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1 – 10 of 486Magnus Lofstrom and John Tyler
In this paper, we develop a simple model of the signaling value of the General Educational Development certificate (GED) credential. The model illustrates necessary assumptions…
Abstract
In this paper, we develop a simple model of the signaling value of the General Educational Development certificate (GED) credential. The model illustrates necessary assumptions for a difference-in-differences estimator that uses a change in the GED passing standard to yield unbiased estimates of the signaling value of the GED for marginal passers. We apply the model to the national 1997 passing standard increase, which affected GED test takers in Texas. We utilize unique data from the Texas Schools Micro Data Panel (TSMP) that contain demographic and GED test score information from the Texas Education Agency linked to pre- and post-test-taking Unemployment Insurance quarterly wage records from the Texas Workforce Commission. Comparing Texas dropouts who acquired a GED before the passing standard was raised in 1997 to dropouts with the same test scores who failed the GED exams after the passing standard hike, we find no evidence of a positive GED signaling effect on earnings. However, we find some evidence suggesting that our finding may be due to the low GED passing threshold that existed in Texas for an extended period.
The aims of this paper are to measure the impacts of subsidy, work experience and training programmes on New Zealand male registered unemployed, and to examine the sensitivity of…
Abstract
Purpose
The aims of this paper are to measure the impacts of subsidy, work experience and training programmes on New Zealand male registered unemployed, and to examine the sensitivity of these estimates to the amount of time that participants are followed after an intervention.
Design/methodology/approach
The impact of an intervention on those who participate in an active labour market programme is the key question addressed in this paper. A New Zealand panel data set is used, which includes both intervention and individual characteristics of the unemployed. Both a potential outcomes and single nearest‐neighbour difference‐in‐differences matching approach are used to estimate the impact of participation.
Findings
The key findings are that work experience programmes are the most effective in the short‐term. Training programmes are the least effective. Programmes are more effective for the long‐term unemployed than for short‐term unemployed. The results are sensitive to the point of time examined in the post‐intervention period, with short‐term benefits disappearing completely three years after the intervention.
Originality/value
This paper examines the relative effect of active labour market programmes in New Zealand using a consistent evaluation framework. The sensitivity of the results to different time periods, and matching estimator specifications are examined.
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This chapter examines the effects that airports have had on economic development in cities from 1950 to 2010. It uses a novel dataset consisting of previously unexploited data on…
Abstract
This chapter examines the effects that airports have had on economic development in cities from 1950 to 2010. It uses a novel dataset consisting of previously unexploited data on the origins and history of the aviation system in the United States. Applying the method of synthetic controls to a set of medium and small airports, I examine both the overall impacts and the heterogeneity within the outcomes of various airports. Then, I use regression analysis to determine key factors differentiating successful airports from less successful ones, as it pertains particularly to population and employment growth. I find that, first, on average, cities have benefited from airports over this period. Airports, overall, provided a causal contribution of 0.2– 0.6% per year on population and employment growth over the time period. Second, I show that city-level factors contributing to airport success include: (1) closer proximity to a major research university, (2) a capital city location, and (3) climate factors, particularly higher January mean temperatures and/or hours of sunshine. City size is a consideration as well; cities in larger metropolitan areas, with larger shares of employment in nontradables in the 1950s, were also better positioned to reap the benefits that airports provided on city growth. Significant differences were not found across regions, airport governance structures, or other factors.
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Purpose – This chapter compares the stability of the U.S. Dual Banking system's two bank groups, national and state banks, in light of the current financial crisis. The goal of…
Abstract
Purpose – This chapter compares the stability of the U.S. Dual Banking system's two bank groups, national and state banks, in light of the current financial crisis. The goal of the chapter is to answer three distinct questions: first, is there a difference in the (balance sheet) fragility between the two groups and, second, to what extent has the balance sheet fragility of both groups changed after the escalation of the financial crisis beginning in August 2007? Building on that, the third question asks to whether or not the respective regulatory agencies of both bank groups are responsible for these changes in balance sheet fragility in light of the financial crisis.
Methodology – To answer these questions the chapter uses U.S. Call Report data containing full quarterly balance sheets and P&Ls of all U.S. commercial banks over the period 2005–2008. Anecdotal evidence as well as univariate and multivariate difference-in-difference methodology focusing on the immediate pre-crisis period Q1/2005–Q3/2007 and the crisis period Q3/2007–Q4/2008 are applied.
