This paper studies the optimal determination of bankruptcy exemptions for risk averse borrowers who use unsecured contracts but have the possibility of defaulting. I show that, in a large class of economies, knowledge of four variables is sufficient to determine whether a bankruptcy exemption...

Leveraging the introduction of universal low-fee daycare in Québec in 1997, we assess the welfare effect of universal childcare provision. First, using novel data on local daycare coverage and a difference-in-differences design, we show that positive impacts on maternal labor supply and...

The total social benefits of college education exceed the private benefits because the government receives a share of the monetary returns in the form of income taxes. We study the policy implications of this fiscal externality in an optimal dynamic tax framework. Using a variational approach we...