Using real-time data, we analyze how the systematic expectation errors of professional forecasters in 19 advanced economies depend on the state of the business cycle. Our results indicate that the general result that forecasters systematically overestimate output growth (across all countries)...

We analyze the adoption of green technology in a dynamic economy affected by random shocks where demand spillovers are the main driver of technological improvements. Firms' beliefs and consumers' anticipations drive the path of the economy. We derive the optimal policy of investment subsidy and...

This paper analyses how labour market heterogeneity affects unemployment, productivity and business cycle dynamics that are relevant for monetary policy. The model matches remarkably well the short and long run dynamics of skilled and unskilled workers. Skill mismatch and skill-specific labour...

We generalize the demand side of a Real Business Cycle model introducing non-homothetic preferences over differentiated final goods. Under monopolistic competition this generates variable markups that depend on the level of consumption. We estimate a flexible preference specification through...

This paper presents a synthesis of capital theory and business cycle analysis. Capital is the neglected child of macroeconomics. Despite its obvious importance, capital has not received the attention that it deserves in modeling the business cycle. While many business cycle models pay no or very...

In this Article, I offer a macroeconomic perspective on law that reshapes the microeconomic perspective that currently dominates law and economics. I argue that 1. The economy works one way in ordinary economic conditions, in which supply capacity determines output, and a different way in deep...

This letter evaluates two types of forecasts from probit models that use the slope of the yield curve (“term spread”) to forecast NBER recessions, using an evaluation toolkit common in statistics and meteorology. The probit models provide excellent non-probabilistic yes/no predictions of...

As the election of 2008 approaches most of the attention of investors and workers is on mortgage defaults, the banking crisis and the stock market. Important changes occurring in the labor market are being overlooked. The monthly unemployment rate in August 2008, 6.1%, is around the 70th...

This paper formulates and estimates a three-shock US business cycle model. The estimated model accounts for a substantial fraction of the cyclical variation in output and is consistent with the observed inertia in inflation. This is true even though firms in the model reoptimize prices on...

This paper contains the first cross-country comparison of the cyclical behaviour of real wages using microdata. After controlling for changes in labour quality, I find that real wages are strongly procyclical in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In contrast, the cyclicality of...