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In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress in conjunction with the Small Business Administration (SBA) created the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to help small business owners retain employees. We improve on previous literature exploring the relationship between bank density and PPP loan dispersion by implementing precisely geocoded data to map loans to commuting zones. Revisiting results in Deming and Weiler (2023), we confirm the statistically significant relationship between bank density and PPP loans per small business. We consider three distinct periods of lending to analyze how changes in the PPP loan program rules might have impacted dispersion. The coefficient in the regression of loans per small business on bank density is largest in the final wave of lending, and in commuting zones with high loan densities. This suggests that having additional bank branches in the commuting zone may have helped facilitate rapid dispersion of relief funds to high demand areas during the program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the effect of small business loans on subsequent establishment births in U.S. counties. Using an economic growth framework and cross-sectional empirical model, we test the hypothesis that [...]

The Paycheck Protection Program was a highly unusual policy measure enacted to provide bridge capital to support small businesses coping with the dramatic downturn in demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic. By design, the program effectively required potential applicants to work through the bank with whom they had a relationship. Yet large swathes of the country are effectively banking deserts, which dramatically steepen the gradient for those regions' businesses seeking Paycheck Protection Program support. This paper tests the proposition that the exogenous distribution of banks effectively discriminated against those regions where banking services were limited, while also looking at whether loans were distributed to those areas with less dense employment opportunities and higher concentrations of small businesses. The authors find that areas with fewer banking services and lower employment opportunities were systematically disadvantaged in the Paycheck Protection Program distribution, while there were no significant flows to areas with higher rates of small businesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study identifies the determinants of growth for male and female business ownership in a subset of U.S. counties. The results indicate that there are important characteristic and behavioral differences [...]

This paper develops a spatial econometric model of transportation mode choice and tests the association between zoning and other built environment variables and the choice of auto and non-auto transportation. We provide an extensive review of spatial econometrics and demonstrate the importance of using models that treat space formally when investigating urban transportation behavior. Using a unique combination of travel, employment, and built environment datasets from Denver, Colorado, we confirm previous results that built environment variables have a small association with choice of transportation mode and show the benefits of formal spatial modeling to the traditional probit model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the economic upheaval brought by COVID-19, it was very difficult to understand economic events as they unfolded in real time, during unprecedented pandemic conditions. Since existing methods did not adequately address the rapid changes to the economy on a statewide basis, we felt compelled to create a novel approach to (a) bring current critical data and (b) to evaluate the varying impacts of changes occurring in real time. As practitioners, this created actionable data to forecast future economic scenarios using public datasets and readily available spreadsheet software, giving guidance on an economy in conditions with no direct analogue. This paper describes a way to integrate public data to assess present economic changes and describes the approach using straightforward processes and accessible tools. By comparing and contrasting findings in Arizona and Colorado, our analysis of this approach reveals that the updated data showing the current state of the economy (the Nowcast) is a robust approach for creating accurate, current data, and the various methods for further dissection (the Multi-Level component) create informative datasets for a detailed analysis, with the caveat that structural changes to the economy need to be kept in mind so as not to confuse what is firmly known with what is an overly broad application of the method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indonesia is exploring possibilities of offering alternatives to private vehicle owners with a view to improve economic efficiency and ease traffic congestion.

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jue.2006.02.001 Byline: Stephan Weiler Abstract: Site designation conveys a unique set of signals to information-constrained potential visitors. Changes in designation thus offer natural experiments to evaluate the signaling importance of names. This paper estimates the visitation effect of the conversion of National Monuments to National Parks. Such conversions generate persistent significant impacts, indicating that designation signals are indeed credible. These signals are particularly important to information-constrained distant national visitors compared to more proximate state and metro populations who have better information about nearby sites. Furthermore, park visits appear to be economical yet naturally rewarding inferior goods, as visitation increases when incomes stagnate. Author Affiliation: Center for the Study of Rural America, Federal Reserve Bank, 925 Grand Boulevard, Kansas City, MO 64198 Article History: Received 24 August 2005; Revised 7 February 2006

A dual market model is used to compare evolutions of structural joblessness in German regions with those of a Rust Belt area in the US. Results indicate that German labor markets exhibit both intriguing similarities and differences to the US benchmark case.

While previous research has generally found that immigration raises unemployment for natives, effects are often more muted than expected. Anticipated out-migration responses have been similarly difficult to discern. However, these findings may be byproducts of the long-run nature of most inquiries, which furthermore do not account for changes in natives' labor force participation. In response, this study evaluates the impact of the arrival of low-skilled immigrants on low-skilled natives in urban areas over a five year period. Initial static results from the Census Basic Monthly Survey clearly indicate that immigrants have a significant negative impact on natives' labor force participation. Building upon these static panel results, characteristics of immigrants' destination choices are examined along with the ensuing adjustment process through dynamic analyses of local markets. Surges of immigrants significantly reduce the labor force participation of low-skilled natives, emphasizing this often neglected channel for labor market adjustment. Previous work may thus understate the true impact of immigrants on local labor markets by focusing on the longer term and ignoring adjustments through participation.

Central place theory describes an orderly hierarchy of places, with particular retail services developing for lower-ordered places as they reach a threshold. Yet it is likely that nearby areas could serve simultaneously as a source of demand and a source of competing supply for retail stores in a place. This paper contributes to the understanding of local economic development by modeling and estimating the geographic interdependence between a place and its neighboring areas. The simultaneous equation Tobit results suggest that such geographical interdependence exists for most retail industries, with spatial competition on the supply side being particularly important.

Abstract AIM Sleep disturbances induce proinflammatory immune responses, which might increase cardiovascular disease risk. So far the effects of acute sleep deprivation and chronic sleep illnesses on the immune system have been investigated. The particular impact of shift work induced chronic circadian disruption on specific immune responses has not been addressed so far. Methods Pittsburgh-Sleep-Quality-Index (PSQI) questionnaire and blood sampling was performed by 225 shift workers and 137 daytime workers. As possible markers the proinflammatory cytokines IL-6 and TNF-α and lymphocyte cell count were investigated. A medical examination was performed and biometrical data including age, gender, height, weight, waist and hip circumference and smoking habits were collected by a structured interview. Results Shift workers had a significantly higher mean PSQI score than day workers (6.73 vs. 4.66; p < 0.001). Day workers and shift workers had similar serum levels of IL-6 (2.30 vs. 2.67 resp.; p = 0.276), TNF-α (5.58 vs. 5.68, resp.; p = 0.841) or lymphocytes count (33.68 vs. 32.99, resp.; p = 0.404). Furthermore there were no differences in cytokine levels (IL-6 p = 0.761; TNF-α p = 0.759) or lymphocyte count (p = 0.593) comparing the sleep quality within the cohorts. When this calculation of sleep quality was stratified by shift and day workers irrespective of their sleep quality day workers and shift workers had similar serum levels of IL-6, TNF-α or lymphocytes count. Multiple linear regression analysis showed a significant correlation of lymphocytes count and smoking habits. Conclusion Shift work induces chronic sleep debt. Our data reveals that chronic sleep debt might not always lead to an activation of the immune system, as we did not observe differences in lymphocyte count or level of IL-6 or TNF-α serum concentration between shift workers and day workers. Therefore chronic sleep restriction might be eased by a long-term compensating immune regulation which (in healthy) protects against an overstimulation of proinflammatory immune mechanisms and moderates metabolic changes, as they are known from short-term sleep deprivation or sleep related breathing disorders.