in travel time to Australia reduced the need for assisted migration, slumps in the UK increased the take-up of assisted passages. |
| Keywords: | Colonial Australia, Assisted passages, International migration |
| JEL: | F22 N37 N47 |
| Date: | 2024–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:auu:hpaper:119&r=ure |
| By: | Peiffer-Smadja, Océane; Mitra, Alessio; Ravet, Julien; Di Girolamo, Valentina |
| Abstract: | This paper uses multiple linear and fractional probit regressions to assess the importance of regional research capacities and assets, as well as intrinsic characteristics of the regions in defining success in the European R&I Framework Programme. We find that quality of research outputs matters more than quantity, particularly in projects targeting societal challenges, while quality of patenting activity matters more than quantity, particularly in projects targeting industrial objectives. Less-developed regions benefit from improved institutions, while advanced regions gain from increased R&D and human resources investments. We provide recommendations on how regions can improve their capacity to participate in the EU FP for R&I. |
| Keywords: | European R&I Framework Programme, Regional innovation |
| JEL: | O38 R58 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esprep:283908&r=ure |
| By: | Javad Shamsi |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how immigration reshapes political landscapes, centring on the influx of immigrants from the EU's 2004 enlargement and its implications for the UK. I use a new variation in exposure to immigration based on migrant flows across various industries coupled with the employment structure in each region. Addressing potential concerns of endogeneity, I introduce a novel shift-share IV design, harnessing the industry-specific flow of migrants to regions outside the UK within the pre-2004 EU. The findings reveal a significant impact on support for the right-wing UK Independence Party and the Brexit Leave campaign, accompanied by a decline in Labour Party support. Moreover, the research indicates that voters' social attitudes toward immigration become more adverse in response to immigration. Political parties, particularly Conservatives, are also observed to increasingly engage with the topic of immigration in constituencies most affected by immigration, typically marked by negative rhetoric. The paper reconciles these findings by highlighting how immigration shocks entrench immigration cleavage, realigning political conflict from traditional economic lines to new cultural dimensions. |
| Keywords: | immigration, political realignment, industry-specific migration, EU enlargement |
| Date: | 2024–03–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1983&r=ure |
| By: | Stephan Puehringer (Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria); Georg Wolfmayr (Institute for European Ethnology, University of Vienna, Austria) |
| Abstract: | - |
| Date: | 2023–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ico:wpaper:152&r=ure |
| By: | Steven Radil; Olivier J. Walther |
| Abstract: | Several states in West Africa have experienced significant episodes of political violence since the early 2010s. These have included civil wars, religiously motivated terrorism, separatist insurgencies, military coups and communal strife, each of which have local, national and transnational dimensions. Intended to help guide responses to the region’s political challenges, the Sahel and West Africa Club (SWAC/OECD) created an interactive, spatial tool for policy makers in 2019, the Spatial Conflict Dynamics indicator (SCDi). The SCDi monitors political violence at subnational scales. It combines different quantitative dimensions of conflict into a mappable tool that describes the circumstances in each location. The latest enhancement to the SCDi brings two new features to aid the identification of local conflict trends. First, the tool now identifies regions that are newly entering into or exiting from conflict. This allows a more detailed picture of how the geography of conflict is spreading or contracting within and across national borders. Second, the tool now characterises the current conditions in a location as either worsening or improving, based on past conditions at the same location. The SCDi is implemented in SWAC’s new Mapping Territorial Transformations in Africa (MAPTA) platform. |
| Keywords: | armed conflict, North Africa, political violence, spatial analysis, Spatial Conflict Dynamics indicator, West Africa |
| JEL: | D74 D85 H56 N47 |
| Date: | 2024–03–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:swacaa:42-en&r=ure |
| By: | Targa, Matteo; Yang, Li |
| Abstract: | This paper provides the first in-depth investigation into the evolution of the wealth gap between CCP and non-CCP households in urban China from 1995 to 2017. We apply unconditional quantile regression (UQR) to analyze the variations in the premiums of party membership across the wealth distribution. Our results show that although the average wealth gap between CCP and non-CCP households remained substantial and consistent throughout the period, there have been significant shifts in the returns structure of party membership over time. Prior to the housing reform in the 1990s, the highest wealth premiums of CCP households were primarily concentrated in the middle of the distribution, but now they are concentrated at the bottom of the distribution. This is mainly attributed to the fact that CCP households at the lower end of the net wealth distribution are more inclined to possess real estate assets, which tend to have higher value compared to those owned by non-CCP households. These effects fade out in the top half of the net wealth distribution, where the differences between CCP and non-CCP households become less apparent. Furthermore, by utilizing a balanced household panel from 2013 to 2017, we were able to track wealth accumulation at the household level. Our findings indicate that CCP households accumulate wealth faster than non-CCP households due to larger capital gains, and the differences between the two groups increase along the net wealth distribution |
| Keywords: | Wealth Accumulation, Wealth Distribution, Political Capital, CCP membership |
