In this paper we extend the parametric, asymmetric, stochastic volatility model (ASV), where returns are correlated with volatility, by flexibly modeling the bivariate distribution of the return and volatility innovations nonparametrically. Its novelty is in modeling the joint, conditional,...

The IMF's 2002 proposal for a new Sovereign Debt Restructuring Mechanism (SDRM) attracted considerable criticism from both emerging market sovereign debt issuers and from private sector financial institutions. This paper outlines the features of the SDRM and its advantages as perceived by the...

I construct a tractable model to evaluate the liquidity shock hypothesis that exogenous shocks to equity market liquidity are an important cause of the business cycle. After calibrating the model, I find that a large and persistent negative liquidity shock can generate large drops in investment,...

An average person born in the United States in the second half of the nineteenth century completed 7 years of schooling and spent 58 hours a week working in the market. By contrast, an average person born at the end of the twentieth century completed 14 years of schooling and spent 40 hours a...

This paper proposes new dynamic component models of realized covariance (RCOV) matrices based on recent work in time-varying Wishart distributions. The specifications are linked to returns for a joint multivariate model of returns and covariance dynamics that is both easy to estimate and...

This note extends the Duclos Esteban Ray Polarization Measure to situations in which agents are characterized in many dimensions where the characteristics are both discrete and continuous. It provides a formula for its asymptotic variance and illustrates its use in an application to a sample of...

A committee decides by unanimity whether to accept the current alternative, or to continue costly search. Alternatives are described by several distinct attributes. Each committee member privately assesses the quality of one attribute (her \

This paper introduces a broad family of tests for the hypothesis of linearity in parameters of functions that are identified by conditional quantile restrictions involving instrumental variables. These tests are tantamount to assessments of lack of fit for quantile regression models involving...

The renown or infamy of Henry VIII's Great Debasement (1542 - 1553), which the government of his successor, Edward VI, continued for another six years after his death, has unfairly obscured his earlier and far more modest coinage changes and public-spirited monetary policies. Furthermore,...

This paper finds an important relationship between the international food trade and cross-country income and productivity differences. Poor countries have low labour productivity in agriculture relative to other sectors, yet predominantly consume domestically-produced food. To understand these...