Information Shocks and the Dynamics of the Housing Market*

In this paper, we analyze housing‐market reactions to the release of previously unpublished information on school quality. Using high‐quality housing data, which precisely bracket the timing of the information shock, we investigate housing‐price dynamics within school‐catchment areas. We find a robust short‐term housing‐market reaction to the publication of school‐quality indicators, suggesting that this information was new to the households, and that households are willing to pay for better schools. The publication effect does not seem to be permanent as prices revert to pre‐publication levels after two to three months.     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed:
Nielsen, S. B., Incentives and Redistribution in the Swedish Welfare State: The Swedish Tax Reform
Hannesson, R., Principles of Economic Growth     

Taxation and Migration in a Federal System

This paper discusses how taxation may affect migration, economic efficiency and income distribution. The institutional framework is a federal system, in which local authorities are responsible for the supply of public services and the financing of these services, and where the central authorities are in charge of income redistribution. The main conclusion is that a moderate policy of income redistribution is associated with greater centralization of the work force and greater economic inefficiency than is the case with both radical and more limited policies of redistribution.     

Consumption externalities and the effects of international income transfers on the global environment

In this paper, we extend the standard model of private provision of public goods by including consumption externalities to characterize a situation in which economic activities pollute the environment. We consider a case in which there are an industrial country which can afford to invest in the environment and a developing country which cannot. Then, we show that international income transfers in both directions can improve the global environmental quality as well as the welfare of each country. We also show that the results have important implications for policies such as official development assistance or the assignment of tradable emission permits.     

Does Animal Feeding Operation Pollution Hurt Public Health? A National Longitudinal Study of Health Externalities Identified by Geographic Shifts in Livestock Production

The Environmental Protection Agency is currently gathering data to regulate livestock facilities under the Clean Air Act, legislation that purports to protect public health. To set rational policy, estimates of health externalities associated with livestock farming are necessary. This study uses geographic shifts in the industry to measure the impact of pollution on infant health. The article finds that a doubling of production leads to a 7.4% increase in infant mortality. This finding is robust with respect to the inclusion of multiple fixed and time-varying controls. The mortality increases are driven by elevated levels of respiratory diseases, providing suggestive evidence of an air pollution mechanism.     

The Dynamics of Household Wealth Accumulation in Italy

We examine the dynamics of wealth accumulation distribution in Italy using data drawn from the Survey of Household Income and Wealth, a representative survey of the Italian population conducted by the Bank of Italy. We compare survey data with National Accounts data and discuss sample representativeness, attrition and measurement issues. We then look at wealth inequality (the cross‐sectional dispersion of wealth) and wealth mobility (individual transitions across the wealth distribution) and examine the age profile of wealth using repeated cross‐sectional data. Finally, we consider various explanations for the pattern of wealth accumulation in Italy, focusing on retirement, bequests, income risk, health shocks and credit market imperfections.     

农村污染的经济学解析

农村污染直接关乎长期的、宏观的经济效益,关乎农民和全国人民的健康,是值得关注的大问题。而农村环境问题又属公共品范畴,如何解决好农村公共品的供给和管理的制度创新,又是从根本上解决农村污染问题的关键。因此,文章试图从博弈论和新制度经济学角度对其进行解析,进而提出理论和现实研究对策。     

North versus South: The Impact of Social Norms in the Market Pricing of Private Property Rights in Vietnam

Despite a centralized political system, country-wide legal reforms, and similar high housing demand pressures, property rights have evolved differently in Vietnam’s two leading cities, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), during the transition period. Using ethnographic fieldwork and a hedonic price model, the study shows that the two land and housing markets price tenure ambiguity differently. The different price structures indicate the importance of norms, as socially constructed by local political interests and culture, in the efficacy of land title regularization programs.     

The Intellectual Structure Of Research Into PPPs

Abstract

Public–private partnerships (or PPPs) encompass a broad spectrum of public sector infrastructure and service initiatives. Recently, some scholars have undertaken literature review studies of the various definitions of the concept of PPPs and its research traditions, identifying several distinct PPP research approaches. This article aims to: (1) enhance the findings of these literature reviews; (2) identify the cited works and authors (intellectual structure) in the published research on PPPs; (3) define the subfields that constitute the intellectual structure of PPP research fields. The methodology is based on the bibliometric techniques of citation and author co-citation analysis applied to published research on PPPs included in the Social Science Citation Index.