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We propose the Virtual Bingo Blower (VBB) as a way to generatecredible risk and ambiguity in computerized experiments. Using aphysics engine—a computer simulation of a physical system—the VBBsimulates a conventional bingo blower. Different aspects of the VBB,such as the number of balls, their color, and their speed, can be easilymodified. In an online experiment, we measure ambiguity attitudes and
This study examines the response among young adults to the closure of a large local employer. By using military base closures in Sweden, I find that men experience lower earnings and enroll in tertiary education. This is driven by low-ability men who choose shortterm enrollment at nearby colleges and universities. For women, the closures have a positive impact after some years, with increases in b
A major issue in Irish economic history is the lack of historical national accounts before the interwar period. This paper addresses the gap with new annual estimates of real GDP between 1842 and 1913 using an indirect estimation technique based on a set of macroeconomic variables and a dynamic factor model. Three major results emerge from the data. First, per capita growth was faster in this peri
This study considers evolutionary models with non-uniformly random matching when interaction occurs in groups of n>=2 individuals. In such models, groups with different compositions of individuals generally co-exist and the reproductive success (fitness) of a specific strategy – and consequently long-run behavior in the population – varies with the frequencies of different group types. These frequ
Payment and checkout at retail stores is increasingly being replaced by automated systems. One recent technological invention in this area is mobile self-scanning in which customers carry a mobile scanner while shopping. Mobile self-scanners give real-time feedback on spending. The device increases price saliency and enables customers to keep track of the total amount spent. Using a field experime
This paper employs Swedish data on households' stock holdings to investigate how consumption responds to changes in stock market returns. We instrument the actual capital gains and dividend payments with past portfolio weights. Unrealized capital gains lead to a marginal propensity to consume (MPC) of 13 percent for the bottom 50% of the wealth distribution, but a flat 5 percent for the rest of th
Rules-based fiscal policy is under threat. Over the last two decades, it proved frustratingly complicated to strike the right balance between three essential properties of sound fiscal policy rules: simplicity, flexibility, and enforceability. Simplicity has been sacrificed to ensure that more contingent (i.e. flexible) rules remained enforceable. The resulting arrangements have failed to adequate
This paper studies the persistent effects of short-term peer exposure in a college setting. I exploit the random assignment of undergraduates to peer groups during a mandatory orientation week and follow the students until graduation. High levels of peer ability in a group harm the students’ test scores and lead to increases in the probability of early dropout; this result is driven by the adverse
Thirty years ago, the Swedish tax system underwent a major reform. Since then there have been many changes to the tax system, and the general level of tax revenues has declined by over five percentage points of GDP. The decline in total revenues does not necessarily translate into an evenly distributed decline for taxpayers. This paper studies how tax payments have changed in Sweden since the majo
Using different measures of how the Covid-19 pandemic progresses we find that the level of credit risk among US blue chip companies increases in tandem with the Covid-19 virus spreading. The credit risk increases dramatically during the pandemic, but we find it to be short of the levels seen during the 2008–2009 financial crisis. Furthermore, we find weekly ups and downs in credit risk and virus i
There is a growing body of literature investigating if and how monetary policy impacts income inequality. Labor unions are generally found to mitigate income inequality and recent literature highlights that changing labor mar- ket structures, such as de-unionization, may be important for monetary pol- icy. This paper tests whether labor unions influence the impact of monetary shocks on income ineq
This working paper offers an international legal perspective on the diverse and conflicting international reactions in response to Kosovo’s Declaration of Independence on 17 February 2008. Considering the failure of the UN Security Council in conjuring up a common position, whether a condemnation or approval of Kosovo’s desire to become an independent and sovereign member of the international comm
Previous research indicates that exporting firms are willing to pay a premium to poach workers from other exporting firms if experience working for an internationally engaged firm reduces trade costs. Since international experience is less valuable to non-exporters, we would expect to see differences in recruitments between firms that are internationally engaged and those that serve only their dom
This paper provides evidence on the causal relationship between education and poverty. I construct a novel database comprising compulsory schooling reforms in 32 European countries and use them as instruments for education. I find economically large poverty-reducing effects of education among people aged 30 to 80. This holds true for both objective measures of poverty (relative income poverty, lac
We study school switches in which students who have already been assigned seats requestreassignment. Unlike in regular school choice, stability need not be legally binding in suchprograms, since students’ priority-based claims have already been satisfied upstream. Effi-ciency then naturally becomes the primary design objective. To quantify the potential legalefficiency gains, we compare Deferred A
We use Google internet search volumes to measure households’ pessimism about overall market-wide credit health in the economy, and show that this “household default sentiment” is positively correlated with the credit default swap (CDS) spread level in the market. However, while household default sentiment might drive the cost of credit to some degree, either directly or indirectly through its effe
This paper identifies monetary policy shocks for Sweden. Based on the written language indocuments prepared by staff ahead of Riksbank policy meetings, I construct text-based regressors that are shown to systematically predict shocks identified with standard methods such asthe Romer and Romer (2004) Greenbook approach and high-frequency identification. Defin-ing text-based monetary policy shocks a
Engagement in foreign markets can have an impact on firm organization and on the type of occupations that a firm needs. We examine the effect of globalization on the occupational mix using detailed Swedish data that cover all firms and a representative sample of the labor force for 1997-2005. We find a robust relationship between a firm’s degree of international integration and its occupational mi
