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on Urban and Real Estate Economics |
| By: | Michel Bierlaire (TRANSP-OR, EPFL); Vincent Dautel (LM, LISER); Frédéric Docquier (UDM, LISER); Silvia Peracchi (UNIVERSITE CATHOLIQUE DE LOUVAIN, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES)) |
| Abstract: | This study examines the influence of agglomeration and deglomeration forces on residence-workplace location choices across skill groups. Contrary to the standard approach in economic geography, the focus on skills rather than people is particularly relevant in knowledge-based economies, where core-periphery dynamics are driven by skill disparities. Our case study examines the mobility of French-born workers within the Greater Region surrounding Luxembourg. Between 2005 and 2019, an estimated 38, 445 additional workers aged 20-59 joined the Luxembourg economy, of which 25, 801 were highly educated. We examine how wage differentials and housing costs, among other factors, have influenced migration and commuting patterns across skill groups. Our results show that while higher housing costs in core areas create deglomerative effects for low- and medium-skilled workers, high-skilled workers are more responsive to wage differentials and remain undeterred by rising housing prices. These forces alone have increased the number of tertiary-educated movers by 8, 619 between 2005 and 2019, compared to 3, 091 medium-skilled and 543 low-skilled. They substantially contributed to the doubling of the ”brain drain“ from the periphery to the core (from 12 to 24%) and to the widening of regional skill differentials. Overall, these findings underscore the need to look beyond people and consider skill differentials when modeling core-periphery dynamics or formulating policies to promote inclusive regional development. |
| Keywords: | Regional mobility, Human capital, Core-periphery dynamics |
| JEL: | R23 J61 R12 |
| Date: | 2025–09–23 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctl:louvir:2025015 |
| 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 new and significant economic geography features of the work-from-home (WFH) revolution. The increased practice of WFH 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 analyse shifts in commuting distances pre- and post-pandemic and explore their association with teleworkability. Beyond the well-documented centrifugal ‘donut’-type effects within cities, our study finds a significant centripetal ‘shadow’ effect on smaller cities. This phenomenon draws workers relocating from outside metropolitan regions closer to major urban areas, reinforcing urbanization trends contrary to the expectations of geographic decentralization enabled by remote work. These nuanced dynamics—highlighting simultaneous dispersion at the local level and concentration within the urban system—reveal new knowledge into the complex interplay between remote work, urbanization, and regional development. |
| Keywords: | Working from home, agglomeration economies, regional distribution. |
| JEL: | R12 R23 |
| Date: | 2025–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hae:wpaper:2025-1 |
| By: | Freitas, Dimitria |
| Abstract: | Regional economic disparities within countries have become increasingly large, often surpassing the disparities observed between countries. To address regional inequality, governments have been turning away from standard subsidies and are experimenting with public employment reallocation as a place-based policy. This paper estimates the causal effect of public employment reallocation on local labor markets. I study the 'Heimatstrategie, ' which relocates around 3, 000 public sector jobs from Munich to economically lagging regions in Bavaria, Germany. Using novel data on 60 agency relocations between 2015 and 2025, I exploit the government's quantitative selection criteria for receiving municipalities and implement a long-differences design comparing treated Bavarian municipalities to Mahalanobis-matched control municipalities in other German states. My estimates show that relocations increased private sector employment shares by up to 2.3%, reduced unemployment rates by up to 11.9%, and increased local population by up to 1.6% without harming sending locations. These results correspond to a public-to-private jobs multiplier of 1.08. To assess general equilibrium effects the relocation program, I implement a quantitative spatial model with a two-sector (public and private) framework showing modest increases in amenities through the relocation counterfactual and negligible welfare effects. |
| JEL: | J21 J45 J68 R23 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc25:325457 |
| By: | Claussen, Jörg; Streich, David |
| JEL: | H23 H31 R23 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc25:325422 |
| By: | AlBader, Suleiman H.; AlSabah, Khaled W. |
| Abstract: | Residential real estate prices in Kuwait have risen well beyond the reach of the average Kuwaiti household, with homes trading at more than 22 times the typical annual income, placing Kuwait among the most unaffordable markets globally. This study examines the relationship between housing prices and the waitlist for government-provided homes administered by the Public Authority for Housing and Welfare (PAHW). We find that growth in the PAHW waitlist is positively associated with nationwide price increases, even after accounting for changes in wages, credit availability, and interest rates. Specifically, an increase of 6, 134 applicants to the waitlist – the same seen in 2024 – is associated with a 2.7% rise in residential real estate prices, holding other factors constant. The association varies by city and appears to be asymmetric: prices tend to rise more sharply during periods of weak reductions in PAHW waitlist and tend to stabilise or decline in periods when PAHW actively reduces its applicant waitlist, especially in mid-priced areas. These findings highlight the potential for housing policy performance to shape affordability outcomes across different segments of the market. |
| JEL: | R14 J01 |
| Date: | 2025–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:129678 |
| By: | Hall, Caroline (Uppsala University); Lindskog, Annika (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University); Lundin, Martin (IFAU and UCLS) |
| Abstract: | This study examines the impact of distance learning on educational outcomes for lower secondary school students in Sweden during the COVID-19 pandemic. We leverage variation in the implementation of remote instruction across schools and compare pre-pandemic and pandemic-affected cohorts using a difference-in-differences design with entropy balancing weights. We examine effects on grade 9 students’ test scores on standardized tests and their transition to upper secondary school. Our findings suggest that students in schools that adopted remote instruction performed similarly to those in schools that maintained in-person teaching throughout the pandemic. Moreover, progression to upper secondary school was not negatively affected. In some cases, we even find evidence of positive effects of remote instruction. We find some support for the interpretation that these positive effects may be due to remote instruction enabling more teaching hours during a period with high teacher and student absence. |
| Keywords: | Remote instruction; distance learning; school performance; COVID-19 |
| JEL: | I21 I28 |
| Date: | 2025–09–30 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0857 |
| By: | Brox, Enzo; Krieger, Tommy |
