Financial indicators such as yield curves and stock prices have been extensively used as leading indicators of economic activity due to their forward looking content. Indeed, the Leading Economic Index (LEI) for the United States, a widely used forecasting tool for business cycle turning points,...

In this paper the construction of a data set on the change in labour composition is described, thereby creating an insight into this construction process and consequently providing a guideline for using the data. A labour service function as a translog function of all labour input is defined....

Following an extensive reevaluation of existing indicators included in The Conference Board Leading Economic Index® for The United States, we propose a comprehensive revision of the composite index. In this paper we present the case for replacing three of the components and making a minor...

One of the main trends in the labor market in recent years is the aging of the workforce, which partly results from older workers delaying retirement. Using the Current Population Survey (CPS) from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), we find that the trend of delaying retirement began as early...

This paper examines cross-country and cross-industry differences in labor productivity performance and their association with ICT. It broadens earlier work with coverage of 52 industries in 16 OECD countries. The analysis suggests that ICT diffusion in Europe is following similar industry...

Age structure and its dynamics are critical in understanding the impact of population growth on a country’s growth prospects. Using state-level data from India, I show that the pace of demographic transition varies across states, and that these differences are likely to be exacerbated over the...

A study of business cycles defined as sequences of expansions and contractions in the level of general economic activity does not require trend estimation and elimination, but a study of growth cycles defined as sequences of high and low growth phases does. Major cyclical slowdowns and booms...

This study offers empirical evidence about how the structure of government and private ownership affects productivity in Chinese firms. It uses the microdata of China’s most recent decennial industrial census, covering all of the 23,000 large and medium industrial firms operating in China...