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on Urban and Real Estate Economics |
| By: | Gabriel M. Ahlfeldt (Department of Geography and Environment & Spatial Economics Research Centre (SERC), London School of Economics (LSE)); Wolfgang Maennig (Chair for Economic Policy, University of Hamburg); Felix J. Richter (Chair for Economic Policy, University of Hamburg) |
| Abstract: | Urban renewal areas are popular but empirically understudied spatial planning instruments designed to prevent urban decline and induce renewal. We use a quasi-experimental research design to study the effects of 22 renewal areas implemented in Berlin, Germany, to increase housing and living quality in the aftermath of the city’s division during the Cold War period. Our results suggest that the policy has helped reduce (increase) the number of buildings in poor (good) condition by 25% (10%). Property prices increased at an annual rate of 0.4-1.7% according to our preferred estimates. Evidence is weak at best, however, for positive housing externalities. More generally, our findings indicate that the efficiency of program evaluations for place based -policies using quasi-experimental methods increases with the number of targeted areas and areas that provide the counterfactual. |
| Keywords: | Urban, renewal, revitalization, redevelopment, hedonic regression, quasi-experiment |
| JEL: | D62 H23 R21 R31 |
| Date: | 2013–11–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hce:wpaper:049&r=ure |
| By: | Andersson, Martin (CIRCLE, Lund University, Sweden and Blekinge Institute of Technology); Larsson , Johan P. (Centre for Entrepreneurship and Spatial Economics (CEnSE), Department of Economics, Finance and Statistics, Jönköping International Business School (JIBS), Jönköping) |
| Abstract: | Entrepreneurial activity is significantly predicted by the presence of other entrepreneurs in the residential neighborhood. One plausible source of such spatial clustering is local peer effects, where individuals’ decisions to become entrepreneurs are influenced by entrepreneurial neighbors. Using geo-coded matched employer-employee data for Sweden, we find that sharing residential neighborhood with established entrepreneurs has a statistically significant and robust influence on the probability than an individual leaves employment for entrepreneurship. An otherwise average neighborhood with a 5 percentage point higher entrepreneurial intensity all else equal produces between 7 and 8 more entrepreneurs per square kilometer, each year. Local peer effects appear as important in explaining local clusters of entrepreneurs, and imply a local feedback-effect in which the presence of established entrepreneurs in a neighborhood breeds new local entrepreneurs |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship; clusters; peer effects; local social interactions; role models; neighborhood; social network externalities; path dependence |
| JEL: | J24 L26 R12 R23 |
| Date: | 2013–11–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2013_030&r=ure |
| By: | Olaf Merk; Jing Li |
| Abstract: | This working paper offers an evaluation of the performance of the port of Hong Kong, an analysis of the impact of the port on the territory and an assessment of policies in this field. It examines port performance over the last decades and identifies the principal factors that have contributed to it. The effect of the port on economic and environmental questions is studied and quantified where possible. The major policies governing the port are assessed, along with policies governing transport and economic development, the environment and spatial planning. Based on the report’s findings, recommendations are proposed with a view to improving port performance and increasing the positive effects of the port of Hong Kong. |
| Keywords: | transportation, regional development, ports, regional growth, inter-regional trade, urban growth |
| JEL: | D57 L91 R11 R12 R15 R41 |
| Date: | 2013–11–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:govaab:2013/16-en&r=ure |
| By: | Zhen Hong; Olaf Merk; Zhao Nan; Jing Li; Xu Mingying; Xie Wenqing; Du Xufeng; Wang Jinggai |
| Abstract: | This working paper offers an evaluation of the performance of the port of Shanghai, an analysis of the impact of the port on its territory and an assessment of policies in this field. It examines port performance over the last decades and identifies the principal factors that have contributed to it. The effect of the port on economic and environmental questions is studied and quantified where possible. The major policies governing the port are assessed, along with policies governing transport and economic development, the environment and spatial planning. Based on the report’s findings, recommendations are proposed with a view to improving port performance and increasing the positive effects of the port of Shanghai. |
| Keywords: | transportation, regional development, ports, regional growth, inter-regional trade, urban growth |
