We introduce a variable rate of capital utilization and depreciation into a modified Ramsey- type neoclassical growth model via the well-known concept of pure user cost. The optimal utilization rate is found to be determined by the opportunity cost of holding capital or the net real interest...

We ask when firms with increasing returns can cover their costs independently by charging two-part tariffs (TPT's)---a condition we call independent viability. To answer, we develop notions of substitutability and complementarity that account for the total value of goods and use them to find the...

Between 1988 and 2002, the real exchange rate in Mexico appreciated by 45%. We account for this movement in relative prices using a two sector, dynamic general equilibrium model of a small open economy with tradable an non-tradable goods. The model allows us to identify the effect of the...

Over the last decade, the ownership of the banking sector in Latin America has changed hands from local shareholders to large foreign banks from Spain and the United States. It is also a fact that the foreign exchange market in these countries has been segmented through various kinds of...

An important tool in time series analysis is that of combining information in an optimal manner. Here we establish a basic combining rule of linear estimators and exemplify its use with several different problems faced by a time series analyst. A compatibility test statistic is also provided as...

We investigate empirically the extent of misreporting in a poverty-alleviation program in which self-reported information, followed by a household visit, is used to determine eligibility. Underreporting may be due to a deception motive, and overreporting to an embarrassment motive. We find that...

In this paper, I explain two "puzzles" which have been observed in firm level data. (1) Firms which display a high sensitivity of investment to cash flow (commonly believed to be an indicator of liquidity constraints) usually have large unutilized lines of credit which, presumably, could be used...

We study the aggregate effects of a social security reform in a large overlapping generations model where markets are incomplete and households face uninsurable idiosyncratic income shocks. We depart from the previous literature by assuming that, because of lack of commitment in the credit...

Our companion paper introduced a new general equilibrium concept, called PDME, in which a natural monopoly maximizes its industry's surplus. While PDME's are always efficient, decentralization and existence sometimes fail under increasing returns to scale. This paper derives conditions under...

In this paper we show how short term contracts can reproduce the payoffs under optimal long term renegotiation proof contracts in the context of adverse selection. The result requires that the principal and the agent form a joint venture in period one. It also requires the existence of a...