Does religious affiliation affect migration?

We test whether social networks at the origin, measured by religious affiliation, affect out‐migration. The basic idea is that a social capital loss is attached to the decision to out‐migrate, and said loss increases migration costs because benefits received from the local network at the origin disappear. To test this hypothesis, we estimated conditional and mixed logit models for the decision to out‐migrate. The results supported the hypothesis: members from religious organizations with strong intra‐community and weak intercommunity ties tended to out‐migrate less than others. This result was highly significant and robust to model specification and estimation methods.     

Can regional policies shape migration flows?

Our empirical analysis focuses on the effect of regional policies on migration attraction factors in Europe. We employ a regression discontinuity design to assess the causal relationship between the reception of large amounts of public funds and migration flows in the EU-15 regions. In highly-subsidised regions, we find a large increase in the share of foreign citizens from less-developed countries when compared to low-subsidised regions with similar pre-treatment characteristics. The analysis shows that such an increase is due to the positive impact of the European regional policy on job market opportunities as well as the improvement of public goods supply.     

Do earnings by college major affect graduate migration?

College graduates are considerably more mobile than non-graduates, and previous literature suggests that the difference is at least partially attributable to college graduates being more responsive to employment opportunities in other areas. However, there exist considerable differences in migration rates by college major that have gone largely unexplained. This paper uses microdata from the American Community Survey to examine how the migration decisions of young college graduates are affected by earnings in their college major. Results indicate that higher major-specific earnings in an individual’s state of birth reduce out-migration suggesting that college graduates are attracted toward areas that especially reward the specific type of human capital that they possess.     

Does bus accessibility affect property prices?

Existing studies have yet reached consistent conclusions on accessibility benefits of buses. Most existing studies have been conducted in the context of the West, where bus patronage is generally low. In this study, we used a database of 22,586 secondhand residential properties in 358 residential estates in Xiamen, China to develop four non-spatial hedonic pricing models (one standard and three Box-Cox transformed) and two spatial econometric models to quantify the effects of bus accessibility on property prices and analyze how the introduction of spatial econometric models would influence estimates of such benefits. Our findings are as follows. (1) Access to bus stops is positively correlated with property prices. This outcome is in contrast with findings of mainstream research (or conventional wisdom). For every bus stop within 500 m, the price of a property is 0.5% higher, all else being equal. (2) Bus travel times to essential destinations significantly influence housing prices. (3) Spatial econometric models that account for spatial autocorrelation outperform traditional hedonic pricing models. A few robustness check analyses further guarantee the plausibility of this study. However, the price premiums offered by bus accessibility may be gradually decreased, even eventually discarded, because of declining attractiveness for bus travel and continuous transit service enhancement in the forthcoming years.     

Does non-revenue water affect Malaysia's water services industry productivity?

This study examines the total factor productivity (TFP) changes in the Malaysian water services industry from 1999 to 2012 using a global Malmquist Luenberger index method incorporating an undesirable output, namely non-revenue water. The results show that the Malaysian water services industry experienced a declining TFP of 0.72 percent per year, with technology regression being the primary cause of the annual TFP decrease. Several initiatives are suggested to reduce non-revenue water in Malaysia. The findings provide useful insights that can be incorporated into future reforms of the industry.     

Does intentional mean hierarchical? Knowledge flows and innovative performance of European regions

The production of scientific and technical knowledge is mostly concentrated in specific locations (high-tech clusters, innovative industry agglomerations, centres of excellence, and technologically advanced regions). Knowledge flows very easily within regions; however, scientific and technical knowledge also flow between regions. The aim of this paper was to analyse how knowledge flows between regions, and the effect of these flows on the innovative performance, measured by patent applications. We estimate a regional knowledge production function, and, using appropriate spatial econometric estimation techniques, we test the effect of both geographical and relational autocorrelation (measured by participation in EU funded research networks as part of Fifth Framework Programme). We model unobservable structure and link value of knowledge flows in these joint research networks. We find that knowledge flows within inter-regional research networks, along non-symmetrical and hierarchical structures in which the knowledge produced by network participants tends to be exploited by the network coordinator.     

