The effects of immigration on U.S. wages and rents: a general equilibrium approach

In this paper we document a strong positive correlation of immigration flows with changes in average wages and average house rents for native residents across U.S. states. Instrumental variables estimates reveal that the correlations are compatible with a causal interpretation from immigration to wages and rents of natives. Separating the effects of immigrants on natives of different schooling levels we find positive effects on the wages and rents of highly educated and small effects on the wages (negative) and rents (positive) of less educated. We propose a model where natives and immigrants of three different education levels interact in production in a central district and live in the surrounding region. In equilibrium the inflow of immigrants has a positive productive effect on natives due to complementarities in production as well as a positive competition effect on rents. The model calibrated and simulated with U.S.-states data matches most of the estimated effects of immigrants on wages and rents of natives in the period 1990-2005. This validation suggests the proposed model as a useful tool to evaluate the impacts of alternative immigration scenarios on U.S. wages and rents

Resource Rents, Democracy and Corruption: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

We examine the effect of the interaction between resource rents and democracy on corruption for a panel of 29 Sub-Saharan countries during the period from 1985 to 2007. We find that higher resource rents lead to more corruption and that the effect is significantly stronger in less democratic countries. Surprisingly, we also find that higher resource rents lead to fewer internal conflicts and that less democratic countries face not a higher but a lower likelihood of conflicts following an increase in resource rents. We argue that these findings can be explained by the ability of the political elites in less democratic countries to more effectively quell the masses through redistribution of rents to the public. We support our argument by documenting that higher resource rents lead to more (less) government spending in less (more) democratic countries. Our findings suggest that the mechanisms through which resource rents affect corruption cannot be separated from political systems.resource rents, corruption, political systems, internal conflicts

The Connection Between Cash Rents and Land Values

The last few years have seen big increases in land values. Cash rents have also increased but perhaps at a slower rate than land values. This paper examines the ratio of land values to cash rents to determine if how cash rents have changed in relation to land value changes. This ratio is important because it helps indicate whether cash rents are a good way of controlling farmland relative to purchasing the land. Results indicate there may be a lag in cash rents before they match the level of land prices. However, this relationship does not always hold.land values, leasing, cash rents, farmland, real estate, Agricultural Finance, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management, Production Economics,

Rent Seekers in Rentier States: When Greed Brings Peace

Are natural resources a source of conflict or stability? Empirical studies demonstrate that rents from natural resources, and in particular oil, are an important source of civil war. Allegedly, resource rents attract rent seekers, which destabilize society. However, there is a large literature on how so-called rentier states manage to pacify opposition groups by handing out special favors. The present paper attempts to bridge the gap between the rent-seeking view of resource rents as a source of conflict and the rentier state view which emphasizes the role of resource rents in promoting peace and stability, and show how one may lead to the other. The mechanism that we highlight relies on the notion that higher rents may activate more interest groups in a power struggle. We demonstrate that the associated increased cost of conflict may in fact promote social stability. The peaceful solution is upheld by a self reinforcing transfer program, in the form of patronage employment. The chance of conflict and rent dissipation in our model is highest for intermediate levels of resource rents, where the government cannot make credible commitments to the opposition groups.Rent Seeking, Rentier States, Resource Rents, Conflict, Patronage Employment

The Effects of Immigration on U.S. Wages and Rents: A General Equilibrium Approach.

In this paper we document a strong positive correlation of immigration flows with changes in average wages and average house rents for native residents across U.S. states. Instrumental variables estimates reveal that the correlations are compatible with a causal interpretation from immigration to wages and rents of natives. Separating the effects of immigrants on natives of different schooling levels we find positive effects on the wages and rents of highly educated and small effects on the wages (negative) and rents (positive) of less educated. We propose a model where natives and immigrants of three different education levels interact in production in a central district and live in the surrounding region. In equilibrium the inflow of immigrants has a positive productive effect on natives due to complementarities in production as well as a positive competition effect on rents. The model calibrated and simulated with U.S.-states data matches most of the estimated effects of immigrants on wages and rents of natives in the period 1990-2005. This validation suggests the proposed model as a useful tool to evaluate the impacts of alternative immigration scenarios on U.S. wages and rents.Wages, Rents, Housing Prices, U.S. States

Imperfect competition in the labour market

It is increasingly recognized that labour markets are pervasively imperfectly competitive, that there are rents to the employment relationship for both worker and employer. This chapter considers why it is sensible to think of labour markets as imperfectly competitive, reviews estimates on the size of rents, theories of and evidence on the distribution of rents between worker and employer, and the areas of labour economics where a perspective derived from imperfect competition makes a substantial difference to thought

Imperfect Competition in the Labour Market

It is increasingly recognized that labour markets are pervasively imperfectly competitive, that there are rents to the employment relationship for both worker and employer. This chapter considers why it is sensible to think of labour markets as imperfectly competitive, reviews estimates on the size of rents, theories of and evidence on the distribution of rents between worker and employer, and the areas of labour economics where a perspective derived from imperfect competition makes a substantial difference to thought.Imperfect competition, labour markets, rents, search, matching, monopsony

Ex post information rents and disclosure in sequential screening

We study ex post information rents in sequential screening models where the agent receives private ex ante and ex post information. The principal has to pay ex post information rents for preventing the agent to coordinate lies about his ex ante and ex post information. When the agent’s ex ante information is discrete, these rents are positive, whereas they are zero in continuous models. Consequently, full disclosure of ex post information is generally suboptimal. Optimal disclosure rules trade off the benefits from adapting the allocation to better information against the effect that more information aggravates truth-telling

Industrial Warehouse Rent Determinants in the Dallas/Fort Worth Area

This paper presents the first empirical analysis of the determinants of pooled variation in industrial warehouse rents. It examines industrial warehouse rents using data for seventeen quarterly periods in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. M/PF Research Inc. provided the data. A random effects model is used to estimate the relationship between market rents for industrial properties and various independent variables. Rent per square foot is positively related to the number of grade high doors, and the annual change in net employment. Rent per square foot is negatively effected by ceiling height, percentage of office space, building age, and the presence of a sprinkler system. The results indicate that rents are significantly impacted by physical characteristics, location, and general market conditions. Additionally, there is evidence to suggest that the relationship between physical characteristics and rents is nonlinear.