14,365 research outputs found

    Higher Education, the Health Care Industry, and Metropolitan Regional Economic Development: What Can “Eds & Meds” Do for the Economic Fortunes of a Metro Area’s Residents?

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    This paper examines the effects of expansions in higher educational institutions and the medical service industry on the economic development of a metropolitan area. This examination pulls together previous research and provides some new empirical evidence. We provide quantitative evidence of the magnitude of economic effects of higher education and medical service industries that occur through the mechanism of providing some export-base demand stimulus to a metropolitan economy. We also provide quantitative evidence on how much higher education institutions can boost a metropolitan economy through increasing the educational attainment of local residence. We estimate that medical service industries pay above average wages, holding worker characteristics constant, whereas the higher education industry pays below average wages; the wage standards of these industries may affect overall metropolitan wages. We also discuss other mechanisms by which these two industries may boost a metropolitan economy, including: increasing local amenities, generating R&D spillovers, increasing the rate of entrepreneurship in local businesses, and helping provide local leadership on development and growth issues. Finally, the paper discusses possible effects of these two industries on disparities between the central city and suburbs in a metropolitan area.higher, education, medical, service, industry, regional, economic, development

    Spatial Interdependence of Local Public Expenditures: Selected Evidence from the Czech Republic

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    Local expenditures in neighbouring municipalities can be spatially interdependent due to spillovers, cooperation effects, competition effects or mimicking. In this paper, we aim to test the spatial interdependence of local public expenditures using data on 205 Czech municipalities. We found positive spatial interdependence in expenditures on housing and culture and negative spatial interdependence for expenditures on industry and infrastructure and environmental protection. Additionally, we observed that political characteristics affect the size of spending; left-wing parties tend to increase expenditures on culture and decrease expenditures on industry and infrastructure; and higher party fragmentation decreases overall capital expenditures and expenditures on housing.spillovers, fiscal competition, local public finance

    Self-Reinforcing Market Dominance

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    Are initial competitive advantages self-reinforcing, so that markets exhibit an endogenous tendency to be dominated by only a few firms? Although this question is of great economic importance, no systematic empirical study has yet addressed it. Therefore, we examine experimentally whether firms with an initial cost advantage are more likely to invest in cost reductions than firms with higher initial costs. Wefind that the initial competitive advantages are indeed self-reinforcing, but subjects in the role of firms overinvest relative to the Nash equilibrium. However, the pattern of overinvestment even strengthens the tendency towards self-reinforcing cost advantages relative to the theoretical prediction. Further, as predicted by the Nash equilibrium, aggregate investment is not affected by the initial efficiency distribution. Finally, investment spillovers reduce investment, and investment is higher than the joint-profit maximizing benchmark for the case without spillovers and lower for the case with spillovers.Cost-reducing Investment, Asymmetric Oligopoly, Increasing Dominance, Experimental Study

    From the Geography of Innovation to Development Policy Analysis: The GMR-approach

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    Knowledge based local economic development policies (often labeled also as 'cluster development' or policies designed to distribute Structural Funds over the EU territory within the framework of'“national development plans') are implemented with an explicit or implicit aim towards broader state, national or even supra national interests. The main issues are growth (at the supra regional level) and convergence (across regions). How different mixtures of the instruments of local development policies can help approach theses aims – or more precisely to what extent these policies may serve either of the targets or perhaps both of them? The related theoretical and empirical literature in the new economic geography, economic growth and the geography of innovation fields is extensive. However economic models drawing from this literature and constructed for the aim of evaluating actual development policy decisions in the light of the growth and convergence targets are rare. This paper serves two aims. First it explains a manner how the geography of innovation literature can contribute to develop a sub-model that can be used for assessing the static impacts of development policy interventions in the GMR-Hungary model. Second to demonstrate the power of such a model that incorporates the lessons from the geography of innovation literature policy simulation results with GMR at the regional, interregional and macro levels are provided.Innovation, development policy, regional growth

