|
on Urban and Real Estate Economics |
| By: | Joep Tijm; Thomas Michielsen; Raoul van Maarseveen; Peter Zwaneveld |
| Abstract: | Infrastructure projects are increasingly aiming to improve liveability, in particular in urban areas. We analyse a specific case in which an existing highway in an urban area was moved underground in order to improve intercity traffic flows and to reduce traffic externalities. As travel times within the city hardly changed, this allows for a clean identification of the value of traffic externalities. We find that the liveability benefits of such integrated infrastructure are substantial relative to the construction costs. Each halving of distance to the tunneled segment is associated with 3.5% more appreciation in house prices since the start of the project. |
| JEL: | H40 R20 R40 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7089&r=ure |
| By: | Christophe Muller (Aix-Marseille Univ., CNRS, EHESS, Centrale Marseille, AMSE); Pierre Pecher (Aix-Marseille Univ., CNRS, EHESS, Centrale Marseille, AMSE) |
| Abstract: | Ethnicity often occupies a core role in integrated social, economic, and political development processes, which have mostly been studied within specific countries. Across countries, social and economic development may be supported by political capabilities achieved by ethnic kin abroad, although there is little hard evidence on politico-economic interactions through ethnic networks. We fill this gap by providing the first robust empirical evidence of the substantial effects of political predominance of transborder ethnic kin on local economic development in Africa. This is achieved by specifying and estimating dynamic spatial models of geolocalised luminosity and matching these data with other geolocalised information on geographic, political, and ethnic characteristics. Spatial and ethnic network effects are separately identified and jointly analysed. Not only distinct spatial effects and transborder ethnic effects are exhibited, but also are their complex dynamics and spatial distribution features in terms of local development. The results draw attention to the relevance of a broader international perspective on policies affecting ethnic politics within countries. |
| Keywords: | local development, ethnic networks, institutions |
| JEL: | D72 R11 O43 |
| Date: | 2018–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aim:wpaimx:1817&r=ure |
| By: | Bénédicte H. Apouey (PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Isabelle Chort (UPPA - Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour) |
| Abstract: | This study examines how house prices influence cognitive functioning for individuals aged 50+ in Europe. Using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement (SHARE) between 2004 and 2015, we compute the median house price for each region-year, using individual self-reported house values. Cognitive scores capture either fluid intelligence (numeracy, memory) or a mix of fluid and crystallized intelligences (verbal fluency). Compared with the previous literature, we allow housing market fluctuations to have different effects during episodes of price increases and decreases, and we study owners with a mortgage, owners without a mortgage, and tenants separately. Findings indicate that house price booms do not systematically improve cognitive health outcomes: for outright owners and tenants, a rise in prices correlates with a decrease in fluid intelligence. For outright owners, this result is partly explained by increased alcohol consumption, and is also related to stronger feelings of guilt and irritability, consistent with aversion to advantageous inequality. Findings also show asymmetry in the effects of price booms and busts: indeed, for mortgaged owners, both price increase and decrease episodes have a positive impact on cognitive outcomes. We argue that during the crisis the beneficial impact of price busts may have been driven by the decline in interest rates, which reduced the debt burden of households with a variable rate mortgage. |
| Keywords: | Wealth,Cognitive functioning,Health,House prices,Older Europeans,SHARE,Europe |
| Date: | 2018–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:psewpa:hal-01815692&r=ure |
| By: | Infrastructure Victoria |
| Abstract: | This paper outlines measures that can be implemented in the next five years to improve travel time and reliability on Melbourne's transport network and reduce the impacts of congestion. These measures include expanding off-peak fares on metropolitan public transport, overhauling Melbourne's bus network, expand and increase the car parking levy, improve transparency of fare-setting, better road-space allocation, maximising opportunities to encourage travel behaviour change during disruptions to the transport network, prioritise active transport in high-potential areas and improve road connectivity where private vehicle use works best. Creation Date: 2018-04-01 |
| Keywords: | Congestion, Public Transport, Behavioural Economics, Active Transport, Parking Charges. |
| JEL: | D62 H42 R48 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:inv:ppaper:201801&r=ure |
| By: | Luke Munford (Manchester Centre for Health Economics, University of Manchester); Nigel Rice (Centre for Health Economics & Department of Economics and Related Studies, University of York); Jennifer Roberts (Department of Economics, University of Sheffield); Nikita Jacob (Centre for Health Economics, University of York) |
| Abstract: | Commuting is an extremely important modern phenomenon characterised by the spatial interaction of housing and labour markets. The average commuter in the UK spends nearly an hour a day travelling to and from employment. Standard economic theory postulates that commuting is a choice behaviour undertaken when compensated through either lower rents or greater amenities in the housing market or through greater wages in the labour market. By exploiting exogenous shocks to commuting time, this paper investigates the impact on wellbeing of increased commuting. Ceteris paribus, exogenous increases in commuting time are expected to lower wellbeing. We find this holds for women but not men. This phenomenon can be explained, in part, by the different labour markets in which women operate. Where local labour markets are thin, women report significantly lower wellbeing when faced with an increased commute. This does not hold for tight local labour markets. Further our findings reveal that it is full-time working women in the managerial and professional tier of the occupational hierarchy who are most affected. |
| Keywords: | commuting; exogenous shocks; well-being; panel data econometrics |
| JEL: | C1 I1 |
| Date: | 2018–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:shf:wpaper:2018010&r=ure |
