We build a general equilibrium model in which growth is driven by two invention types: fundamental ideas that cause creative destruction, and derivative ideas that enhance the value of existing inventions. The model provides a new mapping from microeconomic, patent data to aggregate TFP growth and the aggregate value of privately owned knowledge. We show how to measure the frequency of derivati...

In the presence of principal-agent problems, published macroeconomic forecasts by professional economists may not measure expectations. Forecasters may use their forecasts in order to manipulate beliefs about their ability. I test a cross-sectional implication of models of reputation and information-revelation. I find that as forecasters become older and more established, they produce more radi...

From about the mid 1980s, Australia has sought to improve the performance of its markets and industries by actively implementing a program of microeconomic reform. It was recognised that there was a plethora of distortions which had the effect of promoting inefficient performance, and the reform program was directed towards removing these distortions. These reforms held the promise of significa...

These notes describe some tools for solving microeconomic dynamic stochastic optimization problems, and show how to use those tools for effeciently estimating a standard life cycle consumption/saving model using microeconomic data. No attempt is made at a systematic overview of the many possible technical choices; instead, I present a specific set of methods that have proven useful in my own wo...

My assigned topic is the question: Can policymakers spur or deter technological change? The question is to be addressed from a micro perspective, by examining policies regarding research and development (R&D), patents, and competition. Since there is no point in keeping the reader in suspense, I shall argue that government policy plays a major role in influencing the rate of technological chang...

Preface These lecture notes grew out of several years of teaching a course on Advanced Microeconomics, first at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and subsequently at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. When we were students at graduate schools in US (during the mid 1980's), a typical first year graduate Microeconomics course, revolved around Hal Varian's classic on the su...