The canonical income process, including autoregressive, transitory, and fixed effect components, is routinely used in macro and labor economics. We provide a guide for its estimation using quasidifferences, cataloging biases in the estimated parameters for various $N$, $T$, initial conditions, and weighting schemes. Using Danish administrative data on male earnings, estimation in quasidifferences yields divergent estimates of the autoregressive parameter for different weighting schemes, which conforms to our simulation results when the variance of transitory shocks is higher than that of persistent shocks, true persistence is high, and the persistent component’s variance in the first sample year is nonzero. We further apply quasidifferences to the data from a calibrated lifecycle model and find significant biases in the persistence of shocks and their insurance. Estimation of the income process using quasidifferences is reliable only when the variance of persistent shocks is higher than that of transitory shocks and the moments are equally weighted.

Institutions matter for postdisaster recovery. Conversely, natural disasters can also alter a society's institutions. Using the synthetic control method, this study examines the effects that Hurricane Katrina (2005) had on the formal and informal institutions in Louisiana. As measures of formal institutions, we employ two economic freedom scores corresponding to government employment (GE) (as a share of total employment at the state-level) and property tax (PT). These measures serve as proxies for the level of governmental interference into the economy and the protection of private property rights respectively. To assess the impact on informal institutions, we use state-level social capital data. We find that Hurricane Katrina had lasting impacts on Louisiana's formal institutions. In the post-Katrina period, we find that actual Louisiana had persistently higher economic freedom scores for both GE and PT than the synthetic Louisiana that did not experience the hurricane. These findings imply that the hurricane led to a reduction in both PTs and GE, which indicates a decrease in the relative size of the public sector as a share of the state's economy. On the other hand, we find no impact on our chosen measure of informal institution.

We use a labor search model with heterogenous households and firms to study the efficacy of a wage subsidy during a pandemic, relative to enhancing unemployment benefits. A large proportion of the economy is forced to shut down, and firms in that sector choose whether to lay off workers or keep them on payroll. A wage subsidy encourages firms to keep workers on payroll, which speeds up labor market recovery after the pandemic ends. However, a wage subsidy can be costlier than enhancing unemployment benefits. If the shutdown is long or profit margins are low, then a wage subsidy is preferable and vice versa. The optimal mixture of policies includes a wage subsidy that covers 90$\%$ of the first $200/week of earnings and expands unemployment benefits to cover all salary up to $275/week. Low-income workers, as well as those in less productive jobs, benefit the most from a wage subsidy.

We estimate the relationship between GDP per capita growth and the growth rate of the national saving rate using a panel of 130 countries over the period 1960–2017. We find that GDP per capita growth increases (decreases) the growth rate of the national saving rate in poor countries (rich countries), and a higher credit-to-GDP ratio decreases the national saving rate as well as the income elasticity of the national saving rate. We develop a model with a credit constraint to explain the growth-saving relationship by the saving behavior of entrepreneurs at both the intensive and extensive margins. We further present supporting evidence for our theoretical findings by utilizing cross-country time series data of the number of new businesses registered and the corporate saving rate.

Desde hace algunos años se avanza en investigaciones sobre la evolución, causas y consecuencias de la desigualdad. En ese marco, la desigualdad salarial ha recibido gran atención dadas sus implicancias en relación con las políticas económicas, el crecimiento y el desarrollo. En este artículo se presentan nuevas series y análisis acerca de la desigualdad salarial de género en la industria de la ciudad de Buenos Aires entre 1903 y 1942. Se propone cubrir un área vacante en los estudios del mundo laboral femenino, siempre complejo, y aún más en la primera mitad del siglo XX. Esta aproximación es una aportación a los estudios sobre la desigualdad de género en Argentina, que permitirá comparaciones con otros espacios y regiones.

We propose a model in which financial sophistication improves portfolio returns and therefore the incentive to substitute consumption intertemporally. The model delivers an Euler equation in which consumption growth is positively correlated with financial sophistication. We test the model's prediction using panel data on consumption and financial sophistication drawn from the Italian Survey of Household Income and Wealth. We find that consumption growth is positively correlated with financial sophistication, as predicted by the model. We also provide estimates of the intertemporal elasticity of substitution in the range between 0.4 and 0.6.

Endocrine disruption has rarely been reported in field populations of the edible cockle and the context with the general health of the shellfish is unclear. This study examined the reproductive state of two Cerastoderma edule populations over a 6-month period to assess their reproductive condition, the incidence of intersex and presence of parasitic infection. A further seven native sites from south-west England were examined during the peak reproductive season to identify the presence of intersex within the region. Laboratory exposures of organisms collected from field populations showed a significantly female-biased sex ratio compared with controls when exposed to the endocrine disrupting chemicals, bisphenol-A (nominal concentration: 0.1 µg L−1) and 17β-oestradiol (nominal concentration: 0.1 µg L−1), but none of the chemical exposures induced intersex. Intersex was revealed in seven out of the nine native populations of C. edule sampled at peak reproductive season. The highest incidence and most severe case of intersex were reported at Lower Anderton on the River Tamer which also had a significantly female-biased sex ratio. Additionally, the dominant trematode family was the Bucephalaidae. Parasitic infection influences the maturity of C. edule by lowering both mean gonad index and condition index. These results suggest that endocrine disrupting chemicals could be contributing factors towards the development of intersex in C. edule.

