344 research outputs found
Federal Policy Towards State and Local Economic Development in the 1990s
No full textThis paper suggests new federal policies towards state and local economic development assistance to business. I argue that there is some evidence that these programs can be effective in encouraging business growth and helping the unemployed. But state and local governments do not have the right incentives to adequately pursue national goals through economic development programs. State and local governments are not inclined to do quality evaluations of their programs and tend to favor business attraction programs over programs that might increase U.S. business productivity. In addition, it is unclear whether economic development efforts are most vigorously pursued by economically depressed areas, in which the national social benefits of economic development are the greatest. A new federal policy towards economic development should provide partial federal support for state and local economic development programs that encourage business productivity. The funding should be coupled with requirements for rigorous outside evaluation, comparing the performance of assisted and unassisted firms. Finally, our system of fiscal federalism should be reformed to provide greater resources for economically depressed areas. This assistance will allow these areas to be more economically competitive.state, local, economic, development, Bartik
Solving the Many Problems with Inner City Jobs
No full textInner-city business development is often proposed as a solution to inner-city poverty. However, research evidence suggests that creating new jobs in the inner city is unlikely by itself to significantly increase the employment or earnings of the inner city poor. Public subsidies for inner city business development may be justified by greater environmental, congestion, and fiscal benefits of inner city vs. suburban business location decisions. The research evidence suggests that some boost in inner city business development may be provided by a combination of economic development incentives with enhanced public services. A different set of policies must be used to increase the earnings of the inner city poor. These employment solutions to inner city poverty should include two components; (1) creating more effective labor market intermediaries to make it easier for inner-city residents to find good jobs and for employers throughout the metropolitan area to find good inner city workers; (2) enhancing the job skills of the inner-city poor, particularly their "soft skills", by training programs that have closer ties to employers and incorporate subsidized employment experience. Given the magnitude of the poverty problem, any realistic policy to significantly reduce inner-city poverty through enhanced earnings will require tens of billions of dollars of annual government spending.wages, inner city, earnings, poverty, welfare, labor demand, Bartik
Aggregate Effects in Local Labor Markets of Supply and Demand Shocks
No full textAnti-poverty policy in the U.S. has emphasized labor supply policies, such as welfare reform or job training. Anti-poverty policy in the U.S. has not emphasized policies to increase labor demand for the poor, such as public employment or subsidizing private employers to hire the poor. What are the aggregate effects of such policies on wages and unemployment of different groups? This paper estimates and simulates a model with several types of labor, using data from the Current Population Survey on state labor markets. The simulations suggest that forcing more disadvantaged persons into the labor market can displace many other persons from employment in the short-run and medium-run, and increased public employment of the poor may be offset by reduced private employment of the poor in the long run. Wage subsidies to either the poor or the poor's employers have little effect on the poor's employment or market wages, although paying wage subsidies to the poor increases take-home pay. Finally education policies not only directly help those educated, but also increase average earnings of less-educated groups and reduce average earnings of more-educated groups.local, labor, markets, supply, Bartik
Evaluating the Impacts of Local Economic Development Policies On Local Economic Outcomes: What Has Been Done and What is Doable?
