期刊名稱：The Review of Economic Studies
期號：2021年第1期
來源：https://academic.oup.com/restud/issue
Back to Basics: Basic Research Spillovers, Innovation Policy, and Growth
Balance Sheet Channel with Information-Trading Frictions in Secondary Markets
How Efficient are Decentralized Auction Platforms?
The Macroeconomics of Microfinance
A Model of Relative Thinking
Monetary Policy and the Predictability of Nominal Exchange Rates
Cross-Sectional Patterns of Mortgage Debt during the Housing Boom: Evidence and Implications
Bank Capital Redux: Solvency, Liquidity, and Crisis
A Theory of Strategic Uncertainty and Cultural Diversity
The Cyclicality of Sales and Aggregate Price Flexibility
Heads or Tails: The Impact of a Coin Toss on Major Life Decisions and Subsequent Happiness
The Impact of Immigration on Wages, Internal Migration, and Welfare
Abatement Strategies and the Cost of Environmental Regulation: Emission Standards on the European Car Market
Shocking Racial Attitudes: Black G.I.s in Europe
Back to Basics: Basic Research Spillovers, Innovation Policy, and Growth
作者 |
Ufuk Akcigit
Douglas Hanley
Nicolas Serrano-Velarde
摘要 |
This article introduces a general equilibrium model of endogenous technical change through basic and applied research. Basic research differs from applied research in the nature and the magnitude of the generated spillovers. We propose a novel way of empirically identifying these spillovers and embed them in a framework with private firms and a public research sector. After characterizing the equilibrium, we estimate our model using micro-level data on research expenditures by French firms. Our key finding is that uniform research subsidies can accentuate the dynamic misallocation in the economy by oversubsidizing applied research. Policies geared towards public basic research and its interaction with the private sector are significantly welfare-improving.
Balance Sheet Channel with Information-Trading Frictions in Secondary Markets
作者 |
Vladimir Asriyan
摘要 |
This article develops a theory of the balance sheet channel that places a central emphasis on the liquidity of secondary markets for macro-contingent claims. We show that the presence of dispersed information and imperfect competition in secondary markets, interacted with financial constraints, results in mispricing and misallocation of aggregate risk, distorts aggregate investment, and exacerbates asset price and output volatility. The magnitude of balance sheet amplification effects becomes endogenously tied to the severity of market frictions, which likely vary over time and across economies. The laissez-faire equilibrium is constrained inefficient due to a novel externality originating from rent-extracting behaviour of agents in secondary markets. Optimal corrective policy boosts secondary market liquidity through subsidies to trade in macro-contingent claims, which enhances aggregate risk-sharing and stabilizes the business cycle.
How Efficient are Decentralized Auction Platforms?
作者 |
Aaron L Bodoh-Creed
Jörn Boehnke
Brent Hickman
摘要 |
We model a decentralized, dynamic auction market platform in which a continuum of buyers and sellers participate in simultaneous, single-unit auctions each period. Our model accounts for the endogenous entry of agents and the impact of intertemporal optimization on bids. We estimate the structural primitives of our model using Kindle sales on eBay. We find that just over one-third of Kindle auctions on eBay result in an inefficient allocation with deadweight loss amounting to 14% of total possible market surplus. We also find that partial centralization—for example, running half as many 2-unit, uniform-price auctions each day—would eliminate a large fraction of the inefficiency, but yield lower seller revenues. Our results also highlight the importance of understanding platform composition effects—selection of agents into the market—in assessing the implications of market redesign. We also prove that the equilibrium of our model with a continuum of buyers and sellers is an approximate equilibrium of the analogous model with a finite number of agents.
The Macroeconomics of Microfinance
作者 |
Francisco J Buera
Joseph P Kaboski
Yongseok Shin
摘要 |
What is the aggregate and distributional impact of microfinance? To answer this question, we develop a quantitative macroeconomic framework of entrepreneurship and financial frictions in which microfinance is modelled as guaranteed small-size loans. We discipline and validate our model using recent empirical evaluations of small-scale microfinance programs. We find that the long-run general equilibrium impact is substantially different from the short-run effect. In the short-run partial equilibrium, output and capital increase with microfinance but total factor productivity (TFP) falls. In the long run, when general equilibrium effects are considered, as should be for economy-wide microfinance interventions, scaling up microfinance has only a small impact on per-capita income, because an increase in TFP is offset by lower capital accumulation. However, the vast majority of the population benefits from microfinance directly and indirectly. The welfare gains are larger for the poor and the marginal entrepreneurs, although higher interest rates in general equilibrium tilt the gains toward the rich.
