Exports from Britain to the United States from 1900 to 1940 are examined to ascertain the effect of exchange-rate volatility on the volume of trade. In addition to using a rolling standard deviation measure of exchange-rate uncertainty, the conditional variance of the exchange-rate series modeled.as a generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedastic process is used to generate an alternative measure of exchange-rate uncertainty. The results of estimation using the two measures of exchange-rate volatility suggest that increases in the volatility of the real exchange rate reduce the volume of trade. Copyright 1992 by MIT Press.

A typical strategy for measuring the returns to international experience--comparing the earnings of returning migrants to comparable non-migrants--has been criticized for not adequately accounting for self-selection. I suggest an alternative, testing whether individuals born beyond US borders, but into US citizenship, earn more in US labor markets relative to counterparts born on US soil. Those born abroad to US citizens did not self-select an international experience. Using the ACS, I find that the US market rewards international experience, especially in occupations that value creativity and innovation. Women, in particular, are handsomely rewarded for international human capital.

Due to inadequate savings and binding borrowing constraints, income volatility can make households in developing countries particularly susceptible to economic hardship. We examine the role of remittances in either alleviating or increasing household income volatility using Mexican household level data over the 2000 through 2008 period. We correct for reverse causality and endogeneity and find that while income smoothing does not appear to be the main motive for sending remittances in a non-negligible share of households, remittances do indeed smooth household income on average. Other variables surrounding income volatility are also considered and evaluated.

Little is known about the microeconomic impacts of workers ’ remittances despite their magnitude in countries with considerable out-migration. Reports that families receiving international remittances severely curtail their work efforts are fairly common in the popular press (e.g. Frank 2001). Yet, we lack rigorous analyses of how male and female labor supplies respond to increases in remittance income to either support or refute these anecdotal observations. According to the neoclassical model of labor-leisure choice (Killingsworth 1983), remittances –a source of non-labor income – may lift budget constraints, raise reservation wages and, through an income effect, reduce the employment likelihood and hours worked by remittance-receiving individuals. However, the receipt of remittances is usually preceded by the out-migration of working-aged household members, which may induce changes in the labor supply of non-migrating household members in order to compensate for forgone income or to defray migration-related expenses. Distinguishing the disruptive effect from the income effect of remittance inflows is problematic as most surveys do not contain detailed information on household out-migration and remittance receipt. However, to the extent that these two effects are expected to have opposite impacts on labor supply, we can assess which effect dominates. The impact of remittances on the decision to work has been previously examined by Rodriguez and

Research spanning three decades supports what many experienced instructors of economics have long concluded – math matters. Students with greater mathematics preparation attain higher test scores in introductory economics (Cox, 1974; Reid,1983; Lumsden and Scott, 1987; Anderson, Benjamin and Fuss, 1994; Ballard and Johnson, 2004). While all levels of competency seem to explain performance, Charles Ballard and Marianne Johnson (2004) find “mastery of extremely basic quantitative skills is among the most important factors for success in introductory microeconomics. ” Furthermore, research shows that mathematical competency reduces anxiety in economics classes (Benedict and Hoag, 2002). To the extent that anxiety may interfere with the cognitive process, an effective mechanism to correct for these deficiencies is desirable. The research supports that there may be simple methods economics instructors can use to improve students ’ learning. Common techniques include assigning a math chapter in the text, completing a math unit at the university skills center, or completing a computer unit that reviews and tests basic math skills. These alternatives, however, require effort from all students, including those possessing good math skills. Consequently, many instructors make these math assignments optional, while particularly encouraging those with weaker math skills to complete them. But this procedure is also problematic, as students most in need of the math review are often least likely to put forth effort when there is no tangible reward. An alternative strategy is to give students a grade incentive to complete a math skills program. In this paper we report on the results of a controlled experiment with random assignment which tests whether giving a grade incentive to complete a math 1 skills unit results in higher overall achievement in introductory economics. We find that students provided with the incentive get higher exam scores. The achievement gain is most noticeable for students lower in the grade distribution. Students with the weakest backgrounds and therefore with the greater marginal gains from completing the math unit are more likely to derive the benefits from that effort. I. Experimental Design