Corporate Finance and Real Estate
Paper Session
Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021 12:15 PM - 2:15 PM (EST)
- Chair: Cailin Slattery, Columbia University
Corporate Relocation and Housing Market Spillover
Abstract
Using a comprehensive database of corporate relocation events in the U.S. from 1994 to 2017, we investigate the impact of headquarters relocation on the local economy by examining its spillover effects on the housing market. Our baseline results show that headquarters moving into a district is significantly associated with 10% higher housing price growth rate in the district. Moreover, we document a temporal spillover effect as housing prices increase one year before the relocation and rise further until two years afterwards, and a spatial spillover effect of corporate relocation on nearby districts' housing markets of up to 15 miles. We further find agglomeration economies exacerbate the effect of corporate relocation on the housing market. Overall, our study shows how corporate relocation exhibits positive spillovers to the local economy.Amazon Is Coming to Town: Headquarters Relocation and Housing Market Efficiency
Abstract
This study empirically examines strong-form market efficiency in housing markets. We use Amazon’s recent progressive disclosure of its new headquarters locations to distinguish changes in the public’s knowledge. Using a spatial difference-in-difference approach, we test whether housing prices increase, before Amazon’s announcements, near Amazon’s new headquarter locations in Crystal City, Virginia, and Long Island City, New York. The quality-adjusted housing prices exhibit 4.9% and 4.6% price premia near Amazon’s Virginia and New York headquarters, respectively, after the revelation of 20 finalist cities but no premia for other shortlisted cities. In addition, price premia for New York disappear before the formal cancellation of the New York headquarters, while premia remain constant in Virginia. This result is consistent with strong-form efficiency, where housing prices incorporate Amazon's private information.The Geography of Jobs and the Gender Wage Gap
Abstract
Prior studies have shown that women are more willing to trade off wages for short commutes than men. Given the gender difference in commuting preferences, we show that the wage return to commuting (i.e., the wage penalty for reducing commute time) that stems from the spatial distribution of jobs contributes to the gender wage gap. We propose a simple job choice model, which predicts that differential commuting preferences would lead to a larger gender wage gap for workers who face greater wage returns to commuting based on their locations of residence and occupations. We then show empirical evidence that validates the model's prediction. Moreover, we estimate the model components: (i) the indifference curves between wages and commutes by gender, and (ii) the wage return to commuting faced by each worker. Our model shows that differential commuting choices account for about 16-21% of the gender wage gap on average, but the contribution varies widely across residential locations. The model also shows that policies that increase commute speed or density in the central city neighborhoods could moderately lower the gender wage gap.Discussant(s)
Nate Pattison
,
Southern Methodist University
Caitlin Gorback
,
National Bureau of Economic Research
Troup Howard
,
University of Utah
Astrid Kernz
,
University of Goettingen
JEL Classifications
- G3 - Corporate Finance and Governance