An analysis of shopping center investment

During the 1980s, the oversupply of retail space has lowered rents, raised vacancies, and damaged the integrity of financial institutions as developers and other borrowers have been forced into default. This paper explores the propensity of developers to create shopping center space. The research draws on the macroeconomic investment literature to formulate a model of shopping center investment. We estimate our model using shopping center and sales data from all fifty states of the United States and the District of Columbia. Our results provide evidence about how investment in new shopping space responds to changes in retail sales, capital costs, and taxes.     

Makroökonomie und Populismus

Is the rise in populism driven by economic issues, e.g. inequality and stagnating incomes, or by social issues, e.g. illiberal views on gender, race and migration? This paper argues that it is impossible to distinguish between the two factors, as social issues have a profound impact on economic issues. Populists make use of this tight link and exploit the inability of mainstream policymakers to address the negative economic impact that open borders for goods, capital and labour have on a large number of people within their countries. The result is the return of economic nationalism, as it seems to provide policymakers with an opportunity to dismantle the policy constraints set by a globalised economy.     

Buchbesprechungen

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Von der Demographie zur Demometrie

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Cost-benefit analysis of energy efficiency in urban low-cost housing

This cost-benefit analysis study considered energy-efficiency measures in low-cost housing, primarily standard 30 m 2 Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) houses. The three packages of interventions that improve the thermal performance of the houses (ceilings, roof and wall insulation, windows and partitions) were found to be economically attractive both from a national and a household perspective. The net benefits from the whole package for a standard RDP home is about 10 per cent of the value of the housing subsidy provided by the government. The same interventions applied to informal housing appear more costly because the lifespan of shacks is taken to be five years. Row houses are particularly attractive, although their social acceptability requires further study. Compact fluorescent lamps and solar water heating are also attractive because of the energy savings they deliver. Apart from saving money, all these measures improve the quality of life of households by increasing comfort and decreasing indoor air pollution. Although the measures have a net social benefit, it does not mean that poor people can afford them. Energy-efficiency measures tend to have high capital costs, while the benefits are spread over many years. With their high discount rates, consumers are often not able to wait for future savings, nor do they have access to capital for investment. Based on our analysis, however, a capital subsidy of between R1 000 and R2 000 (not the full capital cost) is all that would be required to make these measures attractive to poor households across a range of regions and income groups. The no-cost measures of northern orientations: climatically correct window size and placement, as well as the appropriate wall and roof colour have a thermal running cost and environmental impact.     

The effect of income inequality on political polarization: Evidence from European regions, 2002–2014

This article investigates whether income inequality leads to political polarization and provides new evidence that an increase in the Gini coefficient at the local level increases the probability of supporting a political party at the extreme left and right of the ideological distribution. Using individual data for 25 European countries from 2002 to 2014, I find that increasing inequality leads on average to more support for left‐wing parties. I also find that increasing inequality leads to more support for far‐right parties among older individuals. Support for far‐right parties seems to be driven by rising anti‐immigrant sentiments. The results are robust to different specifications, including an instrumental variable that addresses the endogeneity of income inequality.     

Correction: The Euro at 20: Still a Project Projected to Fail?

Intereconomics - In the Forum article “The Euro at 20: Still a Project Projected to Fail?” by Adalbert Winkler in Intereconomics, Vol. 54, No. 2, 2019, p. 90–95, DOI:...     

How does the internet affect migration decisions?

This article provides new evidence on the impact of the internet on migration decisions. I find that an increase in internet adoption among migrant-sending countries reduces the stock of migrants from these locations. The results are robust to a number of specifications, including an instrumental variable approach that addresses the endogeneity of internet adoption. The findings suggest that the internet may weaken the importance of push factors in the decision to migrate, and that these effects outweigh declines in mobility costs.     

Finance,growth and crisis — A European perspective

The long-held truism that finance is always good for growth has been called into question by the global financial crisis. This article examines new evidence on the finance-growth nexus from a European perspective. More specifically, it compares the approach of many CESEE countries — i.e. financial deepening and integration via foreign banks — with that of the euro area, namely wholesale financial integration but without any instruments for crisis management.