This paper uses a dataset from one of the largest credit card issuers in Brazil to investigate the extent of credit constraints for one of the world's largest emerging market economies. In order to deal with the endogeneity problem from an observational dataset, an identification strategy based...

We examine the effects of the PBE program, which made the adoption of energy labels mandatory in the Brazilian refrigerator market. Using data from a nationally representative sample of households, we estimate a structural model of appliance choice. We document a modest increase in the valuation...

We examine the effects of a large temporary energy-savings program on the valuation of energy efficiency by Brazilian households, as well as its counterfactual energy savings. Using a representative sample of Brazilian households, we specify and estimate a structural model of appliance choice...

We quantify the effects of the Swedish GCR, a program to reduce oil dependence and greenhouse gas emissions in the automobile industry. We find the GCR to increase the market shares of `green cars' and its cost to be $109/tonCO2 saved, thus 5 times the price of an emission permit. Since the main...

Switching costs are a leading cause of customer lock-in in banking, reducing the extent of competition and increasing market power in this industry. This paper tries to estimate these costs using a methodology that does not require customer microdata. The estimates obtained here—using bank...

Several studies have tried to identify the relationship between growth and misaligned or overvalued currencies. Many works (Easterly (2001) and Fajnzylber et alii (2002)), find negative correlations between exchange rate misalignment and growth for a long list of developing countries since the...