Three Essays on Urban Location Choice and Urban Growth

This dissertation encompasses three papers. My first paper contributes to the larger literature on the effect of individual-level characteristics on urban location choice by examining whether young people aged 25 - 34 with a bachelor\u27s degree or higher are more likely to live in central cities in 2011 than in 1990. In 1990 37% of 25 - 34 year olds (Baby Boomers) living within a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) lived in a central city. By 2011 the percentage of young people (Millennials) living in a MSA that lived in a central city had declined to 33%. However, when 25 - 34 year olds are segmented by education it is clear that this decline was driven by young people with less than a bachelor\u27s degree. Conditional on living in a MSA the percentage of young people with a bachelor\u27s or advanced degree that lived in a central city was approximately 36% in both 1990 and 2011. When I control for individual-level characteristics I find that the effect of education on the probability of living in a central city remains similar in both generations. I estimate that having a bachelor\u27s degree increases the probability that a 25 - 34 year old will locate in a central city by 8.3% in 1990 and 8.2% in 2011. The increases in the probability of living in a central city from having a master\u27s degree or a doctorate in 2011 are also similar in magnitude to their counterparts in 1990. This is evidence that to the extent education plays a role in the larger population of high human capital 25 - 34 year olds in cities it is due to a composition effect rather than cities becoming more attractive to educated people at the margin. While educated young people are not more attracted to cities across generations there have been some intertemporal regional changes. I also analyze individual cities in each region to demonstrate that the regional changes obscure city level heterogeneity. I find that in Cleveland, Chicago, New York and Portland the effect of a bachelor\u27s degree on living in the central city of those MSAs increased from 1990 to 2011. In the Houston MSA the effect of a bachelor\u27s decreased and in the Los Angeles and Atlanta MSAs the effect of a master\u27s decreased

Assessing the adequacy of self-reported alcohol abuse measurement across time and ethnicity: cross-cultural equivalence across Hispanics and Caucasians in 1992, non-equivalence in 2001–2002

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Do estimates of alcohol abuse reflect true levels across United States Hispanics and non-Hispanic Caucasians, or does culturally-based, systematic measurement error (i.e., measurement bias) affect estimates? Likewise, given that recent estimates suggest alcohol abuse has increased among US Hispanics, the field should also ask, "Does cross-ethnic change in alcohol abuse across time reflect true change or does measurement bias influence change estimates?"</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To address these questions, I used confirmatory factor analyses for ordered-categorical measures to probe for measurement bias on two large, standardized, nationally representative, US surveys of alcohol abuse conducted in 1992 and 2001–2002. In 2001–2002, analyses investigated whether 10 items operationalizing DSM-IV alcohol abuse provided equivalent measurement across Hispanic (<it>n </it>= 4,893) and non-Hispanic Caucasians (<it>n </it>= 16,480). In 1992, analyses examined whether a reduced 6 item item-set provided equivalent measurement among 834 Hispanic and 14,8335 non-Hispanic Caucasians.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In 1992, findings demonstrated statistically significant measurement bias for two items. However, sensitivity analyses showed that item-level bias did not appreciably bias item-set based alcohol abuse estimates among this cohort. For 2001–2002, results demonstrated statistically significant bias for seven items, suggesting caution regarding the cross-ethnic equivalence of alcohol abuse estimates among the current US Hispanic population. Sensitivity analyses indicated that item-level differences <it>did </it>erroneously impact alcohol abuse rates in 2001–2002, underestimating rates among Hispanics relative to Caucasians.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>1992's item-level findings suggest that estimates of drinking related social or legal problems may underestimate these specific problems among Hispanics. However, impact analyses indicated no appreciable effect on alcohol abuse estimates resulting from the item-set. Efforts to monitor change in alcohol abuse diagnoses among the Hispanic community can use 1992 estimates as a valid baseline. In 2001–2002, item-level measurement bias on seven items did affect item-set based estimates. Bias underestimated Hispanics' self-reported alcohol abuse levels relative to non-Hispanic Caucasians. Given the cross-ethnic equivalence of 1992 estimates, bias in 2001–2002 speciously minimizes current increases in drinking behavior evidenced among Hispanics. Findings call for increased public health efforts among the Hispanic community and underscore the necessity for cultural sensitivity when generalizing measures developed in the majority to minorities.</p

