We study whether the positive effects of homeownership on political participation and social capital, found in developed market economies, extend to post-communist countries. We find that homeownership is strongly related to higher participation in local-level and national elections. In...

Objectives: This paper tests the economic theory of criminal behavior. Specifically, it looks at “the carrot” side of the theory, studying how thieves react to changes in monetary gains from crime.Methods: Using a unique crime-level dataset on metal theft in the Czech Republic, we study...

Gender differences in productivity, if any, that are unobserved to researchers may produce an omitted variable bias in gender gap studies. Finding a subpopulation with less acute differences in unobserved characteristics would allow this concern to be addressed. This paper argues that gays and...

This paper tests for discriminatory treatment of the Roma minority by public officials in the Czech Republic. Our focus is on public servants at local job centers whose job is to advise unemployed individuals and process applications for unemployment benefit. Our experimental design facilitates...

This paper tests for discriminatory treatment of the Roma minority by public officials in the Czech Republic at the stage of initial contact preceding a potential application for unemployment benefit. Our correspondence experiment facilitates testing for the presence of each of two intertwined...

This paper estimates the elasticity of the supply of offenses with respect to the gains from crime. People steal copper and other nonferrous metals to sell them to a scrap yard. Simultaneously, the prices at scrap yards are set at the world market. We argue, that shocks in metal prices represent...

We study whether homeownership hinders labor force participation and increases unemployment. Using a unique dataset from the city of Brno, Czech Republic, we exploit housing reforms that followed the Velvet Revolution, and the subsequent fall of communism, as a source of exogenous assignment of...