Brian J. Cushing

Capitalization of interjurisdictional fiscal differentials: An alternative approach

Abstract In virtually every study concerning capitalization of fiscal differentials into property values, the unit of observation has been a local jurisdiction or an individual house sale within a jurisdiction. Urban economic theory suggests that capitalization of fiscal differentials should be most obvious at the border of two jurisdictions. Housing price differentials between adjacent blocks at the border of two jurisdictions will be used to study capitalization. Such an approach reduces problems associated with measurement of (dis)amenities and public services, and with the use of a distance variable in urban areas with multiple employment or recreation centers.

Statistical inference for testing inequality indices with dependent samples

This paper develops asymptotically distribution-free inference for testing inequality indices with dependent samples. It considers the interpolated Gini coefficient and the generalized entropy class, which includes several commonly used inequality indices. We first establish inference tests for changes in inequality indices with completely dependent samples (i.e., matched pairs) and then generalize the inference procedures to cases with partially dependent samples. The effects of sample dependency on standard errors of inequality changes are examined through simulation studies as well as through applications to the CPS and PSID data.

Accounting for spatial relationships in models of interstate population migration

This study focuses on the specification of distance and space in models of state-to-state population migration. Typically, space is captured by one or two simple variables that do not adequately model the spatial relationship between states. These are particularly poor measures for states with a common border, especially those with a metropolitan area located near the border. Four models of interstate population migration are developed, with increasingly complex specifications of space. The models are estimated using 1975 to 1980 migration data for the 48 contiguous states of the United States. Common borders and bordering metropolitan areas do influence interstate population flows. Models lacking a more detailed specification of space will lose explanatory power and suffer from biases.

The Joint Choice of an Individual's Occupation and Destination

International development goals moved beyond increasing food production to include poverty reduction and protecting the environment in a sustainable way. Degradation of natural resources due to exploitation coupled with population pressure in developing countries causing food insecurity and environmental degradation further. Participatory watershed management approach is proposed to address this problem effectively.

Use and Misuse of the Allocation Rate in Models of Population Migration

In empirical work on population migration, researchers have utilized many different measures of migration. One measure that is used periodically is an “allocation rate”, most commonly defined as the number of persons moving from origini to destinationj during the time period divided by the total number of outmigrants from origini during the period. While an allocation rate is a valid and interesting measure, it has been misunderstood in several instances, leading to some empirical results that are difficult to interpret. In this paper, previous work on allocation rates is discussed and one study is replicated for the 1975 to 1980 period. It is demonstrated that inclusion of origin variables in such models is theoretically incorrect and results in substantial biases in empirical work. Inclusion of ratios of destination-to-origin variables is valid only with a very narrow interpretation.

Statistical Tests of Changes in U.S. Poverty, 1975 to 1990*

Since President Lyndon Johnson declared the war on poverty three decades ago, scholars have devoted many volumes to analyzing characteristics of poverty, evaluating effectiveness of antipoverty policies, and measuring changes in poverty. Unfortunately, most poverty studies have focused primarily on the incidence of poverty rather than on both the incidence of poverty and the income distribution within the poor population. Although A. K. Sens [23] seminal work on measurement of poverty demonstrated the importance of constructing and using a distribution-sensitive poverty measure in evaluating poverty, the U.S. Federal Government still uses the proportion of poor as virtually the only indicator of poverty. With few exceptions, such as Bishop, Formby, and Smith [5], most recent scholarly works on poverty issues, including Sawhill [21], Hanratty and Blank [17], and Slesnick [24], are also concerned exclusively with the incidence of poverty and use a single poverty line. In this study, we demonstrate that a more comprehensive look at poverty, using distribution-sensitive measures and multiple poverty lines, yields a different picture of poverty changes over time compared to what official U.S. statistics portray. Practically, the comparison of poverty changes can be decomposed into three parts: (1) setting a poverty line -an income threshold below which a person is defined as poor. This step is also called the identification of the poor and is very important in poverty study; (2) choosing a method to aggregate individual poverty into overall poverty. Different methods of aggregating may lead to different conclusions about poverty changes. Therefore an appropriate method is essential for poverty study; and (3) statistical inference-since conclusions about poverty changes are drawn from a random sample of the population, it is important to know whether the estimated poverty