Since 1975, the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) has transferred funds from the federal government to cities, with the goal of improving low- and moderate-income urban areas. Though this program is the U.S. federal government's single largest source of aid to cities, scholars and...

In this paper, I modify Varian's (1980) model of sales to allow for heterogeneity in consumer preferences. I show that in mixed strategy equilibria each firm charges a finite number of prices. Using this characterization, I examine the e¤ect of consumer heterogeneity on firms' optimal pricing...

We show that, even with flexible domestic wages, international outsourcing may worsen the welfare of the home country and reduce the profits of all firms. If wages are rigid, outsourcing is welfare-improving if and only if the sum of the "trade creation" effect and the "exploitation effect"...

We consider a benchmark static incentive scheme, i.e. a per unit subsidy, that induces a monopoly to produce a target output level. We show that the same output level can be achieved by a continuum of dynamic subsidy rules based on a performance indicator. The subsidy rules require only local...

We propose a wild bootstrap procedure for linear regression models estimated by instrumental variables. Like other bootstrap procedures that we have proposed elsewhere, it uses efficient estimates of the reduced-form equation(s). Unlike them, it takes account of possible heteroskedasticity of...

Many important models, such as index models widely used in limited dependent variables, partial linear models and nonparametric demand studies utilize estimation of average derivatives (sometimes weighted) of the conditional mean function. Asymptotic results in the literature focus on situations...

The bootstrap is a statistical technique used more and more widely in econometrics. While it is capable of yielding very reliable inference, some precautions should be taken in order to ensure this. Two "Golden Rules" are formulated that, if observed, help to obtain the best the bootstrap can...

Extensions are presented to the results of Davidson and Duclos (2007), whereby the null hypothesis of restricted stochastic non dominance can be tested by both asymptotic and bootstrap tests, the latter having considerably better properties as regards both size and power. In this paper, the...

Using cross--country and Peruvian data, I show that victims of misfortune, particularly crime victims, are much more likely than non--victims to bribe public officials. Misfortune increases victims' demand for public services, raising bribery indirectly, and also increases victims' propensity to...

We perform an extensive series of Monte Carlo experiments to compare the performance of the "Jacknife Instrumental Variables Estimator", or JIVE, with that of the more familiar 2SLS and LIML estimators. We find no evidence to suggest that JIVE should ever be used. It is always more dispersed...