An Overview of Urbanization in Ecuador under FUAs Definition [WP]

This paper analyzes the urbanization of Ecuador in the period 1950 – 2010 under the Functional Urban Areas (FUAs) definition. When Ecuadorian FUAs population evolution over time is explored, it is possible to observe that the urbanization of Ecuador had its peak between 1960 and 1980. Moreover, the highest increase of population in recent decades is mostly driven by the urban growth of small FUAs. In addition, the analysis suggests that the FUAs in Ecuador are in line with the size and structure of the FUAs of a similar developing country, Colombia, and the whole OECD sample of FUAs. Finally, it is pointed that the population of Ecuador is concentrated in the FUAs of metropolitan size (1.5 million of inhabitants or more), which are below the average of the metropolitan areas of the OEC

Computing functional urban areas using a hierarchical travel time approach: An applied case in Ecuador

Identifying integrated urban areas is an important issue for urban analysis and policy evaluation. In this paper, we extend the OECD’s methodology to identify Functional Urban Areas to countries where there is not commuting data. We do so substituting such socioeconomic flows by available information on road structure, which allow us to work with accessibility based on travel time. The main advantage of our procedure is its applicability to most countries in the world, as it only uses GIS data. In this paper we apply the procedure two border countries: Colombia, which has a recent census with commuting data, to calibrate our approach, and Ecuador, where there is not commuting census. We perform several sensitivity analysis and robustness checks to Ecuador with alternative sources of socioeconomic flows

What drives the spatial wage premium in formal and informal labour markets? The case of Ecuador

This article investigates the incidence of agglomeration externalities in Ecuador, a small-sized, middle-income developing country. In particular, we analyze the role of the informal sector within these relations, since informal employment accounts for a significant part of total employment in the developing countries. Using individual level data and instrumental variable techniques, we investigate the impact of spatial externalities, in terms of population density, local specialization and urban size, on the wages of workers in Ecuadorian cities. The results show that spatial externalities matter also for a small developing country. Moreover, analysis of the interaction between spatial externalities and informality shows that, on average, workers employed in the informal sector do not enjoy significant benefits from agglomeration externalities. Finally, by investigating the possible channels behind spatial agglomeration gains we show that the advantages from agglomeration for formal sector workers may well be accounted for by better job-quality matches and, to a lesser extent, by learning externalities. For informal sector workers, our findings also suggest possible gains from job changes, which offset a penalty for remaining employed in the same occupation

What drives the spatial wage premium for formal and informal workers? The case of Ecuador [WP]

This article investigates the incidence of agglomeration externalities in a typical developing country, Ecuador. In particular, we analyze the role of the informal sector within these relations, since informal employment accounts for a significant part of total employment in the developing countries. Using individual level data and instrumental variable techniques, we investigate the impact of spatial externalities, in terms of population size and local specialization, on the wages of workers in Ecuadorian cities. The results show that spatial externalities matter also for a typical developing country, especially as far as urbanization externalities are concerned. Moreover, analysis of the interaction between spatial externalities and the informal economy shows a general penalization for informal workers in terms of benefits arising from agglomeration externalities. Finally, by investigating the possible channels behind the heterogeneity found in spatial agglomeration gains between formal and informal workers, we show that the advantages from agglomeration for formal workers may well be accounted for by positive sorting and better gains from job changes, while for informal workers they rise from positive learning externalities

Spillover effects and regional determinants in the Ecuadorian clean-cooking program: A spatiotemporal econometric analysis

Developing countries are making great efforts to electrify residences to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and deal with climate change. In 2014, Ecuador launched a clean-cooking program known as the Programa de Cocción Eficiente (PCE) aimed at replacing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)-fired cookstoves and LPG-fired boilers with electric devices. Using an original dataset of monthly information (2015-2021) at the parish level, we study several important determinants of participation in this program that have not yet been addressed. We first model spatial spillovers and then investigate the impact of regional power quality and the effect of other subsidized programs related to electricity consumption. Our results show spillover effects for PCE participation with regard to cooking but not for the overall PCE participation rate. Higher participation is associated to better supply quality and with the use of other power subsidies. Policy recommendations include the need to perform detailed spatial analyses of the determinants of participation in these programs, instead of using surveys, and designing programs using a placed-based approach, in addition to evaluating cross-sectional effects between subsidies in advance in order to avoid unforeseen trade-offs and considering the regulatory framework for utilities to provide effective incentives to improve supply quality

Measuring Overcrowding in Households with Children: Official vs. Actual Thresholds in the Ecuadorian Case

This paper reports research into the official (more than three people per bedroom, ppb) compared to the actual classification of household overcrowding using a developing country as a case of study. In this respect, the aim of this paper is two-fold. Firstly, using the official Ecuadorian household overcrowding threshold, we explore the association between household overcrowding and a well-being variable. Secondly, we identify and compare whether this official threshold corresponds to the actual level at which the well-being variable seems to be affected. To do so, we use a probit regression in which our well-being variable, young children's respiratory health, depends on household overcrowding. We find that overcrowding is positively associated with the incidence of respiratory diseases in children at a level of α=1%. Always using the official classification of overcrowding (3 ppb), marginal effect analysis indicates that, for two hypothetical households with at least one 0- to 5-year-old child with average values in terms of the other estimates, the predicted probability of having a child with a respiratory disease is 0.0022 greater for an overcrowded household than in one that is not. With respect to our second objective, we find that the threshold at which household density starts to affect the incidence of respiratory disease in children is 1.33 ppb, which is significantly lower than the official classification of over 3 ppb. In conclusion, the Ecuadorian government and other authorities that have established their household overcrowding classification arbitrarily should re-evaluate their official criteria, setting a threshold at which household density starts to deteriorate the health outputs of the household members. In fact, it may be useful to discuss and incorporate a refined definition of overcrowding, which could include other considerations than just density (e.g., an age limit for children for sharing a bedroom and gender separation), taking the restrictions of a developing country into account, in this case. Moreover, an official classification that reflects the social reality allows accurate policies, goals and strategies to be established to improve household overcrowding

