In this paper we study the evolution of the labor share in the OECD since 1970. We show it is essentially related to the capital-output ratio; that this relationship is shifted by factors like the price of imported materials or the skill mix; and that discrepancies between the marginal product of labor and the real wage (due to, e.g., product market power, union bargaining, and labor adjustment...

In recent years, the international community has expanded efforts in programme evaluation to improve the accountability of development projects. This paper presents approaches to implementing state-of-the-art evaluations in rural electrification projects, taking into account specific challenges that researchers face in such interventions. Furthermore, it suggests a particular approach to assess...

Remarkably little advice has been offered in the way of helping management develop appropriate strategies to cope with different forms of uncertainty. In an effort to fill this gap, the present article combines extant research from economics and strategy to identify two broad classes of uncertainty and the generic strategies that are appropriate to handle each class of uncertainty. We point out...

We examine the structure of the core of a trading economy with three competitive equilibria as the number of traders (N) is varied. The core first splits into two pieces at N = 5 and then splits a second time into three pieces at N = 12. Both of these splits occur not at a point but as a contiguous gap. We find that the speed of convergence of the core toward the three competitive equilibria is...

In this note we study the distortions in an endogenous growth model developed by Grimaud and Tournemaine (2007), where new pieces of knowledge are produced in a R&D sector and used to reduce pollution emissions. Using this model along with a realistic calibration, we conclude that the economy strongly underinvests in R&D, such that the policy maker would need to implement a strong tax-subsidy s...

We investigate the effectiveness of window-dressing as a potential strategy to be used by mutual fund managers to promote fund flows. Using a rank gap measure as a proxy for the likelihood that window-dressing has occurred, we find that fund investors as whole punish those managers who are suspected to have engaged in window-dressing. That is, we find a negative relation between the window-dres...

This paper focuses on one potentially important contributor to the achievement gap between black and white students, differences in their exposure to novice teachers. We present a model that explores the pressures that may lead school administrators to distribute novice teachers unequally across or within schools. Using a rich micro-level data set provided by the North Carolina Department of Pu...

Sen’s capability approach permits re-appraisal of a central concept in health and social care, and international development—‘quality of life’ (QoL). We compare Sen’s capability view of QoL with current views in health care, and re-define QoL as ‘the gap between desired and actual capabilities’. A causal pathway linking resources to capabilities, and finally to QoL, is postulated. The notion of...

The purpose of the present paper is to explore both the motivation for confiscating illegal gain and also to look at some of its legal aspects and economic effects. It is argued that the removal of illegal gain may be able to play a significant complementary role, if only by closing the gap between the maximum punishment the law will allow and fines sufficient to represent a credible deterrent....

We use unique worker-plant matched panel data to measure differences in wage changes experienced by workers displaced from closing plants. We observe larger losses among women than men, comparing workers who move from the same closing plant to the same new firm. However, we find a significantly smaller gap in hiring firms with female leadership. The results are strongest among women who are dis...