To what extent have small businesses hired former welfare recipients and what might induce them to hire more? Do small businesses change their hiring and employment practices in response to an increase in the minimum wage? The Levy Institute conducts a national survey of small firms in many...

In this study, we develop and test a methodology to assess the impact of affordable lending efforts on homeownership rates. More narrowly, we examine the impact of using flexible underwriting guidelines, primarily changes in the downpayment and housing burden requirements, on the affordability...

The current optimum population models found in economic literature define static optimum population used in forming policy i.e. at a given instant what should be the optimum number of people in a (closed) economy. We believe that although this definition is useful, it is very limiting as far as...

In this working paper, Quercia, McCarthy, and Stegman use data obtained on 874 low income, rural borrowers participating in the Section 502 Home Ownership program administered by the Farmer's Home Administration (FmHA), and apply two multivariate proportional hazard models in order to analyze...

We develop a model of industry evolution in which firms choose proprietary standards (closed firm) or adopt a common standard (open firm). A closed entrant can capture multiple profits whereas an open entrant faces lower entry barriers: The odds of closed entry (relative to open entry) decrease...

This paper provides econometric evidence linking a country's per capita government health expenditures and per capita income to two health outcomes: under-five mortality and maternal mortality. Using instrumental variables techniques (GMM-H2SL), we estimate the elasticity of these outcomes with...