| By: | Michele Battisti; Giovanni Peri; Agnese Romiti |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how the size of co-ethnic networks at the time of arrival affect the economic success of immigrants in Germany. Applying panel analysis with a large set of fixed effects and controls, we isolate the association between initial network size and long-run immigrant outcomes. We also look at those who were assigned to an initial location independently of their choice allows a causal interpretation of our estimates. We find that immigrants initially located in places with larger co-ethnic networks are more likely to be employed at first, but have a lower probability of investing in human capital. |
| Keywords: | networks, immigration, human capital, employment |
| JEL: | J24 J61 R23 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7084&r=ure |
| By: | Aliprantis, Dionissi (Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland); Carroll, Daniel R. (Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland); Young, Eric R. (University of Virginia) |
| Abstract: | Why do high-income blacks live in neighborhoods with characteristics similar to those of low-income whites? One plausible explanation is wealth, since homeownership requires some wealth, and black households hold less wealth than white households at all levels of income. We present evidence against this hypothesis by showing that wealth does not predict sorting into neighborhood quality once race and income are taken into account. An alternative explanation is that the scarcity of high-quality black neighborhoods increases the cost of living in a high-quality neighborhood for black households with even weak race preferences. We present evidence in favor of this hypothesis by showing that sorting into neighborhood racial composition is similar across wealth levels conditional on race and income. |
| Keywords: | Neighborhood; Income; Wealth; Race Preference; |
| JEL: | H72 J15 J18 R11 R21 |
| Date: | 2018–06–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedcwp:1808&r=ure |
| By: | Bezin, Emeline; Verdier, Thierry; Zenou, Yves |
| Abstract: | We develop a two-period overlapping generations model in which both the structure of the family and the decision to commit crime are endogenous and a culture of honesty is transmitted intergenerationally by families and peers. Having a father at home might be crucial to prevent susceptible boys from becoming criminals, as this facilitates the transmission of the honesty trait against criminal behavior. By "destroying" biparental families and putting fathers in prison, we show that more intense crime repression can backfire because it increases the possibility that criminals' sons become criminals themselves. Consistent with sociological disorganization theories of crime, the model also explains the emergence and persistence of urban ghettos characterized by a large proportion of broken families and high crime rates. This is because for children who come from these broken families, negative community experiences (peer effects) further encourage their criminal participation. Finally, we discuss the efficiency of location and family policies on long-term crime rates. |
| Keywords: | crime; neighborhood segregation; Social interactions |
| JEL: | J15 K42 Z13 |
| Date: | 2018–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:13014&r=ure |
| By: | Dumisani Hompashe (Department of Economics, University of Fort Hare) |
| Abstract: | This study aims to explore the experiences and perceptions of school educators on how school principals monitor curriculum delivery. It investigates the principal-agent problem and accountability in education in the Eastern Cape. Two types of data are used: qualitative data from interviews with school principals and teachers, and quantitative data from an international educational evaluation. The interview data were collected in 2015 at selected primary schools within three Eastern Cape education districts. Respondents at each school included the school principal and three foundation phase teachers. To triangulate findings from interviews, the association between school leadership and student academic scores in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2015 dataset was examined for both Grade 5 and 9. The association between measures of instructional leadership (e.g. teachers’ understanding of curricular goals and teachers’ degree of success in implementing curricular goals) and student scores for mathematics and science was explored using linear probability models. Findings confirm the existence of the principal-agent problem in education, since many school respondents indicated that curriculum delivery monitoring was not conducted as expected. From the multivariate analysis, instructional leadership variables, such as teachers’ understanding of curricular goals and teachers’ degree of success in implementing the curriculum appear as important correlates of student achievement, though significance differs according to level of schooling and whether the questions were answered by principals or teachers. Policy implications point to a need to hire, empower and support principals to create a culture of accountability in schools. |
| Keywords: | instructional leadership, principal-agent problem, accountability, education production function, economics of education, student achievement |
| JEL: | I20 I21 I28 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sza:wpaper:wpapers306&r=ure |
| By: | Lankina, Tomila V.; Libman, Alexander |
| Abstract: | Can economic development retard democracy, defying expectations of classic modernization theorizing? If so, under what conditions? Our paper addresses the puzzle of poor democratic performance in highly urbanized and industrialized post-communist states. We assembled an original dataset with data from Ukraine’s local and national elections and constructed district- (rayon) and region- (oblast) level indices of electoral quality. Regions and districts that score higher on developmental indices also score lower on electoral quality, including in Ukraine’s Western regions conventionally considered more democratic than the predominantly Russian-speaking Eastern regions. We explain these outcomes with reference to the peculiarities of Soviet industrial development, which facilitated the emergence of “oligarchs” in territories housing Soviet-era mega-industries. Our research contributes to comparative debates about the links between economic development and democracy. |
| JEL: | J1 |
| Date: | 2019–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:88775&r=ure |
| By: | Yannis M. Ioannides; Jeffrey E. Zabel |
| Abstract: | The paper presents a model of housing and labor markets in the DMP tradition. The model treats decisions about housing and labor supply as joint decisions of individuals, articulates how the renting and owner segments of housing markets adjust through turnover ows and highlights the transitions across different discrete states in those markets, that is owner-to- owner, owner-to-renter, renter-to-owner, and renter-to-renter by unemployed or employed workers. It allows for vacancy rates in the rental and owner segments of the housing market, and introduces a novel concept of "unemployment" in housing markets thus allowing for the definition of Beveridge curves for housing markets. The paper documents the empirical significance of these concepts by means of data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics for 1969-2015. |
