We estimate the long-term effect of public R&D on growth in manufacturing by analyzing new data from the Cold War era Space Race. We develop a novel empirical strategy that leverages US-Soviet rivalry in space technology to isolate windfall R&D spending. Our results demonstrate that public R&D...

Since 1980, US wage growth has been fastest in large cities. Empirically, we show that most of this urban-biased growth reflects wage growth at large Business Services firms, which are also the most intensive users of information and communications technology (ICT) capital in the US economy. We...

Italien leidet politisch und ökonomisch unter der Finanzkrise in der Europäischen Union. Das Wachstum ist negativ und die Arbeitslosigkeit steigt. Obwohl die Neuverschuldung verringert wurde und die Handelsbilanz Überschüsse aufweist, bleibt ein Zinsspread bestehen. Zudem ist zu befürchten,...

Infrastructure assets have undergone substantial privatization in recent decades. How do different types of owners target and manage these assets? And does the contract form--control rights (concession) vs. outright ownership (sale)--matter? We explore these questions in the context of global...

Between 2000 and 2008, access to high-speed, broadband internet grew significantly in the United States, but there is debate on whether access to high-speed internet improves or harms wellbeing. We find that a ten percent increase in the proportion of county residents with access to broadband...

We develop a dynamic spatial growth model to explore the role of trade and internal migration in the process of spatial development and aggregate growth. Growth is shaped by the best global and local ideas that contribute to the local stock of knowledge. Global ideas diffuse more to locations...

Does international trade affect the growth of cities, and vice versa? Assembling disaggregate data for four countries, we document a novel stylized fact: Export activity is disproportionately concentrated in larger cities - even more so than overall economic activity. We rationalize this fact by...

Während in Deutschland seit Beginn der vergangenen Dekade der Lohnanstieg deutlich hinter dem Anstieg der Wirtschaftsleistung zurückgeblieben ist, konnten die Vermögenseinkommen und die Selbständigeneinkünfte zulegen – mit der Folge einer wachsenden Ungleichverteilung der Einkommen. Das...

This paper examines the extent to which changes in working-age shares associated with population aging might slow economic growth in upcoming years. We first analyze the economic effects of changing working-age shares in a standard empirical growth model using country panel data from 1950-2015....