Banking crises,labor reforms,and unemployment

Using a sample of 97 countries spanning the period 1980–2008, we estimate that banking crises have, on average, a large negative impact on unemployment. This effect, however, largely depends on the flexibility of labor market institutions: while in countries with more flexible labor markets the impact of banking crises is sharper but short-lived, in countries with more rigid labor markets the effect is initially more subdued but highly persistent. These effects are even larger for youth unemployment in the short term, and long-term unemployment in the medium term. Conversely, large upfront, or gradual but significant, comprehensive market reforms have a positive impact on unemployment, albeit only in the medium term.     

Causality in the Social Sciences: a structural modelling framework

Quality & Quantity - There is no unified theory of causality in the sciences and in philosophy. In this paper, we focus on a particular framework, called structural causal modelling (SCM), as...     

The cost of inflation: A mechanism design approach

I apply mechanism design to quantify the cost of inflation that can be attributed to monetary frictions alone. In an environment with pairwise meetings, the money demand that is consistent with an optimal, incentive feasible allocation takes the form of a continuous correspondence that can fit the data over the period 1900–2006. For such parameterizations, the cost of moderate inflation is zero. This result is robust to the introduction of match-specific heterogeneity and endogenous participation decisions.     

Adopting telework: The causal impact of working from home on subjective well-being

We study the impact of work from home (WFH) on subjective well-being during the Covid period, where self-selection of individuals into telework is ruled out, at least part of the time, by stay-at-home orders. We use a difference-in-differences approach with individual fixed effects and identify the specific impact of switching to telecommuting, separately from any other confounding factor. In particular, our identification strategy avoids the influence of interpersonal heterogeneity by exploiting the multiple entries into WFH, by the same individuals, at different times. On average over the period, switching to WFH, especially full-time, worsens mental health. We also find a positive but imprecisely measured impact of part-time WFH on life satisfaction. However, this hides a dynamic evolution, whereby the initial deterioration gives place to an adaptation process after a couple of months. We also uncover a particularly pronounced fall in subjective well-being of women with children, especially in the first months; this could be associated with home-schooling.     

Minimum Distance Estimation and Testing of DSGE Models from Structural VARs*

The aim of this paper is to complement the minimum distance estimation–structural vector autoregression approach when the weighting matrix is not optimal. In empirical studies, this choice is motivated by stochastic singularity or collinearity problems associated with the covariance matrix of impulse response functions. Consequently, the asymptotic distribution cannot be used to test the economic model's fit. To circumvent this difficulty, we propose a simple simulation method to construct critical values for the test statistics. An empirical application with US data illustrates the proposed method.     

Re-imagining the marketplace: addressing race in academic marketing research

Race is a marketplace icon. How so? By holding true to an icon’s defining characteristics: high visibility, divisiveness, and uncritical devotion. In this brief musing, we describe how despite its centrality to market activities, race is uncritically addressed in academic marketing research. We next introduce the Race in the Marketplace (RIM) Research Network, a newly-formed interdisciplinary collective of scholars and scholar-activists that seek to break race of its iconic standing and bring greater equity to markets by disseminating critical, collaborative, and transdisciplinary race-based market research that supports liberatory public policies and community actions. We close with a call to join our effort to reimagine the marketplace through the critical examination of what has been a perpetually overlooked icon in marketing academia.     

THE U.S. WESTWARD EXPANSION*

The U.S. economic development in the 19th century was characterized by the westward movement of population and the accumulation of productive land in the West. This article presents a model of migration and land improvement to identify the quantitatively important forces driving these phenomena. The conclusion is that the decrease in transportation costs induced the westward migration, whereas population growth was responsible for the investment in productive land.     

Cooperation rather than competition in industrial organisations: Albion W. Small’s underestimated view

This article aims to present Albion W. Small’s underestimated view on labour relations in industrial organisations. A century ago, this sociologist, who also had a grounding in political economy, analysed the transformation of capitalism through a focus on the relationship between workers and capitalists. He offered some interesting proposals, stressing the need for the two factors of production to cooperate instead of competing. His approach may still be insightful today in rethinking the forthcoming challenges facing industrial organisations as well as capitalism, especially regarding the ontological nature of a firm associated with its governance issue.     

Online job search discouragement: How employment platforms and digital exclusion shape the experience of low-qualified job seekers?

How do people experience the platform-mediated job search process? We explore this question based on a sample of in-depth interviews (n = 20) with low-qualified, unemployed Spanish job seekers. Our main finding shows that the ways they use Information and Communication Technologies negatively impact their engagement in online job search activities. Based on our findings, we develop a framework of online job search discouragement revolving around crafting online profiles, applying for jobs, reviewing application statuses and integrating the tensions these activities carry for the experience and the outcome of the platform-mediated job search.     

Liquidity and asset-market dynamics

This study analyzes economies with an essential role for liquid assets in the exchange process. The model can generate multiple stationary equilibria, across which asset prices, market participation, capitalization, output and welfare are positively related. It can also generate a variety of nonstationary equilibria, even when fundamentals are deterministic and time invariant, including periodic, chaotic and stochastic (sunspot) equilibria with recurrent market crashes. Some equilibria have asset-price trajectories that resemble bubbles growing and bursting. Endogenous private and public liquidity is also introduced. Sometimes it is efficient to provide enough liquid assets to satiate demand; other times it is not.