In this paper we examine credit market participation and financial vulnerability by income, making use of a large sample of individuals aged 25-54. From 2005 to 2011 the percentage of individuals with more than �75,000 of debt increased, mainly as a result of slower debt repayment....

This paper exploits the tax records to analyze the geography of income inequality in Italy. In 2011, the Gini coefficient, the most common measure of inequality, was 40 per cent at national level. In the South it was 3 percentage points higher than in the Centre-North, mainly because of a...

This paper studies how family firms reacted to the 2008 economic crisis by adjusting employment. In particular, we look at how the geographical distribution of the workforce may have led to divergencies between family and non-family firms. Using a difference-in-difference approach, we provide...

In this paper we study how access to bank lending during the recent financial crisis differed between family and non-family firms. Our theoretical prediction is that the presence of a family block-holder in the company attenuated the agency conflict in the borrower-lender relation, because of...

This paper studies how access to bank lending differed between family and non-family firms in the 2007-2009 financial crisis. The theoretical prediction is that family block-holders’ incentive structure results in lower agency conflict in the borrower-lender relationship. Using highly detailed...

The least-skilled workforce in the United States is disproportionally employed in the provision of time-intensive services that can be thought of as market substitutes for home production activities. At the same time, skilled workers, with their high opportunity cost of time, spend a larger...

Time limits reduce caseloads directly by cutting off benefits after a time-limited usage, but may also provide families with an incentive to reduce welfare use in order to conserve their benefits. Both effects depend on the stock of remaining months of eligibility. This is the first empirical...

In the 1990s, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Brazil passed dual citizenship laws granting their expatriates the right to naturalize in the receiving country without losing their nationality of origin. I estimate the effects of these new laws on naturalization rates and...

We study the effects of immigration on the diversity of consumption choices. Data from California in the 1990s indicate that immigration is associated with fewer stand-alone retail stores, and a greater number of large and in particular big-box retailers - evidence that likely contradicts a...

We study potential economic benefits of immigration stemming from two factors: first, that immigrants bring not only their labor supply with them, but also their consumption demands; and second, that immigrants may have a comparative advantage in the production of ethnic goods. Using data on the...