Overweight and obesity are increasing throughout the world, spurring a research agenda focused on understanding its causes, consequences, and the most appropriate public policies for addressing these problems. Unfortunately, very little remains known about the relationship between...

This paper evaluates the gains in longevity based on individuals’ willingness to pay, and measures the social values of these gains. We apply the Murphy and Topel (2003, 2006) model for Mexico for the first time, which allows us to estimate the value of a life year and the value of remaining...

This paper evaluates the gains in longevity based on individuals’ willingness to pay, and measures the social values of these gains. We apply the Murphy and Topel (2003, 2006) model for Mexico for the first time, which allows us to estimate the value of a life year and the value of remaining...

This paper develops and tests a model of the relation between the volatility of the exchange rate, default rates, the level of interest rates on loans, and the availability of credit, laying emphasis on frictions in the financial market, specifically foreclosure costs to collecting bad debts. On...

Does improving institutional quality lower borrowing costs or raise them? Better institutions the marginal productivity of capital, the demand for funds and the interest rate. They may also lending risks, raising the supply of funds and lowering the cost of capital. Using data from 100 this...

Relying on John Henry Newman’s Idea of a University, this paper explores the relation between economics and other disciplines. Newman had high regard for disciplinary specialization, which he thought would teach students and scholars how to think and would keep them intellectually honest. At...

Faced with limited resources, policymakers need to know when and where to target support for displaced workers. The academic literature offers little support, presenting wide-ranging results with no consistent explanation for the observed differences in wages after workers are displaced. In this...