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on Urban and Real Estate Economics |
| By: | Furbach, Nina |
| Abstract: | Housing expenditure shares decline with income. A household’s income determines its sensitivity to housing costs and drives its location decision. Has spatial skill sorting increased because low income individuals are avoiding increasingly expensive regions? I augment a standard quantitative spatial model with flexible non-homothetic preferences to estimate the effect of the national increase in the relative supply of high skilled workers that has put upward pressure on housing costs in skill-intensive cities. My model explains 10% of the increase in average house prices in Germany from 2007 to 2017 and 11% of the regional differences in house price increases. One third of the effects is due to an increase in spatial skill sorting driven by differences in housing expenditure shares. The observed degree of skill sorting was not significantly different from the optimal allocation in 2007 while skill sorting was larger than optimal in 2017. JEL Classification: H21, H23, R12, R21 |
| Keywords: | geographic worker sorting, Germany, housing demand, non-homotheticiy, quantitative spatial models |
| Date: | 2025–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20253018 |
| By: | Donghoon Lee; Joseph Tracy |
| Abstract: | Based on recent proposals and policy dialogue, it would appear that first-time home buyers (FTB) are indeed facing desperate times. For example, in a recent Urban Institute study, Michael Stegman, Ted Tozer, and Richard Green advocate for a zero-downpayment Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage. They argue that this would be a more efficient way to deliver much needed support to help households transition to homeownership given the challenges of high house prices and mortgage rates. |
| Keywords: | first-time home buyers; homeownership |
| JEL: | G5 R3 |
| Date: | 2025–02–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fednls:99489 |
| By: | Julia Le Blanc; Jiri Slacalek; Matthew N. White |
| Abstract: | Homeownership rates and holdings of housing wealth differ immensely across countries. We specify and estimate a life cycle model with risky labor income and house prices in which households face a discrete–continuous choice between renting and owning a house, whose sale is subject to transaction costs. The model allows us to quantify three groups of explanatory factors for long-run, structural differences in the extensive and intensive margins of housing: the homeownership rate and the value of housing wealth of homeowners. First, in line with survey evidence, we allow for differences in expectations of house prices. Second, countries differ in the institutional set-up of the housing market: maximum loan–value ratio and costs of renting, maintaining, and selling a house. Third, we allow for differences in household preferences: the dispersion in discount factors, the share of housing expenditure, and the bequest motive. We estimate the model using micro data from five large economies and provide a decomposition to interpret what drives the cross-country differences in housing wealth. We find that all three groups of factors matter, although preferences less so. Differences in homeownership rates are strongly affected by (i) house price beliefs and (ii) the rental wedge, the difference between rents and maintenance costs, which reflects the quality of the rental market. Differences in the value of housing wealth are substantially driven by housing maintenance costs. |
| Keywords: | housing, homeownership, house price expectations, housing market institutions, cross-country comparisons |
| JEL: | D15 D31 D84 E21 G11 G51 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11621 |
| By: | Oettinger, Sophia |
| Abstract: | This dissertation examines Latin America’s historical attempts to address urban housing precarity during the 1990s through market-based social housing policies, focusing on Chile, Mexico, and Uruguay. It assesses how these policies, shaped by national coalition- building challenges, historical social policy frameworks, and state capacities, failed to resolve housing issues. Despite advancements in housing studies, the dual nature of housing as both a social good and a commodity—along with its complex social, financial, and spatial connections within the capitalist economy—remains insufficiently understood. This research employs a Marxist-inspired perspective to explore the nuances and shortcomings of the post- Cold War mixed economy governance in Latin America, situated between economic developmentalism and political liberalisation. It revisits concepts of post-structural development deploying the notion of 'privatised Keynesianism.' Latin American governments, aiming to stimulate housing markets, exacerbated economic instability by subsidising debt-financed consumption of market-produced social housing. Contrary to optimistic expectations about the spillover effects of financial liberalisation, this approach led to increased household indebtedness and deteriorating housing conditions. The dissertation reveals how the shift to market-oriented social housing policies and overwhelming focus on macroeconomic demand stimulation, intensified the link between liberalised financial markets and housing beneficiaries. To avoid confronting the wealthy while addressing poverty, the new welfare regime rather relied on informal housing solutions, such as self-built homes and cooperative models, pointing to the inherent capitalist dichotomy between the right to housing and the right to the city. Those intricacies fundamentally altered state-market-citizen relations and the spatial dynamics of modern cities. |
| JEL: | R31 |
| Date: | 2024–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:wpaper:127153 |
| By: | Guillaume Chapelle; Morgan Ubeda (CY Cergy Paris Université, THEMA) |
| Abstract: | Unemployment rates vary significantly across neighborhoods and worker types, yet the role of transport infrastructures in explaining these disparities remains unexplored. We propose a quantitative urban model with frictional unemployment and heterogeneous workers where better connections between neighborhoods might exacerbate unemployment disparities due to competition among workers. We document this phenomenon using a difference-indifferences to estimate the impact of the creation of the Paris Regional Express Rail (RER). We find that the project increased the unemployment rate of low-skilled workers, but not of their high-skilled counterparts. In Paris, differences in job market access reduce unemployment inequalities between college graduates and the rest of the population. |
| Keywords: | Urban unemployment, Transport Networks, Spatial Mismatch, Unemployment dispersion |
| JEL: | R31 R52 R21 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ema:worpap:2025-01 |
| By: | John List; Haruka Uchida |
| Abstract: | Excellence gaps - disparities in advanced academic achievement - between racial groups appear by age 8 or 9 and persist throughout secondary school in the United States. About one-third of the gap is due to socio-economic status and one-tenth to school factors, indicating that policies should address both educational and local environments. |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:feb:natura:00806 |
| By: | Uditi Karna; Min Sok Lee; John List; Andrew Simon; Haruka Uchida |
| Abstract: | Educational disparities remain a key contributor to increasing social and wealth inequalities. To address this, researchers and policymakers have focused on average differences between racial groups or differences among students who are falling behind. This focus potentially leads to educational triage, diverting resources away from high-achieving students, including those from racial minorities. Here we focus on the "racial excellence gap" - the difference in the likelihood that students from racial minorities (Black and Hispanic) reach the highest levels of academic achievement compared with their non-minority (white and Asian) peers. There is a shortage of evidence that systematically measures the magnitude of the excellence gap and how it evolves. Using longitudinal, statewide, administrative data, we document eight facts regarding the excellence gap from third grade (typically ages 8-9) to high school (typically ages 14-18), link the stability of excellence gaps and student backgrounds, and assess the efficacy of public policies. We show that excellence gaps in maths and reading are evident by the third grade and grow slightly over time, especially for female students. About one third of the gap is explained by a student's socioeconomic status, and about one tenth is explained by the school environment. Top-achieving racial minority students are also less likely to persist in excellence as they progress through school. Moreover, state accountability policies that direct additional resources to reduce non-race-based inequality had minimal effects on the racial excellence gaps. Documenting these patterns is an important step towards eliminating excellence gaps and removing the "racial glass ceiling". |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:feb:natura:00807 |
| By: | Constant, A.F.; Schüller, Simone; Zimmermann, Klaus (Mt Economic Research Inst on Innov/Techn, RS: GSBE other - not theme-related research) |
| Abstract: | The role of ethnic clustering in ethnic identity formation has remained unexplored, mainly due to missing detailed data. This study closes the knowledge gap for Germany by employing a unique combination of datasets, the survey data from the German Socio-Economic Panel and disaggregated information at low geographical levels from the last two but still unexploited full German censuses, 1970 and 1987. Utilizing the exogenous placement of immigrants during the recruitment era in the 1960s and 1970s we find that local co-ethnic concentration affects immigrants’ ethnic identity. While residential ethnic clustering strengthens immigrants’ retention of an affiliation with their origin (minority identity), it weakens identification with the host society (majority identity). The effects are nonlinear and become significant only at relatively high levels of co-ethnic concentration for the minority identity and at very low levels of local concentration for the majority identity. The findings are robust to an instrumental variable approach. |
| JEL: | J15 R23 Z10 |
| Date: | 2023–05–24 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2023019 |
