Are labels good or bad for consumers and firms? The answer may seem straightforward since labels improve information, yet economic theory reveals situations where their introduction reduces the welfare of at least some market participants. This essay reviews the theoretical literature on labels in order to identify and explain the main reasons that may cause labeling to produce undesirable side…

Using a difference-in-differences approach, we exploit a quasi experiment occurred in a large public university located in southern Italy to examine whether the introduction of a selective admission test affects students� performances. Our analysis on this unique data set shows that a change of regime to a restrictive admission policy reduces the drop-out rate of first-year students by ab…

Tahun Terbit

2014

Tahun Terbit

2014

Contractual inefficiencies within supply chains increase an input price above its marginal cost, therefore they are considered detrimental to consumer surplus. We argue that such inefficiencies may be beneficial to consumers in qualitydifferentiated markets. Indeed, enhancing contractual efficiency in high-quality supply chains may adversely affect the market structure by driving low-quality ve…

This article provides new evidence on heterogeneity in the impact of health shocks by using register-based data on the entire population of Swedish workers. We formulate a difference-in-difference design, where we compare the change in labour earnings across matched workers with a high and low level of education who experience the same type of health shocks. Our results suggest major heterogene…

Has inflation targeting (IT) conferred benefits in terms of economic growth on countries that followed this particular monetary policy strategy during the crisis period 2007�13? We answer this question in the affirmative. Countries with an IT monetary regime weathered the crisis much better than did countries with other monetary regimes, particularly countries with fixed exchange rates.

A disturbing phenomenon in modern welfare states is the positive correlation in the probability of receiving disability benefits across generations. Understanding the intergenerational transmission mechanism is crucial, especially when the proportion of the working-age population receiving public benefits or support is increasing in most OECD countries. Using data from Norway, a country where a…

I develop a game-theoretic model in which the state first allocates limited resources across defensive and offensive security measures, simultaneously choosing whether to attempt forceful elimination of the group. The group subsequently chooses whether to use terrorism or attempt to take territory via guerrilla tactics. The results suggest that states most capable of fighting groups with territ…

Tahun Terbit

2014