| JEL: | D57 L91 R11 R12 R15 R41 |
| Date: | 2013–11–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:govaab:2013/23-en&r=ure |
| By: | Baert, Stijn (Ghent University); Heylen, Freddy (Ghent University); Isebaert, Daan (Ghent University) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of housing tenure choice on unemployment duration in Belgium using EU‐SILC micro data. We contribute to the literature in distinguishing homeowners with mortgage payments and outright homeowners. We simultaneously estimate unemployment duration by a mixed proportional hazard model, and the probability of being an outright homeowner, a homeowner with mortgage payments or a tenant by a mixed multinomial logit model. To be able to correctly identify the causal influence of different types of housing tenure on unemployment duration, we use instrumental variables. Our results show that homeowners with a mortgage exit unemployment first. Outright owners stay unemployed the longest. Tenants take an intermediate position. Moreover, our results reveal the different share of mortgage holders within the group of homeowners as a possible explanation for the discrepancy between former contributions to this literature. |
| Keywords: | unemployment, housing tenure, duration analysis |
| JEL: | C41 J64 R2 |
| Date: | 2013–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7774&r=ure |
| By: | Martin C. Schmalz; David A. Sraer; David Thesmar |
| Abstract: | This paper shows that collateral constraints restrict entrepreneurial activity. Our empirical strategy uses variations in local house prices as shocks to the value of collateral available to individuals owning a house and controls for local demand shocks by comparing entrepreneurial activity of homeowners and renters operating in the same region. We find that an increase in collateral value leads to a higher probability of becoming an entrepreneur. Conditional on entry, entrepreneurs with access to more valuable collateral create larger firms and more value added, and are more likely to survive, even in the long run. |
| JEL: | G3 |
| Date: | 2013–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19680&r=ure |
| By: | Lutgen, Vanessa (IRES, Université catholique de Louvain); Van der Linden, Bruno (IRES, Université catholique de Louvain) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies equilibrium unemployment in a two-region economy where homogeneous workers and jobs are free to move and the housing market clears. Because of the Internet, searching for a job in another region without first migrating there is nowadays much simpler than in the past. Search-matching externalities are amplified by this possibility and by the fact that some workers can simultaneously receive a job offer from each region. The rest of the framework builds on Moretti (2011). We study numerically the impacts of various local shocks in a stylized US economy. Contrary to what could be expected, increasing matching effectiveness in the other region yields growing regional unemployment rates. We characterize the optimal allocation and conclude that the Hosios condition is not sufficient to restore efficiency. In the efficient allocation, the regional unemployment rates are much lower than in the decentralized economy and nobody searches in the other region. |
| Keywords: | matching, search then move, spatial equilibrium, regional economics, unemployment differentials |
| JEL: | J61 J64 R13 R23 |
| Date: | 2013–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7763&r=ure |
| By: | Riccardo Crescenzi; Max Nathan; Andrés Rodríguez-Pose |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how physical, organisational, institutional, cognitive, social, and ethnic proximities between inventors shape their collaboration decisions. Using a new panel of UK inventors and a novel identification strategy, this paper systematically explores the net effects of all these ‘proximities’ on co-patenting. The regression analysis allows us to identify the full effects of each proximity, both on choice of collaborator and on the underlying decision to collaborate. The results show that physical proximity is an important influence on collaboration, but is mediated by organisational and ethnic factors. Over time, physical proximity increases in salience. For multiple inventors, geographic proximity is, however, much less important than organisational, social, and ethnic links. For inventors as a whole, proximities are fundamentally complementary, while for multiple inventors they are substitutes. |
| Keywords: | innovation, patents, proximities, regions, knowledge spillovers, collaboration, ethnicity, |
| JEL: | O31 O33 R11 R23 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:egu:wpaper:1324&r=ure |
