We examine how the entry of gig-economy platforms influences local entrepreneurial activity. On the one hand, such platforms may reduce entrepreneurial activity by offering stable employment for the un- and under-employed. On the other hand, such platforms may enable entrepreneurial activity by offering work flexibility that allows the entrepreneur to re-deploy resources strategically in order to pursue the nascent venture. To resolve this tension, we examine the entry of the ride-sharing platform Uber X into local areas. We use two measures of entrepreneurial activity: crowdfunding campaign launches at Kickstarter, the world’s largest reward-based crowdfunding platform, and levels of self-employment from the Current Population survey. Results indicate a negative and significant relationship between platform entry and both measures of entrepreneurial activity. Importantly, the effect manifests primarily amongst unsuccessful Kickstarter campaigns and unincorporated entrepreneurial ventures, suggesting that gig-economy platforms predominantly reduce lower quality entrepreneurial activity, seemingly by offering viable employment for the un- and under-employed. These relationships are corroborated with a first-hand survey conducted with gig-economy service providers.

O objetivo central do trabalho é analisar os efeitos da concentração de mão-de-obra qualificada dos nos retornos à educação, tanto privados como sociais, dos trabalhadores brasileiros em 1991 e 2000. Em segundo lugar, investigamos se os potenciais ganhos são para todos os trabalhadores ou se beneficiam apenas um determinado grupo. Em terceiro lugar, o trabalho investiga o efeito da concentração de mão-de-obra qualificada no nível médio de rendimento das localidades brasileiras. A análise é feita tanto em nível agregado (municípios) como para os indivíduos. Uma contribuição do trabalho é a utilização de uma variável instrumental para predizer o nível de concentração de capital humano ao invés de se usar somente o nível observado atualmente nas localidades. O estudo da relação entre migração, concentração de capital humano e mercado de trabalho nesse trabalho será brevemente discutido ao consideramos o status migratório na determinação dos salários individuais e analisar as diferencias por região e nível de educação dos indivíduos. Os resultados mostram que as localidades com maior presença de trabalhadores qualificados, os níveis médios de salários são mais altos. Além disso, a concentração de capital beneficia mais os trabalhadores mais qualificados do que os menos qualificados.

Waves of business failures are common features of economic downturns. Although these failures often reflect declines in real activity, they also have the potential to actively propagate real shocks. Bernanke (1983) proposes one channel through which firm defaults can amplify downturns, showing that defaults increased the cost of credit intermediation during the Great Depression. Following the Panic of 1873, business failures had the potential to affect real activity much more directly due to the undeveloped nature of bankruptcy procedures. At this time debt defaults of large corporate enterprises such as railroads were not governed by any bankruptcy laws. When creditors filed suit following a debt default, the judge would appoint a receiver charged with maintaining railroad operations while the railroad was reorganized. In theory, receivers should have been able to prevent any interruption in the firm's existing . . .

The theory known as the Tiebout Hypothesis concludes that an individual or family’s decision to move to a community matches their desired level of public goods. In this paper, we review results from over 40 articles in the last 14 years, validating the claim that the Tiebout Hypothesis continues to be relevant and topical. The “basket” of public goods reviewed in- cludes U. S. states’ respective tax rates, Sun Belt migration levels, the relative cost and appeal of quality public schools, differing welfare policies, pollution levels, and comparative eco- nomic and personal freedom. The theory is that a proper sorting of these influences can guide policy makers to an optimal level of public goods for private entities and jurisdictions.

A strong work ethic generally has positive implications for achievements in work and school settings, but we know little about how it develops. This study aimed to describe the intra-familial transmission of work ethic and the associations between work ethic and adjustment in African American youth. Mothers, fathers, and two adolescent siblings (M age = 14.1 years) in 158 families were interviewed on two occasions. Path models revealed that fathers’ work ethic was positively linked with older siblings’ work ethic, which in turn was linked with more positive youth adjustment in the domains of school functioning and externalizing and internalizing problems. Moreover, the results indicated that the work ethics of older siblings, but not parents, was linked to those of younger siblings. The discussion focuses on the importance of African American fathers and siblings in youth adjustment and how work ethic may promote positive development.