| JEL: | G51 D31 P35 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:283577&r=ure |
| By: | Suzanne Bellue (Crest-Ensae) |
| Abstract: | In the United States, less-educated parents tend to allocate little time to parentchild activities, reside in disadvantaged neighborhoods, and underestimate the relevance of parental inputs for later outcomes. This paper proposes a social learning mechanism that can lead to socioeconomic differences in parental beliefs and decisions. The key elements are young adults learning through the observations of older people within their neighborhood but being prone to erroneous inferences by imperfectly correcting for selection induced by residential segregation. I incorporate the social learning mechanism in a quantitative spatial and overlapping generations model of human capital accumulation and parental decisions. Once calibrated to the United States, the model accurately captures both targeted and non-targeted parental behavior across socioeconomic groups. It displays relatively modest levels of erroneous beliefs, contributing to a 3% increase in income inequality (measured by the income Gini index) and a 14% reduction in social mobility (measured by the income rank-rank coefficient). Ahousing voucher policy improves the neighborhood quality of eligible families, raising children’s future earnings. When the policy is scaled up, long-run and general equilibrium responses in parental beliefs amplify the effects of the policy, reducing inequality and improving social mobility. |
| Keywords: | Neighborhood, Education, Human Capital, Learning, Social Mobility |
| JEL: | D13 D62 D83 E24 J13 R2 |
| Date: | 2024–03–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crs:wpaper:2024-07&r=ure |
| By: | Allen IV, James |
| Abstract: | Across sub-Saharan Africa, countries with a greater percentage of overlapping days in their school and farming calendars also have lower primary school survival rates. In theory, greater overlap between the school and farming calendars should indeed reduce schooling investments, and farm-based child labor too, as it constrains the time allocation opportunity set for both productive activities. I causally identify such effects by leveraging a four-month shift to the school calendar in Malawi that exogenously changed the number of days that the school calendar overlapped with specific crop calendars, which differentially affected communities based on their pre-policy crop allotments. Using panel data for school-aged children, I find that a 10-day increase in school calendar overlap during peak farming periods significantly decreases school advancement by 0.34 grades (one lost grade for every three children) and the share of children engaged in peak-period household farming by 11 percentage points after four years. Secondary analyses reveal stronger negative schooling impacts for girls and poorer households driven by overlap with the labor-intensive planting period. A policy simulation illustrates that adapting the school calendar to minimize overlap with peak farming periods is a highly cost-effective educational intervention to increase school participation by better accommodating farm labor demand. |
| Keywords: | education; child labour; households; crop production |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:2235&r=ure |
| By: | Knutsson, Daniel (Orebro University School of Business, Research institute of Industrial Economics, and Center for Health Economics Research, Uppsala University); Tyrefors, Björn (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)) |
| Abstract: | We evaluate a non-targeted summer youth employment program (SYEP) for high school students aged 16-19 in Stockholm, Sweden, where public sector job offers were as good as randomly assigned. In contrast to previous studies evaluating SYEP that targeted groups with lower socioeconomic status, we find substantial labor market effects but no effects on education, crime, or health outcomes. However, income is negatively affected except during the program year. The penalty increases in absolute terms but does not change much in relative terms over time. The penalty is consistently statistically significant and large just after high school graduation but there are indications that the penalty attenuates at ages 24. The adverse effects are the largest for applicants not enrolled in an academic track, who are males, and with less educated mothers. Interestingly, the extensive margin (having a job) is not the critical factor. Instead, a SYEP job offer affects the probability of obtaining more qualified and fulltime employment after high school graduation. We argue that receiving a program job leads to less private-sector labor market experience, provides a negative signal, and disrupts (private) labor market connections, which is vital for those seeking a job just after high school. |
| Keywords: | Labor market programs; Youth unemployment; Summer employment; Randomlist; SYEP |
| JEL: | J13 J21 J38 J45 |
| Date: | 2024–03–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2024_005&r=ure |
| By: | Arpita Ghosh, Brendon McConnell, Jaime Millan-Quijano. |
| Keywords: | Hedonic Price Models, Energy Performance Certificates, Real Estate. |
| JEL: | R38 Q48 K32 |
| Date: | 2024–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nva:unnvaa:wp03-2024&r=ure |
| By: | Riedel, Lukas |
| Abstract: | This paper assesses the impact of a large expansion of public childcare in Germany on wage inequality. Exploiting regional variation in childcare supply over the 1990s, I show that in regions with stronger increases in childcare, wage inequality among women increased less strongly compared to regions with smaller increases. This is primarily driven by the lower half of the wage distribution and qualitatively similar for full- and part-time workers. Larger expansions in childcare, however, do not contribute to a further closing of the gender wage gap. |
| Keywords: | wage inequality, childcare, gender wage gap |
| JEL: | J13 J16 J31 J82 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:283614&r=ure |
| By: | Ananian, Sévane,; Dellaferrera, Giulia, |