| By: | Andrea Salustri (Università Sapienza di Roma - Dipartimento di Studi Giuridici ed Economici); Marco Forti (Università Sapienza di Roma - Dipartimento di Studi Giuridici ed Economici) |
| Abstract: | The crisis triggered by COVID-19 has resulted in an appreciation of proximity tourism as a key factor for people’s well-being and for the economic resilience of Italy’s peripheral areas. In general, the success of proximity tourism might depend on: the relationships that tourists establish with a plurality of stakeholders; the degree of development and accessibility of the areas, especially when considering the tourism attractiveness of rural and natural areas; the contribution of culturally sustainable proximity tourism to narrow territorial and economic disparities on a local, provincial or regional scale. Against this background, the research explores the potential of the Province of Latina for culturally sustainable proximity tourism that considers the metropolitan city of Rome as its place of origin. In particular, the research answers the following questions: what are the most attractive destinations for proximity tourism from the Metropolitan City of Rome to the Province of Latina? What territorial factors can positively or negatively influence local tourism attractiveness? What benefits do local communities obtain from the development of proximity tourism from the Metropolitan City of Rome? To elaborate an answer, a multidimensional analysis is developed focusing on the construction and measurement of a composite index integrating four domains: tourist attractiveness, tourist development, economic development and territorial development. Using the data published by ISTAT at the municipal scale, integrated with other data collected through desk research, a score for the composite indicator is calculated for each municipality from the measurement of a set of elementary indicators. Based on the results obtained, policy recommendations are formulated that may contribute to identifying the role of proximity tourism in the Province of Latina as part of a culturally sustainable local development process. |
| Keywords: | culturally sustainable proximity tourism, tourism attractiveness, territorial and economic development, Province of Latina |
| JEL: | L8 Z32 O18 |
| Date: | 2025–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gfe:pfrp00:00068 |
| By: | Jacques-François Thisse; Matthew M.D. Turner; Filipp Ushchev |
| Date: | 2024–09–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulb:ulbeco:2013/387733 |
| By: | Sani Modi (JG College of Education, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India) |
| Abstract: | This paper focuses on the study of the effect of higher secondary school teachers’ teaching commitment on their teaching aptitude among school teachers in Ahmedabad City. The main objective of the study was to know the effect of teacher commitment, gender and experience on their teaching aptitude. A random sampling technique was used to collect samples, and a standardized tool of Modi was used to assess teacher commitment and teaching aptitude. The T-Test was conducted to analyze the main effects of teacher commitment, gender and experience on their effects on teaching aptitude. The population of the study consisted of higher secondary school teachers in Ahmedabad City. The findings reveal that there is no significant difference between teacher commitment, gender and experience in teaching aptitude. |
| Keywords: | higher secondary school teacher, teaching commitment, teaching aptitude |
| Date: | 2024–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:smo:raiswp:0420 |
| By: | Alessandra Fogli; Veronica Guerrieri; Mark Ponder; Marta Prato |
| Abstract: | Since the 1980s, the US has experienced not only a steady increase in income inequality, but also a contemporaneous rise in residential segregation by income. What is the relationship between inequality and residential segregation? How does it affect intergenerational mobility? We first document a positive correlation between inequality and segregation, both over time and across metro areas. We then develop a general equilibrium model where parents choose the neighborhood where they raise their children and invest in their children’s education. In the model, segregation and inequality amplify each other because of a local spillover that affects the return to education. We calibrate the model to a representative US metro in 1980 and use the micro estimates of neighborhood exposure effects in Chetty and Hendren (2018b) to discipline the strength of the local spillover. We first use the calibrated version of the model to explore the economy’s response to an unexpected skill premium shock. We find that segregation dynamics played a significant role in amplifying the increase in inequality and in dampening intergenerational mobility. We then use the model to explore the effects of policies designed to move poor families to better neighborhoods, like the Moving To Opportunity (MTO) program. We show that scaling up MTO policies induces general equilibrium effects that limit their efficacy. |
| Date: | 2025–01–31 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedmoi:99487 |
| By: | KUMAGAI Junya; YOO Sunbin; MANAGI Shunsuke |
| Abstract: | This study examines the impact of migration between urban and rural areas on well-being, with a focus on overall life satisfaction and domain-specific satisfaction. Although previous research has established that migration to areas with declining population often reduces subjective well-being, little is known about how such urban-rural migration affects satisfaction across specific life domains. Using data from an online survey conducted among individuals in Japan, we find that migration to urban areas improves overall life satisfaction, resulting in a 7.39% higher life satisfaction compared to those who remain in rural areas. Additionally, such migration increases satisfaction in domains including jobs and wages, childcare, elderly care, and opportunities to meet people. In contrast, migration to rural areas does not improve well-being in domains such as environmental, security, and community satisfaction, which is hypothesized as advantages of migration to declining cities. Contrary to the common belief that people staying in rural areas have lower satisfaction with education and health than urban migrants, our findings reveal no significant disparity in these domains. By shedding light on domain-specific satisfaction, overall, our findings highlight the pronounced benefits of migration to urban areas. These results underscore the urgency for declining cities to improve their standards in these key domains to ensure long-term sustainability. |
| Date: | 2025–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:25013 |
| By: | Hadi Elzayn; Simon Freyaldenhoven; Ryan Kobler; Minchul Shin |
| Abstract: | Black Americans are both substantially more likely to have their mortgage application rejected and substantially more likely to default on their mortgages than White Americans. We take these stark inequalities as a starting point to ask the question: How fair or unfair is the U.S. mortgage market? We show that the answer to this question crucially depends on the definition of fairness. We consider six competing and widely used definitions of fairness and find that they lead to markedly different conclusions. We then combine these six definitions into a series of stylized facts that offer a more comprehensive view of fairness in this market. To facilitate further exploration, an interactive Online Appendix allows the user to examine our fairness measurements further across both time and space. |
| Keywords: | fairness; discrimination; inequality; measurement; algorithmic decisions; HMDA |
| JEL: | D63 G21 G28 J15 R21 |
| Date: | 2025–02–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedpwp:99500 |
| By: | Baum, Christopher F.; Lööf, Hans; Stephan, Andreas; Zimmermann, Klaus |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the wage earnings of fully-employed previous refugee immigrants in Sweden. Using administrative employer-employee data from 1990 onwards, about 100, 000 refugee immigrants who arrived between 1980 and 1996 and were granted asylum, are compared to a matched sample of native-born workers. Employing re-centered influence function (RIF) quantile regressions to wage earnings for the period 2011–2015, the occupational-task-based Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition approach shows that refugees perform better than natives at the median wage, controlling for individual and firm characteristics. This overperformance is due to female refugee immigrants, who have—relative to their endowment—higher wages than comparable native-born female peers up to the 8th decile of the wage distribution. Given their endowments, refugee immigrant females perform better than native females across all occupational tasks studied, including non-routine cognitive tasks. A remarkable similarity exists in the relative wage distributions among various refugee groups, suggesting that cultural differences and the length of time spent in the host country do not significantly affect their labor market performance. |
| JEL: | O15 J60 J24 F22 C23 |
| Date: | 2024–02–26 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2024004 |
| By: | Mariana Laverde (Boston College); Elton Mykerezi (University of Minnesota); Aaron Sojourner (W. E. Upjohn Institute); Aradhya Sood (University of Toronto) |
| Abstract: | The literature on assignment mechanisms largely focuses on efficiency based on agents’ preferences, though policymakers may prioritize different goals. In assigning teach- ers to classrooms, a school district might prioritize student learning but must also consider teacher welfare. This paper studies the potential gains in student test scores from alternative within-district assignments of teachers to classrooms, using novel ad- ministrative data on teacher and school principal decisions from the district’s internal transfer system (ITS) and student test scores under the observed assignments. To credi- bly predict student test scores under unrealized assignments, we jointly model student achievement and teacher and principal decisions, accounting for potential selection of teachers on test score gains. We estimate the variation in teachers’ comparative advantage in producing learning to be one-ninth the magnitude of the variation in their general effectiveness. Further, teachers dislike comparative advantage–based assignments. Assignment of teachers to classrooms to maximize learning under the constraint of not reducing any assigned teacher’s welfare would raise the average test score by 7% of a standard deviation (SD) relative to that under the observed assign- ment, with this effect driven mostly by assignment of teachers with higher general effectiveness to larger classrooms rather than by harnessing teachers’ comparative advantage. |
