The authors estimate an agency model using the payroll records of a copper mine that paid a production bonus to teams of workers. They estimate the cost of incomplete information due to insurance and incentives considerations and the inefficiency caused by the simple form of the incentive...

Many economic models are completed by finding a parameter vector θ that optimizes a function f(θ), a task that can only be accomplished by iterating from a starting vector θ<Subscript>0</Subscript>. Use of a generic iterative optimizer to carry out this task can waste enormous amounts of computation when applied to...</subscript>

Many economic models are completed by finding a parameter vector that optimizes a function f, a task that only be accomplished by iterating from a starting vector. Use of a generic iterative optimizer to carry out this task can waste enormous amounts of computation when applied to a class of...

An equilibrium model is developed to study the interaction of the business cycle, unemployment insurance (UI), and the labor market for young men in Canada. The model combines optimal job offer, layoff, and recall decisions within a numerically solved and restricted Bayesian-Nash equilibrium. We...

To study how the design of unemployment insurance affects people leaving school to find jobs, a model of job search in the presence of UI is developed and estimated for the US and Canada. The level of UI benefits depends upon previous earnings, a fact which creates opposing incentives for...

This paper develops a model of promotions in partnerships and estimates the model using cross-sectional data on major U.S. law firms. Promotions to partner screen associates for firm-specific skills and they generate tournament incentives among associates competing for promotions. The key...

Using three cohorts of the National Graduates Survey, we study earnings five years after graduation from Canadian bachelor's programs. Evidence is found of significant university-specific effects on earnings. Changes in earnings and university characteristics across cohort are correlated....