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on Urban and Real Estate Economics |
| By: | Lina Bjerke (Jönköping International Business School); Steven Bond-Smith (University of Hawai‘i at MÄ noa, University of Hawai‘i Economic Research Organization); Philip McCann (The University of Manchester and The Productivity Institute); Charlotta Mellander (Jönköping International Business School) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we explore some little-known, but significant, economic geography features of the work-from-home (WFH) revolution. The increased practice of work from home following the pandemic has prompted a redistribution of working populations between urban and rural locations. Using a uniquely detailed and comprehensive individual-level nationwide Swedish micro-dataset, we analyze shifts in commuting distances pre- and post-pandemic and explore the association between teleworkability and changes in these distances. Teleworkability alone does not significantly influence the distance between home and work municipalities, yet we observe heterogeneity in the responses. As well as the widely-documented centrifugal ‘donut’-type spread effects localized within cities, our empirical work demonstrates that the work-from-home revolution also engenders a significant centripetal spatial ‘pull’ effect of large cities, as their hinterland shadow effects are magnified by the work-from-home revolution. This latter effect, which encourages workers to locate closer to the metropolitan areas, has not previously been seen or understood. |
| Keywords: | Working from home, agglomeration economies, regional distribution. |
| JEL: | R12 R23 |
| Date: | 2024–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hae:wpaper:2024-3&r= |
| By: | Vitale, Tommaso Prof (Sciences Po); Cafora, Silvia; Faccini, Jacopo Lareno |
| Abstract: | Italy faces significant challenges in ensuring the right to housing, as evidenced by its deeply entrenched housing culture that prioritizes home ownership. This policy brief examines the structural issues underlying Italy’s housing crisis and proposes innovative policies aimed at decommodifying housing and reviving the right to housing for all citizens. The document underscores the urgent need for comprehensive policy reform to address exclusionary dynamics and the commodification of housing. ### Context and Current Challenges In Italy, housing policies have historically favored home ownership, contributing to a dual and polarized housing system. This system has led to a stark separation between private and public housing supplies, with public housing becoming increasingly marginal. This polarization has resulted in two contrasting scenarios: highly marginal territories characterized by depopulation and loss of property values, and densely populated urban areas experiencing rising property values and increased risk of exclusion from housing. Moreover, Italy’s public expenditure on housing is notably low, currently under 0.1% of GDP compared to the European average of 0.4%. This insufficient investment has led to a lack of affordable housing, particularly in attractive cities such as Milan, Florence, and Rome, which draw new populations but face severe housing shortages. ### Main Policy Proposals The policy brief proposes a multifaceted approach to address these issues, focusing on increasing public investment, redefining social housing, enhancing inclusivity, and strengthening preventive measures. The key proposals are: #### 1. Increasing Public Investment - **Restore and Increase Public Expenditure**: Rebuild a nationwide housing fund by allocating a constant share of GDP to housing, aiming to match the European average of 0.4%. This would involve significant political intentionality to ensure sustained funding. #### 2. Redefining Social Housing - **Reform Social Housing Regulations**: Stringently define social housing to emphasize social rental properties and exclude for-sale properties. This aims to overcome the broad and undifferentiated concept of ‘social’ housing currently prevalent in Italy’s policies. #### 3. Enhancing Inclusivity - **Support for Marginalized Groups**: Revise access criteria for public social housing to eliminate discriminatory practices such as residence time requirements. Additionally, invest in public intermediaries like Social Rental Agencies to facilitate the inclusion of marginalized profiles in the housing market. #### 4. Strengthening Preventive Measures - **Preventive Housing Arrangements**: Establish a non-compliance arrears fund shared by various government levels, linked to the need indicated by eviction requests and housing hardship indicators. This would include incentives for households to effectively manage housing-related expenses. ### Additional Policy Directions The policy brief also highlights the need for a more progressive and transparent approach to managing real estate and land assets, both public and private, to support the production of affordable housing. It emphasizes breaking down the false dichotomy between ecological transition and affordable housing. #### Institutional Reorganization - **Reorganize Municipal Housing Divisions**: Innovate internal municipal structures to better address housing issues. This includes creating new councils and institutes dedicated to housing policies and renovation, drawing inspiration from successful models in cities like Barcelona. To decommodify housing and revive the right to housing in Italy, the policy brief stresses the importance of a comprehensive, multi-level policy framework that includes increased public investment, stricter definitions and regulations, and enhanced inclusivity and preventive measures. By implementing these proposals, Italy can move towards a more equitable and accessible housing system, ensuring that housing is recognized and treated as a fundamental right for all its citizens. |
| Date: | 2024–06–24 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:865t9&r= |
| By: | Ronan C. Lyons; Allison Shertzer; Rowena Gray; David N. Agorastos |
| Abstract: | We construct the first consistent market rent and home sales price series for American cities across the 20th century using millions of newspaper real estate listings. Our findings revise several stylized facts about U.S. housing markets. Real market rents did not fall during the 20th century for most cities. Instead, real rental price levels increased by about 20% from 1890 to 2006. There was also greater growth in real housing sales prices from 1965 to 1995 than is commonly understood. Using these series we document several new facts about housing markets. The return to homeownership has varied considerably across cities and over time, but rental returns were historically much more important than capital gains in every city. We discuss the implications of our indices for the business cycle and the consumer price index. Finally, we provide evidence that housing prices increased unevenly across cities over time in response to natural building and regulatory constraints. |
| JEL: | G11 N22 R31 |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:32593&r= |
| By: | Carozzi, Felipe; Hilber, Christian; Yu, Xiaolun |
| Abstract: | We take advantage of two spatial discontinuities in Britain's Help to Buy (HtB) scheme to explore the effectiveness and distributional implications of mortgage credit expansion policies. Employing a Difference-in-Discontinuities design, we find that HtB significantly increased house prices and had no detectable effect on construction volumes in severely supply constrained and unaffordable Greater London. Conversely, HtB did increase construction numbers without a noticeable effect on prices near the English/Welsh border, an affordable area with comparably lax supply conditions. While HtB did not help would-be-buyers in already unaffordable areas, it boosted the financial performance of developers participating in the scheme. |
| Keywords: | construction; credit constraints; help to buy; homeownership subsidy; house prices; housing supply; land use regulation |
| JEL: | G28 H24 H81 R21 R31 R38 |
| Date: | 2024–01–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:124116&r= |
| By: | Chauvin, Juan Pablo |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the effects of changes in local public education budgets on individual schooling attainment and migration, as well as on local labor market outcomes. I leverage the introduction of FUNDEF, a large federal program that redistributed public education finance across Brazilian municipalities in the late 1990s, as a source of exogenous variation. Using a cohort-exposure design, I find that, at the individual level, doubling the program-related public education budget led to a 1.4 percentage point increase in the likelihood of completing primary school, and a 0.5 percentage point decrease in the likelihood of staying in the local labor market among exposed cohorts, on average. The mobility effects are concentrated among individuals educated in municipalities that received a positive budget shock as a result of the program, which were also characterized by relatively worse local labor market conditions. At the local labor market level, difference-in-differences estimates suggest that higher public education budgets were associated with lower employment rates and average wages, suggesting that the “brain drain” effect depressed local labor demand in the long run. |
| Keywords: | school spending;schooling attainment;Migration |
| JEL: | I20 O15 R23 |
| Date: | 2024–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:13497&r= |
| By: | Hanna M. Schwank (University of Bonn) |
