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on Urban and Real Estate Economics |
| By: | Puga, Diego (Madrid Institute for Advanced Studies (IMDEA) Social Sciences) |
| Abstract: | This paper deals with the effects of cross-border transport infrastructure in the presence of agglomeration economies. Cross-border infrastructure is more likely to increase than to decrease inequalities between and within regions, and has not helped regional convergence in Europe. Under-investment due to spillovers, coordination failures, and the inadequacy of networks originally designed for national markets provide a role for supranational institutions. Hub-andspoke networks tend to increase urban primacy while cross-border transport connections tend to reduce it. Improvements in transport and communication allow firms to separate innovation, management and production, increasing efficiency and urban interdependence. |
| Keywords: | transport; cross-border infrastructure; agglomeration; urban specialization |
| JEL: | R12 R40 |
| Date: | 2008–07–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:eibpap:2008_009&r=ure |
| By: | David Albouy |
| Abstract: | Estimates of local land rents and firm productivity from wage and housing-cost data should incorporate parameters from the housing production function. Across cities, differences in amenity values are capitalized into the sum of local land values and federal-tax payments. Improved modeling is used to predict how amenities affect wages and housing costs, estimate quality-of-life and firm-productivity differences across U.S. cities, and revise estimates of the value of public-infrastructure investments. Private land values vary mainly from quality-of-life differences, while social land values vary mainly from firm-productivity differences. Highly valuable cities are typically coastal, temperate, sunny, and have large or well-educated populations. |
| JEL: | H2 H4 J30 Q5 R1 |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14981&r=ure |
| By: | Eliana Balla; Robert E. Carpenter; Breck Robinson |
| Keywords: | Mortgages ; Subprime mortgage |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedrwp:09-07&r=ure |
| By: | Frank Neffke |
| Abstract: | Using dynamic panel data methods on UK counties (1841-1971), we investigate long-term employment dynamics in seven distinct local industries. We study how industries benefit from specialised environments (MAR), diverse local economies (Jacobs’) and large local markets (urbanization), and, in contrast to most other authors, test if the strength of MAR, Jacobs’ and urbanization externalities changes over time. We find declining MAR and rising Jacobs’ externalities since the mid-nineteenth century, questioning the adequacy of a static framework when studying agglomeration externalities |
| Keywords: | agglomeration, dynamic externalities, Jacobs’ externalities, MAR externalities, urbanization externalities |
| JEL: | L60 N93 N94 R11 |
| Date: | 2008–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:0818&r=ure |
| By: | Crescenzi, Riccardo (Robert Schuman Centre of the European University Institute, Florence); Rodriguez-Pose, Andres (London School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the role of infrastructure endowment and investment in the genesis of regional growth in the European Union. It assesses the economic effects of the existence and improvement of transport networks in light of their interactions with innovation and local socio-economic conditions. The analysis accounts for spatial interactions between different regions in the form of spillovers and network externalities. The regression results highlight the impact of infrastructural endowment on regional economic performance, but also the weak contribution of additional investment. Regions having good transport infrastructure endowment and being well connected to regions with similar good endowments tend to grow faster. However, investment in infrastructure within a region or in neighbouring regions seems to leave especially peripheral regions more vulnerable to competition. Furthermore, the positive impact of infrastructure endowment on growth tends to wane quickly and is weaker than that of, for example, the level of human capital. |
| Keywords: | Economic growth; infrastructure; transport network; investment; innovation; spillovers; regions; endowment |
| JEL: | R11 R12 R42 R58 |
| Date: | 2008–07–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:eibpap:2008_008&r=ure |
| By: | Daunfeldt, Sven-Olov (The Ratio Institute); Rudholm, Niklas (The Swedish Retail Institute (HUI)); Rämme, Ulf (The Swedish Retail Institute (HUI)) |
| Abstract: | Did the introduction of congestion charges in Stockholm city reduce retail revenues? Data from 20 shopping malls - 8 within the toll area, and 12 outside the tool area - and from a sample of retail stores located along the main shopping streets was analyzed using an intervention-control approach. Favorable outcomes, such as reduced traffic, less emissions of carbon-dioxide, and perceived improvements in air quality and accessibility, do not seem to have been offset by reduced revenues for retailers located within the toll area. |
