Proxy structural vector autoregressions (SVARs) identify structural shocks in vector autoregressions (VARs) with external proxy variables that are correlated with the structural shocks of interest but uncorrelated with other structural shocks. We provide asymptotic theory for proxy SVARs when...

We examine operating and investment decisions in a duopolistic industry in which an initial investment in research yields an immediate tax benefit for one firm, but creates a net operating loss carryover for the other firm. We show that the conventional wisdom that suggests that the first firm...

This study explores the hypothesis that the 2003 tax cuts on dividends and capital gains generated an increase in aggregate dividends and aggregate share repurchases in the US after 2003. I find that the 2003 tax reform leads to a rise in both types of payouts in the General Equilibrium setting...

As U.S. corporate profit margins have made it to record highs, a debate has raged between those who place their hopes on a new paradigm of sustained high profits and those who believe in capitalism's efficiency and the tendency of margins to revert to the mean. Using a bottoms-up analysis...

This paper provides an overview of the evolution of macroeconomic thought from 1936, the year John Maynard Keynes published his general theory of employment, interest and money to the year 2010. It explores the reasons for the extension of the business cycle during the postwar period. The paper...

This paper analyzes the causes and implications of recent financial crises. Financial crises in general lead to changes in both theory and practice of economics. The paper takes an historical overview. The global consensus of economic theory during the 20th century is discussed. The paper...

I relate hours worked with taxes on consumption and labor. I propose a model and compare its predictions for Portugal, France, Spain, United Kingdom and United States. Hours per worker in Portugal decreased from 35.1 in 1986 to 32.6 in 2001. With only the parameters and the taxes for Portugal,...

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was signed by President William Jefferson Clinton in 1992. Although NAFTA is a trade and tariff initiative it has profound consequences for labor and the U.S. economy. Since its implementation NAFTA has resulted in the permanent elimination of more...

The US decision not to ratify the Kyoto Protocol and the recent outcomes of the Bonn and Marrakech Conferences of the Parties have important implications for both the effectiveness and the efficiency of future climate policies. Among these implications, those related with technical change and...

This paper studies the impulse responses of output and private consumption to the COVID-19 stimulus packages in the U.S. I develop a Structural Vector Autoregression (SVAR) to calculate the orthogonalized impulse response functions (OIRFs) of output and private consumption to a government...