This article uses data from the World Economic Forum to examine the role that closing the gender gap played in promoting national success at the 2012 summer Olympics. Tobit analysis reveals that economic equality increases weighted medal shares, while political equality is associated with lower...

This paper examines the role of information in the management of railway entreprises from 1900 to c1921. Historically the railway sector has been as backward in adopting new management techniques. Only the North Eastern Railway and its use of statistical analysis for management control has been...

Much uncertainty surrounds the length of human life. The standard deviation in adult life span is about 15 years in the USA, and theory and evidence suggest that it is costly. I calibrate a utility-theoretic model that shows that 1 year in standard deviation is worth about half a life year....

Sustained growth in both incomes and life spans are the hallmarks of modern development. Fluctuations around trend in the former, or business cycles, have been a traditional focus in macroeconomics, while similar cyclical patterns in mortality are also interesting and are now increasingly...

I explore trends in mortality among U.S. military retirees using a new dataset of payroll records that include pay grade. Trends in mortality by pay grade reveal that health inequalities steadily widened between 1974 and 2004. Additive differentials in mortality rates remained stable, but since...

There is renewed interest in understanding how fluctuations in mortality and in health are related to fluctuations in economic conditions. The traditional perspective that economic recessions lower health and raise mortality has been challenged by recent findings that reveal mortality is...

This study evaluates the effect of four randomized interventions aimed at strengthening school committees, and subsequently improving learning outcomes, in public primary schools in Indonesia.