Technological convergence among US regions and states

We test whether predictions of the Aghion et al. (Aghion, P., Bloom, N., Blundell, R., Griffith, R. and Howitt, P. (2004) Competition and Innovation: An Inverted U Relationship. NBER Working Paper series, No. 9269.) model are supported by firm-level data. In particular, we analyze if there is an inverted U-shaped relation between competition and R&;D. Results show that the inverted U-shaped relation is supported by the Herfindahl index but not by the price cost margin. Using the Herfindahl index, results suggest that breaking up monopolies increases R&;D, whereas further increases in competition most likely lead to reduced R&;D. Comparing different estimators, we find that time series-based estimators typically result in less clear-cut results, probably driven by a lack of time series variation in measures of competition.     

Women,Real Estate,and Wealth in a Southern US County, 1780–1860

Abstract

In her 1986 book Women and the Law of Property in Early America, Marylynn Salmon concludes that the legal and economic changes experienced by early national and antebellum (pre–Civil War) United States women – which culminated in the passage of married women's property acts – were evolutionary rather than revolutionary. This paper examines changes in the economic status of women preceding the enactment of these statutes by analyzing new and valuable information: real-estate deeds and probate records in Henrico County, Virginia. Supplementing the diverse, yet limited, international and historical evidence on women's wealth holdings, this exploration of the asset accumulation of elite, free women in the southern US reveals that women's property holdings, personal and real, rose substantially over the 1780–1860 period. Thus, these results are consistent with those of other scholars, such as Marylynn Salmon, who document an increase in early national and antebellum women's economic status.     

Workplace problems,mental health and substance use

Little is known about how workplace problems may influence diagnosable mental health and substance use (MHSU) disorders. We examine the associations between three common workplace problems (experiencing problems with co-workers, job changes and perceived financial strain) and three MHSU disorders (mood, anxiety and substance abuse/dependence). The analysis utilizes longitudinal data on a sample of working-age adults from the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. These data are well suited for our research objective as the survey was specifically designed to study MHSU disorders. Results show that experiencing these workplace problems is associated with an increased risk for mental health disorders, but not substance use disorders. Importantly, various robustness checks and sensitivity analyses demonstrate that our findings cannot be not fully explained by omitted variables, reverse causality or sample attrition.     

Is foreign direct investment attracted to ‘knowledge creators’?

The effect of?‘knowledge creators’?on location patterns of new foreign plants entering the USA from 1986 to 1993 is analysed. The empirical results from a conditional logit model suggest a link exists between knowledge bases, measured by patent counts, and the location decisions of foreign plants. In the limit, these results imply that a 1%?increase in patent counts is associated with an increase in the probability of attracting a new foreign plant by as much as 1.874%.     

Business Ethics Perspectives: Faculty Plagiarism and Fraud

Faculty plagiarism and fraud are widely documented occurrences but little analysis has been conducted. This article addresses the question of why faculty plagiarism and fraud occurs and suggests approaches on how to develop an environment where faculty misconduct is socially inappropriate. The authors review relevant literature, primarily in business ethics and student cheating, developing action steps that could be applied to higher education. Based upon research in these areas, the authors posit some actions that would be appropriate in higher education and suggest topics for continued study.     

Multilevel governance and broadband infrastructure development: Evidence from Canada

This paper investigates the contributions of digital infrastructure policies of provincial governments in Canada to the development of broadband networks. Using measurements of broadband network speeds between 2007 and 2011, the paper analyzes potential causes for observed differences in network performance growth across the provinces, including geography, Internet use intensity, platform competition, and provincial broadband policies. The analysis suggests provincial policies that employed public sector procurement power to open access to essential facilities and channeled public investments in Internet backbone infrastructure were associated with the emergence of relatively high quality broadband networks. However, a weak essential facilities regime and regulatory barriers to entry at the national level limit the scope for decentralized policy solutions.     

天津居民使用购物袋偏好研究——应用联合选择实验以及潜在分类分析

由于大量使用塑料袋,白色污染问题在中国的大城市中非常普遍。天津,作为中国第五大城市,和其他大城市一样深受随之引起的环境问题的困扰。为了有力地减少塑料袋的消费量,从2008年6月1日起,中国正式开始实施限塑令,要求各大超市及零售商店对塑料购物袋进行收费。随着限塑令的颁布,许多塑料袋生产厂家被迫关闭,但是市场上仍有相当数量的塑料袋出售。本研究的假设为目前对每个中等大小塑料袋收费0.3元的价格过低,以致不能有效地改变消费者的购买行为。研究采用联合选择实验,通过调查及结果分析探究人们对不可降解塑料袋替代品的偏好和支付意愿。结果表明大部分居民不喜欢不可降解塑料袋,并且会使用其他材料制成的价格合理的购物袋。纸袋和其他降解周期短、耐久性好的袋子的销售存在特定的市场,在这些市场中价格不是决定消费者选择的重要因素。     

The role of rural producer organizations for agricultural service provision in fragile states

This article assesses the extent of external linkages and the provision of agricultural services by rural producer organizations in a post‐conflict setting. Using new survey data collected by the International Food Policy Research Institute in three provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, this study finds that various internal and external factors affect the capacity of organizations to interact with external organizations. External linkages, ability to collect financial support from their members, management capacity, and formal governance structures all contribute to explaining relative performance in agricultural service delivery. We also find that exogenous events affect the relative performance of rural producer organizations. Our results suggest that closeness to conflict reduces the capacity of producer organizations to provide agricultural services.     

Economics at the FCC 2020–21: Closing the Connectivity Gap,COVID-19 and Telehealth,Spectrum Auctions,Communications Marketplace Report,and Economic Research

Review of Industrial Organization - The U.S. Federal Communications Commission is responsible for regulation in the communications marketplace and for management of the nation’s non-federal...     

Build it and they will come: Volunteer opportunities and volunteering

Formal volunteering refers to an individual's unpaid contribution of time to the activities of a charitable or non-profit organization. While the physical presence of these organizations is usually required for citizens who want to volunteer, neighbourhoods vary with respect to the amount of volunteering opportunities available. We are the first to geo-code information on the location of registered charities and the location of individuals, using full six-digit postal codes, to examine how the physical proximity of charities affects the decision to volunteer. We carefully address the possibility that proximity to charities might be endogenous: organizations and volunteers may respond to similar unobservable factors when deciding where to locate. Our results imply that access does matter for the decision to volunteer: one more charity within a 1 km buffer around an individual's residence increases the predicted probability of volunteering by 0.8%. The impact of an additional charity on the likelihood of volunteering decreases with distance from the individual's residence and is more pronounced for urban dwellers, providing further evidence that the location of charities matters when it comes to nudging individuals to volunteer.