Alessandra Michelangeli

Measuring the social value of local public goods: an empirical analysis within Paris metropolitan area

A non-linear hedonic model is used to estimate the implicit marginal prices of 17 local public goods in a Paris suburban area on an original data set of some 8200 housing units. The results reveal a robust effect of local public school quality (measured both by the fraction of junior high school students that are at least two years behind grade level and the student/teacher ratio) on house prices. It is observed that housing owners’ marginal willingness to pay for reducing commuting time is roughly similar for public transportation than for car transportation. Another noticeable result is the complete capitalization of local taxes at a discount rate of 3.5%. An illustration of the potential usefulness of the results for Cost–Benefit analysis is also provided.

La Dolce Vita: Hedonic Estimates of Quality of Life in Italian Cities

Colombo E., Michelangeli A. and Stanca L. La dolce vita: hedonic estimates of quality of life in Italian cities, Regional Studies. This paper investigates quality of life in Italian cities using the hedonic approach. It analyses micro-level data for housing and labour markets to estimate compensating differentials for local amenities within four domains: weather, environment, services and society. Large compensating differentials in housing markets are found, whereas the effects on wages are relatively small. Quality of life varies substantially across space and is generally better in large and medium-sized cities of the Centre–North. Services and social conditions are strongly related to overall quality of life. It is also found that, across cities, quality of life is positively and significantly related to subjective well-being.

A stochastic dominance approach to the measurement of discrimination

This note suggests a bridge between stochastic dominance (Rothschild and Stiglitz, 1970 [17], 1973 [18]), inequality measurement (Atkinson, 1970 [1]) and discrimination measurement (Gastwirth, 1975 [10]). Discrimination orderings are defined and illustrated through discrimination curves, in the same spirit as stochastic dominance analysis. The main result, which links the second order discrimination curve and the Gastwirth discrimination index, also generalizes the equivalence between Generalized Lorenz dominance and second order stochastic dominance.

Wage Discrimination Measurement: In Defense of a Simple but Informative Statistical Tool

We examine several functional and numerical measures of wage discrimination in the spirit of the Lorenz curve. The First Order discrimination curve is based on the comparison of the wage CDF of two subpopulations. Three dierent Second Order discrimination curves are derived to re…ne the …rst one by taking into account inequality and/or e¢ ciency in the wage distribution across the two groups. We explore the relationship between these curves and some � Butler and McDonald (1987) developed about two decades ago the similar concept of interdistributional Lorenz curve and the main idea of our paper was already implicit in the work of some other scholars. However, our paper seems to constitute the …rst systematic study of these curves as a …rst step towards the derivation of partial dominance criteria in the analysis of discrimination data. y We thank Alain Trannoy for useful comments. The usual disclaimer applies. z Manufacture des Tabacs, Aile Jean-Jacques Laont 21, allee de Brienne, F-31000 Toulouse. E-mail: lebre-

Quality of life in cities : equity, sustainable development and happiness from a policy perspective

1. Urbanization: an overview 2. The hedonic value of urban quality of life 3. Measuring urban quality of life: a life satisfaction approach 4. Cities, equity and quality of life 5. Urban sustainability and individual/household well-being 6. Agglomeration economies and urban location benefits: the debate around the existence of an optimal city size

Decentralization and economic growth in Europe: for whom the bell tolls

ABSTRACT The effects of fiscal decentralization on economic growth are analyzed. A theoretical framework is developed that builds on the relationships between government size and growth and between decentralization and government size. The framework is tested empirically on a panel of 25 European countries observed between 1995 and 2015. The econometric results show that the relationship between expenditure decentralization and growth is bell shaped. The paper also focuses on expenditure composition. In this respect, the relationship between investment decentralization and growth is an inverted bell-shaped curve: there is a critical mass of decentralized investments beyond which it is possible to enhance growth.

The value of culture to urban housing markets

ABSTRACT Cultural amenities are the expression of a cultural environment, given by a combination of aesthetic factors, styles, rhythms and behaviours, which contribute to make a neighbourhood vibrant and more enjoyable. Following the hedonic approach, we propose an empirical strategy to capture the multiple effects of cultural amenities, as well as the effects produced by green areas, public transport and university proximity. The results are used to determine whether cultural amenities are optimally provided by the municipality of Milan, Italy. It emerged that investments in culture generate positive effects to society, and that governments should devote far more resources to culture.

Ethnic Minority Concentration: A Source of Productivity Growth for Italian Provinces?

This paper aims at assessing the contribution of ethnic minorities to the productivity of the main sectors of Italian provinces. To this end, we consider the first ten nationalities by numbers of regularised persons observed at the provincial level (NUTS-3) between 2003 and 2011. We use an empirical panel growth model with spatially augmented specifications, which allows to capture both the direct (marginal) and indirect (spillover) effects of each community on local productivity at the provincial level. Our findings show that two communities out of ten have a positive impact on economic performance of Italian provinces. Other foreign groups have significant effects only indirectly, meaning that these groups do not affect growth of provinces where they live, but the neighbouring provinces likely because of commuting.

How Does a City Benefit from Culture? Evidence from Milan

Cultural amenities are the expression of a cultural environment, given by a combination of aesthetics factors, styles, rhythms, behaviours, which contribute to make vibrant and more enjoyable a neighbourhood. Within the theoretical framework of the hedonic approach, we propose an empirical strategy to capture the multiple effects of cultural amenities. The results are used to determine whether cultural amenities are optimally provided by the municipality of Milan. It turns out that government should devote far more resources to culture.