| Keywords: | Housing Vacancies, Job Openings, Beveridge Curves, Housing and labor markets. |
| JEL: | R23 J64 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tuf:tuftec:0828&r=ure |
| By: | Hunt, Priscillia E (RAND); Pacula, Rosalie Liccardo (RAND); Weinberger, Gabriel (Pardee RAND Graduate School) |
| Abstract: | Regulated marijuana markets are more common today than outright prohibitions across the U.S. states. Advocates for policies that would legalize marijuana recreational markets frequently argue that such laws will eliminate crime associated with the black markets, which many argue is the only link between marijuana use and crime. Law enforcement, however, has consistently argued that marijuana medical dispensaries (regulated retail sale and a common method of medical marijuana distribution), create crime in neighborhoods with these store-fronts. This study offers new insight into the question by exploiting newly collected longitudinal data on local marijuana ordinances within California and thoroughly examining the extent to which counties that permit dispensaries experience changes in violent, property and marijuana use crimes using difference-in-difference methods. The results suggest no relationship between county laws that legally permit dispensaries and reported violent crime. We find a negative and significant relationship between dispensary allowances and property crime rates, although event studies indicate these effects may be a result of pre-existing trends. These results are consistent with some recent studies suggesting that dispensaries help reduce crime by reducing vacant buildings and putting more security in these areas. We also find a positive association between dispensary allowances and DUI arrests, suggesting marijuana use increases in conjunction with impaired driving in counties that adopt these ordinances, but these results are also not corroborated by an event study analysis. |
| Keywords: | crime, marijuana markets, local ordinances |
| JEL: | K14 K42 H75 |
| Date: | 2018–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11567&r=ure |
| By: | Ellen B. Goldring; Jason A. Grissom; Mollie Rubin; Laura K. Rogers; Michael Neel; Melissa A. Clark |
| Abstract: | In 2014, The Wallace Foundation launched the Principal Supervisor Initiative (PSI), a four-year, $24 million-dollar effort to redefine principal supervision in six urban school districts. |
| Keywords: | principal supervisor initiative, urban schools, student learning, principal effectiveness |
| JEL: | I |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:0bb7fa3732ad45a38a2b93a8d822dc0f&r=ure |
| By: | Martín, Alberto; Moral-Benito, Enrique; Schmitz, Tom |
| Abstract: | What are the effects of a housing bubble on the rest of the economy? We show that if firms and banks face collateral constraints, a housing bubble initially raises credit demand by housing firms while leaving credit supply unaffected. It therefore crowds out credit to non-housing firms. If time passes and the bubble lasts, however, housing firms eventually pay back their higher loans. This leads to an increase in banks' net worth and thus to an expansion in their supply of credit to all firms: crowding-out gives way to crowding-in. These predictions are confirmed by empirical evidence from the recent Spanish housing bubble. In the early years of the bubble, non-housing firms reduced their credit from banks that were more exposed to the bubble, and firms that were more exposed to these banks had lower credit and output growth. In its last years, these effects were reversed. |
| Keywords: | credit; Financial Frictions; Financial Transmission; housing bubble; investment; Spain |
| JEL: | E32 E44 G21 |
| Date: | 2018–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:12999&r=ure |
| By: | Gouranga Gopal Das; Sugata Marjit |
| Abstract: | With the ensuing immigration reform in the US, the paper shows that targeted skilled immigration into the R&D sector that helps low-skilled labor is conducive for controlling inequality and raising wage. Skilled talent-led innovation could have spillover benefits for the unskilled sector while immigration into the production sector will always reduce wage, aggravating wage inequality. In essence, we infer: (i) if R&D inputs contributes only to skilled sector, wage inequality increases in general; (ii) for wage gap to decrease, R&D sector must produce inputs that goes into unskilled manufacturing sector; (iii) even with two types of specific R&D inputs entering into the skilled and unskilled sectors separately, unskilled labor is not always benefited by high skilled migrants into R&D-sector. Rather, it depends on the importance of migrants’ skill in R&D activities and intensity of inputs. Inclusive immigration policy requires inter-sectoral diffusion of ideas embedded in talented immigrants targeted for innovation. |
| Keywords: | HIB, immigration, innovation, wage gap, skill, R&D, policy, RAISE Act |
| JEL: | F22 J31 O15 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7082&r=ure |
| By: | Bingling Wang (Department of Biostatistics, University of California, Los Angeles); Sudipto Banerjee (Department of Biostatistics, University of California, Los Angeles); Rangan Gupta (Department of Economics, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa) |
| Abstract: | Spatial process models are increasingly getting attention as data have become available at geocoded locations. In this paper, we build a hierarchical framework with multivariate spatial processes. The hierarchical models are implemented through Markov chain Monte Carlo methods. And Bayesian inference is carried out for parameter estimation and interpretation. The proposed models are illustrated using housing data collected in the Walmer district of Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Our interest is to evaluate the spatial dependencies of dependent outcomes and associations with other independent variables. Comparison across different models confirm that the selling price of a house in our data set is relatively better modeled by incorporating spatial processes. |
| Keywords: | Bayesian inference, Hierarchical models, Multivariate spatial models, Point-referenced data, Spatial processes |
| Date: | 2018–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pre:wpaper:201837&r=ure |
| By: | Mendez, Carlos |
