|
on Urban and Real Estate Economics |
| By: | Elacqua, Gregory; Rosa, Leonardo |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes preferences for certain school attributes among in-service teachers. We explore a centralized matching process in the city of Sao Paulo that teachers must use when transferring schools. Because teachers have to list and rank their preferences for schools, we can estimate the desirability of school attributes using a rank-ordered logit model. We show that the schools distance from the teachers home, school average test scores, and teacher composition play a central role in teacher preferences. Furthermore, we show that preferences vary according to teacher characteristics, such as gender, race, age, and academic subject. |
| Keywords: | Teachers;Teacher Assignment;teacher transfers;centralized assignment;Brazil |
| JEL: | I21 I24 I25 I28 |
| Date: | 2023–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:12702&r=ure |
| By: | Busso, Matías; Chauvin, Juan Pablo |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the effects of weather-induced rural-urban migration on urban labor and housing markets in Brazil. In order to identify causal effects, it uses weather shocks to the rural municipalities of origin of migrants. We show that larger migration shocks led to an increase in employment growth and a reduction in wage growth of 4 and 5 percent, respectively. The increased migration flows also affected the housing market in destination cities. On average, it led to 1 percent faster growth of the housing stock, accompanied by 5 percent faster growth in housing rents. These effects vary sharply by housing quality. We find a substantial positive effect on the growth rates of the most precarious housing units (with no effect on rents) and a negative effect on the growth of higher-quality housing units (with a positive effect on rents). This suggests that rural immigration growth slowed down housing-quality upgrading in destination cities. |
| Keywords: | Weather-induced migration;Rural-urban migration;Urban labor markets;Urban housing markets;developing countries |
| JEL: | J46 J61 O18 R23 |
| Date: | 2023–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:12668&r=ure |
| By: | Becka Brolinson (Federal Housing Finance Agency) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, I quantify the value of access to public transit in New York using the surprise, hurricane-related announcement of the temporary shutdown of an important piece of transportation infrastructure: the L-train connecting Brooklyn and Manhattan. My approach allows me to measure changes in housing sales prices by using a change in public transit infrastructure that is (a) temporary, and (b) not an outcome of city transit planning, but rather an unexpected consequence of a natural disaster. I find that the L-train’s shutdown announcement caused a temporary decrease in sales prices for affected housing units of 6.4 percent. This estimate suggests a monthly capitalization rate of public transit access of around $863 for housing units where the L-train is the nearest subway stop, demonstrating that households in New York City ascribe a high value to transit access. Using these estimates, the benefits of the repair outweigh the costs, with the benefit-to-cost ratio of the repairs ranging from 2.76 to 2.78. |
| Keywords: | transportation, house prices, natural disaster risk |
| JEL: | Q54 R31 R38 R4 |
| Date: | 2023–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hfa:wpaper:23-06&r=ure |
| By: | Rigissa Megalokonomou (Monash University, Monash Business School, Department of Economics, IZA and CESifo); Chrysovalantis Vasilakis (University of Bangor, Business School) |
| Abstract: | Recent political instability in the Middle East has triggered one of the largest influxes of refugees into Europe. The different departure points along the Turkish coast generate exogenous variation in refugee arrivals across Greek islands. We construct a new dataset on the number and nature of crime incidents and arrested offenders at island level using official police records and newspaper reports. Instrumental variables and difference-in-differences are employed to study the causal relationship between immigration and crime. We find that a 1-percentage-point increase in the share of refugees on destination islands increases crime incidents by 1.7-2.5 percentage points compared with neighboring unexposed islands. This is driven by crime incidents committed by refugees; there is no change in crimes committed by natives on those islands. We find a significant rise in property crime, knife attacks, and rape, but no increase in drug crimes. Results based on reported crimes exhibit a similar pattern. Our findings highlight the need for government provision in terms of infrastructure, social benefits, quicker evaluation for asylum, and social security. |
| Keywords: | rime, migration, natural experiment, Greek islands, difference-in-differences |
| JEL: | F61 F22 K42 J15 |
| Date: | 2023–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mos:moswps:2023-20&r=ure |
| By: | Ferreira, João R. (Nova School of Business and Economics); Martins, Pedro S. (Nova School of Business and Economics) |
| Abstract: | We evaluate the education and labour impact of vocational education and training (VET). Identification draws on different IVs from the large-scale, staggered introduction of VET courses in public schools in Portugal from 2005. We also exploit the large gender differences in VET, with many courses selected almost only by either boys or girls. Drawing on rich student-school matched panel data, we find that VET increased upper-secondary graduation rates dramatically: our LATE estimates typically exceed 50 percentage points. These effects are even stronger for low-achieving students and welfare recipients. Moreover, we find evidence of regional youth employment growth following VET expansions. VET graduates also benefit from higher wages and other positive outcomes over several years, compared to both academic-track and lower-secondary graduates. |
| Keywords: | educational attainment, vocational education, matched student-teacher-school data, VET wage differentials |
| JEL: | I21 I26 I28 J24 |
| Date: | 2023–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16474&r=ure |
| By: | Sophia Gilbukh; Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham |
| Abstract: | The real estate market is highly intermediated, with 90 percent of buyers and sellers hiring an agent to help them transact a house. However, low barriers to entry and fixed commission rates result in a market where inexperienced intermediaries have a large market share, especially following house price booms. Using rich micro-level data on 8.5 million listings and a novel instrumental variables research design, we first show that houses listed for sale by inexperienced real estate agents have a lower probability of selling, and this effect is strongest during the housing bust. We then study the aggregate implications of the distribution of agents' experience on housing market liquidity by building a dynamic entry and exit model of real estate agents with aggregate shocks. We find that 3.7 more listings would have been sold in a flexible commission equilibrium. It would require a six-fold increase in entry costs for real estate agents to achieve this level of liquidity within the fixed commission framework. |
| JEL: | G5 R3 |
| Date: | 2023–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31683&r=ure |
| By: | Bedoya-Maya, Felipe; Calatayud, Agustina; González Mejia, Vileydy |
| Abstract: | Road congestion and air pollution are key challenges for quality of life in urban settings. This research leverages highly disaggregated crowdsourced data from Latin America to study the effect of road congestion on levels of carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and particulate matter in four of the most congested cities in developing countries: Bogota, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, and Santiago. Based on a panel data econometric approach with over 4.4 billion records from Waze and hourly data from 54 air monitoring stations for 2019, our two-stage least square model shows a cumulative increase of 0.6% in response to a 1% of road congestion on the three air pollutants. Moreover, we find a nonlinear relationship between road congestion and air quality and estimate the threshold above which the effect decays. This study provides evidence that supports public policies designed to make urban mobility more sustainable by implementing measures to reduce road congestion in developing contexts. |
| Keywords: | Congestion;Air quality;Latin America;Pollution |
| JEL: | R41 O18 L91 Q01 |
| Date: | 2022–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:12468&r=ure |
| By: | Elacqua, Gregory; Jacas, Isabel; Krussig, Thomas; Méndez, Carolina; Neilson, Christopher |
| Abstract: | We study the welfare produced by a coordinated school assignment system that is based exclusively on minimizing distance to schools, comparing the matches it produces to a system that includes household preferences using a deferred acceptance algorithm. We leverage administrative data and a mechanism change implemented in the city of Manta, Ecuador in 2021 to estimate household preferences and show that considering applicant preferences produces large welfare gains. Our counterfactual exercises show that differences across alternative assignment mechanisms are small. Survey data on household beliefs and satisfaction support these conclusions. The evidence indicates that coordinated school choice and assignment systems can have large welfare effects in developing country contexts. |
| Keywords: | Mechanism design;centralized student assignment;school choice;Ecuador |
| JEL: | I20 I21 I22 |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:12625&r=ure |
| By: | Nilsson, Magnus (CIRCLE, Lund University); Schubert, Torben (CIRCLE, Lund University); Miörner, Johan (CIRCLE, Lund University) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the impact of regional anchors on local firms in Swedish regions. Departing from previous idiographic research, we adopt a nomothetic research design relying on a stepwise expert-informed supervised machine learning approach to identify the population of anchor firms in the Swedish economy between 2007 and 2019. We find support for positive anchor effects on the productivity of other firms in the region. These effects are moderated by regional and anchor conditions. We find that the effects are greater when there are multiple anchors within the same industry and that the effects are larger in economically weaker regions. |
| Keywords: | anchor-tenant; productivity; machine learning; anchor firms; Sweden |
| JEL: | D24 O30 R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2023–10–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2023_008&r=ure |
| By: | Álvarez Marinelli, Horacio; Berlinski, Samuel; Busso, Matías; Martínez Correa, Julián |
| Abstract: | Teachers are the most fundamental input of students' learning. For this reason, developing teaching skills is a policy priority for most governments around the world. We experimentally evaluate the effectiveness of "Let's All Learn to Read, " a one-year professional development program that trained and coached teachers throughout the school year and provided them and their students with structured materials. Following a year of instruction by the trained teachers, students' literacy scores in treated schools grew by 0.386 of a standard deviation compared to students in the control group. These gains persisted through the second and third grades. We also show that an early intervention in rst grade is more cost-effective at improving literacy skills than implementing remediation strategies in third grade. |