| By: | Rendon, Silvio (Stony Brook University); Quella, Núria (Stony Brook University) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we analyze a mechanism that is particularly relevant to the workings of the Great Recession: we explain how easier home financing and higher homeownership rates increase unemployment rates. To this purpose we build a model of job search with liquid wealth accumulation and consumption of housing that can be rented, bought on credit, or sold. In our model, more relaxed house credit conditions increase workers' reservation wages, making them more selective in their job search. More selective job searches deteriorate employment transitions: job finding and job-to-job transitions rates decline while job loss rates increase, causing the overall unemployment rate to rise. We estimate this model structurally using NLSY data from 1978 until 2005. We find that more relaxed housing lending conditions, particularly lower downpayment requirements, increase unemployment rates by 6 percent points. We also find that declining labor demand decreases homeownership rates by 14 percent points. |
| Keywords: | job search, housing, savings, structural estimation |
| JEL: | J64 E21 E24 R21 |
| Date: | 2013–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7773&r=ure |
| By: | Wixe, Sofia (Centre for Entrepreneurship and Spatial Economics (CEnSE), Jönköping International Business School); Andersson, Martin (Centre for Innovation, Research and Competence in the Learning Economy (CIRCLE), Lund University) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a conceptual discussion of relatedness, which suggests a focus on individuals as a complement to firms and industries. The empirical relevance of the main arguments are tested by estimating the effects of related and unrelated variety in education and occupation among employees, as well as in industries, on regional growth. We show that for regional productivity growth, occupational and educational related variety matter over and above industry relatedness. This supports the conceptual discussion put forward. The potential of productive interactions between employees in a region is greater when there is related variety in their ‘knowledge base’. We also find that related variety in industries is positive for employment growth but negative for productivity growth. |
| Keywords: | Relatedness; variety; occupation; education; regional growth |
| JEL: | J24 R12 R23 |
| Date: | 2013–11–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0332&r=ure |
| By: | Wondratschek, Verena; Edmark, Karin; Frölich, Markus |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates the effects of a major Swedish school choice reform. The reform in 1992 increased school choice and competition among public schools as well as through a large-scale introduction of private schools. We estimate the effects of school choice and competition, using precise geographical information on the locations of school buildings and children's homes for the entire Swedish population for several cohorts affected at different stages in their educational career. We can measure the long-term effects up to age 25. We find that increased school choice had very small, but positive, effects on marks at the end of compulsory schooling, but virtually zero effects on longer term outcomes such as university education, employment, criminal activity and health. -- |
| Keywords: | school choice,school competition,treatment evaluation,cognitive and noncognitive skills |
| JEL: | I20 C21 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:13105&r=ure |
| By: | Moshe Justman (BGU); Brendan Houng (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, University of Melbourne) |
| Abstract: | This paper compares two leading approaches to analyzing standardized test data: leastsquares value-added analysis, used mainly to support accountability by identifying teacher and school effects; and Betebenner’s (2009) student growth percentiles method, which focuses on normative tracking of individual student progress. Applying both methods to analyze two-year progress in numeracy and reading in elementary and middle school, as reflected in Australian standardized test scores, we find that they produce similar quantitative indicators of both individual student progress and estimated school effects. This suggests that with minor modifications either methodology could be used for both purposes. |
| Keywords: | value-added analysis, student growth percentiles, NAPLAN |
| JEL: | I21 I28 |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bgu:wpaper:1316&r=ure |
| By: | Christian Schluter; Mark Trede |
| Abstract: | This paper is about the city size and growth rate distributions as seen from the perspectives of Zipf's and Gibrat's law. We demonstrate that the Gibrat and Zipf views are theoretically incompatible in view of the Fisher-Tippett theorem, and show that the conflicting hypotheses about the size distribution are testable in a coherent encompassing estimating framework based on a single index. We then show that the two views can be reconciled in a slightly modified but internally consistent statistical model: we connect economic activity and agglomeration in a model of Gibrat-like random growth of sectors, whose random number is linked to Zipf-like city size. The resulting average growth rate is a random mean, and we derive its invariant distribution. Our empirical analysis is based on a recent administrative panel of sizes for all cities in Germany. We find strong evidence for the prediction of the growth model, as well as for a weak version of Zipf's law characterising the right tail of the size distribution. |