| Abstract: | Bolivia has experienced large socioeconomic transformations in the last decades. Among them, almost half of the population currently lives in the main metropolitan regions of the country. Motivated by the potential for growth and development convergence in these regions, this article documents the evolution of human development disparities and convergence patterns over the 1992-2013 period. Using a distribution dynamics framework, this article evaluates both the transitional dynamics and the long-run equilibrium of the cross-regional distribution of human development. Results from the transitional dynamics analysis suggest that the formation of multiple clusters of convergence is a salient feature of inequality reduction in human development. On the other hand, results from the long-run equilibrium analysis suggest that the process of regional convergence is characterized by the transformation of a trimodal distribution into a left-skewed unimodal distribution. The article concludes emphasizing that the cross-regional distribution of human development in Bolivia is quite sticky at its left tail, and as a result, the least developed regions are still relatively far from achieving complete convergence in the long run. |
| Keywords: | convergence, distribution dynamics, human development, Bolivia |
| JEL: | O1 O15 O47 O54 |
| Date: | 2018–06–24 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:87571&r=ure |
| By: | Danzer, Alexander M. (KU Eichstätt-Ingolstadt); Feuerbaum, Carsten (KU Eichstätt-Ingolstadt); Piopiunik, Marc (ifo Institute at the University of Munich); Woessmann, Ludger (ifo and LMU Munich) |
| Abstract: | Does a high regional concentration of immigrants of the same ethnicity affect immigrant children\'s acquisition of host-country language skills and educational attainment? We exploit the exogenous placement of guest workers from five ethnicities across German regions during the 1960s and 1970s in a model with region and ethnicity fixed effects. Our results indicate that exposure to a higher own-ethnic concentration impairs immigrant children\'s host-country language proficiency and increases school dropout. A key mediating factor for this effect is parents\' lower speaking proficiency in the host-country language, whereas inter-ethnic contacts with natives and economic conditions do not play a role. |
| Keywords: | immigrant children; ethnic concentration; language; education; guest workers; |
| JEL: | J15 I20 R23 J61 |
| Date: | 2018–06–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rco:dpaper:104&r=ure |
| By: | Masahiro HORI; Takeshi NIIZEKI |
| Abstract: | Using micro data covering almost 500,000 Japanese households over the period 1983-2012, this paper examines to what extent household consumption responds to changes in housing wealth. Instead of employing self-reported or regionally averaged values of housing wealth, we directly estimate the housing wealth of individual households by matching several official statistics, providing an ideal setting to identify housing wealth effects on consumption. Employing cross-section and pseudo-panel based regressions, we find that the marginal propensity to consume (MPC) out of housing wealth is approximately 0.0008-0.0013 for nondurable consumption and 0.0059-0.0082 for total consumption. We further find that the consumption response of older households is larger than that of younger households, which is consistent with the pure wealth effects hypothesis. |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esj:esridp:339&r=ure |
| By: | Julie L. Hotchkiss; Anil Rupasingha |
| Abstract: | Consistent with predictions from the literature, we find that higher levels of in-migration dilute multiple dimensions of a community's level of social capital. The analysis employs a 2SLS methodology to account for potential endogeneity of migration. |
| Keywords: | social capital, migration, decennial census, social capital community benchmark survey, non-public data, simultaneous equations, endogeneity, factor analysis |
| JEL: | R23 D71 C36 C38 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:18-32&r=ure |
| By: | Haepp, Tobias (Asian Development Bank Institute); Lyu, Lidan (Asian Development Bank Institute) |
| Abstract: | We analyze the effect of removing village-level primary schools and effectively merging these into larger township-level schools on educational attainment in rural areas of the People’s Republic of China. We employ individual- and village-level information from the China Household Ethnic Survey, which covers regions that are intensively affected by the removal campaign. We find a negative effect of school removals on primary school and junior high school completion rates. However, we also find positive effects on educational attainment beyond junior high school for those students who began their education in the new merged primary schools. This effect can be attributed to resource pooling and higher teacher quality in the new schools. The adverse effects are more severe for girls, especially if the new schools do not provide boarding and are located far away from student residences, and for children whose parents have low educational attainment, thus exacerbating gender inequality and the intergenerational transmission of education inequality. Our findings provide an important reference for other developing countries that will need to reallocate primary school investment in the future. |
| Keywords: | primary education; school removals; educational attainment; People’s Republic of China |
| JEL: | H52 I21 I24 J62 |
| Date: | 2018–03–13 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbiwp:0821&r=ure |
| By: | Ahlfeldt, Gabriel; Roth, Duncan; Seidel, Tobias |
| Abstract: | We estimate the spatially differential effects of a nationally uniform minimum wage that was introduced in Germany in 2015. To this end, we use a micro data set covering the universe of employed and unemployed individ-uals in Germany from 2011 to 2016 and a difference-in-differences based identification strategy that controls for heterogeneity in pre-treatment outcome trends. We find that the policy led to spatial wage convergence, in par-ticular in the left tail of the distribution, without reducing relative employment in low-wage regions within the first two years. |
| Keywords: | Difference-in-Differences; employment; Germany; minimum wage; Wage inequality |
| JEL: | J31 J58 R12 |
| Date: | 2018–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:13005&r=ure |
| By: | Infrastructure Victoria |
| Abstract: | This paper highlights several important issues that if addressed could improve the methodology around cost-benefit analysis and social return on investment as used in the affordable and social housing sector. First, by focussing on the causal impacts of policies and programs rather than just outcomes. The econometrics of program evaluation provides a way to do this but hasn't been broadly applied in this sector. Second, there needs to be greater attention to cohort-specific impacts. Thirdly, collection of larger quantities of cohort specific data, where possible, linked would assist in identifying cohort specific impacts. We also review recent work done at Infrastructure Victoria applying this approach to estimating the impacts of social housing on employment, education, health, incarceration and homelessness. Creation Date: 2018-05-01 |
