Given the slow growth of labor productivity in recent years, some have argued that the boost from information technology may have run its course Our analysis points to a less pessimistic conclusion While projections of economic developments are always difficult, our judgment is that "No, the...

Given the slowdown in labor productivity growth in the mid-2000s, some have argued that the boost to labor productivity from IT may have run its course. This paper contributes three types of evidence to this debate. First, we show that since 2004, IT has continued to make a significant...

In this paper, we estimate the size of the externalities produced by big-box retail stores for other establishments and explore the effect of the externalities on local government policy.

This study analyzes public sector salaries and benefits in Wisconsin, with a particular focus on disentangling the risk-adjusted value of pension benefits offered in the public sector from accounting conventions that can understate the cost and value of defined benefit pension plans.

We use a large dataset of land sales dating back to the mid-1990s to construct land price indexes for 23 MSAs in the United States and for the aggregate of those MSAs. The price indexes show a dramatic increase in both commercial and residential land prices over several years prior to their peak...

We document the tight link between increased levels of economic and policy uncertainty and unemployment at the state-level during the 2007-2009 recession.

Evidence from numerous studies shows that emerging markets have far more poor quality drugs than western markets. There are many reasons for this, but one reason, investigated in this paper, is the possibility that smaller, often privately-owned, pharmacies take greater risks with drug...

Can access to regulators provide operational benefits to firms?

The recent slowdown in the rate of decline for semiconductor prices suggested by the PPI is puzzling in light of evidence that the performance of MPUs has continued to improve at a rapid pace. The authors argue that hedonic indexes provide a more accurate measure of price changes.

The instability of labor earnings in the United States contributes to earnings inequality and may diminish household welfare. Despite the importance of earnings instability little is known about its correlates or causes. This paper seeks to better understand earnings instability by studying...