We present evidence of inelastic demand for risky sovereign bonds and explore its implications for optimal government debt policies. Using monthly changes in the composition of a major international bond index, we identify flow shocks unrelated to fundamentals that shift the available bond...

Health care markets often lack a market force because the presence of health insurance undermines price signals. Patients have little incentive to shop for low-priced alternatives because they do not bear the full cost of their health care consumption. In turn, producers lack incentives to...

Understanding how consumers respond to price increases is key when designing price-related policies. Using microdata on vehicle usage and paid fuel prices, I analyze consumers' response, focusing on three channels of mitigation: distance driven, fuel efficiency, and search. On average, consumers...