| Date: | 2022–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:12473&r=ure |
| By: | Michael Bates (Department of Economics, University of California Riverside); Michael Dinerstein (University of Chicago); Andrew Johnston (UC Merced); Isaac Sorkin (Stanford University) |
| Abstract: | The teacher labor market is a two-sided matching market where the effects of policies depend on the actions of both sides. We specify a matching model of teachers and schools that we estimate with rich data on teachers’ applications and principals’ ratings. Both teachers’ and principals’ preferences deviate from those that would maximize the achievement of economically disadvantaged students: teachers prefer schools with fewer disadvantaged students, and principals’ ratings are weakly related to teacher effectiveness. In equilibrium, these two deviations combine to produce a surprisingly equitable current allocation where teacher quality is balanced across advantaged and disadvantaged students. To close academic achievement gaps, policies that address deviations on one side alone are ineffective or harmful, while policies that address both deviations could substantially increase disadvantaged students’ achievement. |
| Date: | 2023–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucr:wpaper:202312&r=ure |
| By: | Ballesteros, Marife M.; Lorenzo, Pauline Joy M.; Ramos, Tatum P.; Ancheta, Jenica A. |
| Abstract: | Smart city development is recognized as a potential solution to urbanization issues. This study examines Philippine cities’ readiness for smart city development by answering three policy questions: (1) What drives Philippine local government units toward implementing smart city initiatives; (2) What is the extent of smart city development among Philippine cities; and (3) How can the Philippine government facilitate the development of smart cities? A desk review of smart city initiatives in some Philippine cities was carried out, and interviews were conducted with local government units, national government agencies, businesses, and development organizations. It finds that the Philippines has started to tread the path toward building smart cities, and some cities already exhibit readiness. However, additional pathways to smart city development must be paved. There is a need to address funding, data management, and sustainability challenges. Addressing the challenges not only requires actions at the local level but also demands additional support from the national government in developing policies and standards to improve data flow, promoting technology- and innovation-powered cities, and ensuring transparency and accountability in the implementation of smart city initiatives. |
| Keywords: | local government;smart city;digital city;intelligent city;Philippine cities;sustainable city |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:phd:rpseri:rps_2023-02&r=ure |
| By: | Michelle M. Marcus; Rosie Mueller |
| Abstract: | Our understanding of individuals' response to information about unregulated contaminants is limited. We leverage the highly publicized social discovery of unregulated PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) contamination in public drinking water to study the impact of information about unregulated contaminants on housing prices. Using residential property transaction data, we employ a difference-in-differences research design and show that high profile media coverage about PFAS contamination significantly decreased property values of affected homes. We also find suggestive evidence of residential sorting that may have worsened environmental inequality. |
| JEL: | Q52 Q53 R21 R23 |
| Date: | 2023–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31731&r=ure |
| By: | Escutia-Muñoz, Domingo; Martín-García, Rodrigo; Ruiz-Rúa, Aurora |
| Abstract: | Digital competences refer to the skills and knowledge needed to understand, use, and communicate with digital technologies. In terms of public policies, promoting digital competences has become a priority as it is considered crucial for the economic and social development of countries. In the educational field, digital competences are vital for student learning and training, as well as for teacher training and improving educational quality. Furthermore, the lack of digital competences can perpetuate the digital divide and social exclusion. Teachers play a crucial role in developing students' digital competences, essential for student success. To this aim, training in digital competences and a proactive attitude towards their use in the classroom must be boosted, as teachers' role in fostering digital competences. In order to meet such demands, professional digital competence is required as an important issue for teacher education to be addressed (Lindfors et al., 2021). The present study aims to investigate the transformative effects of digital competency development on teachers of secondary education level. Through a comprehensive literature review, this study seeks to provide understanding of how digital competences can positively impact educational outcomes, such as student achievement and teacher performance. We set the focus on specific teacher training courses, as CanSat school project. By examining the specific context of space-related resources, we will analyse the potential benefits of teacher training process and teacher network learning communities, teaching methods, such as project-based learning, the recognition of teaching activity and the level of student participation, to optimize educational practices in an increasingly digital world. Afterwards, we will perform an adaptation of the questionnaire used in "SELFIEforTEACHERS" tool. This will allow us to carry out an analysis of the perception of the level of digital competence used by teachers through a mixed, quantitative and qualitative methodology on a further stage. The evaluation of teachers' digital skills will allow us to improve and personalize teacher trainings in order to meet their needs properly, in line with what is described in Basilotta-Gómez-Pablos et al. (2022). In addition, as another key objective, we also expect to identify space related content as a suitable and motivational tool to let teachers put their knowledge into practice, addressing the shortcomings identified by Prieto-Ballester et al. (2021). (...) |
| Keywords: | Digital Skills, DigCompEdu, secondary education, teacher training, ICT, CPD, space-based STEM education, CanSat, ESERO |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itse23:277955&r=ure |
| By: | Elacqua, Gregory; Gómez, Leidy; Krussig, Thomas; Marotta, Luana; Méndez, Carolina; Neilson, Christopher |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the potential of personalized "smart" information interventions to improve teacher assignment results in the context of a centralized choice and assignment system (CCAS) in Ecuador. Specifically, we focus on the impact that a personalized non-assignment risk warning, coupled with a list of "achievable" teaching position recommendations, had on teacher applications in the “I Want to Become a Teacher” selection process. We study the causal effect of the intervention on teachers school choices, assessing its impact on the equilibrium probability of being assigned and on the overall results of the selection process, both in terms of the percentage of filled vacancies and the selection scores of as- signed teachers. We find that treated teachers, in equilibrium, are much more likely to modify their application and obtain an assignment. This result highlights the potential of similar information interventions in other contexts. We furthermore present evidence that the intervention led to increased overall assignment rates and selection scores. |
| Keywords: | Teacher Assignment;platforms;Ecuador;Smart Information |
| JEL: | I21 |
| Date: | 2022–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:12483&r=ure |
| By: | Abbate, Nicolás; Berniell, Inés; Coleff, Joaquín; Laguinge, Luis; Marchionni, Mariana; Pedrazzi, Julián; Machelett, Margarita; Pinto, María Florencia |
| Abstract: | We assess the extent of discrimination against gay and transgender individuals in the rental housing markets of four Latin American countries. We conducted a large-scale field experiment building on the correspondence study methodology to examine interactions between property managers and fictitious couples engaged in searches on a major online rental housing platform. We find evidence of discriminatory behavior against heterosexual couples where the female partner is a transgender woman (trans couples): they receive 19% fewer responses, 27% fewer positive responses, and 23% fewer invitations to showings than heterosexual couples. However, we find no evidence of discrimination against gay male couples. We also assess whether the evidence is consistent with taste-based discrimination or statistical discrimination models by comparing response rates when couples signal high socioeconomic status (high SES). While we find no significant effect of the signal on call-back rates or the type of response for high-SES heterosexual or gay male couples, trans couples benefit when they signal high SES. Their call-back, positive-response, and invitation rates increase by 25%, 36% and 29%, respectively. These results suggest the presence of discrimination against trans couples in the Latin American online rental housing market, which seems consistent with statistical discrimination. Moreover, we find no evidence of heterosexual couples being favored over gay male couples, nor evidence of statistical discrimination for gay male or heterosexual couples. |
| Keywords: | LGBTQ+;discrimination;Correspondence study;Rental housing market;Latin America |
| Date: | 2023–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:12708&r=ure |
| By: | Busso, Matías; Frisancho, Verónica |
| Abstract: | This article relies on a large-scale field experiment in Mexico to measure the effects of two ability-grouping models (tracking and heterogeneous/bimodal groups) on student learning outcomes during middle school. Both strategies yielded an average learning gain of 0.08 of a standard deviation. We find larger and more persistent effects among initially high-achieving students and no significant effects among low achievers. Students in top tracking enjoyed multiple advantages, particularly a concentration of high-performing peers and a very homogeneous classroom, that facilitated the teacher's work and increased students' effort levels. Bimodal classes fostered greater effort levels among top students, while teachers induced less competition and allocated more time to practice and feedback activities, to the detriment of lecture time. Our results support the allocation of students to homogeneous classes to maximize performance gains among top students without hurting low achievers. Fostering inclusive learning among weaker students would require complementary investments under both models. |
| Keywords: | Peer effects;tracking;Bimodal classes;Middle school;Field experiment |
| JEL: | C93 I21 I28 O15 |
| Date: | 2023–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:12681&r=ure |
| By: | Frisancho, Verónica |