| Abstract: | Natural disasters are growing in frequency globally. Understanding how vulnerable populations respond to these disasters is essential for effective policy response. This paper explores the short- and long-run consequences of the 1906 San Francisco Fire, one of the largest urban fires in American history. Using linked Census records, I follow residents of San Francisco and their children from 1900 to 1940. Historical records suggest that exogenous factors such as wind and the availability of water determined where the fire stopped. I implement a spatial regression discontinuity design across the boundary of the razed area to identify the effect of the fire on those who lost their home to it. I find that in the short run, the fire displaced affected residents, forced them into lower paying occupations and out of entrepreneurship. Experiencing the disaster disrupted children’s school attendance and led to an average loss of six months of education. While most effects attenuated over time, the negative effect on business ownership persists even in 1940, 34 years after the fire. Therefore, my findings reject the hope for a “reversal of fortune” for the victims, in contrast to what is found for more recent natural disasters such as hurricane Katrina. |
| Keywords: | Natural disasters, internal migration, economic history, regional and urban economics |
| JEL: | N91 N31 Q54 O15 J61 J62 |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ajk:ajkdps:312&r= |
| By: | Simeon Lauterbach (Geneva Graduate Institute); Lee Crawfurd (Center for Global Development); Jocelyne C. Kirezi (VVOB - education for development); Aimable Nsabimana (UNU-WIDER); Jef Peeraer (VVOB - education for development) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the short-term impacts of a school leadership professional development program implemented in 525 randomly selected schools across Rwanda from 2018 to 2019. The program aimed to enhance the skills of school headteachers in leadership, management, and teacher support. Although no significant average treatment effects are observed one to two years after the intervention, an increase in test scores is identified in public primary schools compared to government-aided schools by at least 0.11 standard deviations. This disparity may be attributed to the potentially weaker school management and resources in public primary schools at the outset, as well as the time constraints and ownership structure faced by headteachers in government aided schools. Despite the modest effect, the program shows potential for cost-effective improvement in student learning, especially considering that typically only one headteacher per school is trained. Further research should focus on optimizing the design of school leadership professional development programs and exploring the underlying mechanisms necessary to enhance their overall effectiveness. |
| Keywords: | School leadership, professional development, school management |
| JEL: | I22 I28 O15 |
| Date: | 2024–04–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgd:wpaper:691&r= |
| By: | David P. Glancy; Robert J. Kurtzman; Lara Loewenstein |
| Abstract: | A significant share of commercial real estate (CRE) investment properties---about half by our estimates---are purchased without a mortgage. Using comprehensive microdata on transactions in the U.S. CRE market, we analyze which types of properties are purchased without a mortgage, highlighting the important role of renovation or redevelopment options. We show that mortgage-financed properties are less likely to be subsequently redeveloped, and that owners anticipate these redevelopment frictions and avoid mortgage financing for properties with greater redevelopment options. These effects were even stronger during the COVID-19 pandemic, when uncertainty increased redevelopment option values. |
| Keywords: | Commercial real estate; Cash buyers; Redevelopment |
| JEL: | G21 G22 G23 R33 |
| Date: | 2024–06–21 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2024-46&r= |
| By: | Hanna M. Schwank (University of Bonn) |
| Abstract: | Millions of families migrate every year in search of better opportunities. Whether these opportunities materialize for the children brought with them depends on the quality of the destination that their parents selected. Exploiting variation in the age of migration, I analyze the impact of destination quality on the educational outcomes of childhood internal migrants in Indonesia. Using Population Census microdata from 2000 and 2010, I show that children who spend more time growing up in districts characterized by higher average educational attainment among permanent residents tend to exhibit greater probabilities of completing primary and secondary schooling. Moreover, educational outcomes of migrants converge with those of permanent residents at an average rate of 1.7 to 2.2 percent annually, with children from less educated households benefiting more from additional exposure. My findings suggest substantial heterogeneity of returns to childhood migration with respect to destination. |
| Keywords: | Internal migration, education, development, Indonesia |
| JEL: | I25 O15 D64 |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ajk:ajkdps:313&r= |
| By: | Viorel Silaghi; Zobaida Alssadi; Ben Mathew; Majed Alotaibi; Ali Alqarni; Marius Silaghi |
| Abstract: | Public availability of Artificial Intelligence generated information can change the markets forever, and its factoring into economical dynamics may take economists by surprise, out-dating models and schools of thought. Real estate hyper-inflation is not a new phenomenon but its consistent and almost monotonous persistence over 12 years, coinciding with prominence of public estimation information from Zillow, a successful Mass Real Estate Estimator (MREE), could not escape unobserved. What we model is a repetitive theoretical game between the MREE and the home owners, where each player has secret information and expertise. If the intention is to keep housing affordable and maintain old American lifestyle with broad home-ownership, new challenges are defined. Simulations show that a simple restriction of MREE-style price estimation availability to opt-in properties may help partially reduce feedback loop by acting on its likely causes, as suggested by experimental simulation models. The conjecture that the MREE pressure on real estate inflation rate is correlated with the absolute MREE estimation errors, which is logically explainable, is then validated in simulations. |
| Date: | 2024–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2405.18434&r= |
| By: | Moskos, Megan; Isherwood, Linda; Dockery, Michael; Habibis, Daphne; Grealy, Liam; Benedict, Richard; Harris, Mark; Singh, Ranjodh; Lea, Tess |
| Abstract: | With Indigenous populations at risk of higher rates of infection and more serious disease than non-Indigenous populations, a policy of returning to remote communities (i.e. Return to Country) was encouraged during the COVID-19 pandemic. This policy led to high expectations for remote communities to meet the often diverse and complex needs of returnees, placing further strain on existing, underfunded remote community infrastructure and services. This research explores mobility patterns of Indigenous people living on Country and its impact on the planning of housing, infrastructure and services within remote communities. Temporary mobility, that is movement that does not involve a change of usual residence, is caused by a wide range of factors, such as people’s participation in cultural business or attendance at funerals, travel due to school holidays and seasonal weather patterns, participation in sport and leisure activities or to access alcohol outside the community. Factors affecting longer-term population mobility include access to housing, infrastructure, services and employment; family conflict and violence; and community unrest. The research finds increased and improved housing is required for many remote communities. In addition to reducing existing levels of crowding, communities experiencing population growth need to be more clearly identified so as to reduce concerns in the future. Essential infrastructure, such as power and water, must also be improved to support the development of new community housing. In addition, services such as government health support and education systems need to take into account Indigenous people’s mobility patterns, particularly across state and territory borders. Enhanced collaboration between schools will enable students to continue with their education even when they are away from their home community, all of which would lead to better education outcomes for young Indigenous people. |
| Date: | 2024–07–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:6u78f&r= |
| By: | International Monetary Fund |
| Abstract: | Macroprudential policy in the Netherlands has centered on the residential real estate (RRE) market given the importance of this market for households, banks, and insurers. RRE represents nearly 50 percent of total household assets, and housing loans account for about 85 percent of total household liabilities, more than half of Dutch banks’ domestic loan portfolio, and 15 percent of insurers’ assets. Authorities have therefore actively used RRE-related macroprudential tools, such as banks’ capital risk weighting of residential mortgage loans, limits on loan-to-value (LTV) and debt service-to-income (DSTI) ratios for mortgages, or mortgage interest deductibility from taxes (MID). |
| Date: | 2024–06–18 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfscr:2024/171&r= |
| By: | Dinarte, Lelys; Egaña del Sol, Pablo; Martínez, Claudia; Rojas Alvarado, Cindy Jacqueline |
| Abstract: | After-school programs (ASP) that keep youth protected while engaging them in socio-emotional learning might address school-based violent behaviors. This paper experimentally studies the socio-emotional-learning component of an ASP targeted to teenagers in public schools in the most violent neighborhoods of El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. Participant schools were randomly assigned to different ASP variations, some of them including psychology-based interventions. Results indicate that including psychology-based activities as part of the ASP increases by 23 percentage points the probability that students are well-behaved at school. The effect is driven by the most at-risk students. Using data gathered from task-based games and AI-powered emotion-detection algorithms, this paper shows that improvement in emotion regulation is likely driving the effect. When comparing a psychology-based curriculum aiming to strengthen participants' character and another based on mindfulness principles, results show that the latter improves violent behaviors while reducing school dropout. |