| Abstract: | We study how far-right mass rallies affect people's views about a city and thus location choices of nationals. To this end, we first exploit that the city of Dresden (Germany) unexpectedly experienced such rallies at the turn of the year 2014/15. Results from dyadic difference-in-differences and Synthetic Control analyses suggest that the number of (young) German adults who moved from another region to Dresden declined by around 10% due to the far-right mass protests. We complement our first analysis with a conjoint experiment where participants decide between two hypothetical cities. This experiment confirms that far-right rallies have a dissuasive effect and shows that left-wing people react stronger than right-wing people. It also reveals that far-right protests cause security concerns and concerns about finding like-minded people. The latter reaction is only observed for people that do not support the far right. |
| Keywords: | far-right movements, location decisions, internal migration, political protest, populism, regional competition for talent, reputation of cities, university students |
| JEL: | D72 I23 O15 P00 R23 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:327113 |
| By: | Nathalie Picard; André de Palma |
| Abstract: | This chapter explores residential location models through a comprehensive review of the literature, key facts, theoretical frameworks, estimation methods, and simulation techniques. It focuses on the factors driving residential segregation using a standard individual discrete choice model, specifically a nested logit framework. This model incorporates household preferences for local amenities, dwelling types, and homeownership. The analysis is extended by introducing borrowing constraints that restrict some households' ability to purchase property. To illustrate, the framework is applied to the Paris region. By relaxing borrowing constraints, we simulate a hypothetical redistribution of socio-demographic characteristics across the region and demonstrate how this tool can be employed for policy analysis. A comparison of actual and simulated distributions reveals that easing credit constraints encourages households to relocate farther from the city center. However, if only poor households benefit, they are less likely to integrate with wealthier households, thereby intensifying segregation. This finding highlights those policies designed to support low-income households might inadvertently increase segregation citywide, necessitating careful re-evaluation. |
| Keywords: | Housing choice, financial constraints, borrowing, segregation, suburban areas, urban sprawl, endogenous choice sets. |
| JEL: | R21 R23 R31 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulp:sbbeta:2025-33 |
| By: | Jeffery (Jinfan) Chang; Yuheng Wang; Wei Xiong |
| Abstract: | During the Covid-19 pandemic (2020-2022), Chinese cities witnessed a paradox: residential land and new house prices surged while transaction volumes plummeted. We attribute this to local governments’ active price management through supply controls, land acquisitions by Local Government Financing Vehicles (LGFVs), and limits on new home sales permits. Cities more dependent on land sales and land-backed debt before the pandemic experienced greater price increases and price-volume divergence, with LGFVs buying more land at higher prices than other buyers. These interventions helped sustain fiscal financing but deepened developers’ financial distress, revealing unintended consequences of local governments’ fiscal strategies during downturns. |
| JEL: | R0 R00 |
| Date: | 2025–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34303 |
| By: | Voss, Simon |
| JEL: | O18 R31 L65 P36 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc25:325469 |
| By: | Francesco Caloia; Madi Mangan; Mauro Mastrogiacomo |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how changes in credit availability influence house prices. We show that increases in household credit triggered by a relaxation of lending standards lead to higher transaction prices, higher shares and amounts of overbidding transactions and lower property sale times in the housing market. The impact on prices increases throughout the housing boom due to a higher take-up of credit by households. Also, it is stronger in locations with tighter housing supply and lower affordability, among liquidity constrained but credit-unconstrained buyers, as well as for more expensive properties. The findings support the credit-driven household demand hypothesis and highlight that mac roprudential policy contains systemic risk not only by reducing household leverage, but also by curbing house price growth over the cycle. |
| Keywords: | House prices; Household debt; Macroprudential policy; credit; |
| JEL: | G21 G28 G51 |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dnb:dnbwpp:842 |
| By: | Rocco Rante (Panthéon-Sorbonne University); Federico Trionfetti (Aix Marseille University); Priyam Verma (Ashoka University) |
| Abstract: | For the first time in the literature we estimate the contribution of spatial centrality to determine city size. We do this using archaeological data on cities of the region of Bukhara observed in the 9th CE. The unique feature of this region is that it was homogeneous in all respects (technology, amenities, climate, culture, language, religion, etc.) and has been homogeneous for the twelve centuries before the 9th CE. This homogeneity rules out confounding factors and endogeneity issues. We develop a simple general equilibrium spatial model that we estimate using the method of moments. The estimated model predicts very well the 9th century city size thus showing that spatial centrality is the major determinant of city size. The Silk Road contributes to explaining what centrality cannot. Interestingly, the estimated on data for the same region in the 21st  century performs less well, indicating that other factors influence city size in modern economies. In a further comparison with the 21st century, we find little evidence of the persistence of the oasis urban structure. We find instead that the centroid of the region has moved towards the economic core of the Uzbek economy, both in terms of population and location of cities. In a counterfactual exercise we use the model estimated for the 9th century to compute the counterfactual population shares of the U.S. commuting zones. As expected, the model underestimates the population share of large and central zones while overestimates the share of small and peripheral zones. This suggests that agglomeration mechanisms of modern “cities†have contributed to make large zones larger and small zones smaller. In a comparative counterfactual we estimate that centrality based on infrastructures explain about 20 percent of populations shares of U.S. commuting zones. Infrastructures also have modified the centrality with respect to †walking paths†thereby improving ex-ante expected welfare by 8%. |
| Keywords: | Spatial model, archaeological data, centrality |
| JEL: | R |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:inf:wpaper:2025.13 |
| By: | Chaudhary, Latika (Naval Postgraduate School); Dupraz, Yannick (Paris Dauphine University, PSL University, LEDA, CNRS, IRD); Fenske, James (University of Warwick and CAGE) |
| Abstract: | Combining detailed data on language and migration across colonial Indian districts in 1901 with a gravity model, we find origin and destination districts separated by more dissimilar languages saw less migration. We control for the physical distance between origin-destination pairs, several measures of dissimilarity in geographic characteristics, as well as origin and destination fixed effects. The results are robust to a regression discontinuity design that exploits spatial boundaries across language groups. We also find linguistic differences predict lower migration in 2001. Cultural channels are a small part of the link from linguistic diversity to lower migration. Rather, the evidence suggests communication and information channels are more important. |
