The magnitude and determinants of country and currency risk premia are of considerable importance to investors and policymakers. Unique data on peso and dollar denominated debt issued by the Mexican government is used to identify and analyze the intertemporal prices of country and currency risk,...

Recent changes in bankruptcy law pertaining to personal liabilities are widespread. Broad trends include eligibility of personal liabilities in voluntary bankruptcy proceedings, strict insolvency requirements, and debt discharge. Moral considerations are even codified within the law, restricting...

This paper contains an overview of personal, or consumer, bankruptcy in the United States, concentrating on empirical issues in the study of this important legal institution. Business cycle effects are reviewed, in the context of both the passage of legislation and the effect of economic...

We ask two related questions relevant to current public policy debates concerning personal bankruptcy: What are the important influences in determining bankruptcy chapter choice, and do new incentives embedded in a major legal change have their anticipated impact? Chapter choice models,...

The growth in automated trading systems has been explosive, and regulatory initiatives and analysis with respect to this new form of financial market structure quickly followed. We analyze the use of the definition of an ÒexchangeÓ for the purpose of classification and regulation of automated...

The automation of trading markets has given rise to a variety of regulatory concerns. We briefly review the regulatory approach used by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in dealing with automation of equity markets and the growth of proprietary trade execution systems in these markets....

This paper studies a possible link between two trends that have affected the labor market over the last decade: increases in wrongful termination litigation and increasing frequency of mass layoffs. We model the displacement strategy of a firm faced with concave displacement costs and employees...

Few of the current major efforts to improve urban schools adequately appreciate the extent to which the problematic social climate of urban schools can undermine the implementation of even very good ideas. Thus, program after program comes and goes with little lasting impact. This paper uses...

This paper uses longitudinal data to estimate cohort changes in earnings trajectories. Among male workers turning 21 before 1980, we find that more than six in ten (60%) of all male workers and seven in ten (71%) of college-educated male workers attained earnings levels by age 30 that were at...

A randomized experiment of Comer's School Development Program was conducted in 23 middle schools in Prince George's County, Maryland. It showed that Comer schools implemented some of the program's central elements better than control schools, but not all or even most of them. This shortfall in...