| Keywords: | Cost-Benefit Analysis, Program Evaluation, Treatment Effects, Social Housing, Homelessness, Australia, Victoria. |
| JEL: | C21 D61 H42 H54 H75 I38 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:inv:ppaper:201802&r=ure |
| By: | Elena Grinza; Francesco Quatraro |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we explore the impact of a firm's workers' replacements on innovation performance, by using rich matched employer-employee panel data for the Veneto region of Italy. We take the well-known resource-based theory of the firm as our departure point, and develop a set of hypotheses which we test empirically with negative binomial regressions. Coherently with our theoretical framework, we find that workers' replacements significantly dampen innovation performance, because they generate losses in the tacit knowledge base of the firm. We also nd that workers' replacements are especially detrimental to large and young rms, because large companies have more hierarchical rigidities and innovative capabilities in young rms are mostly dependent on specific human capital. Finally, our results show that firms' localization in industrial districts significantly mitigates the negative impact of workers' replacements, and that a similar picture emerges when firms are more exposed to knowledge spillovers, particularly of related knowledge. |
| Keywords: | Workers' replacements, excess worker turnover, innovation performance, tacit knowledge, knowledge spillovers, employer-employee matched longitudinal data. |
| JEL: | J63 O30 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cca:wpaper:550&r=ure |
| By: | Rowena Crawford (Institute for Fiscal Studies and Institute for Fiscal Studies); Richard Disney (Institute for Fiscal Studies and University of Sussex); Polly Simpson (Institute for Fiscal Studies and Institute for Fiscal Studies) |
| Abstract: | Since 1995, police forces in England and Wales have obtained the right to raise revenues locally to supplement central government grants in order to fund their activities. The extent to which they have used these local revenue-raising powers varies signi cantly across area and time. We seek to explain this variation in locally raised police revenues over the 2000s, unpicking the role of local differences in preferences, central government funding, the production of public safety given police inputs, and certain political economy features of the local decision making process. We find that around three-quarters of the variation in local revenues per capita can be explained by differences in incomes, prices and preferences. We also examine whether changes in service provision by other agencies spillover into the local demand for policing by affecting the local tax price of police activities. |
| Keywords: | Police funding, Fiscal federalism, Local tax price |
| JEL: | H41 H71 |
| Date: | 2018–03–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ifs:ifsewp:18/09&r=ure |
| By: | Raphael Corbi; Elias Papaioannou, Paolo Surico |
| Abstract: | A series of discontinuities in the allocation mechanism of federal transfers to municipal governments in Brazil allow us to identify the causal effect of public spending on local labor markets, using a ‘fuzzy’ Regression Discontinuity Design (RDD). Our estimates imply a cost per job of about 8,000 US dollars per year and a local income multiplier around two. The effect comes mostly from employment in the retail, education and services sectors and is more pronounced among smaller municipalities in the North, with lower income and lower bank penetration. |
| Keywords: | natural experiment; ‘fuzzy’ RD; government spending; employment; wages |
| JEL: | E62 H72 C26 |
| Date: | 2018–07–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spa:wpaper:2018wpecon12&r=ure |
| By: | Lorenzo Cherubini (Brock University, Ontario) |
| Abstract: | The academic success of Aboriginal students remains particularly concerning across Ontario, Canada, the United States and abroad. Less than half of all Aboriginal students in Canada receive a secondary school diploma since they often do not discern meaning in both the provincial curriculum and the priorities of public schools. In the province of Ontario (Canada), the Ministry of Education (OME) 2007 policy document, The Ontario First Nation, Métis, and Inuit Education Policy Framework (the Framework) addresses the achievement gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal learners in public education. The Framework points to the epistemological learning preferences of Aboriginal students and aims to make all stakeholders more accountable for the academic success of Aboriginal students. This study examines the perceptions and experiences of Aboriginal students in northern Ontario publicly-funded schools in the context of the objectives of the OME policy Framework. The findings of this longitudinal qualitative study include two categories that are described as ‘Schools as Spaces of Socialization’ and ‘Principled Actions and Variability.’ The categories, as the discussion of the paper will suggest, bring to light the potential of Aboriginal students to first flourish in the imagination of their individual and collective identity, and second, to undertake the challenges associated to public schooling and thrive in what can be adverse environments. However, the findings of this study also point to the fact that some Aboriginal students perceive the various injustices of school practices and relations but in most instances, consider themselves as having very limited opportunities to enact change. |
| Keywords: | Aboriginal students, education policy, achievement gap |
| Date: | 2018–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:smo:ppaper:004&r=ure |
| By: | Fabian Kosse; Thomas Deckers; Pia Pinger; Hannah Schildberg-Hörisch; Armin Falk |
| Abstract: | This study presents descriptive and causal evidence on the role of social environment for the formation of prosociality. In a first step, we show that socioeconomic status (SES) as well as the intensity of mother-child interaction and mothers’ prosocial attitudes are systematically related to elementary school children's prosociality. In a second step, we present evidence on a randomly-assigned variation of the social environment, providing children with a mentor for the duration of one year. Our data include a two-year follow-up and reveal a significant and persistent increase in prosociality in the treatment relative to the control group. Moreover, enriching the social environment bears the potential to close the observed gap in prosociality between low and high SES children. A mediation analysis of the observed treatment effect suggests that prosociality develops in response to stimuli in the form of prosocial role models and intense social interactions. |
| Keywords: | formation of preferences, prosociality, social preferences, trust, social inequality |
| JEL: | D64 C90 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7068&r=ure |
| By: | Sascha O. Becker (University of Warwick); Thiemo Fetzer (University of Warwick) |