| Keywords: | Migration, Linguistic Diversity, India JEL Classification: N35, O15, Z13 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:774 |
| By: | Neumeier, Florian; Gstrein, David; Peichl, Andreas; Zamorski, Pascal |
| JEL: | H22 H25 H71 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc25:325380 |
| By: | Sarah James |
| Abstract: | This technical note describes the information on housing tenure available in third-party Black Knight data. Then, it explores the agreement of Black Knight and American Community Survey (1-year, unswapped) housing tenure measures at the MAFID level from 2018 through 2022. This note compares rates of agreement across both sources, including separate estimates for housing units owned with a mortgage and those owned free and clear. |
| Keywords: | ACS, Black Knight |
| Date: | 2025–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:tnotes:25-21 |
| By: | Enrico Moretti; Harrison Wheeler |
| Abstract: | More than 42 million Americans are exposed to medium or high levels of traffic noise. Despite its potentially large toll and unequal distribution, the economic costs, incidence, and policy implications of traffic noise have received limited attention in economics. We quantify the aggregate economic burden of this externality and its distribution across demographic groups by estimating homebuyers' willingness to pay for quieter environments. Using quasi-experimental variation from the construction of noise barriers, we find that reduced traffic noise exposure leads to significant increases in house prices, implying that buyers are willing to pay a substantial premium for each decibel of noise reduction. In the five years before construction, we detect no differential pre-trends in prices between treated and control properties. Following construction, we observe an immediate and largely permanent 6.8% increase in prices within 100 meters, with smaller gains at greater distances. Information on each barrier's noise attenuation allows us to recover the willingness to pay per decibel of traffic noise. We calculate the aggregate economic cost of traffic noise at $110 billion nationwide. The economic burden is disproportionately borne by lower income and minority households, suggesting that the externality is regressive. The cost varies widely across cities, reflecting differences in noise levels, property values and population density. Based on our estimates, the socially efficient Pigouvian tax amounts to $974 per vehicle. A broad shift to electric vehicles -- which are quieter than traditional vehicles -- could yield noise reduction benefits of $77.3 billion, concentrated among low-income families in dense urban areas. |
| JEL: | H0 I14 R0 |
| Date: | 2025–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34298 |
| By: | Antoine-Cyrus Becharat (LadHyX - Laboratoire d'hydrodynamique - X - École polytechnique - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Michael Benzaquen (LadHyX - Laboratoire d'hydrodynamique - X - École polytechnique - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Jean-Philippe Bouchaud (Académie des sciences [Paris, France], CFM - Capital Fund Management, X - École polytechnique - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris) |
| Abstract: | We analyze the French housing market prices in the period 1970-2022, with high-resolution data from 2018 to 2022. The spatial correlation of the observed price field exhibits logarithmic decay characteristic of the twodimensional random diffusion equationlocal interactions may create long-range correlations. We introduce a stylized model, used in the past to model spatial regularities in voting patterns, that accounts for both spatial and temporal correlations with reasonable values of parameters, some fitted on impulse response data. Our analysis reveals that price shocks are persistent in time and their amplitude is strongly heterogeneous in space. Our study quantifies the diffusive nature of housing prices that was anticipated long ago [1, 2], albeit on much restricted, local data sets. |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05273330 |
| By: | Steven Bond-Smith (University of Hawai‘i at MÄ noa, University of Hawai‘i Economic Research Organization); Younghan Lee (University of Hawai‘i at MÄ noa, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | We use metropolitan area Consumer Price indexes (CPI) and the US CPI to calculate a CPI-based Regional Price Parity index (CPI-based RPP) for the 29 US cities with CPIs published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This CPI-based RPP can be used (along with the US CPI) to make fair comparisons of economic performance in US cities (over time) at comparable (and constant) prices for any period with published CPI data. The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) publishes a similar PCE Price Index-based Regional Price Parity Index (BEA RPP), but the BEA RPP is only published annually back to 2008, with a year delay. Prior to our project, there was no suitable price comparison index for adjusting economic data for geographic price differences in periods outside this range or with more frequent observations. We draw on the properties of price parity indexes to estimate our CPI-based RPP. This requires estimating average relative CPI price levels for a known period, re-leveling CPIs to be consistent with average relative levels in the known period, and calculating the CPI-based RPP for any period based on relative re-leveled local and national CPIs. This results in a CPI-based RPP for any period with published CPI data, as far back as 1913 in some cities through to the most recent CPI observations. We demonstrate the index by exploring regional price trends and examining real per capita GDP and real per capita personal income at constant and comparable prices. |
| Keywords: | Regional Price Parity, Geographic price differences, Consumer Price Index, Cost-of-living |
| Date: | 2025–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hae:wpaper:2025-2 |
| By: | David M. Arseneau; Gazi I. Kara |
| Abstract: | This paper uses a large-scale redrawing of flood zone maps for the City of New Orleans in 2016 to identify how banks respond to changes in perceived flood risk in residential mortgage origination. Using geo-coding, we separate loan-level data on mortgage originations into treatment versus control groups based on how individual properties were affected by the map changes. We find banks charged interest rates that were roughly 6 basis points higher for mortgages on treated properties that were removed from the special floods zones as a result of the map changes. In addition, lower loan-to-value ratios for mortgages on these properties suggest that banks also required higher downpayments. Both effects are temporary, lasting under two years. Further analysis using flood insurance claims data following a major flooding event in 2017 suggests the temporary nature of these effects may reflect learning by banks about the true extent of flood risk and insurance take-up following the map changes. |
| Keywords: | FEMA Maps; Flood insurance; Mortgage lending |
| JEL: | G21 Q54 R30 |
| Date: | 2025–09–19 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2025-81 |