| JEL: | D47 J20 I21 I24 |
| Date: | 2025–02–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:boc:bocoec:1085 |
| By: | Poggi Ambra (Department of Economics, Social Studies, Applied Mathematics and Statistics, University of Turin, Torino, Italy); Simeone Enza (Department of Economics, Social Studies, Applied Mathematics and Statistics, University of Turin, Torino, Italy) |
| Keywords: | Social Capital; Regional Resources; Inequality; Mixed-effects Model |
| JEL: | I14 C23 D30 R10 O57 |
| Date: | 2025–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tur:wpapnw:097 |
| By: | James, William |
| Abstract: | Economic historians have acknowledged the importance of the accumulation of craft knowledge and the incremental innovations that it helped to induce in turning Europe from a technological backwater in the thirteenth century to the most technologically advanced part of the world by 1750. Yet though artisanal manufacturing was largely an urban phenomenon in the early modern period, there has not been extensive historiographical focus specifically on how different urban dynamics shaped the production and circulation of craft knowledge. Additionally, those that do explore artisanal knowledge within the urban context often do so through the lens of agglomeration theory which presents a highly generalised understanding of the impact of cities. This critical review brings together the literatures from urban history and the history of science and technology with the intention of developing a more nuanced understanding that emphasises idiosyncrasy and heterogeneity rather than generality in the ways that European cities shaped artisanal knowledge. |
| JEL: | N63 |
| Date: | 2024–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:wpaper:127149 |
| By: | D'Allesandro, Francesco; Santarelli, Enrico; Vivarelli, Marco |
| Abstract: | In this paper we integrate the insights of the Knowledge Spillover Theory of Entrepreneurship and Innovation (KSTE+I) with Schumpeter's idea that innovative entrepreneurs creatively apply available local knowledge, possibly mediated by Marshallian, Jacobian and Porter spillovers. In more detail, in this study we assess the degree of pervasiveness and the level of opportunities brought about by AI technologies by testing the possible correlation between the regional AI knowledge stock and the number of new innovative ventures (that is startups patenting in any technological field in the year of their foundation). Empirically, by focusing on 287 Nuts-2 European regions, we test whether the local AI stock of knowledge exerts an enabling role in fostering innovative entry within AI-related local industries (AI technologies as focused enablers) and within non AI-related local industries, as well (AI technologies as generalised enablers). Results from Negative Binomial fixed-effect and Poisson fixed-effect regressions (controlled for a variety of concurrent drivers of entrepreneurship) reveal that the local AI knowledge stock does promote the spread of innovative startups, so supporting both the KSTE+I approach and the enabling role of AI technologies; however, this relationship is confirmed only with regard to the sole high-tech/AI-related industries. |
| JEL: | O33 L26 |
| Date: | 2024–08–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2024016 |
| By: | Hamlin, Daniel; Peltier, Corey (University of Oklahoma); Reeder, Stacy |
| Abstract: | Rigorous evaluations have consistently demonstrated that high impact tutoring is one of the most effective ways to accelerate student learning. However, few studies compare the effects of high impact tutoring to alternative interventions, and even less scholarship tests for differences within tutoring models based on tutoring group size. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of a university-led high impact tutoring model on ninth-grade mathematics achievement at seven high schools. A randomized controlled trial design was used for three separate cohorts of ninth-grade students. In the pooled sample, students (n = 524) in the treatment group participated in high impact tutoring (i.e., student-tutor groups of 2:1 or 3:1) three times a week for an entire academic year. In the control group, students (n = 438) attended a remediation mathematics course. The treatment group showed a difference of approximately a half-year of additional learning (0.14 SD) compared to the control group although both groups achieved academic growth that considerably exceeded expected growth trajectories for ninth-grade students. Results also showed that 2:1 student-tutor groups did not outperform 3:1 student-tutor groups, suggesting that 3:1 student-tutor ratios can be used to expand high impact tutoring with no detrimental effects on academic performance. Considering the well-documented logistical and financial barriers to high impact tutoring, our work indicates that remedial courses may also be a cost-effective alternative in cases when resources for high impact tutoring are limited. |
| Date: | 2024–08–30 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:edarxi:kqdfp_v1 |
| By: | Bernard, Josef; Refisch, Martin; Kostelecky, Tomas; Grzelak, Anna; Konopski, Michal; Klärner, Andreas |
| Abstract: | The concept of left-behind places or regions has skyrocketed in recent years and various empirical studies are using the concept to describe (not only) economically lagging regions. Yet, there is still no settled definition and method of measurement of left-behindness in the social sciences. In the methodological part this working paper presents a plausible conceptualisation and operationalisation of left-behind regions in European Union countries. The operationalization of “left-behindness” is guided by several principles: it is relative to national standards, multidimensional, and both structural and dynamic. Labour market regions are identified as the appropriate spatial unit for analysis. The study uses NUTS3 regions, aggregated for metropolitan areas and adjacent regions, excluding extraterritorial and small countries. A total of 918 regions across 25 countries are analysed using indicators related to economic viability, social structure, and population development from 1993 to 2021. Our empirical analysis highlights how the nature of “left-behindness” varies across Europe, with a particular focus on Central and Eastern Europe. In these regions, left-behindness is closely tied to regional disadvantages, char-acterized by low economic prosperity, reduced social status, and higher poverty rates. These areas often experi-ence stagnation or shrinkage, with non-metropolitan regions being particularly affected, possibly due to poorer infrastructure. In other parts of Europe, the different dimensions of left-behindness are less coherently associ-ated and do not form clear spatial patterns. In particular, poverty is spatially decoupled from low economic pros-perity in many countries. Overall, we identified macro-regional differences of left-behindness manifestation across Europe, shaped by historical, economic, and social factors unique to each region. |
| Keywords: | Community/Rural/Urban Development |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:jhimwp:349286 |
| By: | Vincent Boucher; Michelle Rendall; Filipp Ushchev; Yves Zenou |
| Abstract: | There is substantial empirical evidence showing that peer effects matter in many activities. The workhorse model in empirical work on peer effects is the linear-in-means (LIM) model, whereby it is assumed that agents are linearly affected by the mean action of their peers. We develop a new general model of peer effects that relaxes the linear assumption of the best-reply functions and the mean peer behavior and that encompasses the spillover, conformist model, and LIM model as special cases. Then, using data on adolescent activities in the United States, we structurally estimate this model. We find that for many activities, individuals do not behave according to the LIM model. We run some counterfactual policies and show that imposing the mean action as an individual social norm is misleading and leads to incorrect policy implications. |
| Keywords: | Spillovers, conformism, structural estimation, policies |
| Date: | 2024–01–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulb:ulbeco:2013/387754 |
| By: | Guillaume Vandenbroucke |
| Abstract: | A demographic analysis examines how the rates of natural increase and net migration contributed to U.S. population growth from 1910 to 2022. |
| Keywords: | net migration; immigration |
| Date: | 2025–02–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:l00001:99516 |
| By: | Héctor M. Núñez |
| Abstract: | This research examines spatial integration in Mexican regional-food markets, with an emphasis on the degree of processing. The analysis employs a pairwise approach to evaluate the convergence of price differentials for each item across city pairs. Additionally, it examines the influence of geographical and economic factors on price convergence. Key findings reveal: 1) there is no evidence of market divergence across food processing categories; 2) unprocessed items exhibit the highest levels of market integration and the fastest adjustment rates; 3) price differentials for unprocessed items consistently demonstrate nationwide integration; and 4) factors such as geographical proximity, road infrastructure, and the similarity in store density between cities significantly enhance the speed of price convergence toward long-run equilibrium. |
| Keywords: | Food prices;Food processing degree;Spatial market integration;Distance |
| JEL: | C33 E31 Q11 |
| Date: | 2025–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdm:wpaper:2025-01 |
| By: | Alberto Porto; Jorge Puig; Bautista Vidal |
| Abstract: | We study the dynamic impact of intergovernmental transfers on subnational budgets. Unlike the abundant literature that focuses on local governments, in this paper we study intermediate governments. Using the ideal case of a multi-level government like Argentina, and methods for dynamic analysis, we disentangled the nature of subnational fiscal adjustments that follow a shock in federal transfers. In the short run, transfers lead to a more than proportional increase in spending, while own-source revenues rise slightly, resulting in a deficit. In the long-run, provinces recover fiscal equilibrium by adjusting spending and taxes to a level consistent with a balanced budget. The steady-state equilibrium involves a higher level of spending, as transfers increase endogenously as a result of cross-regional spillover effects. We also provide a potential mechanisms driving fiscal adjustments and explore relevant extensions that consider regional disparities and different types of taxes, spending, and transfers used to balance subnational budgets. Overall, the paper offers valuable insights for designing subnational fiscal policy. |
| JEL: | D72 H11 H20 H50 H77 |
| Date: | 2025–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:akh:wcefip:049 |
| By: | Eduardo Amaral Haddad; Inácio F. Araújo; Dina N. Elshahawany; João Gabriel Sacco; Maria Carolina Rogelis-Prada; Antonios Pomonis; Guillermo Toyos; Hogeun Park |
| Abstract: | This study evaluates the economic costs for three Egyptian coastal cities of catastrophic flooding resulting from either sea-level rise or intense rainfall. Using a computable general equilibrium (CGE) framework, we assess the higher-order impacts of physical capital loss on both regional and national economies. Leveraging global flood hazard maps for various scenarios and return periods, and a 100-meter-resolution buildings-exposure model, which estimates the replacement value of residential and non-residential buildings at each floor level, we estimate the share of physical capital at risk. Our analysis covers Egypt’s main port cities on the Mediterranean Sea (Alexandria, Damietta, and Port Said), taking into account seven scenarios and three intensities of destruction. Results indicate significant variability in economic impacts, with coastal flooding due to sea-level rise posing a more substantial threat to Port Said and Damietta, whereas pluvial flooding from intense rainfall would more heavily impact Alexandria. The findings underscore the need for targeted investments in climate resilience, particularly for coastal infrastructure, to mitigate future economic losses. |
| Date: | 2025–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ocp:rpaeco:pp02_25 |
| By: | Ethan Kaplan; Jörg L. Spenkuch; Cody Tuttle |
| Abstract: | In 1975, a federal court ordered the desegregation of public schools in Jefferson County, KY. In order to approximately equalize the share of minorities across schools, students were assigned to a busing schedule that depended on the first letter of their last name. We use the resulting quasi-random variation to estimate the long-run impact of attending an inner-city school on political participation and preferences among whites. Drawing on administrative voter registration records and an original survey, we find that being bused to an inner-city school significantly increases support for the Democratic Party and its candidates more than forty years later. Consistent with the idea that exposure to an inner-city environment causes a permanent change in ideological outlook, we also find evidence that bused individuals are much less likely to believe in a “just world” (i.e., that success is earned rather than attributable to luck) and, more tentatively, that they become more supportive of some forms of redistribution. Taken together, our findings point to a poverty-centered version of the contact hypothesis, whereby witnessing economic deprivation durably sensitizes individuals to issues of inequality and fairness. |
| Keywords: | ideology, inequality, school desegregation, busing |
| JEL: | H00 P00 J00 N00 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11625 |
| By: | Vedanta Dhamija; Ricardo Nunes; Roshni Tara |
| Abstract: | Housing is a closely monitored and prominent sector for households. We find that households tend to overweight house price expectations when forming inflation expectations with a coefficient of 25–45 percent, significantly above the weight of house prices in the inflation index. We first use two datasets, a multitude of controls, and an instrumental variable approach to address endogeneity. We then use a second strategy based on household heterogeneity. As expected, we find a significant effect of cognitive abilities and whether households moved house recently. We model this household behavior in a two-sector New Keynesian model with an overweighted and a non-overweighted sector and show that overweighted sectors are disproportionately more important for monetary policy. |
| Date: | 2025–01–30 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:wpaper:1069 |
| By: | Andrew B. BERNARD; Andreas MOXNES; SAITO Yukiko |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the importance of economic integration on the production of innovation. During the late 1980s and-90s, Shikoku and Honshu, Japan’s largest and fourth largest islands, were connected for the first time by three different bridges. This greatly reduced travel times compared to previous modes of transport such as ferry. We examine the impact of bridge connections on team formation and the production of knowledge, as measured by patent data. Using the geolocation of inventors before the opening of the bridges, we find that inventors located close to the bridges increased knowledge production more than inventors located farther away from the bridges. The treated inventors matched to more productive inventors at greater distances. Inventors on Shikoku were more likely to change their innovation teams and add co-inventors from Honshu while dismissing collaborators from Shikoku. The results are robust to instrumenting for the location of the bridges using the minimum bridge span distances between Shikoku and Honshu. We present a parsimonious economic framework that is largely consistent with the empirical evidence. Our results suggest that economic integration can have sizable effects on idea creation and innovation. |
| Date: | 2025–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:25009 |
| By: | Kyra Hanemaaijer (Erasmus University Rotterdam and Tinbergen Institute); Nadine Ketel (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Tinbergen Institute); Olivier Marie (Erasmus University Rotterdam and Tinbergen Institute) |
| Abstract: | When decision-makers overemphasize salient features under limited attention, biased decisions can result in settings in which decisions should be unbiased. We exploit a sudden shock in the salience of individuals of Moroccan descent in the Netherlands to test the vulnerability of decisions of various actors in the Dutch criminal justice system to biases. Using high-quality data on decisions made from arrest through appeal in the Dutch CJS, we find that the sentence length of individuals of Moroccan descent convicted of a crime increased by 79% after the shock. Heterogeneity analyses indicate that more-experienced judges mitigate this effect. Finally, we find suggestive evidence of longer-term costs for defendants of Moroccan descent in that their labor income drops by 40% over the four years following their judgment of conviction. |
| Keywords: | salience in decision making, criminal justice system, Netherlands |
| JEL: | D83 J15 K42 |
| Date: | 2024–11–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20240065 |
| By: | Luca Colombo (ESC [Rennes] - ESC Rennes School of Business); Paola Labrecciosa (ESSCA - ESSCA – École supérieure des sciences commerciales d'Angers = ESSCA Business School); Agnieszka Rusinowska (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | We take a novel approach based on differential games to the study of criminal networks. We extend the static crime network game (Ballester et al., 2006, 2010) to a dynamic setting where criminal activities negatively impact the accumulation of total wealth in the economy. We derive a Markov Feedback Equilibrium and show that, unlike in the static crime network game, the vector of equilibrium crime rates is not necessarily proportional to the vector of Bonacich centralities. Next, we conduct a comparative dynamic analysis with respect to the network size, the network density, and the marginal expected punishment, finding results in contrast with those arising in the static crime network game. We also shed light on a novel issue in the network theory literature, i.e., the existence of a voracity effect. Finally, we study the problem of identifying the optimal target in the population of criminals when the planner's objective is to minimize aggregate crime at each point in time. Our analysis shows that the key player in the dynamic and the static setting may differ, and that the key player in the dynamic setting may change over time. |
| Keywords: | Differential games, Markov equilibrium, Criminal networks, Bonacich centrality, Key player |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:pseptp:hal-04850675 |
| By: | Fanny Landaud (THEMA - Théorie économique, modélisation et applications - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - CY - CY Cergy Paris Université, CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Éric Maurin (PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Barton Willage (University of Colorado [Denver], NBER - National Bureau of Economic Research [New York] - NBER - The National Bureau of Economic Research); Alexander Willén (NHH - Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration, Department of Economics - Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration, UCLS - Uppsala Center for Labor Studies) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides novel evidence on the causal effect of high school Grade Point Average (GPA) on the human capital development and labor market trajectory of individuals. Causal identification is achieved by exploiting a unique feature of the Norwegian education system that produces exogenous variation in GPA among high school students. We find little effect on the number of completed years of higher education, but significant effects on the number and quality of higher education programs available to students after high school. Most importantly, we find persistent effects on students' long-run labor market outcomes, most notably market wage. |
| Keywords: | Returns to education, High school GPA, High-stakes exams |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:pseptp:halshs-04409423 |
| By: | Misuraca, Roberta; Zimmermann, Klaus (Mt Economic Research Inst on Innov/Techn, RS: GSBE other - not theme-related research) |