The Role of Economic Freedom in Intercity Competition: A Framework and Some Evidence from U.S. Metropolitan Areas

I present a framework for analyzing city competition that clarifies the different dimensions along which cities can compete with one another for people and firms. I contend that current urban development strategies are largely based on a \hydraulic" approach to development and discuss an alternative that focuses on policies and the amount of local government impediments to urban development that exist across cities. Using a sample of 381 metropolitan areas (MSAs) and an MSA economic freedom index from Stansel (2013), I find that MSAs with fewer government impediments experienced more per capita income growth from 2002 to 2005. I also find that MSAs with more overall freedom experienced more population growth from 2002 to 2011 and from 2002 to 2015, and these results were driven by tax freedom and labor market freedom. Taken together, this evidence is consistent with several country and state- level studies that find that government impediments to economic activity affect intensive and extensive economic growth

The Role of Economic Freedom in Intercity Competition: A Framework and Some Evidence from U.S. Metropolitan Areas

I present a framework for analyzing city competition that clarifies the different dimensions along which cities can compete with one another for people and firms. I contend that current urban development strategies are largely based on a \hydraulic" approach to development and discuss an alternative that focuses on policies and the amount of local government impediments to urban development that exist across cities. Using a sample of 381 metropolitan areas (MSAs) and an MSA economic freedom index from Stansel (2013), I find that MSAs with fewer government impediments experienced more per capita income growth from 2002 to 2005. I also find that MSAs with more overall freedom experienced more population growth from 2002 to 2011 and from 2002 to 2015, and these results were driven by tax freedom and labor market freedom. Taken together, this evidence is consistent with several country and state- level studies that find that government impediments to economic activity affect intensive and extensive economic growth

Local Governments and Economic Freedom: A Test of the Leviathan Hypothesis

Geoffrey Brennan and James M. Buchanan, in their 1980 book The Power to Tax, hypothesize that “the potential for fiscal exploitation varies inversely with the number of competing governmental units in the inclusive territory.” This paper tests that theory at the local level using data for US metropolitan statistical areas (MSA). MSAs are constructed on the basis of commuting patterns and are meant to delineate the local economy. Because of their construction, MSAs typically contain several distinct and nonoverlapping political jurisdictions, each with the power to tax residents, mitigate local externalities, and provide local public goods. Following previous literature, we measure “competing governmental units” using the number of general-purpose local governments within an MSA, adjusted for land area and population. In contrast to previous work, which uses less comprehensive measures of “fiscal exploitation,” we test Brennan and Buchanan’s “Leviathan hypothesis” using various measures of MSA economic freedom, rather than more limited measures of spending or revenue, as our dependent variable. We find mixed evidence that the number of competing jurisdictions is positively associated with economic freedom. When examining the individual components of economic freedom, we find a positive and statistically significant relationship with labor market freedom but only a weak relationship with government spending or taxes. These results offer mixed support for the Leviathan hypothesis, though support strengthens when metro areas in the South are excluded

Assessing the Measurement and Structure of Material Hardship in the United States

Measurement, Poverty, Material hardship, Well-Being,

Transcriptional Profiling of C. albicans in a Two Species Biofilm with Rothia dentocariosa

Biofilms on silicone rubber voice prostheses are the major cause for frequent failure and replacement of these devices. The presence of both bacterial and yeast strains has been suggested to be crucial for the development of voice prosthetic biofilms. Polymicrobial biofilms that include Candida albicans and Rothia dentocariosa are the leading cause of voice prosthesis failure. An in vitro biofilm comprising these two organisms was developed on silicone rubber, a material used for Groningen button voice prosthesis. We found that this biofilm environment was not conducive for C. albicans growth or differentiation. Global transcriptional analyses of C. albicans biofilm cells grown with R. dentocariosa revealed that genes with functions related to cell cycle progression and hyphal development were repressed &gt;2-fold. The mixed species biofilms were more compact and less robust compared to C. albicans mono-species biofilms, even when developed under conditions of continuous nutrient flow. Under these conditions R. dentocariosa also significantly inhibited C. albicans biofilm dispersal. Preferential adherence of R. dentocariosa to candidal hyphae was mediated by the adhesin Als3