| Keywords: | After-school programs;Psychology-based interventions;School-based violence;Emotion regulation |
| JEL: | I29 K42 I25 D87 |
| Date: | 2024–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:13448&r= |
| By: | Luca, Davide; Özgüzel, Cem; Wei, Zhiwu |
| Abstract: | The paper maps the diffusion of working from home across 30 European countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. We summarise the determinants of remote working and show that its uptake was lower than in the United States, and substantially uneven across/within countries, with most remote jobs concentrated in cities and capital regions. We then apply a variance decomposition procedure to investigate whether the uneven distribution of remote jobs can be attributed to individual or territorial factors. Results underscore the importance of composition effects as, compared with intermediate-density and rural areas, cities hosted more workers in occupations/sectors more amenable to working remotely. |
| Keywords: | COVID-19; Europe; remote work; telework; work from home |
| JEL: | R14 J01 |
| Date: | 2024–06–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:123880&r= |
| By: | Campbell, Douglas; Brodeur, Abel; Johannesson, Magnus; Kopecky, Joseph; Lusher, Lester; Tsoy, Nikita |
| Abstract: | Pop-Eleches and Urquiola (2013) apply a regression discontinuity to the Romanian secondary school system, and notably find that (a) students who go to a better school get higher scores on an exam used for university admission, (b) parents of students who get into a better school help their kids less with homework, and (c) kids who go to a slightly better school report more negative interactions with peers. We first reproduce all regression tables in Pop-Eleches and Urquiola (2013), and then test for robustness by unstacking the data, multi-way clustering, altering the cutoffs, altering control variables, and conducting influential analysis. Overall, we find the results for finding (a), (b), and (c) are robust in 100%, 42%, and 60% of the robustness checks we ran, and the t/z scores were on average 93%, 69%, and 92% as large as the original study. |
| Keywords: | Education, Peer Effects, Economics of Education |
| JEL: | I21 I28 J13 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:i4rdps:133&r= |
| By: | Anabela Marques Santos; Francesco Molica; Carlos Torrecilla Salinas (European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Sevilla, Spain; European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Brussels, Belgium; European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Sevilla, Spain) |
| Abstract: | Artificial Intelligence (AI) is seen as a disruptive and transformative technology with the potential to impact on all societal aspects, but particularly on competitiveness and growth. While its development and use has grown exponentially over the last decade, its uptake between and within countries is very heterogeneous. The paper assesses the geographical distribution at NUTS2-level of EU-funded investments related to AI during the programming period 2014-2020. It also examines the relationship between this specialization pattern and regional characteristics using a spatial autoregressive model. Such an analysis provides a first look at the geography of public investment in AI in Europe, which has never been done before. Results show that in the period 2014-2020, around 8 billion EUR of EU funds were targeted for AI investments in the European regions. More developed regions have a higher specialization in AI EU-funded investments. This specialization also generates spillover effects that enhance similar specialization patterns in neighboring regions. AI-related investments are more concentrated in regions with a higher concentration of ICT activities and that are more innovative, highlighting the importance of agglomeration effects. Regions that have selected AI as an innovation priority for their Smart Specialization Strategies are also more likely to have a higher funding specialization in AI. Such findings are very relevant for policymakers as they show that AI-related investments are already highly spatially concentrated. This highlights the importance for less-developed regions to keep accessing to sufficient amounts of pre-allocated cohesion funds and to devote them for AI-related opportunities in the future. |
| Keywords: | Artificial intelligence; Public subsidy; Territorial specialization; Europe |
| JEL: | O31 R58 R12 O52 |
| Date: | 2024–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mde:wpaper:181&r= |
| By: | Lin, Zhuoer (Yale University); Ye, Justin (Yale University); Allore, Heather (Yale University); Gill, Thomas M. (Yale University); Chen, Xi (Yale University) |
| Abstract: | Given the critical role of neurocognitive development in early life, this study assesses how racial differences in early-life circumstances are collectively and individually associated with racial disparities in late-life cognition. Leveraging uniquely rich information on life history from the U.S. Health and Retirement Study for non-Hispanic White (White) and non-Hispanic Black (Black) Americans 50 years or older, we employ the Blinder-Oaxaca method to decompose racial gaps in cognitive outcomes into early-life educational experiences, cohort, regional, financial, health, trauma, family relationship, demographic and genetic factors. Overall, differences in early-life circumstances are associated with 61.5% and 82.3% of the racial disparities in cognitive score and impairment, respectively. Early-life educational experience is associated with 35.2% of the disparities in cognitive score and 48.6% in cognitive impairment. Notably, school racial segregation (all segregated schooling before college) is associated with 28.8%-39.7% of the racial disparities in cognition. Policies that improve educational equity have the potential to reduce racial disparities in cognition into older ages. Clinicians may leverage early-life circumstances to promote the screening, prevention, and interventions of cognitive impairment more efficiently, thereby promoting health equity. |
| Keywords: | early life circumstances, life course, school segregation, quality of education, racial disparity, cognition |
| JEL: | J15 I14 J13 J14 I20 H75 |
| Date: | 2024–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17040&r= |
| By: | Ha Trong Nguyen; Mitrou, Francis |
| Abstract: | The catastrophic consequences of natural disasters on social and economic systems are extensively documented, yet their influence on individuals' sense of control over their life outcomes remains unexplored. This study pioneers an investigation into the causal effects of natural disaster-related home damage on the locus of control. Utilizing Australian longitudinal data, we implement an individual fixed effects instrumental variables approach leveraging time-varying, exogenous exposure to local natural disasters to address confounding factors. Our findings provide compelling evidence: natural disaster-induced home damage significantly diminishes individuals' perception of control, especially for those at the lower end of the locus of control distribution. The effect is disproportionately heightened for women, older individuals, wealthier households, those without prior insurance, urban or inland residents, and those in historically cyclone-free regions. This newfound understanding offers opportunities for developing targeted interventions and support mechanisms tailored to address the specific needs and vulnerabilities of individuals following natural disasters. |
| Keywords: | Natural Disasters, Locus of Control, Housing, Australia |
| JEL: | I31 R20 Q54 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1448&r= |
| By: | Adam, Ammaarah; Ades, Raphael; Banks, William; Benning, Canbeck; Grant, Gwyneth; Forster-Brass, Harry; McGiveron, Owen; Miller, Joseph; Phelan, Daniel; Randazzo, Sebastian; Reilly, Matthew; Scott, Michael W.; Serban, Sebastian; Stockton, Carys; Wallis, Patrick |
| Abstract: | How was trust created and reinforced between the inhabitants of medieval and early modern cities? And how did the social foundations of trusting relationships change over time? Current research highlights the role of kinship, neighbourhood and associations, particularly guilds, in creating ‘relationships of trust’ and social capital in the face of high levels of migration, mortality and economic volatility, but tells us little about their relative importance or how they developed. We uncover a profound shift in the contribution of family and guilds to trust networks among the middling and elite of one of Europe’s major cities, London, over three centuries, from the 1330s to the 1680s. We examine almost 15, 000 networks of sureties created to secure orphans’ inheritances to measure the presence of trusting relationships connected by guild membership, family and place. We uncover a profound increase in the role of kinship – a re-embedding of trust within the family - and a decline of the importance of shared guild membership in connecting Londoner’s who secured orphans’ inheritances together. These developments indicate a profound transformation in the social fabric of urban society. |
| Keywords: | CUP deal |
| JEL: | N00 |
| Date: | 2024–05–30 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:122876&r= |
| By: | AJ Golio |
| Abstract: | Gentrification is a process of urban change that has wide-ranging social and political impacts, but previous studies provide divergent findings. Does gentrification leave residents feeling alienated, or does it bolster neighborhood social satisfaction? Politically, does urban change mobilize residents, or leave them disengaged? I assess a national, cross-sectional sample of about 17, 500 respondents in lower-income urban neighborhoods, and use a structural equation modeling approach to model six latent variables pertaining to local social environment and political participation. Amongst the full sample, gentrification has a positive association with all six factors. However, this relationship depends upon respondents’ level of income, length of residency, and racial identity. White residents and those with shorter length of residency report higher levels of social cohesion as gentrification increases, but there is no such association amongst racial minority groups and longer-term residents. This finding aligns with a perspective on gentrification as a racialized process, and demonstrates that gentrification-related amenities primarily serve the interests of white residents and newcomers. All groups, however, are more likely to participate in neighborhood politics as gentrification increases, drawing attention to the agency of local residents as they attempt to influence processes of urban change. |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:24-29&r= |
