Institute for the Study of Labor

About: Institute for the Study of Labor is a nonprofit organization based out in Bonn, Germany. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Wage & Unemployment. The organization has 2039 authors who have published 13475 publications receiving 439376 citations.

Formal and Informal Institutions of Development

Abstract: Our paper presents a critical review of the literature on institutional change and the role of institutions in economic development. We discuss the roles and interrelationships of formal and informal institutions and introduce a collection of papers addressing this topic in a variety of development settings.

Fifty years of regional inequality in china: a journey through revolution, reform and openness

Abstract: This paper constructs and analyses a long run time series for regional inequality in China from the Communist Revolution to the present. There have been three peaks of inequality in the last fifty years, coinciding with the Great Famine of the late 1950s, the Cultural Revolution of the late 1960s and 1970s, and finally the period of openness and global integration in the late 1990s. Econometric analysis establishes that regional inequality is explained in the different phases by three key variables—the ratio of heavy industry to gross output value, the degree of centralization, and the degree of openness.

The Law of One Price - A Case Study

Abstract: We use retail transaction prices for a multinational retailer to examine the extent and permanence of violations of the law of one price (LOOP). For identical products, we find typical deviations of twenty to fifty percent, though there is muted evidence for convergence over time. Such differences might be due to differences in local costs. If so, relative prices of similar products (round versus square mirrors) should be equal across countries. In fact, relative prices vary significantly across very similar goods within a product group; indeed, the ordering of common currency prices often differs for similar products. The finding suggests that differences in local distribution costs, local taxes, and probably tariffs do not explain the price pattern, leaving strategic pricing or other factors resulting in varying markups as alternative explanations for the observed divergences.

Trade in Educational Services: Trends and Emerging Issues

Abstract: This paper examines the trends and emerging issues in trade in educational services. It provides rough estimates of the size of the international market in educational services drawing on the limited data available in services trade statistics and data on foreign students in tertiary education in OECD countries. It outlines the current commitments for trade in educational services under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). It also reviews the implications of the on-going GATS negotiations for further multilateral trade liberalisation in this sector. It points out that OECD countries have been noticeably reluctant to make proposals for further liberalisation of trade in educational services. One reason for this is the concern in many countries about the potential threats posed to cultural values and national traditions by growing trade liberalisation in educational services. Finally, the paper reviews some of the main policy issues arising from trade in educational services.

Estimating Distributions of Treatment Effects with an Application to the Returns to Schooling and Measurement of the Effects of Uncertainty on College

Abstract: This paper uses factor models to identify and estimate distributions of counterfactuals. We extend LISREL frameworks to a dynamic treatment effect setting, extending matching to account for unobserved conditioning variables. Using these models, we can identify all pairwise and joint treatment effects. We apply these methods to a model of schooling and determine the intrinsic uncertainty facing agents at the time they make their decisions about enrollment in school. Reducing uncertainty in returns raises college enrollment. We go beyond the Veil of Ignorance' in evaluating educational policies and determine who benefits and who loses from commonly proposed educational reforms.