The transition from economic stagnation to sustained growth is often modelled with a "population-induced" technical progress which raised the return to human capital. In this literature the effect of population on productivity is assumed instead of being derived from more primary assumptions,...

In this paper, we examine the general equilibrium implications of human capital accumulation in the presence of superstar markets, in which small differences in skill translate into huge differences in earnings. Previous research has concentrated on the microeconomic wage implications of...

In this paper we build on the Cunha, Heckman and Navarro (2005) and show that labor earnings risk has increased considerably over time and it has increased more for lower skill groups than higher skill groups

Competitive public and private institutions of higher education in the U.S. take race into consideration in admissions and decisions about financial aid when able to do so. In public universities in states that have proscribed use of race, substitute policies, intended to promote minority...

In most democracies, the majority of education expenditures is financed by the government. In non-democracies, we observe a wide variation in the mix of public and private funding of education. In addition, countries with high inequality tend to rely more heavily on private schooling. We develop...

In many economic contexts, especially signaling and search models, agents care about the distribution of other agents around them. Because of this, firms arise which produce neither goods nor services, but local “ponds†of agents. Such firms derive their attractiveness through the...

This paper studies the intergenerational persistence of work hours. In particular, I look at the correlation of hours between fathers and sons in the U.S. Using data from the Panel study of Income Dynamics, I find a strong persistence in the permanent component of hours worked. I investigate the...

This paper presents a theory where increases in female labor force participation and reductions in the gender wage-gap are generated as part of the same process of demographic transition that leads to reductions in fertility. There have been significant increases in the labor supply of women in...

In this paper we assess the role of reallocation of resources -- through shifts in market shares among incumbents as well as through firm entry and exit – to productivity. We are motivated by the evidence in all countries studied of heterogeneity of firms and substantial mobility of...