| Abstract: | A scarce literature deals with the consumption implications of cultural assimilation and integration, ethnic clustering and diasporas, the marginal propensity to consume, home production and allocation of time, ethnic consumption, migration, and trade, as well as native consumption responses. Consumption patterns reflect how migrants integrate into their new environment while preserving their cultural origins. The identity formation may also affect economic and societal relations between the involved countries. |
| JEL: | E21 J15 Z10 |
| Date: | 2024–04–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2024006 |
| By: | Mehmood, Tahir |
| Abstract: | This conceptual research article explores the transformative potential of multilingual transformer models, such as BERT, in providing real-time translation and language support in International Baccalaureate (IB) schools. As IB programs are implemented globally, language diversity presents both a challenge and an opportunity to enhance educational experiences. The study investigates how multilingual transformers can bridge language barriers, facilitating communication and understanding among students and teachers from diverse linguistic backgrounds. By leveraging advanced AI technologies, this research demonstrates the practical applications and benefits of real-time translation and language assistance, ultimately promoting inclusivity and enhancing the overall learning environment in IB schools. |
| Date: | 2024–08–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:edarxi:cs4wj_v1 |
| By: | Hadi Elzayn; Simon Freyaldenhoven; Minchul Shin |
| Abstract: | We develop a clustering-based algorithm to detect loan applicants who submit multiple applications (“cross-applicants”) in a loan-level dataset without personal identifiers. A key innovation of our approach is a novel evaluation method that does not require labeled training data, allowing us to optimize the tuning parameters of our machine learning algorithm. By applying this methodology to Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data, we create a unique dataset that consolidates mortgage applications to the individual applicant level across the United States. Our preferred specification identifies cross-applicants with 93 percent precision |
| Keywords: | clustering; mortgage applications; HMDA |
| JEL: | C38 C63 C81 G21 R21 |
| Date: | 2025–02–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedpwp:99499 |
| By: | Sacha den Nijs (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam); Mark Thissen (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Tinbergen Institute) |
| Abstract: | Resilience and competitiveness in relation to fossil energy dependencies is of increasing concern to industries and policy makers. We investigate to what extent the competitive position of industries in European regions are sensitive to changes in fossil fuel prices, and whether reductions in gas use along the value chain may increase regional industry resilience. A new spatial revealed cost competition model based on the input-output price model is used and calibrated to multi-regional world input-output tables on an EU NUTS 2 level. We obtain elasticities of fossil fuel prices on revealed cost competitiveness and analyze how they are affected by increased efficiency and electrification in production. We show that European regions are resilient to global coal price increases, whereas they are vulnerable to gas price shocks. The transition towards using less gas in production, by efficiency improvements or electrification, can reduce these gas price vulnerabilities. However, when competitors become more efficient instead, the vulnerability to such shocks may increase. Decarbonizing upstream sectors like electricity generation in the own region, own country or in Europe, can increase resilience of downstream industrial sectors in most European regions. |
| Keywords: | Competitiveness, regional resilience, fossil fuels, energy efficiency, global value chains, input-output analysis |
| JEL: | F18 Q41 R11 R15 |
| Date: | 2024–11–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tin:wpaper:20240061 |
| By: | Hillenbrand, Tobias (RS: GSBE MGSoG, Maastricht Graduate School of Governance); Martorano, Bruno (Maastricht Graduate School of Governance, RS: GSBE MGSoG); Metzger, Laura; Siegel, Melissa (Maastricht Graduate School of Governance, RS: GSBE MGSoG, RS: UNU-MERIT Theme 2, RS: UNU-MERIT Theme 6, RS: FdR Research Group ITEM, RS: UNU-MERIT - MACIMIDE) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses data collected in May 2023 to better understand how Germans feel towards Syrian refugees. Generally, while feelings of different types of humanitarian concern (safety, material wellbeing, health, future opportunities) were similar, threat feelings (welfare, safety, culture) were slightly higher with the notable exception of less concern about labour market competition. We find that younger people, people with a university degree, or people with a migration background feel less threatened by the immigration of refugees with the most significant differences in attitudes towards refugees based on people’s social and political values. Respondents with stronger humanitarian orientations, higher trust levels and who do not place themselves on the right side of the political spectrum, show markedly higher levels of humanitarian concerns and lower threat perceptions. In addition to measuring attitudes, we also measured respondents’ solidarity towards refugees. Only 29 percent and 23 percent of respondents are willing to sign a petition in favour of financial aid to refugee camps or admissions to Germany, respectively. Respondents with higher levels of social trust are much more likely to express their support for more camp assistance than less trusting respondents. Regarding refugee admissions, a stark divide emerges along political lines, with individuals on the political left showing much greater openness to admitting refugees than those on the right. We find limited support for housing refugees in Germany, especially when asking for respondents’ willingness to accommodate refugees privately. |
| JEL: | A13 D63 I31 J15 O15 |
| Date: | 2023–09–25 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2023033 |
| By: | Jia Chen; Guowei Cui; Vasilis Sarafidis; Takashi Yamagata |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a Mean Group Instrumental Variables (MGIV) estimator for spatial dynamic panel data models with interactive effects, under large N and T asymptotics. Unlike existing approaches that typically impose slope-parameter homogeneity, MGIV accommodates cross-sectional heterogeneity in slope coefficients. The proposed estimator is linear, making it computationally efficient and robust. Furthermore, it avoids the incidental parameters problem, enabling asymptotically valid inferences without requiring bias correction. The Monte Carlo experiments indicate strong finite-sample performance of the MGIV estimator across various sample sizes and parameter configurations. The practical utility of the estimator is illustrated through an application to regional economic growth in Europe. By explicitly incorporating heterogeneity, our approach provides fresh insights into the determinants of regional growth, underscoring the critical roles of spatial and temporal dependencies. |
| Date: | 2025–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2501.18467 |
| By: | Edwige Dubos-Paillard (GC (UMR_8504) - Géographie-cités - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UPCité - Université Paris Cité); Emmanuelle Lavaine (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); Katrin Millock (PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement) |
| Abstract: | The article estimates flood risk perceptions by exploiting the different release dates of flood risk information around Paris from 2003 to 2012. This period is characterised by the absence of significant floods since 1955, making flood risk less salient. We apply a stacked event study to detailed property transaction data combined with geo-localised amenities. The results show that transaction prices for similar properties are 3-7% lower following the release of information if they are located in a flood risk zone, and that the effect persists, at least over the period we analyse. The results are robust to varying the control group to a neighbourhood at different distances from the flood risk boundary. The effect is more negative for flats on the ground floor. We find no evidence of sorting among buyers along different characteristics, in particular based on past exposure to flooding in their previous municipality. The results indicate a significant effect of flood risk information in a context where we can isolate it from the financial consequences of insurance cover and from flood damage per se. |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:pseptp:halshs-04850441 |
| By: | Sascha O. Becker; P. David Boll; Hans-Joachim Voth |
| Abstract: | Spatial unit roots can lead to spurious regression results. We present a brief overview of the methods developed in Müller and Watson (2024) to test for and correct for spatial unit roots. We also introduce a suite of Stata commands (-spur-) implementing these techniques. Our commands exactly replicate results in Müller and Watson (2024) using the same Chetty et al. (2014) data. We present a brief practitioner’s guide for applied researchers. |
| JEL: | C21 C22 C52 C87 N00 P00 R12 R15 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11651 |
| By: | Iris Ionelia Dita (Ion Creangă State Pedagogical University of Chisinau, Republic of Moldova) |
| Abstract: | Effective inclusion means following a path of integration of people with disabilities both in school and in society. Counseling families of children with special educational needs with a view to integration becomes a mandatory step in combating school drop out and facilitating social integration. This study examines certain aspects of education for children and young people with special educational needs, trying at the same time to clarify the theoretical context of inclusion and integration in school. It presents examples of good practices and shares insights gained from accumulated experiences to promote the participation of children with special educational needs in learning activities, thereby preventing school drop out. The objective of this study is to emphasize the important role of the teacher counselor, who must develop targeted strategies to address indecision by fostering the child’s ability to choose, make decisions, and seek information. The counseling process focuses on the preventive aspect of affective and behavioral disorders, as well as on problem-solving, personal development, and optimization. By fostering an inclusive environment, this approach aims to support the individual development of children with special educational needs and help them feel welcomed and connected to society. |