| Abstract: | This paper studies whether school-based financial education has spillover effects from children to parents. Leveraging data from a large-scale experiment with public high schools in Peru and credit bureau records on the parents of the youth targeted, this study measures the impact of providing personal finance lessons during secondary school on parental financial behavior. Financial education lessons in the school yield limited average spillover effects, but lead to sizable effects on parental financial behavior within disadvantaged households. Among parents from poorer households, the treatment reduces default probability by 26%, increases credit scores by 5%, and increases current debt levels by 40%. The treatment has stronger effects among the parents of daughters, who experience a significant 6.7% increase in their credit score and a 28% reduction in their loan portfolio in arrears. Among the parents of boys, most of the spillover effects are muted. |
| Keywords: | : Financial Education;youth;spillovers;Financial literacy;Credit records;Treatment effects;Long-lasting impacts |
| JEL: | C93 D14 G53 O16 |
| Date: | 2023–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:12696&r=ure |
| By: | Alejandra Agustina Martínez (University of Leicester) |
| Abstract: | Do peers influence individuals’ involvement in political activism? To provide a quantitative answer, I study Argentina’s abortion rights debate through Twitter, the social media platform. Pro-choice and pro-life activists coexisted online, and the evidence suggests peer groups were not too polarized. I develop a model of strategic interactions in a network allowing for heterogeneous peer effects. Next, I estimate peer effects and test whether online activism exhibits strategic substitutability or complementarity. I create a novel panel dataset where links and actions are observable by combining tweets’ and users’ information. I provide a reduced-form analysis by proposing a network-based instrumental variable. The results indicate strategic complementarity in online activism from both aligned and opposing peers. Notably, the evidence suggests homophily in the formation of Twitter’s network, but it does not support the hypothesis of an echo-chamber effect. |
| Keywords: | Political activism; Peer effects; Social networks; Social media |
| JEL: | D74 D85 P00 Z13 |
| Date: | 2023–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aoz:wpaper:277&r=ure |
| By: | Arteaga, Felipe; Elacqua, Gregory; Krussig, Thomas; Méndez, Carolina; Neilson, Christopher |
| Abstract: | This paper evaluates how new information influences families applica- tions and assignment outcomes in elementary school choice settings. Specifi- cally, using a multi-country RCT based in Tacna, Peru and Manta, Ecuador, we examine the effect of providing personalized information on schooling alternatives and placement risk. We find that applicants who received feed- back on placement risk and a suggestion of new schools add more schools to their applications and were more likely to include recommended schools than other alternatives available. Interestingly, the project implemented in Manta, Ecuador had only marginal effects for all outcomes. The main differ- ence across implementations was the inclusion of outreach and information provision through an additional WhatsApp “warning” in Peru, which was not realized in Ecuador. A lower school density seems to have also been a contributing factor to the results observed in the Ecuadorian context. |
| Keywords: | school information;school attributes;direct search;direct choice;choiceplatforms;Ecuador;Peru |
| JEL: | I20 I21 I22 |
| Date: | 2022–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:12622&r=ure |
| By: | Braga, Breno (Urban Institute); Elliott, Diana (Population Reference Bureau) |
| Abstract: | The influx of climate migrants could challenge many communities in the coming decades. In this study, we estimate the effects of Puerto Rican migration on the financial health of residents in receiving communities after Hurricane Maria. On the one hand, migrants can compete for jobs or crowd out access to governmental safety net programs, contributing to declines in the financial health of residents of the hosting communities. On the other hand, migrants might fill labor market needs and increase the consumption of locally produced goods, helping to stimulate the community's economy. We find little evidence that Puerto Rican migrants negatively impacted the credit health outcomes – such as credit scores and delinquency rates - of residents in receiving communities, even three years after their arrival. On the contrary, existing homeowners in Hispanic communities in Central Florida improved their financial well-being after the arrival of migrants. To help explain this finding, we show suggestive evidence that homeowners might have financially benefited from an increase in their housing value after the arrival of migrants. |
| Keywords: | migration, financial health, housing markets |
| JEL: | G51 R23 I31 |
| Date: | 2023–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16482&r=ure |
| By: | Suzanne Peters (Alliance Manchester Business School, The University of Manchester); Jonatan Pinkse (Alliance Manchester Business School, The University of Manchester); Graham Winch (Alliance Manchester Business School, The University of Manchester) |
| Keywords: | productivity, housing, construction, investment |
| Date: | 2023–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:anj:ppaper:016&r=ure |
| By: | Hanushek, Eric A. (Stanford University); Kinne, Lavinia (Ifo Institute for Economic Research); Sancassani, Pietro (Ifo Institute for Economic Research); Woessmann, Ludger (University of Munich) |
| Abstract: | Decisions to invest in human capital depend on people's time preferences. We show that differences in patience are closely related to substantial subnational differences in educational achievement, leading to new perspectives on longstanding within-country disparities. We use social-media data - Facebook interests - to construct novel regional measures of patience within Italy and the United States. Patience is strongly positively associated with student achievement in both countries, accounting for two-thirds of the achievement variation across Italian regions and one-third across U.S. states. Results also hold for six other countries with more limited regional achievement data. |
| Keywords: | patience, student achievement, regions, social media, Facebook |
| JEL: | I21 Z10 |
| Date: | 2023–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16458&r=ure |
| By: | Näslund-Hadley, Emma; Hernández Agramonte, Juan Manuel; Méndez, Carolina; Fernandez, Fernando |
| Abstract: | We evaluated the effects of a 10-week intervention that randomly provided access to remote training to parents of preschool children during summer vacations in Peru. In response to learning losses during COVID-19-induced school closures, educational coaches offered guidance and support to parents in activities designed to accelerate the development of foundational math skills. We found that the intervention improved cognitive scores in mathematics by 0.12 standard deviations. Furthermore, we show that remote trainers increase the likelihood and frequency of parental involvement in math-related activities, suggesting that improvements in learning are driven by greater parental involvement in children's skill development. |
| Keywords: | Preschool learning;education technologies;interactive radioinstruction;parent engagement |
| JEL: | I20 I24 |
| Date: | 2022–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:12367&r=ure |
| By: | Kiran B. Krishnamurthy, Chandra (CERE - Center for Environmental and Resource Economics (CERE), Department of Forest Economics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SLU, Umeå, Sweden); Ngo, Nicole (School of Planning, Public Policy, and Management, University of Oregon) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the effects of Uber’s entry on freeway traffic and pollution in California. We use a panel difference-in-differences design and exploit variation in timing and occurrence of Uber’s entry into different counties using hourly freeway traffic data and daily pollution data between 2009 and 2017. We find reductions in weekday freeway congestion and PM2.5 concentrations in the average county entered. However, this reduction occurs at off-peak times and in less populated counties. During evening rush hour and in the most populated counties, we find increases in congestion and air pollution. We estimate that Uber’s entry resulted in an overall net social cost between $1.4 and $13.9 million for counties where and time periods when congestion is greatest. |
| Keywords: | Air Pollution; Traffic Congestion; ride-hailing; ridesharing |
| JEL: | C21 C23 L91 R41 |
| Date: | 2022–01–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:slucer:2021_018&r=ure |
| By: | David P. Glancy; J. Christina Wang |
| Abstract: | This study analyzes how lease expirations affect the performance of commercial real estate (CRE) properties and how these patterns changed during the COVID-19 crisis. Even before the pandemic, lease expirations were associated with a notable increase in the downside risk to a property’s occupancy or income, particularly in weaker property markets. These risks became more pronounced during the pandemic, driven mostly by office properties. During the pandemic, the adverse effect of lease expirations on office occupancy increased more than 50 percent overall, and it doubled for offices in central business districts (CBDs). This amplified effect of office lease expirations serves as a harbinger of further deterioration as leases continue to roll over in coming years, especially among CBD offices. Across lender groups, nonbank and large bank lenders are more exposed than regional and community banks to office loans in those distressed CBDs. This pattern somewhat alleviates the concern that CRE portfolio credit risk will exacerbate the headwinds faced by this latter group of banks. |
| Keywords: | commercial real estate; lease expirations; COVID-19; office loans; bank loan exposure |
| JEL: | R30 R33 G21 G23 |
| Date: | 2023–08–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedbwp:97040&r=ure |
| By: | Adnan, Wifag (New York University, Abu Dhabi); Zhang, Jonathan (McMaster University); Zheng, Angela (McMaster University) |
| Abstract: | A large literature shows that the children of immigrants have high upward mobility. However, immigrants vary vastly in how they are selected: while economic immigrants are chosen based on skill and education, refugees migrate at times of conflict and war. In this paper, we study on the mobility of immigrants by admission class. Using administrative data linking the universe of immigrant landing documents with tax records in Canada, we estimate intergenerational mobility outcomes by refugee status. We find that for immigrant parents at the 25th percentile of the income distribution, refugee children have an expected rank of 47 percentiles, while the corresponding estimate for non-refugee children is 51 percentiles. Approximately 60% of this gap can be explained by differences in parental attributes upon arrival, indicating that selection contributes to higher mobility. Finally, we show that when correcting for the underplacement of immigrant parents, the absolute upward mobility of refugees at p25 is largely unaffected while that of non-refugees falls by around 2 percentiles. |
| Keywords: | intergenerational mobility, refugees, immigration |
| JEL: | J61 J62 J15 |
| Date: | 2023–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16471&r=ure |
| By: | Áureo de Paula; Imran Rasul; Pedro CL Souza |
