National Bureau of Economic Research

About: National Bureau of Economic Research is a nonprofit organization based out in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Monetary policy & Population. The organization has 2626 authors who have published 34177 publications receiving 2818124 citations. The organization is also known as: NBER & The National Bureau of Economic Research.

The Quantity and Quality of Life and the Evolution of World Inequality

Abstract: Lack of income convergence for the world as a whole has led to concerns about the impact of globalization of markets on world inequality. GDP per capita is usually used to proxy for the quality of life of individuals living in different countries. However, well-being is also affected by quantity of life, as represented by longevity. This paper incorporates longevity into an overall assessment of the evolution of cross-country inequality. The absence of income convergence noticed in the growth literature is in stark contrast with the reduction in inequality after incorporating recent gains in longevity. The paper computes a full' income measure to value the life expectancy gains experienced by 49 countries between 1965 and 1995. Countries starting with lower income tended to grow more in terms of full' income than countries starting with higher income. The average growth rate of full' income is about 140% for developed countries, compared to 192% for developing countries. Additionally, we decompose changes in life expectancy into changes attributable to thirteen broad groups of causes of death. Infectious, respiratory and digestive diseases, congenital and perinatal conditions, and ill-defined' conditions are responsible for most of the mortality convergence observed between 1965 and 1995.

Menu Costs and the Neutrality of Money

Abstract: A model of endogenous price adjustment under money growth is presented. Firms follow (s,S) pricing policies, and price revisions are imperfectly synchronized. In the aggregate, price stickiness disappears, and money is neutral. The connection between firm price adjustment and relative price variability in the presence of monetary growth is also investigated. The results contrast with those obtained in models with exogenous fixed timing of price adjustment.

Estimation of Limited Dependent Variable Models With Dummy Endogenous Regressors

Abstract: Applied economists have long struggled with the question of how to accommodate binary endogenous regressors in models with binary and nonnegative outcomes. I argue here that much of the difculty with limited dependent variables comes from a focus on structural parameters, such as index coefcients, instead of causal effects. Once the object of estimation is taken to be the causal effect of treatment, several simple strategies are available. These include conventional two-stage least squares, multiplicative models for conditional means, linear approximation of nonlinear causal models, models for distribution effects, and quantile regression with an endogenous binary regressor. The estimation strategies discussed in the article are illustrated by using multiple births to estimate the effect of childbearing on employment status and hours of work.

No Single Currency Regime Is Right for All Countries or at All Times

Abstract: This essay considers some prescriptions that are currently popular regarding exchange rate regimes: a general movement toward floating, a general movement toward fixing, or a general movement toward either extreme and away from the middle. The whole spectrum from fixed to floating is covered (including basket pegs, crawling pegs, and bands), with special attention to currency boards and dollarization. One overall theme is that the appropriate exchange rate regime varies depending on the specific circumstances of the country in question (which includes the classic optimum currency area criteria, as well as some newer criteria related to credibility) and depending on the circumstances of the time period in question (which includes the problem of successful exit strategies). Latin American interest rates are seen to be more sensitive to US interest rates when the country has a loose dollar peg than when it has a tight peg. It is also argued that such relevant country characteristics as income correlations and openness can vary over time, and that the optimum currency area criterion is accordingly endogenous.