In the large literature on firm performance, economists have given little attention to entrepreneurs. We use deaths of more than 500 entrepreneurs as a source of exogenous variation, and ask whether this variation can explain shifts in firm performance. Using longitudinal data, we find large and...

This paper analyzes the optimal adjustment strategy of an inventory-holding firm facing price- and quantity-adjustment costs in an inflationary environment. The model nests both the original menu-cost model that allows production to be costlessly adjusted, and the later model that includes...

This article examines the role of the interaction between product market and labor market imperfections in determining total factor productivity growth (TFPG). Embedding Dobbelaere and Mairesse’s (2009) generalization of Hall’s (1990) approach, allowing for the possibility that wages are...

Firms adjust to differences in market size and demand uncertainty by changing the frequency and size of their export shipments. In our inventory model, transportation costs and optimal shipment frequency are determined on the basis of demand as well as inventory and per shipments costs. Using a...

For many years, Donald Shoup has been advocating cashing out free and underpriced curbside parking. How should this be implemented in practice, taking into account the stochasticity of curbside parking vacancies? Shoup has proposed setting neighborhood/period of the day-specific meter rates such...

We describe a model that integrates a multi-regional input-output model of the U.S. (50 states and the District of Columbia) with the national highway network. Interstate commodity shipments are placed on a congestible highway network. Simulations of major choke-point disruptions redirect...

The direct impact of local public goods on welfare is relatively easy to measure from land rents. However, the indirect effects on home and job location, on land use, and on agglomeration benefits are hard to pin down. We develop a spatial general equilibrium model for the valuation of these...

How have house prices evolved over the long-run? This paper presents annual house prices for 14 advanced economies since 1870. Based on extensive data collection, we show that real house prices stayed constant from the 19th to the mid-20th century, but rose strongly during the second half of the...

Japan and India signed the much-awaited Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) on 16th February 2011. The CEPA will eliminate tariff on goods that account for 94% of their two way trade over ten years and will boost bilateral trade and investment. Indian exports which were subject...

Mine-related transport infrastructure specializes in connecting mines to the coast, and not so much to neighboring countries. This is most clearly seen in developing countries, whose transport infrastructure was originally designed to facilitate the export of natural resources in colonial times....