| Abstract: | Social interactions determine many economic behaviors, but information on social ties does not exist in most publicly available and widely used datasets. We present results on the identification of social networks from observational panel data that contains no information on social ties between agents. In the context of a canonical social interactions model, we provide sufficient conditions under which the social interactions matrix, endogenous and exogenous social effect parameters are globally identified if networks are constant over time. We also provide an extension of the method for time-varying networks. We then describe how high-dimensional estimation techniques can be used to estimate the interactions model based on the Adaptive Elastic Net Generalized Method of Moments. We employ the method to study tax competition across US states. The identified social interactions matrix implies that tax competition differs markedly from the common assumption of competition between geographically neighboring states, providing further insights into the long-standing debate on the relative roles of factor mobility and yardstick competition in driving tax setting behavior across states. Most broadly, our identification and application show that the analysis of social interactions can be extended to economic realms where no network data exists. |
| Date: | 2023–10–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:azt:cemmap:21/23&r=ure |
| By: | Schling, Maja; Guerrero Compeán, Roberto; Pazos, Nicolás; Bailey, Allison; Arkema, Katie; Ruckelshaus, Mary |
| Abstract: | This paper assesses the local economic impact of pelagic Sargassum seaweed washed ashore in tourism-heavy coastal zones in the Mexican State of Quintana Roo. The study relies on a carefully designed Geographic Information Systems (GIS) dataset of monthly observations from 2016 to 2019 for 157 beach segments. The dataset comprises an innovate measure of Sargassum seaweed presence, remotely sensed nighttime light intensity as a proxy of economic growth, as well as information on key infrastructure, sociodemographic and beach characteristics. We apply a fixed-effects regression model that controls for general time trends and unobserved, time-invariant differences across observations. We estimate that the presence of Sargassum in a beach segment reduces nighttime light intensity by 17.5%, representing an approximate 11.6% decrease in gross local product. Considering that impacts of Sargassum on local economic activity may be delayed due to reputational effects, our analysis finds that significant lagged effects can be detected up until 12 months after Sargassum was detected on the shoreline. These effect sizes range between a 5.9 and a 9.9% reduction in gross local product. Various robustness checks, including an adjusted measurement of Sargassum and the consideration of potential spatial correlation across beach segments, indicate that estimated impacts are consistently significant and negative across numerous specifications. For one of most tourism-dependent regions in the world, the recurrent influx is one of the most threatening manifestations of climate change. Our research is the first to robustly quantify the economic impact of Sargassum, and highlights the extent to which economic activity is negatively affected by the accumulation of seaweed and how these effects persist over time. The next important step is for both public and private sectors to invest in forecasting systems and containment strategies as well as engage in cleanup efforts to mitigate severe accumulations, inducing economic resilience in coastal communities. |
| Keywords: | Sargassum;economic growth;coastal zone management;Mexico;coastal zonemanagement |
| JEL: | C23 C52 N56 O44 Q56 R11 Z32 |
| Date: | 2022–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:12460&r=ure |
| By: | Julio López-Laborda; Andoni Montes-Nebreda; Jorge Onrubia |
| Abstract: | Success of centrally set environmental objectives requires the engagement of subnational governments. However, they often do not have the capacities or the incentives to apply ambitious climate mitigation and adaptation policies. Indeed, stricter environmental policies can lead to a decrease in local revenue collection as a consequence of the reduced activity resulting from the correction of externalities. To address this issue, in the line of Ecological Fiscal Transfers, we propose the inclusion of incentives linked to environmental objectives in local equalisation that would compensate for the opportunity costs faced by municipalities. In particular, we suggest greening fiscal equalisation by including a multidimensional index of local environmental performance that could be complemented by a green expenditure needs component as criteria for the allocation of equalisation grants. To illustrate how this proposal would work, we examine the financial effect that environmental fiscal equalisation would have had across Basque municipalities for the 2016-2019 period. As a main result, we find that less sustainable cities could lose up to the 5% of their per capita transfers, while small and most sustainable municipalities could win up to 13% of their per capita allocations. |
| Date: | 2023–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fda:fdaddt:2023-07&r=ure |
| By: | Lufin, Marcelo; Soto-díaz, Juan |
| Abstract: | When should a policymaker promote economic diversification in resource-rich regions? What are the necessary structural economic conditions for such policies to work? How compatible are regional and national strategies of diversification? This study focuses on the general equilibrium properties of policies that aim to diversify the economic structure of regions through productive linkages with the resource sector. Using Chile, a major mineral exporter, as a case study, and exploiting variation induced by the expansion of the mining industry and the commodity prices super-cycle, we analyze how a shock in the resource sector affects other sectors and regions through productive linkages. The results are utilized in simulating the economic conditions under which regional diversification is an optimal strategy for resource-based economic development. Our results support the need for a multiscalar approach for resource-driven economic development policies by showing that optimal outcomes of diversification policies on economic growth are found when policies combine regional, sectoral, and national strategies for development. |
| Keywords: | mining; diversification; productive linkages; technological change; regional development; Mining; Productive linkages; Technological change; Regional development; Diversification; Elsevier deal |
| JEL: | N0 R14 J01 |
| Date: | 2022–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:115013&r=ure |
| By: | Martins, Pedro S. (Nova School of Business and Economics); Melo, António (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | The subdued wage growth observed in many countries has spurred interest in monopsony views of regional labour markets. This study measures the extent and robustness of employer power and its wage implications exploiting comprehensive matched employer-employee data. We find average (employment-weighted) Herfindhal indices of 800 to 1, 100, stable over the 1986-2019 period covered, and that typically less than 9% of workers are exposed to concentration levels thought to raise market power concerns. When controlling for both worker and firm heterogeneity and instrumenting for concentration, we find that wages are negatively affected by employer concentration, with elasticities of around -1.4%. We also find that several methodological choices can change significantly both the measurement of concentration and its wage effects. |
| Keywords: | oligopsony, wages, regional labour markets, worker mobility, Portugal |
| JEL: | J42 J31 J63 |
| Date: | 2023–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16475&r=ure |
| By: | ITF |
| Abstract: | This report explores how traffic systems and infrastructure can be redesigned and expanded for a broader range of vehicle types, especially “smaller-than-car” or light mobility options. It identifies the potential benefits of making vehicles lighter and diversifying the range of vehicles used for everyday mobility. It also highlights successful policies for encouraging a shift towards urban light mobility in cities. Finally, it presents strategies for implementing frameworks for such policies and highlights measures decision makers should consider as part of their light mobility strategy. |
| Date: | 2023–08–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:itfaac:118-en&r=ure |
| By: | Sofia Amaral; Girija Borker; Nathan Fiala; Anjani Kumar; Nishith Prakash; Maria Micaela Sviatschi |
| Abstract: | We conducted a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the impact of an innovative police patrol program on sexual harassment in public spaces in Hyderabad, India. In collaboration with the Hyderabad City Police, we randomized both exposure to police patrols and the visibility of officers by deploying both uniformed and undercover personnel to hotspots. We implemented a novel, high-frequency observation exercise to measure sexual harassment at 350 hotspots, where enumerators took note of all observed instances of sexual harassment and women’s responses in real time. We find that although police patrols had no impact on overall street harassment, the visible policing patrols reduced severe forms of harassment (forceful touching, intimidation) by 27 percent and reduced the likelihood of women leaving the hotspot due to sexual harassment. We uncovered the underlying mechanisms and found that both police visibility and officers’attitudes oward sexual harassment are key to understanding its incidence. While the performance of undercover officers was similar to that of uniformed officers, harassment did not decrease when undercover officers were on patrol. This suggests that the visibility of police officers is critical in deterring perpetrators. Additionally, using lab experiments we find that, on average, police officers were more tolerant of mild street harassment and less inclined to punish offenders in such cases. Correspondingly, we observed in uniformed hotspots a decline in all types of harassment only when assigned officers held stronger personal views on harassment. |
| JEL: | J24 |
| Date: | 2023–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31734&r=ure |
| By: | Andrea Ricci; Claudia Vittori; Francesco Quartaro; Stefano Dughera |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we investigate the relationship between local wages and the internal structure of the regional knowledge base. The purpose is to assess if the workers’ compensations are related to the peculiarities of the technological space where they supply their labor services. To test this hypothesis, we apply the concepts of related and unrelated variety to the firms’ patenting activity as to assess if wages grow more in a framework of ‘knowledge deepening’ (generated by firms innovating in related technological domains) or in one of ‘knowledge widening’ (generated by firms innovating in unrelated technological domains). |
| Date: | 2022–03–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ina:wpaper:3475&r=ure |
| By: | Escamilla-Guerrero, David (University of St Andrews); Lepistö, Miko (Paris School of Economics); Minns, Chris (London School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | Using newly digitized Canada-Vermont border crossing records from the early twentieth century, this paper identifies key factors that may explain differences in how female and male migrants sort by human capital across destinations. Earnings maximization largely explains sorting patterns among males, while gender discrimination has a large effect on the sorting of female migrants. Everything else equal, destinations with institutional and social environments that limited the participation of women in the labor market attracted a lower-skilled mix of both single females and couples. Although married women were typically tied to a spouse whose labor market opportunities determined the joint destination, we find evidence suggesting that their degree of agency in the destination choice increased with human capital. |