| Abstract: | Statistical evidence from 58 countries shows that although people in rural areas are more likely to be in employment than those in urban ones, they also tend to have jobs that can put them at risk of experiencing inadequate labour protection as well as low pay. In particular, rural workers are paid, on average, 24 per cent less than their urban counterparts on an hourly basis, and only half of this gap can be explained by rural–urban discrepancies in education, job experience and occupational category. Developing countries exhibit a relatively wider gap, with the unexplained part also being larger. Furthermore, in many countries, certain groups of rural workers are at greater disadvantage, such as women, who, on average, appear to earn less than men in rural areas. However, institutional and regulatory frameworks, notably those that set minimum wages or seek to promote equal opportunities, can help to reduce labour market-related inequalities across the rural–urban divide. |
| Keywords: | rural urban disparity, employment, wage differential |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ilo:ilowps:995353093502676&r=ure |
| By: | Deepeka Garg; Benjamin Patrick Evans; Leo Ardon; Annapoorani Lakshmi Narayanan; Jared Vann; Udari Madhushani; Makada Henry-Nickie; Sumitra Ganesh |
| Abstract: | Mortgages account for the largest portion of household debt in the United States, totaling around \$12 trillion nationwide. In times of financial hardship, alleviating mortgage burdens is essential for supporting affected households. The mortgage servicing industry plays a vital role in offering this assistance, yet there has been limited research modelling the complex relationship between households and servicers. To bridge this gap, we developed an agent-based model that explores household behavior and the effectiveness of relief measures during financial distress. Our model represents households as adaptive learning agents with realistic financial attributes. These households experience exogenous income shocks, which may influence their ability to make mortgage payments. Mortgage servicers provide relief options to these households, who then choose the most suitable relief based on their unique financial circumstances and individual preferences. We analyze the impact of various external shocks and the success of different mortgage relief strategies on specific borrower subgroups. Through this analysis, we show that our model can not only replicate real-world mortgage studies but also act as a tool for conducting a broad range of what-if scenario analyses. Our approach offers fine-grained insights that can inform the development of more effective and inclusive mortgage relief solutions. |
| Date: | 2024–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2402.17932&r=ure |
| By: | Congressional Budget Office |
| Abstract: | Lawmakers created Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBs) as a government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) to support mortgage lending by the banks’ member institutions, which include commercial banks and insurance companies. This report describes the role of FHLBs in financial markets, their financial condition, the value of the federal subsidies they receive, and the risks they pose. CBO estimates that because of their GSE status, FHLBs will receive subsidies in fiscal year 2024 totaling $7.3 billion (the central estimate, with a plausible range of $5.7 billion to $8.9 billion). |
| JEL: | G18 G21 G22 G23 G28 |
| Date: | 2024–03–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cbo:report:59712&r=ure |
| By: | Wessel Vermeulen; Fernanda Gutierrez Amaros |
| Abstract: | Data on online job postings represents an important source of information for local labour markets. Many countries lack statistics on labour demand that are sufficiently up-to-date and disaggregated across regions, sectors and occupations. Web-scraped data from online job postings can provide further insights on the trends in labour demand and the skills needed across regions, sectors and occupations. This paper assesses the comparability and validity between Lightcast and other data sources for Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Spain and Sweden, for the years 2019 to 2022 across regions, sectors and occupations. It concludes with some recommendations for labour market analysts that want to use data on online job postings for assessing labour demand trends. |
| Keywords: | big data, Lightcast (Burning Glass), online job postings, unconventional data sources, vacancy data |
| JEL: | C89 J23 J29 J63 O50 R12 Y1 |
| Date: | 2024–03–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:cfeaaa:2024/02-en&r=ure |
| By: | Mehmet Selman Colak; Sumeyra Korkmaz; Huseyin Ozturk; Muhammed Hasan Yilmaz |
| Abstract: | [EN] This paper studies the peer effects on emerging markets credit default swap (CDS) premia. Unlike various other spillover models, spatial econometrics is used to distinguish between direct (countryspecific) and indirect (non-country specific) effects on the CDS premia. This strategy enables us to investigate non-country specific channels driving the shifts in sovereign credit risk. On top of documenting statistically significant spatial interactions, the paper finds that indirect effects are nearly as important as the direct ones in explaining the CDS movements. The findings are robust to a set of additional analyses. This study emphasizes that caution is warranted in using CDS premium as a sovereign risk indicator. [TR] Bu calismada, gelismekte olan ulkelerin kredi temerrut takasi (CDS) primlerindeki akran etkileri incelenmektedir. Diger cesitli yayilim modellerinin aksine, CDS primleri uzerindeki dogrudan (ulkeye ozgu olan) ve dolayli (ulkeye ozgu olmayan) etkilerin ayristirilmasinda mekânsal ekonometrik yontemlerden faydalanilmaktadir. Bu strateji, ulke kredi riskinde degisimlere yol acan ulke-disi belirli kanallarin incelenmesine olanak saglamaktadir. Ýstatistiki olarak anlamli mekânsal etkilesimleri belgelemesinin yani sira, calisma CDS hareketlerini aciklamada dolayli etkilerin neredeyse dogrudan etkiler kadar onemli oldugunu ortaya koymaktadir. Bulgular bir dizi ek analize karsi saglamdir. Bu calisma CDS priminin ulke kredi riskini temsilen gosterge olarak kullaniminda dikkatli olunmasi gerektigine vurgu yapmaktadir. |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tcb:econot:2406&r=ure |