| Keywords: | Zip's law, Gibrat's law, city size, urban growth |
| JEL: | R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cqe:wpaper:2713&r=ure |
| By: | Aurélie MAHIEUX (IFSTTAR/AME/DEST - Dynamiques Economiques et Sociales des Transports - IFSTTAR - PRES Université Paris-Est); Odile HEDDEBAUT (IFSTTAR/AME/DEST - Dynamiques Economiques et Sociales des Transports - IFSTTAR - PRES Université Paris-Est) |
| Abstract: | When studying “urban unities” as qualified by The French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE), it may exist different types of towns. They can be centre, periurban or rural areas which could require different transport services. This distinction is based on the percentage of active residents working in an urban centre with an economic approach or upon physical features such as land which has been built and their distances between buildings. Our research field consists in a wide Urban Transport Authority, the “Syndicat Mixte des Transports (SMT) Artois-Gohelle” that counts 115 towns that are globally qualified as urban but they do not share the same degree of transport accessibility. However, they present very different densities of inhabitants. After defining a new typology of towns the paper questions the possibility to adopt transport policies, improving the whole mobility in a context of sustainable development, to specific travel behaviours by connecting transport modes (TM) in these different areas. These behaviours, such as commuting to work or travelling for leisure purposes, are obtained by the Household Travel Surveys (HTS) realised in the SMT Artois-Gohelle. |
| Keywords: | DEPLACEMENT;SERVICE PUBLIC;POLITIQUE;COMPORTEMENT;DEVELOPPEMENT DURABLE;ENQUETE;STATISTIQUE;MENAGES;ENQUETE;MOBILITE (PERS);DEVELOPPEMENT DURABLE;FRANCE |
| Date: | 2013–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00909412&r=ure |
| By: | Crabbé, Karen; De Bruyne, Karolien |
| Abstract: | The goal of this paper is to analyse the individual impact of tax rates and agglomeration rents as well as their interaction on location decisions of manufacturing firms within Belgium. Theoretically, both location determinants may weaken each other’s impact. Using a unique 10-year dataset concerning the number of newly setup firms at the sector level for 43 Belgian districts, we show that local effective tax rates have a negative impact on location decisions. Moreover, location-specific supply-side agglomeration rents attract new firms and their impact appears to be even stronger for more spatially concentrated sectors. Finally, we show that a higher effective tax rate in a district does not necessarily deter new firms in more agglomerated districts, pointing to the existence of taxable location-specific agglomeration rents. |
| Keywords: | Taxes; agglomeration rents; |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ner:leuven:urn:hdl:123456789/413007&r=ure |
| By: | Alice M. Henriques |
| Abstract: | The boom and bust of the housing market has been a prominent feature of the household financial landscape in recent years. The exact magnitude of the house price swings depends on whether you ask homeowners how much their houses are worth at two points in time or use the change in a transaction-based house price index (HPI). During the boom, owner-reported values rose much more rapidly than the HPI, and after the bust, owner-reported values fell slightly less than the HPI. Individual homeowner "errors" are estimated to explain about one-third of the different in aggregate changes in the housing stock as measured by the Survey of Consumer Finances and CoreLogic national HPI. In a panel of homeowners surveyed during the housing downturn, owner-reported changes in value do not systematically diverge from local house price index changes. |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2013-79&r=ure |
| By: | William C. Dudley |
| Abstract: | Remarks at the Economic Press Briefing on Private For-Profit Institutions in Higher Education, New York City. |
| Keywords: | Economic conditions ; Financial markets ; Gross domestic product ; Labor market ; Inflation (Finance) ; Fiscal policy ; Housing - Prices ; Federal Reserve District, 2nd ; Private schools ; Student loans |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fednsp:126&r=ure |
| By: | Thomas Kemeny |
| Abstract: | This paper reviews a growing literature investigating how 'immigrant' diversity relates to urban economic performance. As distinct from the labor-supply focus of much of the economics of immigration, this paper reviews work that examines how growing heterogeneity in the composition of the workforce may beneficially or harmfully affect the production of goods, services and ideas, especially in regional economies. Taking stock of the existing literature, the paper argues that the low-hanging fruit in this field has now been picked, and lays out a set of open issues that need to be taken up in future research in order to fulfil the promise of this work. |