We present an intertemporal portfolio choice model where individuals invest in financial literacy, save, allocate their wealth between a safe and a risky asset, and receive a pension when they retire. Financial literacy affects the excess return from and cost of stock-market participation. Investors simultaneously choose how much to save, their portfolio allocation, and the optimal investment in financial literacy. The model implies that one should observe a positive correlation between stock-market participation (and risky asset share, conditional on participation) and financial literacy, and a negative correlation between the generosity of the social security system and financial literacy. The model also implies that financial literacy accumulated early in life is positively correlated with the individual's wealth and portfolio allocations in later life. Using microeconomic cross-country data, we find support for these predictions.

This paper describes research that integrates Keynesian and Walrasian economics in a new way. The author develops a model in which high unemployment can persist and any unemployment rate can occur as an equilibrium. Equilibrium is selected by the self-fulfilling beliefs of asset market participants. Using this new framework, the author argues that fiscal policy is not the best solution to the problem of restoring full employment. A policy of asset market management, similar to quantitative easing, is put forward as a more effective approach.

This study examines the saving and insurance behaviour of 386 Boston University (BU) employees who volunteered to receive financial planning based on ESPlanner (Economic Security Planner) — a detailed life-cycle financial planning model developed by Economic Security Planning, Inc. Because the employees received their own financial plan, they had a strong incentive to provide full and accurate financial information. Hence, the data appear to be of particularly high quality for studying saving and life insurance decisions.

ESPlanner recommends annual levels of consumption, saving, and life insurance holdings that smooth a household's living standard through time subject to the household not exceeding its self-ascribed borrowing limit. The programme treats housing and special expenditures as ‘off-the-top’, adjusts for economies in shared living and the relative costs of raising children, makes highly detailed tax and Social Security benefit calculations, and permits users who don't want a stable living standard to specify how they'd like their living standards to change through time.

Our findings are striking. First, the correlation between ESPlanner's saving and insurance prescriptions and the actual decisions being made by BU employees is very weak in the case of saving and essentially zero in the case of life insurance. Many employees are spending far more and saving far less than they should, while others are under-spending and oversaving. The same holds for life insurance. The degree of under-insurance seems particularly acute. Almost 13 per cent of those BU spouses who are secondary earners would experience a 40 per cent or greater drop in their living standards were their spouses to pass away in the near future. Another 13 per cent would experience a 20 to 40 per cent drop. Second, planning shortcomings are as common among high-income professors with significant financial knowledge as they are among low-income staff with limited financial knowledge. Third, two thirds of BU employees are not in a position to smooth their living standards without exceeding their debt limits.

Une grande partie des politiques de développement repose sur l’envoi de transferts aux économies connaissant des difficultés de développement. Si ces aides semblent favorables au bien être des agents, leurs effets sur la croissance de long terme des économies restent ambigus ou parfois décevants. L’objectif de cet article est de contribuer à mieux cerner les conséquences d’une politique de transferts sur la dynamique de long terme d’une économie. Pour cela, on utilise un modèle à générations imbriquées, au sein duquel sont présents un secteur d’accumulation du capital humain et un processus d’héritage de niveau de vie. L’analyse numérique du modèle permet de montrer que selon l’importance des transferts et la préférence des agents pour le loisir, la politique d’aide peut se révéler favorable ou défavorable à la croissance de l’économie.

The dimeric β-barrel is a characteristic topology initially found in the transcriptional regulatory domain of the E2 DNA binding domain from papillomaviruses. We have previously described the kinetic folding mechanism of the human HPV-16 domain, and, as part of these studies, we present a structural characterization of the urea-denatured state of the protein. We have obtained a set of chemical shift assignments for the C-terminal domain in urea using heteronuclear NMR methods and found regions with persistent residual structure. Based on chemical shift deviations from random coil values, 3JNHNα coupling constants, heteronuclear single quantum coherence peak intensities, and nuclear Overhauser effect data, we have determined clusters of residual structure in regions corresponding to the DNA binding helix and the second β-strand in the folded conformation. Most of the structures found are of nonnative nature, including turn-like conformations. Urea denaturation at equilibrium displayed a loss in protein concentration dependence, in absolute parallel to a similar deviation observed in the folding rate constant from kinetic experiments. These results strongly suggest an alternative folding pathway in which a dimeric intermediate is formed and the rate-limiting step becomes first order at high protein concentrations. The structural elements found in the denatured state would collide to yield productive interactions, establishing an intermolecular folding nucleus at high protein concentrations. We discuss our results in terms of the folding mechanism of this particular topology in an attempt to contribute to a better understanding of the folding of dimers in general and intertwined dimeric proteins such as transcription factors in particular.

L’introduction des profits dans les fonctions d’investissement s’inscrit dans le cadre du retour de l’argument empirique sur les spécifications proposées par Jorgenson. Selon la théorie de la profitabilité les entreprises ont une demande d’investissement croissante avec le rapport taux de profit de pleine capacité/taux d’intérêt afin de se prémunir contre l’incertitude de la demande ou de gagner des parts de marché (effet de clientèle). La théorie des contraintes financières définit une offre d’investissement dépendant des profits réalisés, du ratio d’endettement et du taux d’intérêt réel anticipé. On estime un modèle de déséquilibre d’investissement avec CES par le maximum de vraisemblance et le pseudo maximum de vraisemblance simulé; robustes au changement de méthode: les profits réalisés, la profitabilité, le ratio endettement/capital et la demande anticipée. Les contraintes financières ne s’exercent pas forcément lorsque le ratio d’endettement est élevé et la chute de l’offre d’investissement est plus forte que la chute de la demande en phase de récession. Le report des contraintes financières est plutôt négatif (comportement « rationnel » vs « extrapolatif »).