We introduce firm heterogeneity into the standard monopolistically competitive real business cycle (RBC) model. The fundamental equilibrium path is derived and the time-series properties of aggregate GDP are studied analytically. Although firms' productivities are subject to temporary shocks,...

Hypergeometric functions are a generalization of exponential functions. They are explicit, computable functions that can also be manipulated analytically. The functions and series we use in quantitative economics are all special cases of them. In this paper, a unified approach to hypergeometric...

The resource curse has been mainly studied using cross-country samples. In this paper we analyze a cross-province sample from one country: China. We focus on the interplay between resource abundance, institutional quality, and economic growth, using two different measures of resource abundance...

Economic motives are not the only reasons for committing a (small) crime. People consider social norms and perceptions of fairness before judging a situation and acting upon it. If someone takes a bundle of printing paper from the office for private use at home, then a colleague who sees this...

In searching for an appropriate utility function in the expected utility framework, we formulate four properties that we want the utility function to satisfy. We conduct a search for such a function, and we identify Pareto utility as a function satisfying all four desired properties. Pareto...