| Keywords: | migration, sorting, gender, Canada, United States |
| JEL: | J61 N31 N32 |
| Date: | 2023–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16461&r=ure |
| By: | Erik Brynjolfsson (Stanford University and NBER); Catherine Buffington (U.S. Census Bureau); Nathan Goldschlag (U.S. Census Bureau); J. Frank Li (Stanford University); Javier Miranda (Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH), and Friedrich-Schiller University Jena); Robert Seamans (New York University) |
| Abstract: | We use data from the Annual Survey of Manufactures to study the characteristics and geography of investments in robots across U.S. manufacturing establishments. We find that robotics adoption and robot intensity (the number of robots per employee) is much more strongly related to establishment size than age. We find that establishments that report having robotics have higher capital expenditures, including higher information technology (IT) capital expenditures. Also, establishments are more likely to have robotics if other establishments in the same Core-Based Statistical Area (CBSA) and industry also report having robotics. The distribution of robots is highly skewed across establishments’ locations. Some locations, which we call Robot Hubs, have far more robots than one would expect even after accounting for industry and manufacturing employment. We characterize these Robot Hubs along several industry, demographic, and institutional dimensions. The presence of robot integrators and higher levels of union membership are positively correlated with being a Robot Hub. |
| Keywords: | robot, technology adoption, manufacturing, labor |
| Date: | 2023–10–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2023-013&r=ure |
| By: | Yu Liu (Mines Paris - PSL (École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris) - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres, CGS i3 - Centre de Gestion Scientifique i3 - Mines Paris - PSL (École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris) - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - I3 - Institut interdisciplinaire de l’innovation - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Shenle Pan (Mines Paris - PSL (École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris) - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres, CGS i3 - Centre de Gestion Scientifique i3 - Mines Paris - PSL (École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris) - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - I3 - Institut interdisciplinaire de l’innovation - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Pauline Folz (Orange Innovation); Thomas Hassan (Orange Innovation); Philippe Raipin- Parvedy (Orange Innovation); Eric Ballot (Mines Paris - PSL (École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris) - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres, CGS i3 - Centre de Gestion Scientifique i3 - Mines Paris - PSL (École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris) - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - I3 - Institut interdisciplinaire de l’innovation - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | This research explores sustainable city logistics, emphasizing the hurdles associated with scarce urban resources, including their under-and misutilization due to a lack of real-time information on the available infrastructure and intense competition between companies. To face these challenges, there is a crucial need to improve the visibility of urban resources and logistics assets, as an enabler of effective and efficient resource allocation and orchestration of resource utilization and logistics operations. The advent of Smart Cities provides innovation opportunities, leading to the concept of Smart City Logistics (SCL). SCL will offer dual benefits: firstly, it improves resource visibility by profiting from the various fundamental technologies of Smart Cities, i.e., IoT and ICT, to collect and transfer the data of the ever-changing state of resources. Second, enhanced by Digital Twins, the real-time objects' states can be synchronized and mirrored, which will support the decision-making in SCL to guide the allocation of urban resources to provide energy-efficient, cost-effective logistics services dynamically and responsively. This research primarily focuses on SCL's conceptualization and modeling, while discussing potential future advancements. |
| Keywords: | City Logistics, Smart Cities, Digital Twin, Semantics, Multi-modality, Sus-tainability, Micro-hubs, Crowdsourcing |
| Date: | 2023–09–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04217917&r=ure |
| By: | Dario Guarascio; Jelena Reljic; Roman Stollinger |
| Abstract: | This study provides evidence of the employment impact of AI exposure in European regions, addressing one of the many gaps in the emerging literature on AI's effects on employment in Europe. Building upon the occupation-based AI-exposure indicators proposed by Felten et al. (2018, 2019, 2021), which are mapped to the European occupational classification (ISCO), following Albanesi et al. (2023), we analyse the regional employment dynamics between 2011 and 2018. After controlling for a wide range of supply and demand factors, our findings indicate that, on average, AI exposure has a positive impact on regional employment. Put differently, European regions characterised by a relatively larger share of AI-exposed occupations display, all else being equal and once potential endogeneity concerns are mitigated, a more favourable employment tendency over the period 2011-2018. We also find evidence of a moderating effect of robot density on the AI-employment nexus, which however lacks a causal underpinning. |
| Keywords: | Artificial intelligence; industrial robots; labour; regional employment; occupations. |
| Date: | 2023–10–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2023/34&r=ure |
| By: | Ioannou, Nikos; Kokkinis, Dimitris; Katsianis, Dimitris; Varoutas, Dimitris |
| Abstract: | The deployment of 5G standalone (5G SA) broadband networks in European rural areas lags behind urban and suburban regions due to high infrastructure costs and the unique characteristics of these areas. However, the advancements in 5G and Beyond-5G (B5G) telecommunication networks have presented new opportunities for cost-effective network deployment through infrastructure sharing. This paper conducts a comprehensive techno-economic study to determine the most cost-effective infrastructure sharing business model for providing affordable broadband in European rural areas, taking into account the specific attributes of each country. By examining real data from EU statistics and considering diverse infrastructure sharing scenarios, the study aims to bridge the research gap regarding the evaluation of 5G infrastructure sharing models on a per-country basis. The study applies a bottom-up model based on Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) analysis, encompassing both Mobile Broadband and Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) use cases. Leveraging the Eurostat database for geographical and demand data, the research utilizes logistic models to forecast demand based on the diffusion characteristics of broadband telecom services. The techno-economic analysis is adjusted for different infrastructure sharing models, including Single Host Network (SHN), Multiple Host Network (MHN) via Passive Sharing and Active Sharing, and Neutral Host Network (NHN). The paper presents total cost results, CAPEX/OPEX outcomes, Net Present Value (NPV), Return on Investment (ROI), and payback periods for each infrastructure sharing model in each country group consisting of European countries with similar density characteristics. Sensitivity and risk analyses are conducted to identify the most influential factors affecting the investment viability for each model and case. Moreover, the study examines the profitability of each scenario, considering the Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) and demand conditions necessary for investment sustainability. The discussion encompasses the reuse of existing infrastructure, network slicing implications, and regulatory policy considerations. |
| Keywords: | techno-economic feasibility, 5G Standalone, rural, infrastructure sharing, network slicing, neutral host, business models |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itse23:277973&r=ure |
| By: | Clifton-Sprigg, Joanna (University of Bath); Homburg, Ines (University of Antwerp); James, Jonathan (University of Bath); Vujic, Suncica (University of Antwerp) |
| Abstract: | By voting to leave the European Union (EU) in 2016, the United Kingdom (UK) set off a long period of uncertainty and signalled its support for the Leave campaigns, which centred around restricting migration. This paper researches how this decision affected EU-UK migration patterns. We exploit the Brexit referendum as a natural experiment and employ a (synthetic) difference-in-differences estimator to compare EU migration (treated) to non-EU migration (untreated) in the UK. We find a significant decrease in the inflow of EU migrants, although the reduction seems too small to have any impact on the migrant stock. We further find a significant persistent rise in British citizenship applications and grants. Our results reveal that the referendum made the UK a less attractive destination and that the EU migrants already in the UK were encouraged to obtain British citizenship. The Brexit-induced policy uncertainty was the key driver affecting migrants' decision-making. |
| Keywords: | Brexit referendum, international migration, European Union, uncertainty, anti-immigration |
| JEL: | F22 J61 J48 |
| Date: | 2023–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16468&r=ure |
| By: | Ricardo Dahis (Department of Economics, Monash University); Christiane Szerman (Department of Economics, University College London) |
| Abstract: | Changes in political boundaries aimed at devolving power to local governments are common in many countries. We examine the economic consequences of redistricting through the creation of smaller government units. Exploiting reforms that led to sharp variations in the number of government units in Brazil, we show that voluntary redistricting increases the size of the public sector, public services delivery, and economic activity in new local governments over the long-term. These benefits are not offset by losses elsewhere and are stronger in peripheral and remote backward areas that are neglected by their parent governments. We provide evidence that the decentralization of decision-making power boosts local development in disadvantaged areas beyond simply gains in fiscal revenues. |
| Keywords: | Decentralizing , Development |
| JEL: | Q23 |
| Date: | 2023–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mos:moswps:2023-18&r=ure |
| By: | Juliana Londoño-Vélez; Catherine Rodriguez; Fabio Sanchez; Luis E. Álvarez-Arango |