Results – Highly significant and robust results show that, ceteris paribus, national banks reduced their potential balance sheet fragility after the escalation of the crisis in August 2007 by reducing lending and liquidity creation stronger than state banks. Anecdotal evidence supports the empirical findings. Although both FDIC and OCC did not anticipate the adverse effects of the crisis, the OCC publicly showed an earlier reaction to liquidity-related problems than the FDIC.
Originality – The chapter is the first of its kind to analyze bank fragility around the escalation of the financial crisis and the role of the regulatory agencies. The chapter holds especially interesting policy implications in the light of the current discussion about the future regulation of the banking markets.
The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of low-carbon city pilots (LCCPs) policy using Chinese city-level data from 2009 to 2018 and examine the mechanisms of LCCP…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of low-carbon city pilots (LCCPs) policy using Chinese city-level data from 2009 to 2018 and examine the mechanisms of LCCP policy using a mediation effect model.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors measured carbon emissions by high-resolution carbon emission data and used difference-in-difference (DID) and propensity matching score-difference-in-difference (PSM-DID) model to investigate the relationship between LCCP policy and urban carbon intensity. The complex relationship between policy and carbon intensity was evaluated through a mediation model.
Findings
The results show that LCCP policy can reduce urban carbon intensity (−0.287), but its effects are different in different sectors. The impact of LCCP policy is greater in the industrial enterprise sector than in the transport sector than in the agricultural sector. Second, the authors find that LCCP policy under market-driven is more effective than government intervention. Third, there is a spillover effect of LCCP policy, which is decreasing with distance. Finally, the authors explore the mechanisms of LCCP policy from multiple perspectives, such as optimizing industrial structure, green areas, promoting public transport travel, population migration and innovation. In addition, the flow of these factors can also explain the spillover effects of LCCP policy.
Practical implications
This study confirms that LCCP policy is an effective tool for achieving urban sustainable development. Government policy-makers should consider the differences in the impacts of LCCP policy in different sectors and the spillover effects of LCCP policy. And, it shows that the effects of LCCP policy are larger by market-driven. These findings imply that the government should take full account of city characteristics and marketisation processes when formulating carbon reduction policies.
Originality/value
This study analyzed the relationship between LCCP policy and urban carbon intensity based on high-resolution carbon emission data. Urban panel data are used to discuss the impacts of LCCP policy under government intervention and market-driven and the mechanisms at play. The study reveals that LCCP policy mainly acts on the industrial enterprise sector, the spillover effects and the market-driven effects.
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Viviana Huachizaca and Karen Yambay-Armijos
This quasi-experimental study examined the effectiveness of audio-visual and written feedback (AVF + WF) on undergraduate students versus only receiving WF in the context of an…
Abstract
Purpose
This quasi-experimental study examined the effectiveness of audio-visual and written feedback (AVF + WF) on undergraduate students versus only receiving WF in the context of an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) online classroom during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used the estimator Difference in Difference (DID) to compare a treated and control group in a pre-and post-test under the application of six treatment sessions, plus a student's perception survey at the end of the treatment. The treated group that received the multimodal feedback showed higher improvement rates in the paragraph content between the first and final drafts than students in the control group.
Findings
Results indicated that receiving a combination of AVF + WF had a statistically significant effect on mechanics (p < 0.001) and the use of transition words (p = 0.003).
Practical implications
These findings will benefit educational agents, professors and stakeholders for social and economic development.
Originality/value
While previous studies have only used student perceptions of the feedback, this study contributes with empirical data through quasi-experimental analysis and measures the effectiveness of feedback in online learning environments.
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Hye-Sung Kim and Christopher J. Marier
Government repression against civilians while enforcing COVID-19 related lockdowns was widely reported in Africa. At the same time, many have claimed that high-speed (4G) mobile…
Abstract
Purpose
Government repression against civilians while enforcing COVID-19 related lockdowns was widely reported in Africa. At the same time, many have claimed that high-speed (4G) mobile network proliferation provide an accountability mechanism that may constrain police abuses. This study focused on Nigeria to examine (1) the effect of COVID-19 lockdowns on police repression and (2) whether widespread high-speed mobile data networks constrain police repression.
Design/methodology/approach
Using data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Database (ACLED) and the Mobile Coverage Database, this study used difference-in-differences (DID) and triple difference (DDD) estimation on a sample of 423,925 observations (local government area-days) between January 1, 2019 and June 30, 2020 to estimate the causal effects of COVID-19 lockdowns and high-speed (4G) mobile data on police repression.