| By: | Ekaterina Prytkova; Fabien Petit; Deyu Li; Sugat Chaturvedi; Tommaso Ciarli |
| Abstract: | This paper measures the exposure of industries and occupations to 40 digital technologies that emerged over the past decade and estimates their impact on European employment. Using a novel approach that leverages sentence transformers, we calculate exposure scores based on the semantic similarity between patents and ISCO-08/NACE Rev.2 classifications to construct an open–access database, ‘TechXposure’. By combining our data with a shift–share approach, we instrument the regional exposure to emerging digital technologies to estimate their employment impact across European regions. We find an overall positive effect of emerging digital technologies on employment, with a one-standard-deviation increase in regional exposure leading to a 1.069 percentage point increase in the employment-to-population ratio. However, upon examining the individual effects of these technologies, we find that smart agriculture, the internet of things, industrial and mobile robots, digital advertising, mobile payment, electronic messaging, cloud storage, social network technologies, and machine learning negatively impact regional employment. |
| Keywords: | occupation exposure, industry exposure, text as data, natural language processing, sentence transformers, emerging digital technologies, automation, employment |
| JEL: | C81 O31 O33 O34 J24 O52 R23 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_10955&r=ure |
| By: | Carl Singleton (Economics Division, University of Stirling); Adrian r. Bell (Henley Business School, University of Reading); Andy Chung (Department of Economics, University of Reading); J. James Reade (Department of Economics, University of Reading); Andrew Urquhart (Henley Business School, University of Reading) |
| Abstract: | Anecdotal evidence suggests that co-location with an English Premier League (EPL) football team can boost university recruitment. But when a town or city loses its EPL team, it also loses some of the world’s attention. We test whether the EPL limelight does in fact affect university recruitment in England and Wales. We exploit the sharp annual cutoff between survival and relegation from the EPL, comparing the admissions outcomes of universities that have clear name association either side of that discontinuity. On average, losing association with an EPL team, for just one year after its relegation, significantly reduces a university’s undergraduate year-to-year admissions growth by 4-7 percent. These findings suggest not only that the EPL generates local externalities but also that university executives should support their local teams. |
| Keywords: | professional football, relegation, local economy, regression-discontinuity design, higher education demand |
| JEL: | I20 R19 Z20 |
| Date: | 2024–03–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rdg:emxxdp:em-dp2024-02&r=ure |
| By: | Scherrer, Aline; Helferich, Marvin; Speth, Daniel; Link, Steffen |
| Abstract: | The electrification of heavy-duty road transport and logistics operations presents a significant challenge in meeting CO2 reduction goals. Despite increasing attention to battery-electric trucks (BETs) as a primary strategy among manufacturers, their market share remains limited in Europe and Germany. Logistics companies, as primary users of heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs), face various challenges such as tight budgets, time constraints, and diverse operational needs, which significantly influence the adoption of BETs. Previous studies have identified general key obstacles including purchase price, charging infrastructure availability, vehicle range, payload limitations, total ownership costs, technology perception, and operational adaptations. However, further investigation is needed to understand company-specific requirements and operations of different logistics segments, especially regarding charging infrastructure limitations. This study employs a mixed methods approach to explore logistic companies' perspectives on charging infrastructure and BET adoption. A survey of German logistics companies, followed by semi-structured interviews, provides insights into current fleet operations, attitudes towards BETs, and motivations for electrification. The survey findings highlight the diverse vehicle types and driving profiles within logistics fleets, with a focus on identifying most readily electrifiable trucks (RETs) based on usage patterns. Analyses of survey data, conducted mainly through descriptive statistics, reveal the complexities of trip planning, on-site charging infrastructure, and public charging implications for BET adoption. Interviews with selected respondents further delve into company characteristics, daily operations, usage intentions, and barriers related to BET adoption and charging infrastructure. The results indicate that the regularity and plannability of trips differs across tour types and distances, impacting the potential integration of BETs in operations. Tour regularity varies greatly for individual vehicles beyond urban applications, impacting the flexibility needed for charging. The longest coherent parking time is predominantly spent on private property, with home depots being more important than client locations. Challenges for establishing and using charging infrastructure include the lack of medium voltage grid connections for fast charging at home depots, heterogeneous conditions at client waiting and loading areas, and uncertainties regarding the availability and operational integration of public charging infrastructure. Companies in the sample operating a large number of RETs also hold the most positive attitudes towards BETs, with some already deploying such vehicles. Factors influencing the engagement of logistics companies in fleet electrification include personal motivations, growing customer demands for decarbonised transport, and regulatory requirements. Methodological limitations of the study include a bias towards large fleets in the sample, limiting extrapolation of findings to the broader market. Key recommendations include addressing barriers to at-home and client location charging to support fleet electrification efforts effectively. The findings provide insights into the operational considerations and motivations driving charging infrastructure deployment and fleet electrification. Furthermore, they offer implications for policymakers and industry stakeholders aiming to accelerate the transition to electric HDVs. |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fisisi:285361&r=ure |
