The joint assumptions of quasi-hyperbolic discounting and imperfect capital market lead to non-convexities in selves’ objective functions that may imply discontinuous equilibrium strategies. If this property was early recognized, authors generally take assumptions on parameters that allow to avoid the problem. In contrast to the literature, I choose to give a full characterization of these stra...

On May 15th of this year, I provided you with preliminary findings from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) study of issues related to submarine programs now under review by the Congress. In that earlier letter, I addressed the near-term savings that would result from a decision not to fund completion of the third Seawolf submarine. After briefly reviewing those savings, the accompanying atta...

Using a vector error-correction model, I explore the short-run dynamics and long-run linkages between financial reform and the mobilization of domestic saving in Morocco. In the short run, financial depth (volume of intermediation) is shown to have a positive influence on private saving, while increases in real interest rates have a negative impact. The effectiveness of financial intermediation...

When the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) "scores" legislation, or assesses the likely cost impact, it requires substantial evidence that a cost-saving initiative has historically achieved savings. The agency has difficulty addressing the impact of multiple changes made simultaneously without historical precedent where there is an interaction effect among proposed changes. This study examines ...

 Whether or not Americans have a retirement savings plan is a key factor in their outlook about having an affordable retirement. The 2015 RCS by EBRI/Greenwald & Associates finds that the nation’s retirement confidence continues to rebound from the record lows experienced between 2009 and 2013—but this is based on the increasing optimism of those who indicate they and/or their spouse have a re...

Proponents of hospital consolidation claim that mergers lead to significant cost savings, but there is little systematic evidence backing these claims. For a large sample of hospital mergers between 2000 and 2010, I estimate difference-in-differences models that compare cost trends at acquired hospitals to cost trends at hospitals whose ownership did not change. I find evidence of economically ...

This paper presents evidence on the perverse trade-off that first price auctions induce between low prices at the awarding stage and poor ex post performance when bids are not binding commitments. By exploiting the different timing with which first price auctions were introduced in Italy to procure public works, this study finds that at least half of the cost savings from lower winning prices a...

Although there has beenmixed evidence from research on the efficacy of financial education efforts for youth, there is an emerging consensus that focusing on financial capability may be a more effective approach. This article examines the impact of theMyPath Savings pilot on 275 economically disadvantaged youth participating in a youth development and employment program.MyPath Savings targets y...

We consider a small-open, collateral-constrained AK economy. We show that the combination of CARA preferences and uncertainty on capital inflows in such an economy generates long-term (expected) growth while the deterministic counterpart does not. In this framework, long-term growth is entirely driven by precautionary savings. In particular, we show that the asymptotic growth rate of the expect...