Decomposing the Dynamics of Regional Earnings Disparities in Israel

The literature on regional growth convergence and economic disparities has tended to confound four interwoven measurement phenomena. i) mean reversion (so-called beta convergence) where richer regions move towards the average from above and poorer regions from below. ii) diminishing inequality (so called sigma convergence) where the horizontal or spatial distribution of income becomes more equal. iii) mobility, where the rank of a region in the overall distribution of income changes either upwards or downwards. iv) leveling, where the richer regions become poorer (leveling-down) or the poorer regions become richer (leveling-up). We use a new statistical methodology, which treats these four phenomena on an integrated basis. The methodology is applied to Israeli regional earnings and house price data. We find that whereas earnings are strongly sigma divergent during the 1990s, this trend is offset when regional cost of living differences are taken into consideration. In this event, regional housing markets induce convergence in similar measure to the divergence induced by regional labor earnings.

Regional Heterogenity and Conditional Convergence

This paper stresses the importance of accounting for regional heterogenity in the dynamic analysis of regional economic disparities. Studies of regional growth invariably presume regions are homogenous in that their socio-demographic composition is assumed to be broadly similar. We argue that any analysis of regional convergence needs to be tested conditionally, i.e. conditional upon the socio-demographic structure of the workers in the various regions. To this end, we estimate various measures of conditional regional earnings inequality using Israeli regional data for the period 1991-2002. Our results show that much of the regional earnings inequality may be accounted for by the conditioning variables. Both in measures of regional convergence and regional mobility, conditioning makes a large difference to the results accounting for up to half of the observed levels of inequality. Ignoring regional heterogeneity may therefore lead to serious over-estimation of the underlying level of regional inequality.

Nonparametric estimation of concave production technologies by entropic methods

An econometric methodology is developed for nonparametric estimation of concave production technologies. The methodology, bases on the priciple of maximum likelihood, uses entropic distance and concvex programming techniques to estimate production functions.convex programming, production functions, entropy

Parenting and Reproductive Stoppage in the Psychopathology for Recurrence Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder

During 1950 to 1975 autism was considered to be psychopathological in origin, brought on by ‘bad’ mothering in particular. Subsequently, research into the etiology of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been dominated by the neurodevelopmental paradigm according to which ASD is genetic or biological in origin. In the present paper population cohort data for Israel are used to show that recurrence risk of ASD (when more than one child has ASD) depends on three parent-related phenomena. First, it varies inversely with the ‘veil of ignorance’ defined as the period of time younger siblings were raised before their elder sibling was diagnosed. Second, it varies inversely with the ‘shadow of ASD’ defined as the period during which parents raised their child with ASD before younger siblings were born. Third, recurrence risk is greater if parents knew the ASD status of their child before conceiving their next child. These three effects, which are shown to be consistent with a behavioral theory of ASD, are inconsistent with neurodevelopmental theory. They suggest that what parents know or do not know about the ASD status of their child is salient for recurrence risk in their subsequent children

Migration, human capital and social capital: lessons for the EU neighbouring countries

The European Union (EU) and its European neighbourhood are mutually dependent. In the next decades, the EU will need to import foreign labour in response to different challenges. The geographical proximity, economic, cultural and historical links with EU Neighbouring countries make them an important potential source of labour force and, moreover, they are the main countries of origin and transit of legal and illegal migration towards Europe. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of different EU policies on future migration flows, and to evaluate the current effect of immigration from neighbouring countries on EU labour market

Tourism and Economic Globalization: An Emerging Research Agenda

Globalization characterizes the economic, social, political, and cultural spheres of the modern world. Tourism has long been claimed as a crucial force shaping globalization, while in turn the developments of the tourism sector are under the influences of growing interdependence across the world. As globalization proceeds, destination countries have become more and more susceptible to local and global events. By linking the existing literature coherently, this study explores a number of themes on economic globalization in tourism. It attempts to identify the forces underpinning globalization and assess the implications on both the supply side and the demand side of the tourism sector. In view of a lack of quantitative evidence, future directions for empirical research have been suggested to investigate the interdependence of tourism demand, the convergence of tourism productivity, and the impact of global events

Country survey XI: Defence and the Israeli economy

The literature on economic aspects of defence in Israel is critically reviewed by subject: measuring the defence burden, the determinants of defence spending, the effects of defence spending on the economy, and the military-industrial complex. An overview of the Israeli economy is provided, and some new econometric findings on the determinants of defence spending are presented. The paper concludes by addressing policy issues in the context of Israel's jubilee.Defence economics, Israel, Cointegration,