| Keywords: | Road toll; congestion fee; congestion charge; retail revenues; retail profts |
| JEL: | D12 H31 L81 |
| Date: | 2009–05–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ratioi:0134&r=ure |
| By: | Roderik Ponds; Frank van Oort; Koen Frenken |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the effect of knowledge spillovers from academic research on regional innovation. Spillovers are localized to the extent that the underlying mechanisms are geographically bounded. However, university-industry collaboration - as one of the carriers of knowledge spillovers - is not limited to the regional scale. Consequently, we expect spillovers to take place over longer distances. The effect of university-industry collaboration networks on knowledge spillovers is modelled using an extended knowledge production function framework applied to regions in the Netherlands. We find that the impact of academic research on regional innovation is mediated not only by geographical proximity but also by social networks stemming from collaboration networks. |
| Keywords: | knowledge production function, knowledge spillovers, university-industry collaboration, innovation, social networks |
| JEL: | C21 O18 O31 R11 |
| Date: | 2009–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:0903&r=ure |
| By: | I.P. Ottaviano, Gianmarco (Universita di Bologna, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche) |
| Abstract: | This essay provides an overview of the role of infrastructure on economic geography in the light of both theoretical and empirical findings. Two main lessons stand out. First, infrastructural improvements affect the geographical distribution of economic activities. Second, even when localized, infrastructure investment generates externalities that may diffuse quite far across the economy. These two lessons have two far-reaching policy implications. First, effective infrastructure projects require knowledge on their impacts on the spatial distribution of economic activities. These impacts depend crucially on the specific details of the projects and the specific sources of agglomeration economies they affect. Second, regions need to coordinate not only in terms of interregional infrastructure projects but also in terms of intraregional ones if they want to avoid beggar-thyneighbour and self-defeating outcomes. |
| Keywords: | agglomeration; infrastructure; regional development; transport networks |
| JEL: | F12 F15 F21 R12 |
| Date: | 2008–07–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:eibpap:2008_006&r=ure |
| By: | Frank Neffke; Martin Svensson Henning; Ron Boschma |
| Abstract: | Cities vary with regard to the characteristics of their economic life. A formal model by Duranton and Puga (2001) suggests a division of labour between diversified and specialized cities. Diversified cities (the “nursery cities”) provide a fertile environment for search and innovation. Specialized cities, by contrast, are better equipped to facilitate mass-production. In essence, this spurs firms to re-locate as they mature from the exploratory set-up stage to mass-production. In this article, we empirically test the assumptions behind this model by means of survival analysis using Swedish plant level data of over 11 000 plants. More specifically, we investigate the effects of local specialization and local diversity on plant survival at different ages of a plant and for different size categories of plants. Not all types of local diversity will be of value to a plant. Rather, we expect plants to benefit especially from local diversity in related industries. In a similar vein, cities with a large concentration of a broad range of activities in related trades may confer larger benefits than cities with a narrow specialization in the plant’s own industry. To quantify the degree of relatedness between industries, we use a new measure, Revealed Relatedness. This serves to identify technological relatedness by measuring economies of scope as implied by the structure of production portfolios of plants. The findings suggest that regional characteristics strongly influence the chances of a plant to survive. In general, the hypothesized specialization effects are only found when we look at related specialization. Large plants at high stages of maturity form the only exception to this. However, diversity effects are only visible when we take all local diversity into account, not just diversity in related industries. Moreover, it is only young firms that benefit from regional diversity. This indicates that the “nursery city” metaphor holds as much for small, prototype plants as for large mass-production plants. |
| Keywords: | agglomeration economies, revealed relatedness, industry relations, Sweden |
| Date: | 2008–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:0820&r=ure |
| By: | David M. Williams |
