If efficiency wages really exist, as proposed by Shapiro and Stiglitz (1984), why do we not see more job purchases? A conventional answer is that with multiple periods, low pay in initial periods serves as an implicit payment (Lazear (1981)). This paper presents a formal analysis of this issue....

The Swedish export price determination for automobiles and kraft paper to three destination countries, over the period 1980-1994, is investigated. Formal tests on an error correction model indicate results consistent with price discrimination in Swedish exports of both goods. The exporters use...

In this paper two techniques, long memory and panel data models, are combined in order to increase the power of unit root tests. The power is shown to be always better against fractional alternatives and usually against autoregressive alternatives. The test is then used to reanalyze data sets...

It has long been argued that trade restrictions can be motivated by insurance considerations in the absence of full risk diversification. Recent literature suggests that markets for risk can alleviate resistance to reform and protectionist lobby group pressure. We empirically address the...

Campbell and Cochrane (1999) propose a preference specification that can explain a wide variety of asset pricing puzzles such as the high equity premium. They augment the basic power utility function with a time-varying subsistence level, or "habit", which is in the spirit of "catching up with...

In a simple dynamic macroeconomic model, it is shown that uncertainty about structural parameters does not necessarily lead to more cautious monetary policy, refining the accepted wisdom concerning the effects of parameter uncertainty on optimal policy. In particular, when there is uncertainty...

We estimate the income-related inequality in Sweden with respect to life-years and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs). We use a large data-set from Sweden with over 40,000 individuals followed up for 10-16 years, to estimate the survival and quality-adjusted survival in different income groups....

College-bound students in Japan undergo a process of intense preparation known as examination hell. An extreme manifestation of examination hell is the ronin phenomenon. Typically thirty percent of students choose the ronin option under which they spend years in addition to high school preparing...

This paper examines productivity growth in the Indonesian manufacturing sector. We use a longitudinal data set to calculate the effects on aggregate manufacturing productivity growth from improvements within establishments, from reallocation of market shares, and from the turnover of plants. The...

We demonstrate that panel unit root tests can have high power when a small fraction of the series are stationary and may lack power when a large fraction is stationary. The acceptance or rejection of the null is thus not sufficient evidence to conclude that all series have a unit root or that...