Sample zeros---products available that do not register positive revenues due to the finite sample period---introduce several biases in the computation of the import price index developed by Feenstra (1994). We model sample zeros by considering the discrete choice model of Anderson, De Palma and...

The concept of resource slack is central to understanding the dynamics between employment, output, and inflation. But what amount of slack is consistent with price stability? To answer this question, economists define baseline values for unemployment and output known as the natural rate of...

We analyze the joint determination of income redistribution and migration flows across fiscally independent regions. In our model, regional governments lack commitment so their policy announcements must be credible, and redistribution between skilled and unskilled workers is bounded by...

Cross-country income gaps are large in the data. Can observed investment prices account for these gaps? Our model adds an extensive margin to the neoclassical growth model by allowing for entry of firms. When combined with a “returns to variety” effect, our model provides an amplification...

The U.S. non-financial corporate sector became a net lender vis-a-vis the rest of the economy in the early 2000s. We document this fact in the aggregate and firm-level data. We then develop a structural dynamic model with investment to study the firms' financing decisions. Debt is fiscally...

reallocation are halved.

We consider a simple state verification technology in a dynamic private information economy. We find that the marginal benefit may be below the marginal cost of investment under the constrained efficient allocation. In particular, if the planner can verify a the type of a sufficiently large...

Social and private insurance schemes rely on legal action to deter fraud and tax evasion. This observation guides us to introduce a random state-verification technology in a dynamic economy with private information. With some probability, an agent's skill level becomes known to the planner who...

disaggregated trade data from patterns arising mechanically through chance.

Over the past few decades, several developed economies have experienced large changes in how much households and firms save. In fact, a sharp increase in firms’ savings behavior has changed the net position of the (nonfinancial) corporate sector vis-à-vis the rest of the economy. ; Why have...