| By: | Baciu, Dan Costa (Architektur Studio Bellerive) |
| Abstract: | In a previous article, we studied how a newly planned light rail in Tel Aviv may affect experienced urban diversity. Our method involved computing isochrones before and after the completion of the light rail, and, based on isochrones and urban data, estimating how the introduction of the light rail was expected to change how people experienced urban diversity. Technically, the estimation process was performed through diversity computations and data processing with Neural Networks. As part of the present conference contribution, we shift the focus to Wellington, NZ. We study and compare multiple initiatives to increase urban mobility in Wellington, estimating how each of them may impact the urban diversity that can be experienced in the city. We compare in particular the light rail project abandoned in late 2023 with options to increase mobility through bike lanes. We also envision a system of autonomous vehicles to perform share rides and compare its effects with those of the other two options. While the options that we discuss remain hypothetical, they allow us to open a discussion on how changes in urban mobility effectuated through enhancement of different modes of transportation that work at different speeds may affect urban diversity, specifically in Wellington. |
| Date: | 2024–06–17 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:w87yb&r= |
| By: | Benjamin J. Keys; Philip Mulder |
| Abstract: | We develop a new dataset to study homeowners insurance. Our data on over 47 million observations of households’ property insurance expenditures from 2014-2023 are inferred from mortgage escrow payments. First, we find a sharp 33% increase in average premiums from 2020 to 2023 (13% in real terms) that is highly uneven across geographies. This growth is associated with a stronger relationship between premiums and local disaster risk: A one standard-deviation increase in disaster risk is associated with $500 higher premiums in 2023, up from $300 in 2018. Second, using the rapid rise in reinsurance prices as a natural experiment, we show that the increase in the risk-to-premium gradient was largely caused by the pass-through of reinsurance costs. Third, we project that if the reinsurance shock persists, growing disaster risk will lead climate-exposed households to face $700 higher annual premiums by 2053. Our results highlight that prices in global reinsurance markets pass through to household budgets, and will ultimately drive the cost of rising climate risk. |
| JEL: | G21 G22 G52 Q54 R31 |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:32579&r= |
| By: | Zhang, Qiyang; Grant, Ashley; Pellegrini, Marta; Neitzel, Amanda Jean |
| Abstract: | Teacher turnover influences students’ performance in a negative way. Among all reasons, unsatisfying salary could be a main factor contributing to teachers leaving their profession. Yet, little is known about how contextual moderators affect this relationship and most past research focuses on the US context. This meta-analysis seeks to compare the relationship between turnover and salary in the US and China while differentiating turnover intention from real turnover rate. Applying a set of screening criteria, we identified 21 studies (five in China and 16 in the US), which produced a statistically significant relationship (OR = 0.99, p < .05). This result means that salary had a negative relationship with turnover - where more salary is related with a lower chance of teacher turnover. As for moderator analysis, we found a significant difference between urban schools as compared to rural and combined school types (p = 0.01). There was no statistically significant difference in the relationship between salary and turnover in studies conducted in the US and China, or studies in public and private schools or studies in middle and primary schools. Our findings contribute to the field of research around teacher turnover by reinforcing the significant role that salary continues to play in teachers’ decisions to stay in the classroom or leave. Additionally, this study expands the geographical scope of the research on teacher turnover and salary beyond the United States to include studies of Chinese teachers as well. |
| Date: | 2024–07–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:9fqzs&r= |
| By: | Buh, Brian |
| Abstract: | Previous literature looking at regional property prices found higher housing costs reduce affordability and are negatively associated with childbirth. On the other hand, (soon-to-be) parents are often willing to pay more to get better quality housing to pursue fertility desires. Thus, the relationship at the micro level incorporates both affordability and the willingness to pay. The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between micro level housing expenditure and the likelihood of first, second, and third birth in the United Kingdom (UK). This paper finds that higher housing expenditure is positively associated with childbirth across birth order. In parallel, a higher housing share of income is negatively associated with childbirth. These results suggest that couples anticipating childbirth are willing to pay larger amounts to pursue their fertility desires. Simultaneously, a higher share of household income going to housing reduces affordability, making having a(nother) child unfeasible. Using household level housing costs illuminates the affordability/willingness to pay trade-off. The relationship is stronger in households in which women are not in paid work. This indicates that women’s labor market participation is intertwined with housing costs and childbirth. |
| Date: | 2024–06–28 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:frbnc&r= |
| By: | Mallika Thomas (Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis) |
| Abstract: | Using the historical random assignment of MBA students to peer groups at a top business school in the United States, I study the effect of the gender composition of a student’s peers on the gender pay gap at graduation and long-term labor market outcomes. I find that a 10 percentage point increase in the share of male peers leads to a 2.1 percent increase in the relative earnings of female students at graduation, closing the gender gap in earnings at graduation by two-thirds. The effects on women’s long-term earnings grow even larger with time. Using novel data on job offers, I find that two different mechanisms drive the effects on short- and long-term earnings. Women with a greater share of male peers take more quantitative coursework in business school and receive job offers at graduation in occupations, industries, and firms associated with higher wages, longer hours, and greater earnings growth. However, the effect of male peers on women’s earnings at graduation is primarily driven by female students’ increased willingness to accept the maximum salary offered within their offer set. In contrast, peer-induced effects on human capital alone place female students on dramatically different long-term expected earnings paths due to changes in the initial occupation, initial industry, and initial firm accepted at graduation. This change in the characteristics of the first job at graduation largely explains the effect of peer gender composition on long-term outcomes. |
| Keywords: | peer groups, gender gap, MBA students, course work, job offers, long-term earnings |
| JEL: | I24 I26 J16 J24 J31 J44 |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upj:weupjo:24-402&r= |
| By: | P.Delle Site; André de Palma; Samarth Ghoslya (CY Cergy Paris Université, THEMA) |
| Abstract: | The paper deals with matching and fair pricing in urban peer-to-peer ride-sharing schemes where the following desirable properties hold: (i) matchings between passengers and drivers are decided by a social planner to minimize total car-kilometers travelled, (ii) matchings are stable, i.e. no pair of passenger and driver can both increase their fuel cost-related surplus from breaking the current partnership, and (iii) the scheme is financially sustainable, i.e. there is no need of subsidy. The case where travel times are affected by matchings, in the light of the reduced number of cars travelling on the network, is unexplored. The paper fills this gap. The matching optimization problem is formulated as linear programming problem with nonlinear equilibrium constraints and node-link network representation. Solution to the approximately equivalent mixed-integer linear programming formulation is obtained by available efficient off-the-shelf solvers. Duality theory is used to specify a stability compliant pricing scheme based on fair surplus division: the surplus gained by each traveler is exactly half way between the minimum and the maximum she can obtain from any stable solution. Computation of prices requires solution of two linear programming problems. The price paid by the passenger is received by the driver. Since surplus of each traveler is nonnegative, subsidies are not needed. A toy network and a small network are used to illustrate the theoretical findings, and to appraise the pricing-induced shares of trip cost that accrue to each traveler. |
| Keywords: | Equilibrium, matching, pricing, ride-sharing, stability |
| JEL: | C78 R40 R48 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ema:worpap:2024-06&r= |
| By: | Benjamin Lahey; Rajashri Chakrabarti; Natalia Emanuel |
