We build on the imperfection of intellectual property rights as the central motivation for the organization of firms. There are several characteristics specific to a theory of the firm grounded on the absence of intellectual property rights: monetary incentive schemes arise naturally as a...

Global and U.S. national shocks on average appear to equally explain more than half of the fluctuations in state employment growth, an important measure of assessing real economic activity. The overall assessment, however, conceals a wide variation among states

A mix of global, national and state-specific shocks help drive employment fluctuations between U.S. states. Econometric modeling shows such differences among metropolitan areas also reflect a mix of shocks. Texas cities strongly tied to oil and gas activity appear more affected by energy-sector...

Existing theories that emphasize the significance of financial intermediation for economic development have not addressed two important empirical facts: (i) the relationship between financial and real activities depends crucially on the stage of development, and (ii) financial and industrial...

The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) confirmed in November 2001 what many had long suspected - that the U.S. economy was in recession and had been since March 2001. Thus ended an economic expansion that had begun in March 1991, the longest in the NBER chronology that dates to the...