In this paper we analyze the pattern of returns to capital in formal and informal manufacturing sector in Ethiopia using a rich panel dataset of formal sector manufacturing firms for the period 1996-2006 and two rounds of repeated cross-sectional data from the urban informal sector firms. Returns to capital in the informal sector are higher than that of the formal sector potentially explaining ...

This thesis tests if certain technology choices are associated with a reduction in the proportion of farming activities in the agro-food system in Maine. Goodman, Sorj, and Wilkinson define appropriationism as the replacement of farming sector activities by industrial inputs. Based on the concept of appropriationism, industrial fanning systems using large amounts of synthetic inputs contribute ...

We seek to forecast sector stock returns using established predictor variables. Existing empirical evidence focuses on market level data, and thus, data provide fertile ground for research. In addition in-sample predictive regressions, we consider recursive rolling forecasts whether such can be used successfully in a rotation portfolio. The results ten sectors eleven variables highlight that tw...

We compare the effects, on rural wages and farmer income, of public investments in either a traditional or a modern agricultural sector. The traditional sector has constant or decreasing returns to scale. Economies of scale that are external to farms in the modern sector create a possible engine for growth. We show that if there are moderate returns to scale in the modern sector, and labor has ...

Reported portfolio data indicate that bond fund managers engage in sector timing behavior. I use simulation procedures to examine the ability of various versions of the Treynor and Mazuy (1966) timing specification to detect positive sector timing skill. Results indicate that the models are unable to detect timing ability at reasonable skill levels for the majority of managers. Alternative meas...

On the Returns to Training in Portugal This paper investigates the earnings effects of training in the Portuguese labour market. We use the Portuguese Labour Force Survey to classify training according to multiple criteria, including providing institution, purpose, duration, and content of the training activity. First, we establish some stylised facts about the extent and determinants of differ...

This paper investigates how financial-sector leverage affects macroeconomic instability and welfare. In the model, banks borrow (use leverage) to allocate resources to productive projects and provide liquidity. When banks do not actively issue new equity, aggregate outcomes depend on the level of equity in the financial sector. Equilibrium is inefficient because agents do not internalize how th...

In this paper we study the sources of wage growth. We identify the contribution to such growth of general, sector specific and firm specific human capital. Our results are interpretable within the context of a model where the returns to human capital may be heterogeneous and where firms may offer different combinations of entry level wages and firm specific human capital development. We allow f...

Differences in Wage Growth by Education Level: Do Less-Educated Workers Gain Less from Work Experience? This paper revisits the old question of whether wage growth differs by education level. Do more educated workers invest more than less educated workers in firm specific, sector specific or general human capital? Do they gain more from improved job match? The paper makes both a methodological ...

This paper investigates the effects of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) on CEO compensation, using panel data constructed for the S&P 1500 firms on CEO compensation, financial returns, and reported accounting income. Empirically SOX (i) changes the relationship between a firm’s abnormal returns and CEO compensation, (ii) changes the underlying distribution of abnormal returns, and (iii) significant...