There has been a revival of interest in the effect of risk on economic growth. We quantify both ex ante and ex post effects of risk using a stochastic version of the Ramsey model. We develop a simulation-based econometric methodology which allows us to estimate the model in the structural form...

Impact evaluations of development programmes usually focus on a comparison of participants with a control group. However, if the programme generates externalities for non-participants such an approach will capture only part of the programme’s impact. Based on a unique large-scale quantitative...

Using 'search' theory, technology adoption is conceived of as a critical factor in the aftermath of a technological shock, which increases employment in the leading sectors and total output in the economy. These implications are further investigated in the present paper, both formally and...

This paper uses a relatively new approach to investigate the effect of parents' schooling on child's schooling; a nonparametric bounds analysis based on Manski and Pepper (2000), using the most recent version of the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study. We start with making no assumptions and then add...

We analyze a general search model with on-the-job search and sorting of heterogeneous workers into heterogeneous jobs. This model yields a simple relationship between (i) the unemployment rate, (ii) the value of non-market time, and (iii) the max-mean wage differential. The latter measure of...

This paper contributes to the productivity literature by using results from firm-level productivity studies to improve forecasts of macro-level productivity growth. The paper employs current research methods on estimating firm-level productivity to build times-series components that capture the...

In the present paper we address the relationship between the extent of business ownership (self-employment) and economic development. We will focus upon three issues. First, how is the equilibrium rate of business ownership related to the stage of economic development? Second, what is the speed...

Goods are often allocated publically by means of queuing processes in developing countries. In such situations, which group of citizens should a corrupt government official favor? In addition, what should be the basis for this favoritism? To the best of our knowledge, these salient questions...

Most measures of vulnerability are a-theoretic and essentially static. In this paper we use a stochastic Ramsey model to find a household's optimal welfare and we measure vulnerability as the shortfall from the welfare attained if the household consumed permanently at the poverty line. The...

Division of labor models have become a standard analytical tool, along with competitive general equilibrium models (Ricardian, HOS, Ricardo-Viner), in public finance, trade, growth, development, and macroeconomics. Yet unlike the earlier models, specialization models lack a canonical...