| Abstract: | Disparities in wealth are pronounced across racial and ethnic groups in the United States. As part of an ongoing series on inequality and equitable growth, we have been documenting the evolution of these gaps between Black, Hispanic, and white households, in this case from the first quarter of 2019 to the fourth quarter of 2023 for a variety of assets and liabilities for a pandemic-era picture. We find that real wealth grew and that the pace of growth for Black, Hispanic, and white households was very similar across this timeframe—yet gaps across groups persist. |
| Keywords: | wealth inequality; inequality; pandemic; demographics; racial inequity |
| JEL: | D31 |
| Date: | 2024–06–28 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fednls:98464&r= |
| By: | Badi H. Baltagi (Center for Policy Research, Maxwell School, Syracuse University, 426 Eggers Hall, Syracuse, NY 13244); Long Liu (Department of Economics, Florida Atlantic University, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton, FL 33431) |
| Abstract: | This note shows that for a spatial regression with a weight matrix depicting a complete bipartite network, the Moran I test for zero spatial correlation is never rejected when the alternative is positive spatial correlation no matter how large the true value of the spatial correlation coefficient. In contrast, the null hypothesis of zero spatial correlation is always rejected (with probability one asymptotically) when the alternative is negative spatial correlation and the true value of the spatial correlation coefficient is near -1. |
| Keywords: | Spatial Error Model, Moran I Test, Complete Bipartite Network. |
| JEL: | C12 C21 C31 |
| Date: | 2024–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:max:cprwps:264&r= |
| By: | Jeremy Clark (University of Canterbury); Abel François; Olivier Gergaud |
| Abstract: | Among the many studied determinants of voting, we predict that i) increased social capital will be positively associated with turnout, while increased heterogeneity will be negatively associated, ii) that both factors will work through their influence on the costs of information gathering and on the social norms of voting; and iii) that heterogeneity will interact with social capital in its association with turnout. We test these predictions at the extremely fine “meshblock” level by regressing New Zealand voter turnout in its 2017 national election on its 2013 census characteristics. We use roughly 40, 000 meshblock volunteering rates to measure social capital, and heterogeneity based primarily on ethnic fragmentation. We find social capital is positively associated with voter turnout, while heterogeneity is negatively associated. We find robust evidence consistent with ethnic heterogeneity working through information costs and social norms, but less so social capital. We also find a robust interaction between social capital and heterogeneity in their association with turnout, consistent with ethnic heterogeneity raising bridging social capital that has a stronger association with turnout than in-group bonding social capital. |
| Keywords: | Electoral turnout, social capital, population diversity, ethnic heterogeneity, volunteering |
| JEL: | D72 D91 H31 |
| Date: | 2024–06–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cbt:econwp:24/09&r= |
| By: | José Pedro Pontes |
| Abstract: | We try to explain main empirical regularities of the distribution of higher education attainment across regions by using a theoretical framework inspired by Uzawa (1965)’s neoclassical growth model and Lucas (1988)’s view of positive externalities of education. We rationalize the strong correlation between educational attainment and regional accessibility, the relative importance of public universities in less accessible areas and the smaller regional variation in schooling rates shown by the public universities as compared with private establishments. |
| Keywords: | Higher Education, University, Accessibility, Market Potential, Endogenous Technical Progress |
| JEL: | I20 O40 R10 |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ise:remwps:wp03292024&r= |
| By: | Mart\'in Mart\'in-Gonz\'alez; Sara M. Gonz\'alez-Betancor; Carmen P\'erez-Esparrells |
| Abstract: | Spain is one of the eight EU-27 countries that failed to reduce early school leaving (ESL) below 10% in 2020, and now faces the challenge of achieving a rate below 9% by 2030. The determinants of this phenomenon are usually studied using cross-sectional data at the micro-level and without differentiation by gender. In this study, we analyse it for the first time for Spain using panel data (between 2002-2020), taking into account the high regional inequalities at the macroeconomic level and the masculinisation of the phenomenon. The results show a positive relationship between ESL and socioeconomic variables such as the adolescent fertility rate, immigration, unemployment or the weight of the industrial and construction sectors in the regional economy, with significant gender differences that invite us to discuss educational policies. Surprisingly, youth unemployment has only small but significant impact on female ESL. |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2406.05172&r= |
| By: | Biniam Bedasso (Center for Global Development); Justin Sandefur (Center for Global Development) |
| Abstract: | In 2011, the World Bank’s new education strategy stressed the need to shift focus from schooling (access or enrollment) to learning (test scores), and specifically towards foundational skills acquired in primary school. But this shift is not always easy to see in the actual lending data. Coding new details on 25 years of World Bank education loans and grants, we find a decline in the share of financing for primary school over the whole period, and no apparent increase in the share of projects targeting “quality” or “learning” as opposed to “access” since 2011. In contrast, there has been gradual but steady growth in projects targeting early childhood education. These patterns appear to reflect both supply and demand side factors. On the demand side, as primary enrollment increases, countries shift their borrowing toward early childhood education. On the supply side, the World Bank is significantly better at delivering early-childhood education programs compared to projects focused on raising test scores, as judged by independent evaluation scores. Evidence on the long-term learning gains from preschool suggest this may be a more feasible strategy for the World Bank to achieve its goals. |
| Date: | 2024–03–21 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgd:wpaper:685&r= |
| By: | Federica Daniele; Guido de Blasio; Alessandra Pasquini |
| Abstract: | Local opposition to the installation of renewable energy sources is a potential threat to the energy transition. Local communities tend to oppose the construction of energy plants due to the associated negative externalities (the so-called 'not in my backyard' or NIMBY phenomenon) according to widespread belief, mostly based on anecdotal evidence. Using administrative data on wind turbine installation and electoral outcomes across municipalities located in the South of Italy during 2000-19, we estimate the impact of wind turbines' installation on incumbent regional governments' electoral support during the next elections. Our main findings, derived by a wind-speed based instrumental variable strategy, point in the direction of a mild and not statistically significant electoral backlash for right-wing regional administrations and of a strong and statistically significant positive reinforcement for left-wing regional administrations. Based on our analysis, the hypothesis of an electoral effect of NIMBY type of behavior in connection with the development of wind turbines appears not to be supported by the data. |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2406.03022&r= |
| By: | Randall Akee; Leah R. Clark |
| Abstract: | We use an admissions lottery to estimate the effect of a non-means tested preschool program on students’ long-run earnings, employment, family income, household formation, and geographic mobility. We observe long-run outcomes by linking both admitted and non-admitted individuals to confidential administrative data including tax records. Funding for this preschool program comes from an Indigenous organization, which grants Indigenous students admissions preference and free tuition. We find treated children have between 5 to 6 percent higher earnings as young adults. The results are quite large for young women, especially those from the lower half of the initial parental household income distribution. There is also some evidence that children, regardless of gender, from households with below median parental incomes realize the largest average increases in earnings in adulthood. Finally, we find that increased earnings start at ages 21 and older for the treated students. Likely mechanisms include high-quality teachers and curriculum. |
| JEL: | I20 I21 I24 I26 J31 |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:32570&r= |
| By: | Ryan B. Edwards |
| Abstract: | This paper uses the proliferation of palm oil factories across Indonesia’s undeveloped hinterland to study industrial onset and estimate spillovers from agricultural processing. The main finding is signs of urbanization and structural change around factories: more non-agricultural employment, higher incomes, and more people, firms, and other economic and social organizations. These patterns are largely explained by economic linkages, infrastructure and other public goods, and economies of scale in production. By focusing on subsistence rural regions in a large developing economy, this paper adds a globally- significant new case to a growing literature emphasizing the importance of agglomeration externalities for understanding the birth of new towns, the spatial distribution of economic activity, and structural transformation. |
| JEL: | F14 F23 F63 J43 O13 O14 O19 O53 Q17 R11 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pas:papers:2024-6&r= |
| By: | Federico S. Mandelman; Yang Yu; Francesco Zanetti; Andrei Zlate |