Three Essays on Agglomeration Economies in Ecuador

[eng] This thesis focuses on analyzing agglomeration effects in Ecuador. The thesis is divided into five chapters. The first chapter is an introductory chapter where it is focused on the motivation of the case study and the importance of studying agglomeration economies in developing countries. The chapter two is devoted to identifying the Functional Urban Areas in Ecuador. This identification is important because Ecuador does not follow an adequate definition of economic urban areas. However, Ecuador does not also have information available to identify Functional Urban Areas, the Functional urban area identification is based on population density per squared kilometer and commuting census. Thus, this chapter presents an identification of Functional Urban Areas on the basis of satellite data to get data on population density in grid cells of one squared kilometer and road network system of Ecuador to identify urban center and using the concept of proximity to connect those urban centers from an economic point of view. A function of proximity measured in travel time which varies according to the size of each urban core is estimated to connect the urban cores and to define the final boundaries of the Functional Urban Areas. Chapter three is devoted to analyzing agglomeration effects on labor productivity, analyzing the 28 Functional Urban Areas identified in the previous essay. The data used in this chapter is micro data of workers, called ENEMDU surveys, to evaluate wages as an indicator of labor productivity during the period 2005-2015. In addition, we include the consideration of analyzing the labor market divided in the formal and informal sector. Finding presents that larger cities are more productive in Ecuador. The two variables analyzed are total market size and local specialization index. Findings show that agglomeration effects are positive and significant, with a magnitude lower than other developing economies studied so far. Moreover, it is founded that both sectors, formal and informal benefits from working in larger cities, but informal in less magnitude. The channels of the agglomeration are also studied. Chapter four presents the analysis of city size and slum for the 28 Functional Urban Areas introduced in chapter two. To address slums in Ecuador, it is proxied through several measures that combines bad material of the houses and lack of coverage of basic infrastructure. Moreover, it is going beyond the dichotomy of slum identification, by means of measuring the slum level of the households. Three indexes are built to measure slum level at a micro-level of households. The data is gathered from the national censuses of the population of Ecuador in 1990, 2001 and 2010. It is founded a negative relationship between city size and slum characteristics, indicating that larger cities in Ecuador offer lower level of slum characteristics. Moreover, it is analyzed the new areas created in the largest city of Ecuador, named as Guayaquil, over the period of analysis, results show that new extension are characterized by slum incidents. Chapter five introduces the final conclusions. The conclusion shows that Ecuador presents positive and significant agglomeration effects, that benefit both sectors, formal and informal, but informal in less magnitude. Moreover, it is considered that Functional Urban Areas presents are preferred for urban planning and policy considerations. The importance of improving the quality of the labor force in Ecuador, and the needs of monitoring slums characteristics in Ecuador

Identifying functional urban areas in Ecuador using a varying travel time approach (Code and Raw Data)

We provide the code for producing Functional Urban Areas by means of using OSM and Google maps data.Dades associades a l'article: Obaco A., Moisés; Royuela Mora, Vicente (2019): Identifying functional urban areas in Ecuador using a varying travel time approach,. Publicat a: Geographical Analysis, 2020, vol. 52, n. 1. (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gean.12190). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/gean.12190.Podeu consultar l'article associat a: http://hdl.handle.net/2445/154578Identifying integrated urban areas is an important issue for urban analysis and policy evaluation. In this paper, we provide a set of FUAs suitable for monitoring urbanization in Ecuador, a less developed country without commuting data. We do so substituting such socioeconomic flows by available information on road structure, which allow us to work with accessibility based on a varying travel time. In order to build Ecuadorean FUAs, we calibrate our methodology considering Colombian data. We perform several sensitivity analysis and robustness checks to Ecuador with alternative sources of socioeconomic flows. We conclude that the use of GIS data and the calibrated thresholds provide a set of FUAs close to the ones that would result of using commuting information

An Overview of Urbanization in Ecuador under FUAs Definition [WP]

This paper analyzes the urbanization of Ecuador in the period 1950 – 2010 under the Functional Urban Areas (FUAs) definition. When Ecuadorian FUAs population evolution over time is explored, it is possible to observe that the urbanization of Ecuador had its peak between 1960 and 1980. Moreover, the highest increase of population in recent decades is mostly driven by the urban growth of small FUAs. In addition, the analysis suggests that the FUAs in Ecuador are in line with the size and structure of the FUAs of a similar developing country, Colombia, and the whole OECD sample of FUAs. Finally, it is pointed that the population of Ecuador is concentrated in the FUAs of metropolitan size (1.5 million of inhabitants or more), which are below the average of the metropolitan areas of the OEC

On the link between material deprivation and city size: Ecuador as a case study

The association between city size and productivity has been widely investigated in the academic literature. On the contrary, less is known about the link between city size and material living conditions. Recently, a strong emphasis has been put on the process of urbanization without growth and on the burst of large cities. The creation of slums and large areas with underdeveloped housing characteristics has become a major concern for urban planners. This is especially the case for developing economies. This work analyses the association between city size and material living conditions in Ecuador, a small developing country experiencing rapid urbanization and where slums constitute a relevant part of the urban landscape. Our findings show that living in denser areas is associated with lower levels of deprivation and overcrowding. Nonetheless, we also show evidence of congestion in larger cities