| By: | Federico Fabio Frattini (Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei); Francesco Vona (University of Milan and Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei); Filippo Bontadini (Luiss University and SPRU - University of Sussex); Italo Colantone (Bocconi University, GREEN Research Center, Baffi Research Centre, CESifo and Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei) |
| Abstract: | What are the job multipliers of the green industrialization? We tackle this question within EU regions over the period 2003-2017, building a novel measure of green manufacturing penetration that combines green production and regional employment data. We estimate local job multipliers of green penetration in a long-difference model, using a shift-share instrument that exploits plausibly exogenous changes in non-EU green innovation. We find that a 3-years change in green penetration per worker increases the employment-to-active population ratio by 0.11 pp. The effect is: persistent both in manufacturing and outside manufacturing; halved by agglomeration effects that increase the labour market tightness; stronger for workers with high and low-education; and present also in regions specialized in polluting industries. When focusing on large shocks in a staggered DiD design, we find ten times larger effects, particularly in earlier periods. |
| Keywords: | Green industrialisation, Local job multipliers, Employment effects of the green transition, Shift-share IV design, Difference-in-differences |
| JEL: | J21 O14 R11 |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2025.13 |
| By: | Möhlmann, Axel; Vogel, Edgar |
| JEL: | D14 G28 G21 G33 G51 J63 L85 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc25:325418 |
| By: | Jules H. van Binsbergen; João F. Cocco; Marco Grotteria; S. Lakshmi Naaraayanan |
| Abstract: | We quantify the impact of perceived cancer risk on housing values using widely advertised national reclassifications of chemical carcinogenicity in the United States. Combining these information events with an empirical design that compares changes in house values closer to affected toxic plants against those farther away isolates the effect of cancer risk news from other local factors. Focusing on plants previously emitting reclassified carcinogenic chemicals, we estimate a 1-2% decline in housing values within a 3-mile radius compared to those located farther away. The effects are stronger in areas with higher media presence underscoring the role of salience as a mechanism. |
| JEL: | G11 G50 Q51 Q53 |
| Date: | 2025–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34305 |
| By: | Bieske, Lara; Adam, Hanna; Stadelmann, David; Larch, Mario |
| JEL: | F15 F43 O18 R12 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc25:325414 |
| By: | Robert M. Adams; Shane M. Sherlund |
| Abstract: | This study examines changes in household and employment access to bank branches in the United States from 2014 to 2024, calculating distances with highly granular census block-level data. We develop a continuous measure of bank branch access that accounts for population and employment density, implicitly accounting for varying travel times within different urban and rural areas. Our findings indicate that despite a 19-percent decline in bank branches over the decade, average distances to the nearest branch increased only modestly—by 0.02 to 0.28 miles depending on area density. We find some disparities in branch access across racial and income groups, but these gaps did not widen substantially over the 2014-2024 period. Overall, our results suggest that while some localized reductions in branch access occurred, the significant reduction in the number of branches did not result in significant decreases in access to local bank branches for households or businesses. |
| Keywords: | Banking; Branch Networks; Geospatial Analysis; Banking Deserts |
| JEL: | G21 R32 |
| Date: | 2025–09–19 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2025-86 |
| By: | Eric Donald; Masao Fukui; Yuhei Miyauchi |
| Abstract: | We study the optimal allocation of population and consumption in a dynamic spatial general equilibrium model with frictional migration, where households' idiosyncratic location preference shocks are private information. We derive a recursive formula for the constrained-efficient allocation, capturing the trade-off between consumption smoothing and efficient migration. In a quantitative model calibrated to the US economy featuring both cross-state migration and risk-free savings, we find that the constrained-efficient allocation features lower population but higher average consumption in less productive states than the status quo, achieving efficiency and spatial redistribution simultaneously through dynamic incentives. In response to local negative productivity shocks, the constrained-efficient allocation features more front-loaded consumption than the status quo, with systematic heterogeneity linked to the location’s pre-shock fundamentals. |
| JEL: | E0 F0 R0 |
| Date: | 2025–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34290 |
| By: | Alessandra Drigo (University of Milan, Department of Environmental Science and Policy, and Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei) |
| Abstract: | This study offers the first analysis of environmental and climate inequalities at the census tract level in Italy, providing valuable insights into spatial patterns of environmental and social vulnerability. The results highlight significant environmental inequality related to exposure to air pollution (PM2.5), as well as climate inequality linked to thermal discomfort (measured by the Discomfort Index). Among all regions, the Padana Valley stands out as the most severely affected by both stressors, marking its population as particularly vulnerable regardless of their socioeconomic status. At the national level, the analysis identifies a negative correlation between exposure to environmental stressors and income proxies, and a positive correlation with the presence of non-European foreign residents. These associations remain robust even when the focus shifts to census tracts within the same municipality, suggesting that environmental and social inequalities persist not only across regions but also within local urban contexts. |
| Keywords: | Environmental inequality, Environmental justice, Air pollution, Socioeconomic status, Climate Justice, Discomfort Index |
| JEL: | Q53 Q56 I14 C21 |
| Date: | 2025–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2025.12 |
| By: | Deepak Saraswat; Shwetlena Sabarwal; Lindsey Lacey; Natasha Jha; Nishith Prakash; Rachel Cohen |
| Abstract: | Nearly 200 million children under five in low- and middle-income countries face developmental deficits, even as access to early childhood services expands. We present evidence from a large-scale randomized controlled trial (N=3, 131 children in 201 schools) in Nepal’s government system testing three models of combining classroom quality with parental engagement. All teachers completed a 15-day training on pedagogy, national standards, and caregiver engagement, after which schools were randomly assigned to models varying whether caregiver sessions were led by teachers alone, by teachers supported with in-class helpers, or by external facilitators. The intervention increased children’s developmental outcomes by 0.10–0.20 standard deviations and improved caregiver engagement by similar magnitudes. Effects were most consistent when teachers received support that sustained classroom quality while engaging families, underscoring the critical role of workload management. Impacts were concentrated among disadvantaged households—those with lower baseline engagement, higher stress, and less education—highlighting the potential to reduce early childhood inequalities. Mechanism analysis shows the program shifted home and school inputs from substitutes to complements, creating mutually reinforcing pathways for child development. These findings demonstrate that modest, system-embedded reforms can generate scalable improvements in early childhood human capital formation. |
