The informational value of the aggregate US unemployment rate has recently been questioned because of a unit root in the labor-force participation rate; the lack of mean reversion implies that long-run changes in unemployment rates are highly unlikely to reflect long-run changes in joblessness....

Based on a randomised experiment we estimate effects from notification to medical doctors of tighter monitoring of their medical certificates. Both time prescribed by the doctor certificates for sick leave (prescribed sick leave) and the impact on the length of the actual sickness absence...

The provision of business training with microfinance leads to a positive impact on assets for the participating households. We correct for membership selection bias and account for potential training endogeneity with propensity score matching, using data from the Self Help Group microfinance...

We investigate if participation in Indian Self Help Group microfinance program (SHG) results in reducing vulnerability. Vulnerability estimates are constructed using cross-sectional SHG rural household survey data, collected in 2003. The potential selection bias is eliminated by propensity score...

We evaluate the impact of training provided by facilitators of Self Help Groups (SHGs). This evaluation provides one of the first studies of the impact of ‘microfinance plus,’ or the disbursement of services beyond credit. Indian SHGs are mainly NGO-formed microfinance groups but funded by...

Employing econometric methods for univariate time series, this paper investigates the empirical validity of assuming a unit root in individuals’ labor-income processes. Using a Swedish register-based longitudinal dataset which allows us to follow a cohort of workers from 1968 to 2005, we are...

This paper utilizes information on cognitive ability at age ten and earnings information from age 20 to 65 to estimate the return to ability over the life-cycle. Cognitive ability measured at an early age is not influenced by the individual’s choices of schooling. We find that most of the...

Employing econometric methods for univariate time series, this paper investigates the empirical validity of assuming a unit root in individuals’ labor-income processes. Using a Swedish register-based longitudinal dataset which allows us to follow a cohort of workers from 1968 to 2005, we are...

We examine to what extent immigrant school performance is affected by the characteristics of the neighborhoods that they grow up in. We address this issue using a refugee place¬ment policy which provides exogenous variation in the initial place of residence in Sweden. The main result is that...

The service sector is very heterogeneous with respect to internationalization; in some industries there is international trade (or it may potentially exist), whereas other industries are non-tradable. Data on international trade in services is, however, typically very limited, making it...