Every three years, Indonesia fields simultaneously two nationwide surveys which collect consumption data. Onecollects consumption using 23 questions, the other using 320 questions. Based on a repeated experiment inwhich the two questionnaires were randomly assigned across households, I examine...

Frequently, seasonal and non-seasonal data (especially macro time series) are observed with noise. For instance, the time series can have irregular abrupt changes and interruptions following as a result of additive or temporary change outliers caused by external circumstances which are...

This paper measures the mean, standard deviation, alpha and beta of venture capital investments, using a maximum likelihood estimate that corrects for selection bias. Since firms go public when they have achieved a good return, estimates that do not correct for selection bias are optimistic. The...

Data quality in the Penn World Tables varies systematically across countries that have different growth rates and at different stages of economic development, thus introducing measurement error correlated with variables of economic interest. We explore the seriousness of this problem with three...

Many recent empirical investment studies have found that the investment of financially constrained firms responds strongly to cash flow. Paralleling these findings is the disappointing performance of the q theory of investment: even though marginal q should summarize the effects of all factors...

Economists have devoted increasing attention to the magnitude and consequences of measurement error in their data. Most discussions of measurement error are based on the “classical” assumption that errors in measuring a particular variable are uncorrelated with the true value of that...

This paper measures the expected return, mean, standard deviation, alpha, and beta of venture capital investments. The focus of the paper is correcting for the selection bias that is the central obstacle in evaluating such investments. Therefore, valuations are observed only when a firm goes...