XREAP2016-06: NEXT TRAIN TO THE POLYCENTRIC CITY: THE EFFECT OF RAILROADS ON SUBCENTER FORMATION

Recent evidence reveals that transportation’s improvements within metropolitan areas have a clear effect on population and job decentralization processes. Yet, very little has been said on how these improvements affect the spatial organization of the economic activity in the suburbs. This paper analyses the effects of transportation’s changes on employment subcenters formation. Using data from metropolitan Paris between 1968 and 2010, we first show that
rail network improvements cause the expected job decentralization by attracting jobs to suburban municipalities. Our main contribution is to show that the new rail transit clearly affects the spatial organization of employment through the number and size of the employment subcenters: not only does the presence of a rail station increase the probability of a suburban municipality of belonging to a subcenter by 5 to 10 %, but a 10 % increase in municipality proximity to a suburban station is found to increase its chance to be part of a subcenter by 3 to 5 %.

Garcia-López, M. A. (IEB, XREAP), Hemet, C.,Viladecans-Marsal, E. (IEB, XREAP)

XREAP2016-06.pdf

XREAP2016-05: LOCAL LABOR MARKET EFFECTS OF PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT

This paper quantifies the impact of public employment on local labor markets in the long-run. We adopt two quantitative approaches and apply them to the case of Spanish cities. In the first, we develop a 3-sector (public, tradable and non-tradable) search and matching model embedded within a spatial equilibrium model. We characterize the steady state of the model, which we calibrate to match the labor market characteristics of the average Spanish city. The model is then used to simulate the local labor market effects of expanding public sector employment. In the second empirical approach, we use regression analysis to estimate the effects of public sector job expansions on decadal changes (1980-1990 and 1990-2001) in the employment and population of Spanish cities. This analysis exploits the dramatic expansion of public employment that followed the advent of democracy in the period 1980 to 2001. The instrumental variables’ approach thatwe adopt uses the capital status of cities to instrument for changes in public sector employment. The two empirical approaches yield qualitatively similar results and, thus, cross-check each other. One additional public sector job creates about 1.3 jobs in the private sector. However, these new jobs do not translate into a substantial reduction in the local unemployment rate as better labor market conditions attract new workers to the city. Increasing public employment by 50% only reduces unemployment from 0.156 to 0.150.

Jofre-Monseny, J. (IEB, XREAP), Silva, J. I., Vázquez-Grenno, J. (IEB, XREAP)

XREAP2016-05.pdf

XREAP Symposium – Inequalities in Economics – November 25th 2016

Symposium 2016 – Xarxa de Referència en Economia Aplicada (XREAP)

Inequalities in Economics

Friday November 25th 2016
Sala de Recepcions, Facultat d’Economia i Empresa, UB

9:00 – 9:15 – Welcome
Elisenda Paluzie (Dean – Facultat d’Economia i Empresa)
Martí Parellada (Director – XREAP)
Antonio Manresa (Symposium Coordinator)

9:15-10:00
Global capitalism and economic inequality

Joan Esteban (IAE, CSIC, BGSE)
Moderator:  Antonio Manresa (CREB, XREAP, UB)

10:00-10:45
Income distribution, economic crisis and redistributive policies
Francisco J. Goerlich  (IVIE, UV)
Moderator:  Samuel Calonge (CREB, XREAP, UB)

10:45-11:30
Social mobility and education in Spain
Xavier Martinez Celorrio (UB)
Moderator:  Raul Ramos (AQR-IREA, XREAP, UB)

11:30 – 12:00 – Coffee break

12:00-12:45
Inequality of opportunity
Xavier Ramos (UAB)
Moderator:  Fernando Sánchez-Losada (CREB, XREAP, UB)

12:45-13:30
Indicators to measure multidimensional poverty
Iñaki Permanyer (CED, UAB)
Moderator:  Vicente Royuela (AQR-IREA, XREAP, UB)

13:30 Closening

Venue:
Sala de Recepcions, Faculty of Economics and Business, UB
C/ John Maynard Keynes 1, 08034 Barcelona
Metro L3 – Palau Reial

Map: