Using Belgian microdata, we assess the impact, on a hedonic regression, of the distortions arising from the choice of either a specific zoning system or the delineation of the study area. We also evaluate the biases that arise when spatial effects are not accounted for. Given that the dependent...

This paper provides new estimates of the medium and long-term impacts of Head Start on the health and behavioral problems of its participants. We identify these impacts using discontinuities in the probability of participation induced by program eligibility rules. Our strategy allows us to...

Following the model-based approach of Ellison and Glaeser (1997), we develop a framework to test for the link between concentration, spatial clustering and the size of plants. Concentration is an a-spatial concept of variability that can be measured with the standard locational Gini or the more...

Recent developments in the econometric estimation of multi-output, multi-input distance functions have provided a promising new solution to the single-output restriction implicit in the standard production function. However, a suspicion that regressor endogeneity may introduce possible...

We investigate and compare the spatial distribution of manufacturing activity and its determinants in Belguim, Ireland, and Portugal using comparable, exhaustive micro-level data sets.We find some similarities between Portugal and Belguim, but little for Ireland. Moreover, there is some evidence...

Cognitive dissonance theory predicts that the act of voting makes people more positive toward the party or candidate they have voted for. Following Mullainathan and Washington (2009), I test this prediction by using exogenous variation in turnout provided by the voting age restriction. I improve...

We present and test a theory of prospective and retrospective pocketbook voting. Focusing on two large reforms in Sweden, we establish a causal chain from policies to sizeable individual gains and losses and then to voting. The Social Democrats proposed budget cuts affecting parents with young...

In a Regression Kink (RK) design with a finite sample, a confounding smooth nonlinear relationship between an assignment variable and an outcome variable around a threshold can be spuriously picked up as a kink and result in a biased estimate. In order to investigate how well RK designs handle...

Knowledge of how consumers react to different quality signals is fundamental for understanding how markets work. We study the online market- place for Android apps where we compare the causal effects on demand from two quality related signals; other consumers' stated and revealed preferences...

The objective of this paper is to study if taxpayers behave in a loss averse manner when filing their tax returns. This is important for tax design but also for understanding human behavior in general. The predictions of prospect theory can be contrasted to those of expected utility theory. We...