| Keywords: | special needs, integration, inclusion, adaptation |
| Date: | 2024–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:smo:raiswp:0430 |
| By: | Dietrich, Stephan (RS: GSBE MGSoG, Maastricht Graduate School of Governance, RS: UNU-MERIT Theme 2); Giuffrida, V.; Martorano, Bruno (Maastricht Graduate School of Governance, RS: GSBE MGSoG); Schmerzeck, Georg; Tiberti, Marco |
| Abstract: | International organizations, governments, and NGOs routinely rely on welfare effect estimates for social programming in crisis situations. Often, these estimation models incorporate national consumer price index data as an integral predictor. This paper contends that utilizing aggregate price data can be misleading due to spatial disparities in price trends. To explore this, we analyze shifts in food poverty estimates by employing local market price data instead of national consumer price index data. Utilizing a dataset from seven West African countries, we highlight significant spatial variation in cereal prices at the local level following the outbreak of COVID-19. Model estimates indicate an increase in food poverty of almost 10% during the pandemic's first wave due to food price increases. Sourcing cereal prices from local markets, instead of national CPI statistics, results in a 5% inclusion and 2% exclusion error, yet similar mean estimates. Our findings underscore the need for systematic collection of local price data for effective policymaking, such as CPI adjustments to social transfers and the allocation of relief funds. |
| JEL: | D40 Q11 Q18 E31 O15 |
| Date: | 2023–10–16 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2023035 |
| By: | Adeel Malik; Rinchan Ali Mirza; Faiz Ur Rehman |
| Abstract: | Colonial powers often governed the frontier regions of their colonies differently from non-frontier regions, employing a system of “frontier rule” that restricted access to formal institutions of conflict management and disproportionately empowered local elites. We examine whether frontier rule provides a more fragile basis for maintaining social order in the face of shocks. Using the arbitrarily defined historical border between frontier and non-frontier regions in northwestern Pakistan and 10km-by-10km grid-level conflict data in a spatial regression discontinuity design, we find that areas historically under frontier rule experienced significantly higher violence against the state after 9/11. We argue that 9/11 represented a shock to grievances against the state which, in the absence of formal avenues of conflict management, escalated into sovereignty-contesting violence. A key strategy employed by insurgents in this escalation was the systematic assassination of tribal elites, which undermined the cornerstone of frontier rule’s social order. |
| JEL: | D02 D71 N45 P48 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csa:wpaper:2025-01 |
| By: | Chiara Puccioni; Daniela Vuri |
| Abstract: | This study evaluates the impact of an Italian government initiative launched in 2007, which allocated €1 billion to regional governments to enhance early childhood care services for children aged 0-2, targeting both public and private childcare options. Exploiting variations in the timing of implementation across regions, we assess the program’s effectiveness in increasing the public provision of early childcare services and maternal labor market participation. Results show a significant increase in both public childcare slots and labor market participation among mothers. However, the initiative had limited effects on less-educated women, likely due to the service’s relatively high costs, which may hinder broader accessibility. |
| Keywords: | early childcare services, mothers’ labor supply, staggered difference-in-difference, dynamic estimates |
| JEL: | C21 C22 H52 H75 J13 J22 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11656 |
| By: | Pham, Thi Trang (RS: GSBE other - not theme-related research, Mt Economic Research Inst on Innov/Techn); Caldarola, Bernardo (RS: GSBE other - not theme-related research, Mt Economic Research Inst on Innov/Techn) |
| Abstract: | While mobile internet diffusion in the last decade has led to significant growth and improvements in household income and employment, much less has been studied on education attainment outcomes, which matter especially for developing countries’ human capital policies for development catch-up. In this paper, we find that 3G internet diffusion improves lower-secondary school attainment but discourages upper-secondary achievement of youth in Viet Nam. We rationalize these findings through an education – employment tradeoff perspective by considering the opportunity costs of schooling vis `a vis employment. We show that the diffusion of fast mobile broadband internet is associated with more job opportunities and reduced returns to schooling during the period 2012-2016 following fast diffusion. Our results offer implications for developing countries’ education and human capital development policies in the age of (mobile) digitalization. |
| JEL: | I25 O33 J13 L96 |
| Date: | 2024–09–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2024022 |
| By: | Jaji, Rose |
| Abstract: | The conflict in Cabo Delgado province in northern Mozambique, which started in October 2017, has forced affected people to flee to safer areas within the province and to other provinces around the country, especially the neighbouring provinces of Nampula and Niassa. While the people displaced within Cabo Delgado remain visible to the government of Mozambique and humanitarian actors, those in places further afield, such as the city of Nacala in Nampula province, have become invisible over time. While this invisibility may be due to fewer people fleeing further afield, it is also attributable to the role of informal structures, local initiatives, norms and values in accommodating and integrating Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). Qualitative research conducted in July 2024 with IDPs and members of the host communities in Nacala shows that ordinary citizens and community leaders play an important role in facilitating the integration of IDPs and promoting social cohesion. In view of this, the Policy Brief recommends national policies and practices as well as humanitarian interventions that build on informal structures, incorporate local initiatives and are sensitive to local social dynamics in the hosting of IDPs. It specifically recommends that: - The government of Mozambique, through district administrations, decentralises resources to enable local communities to improve their informal and local work in the integration of IDPs and social cohesion of the community. National policies addressing internal displacement need to acknowledge the role of local communities and district administrations in handling the integration of IDPs. In line with this, district administrations need to register host families and provide them with financial and material resources so that they are better able to assist the IDPs. Co-operation between formal government structures at district level, and informal community structures, would enable the government to support community efforts and improve host communities' and IDPs' trust in the state. - The government, through formal and civic education, cultivates a sense of national identity as a counter measure to ethnic divisions and animosity that are detrimental to IDPs where the host communities belong to a different ethnic group. Mutual identification through shared nationality emerged as the main contributing factor to the positive reception and integration of IDPs in host communities in Nacala. - District administrations familiarise IDPs with relevant administrative offices and make these offices accessible and responsive to IDPs' needs and grievances as a way of fostering IDPs' trust and confidence in the government and state institutions. - District administrations establish robust follow-up mechanisms on whether IDPs are indeed receiving the humanitarian assistance sourced for them, respond to IDPs' allegations of exploitation and corruption and report to relevant state institutions such as the police for further investigation. - Humanitarian actors address overall poverty reduction in host communities instead of limiting interventions to IDPs because this reverses the gains in integration and social cohesion made through informal structures and local initiatives as part of host community problem solving and solidarity with the IDPs. |
| Keywords: | internal displacement, policy, humanitarian interventions, informal structures, host communities, local initiatives |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:idospb:309585 |
| By: | Haugen, Ronald |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance, Land Economics/Use |
| Date: | 2024–10–18 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:nddaae:349395 |
| By: | Julien Grenet (PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Hans Grönqvist (Linnaeus University, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy); Susan Niknami (Stockholm University) |
| Abstract: | Electronic monitoring (EM) has emerged as a popular tool for curbing the growth of large prison populations. Evidence on the causal effects of EM on criminal recidivism is, however, limited and it is unclear how this alternative to incarceration affects the labor supply of offenders and the outcomes of their family members. We study the countrywide expansion of EM in Sweden in 1997 wherein offenders sentenced to up to three months in prison were granted the option to substitute incarceration with EM. Our difference-in-differences estimates, which compare the change in the prison inflow rate of treated offenders to that of non-treated offenders with slightly longer sentences, show that the reform significantly decreased the number of incarcerations. Our main finding is that EM not only lowers criminal recidivism but also increases labor supply. Additionally, EM improves the educational attainment and early-life earnings of the children whose parents were exposed to the reform. The primary mechanisms through which EM operates appear to involve the preservation of offenders' ties to the labor market, by reducing the barriers to both finding a job and changing employers. Our calculations suggest that the social benefits stemming from EM are about seven times larger than the fiscal savings associated with reduced prison expenditures, implying that the welfare gains from EM could be much greater than previously acknowledged. |
