THE IMPACT OF LOW‐INCOME HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM PARTICIPATION ON HOUSEHOLD ENERGY INSECURITY

The impact of the low‐income home energy assistance program (LIHEAP), the single largest energy assistance program available to poor households in the United States has received little rigorous attention. If LIHEAP participation significantly improves low‐income household energy security, funding cuts or eliminating the program could negatively impact the poor. This article empirically estimates the impact of LIHEAP on household energy security. The results indicate participation in LIHEAP significantly increases energy security in low‐income households. Simulations suggest that elimination of the current household energy‐assistance safety net will decrease the number of low‐income energy secure households by over 17%. (JEL I38, Q48)     

TIME‐INCONSISTENCY AND WELFARE PROGRAM PARTICIPATION: EVIDENCE FROM THE NLSY*

We empirically implement a dynamic structural model of labor supply and welfare program participation for agents with potentially time‐inconsistent preferences. Using panel data on the choices of single women with children from the National Longitudinal Surveys (NLSY) 1979, we provide estimates of the degree of time‐inconsistency, and of its influence on the welfare take‐up decision. With these estimates, we conduct counterfactual experiments to quantify a measure of the utility loss stemming from the inability to commit to future decisions, and the potential gains from commitment mechanisms such as welfare time limits and work requirements.     

SAVINGS AND PERSONAL DISCOUNT RATES IN A MATCHED SAVINGS PROGRAM FOR LOW‐INCOME FAMILIES

The ability to save for future needs is critical to family well‐being and is especially challenging for low‐income families with little extra income and limited access to institutional structures like employment‐based retirement funds or low cost savings mechanisms. Many nonprofits and governments have created new savings vehicles to fill this void. The ability of families to succeed in these programs may depend on their personal discount rates (time preferences). In this paper, we use survey data from a matched savings program and factor analysis to characterize family time preferences in order to predict their influence on savings levels. We find that a single latent factor describing the level of discount rates (rather than other dimensions of time or amount inconsistency) best describes family differences and is significantly related to the ability of families to save within the program. (JEL D91, I30)     

DRIVERS OF PRO‐ACTIVE MEMBER PARTICIPATION IN AGRICULTURAL COOPERATIVES: EVIDENCE FROM BRAZIL

Effective governance of cooperatives depends on the pro‐active participation of members in the governance. However, it is commonly argued that, especially in cooperatives with high heterogeneity of membership, additional decision‐making and influencing costs could emerge if members who participate in the governance do so to obtain direct or indirect economic benefits at the individual farm level. The objective of this paper is to assess whether or not farmers’ economic motivations for continued association are relevant drivers of pro‐active participation. Data originate from 148 farmers from a large agricultural cooperative in Brazil. The results suggest that economic motivations for continued association are drivers of participation in the General Assembly, but not of ‘pro‐active’ participation in boards and committees.     

消费平滑、风险分担与完全保险——基于城镇家庭收支调查的实证研究

本文利用农户的面板数据评价京津风沙源治理工程的实施对当地农户收入的短期影响。分析了退耕还林强度、工程参与程度、村参与工程的时间对样本农户人均年收入的影响程度。分析结果表明:(1)工程参与对农户收入的影响为正向关系;(2)如果在村级早一年实施工程,则人均年收入提高17.37%;(3)实施退耕还林工程对消除贫困的影响尚考虑不足。本文利用农户的面板数据评价京津风沙源治理工程的实施对当地农户收入的短期影响。分析了退耕还林强度、工程参与程度、村参与工程的时间对样本农户人均年收入的影响程度。分析结果表明:(1)工程参与对农户收入的影响为正向关系;(2)如果在村级早一年实施工程,则人均年收入提高17.37%;(3)实施退耕还林工程对消除贫困的影响尚考虑不足。     

COMMERCIAL REVITALIZATION IN LOW‐INCOME URBAN COMMUNITIES: THE HOLDUP PROBLEM AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT POLICY

A commercial development model, based on Fujita's monopolistic competition model of spatial agglomeration, addresses firms' decisions to enter urban communities. The model focuses on commercial developers and large department stores, and identifies a potential holdup problem in the commercial development market arising because developers incur costs before negotiating with anchor tenants over profit sharing; the holdup problem is more likely to occur in low‐income communities where the profitability of commercial projects is small. The model predicts that direct incentives to developers are preferred to general tax incentives for addressing this market failure. (JEL R58, H50, H76)     

GROWTH AND INCOME POVERTY IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN: EVIDENCE FROM HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS

This paper provides evidence on growth and income poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Results are obtained by processing microdata from household surveys of 18 LAC countries covering the 1990s and early 2000s. Over this period the LAC economies experienced heterogeneous patterns of growth and poverty changes. Most countries in the region had a rather meager performance in terms of poverty reduction. Episodes of positive, significant and unambiguously pro-poor income growth have been rare in Latin America.     