| Abstract: | The 2004 accession of 8 Eastern European countries to the European Union (EU) was accompanied by fears of mass migration. The United Kingdom - unlike many other EU countries - did not opt for temporary restrictions on the EU’s free movement of labour. We document that following EU accession more than 1 million people (ca. 3% of the UK working age population) migrated from Eastern Europe to the UK. We show that they mostly settled in places that had limited prior exposure to immigration. We provide evidence that these areas subsequently saw smaller wage growth at the lower end of the wage distribution and increased pressure on the welfare state, housing and public services. Using novel geographically disaggregated data by country-of-origin, we measure the effects of Eastern European migration on these outcomes for the UK-born and different groups of immigrants. Our results are important in the context of the UK’s Brexit referendum and the ongoing EU withdrawal negotiations in which migration features as a key issue. |
| Keywords: | Political Economy, Migration, Globalization, EU JEL Classification: R23, N44, Z13 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cge:wacage:376&r=ure |
| By: | Matthew Johnson; Alicia Demers |
| Abstract: | During its first six years of operation, the Kauffman School had substantial positive impacts on student achievement growth in mathematics, English language arts, and science, beyond the growth achieved by students in other Kansas City public schools. |
| Keywords: | charter school evaluation, school effectiveness |
| JEL: | I |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:bd1f54f237124b218114062d55f77ad6&r=ure |
| By: | Ulceluse; Magdalena |
| Abstract: | The paper investigates whether self-employment represents a way to reduce overeducation and improve labour market matching, in a comparative analysis between immigrants and natives. Using the EU Labour Force Survey for the year 2012, and controlling for a list of demographic characteristics and general characteristics of 30 destination countries, I find that the likelihood of being overeducated decreases for self-employed immigrants, with inconclusive results for self-employed natives. The results shed light on the extent to which immigrants adjust to labour market imperfections and barriers to employment and might help explain the higher incidence of self-employment that immigrants exhibit, when compared to natives. This is the first study to systematically study the nexus between overeducation and self-employment in a comparative framework. Moreover, the paper tests the robustness of the results by employing two different measures of overeducation, contributing to the literature of the measurement of overeducation. |
| Keywords: | self-employment,immigrants,skills mismatch,overeducation |
| JEL: | J15 J24 J61 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:219&r=ure |
| By: | Sabatini, Fabio; Sarracino, Francesco |
| Abstract: | Online social networks, such as Facebook, amplify the occasions for social comparisons which are detrimental to well-being. The authors test the hypothesis that the use of social networking sites (SNS) increases social comparisons using Italian data from the Multipurpose Household Survey, and European data from Eurobarometer. The results suggest that SNS users have a higher probability to compare their achievements with those of others. This evidence is robust to endogeneity concerns. The authors conclude that, by increasing the opportunities for social comparisons, SNS can be an engine of income dissatisfaction for their users. |
| Keywords: | social networks,social networking sites,social comparisons,satisfaction with income,relative deprivation |
| JEL: | D83 I31 O33 Z1 Z13 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwedp:201843&r=ure |
| By: | Frisvold, David E. (University of Iowa); Pitts, Melinda (Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of state merit-aid programs on the labor market attachment of high school-aged youths. The labor force participation rate of teenagers has fallen substantially in recent decades, coinciding with the introduction of merit-aid programs. These programs reduce the price of attending an in-state public college or university for high-achieving students and have the potential to influence students' allocation of time and effort between labor market activities, human capital development, and other forms of leisure. We examine the influence of these programs based on their generosity, both in the amount of aid provided to a recipient and the percent of students who are recipients of aid, and in their selectivity. Our results suggest that programs that are more selective reduce labor force participation, but are not a significant cause in the decline in teenage labor force participation in recent decades. |
| Keywords: | merit aid, labor force participation, education, financial aid |
| JEL: | J2 I2 |
| Date: | 2018–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11557&r=ure |
| By: | Ugo Albertazzi (European Central Bank); Fulvia Fringuellotti (University of Zurich); Steven Ongena (University of Zurich) |
| Abstract: | Why do some residential mortgages carry a fixed interest rate and others an adjustable rate? To answer this question we studied unique data from 103 banks belonging to 73 different banking groups across twelve countries in the euro area. To explain the large cross-country and time variations observed, we distinguished between the conditions that determine the local demand for credit and the characteristics of banks that supply credit. As bank funding mostly occurs at the group level, we disentangled these two sets of factors by comparing the outcomes observed for the same banking group across the different countries. Local demand conditions dominate. In particular we find that the share of new loans with a fixed rate is larger when: (1) the historical volatility of inflation is lower, (2) the correlation between unemployment and the short-term interest rate is higher, (3) households' financial literacy is lower, and (4) the use of local mortgages to back covered bonds and of mortgage-backed securities is more widespread. |
| Keywords: | mortgages, financial duration, cross-border banks |
| JEL: | F23 G21 |
| Date: | 2018–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdi:wptemi:td_1176_18&r=ure |
| By: | Gürtzgen, Nicole (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg); Nolte, André (ZEW Mannheim); Pohlan, Laura (University of Mannheim); van den Berg, Gerard J. (University of Bristol) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies effects of the introduction of a new digital mass medium on reemployment of unemployed job seekers. We combine data on high-speed (broadband) internet availability at the local level with individual register data on the unemployed in Germany. We address endogeneity by exploiting technological peculiarities in the network that affected the roll-out of high-speed internet. The results show that high-speed internet improves reemployment rates after the first months of the unemployment spell. This is confirmed by complementary analysis with individual survey data suggesting that online job search leads to additional formal job interviews after a few months in unemployment. |
