Whereas difficulties in measuring the output of service sectors have been well documented, input measures are reasonably accurate. Using U.S. input-output data for the period 1958-87 and a number of indices of skill and occupational change derived from the Dictionary of Occupational Titles and...

We present a simple model that can account for the main features of recent financial crises in emerging markets. The international illiquidity of the domestic financial system is at the center of the problem. Illiquid banks are a necessary and a sufficient condition for financial crises to...

This paper develops a political-economy model of fiscal policy - one in which government resources are a "common property" out of which interest groups can finance expenditures on their preferred items. This setup has striking macroeconomic implications. Transfers are higher than a benevolent...