Findings
Lockdowns increased certain forms of police repression in areas with substantial high-speed (4G) mobile networks. Separate from the lockdowns, widespread 4G network increased police repression even without lockdowns.
Research limitations/implications
Proliferation of high-speed mobile networks in Nigeria appears to facilitate, rather than constrain, police repression. It is possible that high-speed mobile data networks allow police to detect and repress citizen behaviors, rather than permitting citizens to correct repressive police behaviors.
Originality/value
Although many studies have explored the COVID-19 pandemic and police behavior in Western countries, only a few have examined its effects in states with even more troubled policing institutions, including those in sub-Saharan Africa, using DID and DDD estimation.
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Mirjam van Praag and Arvid Raknerud
Empirical studies show low pecuniary returns as a result of switching from wage employment to entrepreneurship. We reconsider the pecuniary gains attributable to this switching by…
Abstract
Empirical studies show low pecuniary returns as a result of switching from wage employment to entrepreneurship. We reconsider the pecuniary gains attributable to this switching by using an event study design and a variety of identifying assumptions aimed at obtaining robust estimates of causal effects. An earnings equation is estimated on data covering the whole Norwegian population of individuals matched to the entire population of firms established in the period 2002–2013. We find unambiguous evidence that the average returns to entrepreneurship are negative for individuals entering entrepreneurship through self-employment and positive, but modest for incorporated startups. The positive returns to incorporated entrepreneurship comes at the cost of much higher income risk: incorporated entrepreneurs experience an increase in the standard deviation of log earnings growth of almost 75% compared to remaining in wage employment. While there is a huge gender gap in entrepreneurship rates, we find no significant difference between men and women in the average returns to entrepreneurship.
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Rosa Capolupo, Vito Amendolagine and Giovanni Ferri
The purpose of this paper is to assess whether offshoring strategies are able to substantially enhance firms’ international competitiveness in terms of productivity…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess whether offshoring strategies are able to substantially enhance firms’ international competitiveness in terms of productivity, innovativeness and skill composition for a panel of Italian manufacturing firms.
Design/methodology/approach
A set of hypotheses derived from the extant literature is tested on data from balance sheets and qualitative surveys of about 4,000 Italian firms. The methodology used is a propensity score matching estimator and difference in differences method that allowed the authors to detect the causal effect of the offshoring status of the firms on some performance measures.
Findings
Results demonstrate that offshoring increases the propensity to innovate and the skill ratio of workers but does not show a significant association with productivity growth. The estimates are robust in all the specifications.
Research limitations/implications
The results are applicable to Italian firms. The magnitude and timing of the effects may vary across firms and countries.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the empirical literature on offshoring by exploring its impact on a variety of firms’ performance measures by using matching techniques that allow us to investigate more in depth the causality link of the relationship and to control for the self-selection effect (more productive firms self-select to offshore).
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Kim Shima and Scott Fung
The purpose of this study is to use recent US legislative activity surrounding changes to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)/Clean Air Act in 2010, which changes the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to use recent US legislative activity surrounding changes to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)/Clean Air Act in 2010, which changes the practice of environmental policy of a firm, and the unique setting of Utility industry to examine the relationship between a firm’s voluntary accounting disclosure and environmental performance.
Design/methodology/approach
This study features hand-collected data of environmental disclosure and examines its relation with environmental performance. To address the endogeneity problem, a difference-in-differences test with propensity score matching is performed to study the impact of policy change on environmental disclosure.
Findings
The findings of this study show that measures of environmental performance have a significant and positive association with a firm’s voluntary disclosure. The results from difference-in-differences test show that adjustments in environmental performance after regulatory change have a causal and positive effect on a firm’s voluntary disclosure.
Research limitations/implications
The findings support theories of signaling and voluntary disclosure that better-performing firms provide more information disclosure of their environmental performance.
Practical implications
The findings show real adjustments in firm environmental performance and consistent voluntary disclosure around the enactment of environmental legislation, which may have important implications for environmental rule making bodies and management about the effectiveness of their regulations.
Originality/value
This study is among the first to examine the causal relationship between environmental performance and disclosure within the context of recent changes in US environmental regulation. This study also provides the Utility industry experiment with difference-in-differences test to tackle endogeneity in the relation between performance and disclosure.
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