| Keywords: | early childhood development, cognitive skills, non-cognitive skills, Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ), Nepal |
| JEL: | J13 J24 I21 I24 O15 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12160 |
| By: | Tino, Stephen |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the importance of labor market power and firm productivity for understanding the immigrant-native pay gap. Using matched employer-employee data from Canada, I estimate a wage-posting model that incorporates two-sided heterogeneity and strategic interactions in wage setting. In the model, firms mark down wages below the marginal revenue product of labor (MRPL), and the equilibrium immigrantnative pay gap arises from differences in wage markdowns and MRPL. The findings suggest that immigrants earn 77% of their MRPL on average, compared to 84% for natives. I also decompose the immigrant-native pay gap using counterfactual exercises that account for general equilibrium responses of workers and firms. The results of the counterfactuals suggest that (i) differences in labor supply curves contribute significantly to earnings inequality between immigrants and natives; (ii) immigrants tend to work at more productive firms, driven by their tendency to work in cities where firms are more productive on average; and (iii) heterogeneity in firm productivity magnifies the contribution of labor supply differences to the immigrant-native pay gap, highlighting the importance of interaction effects. |
| Keywords: | Immigration, inequality, monopsony, firm productivity, immigrant-native earnings differential |
| JEL: | J01 J15 J23 J31 J42 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:clefwp:327118 |
| By: | Sieger, Lisa; Weber, Christoph; Stein, Tobias |
| JEL: | C31 Q28 Q55 R12 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc25:325393 |
| By: | Bruns, Daniel; Thomsen, Stephan L. |
| JEL: | Q48 Q51 Q53 R31 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc25:325450 |
| By: | Carola Frydman; Raven S. Molloy; Austin Palis |
| Abstract: | Housing is an important component of wealth for most American households (Bricker, Moore and Thompson 2019; Kuhn et al., 2020), so studying trends in homeownership can shed light on changes in aggregate household wealth and how it is distributed across families. The aggregate US homeownership rate increased by 20 percentage points from 1940 to 1960, the largest change in American homeownership in the past 100 years. |
| Date: | 2025–09–24 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgfn:2025-09-24-2 |
| By: | Dijkstra, Lewis; Kompil, Mert; Proietti, Paola |
| Abstract: | Between 2001 and 2021, capital metro regions had the fastest productivity growth in the EU, followed by non-metro regions, while it was much lower in other metro regions. Capitals reduced their sectoral concentration, while the other regions increased it. Our shift-share analysis confirms that capitals relied entirely on productivity growth within sectors, while the other two types benefitted also from shifting jobs to more productive sectors. Our regression analysis showed that convergence and being a capital boosted productivity growth. Population density also strengthened productivity growth, but not enough to prevent other-metro regions from lagging behind the non-metro regions. |
| Keywords: | growth; productivity; employment; capital; metro; regions; Europe; EU; ARDECO |
| JEL: | E24 O18 O32 P25 R12 |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:129664 |
| By: | Samuel K. Hughes; Raven S. Molloy |
| Abstract: | Substantial increases in homeowners' insurance costs since the late 2010s have raised homeowners' housing costs. Spreading reports about similar insurance cost increases for apartment buildings may prompt similar questions about the implications for renters' costs. |
| Date: | 2025–09–19 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgfn:2025-09-19-2 |
| By: | Matthias Weigand; Cathrin Mohr; Davide Cantoni |
| Abstract: | How does culture respond to institutional change? We study the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire (1789–1815), when half of Central Europe changed rulers. Using 44 million birth records from hundreds of cities between 1700 and 1850, we measure cultural traits in real time. Cities that experienced ruler change saw greater naming turnover, dispersion, and novelty. We construct control groups using diplomatic records to isolate these effects, which emerged immediately and persisted. The collapse of hegemonic authority weakened state-aligned identities while strengthening religiosity and nationalism. These shifts undermined subsequent state building, highlighting challenges of ideological integration after regime change. |
| Keywords: | institutional change, cultural persistence, identity formation |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12155 |
| By: | Hans Bonesrønning; Jon Marius |
| Abstract: | We use data from a Norwegian field experiment where young students were taught mathematics in small, homogenous groups to investigate how treatment effects varied across middle-achieving students dependent on their rank order and their tutors’ instructional practices. We find that individuals from the second and fourth quintiles in the pretest score distribution who were placed in groups with lower (higher) ranked students experienced substantially lower (higher) treatment effects than students who were placed in groups with students from the same quintile as themselves. These effects were somewhat modified by the tutors’ instructional practices. Students in the third quintile were unaffected by their within-group rank. |
| Keywords: | ability grouping, small groups, ordinal rank effects, tutors’ instructional practices |
| JEL: | I21 I24 H75 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12153 |
| By: | Wett, Valentin |
| JEL: | J61 J24 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc25:325408 |
| By: | Ritam Chaurey; Gaurav Nayyar; Siddharth Sharma; Eric Verhoogen |
| Abstract: | Knowledge spillovers among firms are widely viewed as a key driver of agglomeration and growth, but are difficult to estimate cleanly. We randomly allocated an energy-efficient motor --- a “servo'” motor --- among leather-goods firms in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and tracked adoption, information flows, beliefs about energy savings, and other variables. We use the difference between actual exposure and expected exposure (from simulated randomization draws) to identify the effect of exposure. We find a robust positive effect of exposure to treated neighbors within a small geographic area (500 meters in our baseline specification) on information flows and adoption. A marginal value of public funds (MVPF) calculation taking learning spillovers into account yields a significantly larger value than one considering only treated firms and suggests that adoption subsidies would be a cost-effective policy intervention. |
| JEL: | L23 L67 O12 O14 R11 |
| Date: | 2025–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34296 |
| By: | Psarras, Andreas; Panagiotidis, Theodore; Andronikidis, Andreas |
