The permanent income rule is seldom the optimal response to a windfall of foreign exchange, such as that from a resource discovery. Absorptive capacity constraints require domestic investment, and investment in structures requires non-traded inputs the supply of which is constrained by the...

The literature has shown that the implied welfare gains from financial integration are very small. We revisit these findings and document that welfare gains are substantial if capital goods are not perfect substitutes. We use a model of optimal savings where the elasticity of substitution...

Social networks can affect demand for human capital investments by relaxing household time or budget constraints or by defining and reinforcing human capital preferences. However, empirically identifying the effect of social networks on human capital investment is usually problematic because...

We exploit annual variation in influential foreign interest rates to identify externally-driven components of short-run income shocks in small open economies from 1971 to 2004 and explore the statistical nature of the income–civil conflict nexus. Our results show that movements in foreign...

This paper examines the role of contracting institutions on a multinational firm's optimal ownership strategy. We develop a model in which both a multinational firm and its local joint venture partner can ex post engage in costly rent-seeking actions to increase their ex ante agreed upon revenue...

Some argue that informal business owners are viable entrepreneurs who do not register due to complex regulation. Others claim that they are making a living while searching for a job. This paper suggests that a mix of both views is correct. I separate informal business owners into those who have...

We study the significant variation in intrafirm versus arm's-length trade with micro data. Exploiting the fact that Korean is an uncommon second language and that Korean culture is relatively homogenous, we show how intrafirm sourcing by South Korean affiliates abroad increases with their share...

Empirically, the cyclical pattern of fiscal policy differs between developed and developing countries, with in particular much greater pro-cyclicality and volatility of public investment in developing countries. In this paper I provide a theoretical explanation for the observed differences by...

This paper revisits the role of land measurement error in the inverse farm size and productivity relationship (IR). By making use of data from a nationally representative household survey from Uganda, in which self-reported land size information is complemented by plot measurements collected...

Despite strong recent economic growth, gender inequality remains a major concern for India. This paper examines the effectiveness of a public policy geared towards the reduction of gender inequality. The national Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostics Techniques (PNDT) Act of 1994, implemented...