This paper evaluates the growth perfomance of the Chilean economy in comparison to a wide sample of countries. The paper uses a determinants of growth approach to compare the growth performance of Chile before and after 1975. The post 1975 period is associated with the implementation of economic...

There are two sources of inconsistency in existing cross-country empirical work on growth: correlated individual effects and endogenous explanatory variables. We estimate a variety of cross-country growth regressions using a generalized method of moments estimator that eliminates both problems....

Relative price shocks with zero mean can affect measured inflation in the presence of non-convex adjustment costs, if core inflation is different from zero or the distribution of the shock is asymetric. In such cases, central tendency measures of the shock's distribution are a better measure of...

This paper studies a congestion effect operating in most search processes in which applicants are allowed to fill multiple applications. Increases in the number of one agent applicant decrease the probability faced by other searchers of a successful match, generating the congestion effect, The...

The convergence hypothesis sustains that two economics sharing the same steady-state value of per-capita income, but with different initial conditions, will tend to close the existing gap between them. In this paper I apply this concept to the case of Puerto Rico. I show that Puerto Rico is not...

This paper deals with the relationship between inflation targeting and exchange rates. I address three specific issues: first, I analyze the effectiveness of nominal exchange rates as shock absorbers in countries with inflation targeting. This issue is closely related to the magnitude of the...

In this paper we analyze the macroeconomic record of dollarized economies. In particular, we investigate whether, as its supporters’ claim, dollarization is associated with lower inflation and faster growth. We analyze this issue by using a matching estimator technique developed in the...

Choosing an exchange rate regime is one of the most important decisions in macroeconomic policymaking. Some countries may peg their currency to gain credibility and control domestic inflation, while others may be more prone to float due to the larger incidence of real shocks. In spite of the...

This paper uses Chile’s voucher system to provide new evidence on whether private schools are more efficient than publicly operated schools. It contributes to the world debate by analyzing a universal voucher system. It contributes to previous Chilean studies by reducing the selection bias and...

This paper uses a small open economy model to address two outstanding issues in monetary policy: (1) what restrictions on the policy rule ensure that the central bank does not introduce real indeterminacy into the economy, and (2) what is the optimal long run rate of inflation. The small open...