Does climate matter? An empirical study of interregional migration in China

This study focuses on the role of local climate conditions in spurring interregional migration in China over the period 2000 to 2010. We developed a robust empirical approach based on a correlated random effects model and a prefecture-level panel dataset which allows us to account for both within province migration flows and prefecture-specific characteristics. Empirical results reveal that climate conditions are important determinants of migration in China. Specifically, prefectures with warmer winter, cooler summer, and more available sunshine are more attractive to migrants. Economic factors such as income level and employment opportunities are also important drivers of population growth.     

Does skilled migration foster innovative performance? Evidence from British local areas

What is the effect of an increase in the stock of human capital due to skilled immigration on the innovative performance of recipient economies? Combining firm‐level micro‐data with area‐level labour force information, this paper investigates the impact of skilled international migration inflows on firms' product and process innovation in British local labour market areas. The paper supports the evidence in favour of a causal link between immigration and innovation. Results also show that the nature of the innovative process and the typology of innovative activities performed by local firms play a key role in the relation between immigration and innovation.     

Does migration function to reduce earnings differentials by race and gender?

Traditionally, studies of migration have focused on two functions of migration: first, as a means to redistribute society's labor force to its most efficient use and, second, at the level of the individual, as a human capital investment. This study investigates the role of migration in the determination of earnings differentials by race and gender. Microdata from the United Status Census are used to estimate earnings functions by race, gender, and migration status. Strong evidence is provided suggesting that unexplained portions of earnings differentials, reflecting wage discrimination and other unobserved heterogeneity, are substantially reduced for both race and gender through the process of interstate migration.I am grateful to Michael J. Greenwood, Janet M. Rives, and an anonymous referee for insightful comments.     

No time for crime? The effect of compulsory engagement on youth crime

This paper examines the potential incapacitation effect on various categories of crime committed by young persons. I exploit the increase in compulsory education-work participation age from 15 to 17 in Australia's largest state. The policy primarily increased participation in schools with high enrolments in school-based vocational education programs. By using incidents of crime, I incorporate incapacitation effects on crimes that do not lead to arrests and provide net effect of the policy. Results show substantial reduction in incidents of crime, particularly by male offenders in urban areas and suggest that the policy did not displace crime from streets to schools. Crimes against property, which are often diverted from the criminal justice system, show the largest decline.     

Does wage differential driven migration continue to exist? Tests on the role of regional economic structure in wage differential driven migration

This paper explores the role of regional economic structure in the wage differential driven migration among the US Metropolitan Statistical Areas for three discrete time periods from 1993 to 2004. Rapidly increasing interregional trade attributes to the restructuring process of production internationally and interregionally. Both trade and migration can contribute to the equilibrium conditions in regional labor markets. When fragmentation increases intra-industry trade (IIT) in interregional trade, do we expect to see the increasing roles of interregional trade toward the equilibrium condition in regional labor markets? Fragmentation may force some production stages to the other regions, in other words, firms may benefit from relocating to the regions where they can minimize labor costs with cheaper wage rates. In this restructuring process, similarities in regional economic structures may increase the volumes of IIT and as a result, we may expect to see the increasing complementary role of trade in factor price equalization to migration. In contrast, when regional economic structures are quite different, migration rather than trade plays more important role in factor price equalization. Consequently, the main flows of interregional migration caused by wage differentials are more likely to be found among the regions where regional economic structures are dissimilar.     

The emergence of migration cycles?

"With a more thorough examination of population changes in the Tokyo region, this article confirms with regard to Japan the reconcentrating trend of urban population observed more clearly elsewhere by Cochrane and Vining (1988). Through an examination of the factors which led to the turnaround in the 1980s in Japan and elsewhere, it is argued that conservative economic policy, as manifested by deregulation and privatization, is the principal cause for reconcentration of urbanization in the 1980s in the economically advanced Western countries."     