| Keywords: | diversity, immigration, cities, regional economic performance |
| JEL: | O4 O15 O18 O31 R0 J28 J31 |
| Date: | 2013–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:sercdp:0149&r=ure |
| By: | Karlsson, Charlie (Jönköping International Business School, Blekinge Institute of Technology & CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies) |
| Abstract: | I have been asked to write a paper over “my urban idol 2050” to be the foundation for a presentation at a session at the ERSA congress in Bratislava in August 2012. No special instructions were given, so I have chosen to write a kind of scenario for the possible future development in the region where I live – the Gothenburg region. I have not used a traditional scenario technique with several different scenarios. Instead I present one scenario, which I have developed based upon some of the information I have about the region, ideas found in the literature in the field and ideas developed by the SWECO team during the RiverCity workshop in June 2011. Certainly none of us know what the future will bring but I hope that at least my attempt will stimulate some thinking and some discussions about urban development both in general and in Gothenburg. |
| Keywords: | Urban development; scenario; urban region; urban planning; new tradeable sectors; key occupations; investments; built environment; city branding; climate change; creativity |
| JEL: | H40 H70 I30 J20 O18 R11 R58 |
| Date: | 2013–11–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0333&r=ure |
| By: | Corradin, Stefano; Fontana, Alessandro |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the house price dynamics for thirteen European countries. A Markov-switching error correction model is estimated on house price returns at the country level, with deviations between house prices and fundamentals feeding into the short-run dynamics. The system is assumed to be in either a stable regime, in which deviations from the long-run equilibrium tend to vanish over time, or in an unstable regime, in which no such correction takes place. The analysis yields three sets of results. First, house price returns in Europe are generally characterized by three (high, medium and low) phases; growth rates within regimes differ largely across countries. Second, for some European countries the observed high growth phases are associated with a stable regime. Third, European housing markets have been more in sync with each other since 2000 following a growing trend in the time-span 2002-2006 and a dramatic downturn after the Lehman collapse in 2008 and during the Euro area sovereign debt crisis. JEL Classification: G12, R11, R31 |
| Keywords: | house prices, Markov-switching and error-correction models |
| Date: | 2013–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20131613&r=ure |
| By: | Claire Nauwelaers; Karen Maguire; Giulia Ajmone Marsan |
| Abstract: | Hedmark County (Norway) and Dalarna County (Sweden) are both rural, with the border being remote from regional centres. The total population of less than half a million inhabitants spans across almost 58 800 km², with an economic output of USD 22 billion. Efforts to support collaboration at the border focus on the sector of tourism that both share, and which would be facilitated by the construction of one airport to serve both sides. As most science and technology-related assets are located far from the border, the region does not seem to have the relevant conditions for a broad cross-border regional innovation policy since urban centres are perhaps better served by looking towards other locations rather than this border. On the border, efforts for innovation in other forms, such as in marketing and organisational methods in tourism, are more relevant. This case study is part of the project Regions and Innovation: Collaborating Across Borders . A summary of this working paper appears in a report of the same name. |
| JEL: | L52 L53 O14 O18 O38 R11 R58 |
| Date: | 2013–11–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:govaab:2013/18-en&r=ure |
| By: | Luca Colombo (Dipartimento di Economia e Finanza, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore); Herbert Dawid (Universität Bielefeld) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates firms' optimal location choices explicitly accounting for the role of inwards and outwards knowledge spillovers in a dynamic Cournot oligopoly with firms that are heterogeneous in their ability to carry out cost-reducing R\&D. Firms can either locate in an industrial cluster or in isolation. Technological spillovers are exchanged between the firms in the cluster. It is shown that a technological leader has an incentive to locate in isolation only if her advantage exceeds a certain threshold, which is increasing in firms' discount rate, in industry dispersion, and in the intensity of knowledge spillovers. Scenarios are identified where although it is optimal for the technological leader to locate in isolation, from a welfare perspective it would be desirable that she locates in the cluster. |
