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.

Monetary Policy and Credit Conditions: Evidence from the Composition of External Finance

Abstract: In this paper we use the relative movements in bank loans and commercial paper to provide evidence on the existence of a loan supply channel of monetary policy transmission. A first necessary condition for monetary policy to work through a lending channel is that banks must view loans and securities as imperfect substitutes, so that monetary tightening does affect the availability of bank loans. We find that tighter monetary policy leads to a shift in firms' mix of external financing -- commercial paper issuance rises while bank loans fall, suggesting that loan supply has indeed been reduced. Furthermore, these shifts in the financing mix seem to affect investment (even controlling for interest rates). This implies that bank and non-bank sources of finance are also not perfect substitutes for businesses. We also argue that this view of the transmission mechanism can help explain why interest rate spreads involving commercial paper rates have had considerable predictive power for many measures of economic activity.

Intellectual Capital and the Birth of U.S. Biotechnology Enterprises

Abstract: The number of American firms actively using biotechnology grew rapidly from nonexistent to over 700 in less than two decades, transforming the nature of the pharmaceutical industry and significantly impacting food processing, brewing, and agriculture, as well as other industries. Here we demonstrate empirically that the commercialization of this technology is essentially intertwined with the development of the underlying science in a way which illustrates the significance in practice of the localized spillovers concept in the agglomeration literature and of the tacit knowledge concept in the information literature. Indeed we present here strong evidence that the timing and location of initial usage by both new dedicated biotechnology firms ("entrants") and new biotech subunits of existing firms ( "incumbents ") are primarily explained by the presence at a particular time and place of scientists who are actively contributing to the basic science as represented by publications reporting genetic-sequence discoveries in academic journals. By quantifying separable effects of individual scientists, major universities, and federal research support we provide specific structure to the role of universities and their faculties in encouraging local economic development

Goods Prices and Exchange Rates: What Have We Learned?

Abstract: Import prices typically change by a smaller proportion than the exchange rate between the exporting and importing country. Recent research indicates that common-currency relative prices for similar goods exported to different markets are highly correlated with exchange rates between those markets. This evidence suggests that incomplete pass-through is a consequence of third-degree price discrimination. While distance matters for market segmentation, borders have independent effects. The source of the border effect has not been clearly identified. Furthermore, there is little evidence yet to suggest substantial market power is implied by the observed price discrimination.

Manufacturing Firms in Developing Countries: How Well Do They Do, and Why?

Abstract: Competition among manufacturers in developing countries is remarkably vigorous. Nonetheless, markets are imperfect, so the general trend toward trade liberalization has yielded benefits beyond the traditional gains from specialization. Manufacturing firms in developing countries have traditionally been relatively protected. They have also been subject to heavy regulation, much of it biased in favor of large enterprises. Accordingly, it is often argued that manufacturers in these countries perform poorly in several respects: - Markets tolerate inefficient firms, so cross-firm productivity dispersion is high. - Small groups of entrenched oligopolists exploit monopoly power in product markets. - Many small firms are unable or unwilling to grow, so important economies of scale go unexploited. Tybout assesses each of these conjectures, drawing on plant - and firm - level studies of manufacturers in developing countries. He finds systematic support for none of them. Turnover is substantial, exploited scale economies are modest, and convincing demonstrations of monopoly rents are generally lacking. Overprotection and overregulation are probably less a problem in developing countries than are uncertainty about policies and demand, poor rule of law, and corruption. Tybout does find some evidence that protection increases firms' price-cost margins and reduces average efficiency levels at the margin. And although the econometric evidence on technology diffusion in developing countries is limited, it does suggest that protecting learning industries is unlikely to foster productivity growth. All of which suggests that the general trend toward trade liberalization has yielded greater benefits than the traditional gains from trade. This paper - a product of Trade, Development Research Group - is part of a larger effort in the group to link firm-level performance with commerical policy.

How Computers Have Changed the Wage Structure: Evidence from Microdata, 1984-1989

Abstract: This paper examines whether employees who use a computer at work earn a higher wage rate than otherwise similar workers who do not use a computer at work. The analysis primarily relies on data from the Current Population Survey and the High School and Beyond Survey. A variety of statistical models are estimated to try to correct for unobserved variables that might be correlated with both job-related computer use and earnings. The estimates suggest that workers who use computers on their job earn roughly a 10 to 15 percent higher wage rate. In addition, the estimates suggest that the expansion in computer use in the l980s can account for between one-third and one-half of the observed increase in the rate of return to education, Finally, occupations that experienced greater growth in computer use between 1984 and 1989 also experienced above average wage growth.