| Abstract: | This study examines the relationship between petrol prices and vehicle collisions using Greek data from 2012 to 2021. Generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity models are employed for daily motor vehicle collisions. Our analysis reveals that petrol prices have a significant impact on vehicle collisions. Fatal vehicle collisions decrease during relatively high petrol prices, whereas light-injury vehicle collisions increase. No significant relationship was found between severe-injury vehicle collisions and fuel prices. We also analyze daily data on motorcycle vehicle collisions and find a positive relationship between these accidents and fuel prices. When considering models with lagged fuel prices, our results indicate that in all cases, vehicle collisions decrease during periods of increasing fuel prices. These findings suggest that policies targeting motorcycling safety are particularly necessary during times of rising fuel prices. |
| Keywords: | petrol prices; traffic safety; road accidents; motorcycle accidents |
| JEL: | R41 I19 |
| Date: | 2025–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:129625 |
| By: | von Auer, Ludwig; Trede, Mark |
| JEL: | R12 J21 C43 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc25:325426 |
| By: | Müge Süer (IWH Halle); Michel Tolksdorf (TU Berlin); Vincent Meisner (HU Berlin); Sokol Tominaj (TU Berlin) |
| Abstract: | Contrary to classical theory, we provide experimental evidence that preference reports in a strategy-proof school-choice mechanism systematically depend on beliefs. We employ a "hard-easy gap" to exogenously vary students' beliefs about their priority rank. As predicted, underconfidence induces more manipulation and thus more justified envy than overconfidence. The effect of priority information on justified envy crucially depends on the initial beliefs and the real priority ranks: while top students always gain, non-top students lose from this information. In total, correcting overconfidence/underconfidence increases/decreases justified envy. Finally, we confirm that additionally providing information on school availability through a dynamic implementation of the mechanism reduces justified envy compared to priority information alone. |
| Keywords: | market design; school choice; overconfidence; strategy-proofness; information; |
| JEL: | C92 D47 |
| Date: | 2025–09–25 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rco:dpaper:546 |
| By: | Robbie Maris (UCL Centre for Education Policy & Equalising Opportunities (CEPEO) & Education Policy Institute (EPI)) |
| Abstract: | Upper-secondary technical and vocational education and training (VET) is responsible for educating a large proportion of the world’s population, significantly impacting productivity and economic growth. Over recent years, there has been a global trend towards combining academic and vocational tracks into one pathway within upper secondary education. In this paper, we analyse the short-run impacts of one of the most recent of these efforts – the T level reforms in England. T levels are large VET qualifications that are more academically oriented than existing VET qualifications and are designed in-part to support progression to further academic or vocational study. Using a combination of quasi-experimental methods (instrumental variables, regression adjustment and matching), we find mixed impacts of T levels on student achievement and progression. T level students are significantly less likely to achieve a full level 3 by the age of 18. However, T level students are more likely to progress to advanced apprenticeships and higher technical study. We show that these impacts are more negative for the marginal student and when considering other level 3 vocational pathways as an alternate form of study. We also find heterogeneity by T level pathway (subject), indicating that some pathways are performing significantly better than others. |
| Keywords: | Education, Instrumental Variables, Qualifications, Technical, UK, Vocational |
| JEL: | I26 I28 |
| Date: | 2025–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucl:cepeow:25-11 |
| By: | Diogo Baerlocher (Department of Economics, University of South Florida; Department of Economics, Skidmore College) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how racial identity misrepresentation influences public sector hiring in Brazil. We focus on misaligned white candidates — those who self-identify as white but are unlikely to be classified as such by facial recognition — and exploit close electoral races using a regression discontinuity design. Narrow victories by these candidates reduce the share of nonwhite hires in municipal legislative offices by approximately 20%, with effects concentrated in temporary and managerial positions. We also find a significant decline in nonwhite leadership in municipal secretariats. These results indicate that misaligned whiteness shapes racial representation through political and bureaucratic channels. |
| Keywords: | Racial classification, Political representation, Phenotypic discrimination, Public employment |
| JEL: | J15 D63 H83 |
| Date: | 2025–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usf:wpaper:2025-04 |
| By: | Laurent Pech (Académie de Créteil); Pierre Pech (LADYSS - Laboratoire Dynamiques Sociales et Recomposition des Espaces - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - UP8 - Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis - UPN - Université Paris Nanterre - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UPCité - Université Paris Cité) |
| Abstract: | Between 1880 and 1931, the spatial strategy of the entrepreneur Henri Gignoux led to the development of several industrial activities in the Buëch sector of the Southern Alps. The production of natural ice, sparkling mineral water and hydroelectricity was complemented by a sawmill for the manufacture of packaging for ice blocks and bottles of sparkling water, which were exported throughout south-eastern France and, in the case of the mineral water, to Asia and North Africa. Henri Gignoux, originally from Geneva and initially based in Lyon, set up his industrial business in Aspres-sur-Buëch, in the heart of the Buëch sector, in the Hautes-Alpes department, where he built a family home on an estate where he planted remarkable trees and the first tennis court in the Hautes-Alpes. An innovative entrepreneur, he provided the village of Aspres-sur-Buëch with electric lighting before Marseille by installing a hydroelectric power station on the local river, the Buëch. He had one of the first Ripert-brand cars manufactured in Marseille, an outward sign of his social status as a notable with two properties, one in Marseille and the other in Aspres-sur-Buëch. He was involved in social clubs such as the Provence Automobile Club and the Gap Tennis Club, which he founded and became its first president. He was also a member of committees and professional bodies, where he forged many relationships with other entrepreneurs. A geo-historical approach to this strategy reveals a series of interlocking areas in which this captain of industry invested. Locally, he bought land, rebuilt and created a hydraulic network, developed industrial infrastructure and negotiated concessions to export his products by rail. Taken together, these form the territory of the company's spatial footprint. In the second half of the nineteenth century, the spatial model of the "territorialising" industrial owner, shared by many entrepreneurs, led to strong local roots through the acquisition of land occupied not only by industrial sites and transport infrastructure, but also by workers' housing, which often took the form of workers' housing estates. Although Henri Gignoux was partly part of this model, in particular by not developing a workers' housing estate, it seems that the seasonal migration of labour, specific to the mountain environment and space, limited the forms of spatial strategy of this industrial boss, who contributed to the "soft" industrial revolution characteristic of these mountain environments. |