| Keywords: | Electronic monitoring, Incarceration, Labor supply, Crime, Spillovers |
| Date: | 2024–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:pseptp:halshs-04630125 |
| By: | Iris Ionelia Dita (Ion Creanga State Pedagogical University of Chisinau, Republic of Moldova) |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to bring forth the importance of parents’ implication in the educational process of children with special needs by emphasizing the need of a family–school partnership. Educational and vocational counseling for students in special education imposes the need for efficient inclusion, which requires a commitment to integrating persons with disabilities both in school and society. In other words, the family of a child with special needs is involved in the role of mediator between the child—who may have difficulty adapting to interpersonal relationships—and the social environment, including the community to which they belong and sometimes even strangers. The role of parents as educational partners represents direct implications in the educational environment in which they can influence certain decisions that follow along the progress of the child’s education, collaborating with the school in a concrete way and taking managerial functions within the school. |
| Keywords: | school-family partnership, special educational needs, differential diagnosis, mental deficiency, counseling of students with special educational needs-CES |
| Date: | 2024–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:smo:raiswp:0424 |
| By: | Boutros, Pierre; Pezzoni, Michele; Shibayama, Sotaro; Visentin, Fabiana (RS: GSBE other - not theme-related research, Mt Economic Research Inst on Innov/Techn) |
| Abstract: | In contexts involving teachers and students, knowledge transfer is commonly assumed from the former to the latter. However, what if teachers learn from students? This paper investigates the bidirectional knowledge transfer between PhD students and their supervisors. We consider 51, 826 PhD students who graduated in the STEM fields in France between 2010 and 2018. Focusing on Artificial Intelligence (AI) knowledge transfer, we find evidence that a student supervised by a supervisor with AI knowledge is 12 percentage points more likely to write a thesis in AI than a student with a supervisor with no AI knowledge, denoting an AI knowledge transfer from supervisors to students. We also find that a supervisor with no AI knowledge, if exposed to a student with AI knowledge, is 19 percentage points more likely to publish an article with AI content in the three years after the student’s graduation, denoting an AI knowledge transfer from students to supervisors. Those results confirm the bidirectionality of the learning process. |
| JEL: | I20 J24 O30 |
| Date: | 2024–09–16 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2024025 |
| By: | Ito, Rodrigo (RS: GSBE other - not theme-related research, Mt Economic Research Inst on Innov/Techn); Chavarro Bohorquez, Diego (RS: GSBE other - not theme-related research, Mt Economic Research Inst on Innov/Techn); Ciarli, Tommaso (Mt Economic Research Inst on Innov/Techn); Cowan, Robin (RS: GSBE other - not theme-related research, Mt Economic Research Inst on Innov/Techn); Visentin, Fabiana (RS: GSBE other - not theme-related research, Mt Economic Research Inst on Innov/Techn) |
| Abstract: | Studying and working abroad, internationally mobile scientists meet foreign scientists and become carriers of knowledge and foreign social capital. The benefits of scientific mobility may extend beyond those who experience it, benefiting non-mobile colleagues who collaborate with them. We investigate the role played by Colombian scientists who study abroad for a PhD in connecting non-mobile scientists with foreign scientists. Combining data from online CVs, scholarship programs, and Open Alex publications, we reconstruct the mobility path of 19, 158 Colombian scientists and their co-authorship networks from 1990 to 2021. Our results show that coauthoring with mobile scientists increases the propensity of non-mobile scientists to collaborate with foreigners. While the diaspora has been seen as a brain drain, we find that not only returnees but also the diaspora itself can act as bridges connecting local and foreign scientists. However, foreign collaborations tend to be short-lived and sustained only by the mediation of a mobile scientist. Results also suggest that the largest effects stem from mobile scientists who have remained abroad or have a strong circulation pattern between countries (i.e., diaspora and intermittent scientists, respectively). Our paper contributes to the mobility literature by investigating the social capital spillovers generated by mobile scientists. It has also relevant policy implications. Our results call for increasing brain circulation while reducing brain drain by using flexible conditions to return to home countries and increasing the links between mobile and nonmobile scientists. |
| JEL: | O15 O30 D83 |
| Date: | 2024–05–21 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2024009 |
| By: | Heckert, Jessica; Ceballos, Francisco |
| Abstract: | When individuals migrate– whether domestically or internationally, short- or long-term–migrants and their families experience dramatic changes in household dynamics and are exposed to new contexts and ideas (Hugo 2002). This phenomenon has driven a body of research focused on the linkages between women’s empowerment and migration, which primarily focuses on changes to the empowerment of wives when their husbands migrate (Fernández-Sánchez et al. 2020). To a lesser extent there is also literature on whether empowerment status contributes to the decision to migrate and migration experiences, as well as whether individuals might become more, or less, empowered during migration and at their ultimate destinations. Herein we synthesize these literatures and identify priority areas for future work. |
| Keywords: | households; literature reviews; migration; women’s empowerment |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:cgiarp:168186 |
| By: | Zohal Hessami; Timo Häcker; Maximilian Thomas |
| Abstract: | We analyze whether mayors’ prior occupation in the local public administration matters for their performance. In theory, mayors’ professional background may shape their competence in bureaucratic tasks. We use the example of grant receipts for visible investment projects for which mayors must submit an extensive application to the state government. Our dataset includes 1, 933 mayor elections (1993-2020) in the German state of Hesse to which we apply a sharp RD design for close mixed-background races. Mayors’ background on average has no effect on grant receipts. Yet, public administrator mayors do attract more grants than outsider mayors when they are ideologically aligned with the council, raising the motivation to apply for grants in the first place. We conclude that the competence of public administrator mayors only matters when they are motivated to use it, i.e. this is an example where incentives are necessary for the effects of political selection to materialize. |
| Keywords: | public administration, professional background, administrative skills, political selection, mayors, investment grants |
| JEL: | D73 D78 H71 H77 H83 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11626 |
| By: | Pike, Susie; Turner, Katherine; Chin, Staly; Nguyen, Andrea |
| Abstract: | Open-loop fare payment systems are an emerging technology that allows customers to pay with credit cards, debit cards, smartphone applications, and digital wallets when boarding transit vehicles or entering platform areas. The California Integrated Travel Program (Cal-ITP) aims to foster the implementation of open-loop payments among California’s transit agencies. What do transit agencies have to say about this goal and the challenges it might pose for them and their travelers? Researchers from the University of California, Davis gathered surveys from a small sample of transit agencies (N = 21) and found that agencies are interested in open-loop payments, agencies and passengers would likely support it, but that it also presents challenges for agencies and passengers. This policy brief summarizes the findings from that research and provides policy implications. View the NCST Project Webpage |
| Keywords: | Social and Behavioral Sciences, Digital communication systems, Fare collection, Fare prepayment, Public transit, Standardization, Transit operating agencies |
| Date: | 2025–02–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:itsdav:qt4bp0r8pq |
| By: | Visentin, Andrea; Volante, Louis |
| Abstract: | This study investigates differences in employment outcomes of students graduating from private versus public universities in Spain, and the resulting impact on employment outcomes. The methodology involves propensity score matching, utilising novel machine learning approaches. Machine learning algorithms can be used to calculate propensity scores and can potentially have advantages compared to conventional methods. Contrary to previous research carried out in Spain, this analysis found a wage premium for those pupils who attended a private university in the short and medium term, although these differences were relatively small. The discussion outlines the implications for intergenerational inequality, policy development, and future research that utilises machine learning algorithms. |
| JEL: | I24 I25 J62 O15 |
| Date: | 2023–11–13 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2023039 |
| By: | Carlo Lombardo; Leonardo Peñaloza-Pacheco |