| Abstract: | The paper studies the impact of financial aid on long-term educational attainment and labor market outcomes in Colombia. In 2014, the government launched a large-scale and generous student loan program called "Ser Pilo Paga." It offered full tuition coverage to students admitted to one of 33 government-certified high-quality universities known for superior test scores, graduation rates, and per-student spending. Notably, completing a bachelor's degree converted the loan into a grant. To qualify, students must score in the top 10% of the standardized high school exit exam and have below-median household wealth. Using RD and DD methodologies, we use nationwide administrative microdata linking all high school test takers, postsecondary attendees, and formal workers to estimate impacts up to eight years after high school. Financial aid improves college enrollment, quality, and attainment, particularly in STEM-related fields. The earnings gains are substantial, growing, and driven partly by high-quality universities improving students' skills, as demonstrated by their performance on Colombia's college graduation exam. A welfare analysis using the MVPF yields over $4.8 per dollar of government spending. Lastly, the program narrowed socioeconomic gaps in college attainment, skill development, and earnings among academically similar students without adversely affecting non-recipients, thereby promoting equity and efficiency. |
| JEL: | H52 I22 I23 I24 I26 |
| Date: | 2023–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31737&r=ure |
| By: | AYOUB, Maysam |
| Abstract: | Audit offices function as semi-autonomous units within their audit firm network and individual partners have much autonomy in the course of their engagements. Therefore, maintaining a uniform level of quality across engagements is difficult to achieve for audit firms. We hypothesize that differences in audit quality between audit offices and partners from the same audit firm increase with the complexity of an audit firm’s network structure. The network structure of an audit firm increases in complexity with the number of local offices, number of individual audit partners, and their spatial distribution (i.e., the geographic dispersion of its offices and partners). To test this, we examine auditors’ going-concern reporting decisions for a sample of 23, 086 firm-year observations from 25 European countries for the period 2011-2019. Consistent with prior research using data from the US, we find evidence consistent with larger audit offices providing higher quality audits (i.e., there is a positive association between audit office size and the likelihood of going-concern opinions). However, our data do not provide evidence that that this office size effect increases as a function of the complexity of audit firm’s network structure. |
| Keywords: | Audit offices, Audit quality, Spatial distribution, Geographic distance |
| Date: | 2023–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ant:wpaper:2023008&r=ure |
| By: | Dobbie, Will; Hull, Peter; Arnold, David |
| Abstract: | We develop new quasi-experimental tools to measure disparate impact, regardless of its source, in the context of bail decisions. We show that omitted variables bias in pretrial release rate comparisons can be purged by using the quasi-random assignment of judges to estimate average pretrial misconduct risk by race. We find that two-thirds of the release rate disparity between white and Black defendants in New York City is due to the disparate impact of release decisions. We then develop a hierarchical marginal treatment effect model to study the drivers of disparate impact, finding evidence of both racial bias and statistical discrimination. |
| Keywords: | C26, J15, K42 |
| Date: | 2022–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:ucsdec:qt6f22n2h3&r=ure |
| By: | Zoido, Pablo; Flores, Iván; Hevia, Felipe; Székely, Miguel; Castro, Eleno |
| Abstract: | This paper presents the results of an impact evaluation, with an experimental design, which estimates the effect on learning math of a remote tutoring program offered to girls and boys aged 9-14 years in three departments of El Salvador. The program used low-tech interventions such as text messages and 20-minute phone calls over an eight-week period. Remote tutoring is estimated to have had a positive and significant effect of 0.23 standard deviations, which is equivalent to a 33.2 percent acceleration in learning math, compared to the changes observed in the control group. Evidence shows that the rate of learning increases considerably as the number of tutoring sessions taken increases. When compared with other related studies, we conclude that the intervention is cost-effective. The main innovative elements are: (i) the generation of evidence through instruments applied in person, which ensures high quality and accuracy in learning level measurements; (ii) to our knowledge, this is the first experimental evaluation program of its kind in Latin America implemented during the pandemic, with schools partially open, which allows us to verify whether the intervention is as effective as similar such interventions in other contexts and regions of the world; (iii) the use of two types of learning level tests to validate the robustness of the results. |
| Keywords: | education research;Inequality;Economic Development;government policy |
| JEL: | I20 I24 I25 I28 |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:12647&r=ure |
| By: | Isabel Cairó; Avi Lipton |
| Abstract: | Black workers experience a higher unemployment rate, as well as more volatile employment dynamics, than white workers, and the racial unemployment rate gap is largely unexplained by observable characteristics. We develop a New Keynesian model with search and matching frictions in the labor market, endogenous separations, and employer discrimination against Black workers to explain these outcomes. The model is consistent with key features of the aggregate economy and is able to explain key labor market disparities across racial groups. We then use this model to assess the effects of the Federal Reserve’s new monetary policy framework---interest rates respond to shortfalls of employment from its maximum level rather than deviations---on racial inequality in the labor market. We find that shifting from a Deviations interest rate rule to a Shortfalls rule reduces the racial unemployment rate gap and the model-based measures of labor market discrimination but increases the average inflation rate. From a welfare perspective, we find that the Shortfalls approach does not do much to reduce racial inequality in our model economy. |
| Keywords: | Unemployment; Monetary policy; Racial inequality; Discrimination |
| JEL: | E24 E52 J15 J70 |
| Date: | 2023–10–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2023-65&r=ure |
| By: | Charles Hodgson; Gregory Lewis |
| Abstract: | We develop and estimate a model of consumer search with spatial learning. Consumers make inferences from previously searched objects to unsearched objects that are nearby in attribute space, generating path dependence in search sequences. The estimated model rationalizes patterns in data on online consumer search paths: search tends to converge to the chosen product in attribute space, and consumers take larger steps away from rarely purchased products. Eliminating spatial learning reduces consumer welfare by 13%: cross-product inferences allow consumers to locate better products in a shorter time. Spatial learning has important implications for product recommendations on retail platforms. We show that consumer welfare can be reduced by unrepresentative product recommendations and that consumer-optimal product recommendations depend both on consumer learning and competition between platforms. |
| JEL: | D80 D83 L0 |
| Date: | 2023–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31697&r=ure |
| By: | Díaz de Astarloa, Bernardo; Tacsir, Ezequiel |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we study the role of a cluster initiative in fostering economic resilience among firms in a local technology cluster in Argentina. We focus on two aggregate shocks that hit the Argentine economy, including first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our analysis is based on interviews with authorities and members of the cluster initiative, local firms, and policy makers, as well as on firm-level administrative tax records. We find that the cluster organization provides members with resources that could foster resilience, including access to specialized human capital, information on business opportunities, and assistance in applying for government support programs. However, while members of the cluster organization appear to be more resilient than non-members, even within the same regional cluster, after conditioning on firm characteristics we find little evidence of a positive association between belonging to the cluster organization and economic resilience. Members of the cluster organization are neither less likely to exit nor adapt by switching their main economic activity and did not show statistically significantly higher revenue growth than nonmembers. Member firms do appear to have been more able than non-members to keep up with tax obligations during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| Keywords: | Cluster initiatives;Resilience;technology clusters;information technology industries;COVID-19 crisis |
| JEL: | R12 D22 D02 |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:12557&r=ure |
| By: | Suésécenko, Oleksandr; Schwarze, Reimund |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ufzdps:32023&r=ure |
| By: | Felipe M. Gonçalves; Steven Mello |
| Abstract: | We study the implications of police discretion for public safety. Highway patrol officers exercise discretion over fines by deviating from statutory fine rules. Relying on variation across officers in this discretionary behavior, we find that harsher sanctions reduce future traffic offending and crash involvement. We then show that officer discretion over sanctions decreases public safety by comparing observed reoffending rates with those in a counterfactual without discretion, estimated using an identification at infinity approach. About half the safety cost of discretion is due to officer decisions which result in harsh sanctions for motorists who are least deterred by them. We provide evidence that this officer behavior is attributable to a preference for allocating harsh fines to motorists with higher recidivism risk, who are also the least responsive to harsher sanctions. |
| JEL: | D73 J45 K42 |
| Date: | 2023–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31678&r=ure |
| By: | Contreras, M. Ignacia; Duryea, Suzanne; Martínez, Claudia |
| Abstract: | Using a rich set of administrative data, we study the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the transition to tertiary education for students with disabilities in Chile. Enrollment rates in primary and secondary education in Chile differ by less than 2 percentage points for students with or without disabilities, but there is an approximately 17 percentage point gap in enrollment in tertiary education. Our difference in differences analysis finds that the pandemic significantly decreased the probability of students with disabilities taking the admission test to tertiary education and enrolling in high-quality tertiary institutions, increasing the inequality in tertiary education. While the pandemic affected the transition to higher education for all students in Chile, students with disabilities were more adversely affected. Understanding how the pandemic has affected opportunities for students with disabilities is critical for informing policies of inclusion. |
| Keywords: | inclusive education;transition to tertiary school;students with disabilitie |
| JEL: | I21 I23 I28 J14 |
| Date: | 2023–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:12826&r=ure |
