Michael J. Hicks

The Influence of Targeted Economic Development Tax Incentives on County Economic Growth: Evidence From Michigan's MEGA Credits

This article estimates the county-level impact of the Michigan Economic Growth Authority (MEGA) Credit targeted tax incentives to firms from 1995 through 2002. The authors employ a fixed effects instrumental variable model with spatial and time autocorrelation function tested on aggregate income, employment, the unemployment rate, and sectoral activity in manufacturing, wholesale, and construction. The authors find no impacts of the MEGA credit program on county-level aggregate employment, unemployment rates, wages, or incomes. Furthermore, there is no impact of manufacturing or warehousing credits on employment or wages in these sectors. The authors do find that MEGA credits produce a transient impact on construction employment (a drop in construction wages is statistically but not economically significant). The construction impact of MEGA is an estimated

To LEED or Not to LEED: Analysis of Cost Premiums Associated With Sustainable Facility Design

123,000 investment per construction job. Generally, 75% of these jobs last for 1 year, with the remaining 25% lasting only into the second year.

Mom-and-Pops or Big Box Stores

Abstract: Many organizations have established policies authorizing a “green” cost premium to fund sustainable design. In order to determine whether or not this practice is supported, we collected construction, cost, and utility data on a sample of 160 LEED certified buildings. Using simple correlation and descriptive statistics to analyze the resulting database, we found operating costs in LEED certified buildings were

Quality assurance staffing impacts in military aircraft maintenance units

0.70 per square foot less than non-LEED buildings, energy costs were 31% lower, and cost premiums ranged from 2.5 to 9.4% with a mean of 4.1%. Correlation analysis suggests there are very few statistically significant correlations among the design variables.

A Regional Computable General Equilibrium Analysis of Property Tax Rate Caps and a Sales Tax Rate Increase in Indiana

This article explores WalMart’s impact on the retail sector in the counties in which it is located, as well as in surrounding counties, by examining the number and size of retail outlets, by retail category. Using statewide data as well as a case study incorporating econometric modes, we find that the main impact of the entrance of a WalMart primarily falls on competitive big box stores. Furthermore, we find that the long-run adjustment to the entrance of a WalMart takes between 18 and 36 months.

The Economic Effects of Bus Transit in Small Cities

Purpose – This paper summarizes our research into the impact that current Air Force quality assurance staffing practices have on key unit performance metrics.Design/methodology/approach – Interviews and Delphi surveys culminated in the development of a quality assurance staffing effectiveness matrix. The matrix was used to calculate historical quality assurance staffing effectiveness at 16 Air Force combat aircraft units. Effectiveness scores were then regressed with unit historical data for 25 metrics.Findings – Nine metrics were deemed statistically significant, including break rates, cannibalization rates, flying schedule effectiveness rates, key task list pass rates, maintenance scheduling effectiveness rates, quality verification inspection pass rates, repeat rates, dropped objects counts and safety/technical violations counts. An example benefit‐cost analysis for changes in quality assurance staffing effectiveness presents compelling evidence for maintenance managers to carefully weigh decisions to ...

BP: Social Responsibility and the Easy Life of the Monopolist

We use a regional computable general equilibrium (CGE) model and Indiana data to examine both the short-run and the long-run effects of property tax rate limits and an increase in the sales tax rate. We find that the property tax caps and sales tax rate increase have a relatively small impact on aggregate economic measures in the short run and a positive effect in the long run. Higher-income households experience larger increases in income than lower-income households in terms of the dollar amount of the increase, but lower-income households experience larger gains as a percentage of labor income. The value of output (sales) increases in the long run with construction, certain manufacturing industries, and wholesale trade experiencing the largest increases.

The impact of bus transit on employee turnover: Evidence from quasi-experimental samples

This analysis investigates the impact of public transit in counties with small to medium-sized cities. The objectives are to answer: Do counties with bus transit have lower growth in transfer payments such as food stamps, Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF), or higher income growth, employment growth, and population growth? Public transit is commonly viewed as a social service; this analysis explores the economic impact of this public investment. The authors find that relative to counties without bus transit, counties with bus systems have significantly lower unemployment rates, lower growth in family assistance, lower growth in food stamp payments, and higher population and employment growth. Yet, the positive impact on job access, which reduces payments for family assistance and food stamps is tempered by lack of discernable effects on income likely driven by supply-side effects in the labor market.

Warfare, Civil Conflict and the Spatial Impacts on Domestic Investment: Evidence from South America, 1950-2000

In the Spring 2003 issue of this publication, Bernard Bulkin, chief scientist at what was once known as British Petroleum, outlined the corporate vision for his company. He defined sustainability as would be nurtured in BP as: “environmental protection, economic development, social progress and building for the future” (Bulkin 2003). This Journal Executive Viewpoint appeared in what was a very contentious debate within the Journal over the research on corporate social responsibility. I was then an editorial board member and was mightily entertained.

Do university based biotechnology centres impact regional biotechnology related (commercial) employment

This analysis investigates the relationship between fixed-route bus transit and employee turnover using data from quasi-experimental samples. We expect that counties with fixed-route bus transit will have lower turnover rates because transit offers an affordable means of transportation to workers without automobiles, allowing these workers to reach job sites. Panel regression models and county-level data from Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin from 1998 through 2010 are used to test this hypothesis. We find that the size of the fixed-route bus system (measured as real per capita operating expenditures) is negatively related to employee turnover rates: An increase in bus systems’ per capita operating expenditures is associated with a decrease in employee turnover. Decreases in employee turnover represent cost savings to businesses by reducing the costs associated with training new workers and rebuilding firm-specific knowledge or better employee-employer matches. These results suggest that access to fixed-route bus transit should be a component of the economic development strategy for communities not only for the access to jobs that it provides low-income workers but also for the benefits accruing to businesses that hire these workers.