| Keywords: | unemployment, online job search, information frictions, matching technology, search channels |
| JEL: | J64 K42 H40 L96 C26 |
| Date: | 2018–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11555&r=ure |
| By: | Shinya Kajitani |
| Abstract: | The impact of relative performance information feedback could vary according to each student's previous examination performance. Binary grade environments enable us to identify the heterogeneous impacts of this feedback. Conducting a randomized control trial employing a compulsory course in economics at a Japanese university, we show the heterogeneous impacts of relative performance information feedback attributable to the students' earlier examination scores under a binary grade environment. Our experimental results prove that previous performance information feedback improves the performance of students with only intermediate scores but worsens the performance of high-scoring students in their next examination. |
| Keywords: | Education, experiments, relative performance information feedback, relative grading |
| JEL: | D81 I21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mei:wpaper:40&r=ure |
| By: | Grégory VANDENBULCKE; Luc INT PANIS; Isabelle THOMAS |
| Date: | 2017–01–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cor:louvrp:2857&r=ure |
| By: | Gradstein, Mark |
| Abstract: | The diversity of social interaction within economic communities affects productivity and growth, and is itself shaped by economic conditions. These reciprocal effects raise the possibility of multiple equilibria, of setting a socially polarized economy stagnating in poverty on a new path of social integration and economic growth through external intervention or an internal political initiative. This paper describes a simple analytical model that captures these reciprocal effects, and sheds light on the role of government capacity, community leadership, federation and external credit or aid, in achieving economic growth through social integration. |
| Date: | 2018–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:13011&r=ure |
| By: | Littke, Helge C. N. |
| Abstract: | The role of the financial system to absorb and to intermediate commodity boom induced windfall gains efficiently presents one of the most pressing issues for developing economies. Using an exogenous increase in iron ore prices in March 2005, I analyse the role of regional bank branch networks in Brazil in reallocating capital from affected to non-affected regions. For the period from March 2004 to March 2006, I find that branches directly exposed to this shock by their geographical location experience an increase in deposit growth in the post-shock period relative to non-affected branches. Given that these deposits are not reinvested locally, I further show that branches located in the non-affected region increase lending growth depending on their indirect exposure to the booming regions via their branch network. Even tough, these results provide evidence against a Dutch Disease type crowding out of the non-iron ore sector, further evidence suggests that this capital reallocation is far from being optimal. |
| Keywords: | banking,financial development,natural resources |
| JEL: | G11 G21 O16 Q32 Q33 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:iwhdps:112018&r=ure |
| By: | Shrum, L. J.; Lowrey, Tina M.; Pogacar, Ruth |
| Abstract: | People—be they politicians, marketers, job candidates, product reviewers, bloggers, or romantic interests—often use linguistic devices to persuade others, and there is a sizeable literature that has documented the effects of numerous linguistic devices. However, understanding the implications of these effects is difficult without an organizing framework. To this end, we introduce a Language Complexity × Processing Mode Framework for classifying linguistic devices based on two continuous dimensions: language complexity, ranging from simple to complex, and processing mode, ranging from automatic to controlled. We then use the framework as a basis for reviewing and synthesizing extant research on the effects of the linguistic devices on persuasion, determining the conditions under which the effectiveness of the linguistic devices can be maximized, and reconciling inconsistencies in prior research. |
| Keywords: | Linguistics; Attitudes and Persuasion; Automatic and Controlled Processes; Language |
| JEL: | M31 |
| Date: | 2018–04–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ebg:heccah:1261&r=ure |
| By: | Sue Roberts (University of Portsmouth, UK) |
| Abstract: | Following the 2017 UK terrorist attacks by extremist religious individuals, it is notable that politicians and individual commentators remarked on the pressing need for local partnership working in England (BBC question time, 5 June 2017; Faith Matters 2017; Brendan Cox 19 June 2017). For it is by this means, people working together in a community, that local information and intelligence can be accessed, especially relating to emerging radicalisation. The early warning signs that could lead to active terrorism of the kind witnessed in the 2017 attacks (UNISON 2016) are being missed, and there are reasons why. This paper looks at why local information and multi-agency partnership are important to policing and community safety in the context of concerns about radicalisation and extremism, reviewing the policy changes, and their effects in partnership arrangements that have occurred in the UK since 2010. The paper goes on to present findings about the crucial significance of local partnership working in detecting radicalisation and some of the challenges faced by professionals now. The third part of the paper considers the question of how relevant agencies can monitor ongoing extremism and terrorism in communities through local intelligence gleaned through partnership working and other means. |
| Keywords: | extremism, terrorism, partnerships, multi-agency, communities, collaboration, governance |
| Date: | 2018–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:smo:ppaper:003&r=ure |
| By: | Mohammed Mardan; Michael Stimmelmayr |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes tax competition between countries which differ in their country-specific risk. We show that the outcome of asymmetric tax competition crucially depends on the ability of multinational firms to shift profits. With high costs of profit shifting, higher-risk countries set lower tax rates than lower-risk countries whereas the opposite is true if the costs of profit shifting are low. The results provide an explanation for the patterns observed in the corporate income tax policies across countries and regions differing in their level of development. Moreover, for intermediate costs of profit shifting, we show that also a country’s absolute risk level affects countries’ tax rate setting. These results carry important implication for the empirical tax competition literature. |
