The Global Repository of Income Dynamics (GRID) is a new open-access, cross- country database that contains a wide range of micro statistics on income in- equality, dynamics, and mobility. It has four key characteristics: it is built on micro panel data drawn from administrative records; it...

This paper studies the choice between general and specific human capital. A trade-off arises because general human capital, while less productive, can easily be reallocated across firms. Accordingly, the fraction of individuals with specific human capital depends on the amount of uncertainty in...

This paper evaluates the effects of parental income volatility on children’s entrepreneurial decisions in Sweden. We first show that individuals who experience higher uninsurable parental income volatility during adolescence are more likely to become entrepreneurs. A one-standard deviation...

We estimate firm–level idiosyncratic risk in the U.S. manufacturing sector. Our proxy for risk is the volatility of the portion of growth in sales or TFP which is not explained by either industry – or economy–wide factors, or firm characteristics systematically associated with growth...