| Abstract: | We document a steady decline in low-skilled immigration that began with the onset of the Great Recession in 2007, which was associated with labor shortages in low-skilled service occupations and a decline in the skill premium. Falling returns to high-skilled jobs coincided with a decline in the educational attainment of native-born workers. We develop and estimate a stochastic growth model with endogenous immigration and training to account for these facts and study macroeconomic performance and welfare. Lower immigration leads to higher wages for low-skilled workers and higher consumer prices. Importantly, the decline in the skill premium discourages the training of native workers, persistently reducing aggregate productivity and welfare. Stimulus policies during the COVID-19 pandemic, amid a widespread shortage of low-skilled immigrant labor, exacerbated the rise in consumer prices and reduced welfare. We show that the 2021-2023 immigration surge helped to partially alleviate existing labor shortages and restore welfare. |
| Date: | 2024–06–30 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:wpaper:1047&r= |
| By: | Dany Bahar (Brown University; Center for Global Development); Rebecca J. Brough (University of California; Davis); Giovanni Peri (University of California; Davis; NBER) |
| Abstract: | The inflow of refugees and their subsequent integration can be an important challenge for both the refugees themselves and the host society. Policy interventions can improve the lives and economic success of refugees and of their communities. In this paper, we review the socioeconomic integration policy interventions focused on refugees and the evidence surrounding them. We also highlight some interesting topics for future research and stress the need to rigorously evaluate their effectiveness and implications for the successful integration of refugees. |
| JEL: | H53 J15 |
| Date: | 2024–03–27 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgd:wpaper:687&r= |
| By: | Bruze, Gustaf (Karolinska Institutet); Hilsløv, Alexander Kjær (Aarhus University); Maibom, Jonas (Aarhus University) |
| Abstract: | Individuals with extensive debt may be granted debt relief in court. We provide a comprehensive evaluation of the Danish debt relief program with data from court records linked to nationwide register data. Using event-study methods and quasi-random assignment of applicants to court trustees with varying admission rates, we show that debt relief leads to a large increase in earned income, employment, assets, real estate, secured debt, home ownership, and wealth that persists for more than 25 years after a court ruling. The net transition of workers into employment accounts for two thirds of the increase in earned income. |
| Keywords: | debt relief, personal bankruptcy, household finance |
| JEL: | D14 D31 K35 |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17047&r= |
| By: | Leachman, Robert |
| Keywords: | Engineering |
| Date: | 2024–07–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsrrp:qt3bn6j7v6&r= |
| By: | Christopher Jepsen (University College Dublin, CES-Ifo, and IZA); Peter Mueser (University of Missouri and IZA); Kenneth Troske (University of Kentucky and IZA); Kyung-Seong Jeon (University of Missouri) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides novel evidence on the labor-market returns to for-profit postsecondary school and community college attendance. We link administrative records on college attendance with quarterly earnings data for nearly 400, 000 students in one state. Five years after enrollment, quarterly earnings conditional on employment exceed earnings in the absence of schooling by 20-29 percent for students attending for-profit schools and 16-27 percent for students attending community colleges. In aggregate, the benefits of attendance generally exceed the costs in both for-profit schools and community colleges. Our analyses suggest the two types of schools serve very different markets, both in terms of the characteristics of students and the fields they study. When we perform matching analyses with comparable students in comparable fields, we do not find that returns are consistently higher in for-profit schools or community colleges. |
| Keywords: | postsecondary education, labor-market returns, for-profit schools |
| JEL: | J24 I26 |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:umc:wpaper:2407&r= |
| By: | Basistha, Ahana (Indian Statistical Institute); Dhillon, Amrita (Kings College and CAGE); Chaudhuri, Arka Roy (Shiv Nadar University) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the existence of electoral cycles in infrastructure provision in the context of a large rural road building program in India. We use data covering 150, 000 roads over a decade to demonstrate an increase in road building activity before state elections. These electoral cycles in rural road building do not translate into efficiency losses in terms of quality, cost or delay. However, we find evidence that politicians build roads with a lower stipulated construction time before elections. In line with our model’s predictions, we also find that electoral constituencies with a larger share of uninformed voters display larger electoral cycles. |
| Keywords: | Political Business Cycles, Elections, Public Goods, Rural Infrastructure, India JEL Classification: D72, D73, H41, O18 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:712&r= |
| By: | Baridhi Malakar |
| Abstract: | The dissertation consists of three essays on responsible and sustainable finance. I show that local communities should be seen as stakeholders to decisions made by corporations. In the first essay, I examine whether the imposition of fiduciary duty on municipal advisors affects bond yields and advising fees. Using a difference-in-differences analysis, I show that bond yields reduce by 9\% after the imposition of the SEC Municipal Advisor Rule. In the second essay, we analyze the impact of USD 40 billion of corporate subsidies given by U.S. local governments on their borrowing costs. We find that winning counties experience a 15 bps increase in bond yield spread as compared to the losing counties. In the third essay, we provide new evidence that the bankruptcy filing of a locally-headquartered and publicly-listed manufacturing firm imposes externalities on the local governments. Compared to matched counties with similar economic trends, municipal bond yields for affected counties increase by 10 bps within a year of the firm filing for bankruptcy. The final essay examines whether managers walk the talk on the environmental and social discussion. We train a deep-learning model on various corporate sustainability frameworks to construct a comprehensive Environmental and Social (E and S) dictionary. Using this dictionary, we find that the discussion of environmental topics in the earnings conference calls of U.S. public firms is associated with higher pollution abatement and more future green patents. |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2406.12995&r= |
| By: | David K. Evans (Inter-American Development Bank); Pamela Jakiela (Williams College; BREAD; Center for Global Development; IPA; IZA; J-PAL) |
| Abstract: | The role of fathers in parenting young children differs dramatically across societies. Policymakers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are increasingly focused on increasing the amount of early childhood stimulation and other investments received by young children in an attempt to increase human capital accumulation, promote school readiness, and improve long-run outcomes. Until recently, few interventions targeted fathers, and most impact evaluations implicitly assumed that fathers played no meaningful role in parenting. We survey the emerging literature on fathers’ involvement in early childhood stimulation and parenting in LMICs and summarize the patterns of results from rigorous impact evaluations. We find that fathers spend less time stimulating their children’s development than do mothers or other adults who live in the same households in almost every country in our sample, and that mothers’ and fathers’ investments are positively associated. We also find evidence that fathers’ take-up of parent training programs tends to be low, but that such programs have had effects on changing fathers’ knowledge and—to a lesser degree—behaviors. |
| Keywords: | early childhood development, parenting, fathers, gender roles, household income |
| JEL: | J13 J16 J24 O15 |
| Date: | 2024–03–25 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgd:wpaper:686&r= |
| By: | OECD |
| Abstract: | Teleworking has risen to record levels since the COVID-19 outbreak. Beyond supporting business continuity during social distancing, it may contribute to multiple societal objectives in the future where a return to pre-pandemic levels of teleworking seems unlikely. Hence, these issues are becoming more prominent on policy agendas. Strategies that look to teleworking as a tool for local development have more chances to support their underlying objectives, if tailored to local conditions and grounded on evidence. This paper proposes a framework to monitor and assess teleworking practices, related policies and their influence on people, places and firms. It is based on a case study from the Autonomous Province of Trento, Italy. |
| Date: | 2022–12–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:cfeaaa:2022/13-en&r= |
| By: | Helen Dempster (Center for Global Development) |
| Abstract: | Migration research is taking place within a rapidly evolving, contested, and polarized space. It is difficult for researchers who are seeking to influence policymaking on migration to communicate their research, and see their findings translated into action. Arguably, one reason for this lack of translation is that many researchers ignore the outsized role that the public has within migration policymaking. This paper focuses on how researchers can best communicate their findings to policymakers and the public by interrogating what they produce (translating long and complex reports into nuanced narratives, combining facts and emotion-based arguments); who they target (tailoring findings to those in the ‘conflicted’ middle); how they disseminate it (using mediums that appeal to a researchers’ target audience); and when they disseminate it (engaging with the policy adoption process throughout). |
| Date: | 2024–03–28 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgd:wpaper:688&r= |
