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Working Paper
Localized Knowledge Spillovers: Evidence from the Spatial Clustering of R&D Labs and Patent Citations
SUPERCEDES EORKING PAPER 17-32 Buzard et al. (2017) show that American R&D labs are highly spatially concentrated even within a given metropolitan area. We argue that the geography of their clusters is better suited for studying knowledge spillovers than are states, metropolitan areas, or other political or administrative boundaries that have predominantly been used in previous studies. In this paper, we assign patents and citations to these newly defined clusters of R&D labs. Our tests show that the localization of knowledge spillovers, as measured via patent citations, is strongest at small ...
Journal Article
Whither consumer credit counseling?
Bob Hunt outlines the history of credit counseling in the U.S. He also observes that, despite its long track record, the credit counseling industry is not without controversy. For example, in recent years, concerns about conflicts of interest and the emergence of a new type of credit counseling agency have triggered significant legislative and regulatory activity. Hunt notes that there is evidence that credit counseling organizations are effective in helping some consumers. However, he points out that the lack of formal research in this area makes it difficult to interpret information and a ...
Working Paper
The agglomeration of R&D labs
This paper has been superseded by WP 15-03.<p>The authors document the spatial concentration of more than 1,000 research and development (R&D) labs located in the Northeast corridor of the U.S. using point pattern methods. These methods allow systematic examination of clustering at different spatial scales. In particular, Monte Carlo tests based on Ripley's (1976) K-functions are used to identify clusters of labs ? at varying spatial scales ? that represent statistically significant departures from random locations reflecting the underlying distribution of economic activity (employment). ...
Working Paper
The development and regulation of consumer credit reporting in America
In the United States today, there is at least one credit bureau file, and probably three, for every credit-using individual in the country. Over 2 billion items of information are added to these files every month, and over 2 million credit reports are issued every day. Real-time access to credit bureau information has reduced the time required to approve a loan from a few weeks to just a few minutes. But credit bureaus have also been criticized for furnishing erroneous information and for compromising privacy. The result has been 30 years of regulation at the state and federal levels. ; This ...
Discussion Paper
Residential Migration, Entry, and Exit as Seen Through the Lens of Credit Bureau Data
We analyze a large, nationally representative anonymized data set of consumers with a credit report from 2002 to 2010. This is a period that encompasses a boom and bust in consumer credit. Using census data, we classify consumers into four categories of relative neighborhood income and find that, over time, the number and proportion of consumers with a credit report fell in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods and rose in higher-income neighborhoods. Population trends evident from census data explain only a portion of these changes in the location of the credit bureau population. In most ...
Discussion Paper
The efficiency and integrity of payment card systems: industry views on the risks posed by data breaches
Consumer confidence in payment card systems has been built up over many decades. Cardholders expect to use their cards to execute payment instructions in a reliable and timely manner. Data breaches that degrade the perceived safety and reliability of payment cards may weaken consumer confidence in those systems and potentially cause cardholders to shift to other, and perhaps less efficient, forms of payment. A sizable shift away from payment cards ?induced by the consequences of one or more data breaches is unlikely. Even so, the probability of such an outcome is uncertain. In other words, ...
Journal Article
Patent reform: a mixed blessing for the U.S. economy?
The 1980s represented a period of dramatic change in the design and enforcement of U.S. intellectual property law. Many of these changes were adopted in the hopes of stimulating private research and development and improving the technological competitiveness of American industries. This article examines the effects of an especially important aspect of these changes: many more inventions qualify for patent protection than before. While it seems logical that making patents easier to obtain will encourage more inventive activity, economic analysis reveals this is not always true, and it is less ...
Journal Article
What's in the file? The economics and law of consumer credit bureaus.
In "What's in the File? The Economics and Law of Consumer Credit Bureaus," author Bob Hunt points out that lenders in the United States have voluntarily shared information about their customers - through credit bureaus - for nearly a century. Hunt explains how sharing information about consumers' indebtedness and payment histories can benefit both consumers and lenders. These benefits depend, however, on the accuracy of the information reported and the care taken to ensure that information is disclosed only when appropriate. Hunt also describes the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which ...
Working Paper
Matching and learning in cities: urban density and the rate of invention
This paper examines the role local labor markets play in the production of innovations. The authors appeal to a labor market matching model ( la Berliant, Reed, and Wang 2004) to argue that in dense urban areas, workers are more selective in their matches and are therefore more productive. They find that, all else equal, patent intensity (patents per capita) is 20 percent higher in a metropolitan area with an employment density (jobs per square mile) twice that of another metropolitan area. Since local employment density doubles nearly four times across their sample, the implied gains in ...
Working Paper
A century of consumer credit reporting in America
In the United States today, there is at least one credit bureau file, and probably three, for every credit-using individual in the country. Over 2 billion items of information are added to these files every month, and over 3 million credit reports are issued every day. Real-time access to credit bureau information has reduced the time required to approve a loan from a few weeks to just a few minutes. But credit bureaus have also been criticized for furnishing erroneous information and for compromising privacy. The result has been 30 years of regulation at the state and federal levels. ; This ...