| Abstract: | Entre 1880 et 1931, la stratégie spatiale de l'entrepreneur Henri Gignoux se traduit par le développement de plusieurs activités industrielles dans le secteur du Buëch, dans les Alpes du sud. Les productions de glace naturelle, d'une eau minérale gazeuse, de l'hydroélectricité sont complétées par une scierie utilisée pour la fabrication des emballages des blocs de glace et des bouteilles d'eau gazeuse exportées dans tout le sud-est de la France mais aussi jusqu'en Asie et en Afrique du nord pour l'eau minérale. Henri Gignoux, originaire de Genève et initialement installé à Lyon, localise ses activités industrielles à Aspres-sur-Buëch, au cœur de ce secteur du Buëch, dans le département des Hautes-Alpes où il fait construire une demeure familiale au sein d'une propriété où il installe des arbres remarquables et le premier court de tennis des Hautes-Alpes. Patron innovateur, il équipe avant Marseille le village d'Aspres-sur-Buëch en éclairage électrique en équipant d'une centrale hydroélectrique la rivière locale, le Buëch. Il fait fabriquer à Marseille une des premières voitures de la marque Ripert, signe extérieur de son statut social de notable avec ses deux propriétés, à Marseille et à Aspres-sur-Buëch. Il est investi dans la sociabilité sociale au sein de clubs, comme le club automobile de Provence, ou le tennis club de Gap qu'il crée et dont il devient le premier président. Il intègre des comités et des organismes professionnels dans lesquels il noue de nombreuses relations avec d'autres entrepreneurs. L'approche géohistorique de cette stratégie révèle un emboitement des espaces investis par ce capitaine d'entreprise. Au niveau local, il achète du foncier, transforme et crée un réseau hydraulique, aménage des infrastructures industrielles et négocie des concessions pour exporter par le train ses productions. L'ensemble constitue le territoire de son emprise spatiale. Au cours de la seconde moitié du XIXe siècle, le modèle spatial du patron « territorialisateur », partagé par de nombreux entrepreneurs, se traduit par un ancrage local fort avec acquisition d'espaces fonciers occupés non seulement par les emprises industrielles et les infrastructures de transport mais aussi par les habitats des salariés qui prennent souvent l'aspect de cités ouvrières. Si Henri Gignoux appartient partiellement à ce modèle, notamment en n'ayant pas développé de cité ouvrière, il semble que les migrations saisonnières de travail, spécifiques du milieu et de l'espace montagnard, ont contraint les formes de la stratégie spatiale de ce patron d'industrie qui contribue à la révolution industrielle « douce » caractéristique de ces milieux de montagne. |
| Keywords: | Industrial owner, Southern Alps France, Spatial strategy, Industrial landscape |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05265358 |
| By: | Tomás Baioni (UNLP) |
| Abstract: | One of the salient aspects of climate change is the increment of both the intensity and frequency of natural disasters. This paper addresses how these factors interplay at a local level, focusing on Chilean regions at a quarterly basis for the period 2009–2025. To analyze intensity, I rely on the local projections method and find that on average, a 1% shock in natural disasters’ intensity has an immediate negative effect in employment by 0.057%, and an immediate negative effect on the debt market, increasing the household debt by 0.123 p.p. Overall, my results suggest that a 1% shock in natural disasters’ intensity has an immediate positive effect in real GDP by 0.015%, and a significant long-term negative effect on GDP by 0.054%, potentially showing signs of hysteresis. On the other hand, to analyze natural disasters’ frequency, I rely on a local projections difference-in-differences (LP-DID) estimator and find that those Chilean regions that suffer a natural disaster are more likely to experience short-term decreases in employment and GDP by 0.005% and 0.003%, respectively. I rely on a panel VAR model to estimate the impact of natural disasters’ intensity as robustness checks, and find that my original conclusions hold: natural disasters have a short-term negative effect on employment at 0.005% and a long-term negative effect on growth at 0.170%. |
| Keywords: | Climate change, natural disasters, environmental risks, emerging markets, local projections |
| JEL: | C33 H70 Q54 |
| Date: | 2025–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aoz:wpaper:373 |
| By: | Toth, Mark |
| JEL: | E32 E52 R12 R21 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc25:325390 |
| By: | Jayme Gerring; Carol Moseley; Stephan D. Whitaker |
| Abstract: | The Cleveland Fed’s Survey of Regional Conditions and Expectations (SORCE) administered in June 2025 asked respondents from across the Fourth District a set of special questions about the impact of tariffs and tariff-related uncertainty on their businesses’ costs and prices. This District Data Brief analyzes their responses. |
| Date: | 2025–10–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:c00003:101866 |
| By: | Brox, Enzo; Davoli, Maddalena; Strazzeri, Maurizio |
| JEL: | I21 I24 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:vfsc25:325431 |
| By: | Meng ZHAO; Ting YIN |
| Abstract: | Beyond the natural cognitive decline that accompanies aging, a growing body of research suggests that social capital can influence this process, particularly after retirement. This study investigates the interplay among social capital, retirement, and cognitive function. Using longitudinal Japanese data from 2007, 2009 and 2011, we assess three cognitive domains - orientation to time and place, short-term memory, and calculation ability - and examine how they can be affected by working status and social capital, proxied by participation in social activities and the size of one’s friendship network. The major findings of this study are: (1) the cognitive effects of retirement appear to be complex and dynamic; and (2) social capital and employment interact with each other, with regular participation in social activities playing a protective role in cognitive aging. |
| Date: | 2025–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:25094 |
| By: | Patteera Pantaratorn (" Rangsit University, Pathumthani, Thailand" Author-2-Name: Noppadol Dharawanij Author-2-Workplace-Name: " Rangsit University, Pathumthani, Thailand" Author-3-Name: Author-3-Workplace-Name: Author-4-Name: Author-4-Workplace-Name: Author-5-Name: Author-5-Workplace-Name: Author-6-Name: Author-6-Workplace-Name: Author-7-Name: Author-7-Workplace-Name: Author-8-Name: Author-8-Workplace-Name:) |