| Abstract: | Financial liberalisation and innovation (FLIB) in Australia over the 1980s and 1990s provided the institutional backdrop for one of the most rapid increases in household balance sheets and house prices in the world. An equilibrium correction model of quarterly Australian house prices for 1972-2006 identifies the key long run drivers as real non-property income per house, the working age population proportion, the unemployment rate, two government policy changes, real and nominal interest rates and non-price credit conditions. All else equal, easing credit supply conditions attributable to FLIB directly raised the long run level of real house prices by around 51 per cent while higher real interest rates subtracted 29 per cent from long run prices. Real interest rates are shown to have a significant impact on real house prices after financial liberalisation but play no role before. These findings suggest that FLIB fundamentally relaxed binding credit constraints on households and enhanced opportunities for intertemporal smoothing. The model also explicitly captures short run overshooting dynamics in Australian house prices. Whenever lagged real house price growth is greater than about 4 per cent, for example during booms, house prices tend to display “frenzy” behaviour measured as a cubic of lagged house price changes. |
| Keywords: | House prices, Mortgage markets, Financial liberalisation |
| JEL: | E21 G21 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oxf:wpaper:432&r=ure |
| By: | Gabriel M. Ahlfeldt (University of Hamburg); Arne Feddersen (University of Hamburg) |
| Abstract: | This study analyses the sports infrastructure of Hamburg, Germany, from the residents’ perspective. Empirical evidence is provided for the Sports Place Theory developed by BALE (2003) using a micro-level dataset of 1,319 sports facilities, which is merged with highly disaggregated data on population, socio-demographic characteristics and land values. In line with the theory, small and medium facilities on average are found to have catchment areas ranging from 1,000 to 2,500m. Similarly, large facilities carry out services within an area of up to 5,000m. Based on implicit travel costs, locations’ endowment of sports infrastructure is captured by potentiality variables, while accounting for natural and unnatural barriers. Given potential demand, central areas are found to be relatively underprovided with a sports infrastructure compared to peripheral areas where opportunity cost in the form of price of land is lower. The determinants of spatial distribution vary systematically across types of sports fcilities. Publicly provided open sports fields and sport halls tend to be concentrated in areas of relativelylow income which is in line with their social infrastructure character, emphasized by local authorities. In contrast, there is a clear tendency for market allocated tennis facilities to follow purchasing power. Areas with higher proportions of foreigners are subject to relatively lower provision of a sports infrastructure, which contradicts the stated ambitions of planning authorities. To meet the implicit call for action, detailed maps of relative supply indicating privileged and disadvantaged areas offer useful guidance. |
| Keywords: | Sports Facilities, Sports Geography, Public Infrastructure |
| JEL: | L83 H4 R53 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spe:cpaper:0802&r=ure |
| By: | Svensson, Mikael (Department of Business, Economics, Statistics and Informatics) |
| Abstract: | Are adolescents who attend schools with a high level of alcohol use more likely to use alcohol themselves? This paper analyzes peer-effects in adolescent alcohol use based on a survey of 13,337 adolescents in Sweden in 2005. The empirical analysis uses multi-level logistic model to handle non-observable heterogeneity between the schools and the results show that attending a school with a high level of alcohol use is a strong predictor of alcohol use for the individual. However, a positive association is only seen within Swedes and within non-Swedes (1st and 2nd generation immigrants). Between Swedes and non-Swedes there is actually a negative association, i.e. if many Swedes drink in a certain school, alcohol use among non-Swedes is lower (and vice-versa). An exception to these results are schools with a very low share of non-Swedish adolescents, where non-Swedes alcohol use also is positively associated with Swedish peers’ alcohol use. |
| Keywords: | Alcohol use; Adolescents; Peer-effects; Immigrants; Sweden |
| JEL: | D10 I12 |
| Date: | 2009–05–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:oruesi:2009_007&r=ure |
| By: | Steven Poelhekke |
| Abstract: | German metropolitan areas with more highly skilled workers became increasingly skilled between 1975 and 2003, and this has important implications for urban employment growth.Using for the first time German metropolitan areas instead of administrative regions we show that the share of college graduates affects growth by the same magnitude as it does in US MSAs. However, conventional estimators are biased upwards. Correcting for the endogeneity of initial employment and solving a common problem of under-identification shows that the effect is at least a third smaller and closer to 0.5% employment growth for a 10% increase in the concentration of skilled workers. The effect is robust to various controls across two data sets. We additionally question the view that aggregate productivity growth is solely due to college graduates. After distinguishing between six different skill levels we find positive growth effects of high school graduates with vocational training, especially if the local concentration of technical professionals is high. The concentration of non-technical university graduates becomes more important over time, but has less bearing on the marginal growth effects of other skill groups. City success may thus depend on the right' combination of skills as well as college graduates. |