| By: | Acosta, Camilo (Inter-American Development Bank); Mejía, Daniel (Universidad de los Andes); Zorro Medina, Angela (University of Chicago) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we exploit the arguably exogenous staggered implementation of an extensive criminal procedural reform in Colombia between 2005 and 2008 to assess its intended and unintended consequences. The reform had explicit objectives, such as guaranteeing due process protection of the accused, reducing the use of pretrial detention, making the processing of criminal cases more efficient, reducing procedural times, and improving the mechanisms for early termination of criminal processes. Our results show that the reform achieved most of its goals. Namely, a significant reduction in the use of pretrial detention of about 17%-34%; a large and significant reduction in procedural times (18%); an increase in the use of mechanisms for early termination of the criminal process through settlements (43%-66%); and a large and significant increase in the percentage of cases that reach adjudication. Nevertheless, the reform also had negative unintended consequences on arrest, clearance, and crime rates. Our results indicate that arrest rates decreased by about 33% and clearance rates by 16%-27%. The reform also directly affected the incentives for criminal behavior and led to an increase in both property crimes (19%) and violent crimes (17%) as a result of the implementation of the reform. Our paper shows that well-intended reforms aimed at increasing due process protection can create unintended consequences in the administration of justice that led to increases in crime and raises the question of how to balance constitutional protections with public safety by creating special provisions and guidelines directed to mitigate potential adverse effects on crime rates. |
| Keywords: | Criminal procedural reform; pretrial detention; due process protection; clearance rates; crime |
| JEL: | D73 D78 K14 K42 |
| Date: | 2023–09–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:col:000089:020924&r=ure |
| By: | Gómez-Lobo, Andrés; Sánchez González, Santiago; González Mejia, Vileydy |
| Abstract: | This paper reviews three targeted transit subsidies applied in Latin America. The Vale Transporte scheme in Brazil is the oldest, having been introduced in 1985. Household survey data for 26 metropolitan areas were used to estimate the distributional impact of the Vale Transporte. The results indicate that this program is badly targeted to low-income individuals. In 19 of the 26 cities, this subsidy is regressive. The reason is that only formal sector workers are eligible for this benefit while many low-income individuals work in the informal sector in Brazil. In addition, since this subsidy is paid by employers it is reasonable to expect compensating equilibrium effects in wages or unemployment. We present evidence that suggests that this may have occurred with wages. In contrast, Bogota and Buenos Aires have implemented demand side means-tested subsidies during the last decade. In these cases, criteria from the general welfare system are used to determine eligibility and both have been implemented using smartcard payment technology. We review the available information on the design, operation, and distributional outcomes for each case. This review provides useful information for policymakers interested in the design and implementation of targeted transit subsidies. |
| Keywords: | subsidies;transit;means-tested;Latin America |
| JEL: | H20 L91 R40 |
| Date: | 2022–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:12500&r=ure |
| By: | Frisancho, Verónica; Herrera, Alejandro; Nakasone, Eduardo |
| Abstract: | Diversity in gender identity and sexual orientation challenges traditional institutions, social norms, and gendered stereotypes. This may translate into greater levels of conflict in society. Using data from 95 middle and high schools in Uruguay, we exploit plausibly exogenous variation in the share of LGBT students across classrooms and estimate its impact on the prevalence of psychological, physical, and sexual violence in the school. On average, we do not find support for a strong link between the share of LGBT students in the classroom and the prevalence of violence, yet we show that there are gendered effects of greater diversity: a larger share of LGBT students in the classroom is associated with greater levels of psychological and physical violence among LGBT girls. |
| JEL: | J16 J24 L21 L24 |
| Date: | 2022–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:12573&r=ure |
| By: | Gómez-Lobo, Andrés; Gutiérrez, Mauro; Huamaní, Sandro; Marino, Diego; Serebrisky, Tomás; Solís, Ben |
| Abstract: | This paper presents the results of a quasi-experimental study for which information was collected through a survey conducted in peri-urban areas of Metropolitan Lima between October and November 2021. The survey was conducted on households residing near and on both sides of the border of coverage of the public water network. Our work finds that access to networked water was associated with a reduction in the probability of infection by COVID-19. Likewise, an extension to the model, using heterogeneous effects, suggests that it is not enough for a home to be connected to the network, but that a minimum amount of consumption must also be guaranteed. The results should be interpreted taking into consideration the limitations in the information. These results highlight the need for investment in infrastructure to close access gaps, and the importance of ensuring quality and affordable services for the population. |
| Keywords: | water;COVID-19;health;regression discontinuity;Lima;Peru |
| JEL: | L95 I14 I15 I10 I18 |
| Date: | 2022–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:12332&r=ure |
| By: | Burks, Stephen V. (University of Minnesota, Morris); Kildegaard, Arne (University of Minnesota, Morris); Miller, Jason W. (Michigan State University); Monaco, Kristen (Federal Maritime Commission) |
| Abstract: | The U.S. trucking industry has been calling out a shortage of truck drivers for nearly forty years, since soon after its economic deregulation in 1980. Burks and Monaco (2019) provided evidence that the overall truck driver labor market works about as well as any blue collar labor market, and suggested persistently high driver turnover uniquely at long‐distance truckload firms (central to long distance freight but employing only 20% of tractor‐trailer truckers) drives the shortage perception. The American Trucking Associations (ATA) agreed with the location of the problem, but argued that a driver shortage and high turnover are distinct, and that a long‐term shortage does exist. We review the evidence for a shortage and find it unconvincing. We also review empirical evidence that long‐distance truckload has had persistently high‐turnover since the mid‐1980s. To explain this, we provide a simple model of long‐distance truckload cost minimization in which there is a tradeoff between the costs of turnover and two other costs, higher pay to offset bad working conditions (compensating differentials), and running trucks out‐of‐ route to get drivers home regularly (inefficient capital use). We show that high turnover is likely structural because it is part of the least‐cost mixture. We then use our model to analyze the potential impacts of two technological changes (truck simulators and partially automated trucks), and a key policy championed by the ATA to "fix the shortage, " interstate teenaged truckers. We show that these are likely to have results opposite to those the industry and policy makers expect. |
| Keywords: | costs, less‐than-truckload, truckload, driver shortage, driver turnover, long‐distance motor carrier, teenaged truck drivers, partially automated trucks, truck transportation |
| JEL: | L1 J42 L9 |
| Date: | 2023–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16477&r=ure |
| By: | Vargas-Montoya, Luis; Gimenez, Gregorio; Fernández-Gutiérrez, Marcos |
| Abstract: | The use of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) in educational systems has become a policy priority over the last decades. However, empirical evidence is inconclusive on whether there is a positive relationship between ICT use and students' outcomes. The literature has largely ignored the role that the country context, and in particular the country's development level, may play in shaping this relationship. This paper empirically addresses whether the relationship between ICT use for learning at school and students' outcomes differs from developed to developing countries. We employ data for 236, 540 students attending 10, 193 schools in 44 countries, obtained from the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA 2018). We use two alternative measures to classify the countries by their development level: The Gross National Income (GNI) per capita and the Human Development Index (HDI). The estimations, based on a Hierarchical Linear Model, show a negative relationship between ICT use for learning at school and students' outcomes. This negative relationship is more negative for students from developing countries than for those from developed countries. These findings imply that policymakers should be cautious about replicating interventions and technological applications from developed to developing countries (and vice versa). |
| Keywords: | ICT use, education, development, income, PISA |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:itse23:278021&r=ure |
| By: | Maximilian Schaefer (Institut Mines-Télécom Business School, Department of Law, Economics and Finance, 9 rue Charles Fourrier, 91000 Evry, France); Kevin Ducbao Tran (University of Bristol, School of Economics, 12 Priory Road, Bristol BS8 1TU, United Kingdom) |
| Abstract: | We analyze competition between hotels and Airbnb listings as well as the effect of Airbnb on consumer welfare, hotel profits, and Airbnb host surplus. For this purpose, we use granular daily-level data from Paris for the year 2017. We estimate a random coefficient logit model of demand. We extend prior research by accounting for the localized nature of competition within districts of the city. Our results suggest that demand is segmented by district as well as accommodation type. Based on these demand estimates, we estimate separate supply-side models for hotels and Airbnb, to account for differences in price setting we observe in the data. Using the estimated models, we assess how Airbnb affects hotel profits and consumer welfare and how much Airbnb hosts value the platform. Our simulations imply that Airbnb increases average consumer surplus and decreases hotel profits substantially. Airbnb hosts seem to value the platform moderately. |
| Keywords: | hotel industry; short-term rentals; localized competition; consumer welfare; sharing economy; peer-to-peer markets; Airbnb |
| JEL: | D4 D6 L1 Z38 |
| Date: | 2023–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:net:wpaper:2304&r=ure |
| By: | , anjaliravi |
| Abstract: | Examining the architecture of criminal social networks can deliver con- siderable understanding of these communities’ organizational structure, highlighting elements like their size and degree of centralization. Although similar examinations have been undertaken previously, our study cen- tered on generating a large-scale social graph utilizing a limited amount of leaked data, specifically criminal email addresses, from Nigerian offend- ers. We initiated our research by formulating a social graph encompassing 43 thousand nodes, sourced from one thousand publicly exposed Nigerian criminal email addresses. This was achieved by pinpointing Facebook pro- files linked to these email addresses and extracting the publicly available social graph from these profiles. We subsequently conducted an extensive analysis of this social graph to identify prominent criminal profiles, or- ganized criminal groups, and wide-ranging criminal communities. In the end, we performed a manual review of these profiles, unearthing numer- ous public Facebook groups with a criminal focus. This study underlines the considerable volume of information that can be extracted even from minimal data leaks. |
