Targeted employment subsidy programs are commonly employed by governments. This study examines one such initiative that rebated unemployment insurance premi- ums to employers with net increases in insurable earnings for youth aged 18 to 24. In each of two datasets, statistically and economically...

In this paper, we employ a VAR analysis to examine the nexus between military spending and economic growth in Sri Lanka which, due to the civil war there, has witnessed a significant increase in military spending over the last three decades while also recording healthy economic growth. The study...

The cluster robust variance estimator (CRVE) relies on the number of clusters being large. A shorthand "rule of 42'' has emerged, but we show that unbalanced clusters invalidate it. Monte Carlo evidence suggests that rejection frequencies are higher for datasets with 50 clusters proportional to...

The cluster robust variance estimator (CRVE) relies on the number of clusters being large. The precise meaning of `large' is ambiguous, but a shorthand `rule of 42' has emerged in the literature. We show that this rule depends crucially on the assumption of equal-sized clusters. Monte Carlo...

Many empirical projects are well suited to incorporating a linear difference-in- differences research design. While estimation is straightforward, reliable inference can be a challenge. Past research has not only demonstrated that estimated standard errors are biased dramatically downwards in...

Many empirical projects involve estimation with clustered data. While estimation is straightforward, reliable inference can be challenging. Past research has suggested a number of bootstrap procedures when there are few clusters. I demonstrate, using Monte Carlo experiments, that these bootstrap...

Macro-level data for the US and 73 trading partners spanning the years 1980 to 2001 is used with a gravity specification to investigate the influence of immigration on bilateral trade. Prior research has identified immigrant stocks as a significant determinant of trade; however, this study...

Using data that represent the six-digit North American Industrial Classification System-classified industries that comprise the US manufacturing sector and that span the years 1989–2005, we test the validity of the smooth adjustment hypothesis (SAH). To our knowledge, this is the first...

Examining data for 79 immigrant source countries and six OECD member destination countries during the years 1975–2000, we find that source-destination cultural differences inhibit international migration. We also report that existing immigrant stocks act to offset, at least in part, the...

Employing data on the immigrant stocks of 43 African home countries who reside in 110 host countries and on trade flows between these countries during the year 2005, we examine whether African immigrants exert positive effects on their home countries’ trade with the typical host country....