| Keywords: | human capital; skills; city employment growth; Germany; GMM estimation |
| Date: | 2009–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dnb:dnbwpp:209&r=ure |
| By: | Brown, David (Heriot-Watt University); Fay, Marianne (World Bank); V. Lall, Somik (World Bank); Gun Wang, Hyoung (World Bank); Felkner, John (University of Chicago) |
| Abstract: | We examine the economic implications of infrastructure investment policies that try to improve economic conditions in Russia's peripheral regions. Our analysis of firm-level industrial data for 1989 and 2004 highlights a 'death of distance' in industrial location, with increasing concentration of new firms in regions with good market access. We assess the geographic determinants of growth econometrically and identify market size and proximity to Moscow and regional infrastructure as important drivers of productivity for new and for privately-owned firms. Simulations show that the benefits of infrastructure improvements are highest in the country's capital region where economic activity is already concentrated. Policies that divert public investment towards peripheral regions run the risk of slowing down national economic growth. |
| Keywords: | Transport infrastructure; gravity; distance; travel time; market access; multi-factor productivity; Russia |
| JEL: | D24 H54 R12 R53 |
| Date: | 2008–07–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:eibpap:2008_010&r=ure |
| By: | Martin Koning (Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne) |
| Abstract: | This research focus on the congestion cost of the Parisian ring-road. We mobilize a speed-density relation which enables us to differentiate the costs of the road's use and its congestion according to speed-classes of 5 km/h. We lead this work at three analytical scales thanks to a large database : the Parisian ring-road considered on its whole, according to the different daily periods and the geographical sub-sections of the infrastructure. The economic cost induced by the over-use of the Parisian ring-road reaches 130 M € in 2007. The social losses have known a 10 % increase since 2000 (120 M €), mainly because of the speed's retreat (-5 %) and a higher opportunity cost of the time (+8 %). We finish this work by offering a possible pricing scheme for the Parisian ring-road. |
| Keywords: | Road congestion, Parisian ring-road, speed-density relation. |
| JEL: | D62 L92 R41 |
| Date: | 2009–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mse:cesdoc:09002&r=ure |
| By: | Mutl, Jan (Department of Economics, Institute for Advanced Studies, Vienna, Austria) |
| Abstract: | I consider a panel vector-autoregressive model with cross-sectional dependence of the disturbances characterized by a spatial autoregressive process. I propose a three-step estimation procedure. Its first step is an instrumental variable estimation that ignores the spatial correlation. In the second step, the estimated disturbances are used in a multivariate spatial generalized moments estimation to infer the degree of spatial correlation. The final step of the procedure uses transformed data and applies standard techniques for estimation of panel vector-autoregressive models. I compare the small-sample performance of various estimation strategies in a Monte Carlo study. |
| Keywords: | Spatial PVAR, Multivariate dynamic panel data model, Spatial GM, Spatial Cochrane-Orcutt transformation, Constrained maximum likelihood estimation |
| JEL: | C13 C31 C33 |
| Date: | 2009–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ihs:ihsesp:237&r=ure |
| By: | Francesco Quatraro |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes the effects of the evolution of knowledge base in the manufacturing sectors on regional productivity growth. Knowledge is viewed as a heterogeneous asset, and an evolutionary perspective is adopted. The results of the empirical estimations corroborate the hypothesis that beyond the traditional measure of knowledge stock, knowledge coherence and variety matter in shaping productivity dynamics. The check for spatial dependence suggests that cross-regional externalities exert additional triggering effects on productivity growth, without debasing the effects of knowledge. Important policy implications stem from the analysis, in that regional innovation strategies should be carefully coordinated so as to reach a higher degree of internal coherence and exert positive effects on productivity. |
| Keywords: | knowledge, variety, regional growth, productivity |
| JEL: | O33 R11 |
| Date: | 2009–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:0902&r=ure |
| By: | Jonathan Vogel |