Does dampness and mold in schools affect health? Results of a meta‐analysis

This paper provides meta‐analyses of the published findings relating the respiratory health of occupants of schools with visible dampness, water damage, visible mold, and/or mold odor. Random effects models were used to develop central estimates and confidence limits for the associations of respiratory health effects with school dampness and mold. Eleven studies, all with cross‐sectional designs, were included in the meta‐analyses; however, analyses for some health outcomes were based on as few as four studies. Analyses were performed using data from adults and children combined, using only data from children, and using data from adults and children after excluding two studies. The central estimates of odds ratios from the meta‐analyses were consistently above unity. The evidence of adverse health effects was strongest for cough and wheeze, which had confidence limits excluding unity in some or all analyses. The odds ratios of 1.32 for cough and 1.68 for wheeze suggest moderate increases in health risk. Studies not included in the meta‐analyses provide additional evidence that dampness and mold in schools are associated with adverse health outcomes. These meta‐analyses and the published literature not included in the meta‐analyses suggest that dampness and mold in schools are associated with adverse respiratory health effects.     

Does district heating affect residential property prices? Case study of an urban area in South Korea

This article investigates whether the residential heating method affects property prices in an urban area of South Korea. Sales data for 1760 apartments in Seocho District, Seoul, the country's capital, are employed. The property price equation is estimated, including the heating method as one attribute. The gap between the price of properties with a district heating system (DHS) and those with other heating methods, such as an individual heating system or central heating system, accounted for about 21.7% of apartment prices. Specifically, apartments with a DHS were more expensive than apartments with other heating methods.     

Does fiscal decentralization affect the effectiveness of intergovernmental grants? European regional policy and Spanish autonomous regions

We suspect that the efficiency of intergovernmental grants is related to the level of fiscal autonomy of the subsidized government. In this paper we construct and estimate a panel data model capturing the role of fiscal federalism on the effectiveness of EU structural actions in enhancing public investment. We use data from the 17 Spanish regions for the period 1993–2007. Results unambiguously support the hypothesis that the effectiveness of the structural funds decreases with larger fiscal autonomy, which could reflect the fact that fiscal decentralization in Spain has been focused to larger taxation autonomy without affecting regional income redistribution.     

Does Collaboration Work?

Bringing together a number of design celebrities, among them Greg Lynn, UN Studio, Foreign Office Architects (FOA) and Kevin Kennon Architect, United Architects (UA) was established to create a collaborative proposal for the 2003 competition for a new World Trade Center. Invoking the name as well as the intentions of what started as a similar collaborative formation by established actors and film-makers in the 1940s (United Artists) to challenge mainstream corporate power, UA attempted to offer more visionary alternatives to the expectations of typical mainstream architectural solutions. Kevin Kennon here presents an insider's perspective on the UA collaboration and employs his unique history, including his former partnership at Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF) to raise important questions about collective design in terms of authorship, identity and practice. Central to his observations are the differences between the efficiency models of corporate teams and truly collaborative endeavours. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Overeducation and overskilling in the early careers of PhD graduates: Does international migration reduce labour market mismatch?

This paper examines the effect of international mobility on the education-job mismatch and skill-mismatch of PhD graduates after controlling for self-selection into cross-border mobility. Using individual-level data from two waves of surveys of PhD recipients in Italy conducted by the Italian National Institute of Statistics, we find that migration to foreign countries reduces significantly the risk of overeducation and overskilling. These results remain robust to different empirical methodologies and subsamples.     

Do natural amenities influence undergraduate student migration decisions?

The primary objective of this paper is to examine the influence of natural amenities on student migration decisions using institution-level data from the National Center for Education Statistics’ Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. We surpass the scope of previous studies focused on natural amenities, which rely on a limited selection of state-level measures, by matching interpolated weather station- and county-level climate data to each post-secondary institution. Results suggest that students consider natural amenities in their migration to college decision and, in a number of cases, preferences for natural amenities vary based on origin state amenity conditions. Nonetheless, migration decisions are dominated by origin state educational opportunities and by proximity of the student’s origin state to the state of college attendance.