Skilled migration is analyzed through an analytical framework that so far has been essentially ignored in the specialized literature on the subject: the deep restructuration process to which innovation systems have been subjected under the context of neoliberal globalization and the leadership of the United States. Besides unraveling the main transformations undertaken by innovation systems worldwide, the explosive growth of patents that has taken place during the last two decades is analyzed. This trend has been accompanied by an increasing participation of scientists and technicians from peripheral and emerging countries. From this particular analytical lens and taking as a reference the Mexican case, several elements aimed at disentangling the new modalities of unequal exchange that have emerged along the North-South divide are provided. At the background of this embryonic trend underlies an unprecedented commodification and appropriation of knowledge, as an intangible common good.

No ciclo de vida das pessoas, a transição para a vida adulta é uma importante etapa marcada pela mudança de status dos indivíduos, que configuram a passagem de jovens para adultos. Os principais processos que esse fenômeno envolve são: a saída da escola, o ingresso no mercado de trabalho, a saída da casa dos pais, o casamento e o nascimento do primeiro filho. Este trabalho traz referência aos aspectos de formação de famílias presentes na transição para a vida adulta, com foco na estrutura domiciliar onde se inserem as mulheres corresidentes com primeiro filho de menos de um ano de idade e busca caracterizar diferenciais segundo o vetor educacional no período dos últimos três censos demográficos (1991, 2000 e 2010). As evidências encontradas indicam que mães à primeira maternidade recente estão inseridas dentro de uma união, independente do período e grupo de idade analisado ou nível de escolaridade. Isso não quer dizer que eles estão dentro de um domicílio biparental tradicional, tampouco que esse processo segue uma linearidade das etapas que envolvem a transição para a vida adulta. A idade precoce das uniões, assim como o fato de que o contexto em que elas ocorrem muitas vezes estão inseridas dentro de uma extensão familiar indica que é possível que grande parte dessas uniões tenham sido resultado desses nascimentos. O papel dos pais e dos sogros é muito importante para os primeiros filhos recentes (avós desses filhos), e cresce entre os anos de 1991 e 2010. A proporção alta e crescente desses domicílios de três gerações no caso dos primeiros filhos recentes revela também a importância dos laços familiares dentro desse momento de constituição de um novo núcleo familiar, não somente em função de recursos ou cuidados, mas também com a convivência dentro de um mesmo domicílio.

Research on the migration patterns of couples has found that men’s human capital has a larger impact than women’s on family location choices, but an emerging qualitative literature shows that some couples avoid location-related tradeoffs between their careers by living apart. I propose a new method of identifying couples who live apart in the American Community Survey and use the method to construct the first nationally representative sample of matched noncohabiting husbands and wives. Consistent with previous research, I find that husbands’ education has a larger impact than wives’ on the probability that couples migrate together. In contrast, wives’ education has a larger impact on the probability that couples live apart. I argue that family location choices are analogous to marital naming choices: husbands rarely accommodate wives, whatever their circumstances, but wives accommodate husbands unless the cost of accommodation is unusually high.

These GIS SHP files cover the spread of different modes of transportation in the Lower 48 states from this nations founding through (approximately) 1911. Each transportation modecanals, steamboat-navigated (as opposed to navigable) rivers, and railroadshas its own archive ZIP file which contains the complete series of files (projection, database and polyline files, etc.) required by ESRIs ArcGIS and ArcGIS Pro. These are collectively referred to as a SHP file though there are actually multiple files for each mode of transportation. Once unpacked, these files for each SHP must be kept together and should only be edited using a GIS program. If corrupted, the entire SHP file will become unusable.