A Model of Relative Thinking
作者 |
Benjamin Bushong
Matthew Rabin
Joshua Schwartzstein
摘要 |
Fixed differences loom smaller when compared to large differences. We propose a model of relative thinking where a person weighs a given change along a consumption dimension by less when it is compared to bigger changes along that dimension. In deterministic settings, the model predicts context effects such as the attraction effect but predicts meaningful bounds on such effects driven by the intrinsic utility for the choices. In risky environments, a person is less likely to sacrifice utility on one dimension to gain utility on another that is made riskier. For example, a person is less likely to exert effort for a fixed monetary return if there is greater overall income uncertainty. We design and run experiments to test basic model predictions and find support for these predictions.
Monetary Policy and the Predictability of Nominal Exchange Rates
作者 |
M S Eichenbaum
B K Johannsen
S T Rebelo
摘要 |
This article studies how the monetary policy regime affects the relative importance of nominal exchange rates and inflation rates in shaping the response of real exchange rates to shocks. We document two facts about inflation-targeting countries. First, the current real exchange rate predicts future changes in the nominal exchange rate. Second, the real exchange rate is a poor predictor of future inflation rates. We estimate a medium-size, open-economy DSGE model that accounts quantitatively for these facts as well as other empirical properties of real and nominal exchange rates. The key estimated shocks that drive the dynamics of exchange rates and their covariance with inflation are disturbances to the foreign demand for dollar-denominated bonds.
Cross-Sectional Patterns of Mortgage Debt during the Housing Boom: Evidence and Implications
作者 |
Christopher L Foote
Lara Loewenstein
Paul S Willen
摘要 |
In this paper, we use two comprehensive micro-data sets to study how the distribution of mortgage debt evolved during the 2000s housing boom. We show that the allocation of mortgage debt across the income distribution remained stable, as did the allocation of real estate assets. Any theory of the boom must replicate these facts, and a general equilibrium model shows that doing so requires two elements: (1) an exogenous shock that increases expected house price growth or, alternatively, reduces interest rates and (2) financial markets that endogenously relax borrowing constraints in response to the shock. Empirically, the endogenous relaxation of constraints was largely accomplished with subprime lending, which allowed the mortgage debt of low-income households to increase at the same rate as that of high-income households.
Bank Capital Redux: Solvency, Liquidity, and Crisis
作者 |
Òscar Jordà
Björn Richter
Moritz Schularick
Alan M Taylor
摘要 |
What is the relationship between bank capital, the risk of a financial crisis, and its severity? This article introduces the first comprehensive analysis of the long-run evolution of the capital structure of modern banking using newly constructed data for banks』 balance sheets in 17 countries since 1870. In addition to establishing stylized facts on the changing funding mix of banks, we study the nexus between capital structure and financial instability. We find no association between higher capital and lower risk of banking crisis. However, economies with better capitalized banking systems recover faster from financial crises as credit begins to flow back more readily.
A Theory of Strategic Uncertainty and Cultural Diversity
作者 |
Willemien Kets
Alvaro Sandroni
摘要 |
We identify a new mechanism through which cultural diversity affects economic outcomes, based on a model of culture as shared cognition. Under this view, cultural diversity matters because it increases strategic uncertainty. The model can help better understand a variety of disparate evidence, including why homogeneous societies can be more conformist, why diverse societies may get stuck in a low-trust trap, why companies with a strong culture may fail to adopt superior work practices, and why autocratic rulers in diverse societies may overinvest in state capacity.
The Cyclicality of Sales and Aggregate Price Flexibility
作者 |
Oleksiy Kryvtsov
Nicolas Vincent
摘要 |
Macroeconomists traditionally ignore temporary price markdowns (「sales」) under the assumption that they are unrelated to aggregate phenomena. We revisit this view. First, we provide robust evidence from the U.K. and U.S. CPI micro data that the frequency of sales is strongly countercyclical, as much as doubling during the Great Recession. Second, we build a general equilibrium model in which cyclical sales arise endogenously as retailers try to attract bargain hunters. The calibrated model fits well the business cycle co-movement of sales with consumption and hours worked, and the strong substitution between market work and shopping time documented in the time-use literature. The model predicts that after a monetary contraction, the heightened use of discounts by firms amplifies the fall in the aggregate price level, attenuating by a third the one-year response of real consumption.
