The extent to which fixed factors of production such as land constrain per-capita income growth has been a widely discussed topic in economics since at least Malthus (1798). Whether fixed factors limit growth depends crucially on two variables: the substitutability of fixed factors in...

This paper explores whether heat waves at conception, while in utero, or after birth cause better educational and health outcomes as adults. Using Census and DHS data from sub-Saharan Africa, we show that individuals conceived during heat waves have higher educational attainment and literacy,...

In this paper we study an optimal contract problem under moral hazard in a principal-agent framework where contracts are implemented through random auditing. This monitoring instrument reveals the precise action taken by the agent with some nondegenerate probability r, and otherwise reveals no...

This paper analyzes the importance of malaria prevalence, malaria ecology, and indoor residual spraying on the probability of sleeping under an insecticide-treated net (ITN) in six African countries. Using individual data on ITN usage combined with the malaria prevalence and ecology data for the...

This study develops a discrete multiple state duration model for screen- ing a chronic disease that allows for duration dependence, unmeasured heterogeneity, partial observability of the state and endogenous treat- ment. We study whether screening for diabetes is e¤ective in delaying...

This study compares the economic effects of tariffs and quotas in an environment where exporters must expend resources to find foreign consumers. Within a sequential search model, we find the policies to be (with rare exceptions) nonequivalent in domestic price. The relative impact of the two...

Some urban policies are designed to reduce auto and increase transit usage. Evidence is mixed because most empirical research uses ad hoc specifications. We estimate empirical models of the interaction between urban form and transit demand drawn from urban economic theory. Population density has...

We develop a framework where to examine the implications of the introduction of a non- profit "public option" in the U.S. health insurance market. In this model, a continuum of heterogeneous consumers, each facing unknown medical expenditures, and differing in their expectations of such...

We develop and estimate a spatial game-theoretic model of entry and location choices to examine firms’ strategic clustering decisions. The model identifies two contradictory effects that determine firms’ geographical location choices: a competition effect and a clustering effect. We also...