| Abstract: | In this paper we present and solve a three-stage game of entry, location, and pricing in a spatial price discrimination framework with arbitrarily many heterogeneous firms. We provide a unique characterization of all pure undominated strategy SPNE without imposing restrictions on the distribution of marginal costs or the allocation of transportation costs between firms and consumers. |
| JEL: | L13 |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14978&r=ure |
| By: | Ricardo M. Sousa (Universidade do Minho - NIPE) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the wealth effects on consumption in the euro area as a whole. I show that: (i) financial wealth effects are relatively large and statistically significant; (ii) housing wealth effects are virtually nil and not significant; (iii) consumption growth exhibits strong persistence and responds sluggishly to shocks; and (iv) the immediate response of consumption to wealth is substantially different from the long-run wealth effects. By disaggregating financial wealth into its major components, the estimates suggest that wealth effects are particularly large for currency and deposits, and shares and mutual funds. In addition, consumption seems to be very responsive to financial liabilities and mortage loans. |
| Keywords: | Consumption, Housing Wealth, Financial Wealth. |
| JEL: | E21 E44 D12 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nip:nipewp:12/2009&r=ure |
| By: | Thomas Brenner; Tom Broekel |
| Abstract: | Measuring the innovation performance of regions or nations has been repeatedly done in the literature. What is missing in the literature is a discussion of what innovation performance of a region means. How do regions or nations contribute really to the innovation output of Þrms? And how can this contribution be investigated in an empirically sound way? We argue that while the literature offers many suggestions, their theoretical foundation is often weak and the under- lying assumptions are rarely discussed. In this paper, we systematize various mechanisms by which spatial units inßuence ÞrmsÕ innovation activities. On the basis of this, common innova- tion performance measures and analyses are discussed and evaluated. It is concluded that there is no general best way of measuring the innovation performance of spatial units. In fact, the most interesting insights can be obtained using a multitude of different approaches at the same time. |
| Keywords: | innovation performance, regional innovativeness, innovation generation, regional innovation system, national innovation system |
| JEL: | R11 O31 R11 |
| Date: | 2009–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:0904&r=ure |
| By: | Gundi Knies |
| Abstract: | This research examines the strength of people¿s ties with close neighbours and the sensitivity thereof to changes in residential mobility, access to modes of public and private transport, and changes in the availability of modern communications technologies using the German Socio-economic Panel Study (SOEP). All forms of mobility have increased over time and are negatively associated with visiting neighbours. With further increases in mobility, close neighbours may become less relevant. Nevertheless, presently the incidence of visits with neighbours is sizeable; in contrast to the frequent assertion in the literature that the neighbourhood is of no importance. |
| Keywords: | Neighbourhood, Social interactions, Mobility, Transport, Internet, Family ties |
| JEL: | J19 R29 Y8 Z13 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp175&r=ure |
| By: | Rangan Gupta (University of Pretoria); Alain Kabundi (University of Johannesburg); Stephen M. Miller (University of Connecticut and University of Nevada, Las Vegas) |
| Abstract: | We implement several Bayesian and classical models to forecast housing prices in 20 US states. In addition to standard vector-autoregressive (VAR) and Bayesian vector autoregressive (BVAR) models, we also include the information content of 308 additional quarterly series in some models. Several approaches exist for incorporating information from a large number of series. We consider two approaches -- extracting common factors (principle components) in a Factor-Augmented Vector Autoregressive (FAVAR) or Factor-Augmented Bayesian Vector Autoregressive (FABVAR) models or Bayesian shrinkage in a large-scale Bayesian Vector Autoregressive (LBVAR) models. In addition, we also introduce spatial or causality priors to augment the forecasting models. Using the period of 1976:Q1 to 1994:Q4 as the in-sample period and 1995:Q1 to 2003:Q4 as the out-of-sample horizon, we compare the forecast performance of the alternative models. Based on the average root mean squared error (RMSE) for the one-, two-, three-, and four--quarters-ahead forecasts, we find that one of the factor-augmented models generally outperform the large-scale models in the 20 US states examined in this paper. |
| Keywords: | Housing prices, Forecasting, Factor Augmented Models, Large-Scale BVAR models |
| JEL: | C32 R31 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uct:uconnp:2009-13&r=ure |
| By: | Anil Nathan (Department of Economics, College of the Holy Cross) |