| Keywords: | Location Choice, Knowledge Spillovers, Technological Leadership, Markov-perfect Equilibrium |
| JEL: | L13 C73 O31 R12 |
| Date: | 2013–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctc:serie1:def1&r=ure |
| By: | Berliant, Marcus; Weiss, Adam |
| Abstract: | We examine econometric and elementary economic theory issues arising from the model specification in Henderson, Storeygard and Weil (2012), that uses night light data to proxy for missing or unreliable GDP growth data. An alternative approach based on the expenditure function is outlined. It can accommodate prices as well as quantity information from other commodity markets. |
| Keywords: | GDP; Night light data; Omitted variable; Expenditure function; Spatial autocorrelation |
| JEL: | D11 D61 O47 O57 |
| Date: | 2013–11–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:51713&r=ure |
| By: | Nathalie Picard (THEMA - Théorie économique, modélisation et applications - CNRS : UMR8184 - Université de Cergy Pontoise); André De Palma (ENS Cachan - Ecole Normale Supérieure de Cachan - École normale supérieure [ENS] - Cachan); Sophie Dantan (THEMA - Théorie économique, modélisation et applications - CNRS : UMR8184 - Université de Cergy Pontoise) |
| Abstract: | We review the literature on household decision-making in economics as well as in transportation and urban economics. This literature starts with Gary Becker in Economics, 30 years ago, and has recently been introduced to study specific questions related to space. We consider two examples: residential location and mode choice for dual earner households. In these two examples, the decision is the outcome of a bargaining process within the household. We show that the results may differ substantially when compared with those of the standard approach. |
| Date: | 2013–11–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-00909349&r=ure |
| By: | Miguel A. Delgado; Peter M Robinson |
| Abstract: | We develop non-nested tests in a general spatial, spatio-temporal or panel data context. The spatial aspect can be interpreted quite generally, in either a geographical sense, or employing notions of economic distance, or even when parametric modelling arises in part from a common factor or other structure. In the former case, observations may be regularly-spaced across one or more dimensions, as is typical with much spatio-temporal data, or irregularly-spaced across all dimensions; both isotropic models and non-isotropic models can be considered, and a wide variety of correlation structures. In the second case, models involving spatial weight matrices are covered, such as "spatial autoregressive models". The setting is sufficiently general to potentially cover other parametric structures such as certain factor models, and vector-valued observations, and here our preliminary asymptotic theory for parameter estimates is of some independent value. The test statistic is based on a Gaussian pseudo-likelihood ratio, and is shown to have an asymptotic standard normal distribution under the null hypothesis that one of the two models is correct. A small Monte Carlo study of �finite-sample performance is included. |
| Keywords: | on-nested test, spatial correlation, pseudo maximum likelihood estimation |
| JEL: | C12 C21 |
| Date: | 2013–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:stiecm:/2013/568&r=ure |
| By: | DÖRRY Sabine; WALTHER Olivier |
| Abstract: | In European border regions, policy networks steer processes of politico-economic integration and de-bordering. Policy networks integrate actors belonging to different decisional levels and countries. Actors tend to coordinate actions and communications in policy networks to formulate common policies; however, this is subject to a long process, aggravated by the actors? distinct policy cultures. They further have to agree on a common network space to efficiently enforce policy measures. An overrepresentation of certain network spaces due to some actors? dominant network positions may lead to imbalanced policy decisions. By focussing on transport policies in the border regions of Basel and Luxembourg, we analyse measures of persistency of national preferences among policy actors, mapping their perceived ?policy spaces of action? and conceptualising these ?policy spaces? as relational. Based on a combination of in-depth interviews, cognitive maps, and social network analysis, we show that large spatio-cultural differences are still prevailing among network actors, thus potentially impacting decisions taken in policy networks. |
| Keywords: | Social network analysis; Public transport; Mental maps; Basel; Policy networks; Luxembourg; Border studies; Policy cultures |
