Ben Jensen () (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne) Mark N. Harris () (Department of Econometrics and Business Statistics, Monash University)
Additional information is available for the following
registered author(s):
In recent years, analyses of neighbourhood externalities have grown with the perceived importance of their influence upon outcomes. Despite this growth, a clear understanding of the role of neighbourhoods in determining outcomes remains elusive. Various attempts have been made to quantify the role of neighbourhoods and limit problems of misspecification that have plagued this literature. Recent research suggests that neighbourhood proxies that measure characteristics similar to the dependent variable may better capture neighbourhood externalities. We explore variation in estimations including distinct neighbourhood proxies by estimating the influence of neighbourhood externalities upon youths' education expectations. Misspecification tests for normality and heteroscedasticity show particular neighbourhood proxies are more susceptible to misspecification. Monte-Carlo experiments show these neighbourhood proxies are also more likely to produce biased estimates if particular family characteristics are not fully captured. We find estimations including neighbourhood proxies measuring characteristics proximate to youths' education are less likely to suffer misspecifications. We also find that different geographic definitions of neighbourhoods can lead to erroneous findings, particularly considering variation in school quality.
Download Info
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to
view it first. Information about this may be contained
in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read
the IDEAS help
page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
Publisher Info
Paper provided by Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne in its series Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series with number
wp2003n04.
Length: 32 pages Date of creation: Feb 2003 Date of revision: Handle: RePEc:iae:iaewps:wp2003n04
Contact details of provider: Postal: Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010 Australia Phone: +61 3 8344 2100 Fax: +61 3 8344 2111 Email: Web page: http://www.melbourneinstitute.com/ More information through EDIRC
For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Woei T Liew).