THE IMPACT OF LOW‐PRIORITY LAWS ON CRIMINAL ACTIVITY: EVIDENCE FROM CALIFORNIA

We examine the impact of low‐priority initiatives on criminal activity. Low‐priority initiatives mandate that minor marijuana possession offenses be the lowest enforcement priority for police. Localities pass these laws because they believe if officers devote fewer resources toward minor marijuana crimes, more resources will be available to deter more serious crimes. Using data from California, we find that jurisdictions that adopted low‐priority laws experienced a reduction in arrests for misdemeanor marijuana offenses. However, we do not find evidence of a consistent effect of enacting a low‐priority initiative on the crime or clearance rate of other felonies. (JEL H1, H4, K4)     

GLOBALIZATION AND REGIONAL INCOME INEQUALITY: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM WITHIN CHINA

China's recent accession to the WTO is expected to accelerate its integration into the world economy, which aggravates concerns over the impact of globalization on the already rising inter-region income inequality in China. This paper discusses China's globalization process and estimates an income generating function, incorporating trade and FDI variables. It then applies the newly developed Shapley value decomposition technique to quantify the contributions of globalization, along with other variables, to regional inequality. It is found that: (a) globalization constitutes a positive and substantial share of regional inequality and the share rises over time; (b) domestic capital, however, emerges as the largest contributor to regional inequality; (c) economic reform characterized by privatization exerts an increasingly significant impact on regional inequality; and (d) the relative contributions of education, location, urbanization and dependency ratio to regional inequality have been declining.     

MONEY AND INFLATION IN INDIA: EVIDENCE FROM P‐STAR MODEL

This study uses P‐star model to examine the role of money in explaining inflation in India. In particular, we compare the performance of traditional Phillips curve approach against P‐star model in forecasting inflation. Moreover, the study estimates P‐star model using the alternative measures of money such as simple sum and Divisia M3, to examine the relevance of aggregation theoretic monetary aggregates in explaining inflation. The empirical results indicate that P‐star model with real money gap has an edge over traditional Phillips curve approach in forecasting inflation. More importantly, we found that the P‐star model estimated with Divisia real money gap performs better than its simple sum counterpart. These empirical findings suggest that the changes in real money gap play a crucial role in explaining inflation in India.     

THE PERSISTENCE OF INCOME POVERTY AND LIFESTYLE DEPRIVATION: EVIDENCE FROM ITALY

This article estimates poverty persistence over an individual's lifetime, using two definitions: income poverty and a multidimensional index of lifestyle deprivation. We stress the ability of the two definitions to provide a generally consistent characterization of poverty persistence risks faced by various population subgroups, but also the additional insights to be gained by analysing the two definitions in parallel in a longitudinal context. The results of multiple‐spell hazard rate models highlight the weaknesses of the Italian labour market, the insufficiencies of the existing social security system, and the deep territorial dualism in generating persistent poverty for certain groups of the population.     

CROSS-NATIONAL DIFFERENCES IN INCOME MOBILITY: EVIDENCE FROM CANADA, THE UNITED STATES, GREAT BRITAIN AND GERMANY

Using a standardized dataset, this paper compares the differences in income mobility among four countries—Canada, the United States, Great Britain and Germany—during the 1990s and early 2000s. The results suggest that, in general, there exist diverse levels of income mobility across the four countries. Although the precise magnitudes of the differences are sensitive to the measurement method used, incomes in Britain are by far the most mobile. Our findings also reveal country-specific driving forces that underlie income mobility. The stabilizing effects of government transfers are most pronounced in Canada. In Germany, it is the progressive tax system that offsets earnings variations and results in smaller changes in longitudinal incomes. Moreover, we also discover that demographic factors provided only limited explanation of differences in income mobility.     