| By: | Biljana Meiske |
| Abstract: | This work studies the dynamics of inter-minority relations and attempts to uncover the influence of status position of the established immigrants on their attitudes towards new waves of immigration. I hypothesize that relative status deprivation, that is, the degree to which own in-group is ranked low in the ethnic status hierarchy of the host country, has a negative impact on group members’ attitudes toward an even lower ranked status group (such as refugees). In an online experiment (N=1, 159), participants with migration background residing in Germany receive either a positive or a negative evaluation of their own ethnic/national in-group, as evaluated by a group of ethnic German participants, while keeping constant the evaluations of other immigrant groups. The results show that participants whose in-group received a negative evaluation are systematically less willing to donate to an organization supporting refugees. Furthermore, receiving negative evaluation impacts participants’ perceived descriptive norms regarding expression of non-acceptance of refugees (and other low-status out-groups) among majority population. Additionally, I study the role of indirect reciprocity as a possible moderator of observed treatment effects. |
| Keywords: | Immigration attitudes, Discrimination, Status |
| JEL: | C90 J15 J71 |
| Date: | 2022–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpi:wpaper:tax-mpg-rps-2022-12&r=ure |
| By: | Mladen Adamovic (Department of Huan Resource Management & Employment Relations, King’s Business School, King’s College London, 30 Aldwych, London WC2B 4BG, UK.); Andreas Leibbrandt (Department of Economics, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia.) |
| Abstract: | Ethnic inequalities are pervasive in the higher echelons of organizations. We conducted a field experiment to analyze if there is a glass ceiling for ethnic minorities entering leadership positions. We submitted over 12, 000 job applications, to over 4, 000 job advertisements, to investigate hiring discrimination against six ethnic groups for leadership positions. Drawing on implicit leadership theory, we argue that ethnic discrimination is particularly pronounced in the recruitment of leadership positions. Our findings confirm this hypothesis. We find that discrimination increases for leadership positions. Resumes with non-English names receive 57.4% fewer positive responses for leadership positions than identical resumes with English names. For non-leadership positions, ethnic minorities receive 45.3 percent fewer positive responses. Ethnic discrimination for leadership positions is even more pronounced when the advertised job requires customer contact. In contrast, ethnic discrimination in leadership positions is not significantly influenced by whether the organization’s job advertisement emphasizes individualism or learning, creativity, and innovation. These findings provide novel evidence of a glass ceiling for ethnic minorities to enter leadership positions. |
| Keywords: | Ethnic discrimination, hiring discrimination, resume study, field experiment, audit study |
| JEL: | C93 J23 J71 J78 |
| Date: | 2024–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mos:moswps:2024-06&r=ure |
| By: | Pinka Chatterji; Chun-Yu Ho; Xue Wu |
| Abstract: | We examine whether loss of emergency department services is associated with county-level mortality rates in rural areas over the period 2005-2018. We use a propensity-weighted difference-in-difference approach, comparing counties that lost emergency department services to counties that retained them during our period. In the full sample, we find no effects of emergency department closure on all-cause mortality; drug, alcohol, and suicide deaths; or AMI mortality. We find that closure is associated with increased drug-related deaths among white and younger-aged females, and in the Midwest and the West, as well as an increase in AMI mortality in the South and West. |
| JEL: | I10 I11 |
| Date: | 2024–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:32189&r=ure |
| By: | Del Boca, Daniela (University of Turin); Pronzato, Chiara D. (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | The increase in poverty rates among families and individuals in Italy over the past two decades can be attributed largely to repeated periods of economic crisis. Mounting concern over the problem has driven interest in the role of policy in supporting household welfare. Responding to the currently limited access to (or provision of) public aid and assistance, private institutions and philanthropic foundations have stepped up their efforts to create new initiatives for alleviating poverty. In this paper, we use a randomized control trial (RCT) to evaluate the impact of an Italian program aimed at supporting vulnerable individuals in four separate but related areas of household welfare: employment, financial circumstances, family responsibilities, and housing conditions. The program, known as Integro, was introduced in 2018 by the Compagnia di San Paolo, one of Italy's largest philanthropic institutions. Our findings indicate a positive and statistically significant impact of Integro on three of the four target outcomes considered, with only the fourth (housing conditions) not being affected. We also sought to identify any initial conditions potentially influencing the extent to which participants benefit from the program. Is Integro equally effective for everyone? According to our data, the program provides the best outcomes for males reporting lower human capital and greater socio-emotional stability. |
| Keywords: | housing, employment, randomized controlled trial |
| JEL: | J68 J24 I31 C93 |
