This paper presents new evidence on the existence of pre-industrial growth spurts and the nature of economic growth during the transition from Malthus to Solow. In this research, growth spurts are an intrinsic feature of the economy, but throughout history their effect on standards of living is...

In this paper we propose an index of the fiscal stance suitable for practical use in short-term policy making. The index is based on a comparison of a target level of the debt-GDP ratio for a given finite horizon with a forecast of the debt-GDP ratio based on a VAR formed from the government...

This paper presents a dynamic model of the firm size distribution. Empirical studies of the firm size distribution often compare the moments to a log-normal distribution as implied by Gibrat's Law and note important deviations. Thus, the first, and basic questions we ask are how well does the...

We explore determinants of job reallocation and the implications for employment change and average job tenure in this paper. A model which associates technological advances with the process of economic growth is modified and analysed. Data on average job tenure within workplaces and gross job...

This paper shows that aggregation over heterogeneous firms, which are subject to temporary technology shocks, will lead to long memory and nonlinearities. We start from microfoundations, using standard RBC model of monopolistic competition. We then derive the fundamental intertemporal...

Under U.S. Bankruptcy Code, equity holders can restructure different debt classes at a time. Recognizing this allows us to endogenize, in continuous time, not only the restructuring threshold but also the restructuring order of senior and junior classes. Unlike previous studies, sequential...

This paper studies the effects of incentive mechanisms and of the competitive environment on the interaction between schools and students, in a set-up where their effort affects the students' educational attainment. We show that increasing the power of the incentive scheme and the effectiveness...