We study the Becker and Lewis (1973) quantity-quality model of children adding an explicit child care time constraint for parents. They can purchase day care or take care of the children themselves. Our results are: (i) If there is a combination of purchased and own care, the effect of income on...

The empirical evidence suggests that parents use inter vivos gifts (i.e., transfers of tangible and financial property) to compensate less well off children whereas post mortem bequests are divided equally among siblings. We study a theoretical model assuming, first, that the amounts given is...

Using Varian´s social insurance framework with a piecewise linear two bracket income tax, where t_1 is the tax rate in the lower bracket and t_1+t_2 is the tax rate in the upper bracket, Strawcynski (1998) claims that optimal requires t_1^*t_2^*=1. This note provides three comments: First, it...

A data set consisting of 25 forecasts (1999–2005) by Sveriges Riksbank (RB) and 18 forecasts (2001–2005) by Konjunkturinstitutet (KI) for Swedish inflation rates measured as CPI and KPIX.

Are Sveriges Riksbank's inflation (CPI and KPIX) interval forecasts calibrated in the sense that the intervals cover realised inflation with the stated ex ante coverage probabilities 50, 75 and 90 percent? In total 150 interval forecast 1999:Q2-2005:Q2 are assessed for CPI and KPIX. The main...

Inflation forecasts made 1999-2005 by Sveriges Riksbank and Konjunkturinstitet of Swedish inflation rates 1999-2007 are tested for unbiasedness; i.e., are the mean forecast errors zero? The bias is in the order of -0.1 percentage units for horizons below one year and in the order of 0.1 and 0.6...

Based on unique Swedish historical panel data on voluntary Swedish sick insurance societies 1902-1910, we test the hypothesis od economies of scale in sick insurance provision. We report results indicating that pure insurance societies charging only premium ex ante do not exhibit returns to...

The marginal cost of public funds defined as the ratio between the shadow price of tax revenues and the population average of the social marginal utility of income, is analysed within an explicit cost–benefit context. It is shown that for an optimal tax system the measure is always equal to...

Decentralised decisions, to a bureau with a given budget, about the production of public goods is analysed within a general equilibrium model with a representative agent and no pure profits. It is shown that decentralisation (i) does not necessarily imply aggregate production effciency and (ii)...

This study is a replication of "Are Muslim Immigrants Different in terms of Cultural Integration?" by Alberto Bisin, Eleonora Patacchini, Thierry Verdier and Yves Zenou, published in Journal of European Economic Association, 6, 445-456, 2008. Bisin et al. (2008) report that they have 5963...