| Date: | 2013–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:irs:cepswp:2013-23&r=ure |
| By: | Chaminade , Cristina (CIRCLE, Lund University); Plechero , Monica (IRPPS-CNR, Italy and CIRCLE, Lund University, Sweden) |
| Abstract: | Abstract Access to global innovation networks (GINs) has been unequal across the regions of the world. While certain regions are considered knowledge hubs in GINs, others still remain marginalized; this points to the role of regional innovation systems in the emergence and development of GINs. Using firm-level data collected through a survey and case studies in 2009–2010, this article systematically compares the patterns of global networks in the ICT industry in a selection of European, Chinese and Indian regions. The results show that GINs are more common in regions which are not organizationally and institutionally thick, suggesting that GINs may be a compensatory mechanism for weaknesses in the regional innovation system. |
| Keywords: | globalization; innovation networks; regions; Europe; India; China |
| JEL: | O30 |
| Date: | 2013–11–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2013_032&r=ure |
| By: | Neil Bhutta |
| Abstract: | The annualized interest rate for a payday loan often exceeds 10 times that of a typical credit card, yet this market grew immensely in the 1990s and 2000s, elevating concerns about the risk payday loans pose to consumers and whether payday lenders target minority neighborhoods. This paper employs individual credit record data, and Census data on payday lender store locations, to assess these concerns. Taking advantage of several state law changes since 2006 and, following previous work, within-state-year differences in access arising from proximity to states that allow payday loans, I find little to no effect of payday loans on credit scores, new delinquencies, or the likelihood of overdrawing credit lines. The analysis also indicates that neighborhood racial composition has little influence on payday lender store locations conditional on income, wealth and demographic characteristics. |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2013-81&r=ure |
| By: | Yuliia Stupnytska (Center for Mathematical Economics, Bielefeld University; Center for Mathematical Economics, Bielefeld University) |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a search model with heterogeneous workers and social networks. High ability workers are more productive and have a larger number of professional contacts. Firms have a choice between a high cost vacancy in the regular labour market and a low cost job opening in the referral market. In this setting the model predicts that a larger number of social contacts is associated with a larger wage gap between high and low ability workers and a larger difference in the equilibrium unemployment rates. Next we demonstrate that the decentralized equilibrium is inefficient for any value of the bargaining power. There are two reasons for the inefficiency. First, the private gain from creating a job in the referral market is always below the social gain, so the equilibrium unemployment of high ability workers is above its optimal value. Moreover, high ability workers congest the market for low ability workers, so the equilibrium wage inequality is inefficiently large. This is in contrast to the result of Blazquez and Jansen (2008) showing that the distribution of wages is compressed in a search model with heterogeneous workers. Finally, we show that a combination of taxes and subsidies can restore the optimal allocation. |
| Keywords: | social capital, social networks, referrals, wage dispersion, wage compression |
| JEL: | J23 J31 J38 J64 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bie:wpaper:491&r=ure |
| By: | Taskin, A. A.; Yaman, F. |
| Abstract: | We examine the effects of homeownership on individuals' unemployment durations in the USA. We take into account that an unemployment spell can terminate with a job or with a non-participation transition. The endogeneity of homeownership is addressed through the estimation of a full maximum likelihood function which jointly models the competing hazards and the probability of being a homeowner. Unobserved factors contributing to the probability of being a homeowner are allowed to be correlated with unobservable heterogeneity in the hazard rates. We find that unemployed homeowners are less likely to find a job than renters. The effect is small but statistically significant for most specifications. The effect is stronger for outright owners and weaker for mortgage holders. We also find that outright owners have a higher and mortgage holders a lower probability of exiting to non-participation than renters. |
| Date: | 2013 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cty:dpaper:13/04&r=ure |