| Date: | 2024–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16808&r=ure |
| By: | Olivier J. Walther; David Russell |
| Abstract: | African armed conflicts involve a myriad of state forces, rebel groups and extremist organisations bound by rapidly changing alliances and rivalries. Organisations that were allies one day can fight each other the next and co-operate later still. The objective of this note is to update the pioneer work on conflict networks conducted by the OECD Sahel and West Africa Club (SWAC) in the region by using a formal approach to networks known as dynamic social network analysis. Leveraging a dataset of 3 800 actors and 60 000 violent events from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) from 1997-2023, the note monitors how the co-operative and rivalrous ties between violent actors have changed over time, both at the regional and local levels. The growing number of belligerents, increasing density of rivalrous relationships and growing polarisation of the conflict networks observed in this note are extremely worrying for the future of the region. Not only do they make peaceful efforts more difficult than ever, but they also contribute to increasing the number of potential victims among the civilian population. |
| Keywords: | conflict, dynamic social network analysis, networks, North Africa, political violence, Sahel, West Africa |
| JEL: | D74 D85 H56 N47 |
| Date: | 2024–03–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:swacaa:41-en&r=ure |
| By: | Divyakant Tahlyan; Hani Mahmassani; Amanda Stathopoulos; Maher Said; Susan Shaheen; Joan Walker; Breton Johnson |
| Abstract: | We present an employer-side perspective on remote work through the pandemic using data from top executives of 129 employers in North America. Our analysis suggests that at least some of the pandemic-accelerated changes to the work location landscape will likely stick; with some form of hybrid work being the norm. However, the patterns will vary by department (HR/legal/sales/IT, etc.) and by sector of operations. Top three concerns among employers include: supervision and mentoring, reduction in innovation, and creativity; and the top three benefits include their ability to retain / recruit talent, positive impact on public image and their ability to compete. An Ordered Probit model of the expected April 2024 work location strategy revealed that those in transportation, warehousing, and manufacturing sectors, those with a fully in-person approach to work pre-COVID, and those with a negative outlook towards the impact of remote work are likely to be more in-person-centered, while those with fully remote work approach in April 2020 are likely to be less in-person-centered. Lastly, we present data on resumption of business travel, in-person client interactions and changes in office space reconfigurations that employers have made since the beginning of the pandemic. |
| Date: | 2024–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2402.18459&r=ure |
| By: | Auer, Daniel (University of Bern); Ruedin, Didier (University of Neuchâtel) |
| Abstract: | We ask how human behavior changes when racial discrimination is costly and when choices are risky. By asking N = 4, 944 participants in Germany to form a soccer team in a series of online experiments, we measure decision-making in an accessible way. Higher costs of discrimination can reduce disparities, but we show that these costs can also trigger implicit racial bias: participants who received an additional financial incentive to select more skilled soccer players outperformed nonincentivized participants and differentiated less based on skin color. However, when confronted with risky choices in a lottery, incentivized participants are more likely to gamble to avoid players with a darker skin color. That is, racial (minority) markers alter the risk preferences of people when their decisions carry costly consequences. This implicit racial bias may partly explain why members of visible minority groups are regularly discriminated against in real-world competitive markets. |
| Date: | 2023–12–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:wrebf&r=ure |
| By: | Reljic, Jelena; Zezza, Francesco |
| Abstract: | We contribute to the long-standing debate on the Italian North-South divide by assessing the impact of public spending on social infrastructure - including education, healthcare, childcare and social assistance - on the gender employment gap over the last two decades, using a PSVAR analysis. These investments, while not explicitly targeting women, may increase both their labour supply - by reducing the unpaid care work burden - and pro-women labour demand through job creation in care sectors that predominantly employ women. Our research reveals a positive and long-lasting impact of social infrastructure expenditure on private investment, GDP and employment in all areas of the country. However, the reduction of the gender employment gap is detected only in the South and among high-skilled women. These results stress the need for targeted policies to fill the investment gaps in social infrastructure, aiming for a more inclusive labour market, particularly in Southern regions, which suffer from chronic underinvestment and structural challenges. |
| Keywords: | Social infrastructure, Gender inequality, Fiscal Policy, Panel SVAR, Italian regions |
| JEL: | C33 E24 H30 J16 J18 J21 R58 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1407&r=ure |
| By: | Runu Bhakta (Deloitte, Mumbai); A. Ganesh Kumar (Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research) |
| Abstract: | Assessing the impact of alternative policy options on developmental goals relating to health and education remains an analytical challenge due to several reasons. Typically, the goals and their associated indicators are non-economic variables that are influenced by a multitude of factors at different levels (household, local, regional and national), and often rooted in different sectors of the economy. Further, these factors interact and influence each other in several ways that are often difficult to capture.... |
| Keywords: | Child Health, Child Education, CGE, SAM, Fiscal Policies, Government Expenditure |