| Abstract: | The rigorous economic analysis of peer group formation is a burgeoning subject. Much has been written about how peers in uence an individual's behavior, and these effects are quite prevalent. However, less has been written on how exactly these peer groups begin and the resulting consequences of their formation. A reason for the dearth of knowledge on peer group formation is the lack of quality data sets that clearly define one's peers. To resolve this issue, this paper explores data which allows a peer group to be defined openly through self nominations. Using these nominations as well as characteristics of the students and their friends, it is possible to see on what dimensions these individuals are sorting into friendships. The data suggests that there is heavy sorting within race and academic ability. Additionally, tests for statistical discrimination on race and academics show that it is exhibited towards blacks and Hispanics. There is also weak evidence of statistical discrimination against whites. Empirical analysis also shows that the degree of statistical discrimination decreases for blacks and Hispanics over a year; however, there is little change for whites over the same period. This result suggests a process of learning about a noisy signal on academic characteristics. Future work includes models describing the benefit of having various friends and the probability of forming those friendships, which can be used to simulate redistribution policies. |
| Keywords: | National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, Add Health, friendship formation, statistical discrimination, school redistribution |
| JEL: | J15 I2 |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hcx:wpaper:0905&r=ure |
| By: | Katja Coneus; Johannes Gernandt; Marianne Saam |
| Abstract: | We analyse the determinants of dropout from secondary and vocational education in Germany using data from the Socio-Economic Panel from 2000 to 2007. In addition to the role of classical variables like family background and school achievements, we examine the effect of noncognitive skills. Both, better school grades and higher noncognitive skills reduce the risk to become an educational dropout. The influence of school achievements on the dropout probability tends to decrease and the influence of noncognitive skills tends to increase with age. |
| Keywords: | Noncognitive skills, school grades, secondary education, vocational training |
| JEL: | I21 J13 J24 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp176&r=ure |
| By: | Robert Kaestner; Michael Grossman; Benjamin Yarnoff |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we investigate the association between weight and adolescent’s educational attainment, as measured by highest grade attended, highest grade completed, and drop out status. Data for the study came from the 1997 cohort of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY), which contains a large, national sample of teens between the ages of 14 and 18. We obtained estimates of the association between weight and educational attainment using several regression model specifications that controlled for a variety of observed characteristics. Our results suggest that, in general, teens that are overweight or obese have levels of attainment that are about the same as teens with average weight. |
| JEL: | I1 I21 |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14994&r=ure |
| By: | Gellatly, Guy; Baldwin, John R. |
| Abstract: | This paper uses plant-level data on productivity growth and changes in market share over different periods during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s to investigate whether plants with declining market shares obtain productivity spillovers from more successful producers and whether the impact of spillovers is affected by the distance between plants. We are primarily interested in the extent to which productivity externalities moderate the centrifugal forces that separate growing plants from declining rivals because of the productivity advantages enjoyed by the former. The paper focuses on the productivity performance of plants with declining market shares as potential receivers of productivity spillovers. Two possible sources for these spillovers are examined rival plants operating at the technological frontier and rivals that are actively gaining market share. The analysis advances a model of the externality process in which the productivity of declining plants is influenced by (1) the economic distance of the declining plant from its technological frontier at the beginning of any period, (2) contemporaneous productivity gains in rival plants that are actively wresting market share away from decliners, and (3) the distance between rival plants. We evaluate the existence and magnitude of these sources of spillovers frontier plants and market-share gainers because of what they reveal about the types of productive information that struggling plants may be able to assimilate from rivals. Spillovers from the plants at the existing frontier are likely to reflect the established best practices of industry leaders; spillovers coming from market-share gainers involve new sources of productive knowledge that emerge as the frontier is actively being re-established. Our model also incorporates geographic information on the proximity of declining plants to both frontier plants and market-share gainers to test whether productivity spillovers are spatially circumscribed. The resu |
