This paper provides arguments in favor of using subjective questions as a proxy to measure welfare and well-being. This approach makes it possible to avoid having to define welfare and well-being means and having to identify the relevant indicators. Instead, individuals themselves define their...

We investigate the redistributive and welfare effects of disinflation in a two-agent New Keynesian (TANK) model characterized by Limited Asset Market Participation (LAMP) and wealth inequality. We highlight two key mechanisms driving our long-run results: i) the cash in advance constraint on...

Economists often favor market-based mechanisms (e.g., auction) over non-market based mechanisms (e.g., lottery) for allocating scarce public resources on grounds of economic efficiency and revenue generation. When the usage of the resources in question generates negative externalities that are...

We compare the private and social incentives for privacy when sellers can commit to transparent privacy policies that are understood by consumers. The purpose is to establish a baseline for how well markets perform when firms' privacy policies are common knowledge. In this setting, if the market...

I analyze the welfare effects of a policy of modern sector enlargement (MSENL), and a policy of increasing the efficiency of on-the-job search from the urban informal sector (IEOS) in a generalized Harris-Todaro model. I show that MSENL causes a Lorenz worsening of the income distribution and...

This paper studies the conditions for a welfare-maximizing allocation of resources to the production of global public goods, such as biodiversity, the global climate, the cultural heritage, knowledge, and world peace. A global social welfare function is maximized subject to production...

The standard index of urban quality of life provides an approximated value of the quality of life, since it associates the bundles of amenities observed in urban areas with their implicit marginal prices, and not with the prices of infra-marginal units. In this paper, we adjust the standard...