| JEL: | C68 H51 H52 I18 I28 E16 E62 |
| Date: | 2024–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ind:igiwpp:2024-002&r=ure |
| By: | Fouarge, Didier (RS: GSBE UM-BIC, ROA / Labour market and training); Steens, Sanne (RS: GSBE other - not theme-related research, ROA / Labour market and training); Wetzels, Martin |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we evaluate students’ responses to labour market information by using eye-tracking technology to measure the visual attention students pay to labour market indicators of study programmes they are interested in. We relate these measures of visual attention to their recall of information and the likelihood that they re-rank their preferred study choice. In a sample of 63 students in the pre-academic track of a Dutch secondary school, we find that the dwell time (i.e., the time students spend looking at the labour market information we provide) is positively correlated with finding future changes of work and earnings prospects important. Students who report they find our information useful correct their expectations more often. However, we do not find a correlation between dwell time and informational recall on measures of unemployment, working hours and wages in their preferred study programme. The evaluation of the information by students suggests a generally positive response to the information, with a high level of interest and perceived ease of understanding. Despite that, only a small percentage of students plan to use the information in their programme choice, indicating a potential gap between interest and practical application for some students. |
| Date: | 2024–03–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:umarot:2024004&r=ure |
| By: | Berninger, Marc; Bossong, Paul; Schiereck, Dirk; Steinhardt, Marcel |
| Abstract: | Bond issues often result in negative revaluations of the market value of equity. These market reactions are usually explained by negative signals and asymmetric information about the use of the proceeds. In industries with rather transparent investment opportunities these arguments are not applicable and we expect to find no negative revaluations. Consequently, analysing the stock price reactions to 2299 bond issues by real estate companies between 1996 and 2019, we observe none to positive reactions on the announcement of an upcoming bond issue. The findings underpin the necessity for controlling of industry effects in empirical studies on capital structure decisions. |
| Date: | 2024–02–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dar:wpaper:143027&r=ure |
| By: | Anna Bárdits (HUN-REN Centre for Economic and Regional Studies); Gábor Kertesi (HUN-REN Centre for Economic and Regional Studies) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how the type of home environment – family foster care or residential care – affects the adult outcomes of individuals who were raised in state care during adolescence. While it is established in the literature that living in residential care is detrimental for babies, the effect of living in different types of care as an older child is underexplored. We use Hungarian individual-level administrative panel data and follow the children from age 13 until age 19. We show that the adult outcomes of adolescents who grew up in a foster family are substantially better even after controlling for a rich set of variables, including indicators of cognitive and non-cognitive skills, and mental problems observed at age 13. Young adults who grew up in family foster care are 8 percentage points more likely to complete secondary education, and 11 percentage points less likely to spend at least 6 months without either working or studying at age 19, than comparable peers raised in residential care. Using mental health medication is 5 percentage points less likely. For girls, the probability of teenage birth and abortion are smaller by 12 percentage points each. IV estimations using local foster mother capacity as an instrument reinforce the beneficial effect of family foster care.. |
| Keywords: | Keywords: foster care, residential care, institutional care, state care |
| JEL: | J12 J13 |
| Date: | 2024–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:has:discpr:2403&r=ure |
| By: | Eva Moreno Galbis (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); Felipe Trillos Carranza (CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - UM - Université de Montpellier) |
| Abstract: | The massive shift towards teleworking during the COVID pandemic relatively deteriorated working conditions of people occupying positions that could not be teleworked because they were more exposed to the risk of infection. Exploiting French data, we analyse the differential changes in sorting across occupations of immigrants and natives during years preceding the pandemic. Immigrants sorted relatively more into occupations intensive in non-routine manual tasks. These occupations cannot be teleworked. We find an increase in immigrants' sorting into occupations intensive in non-routine interactive and analytical tasks. However, in contrast with natives, immigrants were moving away from occupations intensively using new technologies. |
| Keywords: | task specialization, health-status, immigrants, gender, jobs |
| Date: | 2023–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04167186&r=ure |
| By: | Songyot Kitthamkesorn; Anthony Chen |
| Abstract: | Stochastic User Equilibrium (SUE) models depict the perception differences in traffic assignment problems. According to the assumption of an unbounded perceived travel time distribution, the conventional SUE problems result in a positive choice probability for all available routes, regardless of their unappealing travel time. This study provides an eUnit-SUE model to relax this assumption. The eUnit model is derived from a bounded probability distribution. This closed-form model aligns with an exponentiated random utility maximization (ERUM) paradigm with the exponentiated uniform distributed random error, where the lower and upper bounds endogeneously determine the route usage. Specifically, a Beckmann-type mathematical programming formulation is presented for the eUnit-SUE problem. The equivalency and uniqueness properties are rigorously proven. Numerical examples reveal that the eUnit bound range between the lower and upper bounds greatly affects the SUE assignment results. A larger bound range increases not only the number of routes in the choice set but also the degree of dispersion in the assignment results due to a larger route-specific perception variance. The misperception is contingent upon the disparity between the shortest and longest travel times and the bounds. As the bound range decreases, the shortest route receives significant flow allocation, and the assignment result approaches the deterministic user equilibrium (DUE) flow pattern. |
