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working paper

A classroom experiment on exchange rate determination with purchasing power parity

Publication Date
2007-February-01
Document Type
Department or Program
Document Type
Abstract

We develop a classroom experiment on exchange rate determination appropriate for undergraduate courses in macroeconomics and international economics. Students represent citizens from different countries and need to obtain currency to purchase goods. By participating in a sealed bid auction to...

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A continuous state space approach to "Convergence by Parts,"

Publication Date
2005-March-01
Document Type
Department or Program
Document Type
Abstract

Using a continuous state space approach, this note extends Feyrer's [2003] study of the proximate determinants of the shape of the long-run distribution of income per capita. Contrary to Feyrer's finding of the primacy of TFP, the results here imply...

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A general-equilibrium analysis of public policy for pharmaceutical prices

Publication Date
2005-January-01
Document Type
Department or Program
Document Type
Abstract

Retail sales of prescription drugs totaled $154.5 billion in 2001. The National Institute for Health Care Management estimates annual sales will exceed $400 billion by the year 2010. This paper analyzes the welfare and distributional effects of two policy families...

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A nonparametric analysis of income convergence across the US states

Publication Date
1999-December-01
Document Type
Department or Program
Document Type
Abstract

In this paper I apply the nonparametric methods proposed by Quah to data on US state relative income levels. In contrast to Quah's results using cross-country data I find no evidence of polarization in the cross-state income distribution. The long-run...

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A test of normality assumption in the ordered probit model

Publication Date
1995-December-01
Document Type
Department or Program
Document Type
Abstract

This paper presents an easily implemented test of the assumption of a normally distributed error term for the ordered probit model. As this assumption is the central maintained hypothesis in all estimation and testing based on this model, the test...

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Aid and sovereignty

Publication Date
1998-August-24
Document Type
Department or Program
Document Type
Abstract

To achieve humanitarian objectives, international development assistance must be structured to insure its effectiveness. The resulting conditionality, however, raises sovereignty concerns as attempts to promote effectiveness may conflict with respect for recipient state sovereignty and indirectly violate individuals' right to...

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An Islamic perspective on inequality in Pakistan

Publication Date
1991-October-01
Document Type
Department or Program
Document Type
Abstract

This paper examines the distribution of income in Pakistan, and in each of its four provinces, from an explicit and formal Islamic perspective. A cardinally significant Atkinson-Kolm-Sen relative index of inequality reflecting that perspective is proposed and computed from the...

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Arbitrage in closed-end funds: New evidence

Publication Date
2006-August-20
Document Type
Authors
Department or Program
Document Type
Abstract

Arbitrage pressures that could equalize closed-end fund share prices with fund portfolio values appear to be largely absent in an extensive data set. Observed fund behavior violates the static arbitrage bounds of Gemmill and Thomas (2002) and is inconsistent with...

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Asset depletion among the poor: Does gender matter? The case of urban households in Thailand

Publication Date
2004-July-01
Document Type
Department or Program
Document Type
Abstract

The paper analytically and empirically examines the issue of gender inequality in household wealth in the form of tangible assets among urban poor households Thailand. It seeks to answer the following questions: (1) is there a gendered pattern of asset...

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Bargaining in the shadow of precedent: the surprising irrelevance of asymmetric stakes

Publication Date
2006-April-12
Document Type
Department or Program
Document Type
Abstract

We develop a model of bargaining and litigation in the context of patent licensing (or any contractual setting). Following Priest and Klein (1984) we developed a model that explicitly allows for (1) multiple parties (leading to asymmetry of stakes), (2)...

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Child brides in India

Publication Date
2011-January-01
Document Type
Department or Program
Document Type
Abstract

This paper investigates the determinants of child marriage using a new data set from rural India. Specifically, we focus on an extreme form of child marriage--that is, the marriage of girls under the age of ten. No other study to...

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Closed-end fund discounts and interest rates: positive covariance in US data after 1985

Publication Date
2005-September-01
Document Type
Authors
Department or Program
Document Type
Abstract

Previous papers find no relationship between interest rates and the discounts of US closed-end funds before 1985. This is taken as evidence against management fees being a cause of discounts because a negative relationship is expected: if interest rates rise...

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Convergence among the U.S. states: Absolute, conditional, or club?

Publication Date
2003-October-01
Document Type
Department or Program
Document Type
Abstract

This paper attempts to ascertain which of the convergence hypotheses – absolute, conditional, or club – best describes the economic development of the U.S. states since 1950. We use regression tree analysis to identify convergence clubs among the states and...

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Convergence and growth amongst rich and poor

Publication Date
1992-March-01
Document Type
Department or Program
Document Type
Abstract

This paper reexamines the Baumol-Wolff (1988) hypothesis that there exists an exclusive international Convergence Club of rich nations whose members will move nearer each other with the passage of time. We argue that the Baumol-Wolff analysis does not really justify...

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Cosmopolitans and locals among rural emergency service volunteers

Publication Date
1994-January-01
Document Type
Department or Program
Document Type
Abstract

In rural regions, trained volunteer firefighters and medics provide emergency services, often with considerable personal risk and without financial reward. However, these Volunteers exhibit two different latent orientations: firefighters are more localistic in their outlook than medical volunteers. These latent...

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Credibility and credulity: how beliefs about beliefs affect entry incentives

Publication Date
2006-November-13
Document Type
Department or Program
Document Type
Abstract

In this note we investigate the infringement (entry) decision for a firm facing an incumbent patent holder with uncertain patent rights. The entrant risks a dispute by entering, resulting in either a settlement (licensing) or litigation and trial. Using the...

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Did the colonial powers pick the economic winners?

Publication Date
2007-September-01
Document Type
Authors
Department or Program
Document Type
Abstract

This paper proposes a new instrument for institutional quality—the salary of colonial governors—to investigate whether variations in the quality of British colonial rule continue to have an impact on the economic performance of former colonies. Governors' salaries provide a good...

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