| Abstract: | We examine firm-level upgrading in Colombian manufacturing firms as a result of a high-skilled labor supply shock triggered by the Venezuelan exodus. Using a unique and confidential dataset from 2013 to 2019 and a shift-share instrumental variables approach, we find that the increased supply of skilled workers primarily drove high-skill hires, especially in R&D divisions. This skill-upgrading process boosted investments in R&D activities. Improved access to higher-quality inputs led to better production and organizational processes, product enhancements, and an increased likelihood of obtaining quality certifications, which serve as a straightforward objective measure of firm-level upgrading. Collectively, these changes were crucial for firms to increase their exports at both the extensive and intensive margins. This effect was driven by a rise in differentiated product exports, allowing firms to enter new and more sophisticated markets, particularly in high- and upper-middle-income countries. |
| Keywords: | firm-level upgrading, migration, trade, development |
| JEL: | D22 D24 F22 F14 F16 J61 L16 O14 O31 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11645 |
| By: | Giulia Brancaccio (New York University); Myrto Kalouptsidi (Harvard University); Theodore Papageorgiou (Boston College) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we provide a simple and intuitive story for supply chain disruptions driven by the rigidities in the transportation sector. Focusing on maritime shipping, we argue that the frequent macroeconomic shocks that shape demand for transportation, meet a highly inelastic supply curve for transportation services. The steepness is driven by equilibrium bottlenecks in ships (transportation agents) and ports (transportation infrastructure). This leads to highly volatile shipping prices and port congestion, affecting importers and exporters worldwide. We discuss how both global trade and inflation react to these costs, so that disruptions pass through to the entire economy. |
| Keywords: | supply chain disruptions, transportation, infrastructure, ports, ships, congestion |
| JEL: | E30 F0 L0 L90 L91 R4 |
| Date: | 2025–01–31 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:boc:bocoec:1086 |
| By: | David R. Agrawal; Adib Bagh; Mohammed Mardan |
| Abstract: | The conventional wisdom is that a big jurisdiction sets a higher tax rate than a small jurisdiction. We show this result arises due to simplifying assumptions that imply tax-base sensitivities are equal across jurisdictions. When more than two jurisdictions compete in commodity taxes, tax-base sensitivities need not be equal across jurisdictions and a small jurisdiction can set a higher tax rate than a big jurisdiction. Our analysis extends to capital and profit taxes, and, more generally, to various types of multi-player asymmetric competition. |
| Keywords: | Ramsey rule, inverse elasticity, fiscal competition, optimal taxation, spatial price competition, sales tax |
| JEL: | C70 D40 H20 H70 L10 R50 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11616 |
| By: | Melissa Chow; Martha Stinson |
| Abstract: | The Business Dynamics Statistics of Coastal Counties (BDS-CC) is a new experimental data product extending the set of statistics published by the Business Dynamics Statistics (BDS) program to provide more detail on businesses operating in coastal regions of the United States. The BDS-CC provides annual measures of employment, the number of establishments and firms, job creation, job destruction, openings, and closings for businesses in Coastal Shoreline (CS), Coastal Non-Shoreline (CNS), and Non-Coastal (NC) counties. Counties are grouped into these categories based on definitions from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This product allows for comparisons across industries and coastal regions of the impact of natural disasters and other events that affect coastal areas. The BDS-CC series provides annual statistics for 1978 to 2022 for each of the coastal categories by firm size and firm age, initial firm size, establishment size and establishment age, initial establishment size, sector, 3-digit NAICS code, 4-digit NAICS code, urban/rural categories, and various coastal regions. Following a description of the data and methodology, we highlight some historical trends and analyses conducted using these data. |
| Date: | 2025–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:25-08 |
| By: | Martorano, Bruno (Maastricht Graduate School of Governance, RS: GSBE MGSoG); Perra, Elena; Tiberti, Marco |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we study the evolution of spatial inequality during the recent COVID-19 pandemic in Africa and assess if there is any association between the outbreak of the health crisis, the strictness of policy restrictions and the changes observed in spatial inequality. Using remotely sensed night time lights data, we find that spatial inequality decreased after the COVID-19 outbreak. Yet, there are huge differences within and between countries. Spatial inequality decreased in Southern and Northern African countries while it increased in Central African countries. Spatial inequality mainly decreased in countries implementing more stringent measures but also in those areas that were richer before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| JEL: | C22 D63 I18 O55 |
| Date: | 2023–09–25 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2023032 |
| By: | Kundu, Shohini; Vats, Nishant |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the role of banking networks in the transmission of shocks across borders. Combining banking deregulation in the US with state-level idiosyncratic demand shocks, we show that geographically diversified banks reallocate funds from economies experiencing negative shocks to unaffected regions. Our findings indicate that in the presence of idiosyncratic shocks, financial integration reduces business cycle comovement and synchronizes consumption patterns. Our findings contribute to explaining the Great Moderation and provide empirical support for theories that predict that banking integration facilitates the insurance of region-specific risk and the efficient allocation of resources as markets become more complete. JEL Classification: E32, F36, G21 |
| Keywords: | business cycles, economic growth, financial integration, great moderation, idiosyncratic shocks, regional economics |
| Date: | 2025–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20253019 |
| By: | Isabel Melguizo (Department of Economics, CIDE); Sergio Tovar (Department of Economics, CIDE) |
| Abstract: | We study a model in which individuals, that are heterogeneous along a single dimension capturing productivity, choose which of two available groups to join and how much costly effort to exert within their chosen group. On the one hand, individuals like to be in groups in which others' average performance is high (global quality). On the other hand, individuals are concerned with their ranking with respect to their peers' average performance (local standing). Nash equilibrium efforts are such that the higher the individual's productivity the higher her private outcome. In contrast, it is not necessarily the case that highly productive individuals exert more effort. Nash equilibrium efforts are never efficient and whether they are higher or lower than efficient efforts, depends on the strength of global quality versus local standing concerns. Stable partitions of the society into groups may either resemble grouping by productivity or productivity mixing. In contrast, efficient partitions must always exhibit grouping by productivity. |
| Keywords: | peer groups, segregation, mixing, effort choices, welfare |
| JEL: | D61 D60 Z13 |
| Date: | 2025–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:emc:wpaper:dte646 |
| By: | Arie Kapteyn (USC - University of Southern California); Elena Stancanelli (PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École nationale des ponts et chaussées - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement) |
| Abstract: | This study contributes to the growing literature on Work from Home (WfH), focusing on the responsiveness of the phenomenon to the business cycle. In particular, the Great Recession led many states to implement unprecedented and expansionary unemployment benefit measures (Extended Benefit, EB), which were often revoked when the recession resumed. EB measures differ widely in generosity and timing across states. We exploit this, for identification purposes, by linking the interview date of the respondents to the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) to the dates of implementation of EB programs, in the respondent's state of residence. ATUS provides unique cross-sectional information on WfH for a representative sample of Americans. Taking an approach inspired by a Regression Discontinuity Design, we find that recessions, as proxied by EB expansionary measures, significantly increase women's commuting. In contrast, women's remote work increases with economic recovery, as captured by EB contractionary measures. The evidence for men is less clear-cut. |
| Keywords: | Time allocation, Labor Supply, Work from Home, Great Recession |
| Date: | 2024–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:pseptp:halshs-04746449 |
| By: | Zola Chi-Chin Lai (Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages, Taiwan) |
| Abstract: | This study investigates the impact of integrating technology, specifically the Zuvio Hybrid literature circle, into English language teaching to enhance English proficiency and critical thinking abilities among lower-intermediate students in large-class settings. Motivated by the challenges of limited opportunities for independent thinking and language use in conventional large-class English courses, this research leverages "Great Expectations" as a classical reader to provide rich language input and stimulate discussions on life education themes such as family, love, and social status. Drawing on Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development and scaffolding theories, the Zuvio hybrid literature circle was structured to foster peer interaction and critical engagement with the text. A total of 153 students from a university in Taiwan participated in this action research over a semester. The study employed a mixed-methods approach, utilizing pre- and post-tests of the College Student English Proficiency Test and a Critical Thinking Questionnaire to gather quantitative data, complemented by qualitative data from discussion records, reflective writings, and teacher observations. The quantitative results demonstrated significant improvements in students' English proficiency, with test scores increasing from an average of 199.78 to 218.09 (p |
| Keywords: | literature circle, critical thinking, graded readers, English proficiency |
| Date: | 2024–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:smo:raiswp:0493 |