Many oil exporters accumulate large sovereign wealth funds, though their portfolio allocation does not take into account below-ground assets, like oil. Similarly, the above-ground portfolio does not affect the decision to extract oil. This paper shows that subsoil oil wealth should change a...

This paper provides a normative framework for the assessment of the distributional incidence of growth. By removing the anonymity axiom, such framework is able to evaluate the individual income changes over time and the reshu­ ing of individuals along the income distribution that are determined...

This work studies regional fluctuations in the EU12 focusing on regional Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Employment dynamics over the period 1977-95. The econometric framework is a combination of the Structural Dynamic Factor Model by Forni and Reichlin (1998) and the Dynamic Factor Model by...

This paper investigates the structural relation between the italian weak macroeconomic performances and the productivity decline experienced over the last fifteen years, estimating a Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) model. Modifying Ireland and Schuh's (2008) two-sector RBC model in...

The aim of this paper is to propose an axiomatic characterization of an aggregate measure of growth that takes into account the initial economic conditions of individuals, through their position in the initial income distribution. The contribution of our work to the existing literature is...

Modern economic growth – the simultaneous increase in population and average incomes – has been capitalism’s greatest achievement. This growth first became apparent in Britain in the nineteenth century and then spread to continental Europe (and the United States). The...

Many recent descriptive studies find convex schooling-earnings profiles in developing countries.  In these countries forward-looking students should attach option values to completing lower levels of schooling.  Another option value may arise due to the uncertain economic environment in which...

Nigerian data from the early 2000s indicates that formal sector earnings are about 70% higher than informal sector earnings but, for men, part of this is due to an educational composition effect.  The returns to education are lower in the informal sector than in the formal sector, but mainly at...

There has been extensive discussion of the workings of the English system of higher education income contingent student loans.  Major focuses have been on what former students are likely to pay and when, distributional characteristics and how much the Government guarantees made to students...

This study estimates agency's impact on the efficiency of sugar plantations on St. Vincent and the Grenadines during the early 19th century.  Using a panel data set covering the years 1814-1829, a series of stochastic frontier models are estimated to investigate whether estates employing agents...