RESEARCH
Research Interests:
Macroeconomic Theory, Economic Growth, Heterogeneous Agent Modeling, Intergenerational Mobility, Income Inequality, Corruption, Computational Economics and Applied Econometrics.
You can access my Google Scholar Profile here!
You can access my Google Scholar Profile here!
Publications:
- Philip Shaw and Joseph A. Mauro. The Macroeconomic Implications of Corruption on the Choice to Educate. Economic Systems, 47(2), 2023 (Available Here)
- Abstract: Educational corruption is a worldwide phenomenon yet the macroeconomic implications of it are largely unknown. We formulate a model to explore the impact educational corruption may have on growth, income inequality and other factors. Our model produces a v-shaped relationship between growth and corruption, suggesting that corruption is detrimental to growth at lower levels of bribery, but growth enhancing at greater levels. A cross-section of countries is used to empirically test our model and provides qualitative support for our modeling structure. Distributional analysis reveals that increased prevalence of corruption leads to greater income inequality and reduces education’s ability to signal quality.
- Joseph A. Mauro. Spatial Awareness: Examining the Impact of Income Mobility on Local Economic Growth under Spatial Autocorrelation. Quarterly Review of Business Disciplines, 8(4):345-363, 2022. (Available Here)
- Abstract: This paper examines the role of inequality of opportunity on regional economic growth in the United States. We use data from the commuting zone level to estimate the relationship between intergenerational mobility, as measured by absolute and relative mobility, on per capita income growth from 2000 to 2013. We find that the geographic relationship which exists between observations in the dataset reduces the reliability of estimated coefficients and standard errors obtained using ordinary least squares estimation. We control for spatial autocorrelation caused by this geographic relationship and find that both absolute and relative mobility have a positive effect on growth, adding to the body of evidence which identifies access to opportunity as a critical determinant of economic growth. We also find that absolute and relative mobility both have a 20 percent greater marginal effect on growth than when estimated using ordinary least squares. These findings have important policy implications as they confirm the importance of the inequality of opportunity in local economic development.
- Joseph A. Mauro and Sophie Mitra. Youth idleness in Eastern Europe and Central Asia before and after the 2009 crisis. Applied Economics, 52(15):1634–1655, 2020. (Available Here)
- Abstract: Youth idleness is a significant problem in many countries, including in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ECA) where it has rarely been studied. Labor market and education policies need to be based on a strong knowledge base on the Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET) population. This paper uses micro-level data from the early 2000s through 2011 to fill knowledge gaps. NEET rates for different age intervals, gender and educational attainment are investigated for the ECA region and countries within. We find that the NEET rate in ECA was declining prior to the 2009 crisis and increased afterward, with a more pronounced impact on males. Our findings reveal considerable heterogeneity across countries likely due to varying demographics, labor market conditions and education policies. Policies on idle youths in this region need to be tailored to varying national situations. This paper also suggests pathways for future research.
- Joseph A. Mauro. Estimating the Impact of Intergenerational Income Mobility on Metropolitan Statistical Area Growth in the United States. Studies in Business and Economics, 15(1):127–141, 2020.
- Abstract: This paper explores the relationship between economic growth and intergenerational mobility in the United States. Data from metropolitan statistical areas in the U.S. is used to examine how two measures of intergenerational mobility impact growth rates. More precisely, I examine how absolute income mobility and relative income mobility are related the growth rate of real gross metropolitan product (RGMP) from 2001 to 2011. I find that absolute mobility has a positive relationship with RGMP growth over the time period, and that relative mobility exhibits a negative relationship with RGMP. Results are found to be robust to two stage least squares estimation.
- Joseph A. Mauro and K. Michael Casey. Presidential Tweets, Information Dissemination & Energy Index Performance: Does President Trump’s Twitter Feed Move the Markets? Oil, Gas & Energy Quarterly, 68(4):585-595. 2020.
- Brucker, D. L., Mitra, S., Chaitoo, N., and Mauro, J. (2015). More likely to be poor whatever the measure: Working-age persons with disabilities in the United States. Social Science Quarterly, 96(1):273–296. (Available Here)
- Abstract: This article examines whether disability is a correlate of poverty when poverty is measured using (1) the official poverty measure; (2) the supplemental poverty measure (SPM); and (3) two multidimensional poverty measures created by the authors. Data from the Current Population Survey are used to explore the relationship between poverty and disability for each measure. Differences across disability status were tested for statistical significance. Disability is associated with poverty, irrespective of the poverty measure under use. The gap in poverty rates between persons with and without disabilities is smaller when using the SPM as compared to the official poverty measure. The gap in poverty rates between persons with and without disabilities is highest when using multidimensional poverty measures. Working-age persons with disabilities are more likely to be poor whatever the measure under use. They are a disadvantaged group in the United States
- Joseph A Mauro and Sophie Mitra. (2015). Understanding out-of-work and out-of-school youth in Europe and Central Asia. Working paper report no. 98665, World Bank Group, Washington, D.C. (Available Here)
Working Papers / Works in Progress:
- The Macroeconomic Effects of Absolute Mobility and Per Pupil Education Spending.
- Abstract: The framework presented here furthers our understanding of intergenerational mobility and its impact on long-term economic factors. I also help close the existing gap between theoretical studies examining the link between intergenerational mobility and economic growth and empirical research in the field, as well as examine the role of early education finance on this relationship. I present a four-period OLG endogenous growth model that studies the relationship between absolute income mobility and regional economic growth. The framework consists of ``local" economies that are populated by households, which are comprised of parent-child pairs. These parent-child pairs are linked through the transmission of ability, and agents accumulate human capital through K-12 and college education. I find evidence that regions experiencing higher levels of absolute mobility achieve higher rates of economic growth. These findings are empirically verified using data from the U.S.
- Pay-to-Play: Examining the Role of Educational Corruption on Intergenerational Mobility and Economic Development.
- Examining the Impact of Local Alcohol Legislation: Evidence from Arkansas. (with Jeremy Horpedahl)
- Fractionalization, Corruption and Economic Growth. (with Mavutu Kalulu)