We explore whether county commissioners follow their partisan allegiances when selecting voting sites. Because low-turnout elections are said to benefit Republicans and high-turnout elections to benefit Democrats, we expect Republican-dominated commissions to create fewer early voting sites than Democrat-dominated commissions. Similarly, because demographics are good predictors of citizen partisanship, we expect to find Republican commissions select early voting sites that disenfranchise minority voters, while Democratic commissions select voting locations more proximate to minority areas. Using an originally collected dataset, we assess the party identification of county judges and commissioners and geo-code early voting locations in Texas from the November 2014 election. First, we assess whether Republican commissions create fewer sites in their counties than Democratic commissions. Second, we assess whether early voting locations are equitably sited using spatial analyses in ArcMap. Third, we examine if the county commissioners courts partisan composition affects where the early voting sites are placed. Our results provide some support for our theory that partisan county commissioners strategically create early voting sites to benefit their partys electoral fortunes; specifically, Republican commissions employ fewer early voting locations than Democratic commissions. Yet, these locations do appear to be equitably sited. We discuss substantial and statistical explanations for these results as well as their implications.

Waiting time in transit travel is often perceived negatively and high-amenity stops and stations are becoming increasingly popular as strategies for mitigating transit riders aversion to waiting. However, beyond recent evidence that realtime transit arrival information reduces perceived waiting time, there is limited empirical evidence as to which other specific station and stop amenities can effectively influence user perceptions of waiting time. To address this knowledge gap, the authors conducted a passenger survey and video-recorded waiting passengers at different types of transit stops and stations to investigate differences between survey-reported waiting time and video-recorded actual waiting time. Results from the survey and video observations show that the reported wait time on average is about 1.21 times longer than the observed wait time. Regression analysis was employed to explain the variation in riders reported waiting time as a function of their objectively observed waiting time, as well as station and stop amenities, weather, time of the day, personal demographics, and trip characteristics. Based on the regression results, most waits at stops with no amenities are perceived at least 1.3 times as long as they actually are. Basic amenities including benches and shelters significantly reduce perceived waiting times. Women waiting for more than 10 min in perceived insecure surroundings report waits as dramatically longer than they really are, and longer than do men in the same situation. The authors recommend a focus on providing basic amenities at stations and stops as broadly as possible in transit systems, and a particular focus on stops on low-frequency routes and in less safe areas for security measures.

This chapter assesses the potential for several prominent technological innovations to promote equality of educational opportunities. We review the history of technological innovations in education and describe several prominent innovations, including intelligent tutoring, blended learning, and virtual schooling.

High demand for photovoltaic (PV), battery, and small-scale combined heat and power (CHP) technologies are driving a virtuous cycle of technological improvements and cost reductions in off-grid electric systems that increasingly compete with the grid market. Using a case study in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, this paper quantifies the economic viability of off-grid PV+battery+CHP adoption and evaluates potential implications for grid-based utility models. The analysis shows that already some households could save money by switching to a solar hybrid off-grid system in comparison to the effective electric rates they are currently paying. Across the region by 2020, 92% of seasonal households and ~75% of year-round households are projected to meet electricity demands with lower costs. Furthermore, ~65% of all Upper Peninsula single-family owner-occupied households will both meet grid parity and be able to afford the systems by 2020. The results imply that economic circumstances could spur a positive feedback loop whereby grid electricity prices continue to rise and increasing numbers of customers choose alternatives (sometimes referred to as a utility death spiral), particularly in areas with relatively high electric utility rates. Utility companies and policy makers must take the potential for grid defection seriously when evaluating energy supply strategies.

The New Urbanism (NU) planning movement aspires to create socially diverse neighborhoods. It is unclear, however, whether this movement lives up to its aspirations in practice. In an effort to systematically examine this aspect of the movement, this paper analyzes age, family type, income, and race data of 70 NU neighborhoods in the United States. The paper uses a diversity index to compare the NU neighborhoods with control sites. Findings show that NU neighborhoods have lower racial diversity, but may have higher income diversity. Consideration of variations within the way NU is implemented reveals that the low racial diversity is associated with a single approach, but higher income diversity is associated with all variants. This paper argues that NU generates places that are more socially diverse than what is described in the literature and uses two case studies to explore the ways in which diversity is produced and its relation to gentrification.