    Devolution and the economy : a Scottish perspective

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    In their interesting and challenging chapter John Adams and Peter Robinson assess the consequences for economic development policy of the devolution measures enacted by the UK Labour government post 1997. Their chapter ranges widely over current UK regional disparities, the link between devolution and economic growth, the balance of responsibilities in policy between Whitehall and the devolved administrations, and finally, they raise questions about the developing "quasi-federal" role of Whitehall in regulating or coordinating the new devolved policy landscape. In response, we propose to focus on four issues that we believe are key to understanding the economic consequences of devolution both at the Scottish and UK levels. First, we argue that the view of Scotland's devolutionary experience in economic policy is partial and so does not fully capture the nature and extent of change post 1999. Secondly, we examine the role of devolution in regional economic performance. There is much in their paper on this topic with which we agree but we contend that there are significant omissions in the analysis, which are important for policy choice. Our third section highlights an area not discussed in depth by Adams and Robinson's paper: the funding of the devolution settlement. Here we consider some of the implications of funding arrangements for economic performance and the options for a new funding settlement. Finally, we deal with the difficult issue of co-ordination between the centre and the devolved regions. We contend that co-ordination is largely conspicuous by its absence. Moreover, where coordination is deployed it reflects an inadequate understanding of the extent to which the economies of the regions and devolved territories of the UK are linked

    Spatial Interdependence of Local Public Expenditures: Selected Evidence from the Czech Republic

    Get PDF
    Local expenditures in neighbouring municipalities can be spatially interdependent due to spillovers, cooperation effects, competition effects or mimicking. In this paper, we aim to test the spatial interdependence of local public expenditures using data on 205 Czech municipalities. We found positive spatial interdependence in expenditures on housing and culture and negative spatial interdependence for expenditures on industry and infrastructure and environmental protection. Additionally, we observed that political characteristics affect the size of spending; left-wing parties tend to increase expenditures on culture and decrease expenditures on industry and infrastructure; and higher party fragmentation decreases overall capital expenditures and expenditures on housing.Spillovers, fiscal competition, local public finance

    Examining the Evidentiary Basis of Congress's Commerce Clause Power to Address Individuals' Health Insurance Status

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    Outlines the issues involved in whether the 2010 Affordable Care Act's individual mandate is constitutional under the commerce clause, presents research literature on the effect of uninsurance on the broader economy, and reviews the lower courts' rulings

    Does Infrastructure Investment Lead to Economic Growth or Economic Fragility? Evidence from China

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    The prevalent view in the economics literature is that a high level of infrastructure investment is a precursor to economic growth. China is especially held up as a model to emulate. Based on the largest dataset of its kind, this paper punctures the twin myths that, first, infrastructure creates economic value, and, second, China has a distinct advantage in its delivery. Far from being an engine of economic growth, the typical infrastructure investment fails to deliver a positive risk adjusted return. Moreover, China's track record in delivering infrastructure is no better than that of rich democracies. Where investments are debt-financed, overinvesting in unproductive projects results in the buildup of debt, monetary expansion, instability in financial markets, and economic fragility, exactly as we see in China today. We conclude that poorly managed infrastructure investments are a main explanation of surfacing economic and financial problems in China. We predict that, unless China shifts to a lower level of higher-quality infrastructure investments, the country is headed for an infrastructure-led national financial and economic crisis, which is likely also to be a crisis for the international economy. China's infrastructure investment model is not one to follow for other countries but one to avoid

    THE EFFECT OF HEALTH IT INVESTMENTS ON REGIONAL HEALTH CARE COSTS

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    This paper analyzes the relationship between health IT investments and regional health care costs. We focus on the regional level effects, which take into account externalities that arise from patient mobility. We find that the relationship between health IT and costs are stronger at a regional level than hospital level, confirming the presence of externality of health IT investments. This finding has important implications: it suggests that hospital level analysis underestimates the benefits of health IT investments and can lead to suboptimal investment decision from the societyÂŽs point of view. We also find that cost reduction impacts of health IT investment are higher over the long term. We present evidence that advanced IT applications that enable within hospital communication are more beneficial in more urban areas. Higher software integration among the adopting hospitals further decreases the health care costs in the area by enabling electronic medical record sharing. In addition, we show that not all hospitals have to make same level of IT investment to obtain optimal reductions in health care costs. Instead, having some leading hospitals in health IT investments can be more beneficial
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