We propose a general test for exogeneity that is robust against distributional misspecification. The test can also be used to identify other types of misspecifications, such as the presence of a random coefficient. The idea is to sort the data with respect to a variable (a sorting score) and...

We show that in sorting cross-sectional data, the endogeneity of a variable may be successfully detected by graphically examining the cumulative sum of the recursive residuals. An interesting case arises with a continuous or ordered (e.g., years of schooling) endogenous variable. Then, a...

We hypothesise that differences in people's attitudes and personality traits lead them to attribute varying importance to environmental considerations, safety, comfort, convenience and flexibility. Differences in personality traits can be revealed not only in the individuals' choice of...

The costs for maintaining different track units are analyzed using Swedish and Finnish railway data for the years 1994-1996 and 1997-1999, respectively. To derive insights on the logic of spending on track maintenance, the analysis is based on few a priori assumptions about underlying...

This paper studies the cross-border health and productivity effects of alcohol taxes. We estimate the effect of a large cut in the Finnish alcohol tax on mortality, alcohol related illnesses and work absenteeism in Sweden. This tax cut led to large differences in the prices of alcoholic...