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Macroeconomic fluctuations are much stronger in developing countries than in the United States. Yet, while a large literature debates the welfare cost of economic fluctuations in the United States, it remains an open question how large that cost is in developing countries. Using several models,...
Persistent link: https://ebvufind01.dmz1.zbw.eu/10005400634
In this paper, we document some key business cycle properties of foreign aid flows to developing countries. We identify two striking empirical regularities. First, aid flows are highly volatile over time -- on average, two to three times as volatile as the recipient's output. Second, for most...
Persistent link: https://ebvufind01.dmz1.zbw.eu/10005706379
Economic fluctuations are much stronger in developing countries than in the United States. Yet, while a large literature debates what constitutes a reasonable estimate of the welfare cost of business cycles in the US, it remains an open question how large that cost is in developing countries....
Persistent link: https://ebvufind01.dmz1.zbw.eu/10005706749
Persistent link: https://ebvufind01.dmz1.zbw.eu/10005706822
Economic fluctuations are much stronger when measured at the state level than they are for the United States as a whole. This observation raises the question of how costly business cycles really are in the United States. Using state-level consumption data, we show that the welfare cost of...
Persistent link: https://ebvufind01.dmz1.zbw.eu/10005168694
Extant estimates of the welfare cost of business cycles suggest that this cost is quite low and might well be minuscule. Those estimates are based on consumption data for the United States as a whole. The volatility of aggregate consumption, however, is much stronger at the state level. We argue...
Persistent link: https://ebvufind01.dmz1.zbw.eu/10005328988
In this paper, we quantify foreign aid's potential as an insurance mechanism against macroeconomic shocks. Within a dynamic model of aid flows between two endowment economies, we show that at least three fourths of the large welfare costs of macroeconomic fluctuations in poor countries could be...
Persistent link: https://ebvufind01.dmz1.zbw.eu/10012735027
In this paper, we develop a methodology to summarize the various policy parameters of an unemployment insurance scheme into a single generosity parameter. Unemployment insurance policies are multdimensional objects. They are typically defined by waiting periods, eligibility duration, benefit...
Persistent link: https://ebvufind01.dmz1.zbw.eu/10009430128
Persistent link: https://ebvufind01.dmz1.zbw.eu/10005485508
In this article, we ask heterogeneous agents in a dynamic general equilibrium economy to vote on the generosity of their unemployment insurance program. We observe the influence on their vote of (1) moral hazard, (2) private alternatives, and (3) changes in employment status. Agents differ in...
Persistent link: https://ebvufind01.dmz1.zbw.eu/10005400947