Sleep is a source of energy. This energy is available in limited quantity and individuals must decide when it should be renewed and when it should be consumed. The economics of sleeping and the economics of resource extraction are one and the same. More specifically, utility maximization with...

In this paper I examine a number of issues related to the Italian youth labour market and, in particular, youth labour market entry, over the last decade or so. The Italian youth labour market has a number of characteristics, present to a degree in other countries, but which by their pronounced...

In this paper, we analyze the extent to which market forces create an incentive for cloning human beings. We show that a market for cloning arises if a large enough fraction of the clone?s income can be appropriated by its model. Only people with the highest ability are cloned, while people at...

In this paper, we analyze the extent to which market forces create an incentive for cloning human beings. We show that a market for cloning arises if a large enough fraction of the clone?s income can be appropriated by its model. Only people with the highest ability are cloned, while people at...

The big five personality traits develop over a person's lifetime. There is some suggestive evidence that major life events - such as getting married, being fired from a job, and having children - affect personality. However, these associations cannot be interpreted as causal. This is the first...

Concern about the high poverty rates experienced by children in female‐headed households has led to policies aimed at increasing these households' income. In this paper we present a model that analyses decisions made before and during marriage to invest in the human capital of parents and...

In theory, unilateral divorce laws alter the private incentive to invest in human capital by permitting either spouse to initiate the division of the marital assets. Using several causal research designs we show that both men and women are less likely to attain a bachelor's degree in states with...

In 30% of young American couples the wife is more educated than the husband. Those women are characterized by a substantially higher employment (all else equal), which in turn amplifies income inequality across couples. Using NLSY79, we formulate and structurally estimate a dynamic life-cycle...

This paper develops a novel model of marital sorting on income potentials: In the marriage market, people are matching on potential wage growth rates which differ across individuals. Gains from marriage arise from intra-household specialization as couples make joint decisions on how much time to...

Do the short and medium term adjustment costs associated with trade liberalization influenceschooling and child labor decisions? We examine this question in the context of India's 1991tariff reforms. Overall, in the 1990s, rural India experienced a dramatic increase in schoolingand decline in...