Showing 11 - 20 of 84 Items
Economic Analysis of the Critical Habitat Designation Process for Endangered and Threatened Species Under the Endangered Species Act of 1973
Date: 2022-01-01
Creator: Katherine Fosburgh
Access: Open access
- Habitat destruction is the leading cause of biodiversity loss in the US. Under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), habitat deemed essential to endangered and threatened species recovery is proposed as critical habitat (CH). CH areas are subject to regulations that could alter land development plans or increase costs. The potential economic opportunity cost created by CH regulations may lead to the exclusion of land proposed for CH designation, thereby reducing the conservation benefits of the CH rule. In this paper, I use a unique dataset collected from Federal Register (FR) documents to estimate the reduction in CH acreage from proposed to final ruling, both on the extensive and intensive margin. I find a negative relationship between the level of household income in an area proposed for CH and the probability that a CH gains acreage or maintains acreage during the establishment process. I also find some evidence that higher household income in a CH area is associated with a greater relative loss in acreage between proposal and finalization. I also find that private land proposed for CH designation is less likely to be in the final designation than federal land. Overall, my results suggest that economic considerations influence CH allocation decisions. Whether reducing the amount of private land subject to CH designations is socially efficient depends on the unknown economic benefit of private land exclusions versus the cost of biodiversity and ecosystem service loss that may result from not protecting all land deemed vital to species recovery.
Where do the poor live in cities? Revisiting the role of public transportation on income sorting in US urban areas
Date: 2020-06-03
Creator: Erik Nelson
Access: Open access
- Glaeser et al. (2008) argue that the relative distribution of poor and rich households (HHs) in American cities is "strongly" explained by the spatial location of the cities' public transportation (PT) networks. Among their claims: 1) The broad distribution of poor and rich HHs in the typical American city is consistent with a basic monocentric city model that includes commute technology speeds; 2) Poor commuters will overwhelmingly transition from commuting by PT to car if they experience a substantial increase in their HH’s income; 3) areas in American cities that receive new PT infrastructure become poorer over time. Using 2017 data I find empirical evidence that partially or wholly contradicts these three claims. First, as of 2017, the observed concentration of poor HHs in the inner city and rich HHs in the suburbs of the US’ smaller cities cannot be explained by monocentric model that includes commute speeds. Second, as of 2017, significant increases in poor HHs’ incomes were not expected to lead to a "massive shift" towards car commuting in these HHs; most of these poor workers commute by car already. Third, using data from four cities that expanded their light-rail and rapid-bus network in the early 2000s, I find that neighborhoods surrounding new light-rail or rapid-bus stations either saw little change in their income patterns or became slightly richer after station opening. In conclusion, as of 2017, the spatial distribution of HH incomes within American urban areas is not as intricately linked to the location of PT networks as Glaeser et al. (2008) would have us believe. As an addendum to the analysis I add some thoughts on how the COVID-19 pandemic might affect commuting behavior and income distributions within urban areas over the next decade.
The Role of Competition and Patient Travel in Hospital Profits: Why Health Insurers Should Subsidize Patient Travel
Date: 2013-05-01
Creator: Joseph S Durgin
Access: Open access
- This paper explores the effects of patient travel distance on hospital profit margins, with consideration to the effects of travel subsidies on hospital pricing. We develop a model in which hospital agglomeration leads to a negative relationship between profit margins and patient travel distance, challenging the standard IO theory that profit margins are higher for firms with greater distances of customer travel. Using data on patient visits and hospital finances from the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD), we test our theory and confirm that a hospital tends to have less pricing power if it draws patients from beyond its local cluster. We then consider how our results might justify the subsidizing of patient travel by insurers and government payers. Lastly, we present an argument for why the ubiquitous Hirschman-Herfindahl index of market concentration can be robust to owner and system-level hospital cooperation.
