Research in Transportation Economics

Data from Economically Active Population Survey from Statistics Korea and its regression programs. Both data and command files are of Stata format.

This dataset is part of the ESCALA (Study of Urban Health and Climate Change in Informal Settlements in Latin America) project that was funded by the Lacuna Fund of the Meridian Institute https://lacunafund.org/. The data were created using information from 2016, so the index reflects input variables for that year. For instance, there were areas with no population that have changed over time. In addition, the urban perimeter includes some areas that were not part of the 2016 study (i.e. Corregimiento La Playa) and are therefore not included in the dataset. More information about the data can be found in the accompanying publication.

Abstract: How do transportation policies impact electoral politics? Empirically, the question is difficult to answer because policies that create new transit opportunities may involve a large number of community effects. In this manuscript, we focus on a unique kind of transportation intervention---the replacement of human-operated with electronic tolls on highways---which economic theory predicts should have a concentrated effect on local property values. We find that the shift in local property values following a government program to introduce electronic tolling is correlated with a subsequent change in support for conservative candidates in presidential elections. Geographically-linked exit polling data suggests that concern over taxation is the primary observable mechanisms. To show robustness, we use various measures, one of which is computed at the individual level. We also present placebo analyses to address worries that the correlations are driven by community change, turnout, or rising incomes. Remaining limitations are also considered.