No full textThis paper argues that more rigorous evaluations of local economic development policies are feasible. Programs that aid selected small firms can be rigorously evaluated using an experimental approach, without excluding firms from assistance, by randomly assigning some firms to receive more intense marketing efforts by the program. Programs that aid distressed local areas can be rigorously evaluated by random assignment of the program among eligible distressed areas. If an experiment cannot be done, a variety of statistical approaches can be used to compare firms or areas that use the program with comparison groups of firms or areas that do not use the program. These statistical analyses should be supplemented with surveys and focus groups with businesses that use the program, which give some insight into why the program works or doesn't work. Evaluations should go beyond the effects of programs on business growth to effects on local fiscal health and the earnings of the unemployed. Evaluations using rigorous approaches suggest that programs providing information services to small manufacturers are frequently effective. Programs targeting distressed areas are ineffective unless great resources are used over a lengthy period.evaluation, local, regional, economic, development, Bartik, Upjohn
The Labor Supply Effects of Welfare Reform
No full textWill welfare reform increase unemployment and reduce wages? The answer depends in part on how much welfare reform increases labor supply. This paper considers the labor supply effects of the welfare reforms that have occurred since 1993, when President Clinton entered office with a promise to "end welfare as we know it." The paper reviews previous estimates, and provides new estimates, of how many additional labor force participants have entered the labor force due to welfare reform. I estimate that welfare reform from 1993-96 increased the U.S. labor force by between 100,000 and 300,000 persons. Between 1996, when the major federal welfare reform bill was enacted, and 1998, welfare reform has probably increased the U.S. labor force by at least another 300,000 persons. Assuming current policy trends continue, welfare reform may add another half-million to one-million labor force participants between 1998 and 2005. The cumulative impact of welfare reform from 1993-2005 is likely to add between one and one-and-a-half million persons to the U.S. labor force. This additional labor supply is not huge compared to the U.S. labor force, so welfare reform is unlikely to have large long-run effects on overall wages and unemployment. However, this additional labor supply is large compared to likely growth in labor demand for less-educated women over the 1993-2005 period. As a result, welfare reform is likely to have significant effects on the wages and unemployment rates of less-educated women during the 1993-2005 period.welfare, reform, labor, supply, Bartik
Intramolecular transmission of chiral information: Conformational enantiomers in crystalline organocobalt complexes generated by self-organization
No full textThe conformations of alkylcobalt tricarbonyl tertiary phosphine completes, ROC(O)CH2Co(CO)(3)L(L = PPh(3); R = Me, Et, n-Pr, i-Pr, s-Bu, t-Bu, c-Hex (two modifications), CH(2)Ph, (S)-{[EtOC(O)/CH(Me)}, (1S,2R,5S)-menthyl, (1R,2S,5R)-menthyl; L = P(1S,2S,5R-menthyl)Ph(2), R = i-Pr), have been studied in crystalline phases by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The geometries of the complexes are of a trigonal-bipyramidal type with the non-carbonyl ligands in the two axial positions. We find that the (chiral) conformations of the alkyl Ligand and the phosphine group develop concertedly
Maximum Score Estimates of the Determinants of Residential Mobility: Implications for the Value of Residential Attachment and Neighborhood Amenities
No full textThis paper examines the determinants of the decision of low-income renters to move out of their current dwelling. Maximum score estimation is shown t be superior to ordinary discrete choice estimation techniques (probit, logit) for this problem, ad for similar discrete choices that require revering a previously optimal decision. The estimation reveals psychological costs of moving for typical low income renters of at least 8 percent of their income; these costs are even higher for older, longer tenure, or minority households. Policies that displace low income renters will have large social costs. In addition, the estimation results are used to calculate implicit household willingness to pay (WTP) for neighborhood amenities. This WTP based on mobility behavior is much greater than WTP estimates derived using hedonic methods, and is argued to be more accurate. This paper uses a semiparametric empirical technique to estimate the determinants of the decision of low-income renters to move out of their dwelling. These estimates show that low-income residents highly value remaining in their dwelling. In addition, these estimates are used to illustrate an alternative method to measure willingness to pay for neighborhood amenities. Moving decisions are usually examined with standard discrete choice models such as probit or logit (e.g., Venti and Wise (1984), or Weinberg, Friedman, and Mayo (1981). But the moving decision presents econometric difficulties for standard discrete choice models. As will be explained in section 1, because the household decision about moving is conditional on having previously preferred the original location, the disturbance term in mobility models is unlikely to follow the simple distributional forms required for probit or logit estimation. Maximum score estimation is an alternative estimation technique for discrete choice models that is robust to unusual distributions of the disturbance term. Although the theoretical properties of maximum score estimation have been well-explored (see Manski (1975,1985)), our paper presents one of the first empirical applications of maximum score techniques. Maximum score estimation of our residential mobility model yields similar parameter estimates to probit estimation, but