The Role of Human Capital,Market Potential and Natural Amenities in Understanding Spatial Wage Disparities in Chile

Abstract

This paper presents an empirical framework for analysing spatial wage inequality in Chile. Chile is primarily characterized by two stylized facts: the high spatial concentration around the metropolitan area and the key role of natural resources in the country. The paper considers both elements in a competition between NEG (new economic geography) and a theory based on natural resource endowment, with both theories incorporating human capital via a multilevel analysis. The results show the poor performance of NEG for Chile and indicate that natural resources are the principal cause of spatial wage variability in Chile.

RÉSUMÉ La présente communication illustre un cadre d'analyse empirique de l'inégalité spatiale entre les salaires, au Chili. Le Chili est caractérisé principalement par les deux faits stylisés suivants : une concentration spatiale élevée autour de la zone métropolitaine, et le rôle essentiel que jouent les ressources naturelles dans ce pays. Cette communication se penche sur ces deux éléments dans le cadre d'une compétition entre deux théories : d'une part la nouvelle géographie économique (« NEG »), de l'autre une théorie fondée sur la dotation en ressources naturelles, ces deux théories incorporant le capital humain par le biais d'une analyse à multiples niveaux. Les résultats démontrent les mauvais résultats de NEG pour le Chili, et indiquent que les ressources naturelles sont la principale cause de la variabilité spatiale des salaires au Chili.

EXTRACTO Este estudio presenta un marco empírico para analizar la desigualdad espacial de los salarios en Chile. Chile se caracteriza principalmente por dos hechos estilizados: la alta concentración espacial alrededor del área metropolitana y la función clave de los recursos naturales del país. El estudio considera ambos elementos en una competición entre la NEG (Nueva Geografía Económica) y una teoría basada en el legado de recursos naturales, donde ambas teorías incorporan el capital humano a través de un análisis de múltiples niveles. Los resultados muestran un bajo rendimiento de la NEG en relación con Chile e indican que los recursos naturales son la causa principal de la variabilidad espacial de los salarios en Chile.

摘要: 本文提出了一种分析智利区域工资不均的经验框架。智利主要有两大特点: 大城市地区高度空间聚集和农村地区自然资源作用巨大。本文在对NEG (新经济地理学) 和基于自然资源储藏量的理论进行比较时, 考虑了这两个因素, 同时还通过多层次分析纳入了人力资源因素。结果显示智利NEG性能很差, 表明智利区域工资差异的主要原因是自然资源。     

Optimal Land Development with Endogenous Environmental Amenities

A spatially explicit model of the optimal timing and location of land development is presented that incorporates dynamic interactions between land development and water quality. Ignoring two-way interactions leads to a lower level of water quality, more development, and lower social welfare. The optimal pace and pattern of development can be achieved through the assessment of an impact fee that internalizes pollution damages and irreversibility costs. Our results demonstrate the importance of accounting for the spatial dimension of land use, the interdependence between land use and environmental quality, and development irreversibility in models of urbanization and amenity-driven growth.     

Neighbors' Income,Public Goods,and Well‐Being

How does neighbors' income affect individual well‐being? Our analysis is based on rich U.S. local data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, which contains information on where respondents live and their self‐reported well‐being. We find that the effect of neighbors' income on individuals' self‐reported well‐being varies with the size of the neighborhood included. In smaller areas such as ZIP codes, we find a positive relationship between median income and individuals' life satisfaction, whereas it is the opposite at the county, MSA, and state levels. We provide evidence that local public goods and local area characteristics such as unemployment, criminality, and poverty rates drive the association between satisfaction and neighbors' income at the ZIP code level. The neighbors' income effects are mainly concentrated among poorer individuals and are as large as one quarter of the effect of own income on self‐reported well‐being.     

“富丽乡村”及其价值:对社会主义新农村建设的生态思考

"富丽乡村"是一个分析性很强的概念工具,由其衍生出来的许多推论对于中国社会主义新农村建设的实践有较强的借鉴意义.本文借助新经济地理理论来解释这一概念,提出"伴随富丽化的乡村发展"的探索方向是中国乡村多样化发展的一条道路,同时结合目前中国不同区域乡村发展的实际,提出社会主义新农村建设应注重保有乡村富丽性所蕴涵的丰富内容.     

Editorial

Abstract

In this paper we summarize and comment on the papers published in issue 6.4. The papers reviewed are ‘Migrants and International Economic Linkages: A Meta-Overview’ by Peter Nijkamp, Masood Gheasi &; Piet Rietveld; ‘A Lustrum of SEA: Recent Research Trends Following the Creation of the Spatial Econometrics Association (2007–2011)’ by Giuseppe Arbia; ‘Do Natural Amenities Attract High-Tech Jobs?: Evidence From a Smoothed Bayesian Spatial Model’ by Jeffrey Dorfman, Mark Partridge &; Hamilton Galloway; ‘Testing for Cross-Sectional Dependence in Regional Panel Data’, by Peter Jensen &; Torben Schmidt; and ‘Modelling Regional Welfare Efficiency Applying Conditional Full Frontiers’ by George Halkos &; Nickolaos Tzeremes.

RÉSUMÉ Dans la présente communication, nous récapitulons les communications publiées dans le numéro 6.4, et nous présentons des commentaires. Les communications examinées sont les suivantes : « Migrants et liens économiques internationaux : un aperçu général » par Peter Nijkamp, Masood Gheasi &; Piet Rietveld ; «Étude sur une période de cinq ans sur l'Association d’Économétrie spatiale (SEA) : tendances des travaux de recherche récents à la suite de la création de l'Association d’Économétrie spatiale [Spatial Econometrics Association (2007–2011)]», par Giuseppe Arbia; « Les agréments naturels attirent-ils des emplois dans la technologie de pointe ?: démonstration découlant d'un modèle spatial bayésien ajusté », par Jeffrey Dorfman, Mark Partridge &; Hamilton Galloway ; « Essais de dépendance transversale dans des données de panel régionaux », par Peter Jensen &; Torben Schmidt ; et « Modélisation de l'efficacité sociale régionale comportant l'application de frontières intégrales conditionnelles », par George Halkos &; Nickolaos Tzeremes.

