Teacher quality is crucial to deliver good education. However, improving teacher quality in developing countries can be a tough problem. This paper investigates the impact of a teacher placement program that sends college graduates with a strong academic track record to teach in rural primary...

After the Global Financial Crisis of 2007After the Global Financial Crisis of 2007-09, economists are reconsidering the appropriate role of monetary policy towards equity bubbles. This paper contributes to these deliberations by estimating the response of the stock market to a monetary policy...

We are heading for a cashless world. At some point, we will say goodbye to all those pieces of paper and polymer and switch to an electronic alternative. The only problem with these statements is that people have been saying them since the late 1960s. Banknotes have a robust technology and will...

Digital platforms, such as Alibaba and Amazon, operate an online marketplace to facilitate transactions. This paper studies a platform's business model choice between accepting cash and issuing tokens, as well as the implications for welfare, resiliency, and interoperability. A cash platform...

I explain the meaning of an interoperable payment system and why interoperability is crucial for efficiency. I review some alternative approaches to interoperability, including central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), hybrid CBDCs, and two-ledger upgrades of bank-based payment systems