Monthly Archives: January 2013

30 Years of Prospect Theory

Students interested in behavioural economics may find this review of prospect theory interesting. Abstract Prospect theory, first described in a 1979 paper by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, is widely viewed as the best available description of how people evaluate … Continue reading

Posted in EC470 | Tagged | Leave a comment

Africa Can Help Feed Africa

We often worry about international barriers to trade and their effect on food security – with a focus on developed country policy. What are the effects of regional policy within the developing world? Africa can help feed Africa: Removing barriers … Continue reading

Posted in MIPP | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Growth Slowdowns Redux: New Evidence on the Middle-Income Trap

Also of interest to EC307 students – a new NBER paper looking at growth slowdowns in middle income countries. Highlight: But in contrast to our earlier analysis which pointed to the existence of a single mode at which slowdowns occur … Continue reading

Posted in EC307 | Tagged | Leave a comment

Growth Forecasts by Credit Suisse

Of interest to students in my economic growth class – the predictions of Credit Suisse for 2013 growth. Unless you live in Europe,the forecasts look fairly posititve. The key question for students in EC307 – what reflects long term growth … Continue reading

Posted in EC307 | Tagged | Leave a comment

Misconduct in Credence Good Markets

Some students in my EC470 class may be interested in this paper. Abstract We study how monitoring, expert skill and consumer awareness affect the level of misconduct in markets with asymmetric information and price-taking experts. Theoretical predictions show that experts … Continue reading

Posted in EC470, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Conflict, Trust and Ethnicity – Some unsurprising results?

A new paper by Rohner, Thoenig and Zilibotti with results that are probably not surprising – conflict reduces generalized trust, and increases the relevance that people place in ethnic identity. Abstract We study the effect of civil conflict on social … Continue reading

Posted in EC307, EC470, MIPP | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Changing Social Contracts: Beliefs and Dissipative Inclusion in Brazil

Inequality is usually very persistent – places with high inequality now will almost surely be very unequal in the future. The reasons for this are uncertain – is it power structures, technology, fundamental economic structures, etc. A new paper by … Continue reading

Posted in EC307, EC470, MIPP | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Foreign Aid in Dangerous Places: The donors and Mali’s democracy

Nicolas van de Walle looking at the role of foreign aid in preventing conflict in Mali. Abstract Mali long seemed a model, low-income democracy. Yet, in a few short weeks in early 2012, more than half of the territory came … Continue reading

Posted in EC307, MIPP | Tagged , | Leave a comment