Does Productivity Respond to Exchange Rate Appreciations? A Theoretical and Empirical Investigation
Date: 2010-12-15
Creator: Yao Tang
Access: Open access
- Although real currency appreciations pose direct difficulties for exporters and import-competing firms as they will face more intense competition, is it possible that such competition spurs firms to improve productivity? To answer this question, the paper first constructs a theoretical model to show how the competitive pressures of currency appreciations induce firms to improve productivity by adopting new technologies. In addition, the model predicts that during appreciations there will be a positive relation between market concentration and improvements in productivity for industries highly exposed to trade, because the marginal benefits of productivity improvement will be bigger for firms with a larger market share. The paper then examines Canadian manufacturing data from 1997 to 2006, and finds evidence consistent with model predictions. I find that growth rates of labor productivity were on average higher during the Canadian dollar appreciation between 2002 and 2006, after controlling for industry characteristics. Within the group of highly traded Canadian industries, the more concentrated ones experienced larger growth in labor productivity.
The supply of media slant across outlets and demand for slant within outlets: Evidence from US presidential campaign news
Date: 2020-06-01
Creator: Marcel Garz, Gaurav Sood, Daniel F. Stone, Justin Wallace
Access: Open access
- We conduct across-outlet and within-outlet (and within-topic) analyses of “congenially” slanted news. We study “horse race” news (news on candidates' chances in an upcoming election) from six major online outlets for the 2012 and 2016 US presidential campaigns. We find robust evidence that horse race headlines were slanted congenially with respect to the preferences of the outlets' typical readers. However, evidence of congenial slant in the timing and frequency of horse race stories is weaker. We also find limited evidence of greater within-outlet demand for headlines most congenial to outlets' typical readers, and somewhat stronger evidence of greater demand for relatively uncongenial headlines. We discuss how various aspects of our results are consistent with each of the major mechanisms driving slant studied in the theoretical literature, and may help explain when each mechanism is more likely to come into play. In particular, readers may be more likely to click on uncongenial headlines due to inferring that these stories are particularly informative when they stand in contrast to an outlet's typically congenial slant.
History lessons: The early development of intellectual property institutions in the United States
Date: 2001-01-01
Creator: B. Zorina Khan, Kenneth L. Sokoloff
Access: Open access
Infant and Maternal Health Outcomes Following Improved Substance Use Disorder Treatment for Pregnant Women This record is embargoed.
- Embargo End Date: 2026-05-18
Date: 2023-01-01
Creator: Emma A. Bomfim
Access: Embargoed
How do Robinhood Investors React to Macroeconomic News? Access to this record is restricted to members of the Bowdoin community. Log in here to view.
- Restriction End Date: 2025-06-01
Date: 2024-01-01
Creator: Aditya S Pall-Pareek
Access: Access restricted to the Bowdoin Community
Does Beauty Pay? A Hedonic Analysis of College Athlete Name, Image, and Likeness Pricing This record is embargoed.
Date: 2025-01-01
Creator: Jane McCarter
Access: Permanent restriction
The Impact of Ride-Hailing Services on Public Transportation Use: A Discontinuity Regression Analysis
Date: 2017-05-26
Creator: Nicole Sadowsky, Erik Nelson
Access: Open access
- Since 2011, the private ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft have expanded into more and more US cities. We use regression discontinuity design to examine the impact of Uber and Lyft’s entry on public transportation use in the US’ largest urban areas. In most cases, entry into cities by the two ride-hailing companies was staggered: Uber entered first followed some months later by Lyft. We find that public transportation use increased in an urban area, all else equal, immediately following the first entry. However, we find that the spike in public transportation use after first entry disappeared following the entry of the second company. In fact there is some evidence that monthly public transportation ridership levels fell below their pre-first entry levels. In other words, the joint presence of the two major private ride-hailing services transformed ride-hailing services from a public transportation complement to a public transportation substitute, at least in the studied urban areas. We speculate that the first entrant complemented public transportation use for some in an urban area by solving the “last-mile” problem and by providing a potentially safer option at night when public transportation service has been reduced. However, we speculate the second entrant is likely to have spurred price competition in the urban area’s ride-hailing duopoly market and an increase in ride-hailing car supply. This competitive effect could have tipped the scales, making an entire trip with a ride-hailing service more cost-effective and convenient than splitting a trip between a ride-share company and public transportation.