In this project, we analyze whether the arts can mitigate negative impacts of social distancing and isolation on mental health and wellbeing, ease the burden of closed day-care and school facilities on families, and preserve attitudes of solidarity and trust. Using the SOEP-CoV questionnaire, we...

In this project, we analyze whether the arts can mitigate negative impacts of social distancing and isolation on mental health and wellbeing, ease the burden of closed day-care and school facilities on families, and preserve attitudes of solidarity and trust. Using the SOEP-CoV questionnaire, we...

This paper evaluates the impact of a policy that was implemented to reduce the energy intensity of firms in some manufacturing sectors in India, on the total factor productivity (TFP) growth of firms and on its components, scale efficiency and technical change. Using plant-level panel data on...

The COVID-19 virus, also known as the coronavirus, is currently spreading around the world. While a growing literature suggests that exposure to pollution can cause respiratory illness and increase deaths among the elderly, little is known about whether increases in pollution could cause...

Evidence from a sample of countries show that people roughly spend as much time watching television as earning their living. Moreover, television viewing and work hours are positively correlated across countries. A simple model based on complementarities in the organization of free time is...

Virtue is modeled as an asset that women can use in the marriage market: since men value virginity in prospective mates, preserving her virtue increases a woman's chances of marrying a high-status husband, and therefore allows for upward social mobility. Consistent with some historical and...

We study the consequences of broader access to credit and to capital markets on household's decisions over the number of children. In a life-cycle model of choice with forward and backward caring between parents and children, we analyze the effects of relaxing adults' borrowing constrains and...

Achieving low unemployment in an environment of weak growth is a major policy challenge; a more egalitarian distribution of hours worked could be the key to solving it. Whether worksharing actually increases employment, however, has been debated controversially. In this article we present...

Evidence from a sample of countries show that people roughly spend as much time watching television as earning their living. Moreover, television viewing and work hours are positively correlated across countries. A simple model based on complementarities in the organization of free time is...

In normative public economics it is crucial to know how fast the marginal utility of income declines as income increases. One needs this parameter for cost-benefit analysis, for optimal taxation and for the (Atkinson) measurement of inequality. We estimate this parameter using four large...