| Abstract: | " Objective - This study aims to explore the potential for developing sustainable creative tourism in Ban Khlong Bang Phai, Nonthaburi, by analyzing both supply and demand factors. The research adopts an empirical approach to assess the integration of local cultural and natural resources into tourism planning and the influence of tourist motivations on satisfaction. Methodology - A mixed-methods design was employed, combining qualitative interviews with 12 key community stakeholders and quantitative surveys of 169 tourists. Qualitative data identified local resources, cultural activities, and development opportunities, while quantitative data assessed tourist motivations, satisfaction, and decision-making factors using structured questionnaires, descriptive statistics, and multiple regression analysis. Findings - Ban Khlong Bang Phai possesses rich cultural and natural resources, including traditional arts, crafts, agricultural practices, and religious activities, which can serve as the basis for creative tourism. Tourists were primarily motivated by the uniqueness of the destination and the cultural activities it offered. High satisfaction was reported with cultural experiences, local hospitality, and destination authenticity, while infrastructure challenges such as transportation and signage were identified as areas for improvement. Significant correlations were found between tourist motivations and satisfaction. Novelty - The study offers an empirical framework linking community cultural resources with tourist motivations and satisfaction to guide sustainable creative tourism development. It provides actionable insights for planning tourism activities that preserve cultural authenticity while promoting local economic growth, addressing a research gap in community-based creative tourism in Thailand. Type of Paper - Empirical" |
| Keywords: | Sustainable tourism; Creative tourism; Tourist satisfaction; Cultural heritage; Community-based tourism; Thailand; Tourist motivation |
| JEL: | M14 M19 |
| Date: | 2025–09–30 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gtr:gatrjs:jber260 |
| By: | Ebru Canikalp Dulgeroglu (Cukurova University, Turkiye); Jorge Martinez-Vazquez (International Center for Public Policy, Georgia State University, USA) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the role of vertical fiscal imbalances (VFI) on tax effort in Turkiye's 81 provinces over the period 2007-22, using linear and non-linear panel data models. We measure local tax effort, applying a panel stochastic frontier model to better address the endogeneity problem relative to previous studies. The same approach is employed to calculate VFI, focusing on the overall difference between expenditure needs and fiscal capacity of subnational jurisdictions. Our results indicate that the presence of VFI leads to decreases in tax effort at the provincial level. Subnational governments would appear to perceive transfer payments as a costless source of revenues as opposed to those coming from their own sources, leading to decreasing tax effort, both in the baseline and extension models. Moreover, we find that alternative measurements of transfer dependency are consistent with our findings. To further clarify the effect of transfer payments on subnational tax effort in a unitary country, we also apply dynamic panel threshold analysis. These results indicate that the overall effects depend on the degree of VFI. For VFI below a threshold value, transfer payments do not exert a constraining effect on subnational tax effort, but this is reduced when the VFI is above the threshold value. |
| Date: | 2025–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ays:ispwps:paper2515 |
| By: | Jackson, Nadine R. |
| Abstract: | The COVID-19 pandemic exposed and exacerbated existing environmental and health inequities, yet limited research has examined how social distancing policies intersect with environmental justice concerns. This article investigates how seemingly neutral distancing guidelines functioned as mechanisms of environmental injustice in marginalized US communities. Drawing on existing research, this article evaluates physical and social dimensions of COVID-19 transmission patterns through methodology combining spatial analysis, and environmental justice frameworks, including intersectionality and Laura Pulido’s theory of racial capitalism. Statistical analysis reveals communities of color face 56-63% higher exposure to industrial pollutants, correlating with increased mortality rates. Airborne transmission research shows that standard distancing protocols were particularly ineffective in crowded, poorly ventilated spaces common in under-resourced communities. Historical practices of racial segregation directly predict contemporary COVID-19 mortality patterns, with some marginalized communities experiencing death rates 3.1 times higher than affluent areas. These findings challenge conventional public health approaches and provide an evidence-based framework for equitable crisis responses that address environmental racism, healthcare inequities, and economic exploitation. This work contributes to environmental justice scholarship by exposing how standardized public health measures can reinforce and amplify existing disparities, while advocating for structural interventions that center health equity. |
| Date: | 2025–09–26 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:7vpbh_v1 |
| By: | Benito Arruñada; Marco Fabbri; Daniele Nosenzo; Giorgio Zanarone |
| Abstract: | We provide causal evidence on how a community’s formal institutions and social structure jointly affect the value of its land to outside investors. Using field research and a lab-in-thefield experiment in rural Benin, we show that potential urban investors perceive a higher risk of expropriatory collusion among villagers—and thus invest less—when villages lack formal land records and exhibit strong social tightness. We also find that, although formalizing land rights increases the confidence of outsiders, it does not eliminate their concerns about collusion: outsiders remain wary of investing in villages with a tight social structure even with formal property rights, indicating that local collusion continues to pose a barrier to developing impersonal property markets. Our findings therefore suggest that in addition to facilitating intra-community investment and trade (e.g., by formalizing land ownership), well-designed property institutions should also guarantee the impartial treatment of outsiders. |
| Date: | 2025–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fda:fdaddt:2025-11 |
| By: | Al-Naemi, Mai; Lee, Hyun Jung; Reade, Carol |
| Abstract: | Evidence suggests that language diversity and the asymmetric fluency of corporate lingua franca among employees negatively affect social integration, knowledge sharing and performance in the workplace. We explore the boundary conditions that might mitigate such negative consequences. Our research context is a multilingual firm where English is mandated as the corporate lingua franca and employee English fluency is generally low. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach and longitudinal design across three studies, we discover an informal network, Language Advice Network (LAN), in which individuals with varying levels of English fluency seek and share language-related knowledge. Contrary to extant research findings, our analysis shows that individuals actively seek language advice from fluent speakers, forming ties between fluent and less-fluent English speakers across different language clusters in the organization. It is the low English fluency of the majority of employees and the strict English language mandate that drives connection between individuals who may otherwise segregate. We also find that language-advice giving is positively associated with the advisors’ annual performance rating, indicating that management recognition and rewards play an important role in sustaining the informal language advice network. Our findings provide fresh theoretical insight on the relationship between corporate lingua franca, social integration and knowledge sharing, and management implications for fostering social integration, particularly in contexts of high first-language diversity. |
| Keywords: | AOM Annual Meeting Proceedings 2024; AOM Chicago 2024; best paper; international management |
| JEL: | J50 |
| Date: | 2024–08–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:126149 |