Heads or Tails: The Impact of a Coin Toss on Major Life Decisions and Subsequent Happiness
作者 |
Steven D Levitt
摘要 |
Little is known about whether people make good choices when facing important decisions. This article reports on a large-scale randomized field experiment in which research subjects having difficulty making a decision flipped a coin to help determine their choice. For important decisions (e.g. quitting a job or ending a relationship), individuals who are told by the coin toss to make a change are more likely to make a change, more satisfied with their decisions, and happier six months later than those whose coin toss instructed maintaining the status quo. This finding suggests that people may be excessively cautious when facing life-changing choices.
The Impact of Immigration on Wages, Internal Migration, and Welfare
作者 |
Suphanit Piyapromdee
摘要 |
This article studies the impact of immigration on wages, internal migration, and welfare. Using U.S. Census data, I estimate a spatial equilibrium model where labour differs by skill level, gender, and nativity. Workers are heterogeneous in city preferences. Cities vary in productivity levels, housing prices, and amenities. I use the estimated model to assess the distributional consequences of several immigration policies. The results show that a skill selective immigration policy leads to welfare gains for low skill workers, but welfare losses for high skill workers. The negative impacts are more substantial among the incumbent high skill immigrants. Internal migration mitigates the initial negative impacts, particularity in cities where housing supplies are inelastic. However, the negative wage impacts on some workers intensify. This is because an out-migration of workers of a given type may raise the local wages for workers of that type, while reducing the local wages of workers with complementary characteristics. Overall, there are substantial variations in the welfare effects of immigration across and within cities. Further, I use the model to assess the welfare effects of the border wall between Mexico and the U.S. The results show that the potential benefits are significantly smaller than the proposed cost of construction.
Abatement Strategies and the Cost of Environmental Regulation: Emission Standards on the European Car Market
作者 |
Mathias Reynaert
摘要 |
This article studies the introduction of an EU-wide emission standard on the automobile market. Using panel data from 1998 to 2011, I find that firms decreased emission ratings by 14%. Firms use technology adoption and gaming of emission tests to decrease emissions, rather than shifting the sales mix or downsizing. I find that the standard missed its emission target, and from estimating a structural model, I find that the standard was not welfare improving. The political environment in the EU shaped the design and weak enforcement and resulted in firms』 choices for abatement by technology adoption and gaming.
Shocking Racial Attitudes: Black G.I.s in Europe
作者 |
David Schindler
Mark Westcott
摘要 |
Can attitudes towards minorities, an important cultural trait, be changed? We show that the presence of African American soldiers in the UK during World War II reduced anti-minority prejudice, a result of the positive interactions which took place between soldiers and the local population. The change has been persistent: in locations in which more African American soldiers were posted there are fewer members of and voters for the UK’s leading far-right party, less implicit bias against blacks and fewer individuals professing racial prejudice, all measured around 2010. Our results point towards intergenerational transmission from parents to children as the most likely explanation.
本文僅用於學術交流，原文版權歸原作者和原發刊所有
關於原文，請點擊文末左下角「閱讀原文」
《學經濟》編輯部是廈門大學經濟學院習近平新時代中國特色社會主義思想讀書社、廈門大學「國家經濟學基礎人才培養基地」、廈門大學經濟學院馬克思主義政治經濟學學習社和資本論研習社的下屬研討學習團體。編輯部注重對馬克思主義政治經濟學的學習和研究，其職能是在經濟學院營造一股「務實求真、治學嚴謹」的學習氛圍，同時激發同學們對研究馬克思主義政治經濟學的興趣。《學經濟》是廈門大學經濟學院國家基礎人才培養基地的重要的學術交流刊物。自2001年創刊以來，《學經濟》已經成功編輯發行了43期，收集了歷屆經濟學院本科生的優秀論文習作，為經濟學院本科生搭建了一個專業論文學習和實踐的良好平臺。
微信公眾號「經經有道」每周推送經濟學科前沿文獻與馬克思政治經濟學師生研討的相關最新內容。本帳號由廈門大學經濟學院習近平新時代中國特色社會主義思想讀書社、馬克思主義政治經濟學學習社與資本論研習社所屬《學經濟》編輯部負責。投稿聯繫郵箱xmuxjj@126.com。查看以前推送：點「經經有道」並選擇「查看歷史消息」。搜尋帳號：xmujjyd或掃描下方二維碼