| Date: | 2024–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2402.18435&r=ure |
| By: | Klaus Desmet; Esteban Rossi-Hansberg |
| Abstract: | With average temperature ranging from -20°C at the North Pole to 30°C at the Equator and with global warming expected to reach 1.4°C to 4.5°C by the year 2100, it is clear that climate change will have vastly different effects across the globe. Given the abundance of land in northern latitudes, if population and economic activity could freely move across space, the economic cost of global warming would be greatly reduced. But spatial frictions are real: migrants face barriers, trade and transportation are costly, physical infrastructure is not footloose, and knowledge embedded in clusters of economic activity diffuses only imperfectly. Thus, the economic cost of climate change is intimately connected to these spatial frictions. Building on earlier integrated assessment models that largely ignored space, in the past decade there has been significant progress in developing dynamic spatial integrated assessment models (S-IAMs) aimed at providing a more realistic evaluation of the economic cost of climate change, both locally and globally. This review article discusses this progress and provides a guide for future work in this area. |
| JEL: | F1 Q5 R0 |
| Date: | 2024–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:32197&r=ure |
| By: | Jordi Brandts (Instituto de Análisis Económico (CSIC) & Barcelona School of Economics.); Isabel Busom (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.); Cristina Lopez-Mayan (Serra Húnter Fellow & AQR-IREA, Universitat de Barcelona. Diagonal 690, Tower 4, 3rd floor, 08034 Barcelona (Spain).) |
| Abstract: | Citizens’ ability to make informed and thoughtful choices when voting for policy proposals rests on their awareness of and access to accurate information about the costs and benefits that each proposal entails. We study whether specific social factors affect the disposition to drop a misconception, the belief that rent control increases the availability of affordable housing. We design an on–line experiment to test whether giving voice, aggregate social information and disaggregate social information increase the effect of a video explaining the evidence on the consequences of rent control policies. While voice and aggregate social information do not have an additional effect relative to a control group that is shown the same video, supplying disaggregate social has an additional impact on updating beliefs. Furthermore, we find that changes in beliefs widely translate into intended voting and recommending the video. Finally, although ideological position and a zero–sum mentality are correlated with the initial misconception, these two factors do not thwart the disposition to update beliefs after receiving experts’ information. |
| Keywords: | Misconceptions, Policy beliefs, Communication, Social information, Online experiments, Refutation. JEL classification: A1, A2, C9, D83, D95. |
| Date: | 2024–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ira:wpaper:202405&r=ure |
| By: | Timothy J Hatton |
| Abstract: | Studies of the determinants of emigration from Europe from 1850 to 1913 include the gains to migrants but often neglect the costs. One component of those costs is earnings forgone on the voyage. In this paper I present new data on the voyage times for emigrants from the UK traveling to the United States and to Australia. Between 1853-7 and 1909-13 the voyage time from Liverpool to New York fell from 38 days to just 8 days (or 79%). Over the same years, the emigrant voyage to Sydney fell by more in absolute terms, from 105 days to 46, but by less in relative terms (56%). Differences in profiles of travel times are explained with a focus on the relative efficiency of sail and steam and (for Australia) the use of the Suez Canal. Data series for fare prices and foregone wage costs are combined to create new series on the ‘total’ cost of emigrant voyages. Econometric analysis of UK emigration to the US, Canada and Australia supports the view that time costs mattered. |
| Keywords: | International migration, Steam ships, Voyage times |
| JEL: | F22 O33 N73 |
| Date: | 2024–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:auu:hpaper:120&r=ure |
| By: | M. Trabandt; W. Lasarov (Audencia Business School); G. Viglia |
| Abstract: | The tourism sector is actively exploring methods to reduce its adverse environmental impact. Our study introduces hedonic appeals as a novel approach to encourage guests to reduce their room cleaning requests. We contend that combining this approach with sustainable appeals is at least as effective as the previously identified most effective strategy, namely providing guests with financial incentives. The effectiveness of hedonic appeals is channeled through guest value creation. Our empirical evidence – involving a field experiment at a European hotel and a lab experiment – supports the proposed effects and explanation mechanisms. We also demonstrate that our new strategy is the most profitable by introducing a profitability index that considers room cleaning requests, monetary investments, and side effects. We therefore recommend hotels to adopt this cost-effective strategy to reduce room cleaning requests without affecting overall guest satisfaction. |
| Keywords: | Sustainable tourism, Field experiment, Room cleaning practices, Hedonic appeals, Financial incentives, Sustainable appeals, Guest value, Guest behavior |
| Date: | 2024–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04464032&r=ure |