| By: | Dany Bahar (Brown University; Harvard Growth Lab; Center for Global Development) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the link between Southwest US border crossings and labor market tightness, measured by the job openings to unemployed ratio, over nearly 25 years (2000–2023). Analyzing monthly data, it finds a strong positive correlation, suggesting that increased border crossings align with greater job availability. Exploiting data across different presidential administrations reveals no statistically significant differences in this relationship, regardless of the President’s party. The findings suggest a natural economic adjustment mechanism in which crossings naturally decrease as the labor market cools. |
| Keywords: | migration, border crossings, labor market tightness |
| Date: | 2024–06–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cgd:wpaper:695&r= |
| By: | Salvaggio, Salvino A. |
| Abstract: | This brief review paper explores the economic impact of cultural institutions, focusing on three critical areas: the indicators and methodologies for impact assessment, the broad benefits of cultural investments, and the roles of cultural tourism and public spending. The synthesis draws on diverse sources to suggest that a comprehensive understanding of these factors is crucial for redefining the roles of cultural managers beyond artistic custodianship to agents of economic development, significantly influencing local and broader economic landscapes. |
| Date: | 2024–06–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:n7rgb&r= |
| By: | Behn, Markus; Cornacchia, Wanda; Forletta, Marco; Jarmulska, Barbara; Perales, Cristian; Ryan, Ellen; Serra, Diogo; Tereanu, Eugen; Tumino, Marcello; Abreu, Daniel; Ciampi, Francesco; Ciocchetta, Federica; Drenkovska, Marija; Fritz, Benedikt; Geiger, Sebastian; Melnychuk, Mariya; Meusel, Steffen; Reginster, Alexandre; Rychtárik, Štefan; Vilka, Ilze; Virel, Fleurilys |
| Abstract: | The 2019 revision to the Capital Requirements Directive allowed the systemic risk buffer to be applied on a sectoral basis in the European Union. Since then an increasing number of countries have implemented the new tool, primarily to address vulnerabilities in the residential real estate sector. To inform and foster a consistent understanding and application of the buffer, this paper proposes two specific methodologies. First, an indicator-based approach which provides an aggregate measure of cyclical vulnerabilities in the residential real estate sector and can signal a potential need to activate a sectoral buffer to address them. Second, a model-based approach following a stress test rationale simulating mortgage loan losses under adverse conditions, which can be used as a starting point for calibrating a sectoral buffer. Besides these methodological contributions, the paper conceptually discusses the interaction between the sectoral buffer and other prudential requirements and instruments, ex ante and ex post policy impact assessment, and factors guiding the possible release of the buffer. Finally, the paper considers possible future applications of sectoral buffer requirements for other types of sectoral vulnerabilities, for example in relation to commercial real estate, exposures to non-financial corporations or climate-related risks. JEL Classification: G21, G28 |
| Keywords: | banks, capital buffers, financial stability, macroprudential policy |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbops:2024352&r= |
| By: | Pijpers, Kevin |
| Abstract: | This paper mobilizes Latour & Hermant’s notion of the oligopticon for a situated analysis of urban technologies of surveillance and control in the city of Rotterdam. Oligopticons are networked devices and their socio-political infrastructures that render the city in extremely narrow but very clear representations. In Rotterdam, public management is building and maintaining oligopticons that map, control and intervene in the illegalized disposal of waste. An analysis of two vignettes from the author’s ethnographic fieldwork finds that these oligopticons do more than simply make visible these practices of waste disposal: they engage in an exception politics that frames transgressing as non-participatory, non-modern and abject. The ethnographic vignettes emphasize the salience of intimate and haptic knowledge of urban ecologies. They are hence anarchival: they rebel against the epistemologies of archival data collection by oligopticons. By turning around on the logic of exception, the paper suggests the need to open alternative avenues to attend to, and care for, people and urban ecologies in dark infrastructures: those infrastructures that escape assignment and control by oligopticons. |
| Date: | 2024–06–19 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:bavsy&r= |
| By: | Beuermann, Diether; Ramos Bonilla, Andrea; Stampini, Marco |
| Abstract: | Covering the full population of applicants to the Jamaican Conditional Cash Transfer Program (PATH), we explore whether receiving PATH since childhood altered the academic gains from attending a more preferred public secondary school. To uncover causal associations, we implement a double regression discontinuity design motivated by both the PATH eligibility criteria and the centralized allocation process to public secondary schools. Among girls, receiving PATH benefits did not influence the academic gains from attending a preferred school. However, boys exposed to PATH experienced significantly lower gains from preferred school attendance with respect to comparable peers who did not receive PATH. These results highlight the relevance of considering both the direct effects of conditional cash transfers and the potential indirect effects that such policies could convey through altering the effectiveness of other related policies. |
| Keywords: | Academic Performance;Education;Conditional cash transfers;School Selectivity;Jamaica;human capital |
| JEL: | H52 H75 I21 I26 I28 I38 |
| Date: | 2024–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:13484&r= |
| By: | Jaji, Rose |
| Abstract: | This Policy Brief addresses the challenges that Ghana faces in implementing governance norms on international migration. Although Ghana has committed to the goals of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) and the African Union (AU) and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Protocols on Free Movement, along with complementing them with comprehensive domestic migration policies, there are obstacles to holistic implementation of these goals as well as those in the country's National Migration Policy (NMP). This Policy Brief specifically addresses conflicting interests and priorities among the various actors; reliance on external funding; and lack of coordination and synchronisation between policies as well as between policy and experience at the local level. Ghana participated in the development of the GCM as well as in the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR). It was also actively involved in the Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD), a platform for UN Member States to discuss the opportunities and challenges of migration. Moreover, Ghana committed to submitting a voluntary review of its implementation of the GCM. Accordingly, itsNational Development Planning Commission (NDPC) held a meeting to begin the National Consultation on the GCM on 30 November 2020. Ghana followed up on this by launching the National Coordination Mechanism (NCM) on migration on 28 November 2023, which was set up to strengthen the coordination and coherence of the government's implementation of the GCM in relation to domestic policies and activities related to migration. Ghana also committed to the AU Free Movement Protocol and the ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement. At domestic level, it passed a comprehensive National Migration Policy (NMP) in 2016 and unveiled other policies addressing specific aspects of migration such as the Labour Migration Policy (2019) and the Diaspora Engagement Policy (2020). In view of the implementation challenges for these international pacts and domestic policies, this Policy Brief recommends that the government of Ghana: Implement international and (sub-)regional frameworks as well as domestic migration policies in Ghana in a holistic manner. Match the ambition for (sub-)regional integration with concrete actions that align domestic policies with the ECOWAS and AU Protocols on Free Movement. Earmark funds for policy implementation instead of relying on external funders. The government needs a clear strategy on how it will achieve the goals of its policies in terms of the source and amount of resources needed. This would reduce the counter-productive tension between internal priorities and external funders' interests and narrow the gap between policy and action. Develop and implement policies that complement the NMP and, in the process, dissuade young people from unsafe and 'irregular' migration. This includes harmonisation of migration policies with policies that address factors that influence the decision to migrate. Enforce compliance with migration policies by actors such as migrant recruitment agencies that continued to recruit migrants for domestic work in the Gulf States even when the government had halted this migration corridor in order to reach bilateral agreements with the Gulf States, meant to ensure that Ghanaian domestic workers in this region would be safe and treated with dignity. |
| Keywords: | Migration policy, international norms, migration governance, localisation, partnerships, interests |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:idospb:299534&r= |
| By: | Thomas J. Chemmanur (Carroll School of Management, Boston College); Jiekun Huang (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign); Jing Xie (Department of Finance and Business Economics, Faculty of Business Administration, University of Macau); Yuyuan (Anthony) Zhu (T. Rowe Price) |