| By: | Anna Zaharieva (Center for Mathematical Economics, Bielefeld University) |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a labour market model with on-the-job search, match-specific productivity draws and an endogenous irreversible schooling decision. The choice of schooling is modelled as an optimal stopping problem which gives rise to the equilibrium heterogeneity of workers with respect to the formal education. The optimal schooling decision is characterized by the reservation productivity of students which is a monotonic function of time. Moreover, this reservation productivity is lower in expansions when job-to-job mobility is more intensive. Therefore, the model is compatible with the empirical evidence that expansions have a positive effect on the probability of a school dropout. The schooling density is downward-sloping and the equilibrium wage distribution is right-skewed with a unique interior mode. This means that the majority of workers earn wages in the middle range of the earnings distribution. At the same time there is a small proportion of employees in the beginning of their career with wages in the left tail of the earnings distribution and a small proportion of high-skilled workers earning wages in the right tail of the distribution. |
| Keywords: | Optimal schooling, uncertainty, on-the-job search, wage dispersion |
| JEL: | I21 I24 J62 J64 |
| Date: | 2013–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bie:wpaper:492&r=ure |
| By: | Claire Nauwelaers; Karen Maguire; Giulia Ajmone Marsan |
| Abstract: | Estonia and Finland have centuries of collaboration, mainly between the capital areas of Tallinn and Helsinki that currently account for 2 million inhabitants and USD 76 billion in economic output. The entry of Estonia into the European Union and, since the mid-2000s, a two-hour ferry trip, have both facilitated flows of people and merchandise across the Gulf of Finland. The different levels of development between Helsinki and Tallinn result in many asymmetric flows (workers to Helsinki, tourists to Tallinn). Beyond infrastructure and labour market issues, there are interesting opportunities for joint innovation policy efforts given their shared strengths such as in ICT, a dynamic start-up environment and technologically sophisticated public services. Cross-border collaboration can help build an “entrepreneurial knowledge region” brand. This case study is part of the project Regions and Innovation: Collaborating Across Borders. A summary of this working paper appears in a report of the same name. |
| JEL: | L52 L53 O14 O18 O38 R11 R58 |
| Date: | 2013–11–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:govaab:2013/19-en&r=ure |
| By: | Carbonara, Nunzia (CSIR, Blekinge Inst of Technology); Tavassoli, Sam (CSIR, Blekinge Inst of Technology) |
| Abstract: | This paper seeks to contribute to the ongoing debate concerning the role of heterogeneity for the innovative capability of industrial districts. With this aim, using a knowledge-based approach, the paper focuses on different sources of industrial district knowledge heterogeneity and studies how the different level of heterogeneity affects the innovative capability of industrial districts. Four theoretical hypotheses concerning the effects of knowledge and knowledge heterogeneity on the Industrial District innovativeness are formulated. To test the hypotheses, an econometric analysis on 32 Italian District Provinces is applied. Empirical results show that knowledge heterogeneity matter for increasing the innovative capability of industrial districts. |
| Keywords: | Industrial district; innovative capability; knowledge heterogeneity |
| JEL: | F14 O32 R12 |
| Date: | 2013–12–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:bthcsi:2012-010&r=ure |
| By: | Raven Molloy; Christopher L. Smith; Abigail Wozniak |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the long-term impacts of in-utero and early childhood exposure to ambient air pollution on adult labor market outcomes. We take advantage of a new administrative data set that is uniquely suited for addressing this question because it combines information on individuals' quarterly earnings together with their counties and dates of birth. We use the sharp changes in ambient air pollution concentrations driven by the implementation of the 1970 Clean Air Act Amendments as a source of identifying variation, and we compare cohorts born in counties that experienced large changes in total suspended particulate (TSP) exposure to cohorts born in counties that had minimal or no changes. We find a significant relationship between TSP exposure in the year of birth and adult labor market outcomes. A 10 unit decrease in TSP in the year of birth is associated with a 1 percent increase in annual earnings for workers aged 29-31. Most, but not all, of this effect is driven by an increase in labor force participation. In present value, the gains from being born into a county affected by the 1970 Clean Air Act amount to about $4,300 in lifetime income for the 1.5 million individuals born into these counties each year. |
| Date: | 2013–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:13-53&r=ure |