Xu Xu, PhD, CFP

Access to the Internet is an essential determinant of innovation, which has received little attention in the literature. This paper emphasizes the role of Internet accessibility in lowering information costs and therefore boosting regional innovation activity. We construct a simple theoretical model to illustrate the positive impact of decreased discovery costs, proxied by the accessibility of the Internet, on innovation. To test this hypothesis, we exploit a county‐level data set in the U.S… Show more

Access to the Internet is an essential determinant of innovation, which has received little attention in the literature. This paper emphasizes the role of Internet accessibility in lowering information costs and therefore boosting regional innovation activity. We construct a simple theoretical model to illustrate the positive impact of decreased discovery costs, proxied by the accessibility of the Internet, on innovation. To test this hypothesis, we exploit a county‐level data set in the U.S. and run three types of regression with and without instruments: OLS, negative binomial, and Poisson. Within each method, we employ four levels of download speeds. We find a positive relationship between the access to the Internet and the number of patents filed in that specific county. This effect is particularly strong in the case of access to download speeds of 10 Mbps. Our analysis suggests that access to the Internet lowers information disseminating costs and therefore encourages more patents filed in the county. The results also indicate that access to the Internet matters more than faster Internet speed for innovation. Policy implications for these results suggest that if there were a minimum Internet access initiative, there could potentially be a significant increase in innovation by the U.S.

The article can be accessed for free here: https://rdcu.be/bUlPS Show less

Although there exists sizeable literature studying the impact of tourists’ risk perceptions, less attention has been devoted to studying the difference between the impact of measured and perceived risks. We apply a panel vector autoregression (PVAR) to a dataset of inbound tourism in Shanghai, China to study the dynamic relationship between pollution and tourism. Particularly, we distinguish between measured pollution level and perceived pollution (measured by Google Trends search data) to test… Show more

Although there exists sizeable literature studying the impact of tourists’ risk perceptions, less attention has been devoted to studying the difference between the impact of measured and perceived risks. We apply a panel vector autoregression (PVAR) to a dataset of inbound tourism in Shanghai, China to study the dynamic relationship between pollution and tourism. Particularly, we distinguish between measured pollution level and perceived pollution (measured by Google Trends search data) to test which one has the larger impact on tourists’ decisions. Our results show that pollution (measured or perceived) can be a powerful deterrent to potential international tourists. Show less

This article considers the effects upon human capital in a host country when foreign universities open branches within this country. We create a model where aspiring students differ according to inherent ability and choose endogenously how much time to devote to preparing to win admittance to a university. Universities can either be domestic or foreign, and payoffs for the student differ between them. The presence of these foreign universities can potentially increase effort—and so human… Show more

This article considers the effects upon human capital in a host country when foreign universities open branches within this country. We create a model where aspiring students differ according to inherent ability and choose endogenously how much time to devote to preparing to win admittance to a university. Universities can either be domestic or foreign, and payoffs for the student differ between them. The presence of these foreign universities can potentially increase effort—and so human capital—by providing more incentive to study. However, they can also lead to brain drain as students could be more likely to emigrate upon graduation relative to those who attend a domestic university. We apply this model to China and use parameter values in simulations to assess to what extent inflow of foreign universities provide benefits to China. Show less

Pollution inherently conjures negative thoughts; particularly when that pollution can be hazardous to your health. However, the extent to which pollution discourages tourism has yet to be studied empirically. In this research letter, we examine the interaction between perceived pollution and inbound tourism in China through a VAR model. Concerns about pollution are measured by Google Trends data. We find that perceived pollution lowers inbound tourism. Our results show that the rising unease… Show more

Pollution inherently conjures negative thoughts; particularly when that pollution can be hazardous to your health. However, the extent to which pollution discourages tourism has yet to be studied empirically. In this research letter, we examine the interaction between perceived pollution and inbound tourism in China through a VAR model. Concerns about pollution are measured by Google Trends data. We find that perceived pollution lowers inbound tourism. Our results show that the rising unease about pollution could hurt the tourism sector in an economy. Show less

Anecdotal evidence suggests that people migrate to avoid air pollution. In this paper, we empirically examine the extent to which air pollution is a push factor for international migration. We allow air pollution to affect migrants differently according to their educational attainment as well as their gender. We also instrument for the level of pollution. Results generally show that air pollution is positively associated with emigration for higher educated individuals but less so for those with… Show more

Anecdotal evidence suggests that people migrate to avoid air pollution. In this paper, we empirically examine the extent to which air pollution is a push factor for international migration. We allow air pollution to affect migrants differently according to their educational attainment as well as their gender. We also instrument for the level of pollution. Results generally show that air pollution is positively associated with emigration for higher educated individuals but less so for those with less educational attainment. Gender differences are less pronounced. Show less

10.1016/j.econmod.2016.03.001