This paper explores the implications of Unified Growth Theory for the origins of existing differences in income per capita across countries. The theory sheds light on three fundamental layers of comparative development. It identifies the factors that have governed the pace of the transition from...

We develop a product market theory that explains why firms invest in general training of their workers. We consider a model where firms first decide whether to invest in general human capital, then make wage offers for each others' trained employees and finally engage in imperfect product market...

This study examines the simultaneous impact of risk type and risk preferences on annuity demand. Through a quasi-experimental design that leverages individuals' reactions to their first malignant cancer diagnosis around retirement, we show that a 30% reduction in the present value of life...

Convenience and security are the two key attributes that consumers consider when choosing between payment technologies. We examine how consumers react to an exogenous change to the convenience and security of digital payments. We study an increase in the 'tap-and-go' limit for contactless...

This paper analyzes the existence of recursive equilibria in a class of convex growth models with incomplete markets. Households have identical CRRA-preferences, production displays constant returns to scale with respect to physical and human capital, and all markets are competitive. There are...

The outcome of pursuing a post-secondary educational degree is uncertain. A student might not complete a chosen degree for a number of reasons, such as academic insufficiency or financial constraints. Thus, when considering whether to invest in post-secondary education, students must factor in...

Since around 2000 the education premium and the level of employment in high-skill occupations has stagnated, if not actually begun to shrink. This brings into question the generally held view that in advanced countries, while potentially harmful for those who work with their hands, globalization...

A pre-condition for employer learning is that signals at labor market entry do not fully reveal graduates' productivity. I model various distinct sources of signal imperfection - such as noise and multi-dimensional types - and characterize their implications for the private return to skill...

Over the last decades, productivity in the tradable sector rose substantially, while in the non-tradable sector, output per worker has remained the same, despite a similar increase in human capital in both sectors. This paper emphasizes that duality in higher education as well as heterogeneous...

This paper shows that countries with high levels of "elitism" in higher-education are the countries displaying high levels of inequality. In other words, a higher level of "elitism", i.e., large gap in quality of universities, and tight selection in top universities leads to a wider gap in wages...