EXTRACTO En este trabajo resumimos y hacemos comentarios sobre los ensayos publicados en la edición 6.4. Los ensayos revisados son: ‘Migrants and International Economic Linkages: A Meta-Overview’ (Emigrantes y vínculos económicos internacionales: una meta-perspectiva general) de Peter Nijkamp, Masood Gheasi &; Piet Rietveld; ‘A Lustrum of SEA: Recent Research Trends Following the Creation of the Spatial Econometrics Association (2007–2011)’ (Un lustro de SEA: tendencias investigativas recientes después de la creación de la Asociación Econométrica Espacial (2007–2011)) de Giuseppe Arbia; ‘Do Natural Amenities Attract High-Tech Jobs?: Evidence From a Smoothed Bayesian Spatial Model’ (¿Atraen las amenidades naturales empleos de alta tecnología?: Evidencia derivada de un modelo espacial bayesiano homogéneo) de Jeffrey Dorfman, Mark Partridge &; Hamilton Galloway; ‘Testing for Cross-Sectional Dependence in Regional Panel Data’ (Prueba de la dependencia transversal en datos regionales de panel) de Peter Jensen &; Torben Schmidt; y ‘Modelling Regional Welfare Efficiency Applying Conditional Full Frontiers’ (Modelación de la eficiencia de servicios sociales regionales aplicando fronteras condicionales completas) de George Halkos &; Nickolaos Tzeremes.

     

Wellness hotel: Conceptualization,scale development,and validation

This study defines the notion of a wellness hotel, generates a wellness amenity inventory list, and develops the Scale of Wellness Hotel Amenities (SWHA) to measure the level of wellness provided by hotels. The result reveals a 16-item measurement scale consisting of three dimensions: environmental wellness, physical wellness, and mind wellness. Incorporating qualitative and quantitative design and utilizing multi-source samples, we conducted five studies to demonstrate the face, convergent, discriminant, and nomological validity of the SWHA. This study fills an important research gap since no measurement scale is currently available to measure the wellness level of hotels. With an in-depth examination of customers’ perception of wellness hotels, this study provides a tool to identify wellness amenities that customers demand and to evaluate the performance of wellness hotels. The contributions, implications, and limitations of this study are discussed, as well as the recommendations for future studies.     

How to enhance hotel guests’ acceptance and experience of smart hotel technology: An examination of visiting intentions

Smart hotel is a novel concept in the hospitality industry, and few studies have examined hotel consumers’ intentions to visit smart hotels. This study investigates the relationship between technology readiness (TR) and technology amenities (TA) as antecedents to visiting intentions, using an extended technology acceptance model (TAM). Based on an online survey with 648 valid responses, the results indicate that perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness are correlated with TA, but not with TR. Furthermore, TR affects intentions to visit smart hotels, but TA does not. The findings enrich the hospitality literature and have practical implications for hospitality marketers designing technology-related marketing strategies to maintain competitiveness. This study contributes to raising awareness of the importance of technological amenities and services for the future visiting intentions of hotel consumers.     

The Use of Census Data for Hedonic Price Estimates of Open-Space Amenities and Land Use

Hedonic price models for determining marginal implicit prices of open-space amenities and nonresidential land use were estimated using housing data from the census. Alternative model specifications were compared to evaluate the effects of aggregating land-use data by alternative levels of census geography as well as the use of different sample sizes of census blocks. It was determined that land use is best aggregated at the block group level and that entire populations or very large sample sizes of census blocks should be used with hedonic models.     

Uncertainty and Amenity Values in Renewable Resource Economics

In this paper, we study the effects of amenities and uncertainty on the optimal exploitation of a renewable resource. First, if society displays a protection motive (in the presence of amenities), its optimal harvesting strategy will be more conservative. Second, we show that ecological uncertainty leads society to develop the opposite behavior, thus reducing its exposition towards risk. A stationary analysis is undertaken to analytically quantify and compare these two effects. With a Gompertz natural regeneration function and a proportional risk, the amenity effect is proved to prevail if and only if stochastic fluctuations on the resource stock are not too large.     

Does the Measurement of Property and Structural Characteristics Affect Estimated Implicit Prices for Environmental Amenities in a Hedonic Model?

Hedonic models are commonly used to estimate marginal willingness to pay for environmental amenities. These studies utilize variables that are assumed to be measured without error (such as the square footage of the lot or the number of bedrooms) and proxy variables (such as neighborhood or school quality). Lot and structural characteristics may in fact be measured with error. Potential sources of error include inaccurate measures and inconsistent updating. We investigate the effect of using tax-assessor data versus survey data from purchasers to estimate the implicit price of an environmental amenity, lake-water clarity. Convergent validity of the implicit price for water clarity is established if the town and survey data provide statistically indistinguishable estimates of implicit prices for this amenity. Overall, the town-office and survey data on property characteristics were not statistically different in three of the four market groupings examined, which suggests that the traditional municipal sources of these data may not contain substantial measurement error. Furthermore, convergent validity is satisfied in all four market areas. However, differences in computed implicit prices of clarity in two of the market areas are large enough that policy decisions for environmental quality could be affected by the source of the lot and structural data.