| Date: | 2023–09–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:bn3y2&r=ure |
| By: | Thakur, Dhanaraj; Grant-Chapman, Hugh; Laird, Elizabeth |
| Abstract: | The role of technology in K-12 education continues to grow, and schools across the U.S. are turning to monitoring technologies to track students’ online activity. Yet, as student activity monitoring has become commonplace, students and parents report concerns about irresponsible uses of these tools even as they recognize their potential benefits. Over the past two years, the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) has investigated the rise in popularity of student activity monitoring technology, and the benefits and risks it poses to students’ well-being. To examine these impacts in greater depth, CDT recently conducted twenty interviews with parents whose children have experienced short- and long-term consequences based on the use of student activity monitoring technology. This new research sheds light on the first-hand experiences of students and their families who were impacted by student activity monitoring. |
| Date: | 2023–07–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:osfxxx:bwjc4&r=ure |
| By: | Mr. Bas B. Bakker |
| Abstract: | This paper addresses the puzzling decline of Total Factor Productivity (TFP) levels in rapidly growing economies, such as Singapore, despite advancements in technology and high GDP per capita growth. The paper proposes that TFP growth is not negative; instead, standard growth decompositions have underestimated TFP growth by overestimating the contribution of capital, failing to account for the substantial part of capital income directed to urban land rents. This leads to an overestimation of changes in capital stock's contribution to growth and thereby an underestimation of TFP growth. A revised decomposition suggests that TFP growth in economies with high land rents and rapid capital stock growth, such as Singapore, has been considerably underestimated: TFP levels have not declined but increased rapidly. |
| Keywords: | Total Factor Productivity; Economic Growth; Capital Stock; Land Rents; Growth Decomposition; Urban Economics; Population Density; Diminishing Returns to Scale; Technological Progress; Singapore; TFP level; re-estimating TFP; land rent; decline of total factor productivity; Capital income; Stocks; Land prices; Asia and Pacific |
| Date: | 2023–08–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2023/170&r=ure |
| By: | ITF |
| Abstract: | Over half of Korea’s population lives in the Seoul Metropolitan Area. This report looks at how the region’s transport system and land uses serve different socio-economic groups and offers insights for reducing inequalities in access. Are services and opportunities equally accessible to all residents of the Seoul Metropolitan Area? Which factors influence accessibility gaps? How can transport planning and decision making take into account accessibility and equity considerations?tr |
| Date: | 2023–08–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:itfaac:117-en&r=ure |
| By: | Tabuga, Aubrey D.; Domingo, Sonny N.; Umlas, Anna Jennifer L.; Zuluaga, Katrina Mae C. |
| Abstract: | Social norms and structures are vital factors that shape people’s behavior and attitudes. Therefore, analyzing such underlying forces in creating strategies to influence behavior and activities is useful. Agricultural extension services, such as information dissemination and farmers’ training, are some of the interventions that can benefit from such analyses, especially within a context of limited human and financial resources. The lessons learned from analyzing social networks and norms can be used to identify potential local knowledge and information disseminators, thereby aiding the extension services. It also helps in formulating more contextualized approaches to reach the underserved and hard-to-reach areas. Applying this approach, this study used the case of a remote upland area in Atok, Benguet, a major vegetable producer. A social network analysis was used to develop insights for designing more effective extension strategies. The results show that interventions like information and education campaigns can be improved by acknowledging the nuances in social relation structures. |
| Keywords: | social network analysis;information and education campaign;Philippines;Benguet farming;upland farming |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:phd:rpseri:rps_2023-03&r=ure |
| By: | Céline Poilly (Aix-Marseille Univ., CNRS, AMSE, France.); Fabien Tripier (Université Paris Dauphine, PSL Research University, LEDa, France, & CEPREMAP) |
| Abstract: | Higher uncertainty about trade policy has recessionary effects in U.S. states. First, this paper builds a novel empirical measure of regional trade policy uncertainty, based on the volatility of national import tariffs at the sectoral level and the sectoral composition of imports in U.S. states. We show that a state which is more exposed to an unanticipated increase in tariff volatility suffers from a larger drop in real output and employment, relative to the average U.S. state. We then build a regional open-economy model and we argue that the transmission channels of uncertainty shocks, in particular the precautionary-pricing channel, are magnified in regions that feature the highest import share and a strongest export intensity. Furthermore, we show that an expansionary monetary policy may amplify the regional divergence since it worsens the recession in the most-exposed region to trade policy uncertainty. |
| Keywords: | uncertainty shocks, regional effects, precautionary pricing, monetary policy |
| JEL: | E32 E52 F41 |
| Date: | 2023–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aim:wpaimx:2321&r=ure |
| By: | Domínguez, Patricio; Scartascini, Carlos |
| Abstract: | Crime levels are a perennial development problem in Latin America and a renewed concern in the United States. At the same time, trust in the police has been falling, and questions abound about citizens' willingness to support government efforts to fight crime. We conduct a survey experiment to elicit willingness to contribute toward reducing crime across five Latin American countries and the United States. We compare homicide, robbery, and theft estimates and find a higher willingness to contribute for more severe crimes and for higher crime reductions. In addition, we examine the role of information on the willingness to contribute by conducting two experiments. First, we show that exposing respondents to crime-related news increases their willingness to pay by 5 percent. Furthermore, while we document a 7 percent gap in willingness to pay for crime reduction between people who under- and over-estimate the murder rate, we find that this gap can be wholly eliminated by informing them about the actual level of crime. On average, our estimates suggest that households are willing to contribute around $140 per year for a 20 percent reduction in homicide. This individual-level predisposition would translate into additional investment in public security efforts of up to 0.5 percent of GDP. |
| Keywords: | willingness to pay;Cost of crime;Latin America;United States |
| JEL: | K42 H53 H27 |
| Date: | 2022–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:12488&r=ure |
| By: | Góes, Carlos (University of San Diego); Segnana, Juan (Tilburg University); Robertson, Raymond (Texas A&M University); Lopez-Acevedo, Gladys (World Bank) |
| Abstract: | We study the dynamic effects of export exposure over local labor markets in Indonesia. We develop an empirical strategy to instrument exposure to exports using exposure to foreign demand shocks and validate it showing that the labor market responses are consistent with those expected from demand shocks in a spatial model. Export shocks unambiguously increase employment in Indonesia. While effects on average income per employee are ambiguous due to industry- and sectoral-compositional effects, our estimates of district-level welfare suggest that export shocks induce an increase in welfare. |
| Keywords: | international trade, labor markets, inequality, poverty, jobs |
| JEL: | F16 J16 O19 |
| Date: | 2023–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16473&r=ure |
| By: | Ran Abramitzky; Leah Platt Boustan; Peter Catron; Dylan Connor; Rob Voigt |
| Abstract: | The United States has admitted more than 3 million refugees since 1980 through official refugee resettlement programs. Scholars attribute the success of refugee groups to governmental programs on assimilation and integration. Before 1948, however, refugees arrived without formal selection processes or federal support. We examine the integration of historical refugees using a large archive of recorded oral history interviews to understand linguistic attainment of migrants who arrived in the early twentieth century. Using fine-grained measures of vocabulary, syntax and accented speech, we find that refugee migrants achieved a greater depth of English vocabulary than did economic/family migrants, a finding that holds even when comparing migrants from the same country of origin or religious group. This study improves on previous research on immigrant language acquisition and refugee incorporation, which typically rely on self-reported measures of fluency. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that refugees had greater exposure to English or more incentive to learn, due to the conditions of their arrival and their inability to immediately return to their origin country. |
| JEL: | J15 N32 |
| Date: | 2023–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31730&r=ure |
| By: | Avdeev, Stanislav (University of Amsterdam); Ketel, Nadine (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam); Oosterbeek, Hessel (University of Amsterdam); van der Klaauw, Bas (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | We use admission lotteries for higher education studies in the Netherlands to investigate whether someone's field of study influences the study choices of their younger peers. We find that younger siblings and cousins are strongly affected. Also younger neighbors are affected but to a smaller extent. These findings indicate that a substantial part of the correlations in study choices between family members can be attributed to spillover effects and are not due to shared environments. Our findings contrast with those of recent studies based on admission thresholds, which find no sibling spillovers on field of study (major) choices. Because we also find spillovers from lottery participants at the lower end of the ability distribution, the contrasting findings cannot be attributed to the different research designs (leveraging admission lotteries versus admission thresholds). We believe that the different findings are due to the small differences in quality between universities in the Netherlands, making differences in the prestige of fields of study more prominent. |
| Keywords: | major choice, higher education, peer effects, admission lotteries |
| JEL: | I23 I24 J10 |
| Date: | 2023–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16453&r=ure |