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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 [...]

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 [...]

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.