| Abstract: | We analyze the relation between the geographical locations of the institutions investing in firms making initial public offerings (IPOs) and IPO firm outcomes. We propose an information sharing hypothesis regarding institutional investments in IPOs whereby geographically proximate institutions (who are more likely to share information with each other) free-ride on each other’s information about IPOs. Such information sharing discourages institutions’ information production, reducing the precision of the information they produce. Consistent with this hypothesis, we find that an increase in the geographical dispersion of the institutions investing in IPO firms is associated with higher IPO price revisions, higher IPO and immediate secondary market valuations, larger IPO initial returns, and a lower extent of information asymmetry facing IPO firms in the post-IPO period. Trading by geographically isolated institutions better predicts long-term stock returns and earnings surprises for IPO firms compared to trading by clustered institutions, reinforcing the information sharing hypothesis. |
| Keywords: | Initial Public Offerings; Institutional Investors; Geography of Institutions; Information Sharing; IPO Valuation |
| JEL: | G23 G14 G32 |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:boa:wpaper:202409&r= |
| By: | Iyer, Lakshmi (University of Notre Dame); Weir, Coleson (University of Notre Dame) |
| Abstract: | Using updated data, we analyze the long-run effects of two British colonial institutions established in India. Iyer (2010) showed that areas under direct colonial rule had fewer schools, health centers, and roads than areas under indirect colonial rule. Two decades later, we find that these differences have been eliminated. Banerjee and Iyer (2005) found lower agricultural investments and productivity in areas with landlord-based colonial land tenure systems. Our updated data finds that only some of these differences have been eliminated. We conclude that the impact of colonial institutions can eventually fade away under the influence of targeted policies. |
| Keywords: | historical institutions, colonial rule, land tenure, agriculture, public goods, India |
| JEL: | P14 N45 O12 O13 |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17051&r= |
| By: | Manchala, Ravibabu; Sahu, Sasmita |
| Abstract: | The paper gives an outline of the evolution of Indian transport sector before and after the Indian independence in 1947 and the policies followed by different governments in these modes since 1947. First the paper traces the status of various modes in 1947 and the role British rule played in evolution of these modes. The discussion then traces important policies followed in various modes in the country since 1947 and how they shaped the growth of each mode of transport. The paper brings out the efforts made in implementing an integrated transport policy across the country. It also highlights the failure in implementing an integrated transport policy by giving major areas of failure. Finally, the paper concludes by giving the broad contours of the future policy directions stating that in the Indian context instead of a tightly integrated transport policy it would be better to provide a level playing field across all the modes and enable the modes to develop in the marketplace. |
| Keywords: | India’s national transport Policy; Historical development of transport infrastructure in India; Transport planning in India |
| JEL: | R48 |
| Date: | 2023–06–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:121158&r= |
| By: | David Simon; Aaron Sojourner; Jon Pedersen; Heidi Ombisa Skallet |
| Abstract: | This paper reports new evidence that giving financial rewards for adopting a child from foster care or becoming a kin guardian improves the later school performance of these children. It uses linked administrative data to examine a policy change in Minnesota. This change increased the payments to adoptive parents and kin guardians for children ages 6 and older, making them equal to what foster care payments were, but didn't raise payments as much for younger children. Difference-in-differences analysis shows that this policy of equalizing payments increased the average academic achievement of foster children by 31 percent of a standard deviation three years after their cases began. Additionally, the policy raised the total value of payments to these children by about $2, 000 during this period. It also led to a 29 percent increase in the monthly chance of moving from foster care to adoption or kin guardianship, improved school stability, and reduced school suspensions. This research contributes to the limited evidence on how financial incentives can encourage adoptions and is one of the first to provide evidence of its positive effects on outcomes beyond the child welfare system. |
| JEL: | H24 I24 I30 J13 |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:32560&r= |
| By: | Branson, Nicola; Hjellbrekke, Johs; Leibbrandt, Murray; Ranchhod, Vimal; Savage, Mike; Whitelaw, Emma |
| Abstract: | It is well evidenced that South Africa is characterised by extreme socioeconomic inequality, which is strongly racialised. We offer an original sociological perspective, which departs from established perspectives considering the dynamics of vulnerability and poverty to focus on the structuring of classed and racialised privilege. We map how stocks of economic, cultural, and social capital intersect to generate systematic and structural inequalities in the country and consider how far these are associated with fundamental racial divides. To achieve this, we utilise rich, nationally representative data from the National Income Dynamics Study and employ Multiple Correspondence Analysis to construct a model of South African ‘social space’. Our findings underscore how entrenched racial divisions remain within South Africa, with White people being overwhelmingly located in the most privileged positions. However, our cluster analysis also indicates that forms of middle-class privilege percolate beyond a core of the 8% of the population that is white. We emphasise how age divisions are associated with social capital accumulation. Our cluster analysis reveals that trust levels increase with economic and cultural capital levels within younger age groups and could therefore come to intensify social and racial divisions. |
| Keywords: | racial inequality; social; social class; South Africa; wealth |
| JEL: | J1 |
| Date: | 2024–06–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:123895&r= |
| By: | Bustos, Emil (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies how a special wage increase for assistant nurses in Sweden affected income and employment. Workers in the public sector receive wages based on negotiations between unions and employers. These agreements usually provide the same wage increase for all covered workers. In 2016, an agreement was reached in the local public sector to provide special wage increases for assistant nurses and regular increases for other workers. I study the effects of this agreement using administrative data on Swedish workers, covering their occupation, income, and collective bargaining coverage. I do a difference-in-differences analysis comparing assistant nurses and attendants covered by the same agreement. The two groups had similar employment and income levels before the agreement was reached. Assistant nurses see higher increases in labor income compared to attendants in the years following the agreement, peaking at SEK 8, 700 (USD 870), or 2.7%. In contrast, I find no robust effects on separation or working time, suggesting that the changes in labor income come from changes in hourly wages. Moreover, there is no effect on benefits usage or sickness payments. |
| Keywords: | Collective Bargaining; Trade Unions; Wages; Employment |
| JEL: | J23 J31 J50 J52 J63 |
| Date: | 2024–06–25 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1494&r= |
| By: | Baridhi Malakar |
| Abstract: | I examine whether the imposition of fiduciary duty on municipal advisors affects bond yields and advising fees. Using a difference-in-differences analysis, I show that bond yields reduce by $\sim$9\% after the imposition of the SEC Municipal Advisor Rule due to lower underwriting spreads. Larger municipalities are more likely to recruit advisors after the rule is effective and experience a greater reduction in yields. However, smaller issuers do not experience a reduction in offering yields after the SEC Rule. Instead, their borrowing cost increases if their primary advisor exits the market. Using novel hand-collected data, I find that the average advising fees paid by issuers does not increase after the regulation. Overall, my results suggest that while fiduciary duty may mitigate the principal-agent problem between some issuers and advisors, there is heterogeneity among issuers. |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2406.15197&r= |
| By: | Jesus Fernandez-Villaverde (University of Pennsylvania, NBER, and CEPR); Tomohide Mineyama (International Monetary Fund); Dongho Song (Johns Hopkins University) |
| Abstract: | After decades of rising global economic integration, the world economy is now fragmenting. To measure this phenomenon, we introduce an index of geopolitical fragmentation derived from various empirical indicators. This index is developed using a flexible dynamic factor model with time-varying parameters and stochastic volatility. We then employ structural vector autoregressions and local projections to assess the causal effects of changes in fragmentation. Our analysis demonstrates that increased fragmentation negatively impacts the global economy, with emerging economies suffering more than advanced ones. Notably, we document a key asymmetry: fragmentation has an immediate negative effect, while the benefits of reduced fragmentation unfold gradually. A sectoral analysis within OECD economies reveals that industries closely linked to global markets —such as manufacturing, construction, finance, and wholesale and retail trade— are adversely affected. Finally, we examine the interaction between fragmentation and the economic dynamics of regional economic blocs, highlighting significant differences in the impacts across various geopolitical blocs. |
| Keywords: | Dynamic factor model, causality, geopolitical fragmentation, fragmentation index |
| JEL: | C11 C33 E00 F01 F2 F4 F6 |
| Date: | 2024–06–25 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pen:papers:24-015&r= |