The fertility effect of dependent tax exemptions: estimates for the United States

The effect of the dependent tax exemption on the fertility rate in the United States is estimated. The estimation is an improvement on previous work in that a non-linear specification is used to better capture the shape of the demand for children. It is found that the marginal effect of the dependent exemption decreases with the level of the exemption. This suggests that although subsidies for childbearing will increase fertility, it becomes increasingly difficult for countries to increase fertility through this type of scheme.     

Participation in continuous,on-the-job training and the impact on job satisfaction: longitudinal evidence from the German labour market

A number of studies in the human resources literature acknowledge the importance of workplace training for inducing organizational commitment on the part of workers. However, small sample sizes and the absence of relevant panel data have raised concerns about the general validity of results and highlighted the need for further research to explicitly include on-the-job training as an important facet of job satisfaction. A similar empirical gap exists in the economics and industrial organization literature, where, despite the importance of both on-the-job training and job satisfaction to influence labour productivity, the relationship between the two has received surprisingly little attention. The aim of this paper is to bridge this gap in our knowledge and assess the impact of further training on job satisfaction in the western regions of Germany. We use data derived from the German Socio-economic Panel, which covers the period 1984 to 2002. Concentrating on full-time employed individuals, we focus in particular on the 1989, 1993 and 2000 interview waves, which include a number of questions on work-related training and offer detailed information on the type and duration of training received, and whether employers sponsored such training. The empirical results of the study provide information about the decision to participate in further training and the latter's impact on job satisfaction. Gender inequality issues in Germany's segmented labour market are explained by reference to discrepancy theory, equity theory, social exchange theory and the perception of a breach in the psychological contract between firms and female trainees.     

The Effect of Further Training on Wage Growth in West Germany, 1984–1992

In this paper, we use data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) to examine the effect of further training on wage growth in West Germany for the period 1984 to 1992. After controlling for the endogeneity of the training participation decision and the presence of unobserved fixed effects, we estimate a wage growth equation which reveals that further training positively affects wage growth. However, significant differences regarding the effectiveness of further training exist between male and female workers. Our results complement the findings of previous studies supporting the view that further training enhances gender inequality in the German labour market.     

Effects of driver nationality and road characteristics on accident fault risk

This paper investigates the combined effect of driver nationality and several road characteristics (area type, at or not at junction, lighting conditions) on accident fault risk. Data from the national accident database of Greece are used to calculate accident relative fault risk rates under induced exposure assumptions. A log-linear analysis is then used to examine first- and higher-order effects within three or more variable groups. The examination of the second-order interaction among the accident fault risks of various driver nationalities at or not at junction was found to be significant. On the contrary, the respective combined effects of area type and lighting conditions were found to be non-significant. It was also shown that roadway features do not affect accident fault risk in a combined way. Results clearly indicate that foreign drivers in Greece are at increased risk. Moreover, foreign nationalities corresponding to permanent residents (i.e. Greeks and Albanians) appear to be at lower fault risk compared to foreign nationalities corresponding to tourists and visitors (e.g. EU Nationals). The effects of the various road characteristics do not modify these general trends.     

MODELLING BANKS' LENDING BEHAVIOUR IN A CAPITAL‐REGULATED FRAMEWORK

This paper adds to the literature on the money supply theory by assessing the effect of banks' equity on the loan generating process. First, a new ‘credit’ multiplier is examined, the so‐called ‘equity’ multiplier model. This, in a second stage, is incorporated in a new multivariate lending model. The models are assessed by using panel data cointegration techniques for the G7 countries. According to our results, a feedback relationship exists between banks' loans and equity. Moreover, the factors determining loans are: the aggregate demand, the loan–customer relation, the banks' equity and banks' portfolio adjustments and/or the monetary stance.     

Neighbors’ income distribution: economic segregation and mixing in US urban neighborhoods

The paper describes within-neighborhood economic segregation in US metropolitan areas in 1985 and 1993. It uses the neighborhood clusters of the American housing survey, standardized by metropolitan area income and household size, to explore income distribution within neighborhoods at a scale much smaller than the census tract (a representative sample of households or ‘kernels’ and their 10 closest neighbors). Joint and conditional distributions portray neighbors’ characteristics conditional on the kernel’s housing tenure, race, and income. The paper documents both significant income mixing in the majority of US urban micro neighborhoods and the extent of income mixing within neighborhoods of concentrated poverty.     

Capital-labor substitution in a developing country: the case of Greece: A note

Estimates of the elasticity of substitution between capital and labor in the manufacturing sector of the Greek economy are obtained by using a cost-function approach and are compared with the results of previous research. Such previous results show the elasticity of substitution to be significantly higher than one, while our results, using the same time-series data for 17 two-digit manufacturing sectors for the period 1958–1973, give much lower estimates.     

Location decisions under uncertainty and the urban model

This letter uses a simple urban model to analyze the impact of random transportation costs on residential location decisions of households. It is shown that such uncertainty steepens the fall of land prices with distance from the CBD and can, in a specific example, cause an increase in optimal city size.     

Investigation of the acceptance of a handbook for safe driving at an older age

The objective of this research is the investigation of older drivers' attitudes towards a handbook for safe driving at an older age. The handbook was developed with the purpose of increasing elderly drivers' awareness of their driving abilities and providing information about the effects of ageing on driving and about safe driving practices and compensation strategies. A survey was carried out in which 64 active drivers between 65 and 74 years of age participated. Participants regard the handbook for safe driving as useful, interesting, providing knowledge and relevant information. More than half of them reported that they had become more aware of changes in their driving after reading it. Binary logistic analysis was conducted to identify individual driver characteristics that might predict acceptance of the handbook by active older drivers in terms of reported increased awareness and intended repeated use. The findings of the research indicate a positive attitude of elderly active drivers towards the handbook, implying acceptance by its users. The characteristics of the drivers' who reported increased awareness after reading have been identified.     

Aspects of growth in a system of cities

This paper explores and develops the modeling of growth in a system of cities in two alternative settings. First, we examine a large growing economy with a fully developed system of cities with perfectly malleable private and public capital. Local scale economies in production and diseconomies in consumption in equilibrium offset each other at the margin so that from a national point of view we have a constant returns to scale economy. We show that at the steady state the number of cities grows exponentially at the rate of growth of the population. We then examine the impact of technological change, considering a case where public capital is not perfectly malleable. In the second setting, we consider the problem of growth for a small economy and discuss problems associated with the transition to the steady state. We modify the previous model to describe a system of cities that is just starting to develop. Investment in public infrastructure capital is subject to sharp indivisibilities and as a result new cities are built at discrete points in time.