非价格策略与消费者购买行为-以会员积分制为例

会员积分制是目前零售业普遍采用的一种非价格竞争策略,其对于销售的作用也日渐受到经济学的普遍关注。本文通过采用大连市某一知名大型购物中心会员购买记录的扫描数据,对会员积分制的实际效果进行实证研究,结果表明积分能够对消费者的购买行为产生显著影响。积分弹性及交叉积分弹性表明,一种商品的积分促销不仅增加本商品的需求量,而且对其他商品的销售存在正外部性。积分促销可以起到与价格促销同样的作用;本文进一步得出积分与价格相互替代性的大小,为厂商在两种策略的权衡使用上提供参考。     

INCOME UNCERTAINTY,CONSUMER DURABLES INVESTMENTS,AND HOME PRODUCTION: EVIDENCE FROM CHINA

We investigate the effect of uncertainty on home durable purchase decisions, and empirically evaluate the efficacy of consumer durable policies under uncertainty. A model of lumpy home capital adjustment shows that elevated uncertainty leads households to adopt a cautionary perspective and postpone their capital adjustment. We test this prediction using microevidence from China where both uncertainty and home production are substantial. We exploit a wide‐scale rebate program funded by the Chinese government as a natural experiment, and examine the impact on household investment. We find strong, significant, and robust evidence that greater income uncertainty inhibits durable adjustment. Our findings highlight the impediment that income uncertainty poses to investment in home durables, which are often considered as “engines of liberation” in emerging economies. (JEL E21, E64, J22, O16, O23, D91)     

ECONOMIC FREEDOM AND INCOME INEQUALITY REVISITED: EVIDENCE FROM A PANEL ERROR CORRECTION MODEL

We investigate the causal relationship between income inequality and economic freedom using data from U.S. states over the period 1981 to 2004 within a panel error correction model framework. The results indicate bidirectional causality between income inequality and economic freedom in both the short and the long run. These results suggest that high income inequality may cause states to implement redistributive policies causing economic freedom to decline. As economic freedom declines, income inequality rises even more. In other words, it is quite possible for a state to get caught in a vicious circle of high income inequality and heavy redistribution. (JEL D63, H11)     

INCOME POVERTY AND MULTIDIMENSIONAL DEPRIVATION: LESSONS FROM CROSS‐REGIONAL ANALYSIS

The study of multidimensional deprivation has become one of the most relevant lines of research in the analysis of low‐income households. The search for significant relationships between multidimensional deprivation and income poverty has been a central issue and most empirical studies have found a very weak link. This paper aims at examining the possibility of an aggregation bias in national‐level studies, which could conceal disparities between regions. As regional differences and decentralization processes stand out in Spain as compared to other OECD countries, we focus the analysis on this country. Latent class models are used to define deprivation indices using the Spanish EU‐SILC. The results seem to show that the absence of significant relationships between both phenomena still holds at a regional level. The decomposition methods used in the paper show that it might be due to some regional singularities in some determining factors of income and multidimensional poverty.     

INCOME TAXES AND THE COMPOSITION OF PAY: EVIDENCE FROM THE BRITISH HOUSEHOLD PANEL SURVEY

According to the standard principal‐agent model, the optimal composition of pay should balance the provision of incentives with the individual demand for insurance. Do income taxes alter this balance? We show that the relative share of Performance‐related pay (PRP), on total pay is reduced by higher average and marginal income taxes. Empirical evidence based on the British Household Panel Survey is consistent with the theoretical predictions of the tax–augmented principal‐agent model. Our estimates suggest that a 10% reduction in the marginal income tax rate, holding the average tax rate constant, increases the share of PRP in total pay by 2.25–3.02%, depending on the empirical specification. Similarly, a 10% reduction in the average income tax rate, holding the marginal tax rate constant, increases the share of PRP in total pay by 5.10–5.27%.     

EXAMINING THE OBSTACLES TO BROADENING PARTICIPATION IN COMPUTING: EVIDENCE FROM A SURVEY OF PROFESSIONAL WORKERS

This article describes the results of a survey of professional workers that was designed to explore the underlying reasons for the widely documented underrepresentation of women in information technology (IT) jobs. Our analysis suggests that it is different occupational personalities between men and women rather than the demanding nature of IT work that is largely responsible for the relatively few women in IT occupations. We discuss the implications these results have for policies that are designed to create greater gender equity in the rapidly growing IT industries. ( JEL J08, J24, J70)