This paper studies the impact of culture on the fertility behavior of teenage women in the US. To identify this effect, it took an epidemiological approach, exploiting the variations in teenage women's fertility rates by ancestral home country. Using three different databases (the US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, the US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, and the 2000 US Census), the results show that culture has quantitatively important effects on the fertility behavior of teenage women. This finding is robust to alternative specifications, to the introduction of a range of home country variables to proxy culture, and to the measurement of individual characteristics present when teenage women continue with a pregnancy to have a child.

The strong population growth in Sub-Saharan Africa brings also the increase of number of elderly. Using the disability statistics available through 19 Sub-Saharan countries' census through IPUMS, it is revealed that the disability rate increases along with age, especially for the types of disability "seeing", "hearing" and "physical", in contrast with "speaking" and "mental" disability which does not change substantially along with age. Disability rate is lower for women than men and higher in rural area than in urban area. The trend over the past two to three decades is not consistent between countries. Using the obtained age-specific disability rate, disability-free life expectancy and disability duration was calculated for the Sub-Saharan countries and the rest of the world. The longer the life expectancy, the longer the disability-free life expectancy as well as the disability duration. Sub-Saharan African disability duration is shorter than other regions of the world and the policies to extend the life span while co-existing with disability are needed.

William Bunge's Fitzgerald: Portrait of a Revolution, initially published in 1971, is an enthralling verbal and visual account of the historical and geographical development of a one-square-mile ne...

Title IX of the 1972 Educational Amendments to the Civil Rights Act (Title IX) made it illegal for an institution receiving Federal funding to exclude pregnant/parenting teens from the classroom. During the 1970s, education outcomes improved for all women but especially for teen mothers. I examine whether Title IX can explain any part of the advances for teen mothers. Opportunity costs of staying in school decrease for a larger fraction of teens in areas where teen motherhood rates are higher prior to Title IX. I use this variation to test whether teens in areas with higher pre-Title IX teen motherhood rates exhibit larger educational gains than teens in other areas. Next I examine whether these gains are higher for teen mothers versus individuals who are not teen mothers. My results suggest that Title IX improved teen mothers education outcomes and that these effects are most pronounced for black teen mothers.

The narrative around aging in the U.S. has been largely negative: the retirement rate is accelerating, there are workforce skill shortages, underfunded pensions, runaway health care spending, and unsustainable government deficits. Commonly referred to as the silver tsunami, this discussion of the aging population portends disaster. The challenges associated with an aging population are real. The private savings of many older adults are inadequate, and related fiscal challengesespecially for the federal government need to be addressed. These are critical trends to watch, shape, and act on. Missing from the story are older adults remarkable assets: high levels of education, expansive connections, deep work experience, and considerable consumer power. Growing numbers of older adults seek meaningful roles as workers, entrepreneurs, volunteers, and consumers. They desire active involvement in community life and would like to support a variety of charitable causes with time, money, or both. The silver tsunami is really an opportunity. Oregon lacks a strategy to engage and fully harness the potential of this rapidly growing population. This brief seeks to expand the narrative about older adult population and suggest how the State and local communities could tap this populations knowledge, entrepreneurial talent, time, and resources.

This article evaluates an emerging body of historical scholarship that challenges prevailing views of the primacy of rural conditions in southern lynching by positing that it was symbiotically associated with the processes of modernization underway in the region in the decades around 1900. Statistical analyses of lynching data that differentiate among events according to communal participation, support, and ceremony in Georgia and Louisiana from 1882 to 1930 and local-level indices of modernization (urbanization, rural depopulation, industrialization, agricultural commercialization, and dissolution of traditional family roles) yield results that both support and contradict such a modernization thesis of lynching. The findings imply that the consequences of the social transformation in the South coinciding with the lynching era were not uniform throughout the region with regard to racial conflict and violence and that broad arguments proposing an intrinsic connection between modernization and lynchings therefore are overstated.