| Keywords: | Manufacturing, Economic accounts, Productivity accounts |
| Date: | 2009–05–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:stc:stcp6e:2009024e&r=ure |
| By: | Gumbau-Albert, Mercedes; Maudos, Joaquin |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the importance of different technological inputs (R&D and human capital) and different spillovers in explaining the differences in patenting among Spanish regions in the period 1986-2003. The analysis is based on the estimation of a knowledge production function. A region’s own R&D activities and human capital are observed to have a positive significant effect on innovation output, measured by the number of patents. R&D spillovers weighted by the distance and the volume of trade flows between regions cause positive effects on a region’s patents. However, distance matters more than the intensity of trade flows and the R&D spillover effects between regions are bounded: spillovers from closer regions perform better than spillovers from distant regions. On the opposite side, human capital spillovers do not cause any effect outside the region itself. |
| Keywords: | patents; R&D; human capital; spillovers |
| JEL: | O18 O31 R11 |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:15260&r=ure |
| By: | Bisakha Sen; Stephen Mennemeyer; Lisa C. Gary |
| Abstract: | It has long been posited by scientists that we need to have a better understanding in the role that larger contextual factors – like neighborhood quality and the built environment – may have on the nation’s obesity crisis. This paper explores whether maternal perceptions of neighborhood quality affect children’s bodyweight outcomes, and whether racial and ethnic differences in such perceptions may explain any of the hitherto unexplained gap in bodyweight and obesity prevalence among Whites and minorities. The project uses data from the NLSY79 and the CoNLSY datasets. Results indicate that overall neighborhood quality is not significantly related to children’s bodyweight. However, one particular characteristic, namely whether or not the mother believes there is enough police protection in the neighborhood, is related. Lack of police protection has robust and significant effects on the BMI-percentile of the children, though it has less robust effects on the risk of becoming obese per se. Finally, there are differences in perceptions about adequate police protection in their neighborhood between Whites and minorities which remain after controlling for other socio-economic characteristics like maternal education, family income and family structure. However, these differences play a minor role in explaining part of the gap in bodyweight between White and minority children. |
| JEL: | I1 J13 |
| Date: | 2009–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14985&r=ure |
| By: | Arne Feddersen (University of Hamburg); André L. Grötzinger (University of Hamburg); Wolfgang Maennig (University of Hamburg) |
| Abstract: | Using the case of the new stadiums for the FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany, this paper is the first multivariate work that examines the potential income and employment effects of new stadiums outside of the USA. This study is also the first work on this topic that conducts tests on the basis of a (serial correlation consistent) Difference-in-Difference model with level and trends. As a robustness check, we use the “ignoring time series information” model in a form that is modified for nonsynchronous interventions. We were not able to identify income or employment effects of the construction of new stadiums for the FIFA World Cup 2006, which are significantly different from zero. \ |
| Keywords: | Sports Economics, Regional Economics, Stadia Infrastructure, Difference-in-Difference Model |
| JEL: | H54 L83 R12 R53 |
| Date: | 2008–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spe:cpaper:0801&r=ure |
| By: | Almenberg, Johan (Dept. of Economic Statistics, Stockholm School of Economics); Karapetyan, Artashes (Empirical Institute of Economics and SFI, University of Zürich) |
| Abstract: | We use a survey to identify a consumer bias with regard to different sources of debt-financing. Less salient debt may generate psychological benefits. This should be weighed against the possible economic costs of a sub-optimal capital structure, but low levels of financial literacy make it unlikely that all households perceive the full economic costs. As a result there is a bias in favour of less salient debt. In a market with limited scope for arbitrage this consumer bias is likely to generate inefficiencies. We examine such a market in both theory and practice. The predictions of our model are given strong support by market data. |
| Keywords: | household finance; mental accounting; co-op; capital structure |
| JEL: | D12 G14 G21 G32 |
| Date: | 2009–05–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:hastef:0718&r=ure |