much smaller standard errors. This advantage of greater precision may prove attractive to other researchers. We use our estimates of the residential mobility model to calculate the value to households of remaining at their current dwelling rather than being forced to move out. We use the household's mobility response to rent changes to infer a monetary value of remaining in the current dwelling. Our calculations indicate that the typical low-income renter household is willing to pay at least 8 percent of its annual income to avoid being forced out of its current dwelling. These "psychological moving costs" increase greatly for older or longer tenure households. Large "psychological moving costs" have important implications for public policy towards low-income neighborhoods. Neighborhood improvement policies or private market forces may displace low-income renters. If the losses suffered by low-income renters due to being forced out of their current dwelling unit are significant, as indicated in this paper, then it is important to include these losses in any evaluation of the net benefits of a neighborhood improvement program. In addition, policy makers might want to consider policies to prevent or compensate for privately-induced displacement. Estimates of the monetary value of low-income renters' psychological moving costs are important to determining the effects of these policies, and deciding appropriate compensation. Finally, this paper uses the residential mobility estimates to infer the willingness t pay (WTP) of low-income renters for neighborhood amenities such as the physical condition of the neighborhood, neighborhood school quality, and the safety of the neighborhood from crime. The relative responsiveness of household mobility to changes in these neighborhood amenities, versus changes in rents, implicitly reveals households' monetary valuations of these amenities. The more common approach to measuring household WTP for neighborhood amenities is the hedonic price approach, which relies n the equilibrium relationship between housing prices and amenities. The calculations in this paper suggest that mobility-based WTP estimates for amenities may often be greater than hedonic based estimates of WTP. We consider which approach is more accurate. Section 1 of the paper presents our econometrics, specification, and data. Section 2 presents the results. Section 3 is the conclusion.residential, mobility, determinants, Bartik, low-income, renters
Genetic Studies of Familial Vesicoureteral Reflux
No full textVesicoureteral reflux (VUR) is a common congenital anomaly with a high risk of recurrent urinary tract infections (UTI) and, as a consequence, scarring of the renal parenchyma. Additionally, high-grade reflux is often associated with congenital renal damage (hypodysplasia). A clear heredity is seen, although genetic factors are only known for a minority of cases. The aim of this thesis was to study the heritability and genetic contribution as well as to compare the differences between familial and sporadic VUR.
Study I compared clinical data from familial VUR with sporadic cases. Out of the 726 children with reflux that have been treated at Queen Silvia Children's Hospital between 1990 and 2004, 99 individuals (from 66 families) have reported relatives with VUR. A strong overrepresentation of maternal transmission of VUR was seen. The phenotype of VUR did not differ between familial and non-familial cases.
Study II investigated the contribution of ROBO2 and SLIT2 genes in familial VUR through mutation screening by direct sequencing in 54 unrelated patients with primary VUR. Six sequence variants were observed in ROBO2 gene in the exon–intron boundary area, two of which were new, but none of them altered gene splicing. One SLIT2 missense mutation was detected and predicted to alter the secondary structure of the protein. However, this variant did not segregate with VUR in the family. Gene variants in ROBO2 and SLIT2 are rare causes of VUR in humans.
Study III investigated 14 families from south-western Sweden with 3 or more affected members with primary VUR for shared genomic regions, possibly inherited from a common ancestor, and for recurrent copy-number variants in the families. A high-density SNP array was used for genotyping affected individuals and four controls. We found no unique haplotype region shared by most of the families, thus common founder mutation was excluded. However, subset of families shared different regions, six of them corresponding to previous linkage studies. We presented the genes and non-coding elements relevant for urinary tract development that are located within these regions. One CNV, a deletion at 5q31.1, segregated with VUR and hypodysplasia in one of the investigated families.
Study IV analysed 13 of the above-mentioned 14 families by whole-exome sequencing (WES) in order to find disease causing gene mutations. The findings were confirmed with segregation analysis based on Sanger sequencing in the whole family. We identified three novel variants that might affect function, in LAMC1, KIF26B and LIFR genes, in three families. SALL1, ROBO2 and UPK3A gene variants, predicted to be deleterious, were excluded by segregation analysis. In all, we demonstrated likely causal gene mutation in 23% of the families.
In conclusion, severity of the disease did not differ between familial and non-familial VUR. Our studies show that VUR is a genetically highly heterogeneous malformation. WES in combination with a segregation study is a useful tool when it comes to confirming variants in known candidate genes and identifying new genes that might be involved in the pathogenesis of VUR
Early/late bimetallic complexes: MCo2 (M = Ti, Zr) derivatives
No full text(eta(5)-C5H5)(2)M[Co(Co)(4)](2) (M = Ti, Zr) complexes were prepared by alkane elimination from the corresponding metallocene diorganyls and HCo(CO)(4) or by salt elimination from metallocene dihalides and Na[Co(CO)(4)]. (Ph(2)N)(2)Ti[Co(CO)(4)](2) was obtained from (Ph(2)N)(4)Ti and HCo(CO)(4)
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