| Keywords: | tax competition, country risk, developing countries, asymmetric countries |
| JEL: | H25 O23 F23 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7090&r=ure |
| By: | Judit Pál |
| Abstract: | Sports play a vital role in students’ life. Playing sports on a regular basis can reduce the risks of obesity, anxiety disorders, low self-esteem and bullying among adolescents, and it can help them live a more active and healthy life as adults. But physical education classes and extracurricular sports activities compete for time with many other important pursuits, including homework and study. Educators and parents may ask whether their children spend enough time (or perhaps too much time) in physical activities, and to what degree participation in sports is associated with students’ academic performance and well-being. |
| Date: | 2018–07–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:eduddd:86-en&r=ure |
| By: | Chiovelli, Giorgio; Michalopoulos, Stelios; Papaioannou, Elias |
| Abstract: | Landmine contamination affects the lives of millions in many conflict-ridden countries long after the cessation of hostilities. Yet, little research exists on its impact on post-conflict recovery. In this study, we explore the economic consequences of landmine clearance in Mozambique, the only country that has moved from "heavily-contaminated" in 1992 to "mine-free" status in 2015. First, we compile a dataset detailing the evolution of clearance, collecting thousands of reports from the numerous demining actors. Second, we exploit the timing of demining to assess its impact on local economic activity, as reflected in satellite images of light density at night. The analysis reveals a moderate positive association that masks sizeable heterogeneity. Economic activity responds strongly to clearance of the transportation network, trade hubs, and more populous areas, while the demining-development association is weak in rural areas of low population density. Third, recognizing that landmine removal reconË figured the accessibility to the transportation infrastructure, we apply a "market-access" approach to quantify both its direct and indirect effects. The market-access estimates reveal substantial improvements on aggregate economic activity. The market-access benefits of demining are also present in localities without any contamination. Fourth, counterfactual policy simulations project considerable gains had the fragmented process of clearance in Mozambique been centrally coordinated, prioritizing clearance of the colonial transportation routes. |
| Keywords: | Civil War; infrastructure network; landmines; post-conflict recovery; Trade |
| Date: | 2018–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:13021&r=ure |
| By: | Zhenqian Huang (Macroeconomic Policy and Financing for Development Division, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) |
| Abstract: | The high productivity growth in previous decades has enabled the Asia-Pacific region to make significant advances in economic development. Productivity in the region has grown faster than in other regions, yet growth is slowing.1 Technology development is critical to boost productivity growth and to sustain medium- to long-term economic resilience. The region has a great potential. However, technology advancement also brings risks of increasing inequality and adapting to the changing nature of work. Government policies could focus on strengthening fundamental infrastructure, providing knowledge and skills, introducing redistributive measures, supporting technology diffusion and enhancing regional and global cooperation. Recent ESCAP publications provide detailed insights into the topic. Please refer to Inequality in Asia And the Pacific in the Era of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Frontier technologies for sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific. |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unt:pbmpdd:pb63&r=ure |
| By: | Nobuyoshi Yamori (Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration (RIEB), Kobe University, Japan); Kei Tomimura (Faculty of Management, Aichi University, Japan) |
| Abstract: | The authors conducted “Survey of Current Conditions and Challenges of Regional Finance in Relation to Regional Revitalization.” We sent a questionnaire to 520 financial institution headquarters throughout Japan during January and February 2017 with the aim of shedding light on the status of regional revitalization-related measures by regional financial institutions and the challenges they face. Responses were collected from 280 companies (a response rate of 53.8%). In this paper, we report the major results regarding challenges faced in regional revitalization, corporate restructuring support, startup support, and business matching measures. |
| Keywords: | Regional Finance, Regional Revitalization, Startup Support, Business Matching. |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:kob:dpaper:dp2018-17&r=ure |
| By: | Kato, Takao (Colgate University); Song, Yang (Colgate University) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides new causal evidence on the effects of gender congruence in the student-adviser relationship on three key student outcomes: (i) retention; (ii) grades; and (iii) post-graduation career outcomes. In so doing, we use unique administrative data from a selective liberal arts university which includes detailed longitudinal records on all students. Our identification strategy is based on the University's first-year faculty adviser assignment policy which produces randomness in whether a student has a same-gender faculty adviser. First, we find that gender congruence in the student-adviser relationship has a positive and significant effect on the odds of retention (gender congruence effect on the extensive margin) and on cumulate GPA upon graduation (gender congruence effect on the intensive margin). Second, we uncover that much of the gender congruence effect on the extensive margin tends to be concentrated in the freshman and sophomore years, while the gender congruence effect on the intensive margin is less immediate and shows up only in cumulative GPA upon graduation. The results are found to change little when we account for unobserved adviser characteristics by using adviser fixed effects. Finally, student-adviser gender congruence is found to work differently for students with different backgrounds and interests. Most notably we find that gender congruence in the student-adviser relationship is particularly helpful for academically weak students and students without STEM-orientation. |
| Keywords: | higher education, gender congruence, advising, academic outcomes, labor market outcomes |
| JEL: | I21 I23 |
| Date: | 2018–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11575&r=ure |