To make high-quality research more accessible and easier to explore.

Fields:
9 results

Immigrant Earnings Assimilation: Estimates from Longitudinal Data

American Economic Review 2000 90(2), 368-372
Analysis of longitudinal data for immigrants presents a more pessimistic portrait of immigrants' economic success. First, the rate of growth of immigrant earnings was overstated in census-based studies. Second, the worsening of immigrant earnings for more recent arrival cohorts is deeper than previously suggested. Against these two negative findings, one must keep in mind an important caveat. The steeper cohort decline in earnings may be a sign of greater human-capital investment by more recent immigrants. Longitudinal data suggest a strong degree of earnings convergence: immigrants who start at lower earnings quickly make up a large part of the deficit relative to their immigrant counterparts.

Hyperinflation and the Dynamics of the Demand for Money in China, 1945-1949

Journal of Political Economy 1971 79(1), 186-195
This paper is to study the demand for money during the Chinese inflation of 1945-49. Based on the Chinese experience, the results confirm the hypothesis that during hyperinflation the expected rate of change in prices is the most important variable in the demand function for money. The estimated value of the coefficient of cash balances adjustment is close to one. Thus, the assumption that the desired level of real cash balances tends to equal the actual level during hyperinflation is supported.

Endogenous intermediation in over-the-counter markets

Journal of Financial Economics 2017 125(1), 200-215 open access
We provide a theory of trading through intermediaries in over-the-counter markets. The role of intermediaries is to sustain trade. In our model, traders are connected through an informational network. Agents observe their neighbors’ actions and can trade with their counterparty in a given period through a path of intermediaries in the network. Nevertheless, agents can renege on their obligations. We show that trading through an informational network is essential to support trade when agents infrequently meet the same counteparty. However, intermediaries must receive fees to implement trades. Concentrated intermediation, as represented by a star network, is both constrained efficient and stable when agents incur linking costs. The center agent in a star can receive higher fees as well.

Do political connection disruptions increase labor costs in a government-dominated market? Evidence from publicly listed companies in China

Journal of Corporate Finance 2020 62, 101554 open access
This paper investigates whether the disruption of political connections increases labor costs among Chinese listed firms. Using the Communist Party of China's Rule No. 18 as an exogenous shock that forces firms to lose their politically connected independent directors, we find that the disruption of political connections is associated with an increase in labor costs (both in terms of aggregate labor costs per firm and average labor costs per employee) and an increase in employee turnover. Such increases do not lead to labor productivity improvements, and cannot be attributed to changes in corporate policies or the composition of labor forces after Rule No. 18. We also find that firms with higher unemployment risk and skilled labor risk increase their labor costs to a larger extent. Our results are robust to alternative labor cost measures, controlling for potential confounding events, and alternative political connection channels. Our study shows an unintended labor market consequence—increases in labor costs—of political connection disruptions for firms that are adversely affected by such disruptions.

Coalition‐Proof Trade and the Friedman Rule in the Lagos‐Wright Model

Journal of Political Economy 2009 117(1), 116-137
The Lagos‐Wright model—a monetary model in which pairwise meetings alternate in time with a centralized meeting—has been extensively analyzed, but always using particular trading protocols. Here, trading protocols are replaced by two alternative notions of implementability: one that allows only individual defections and one that also allows cooperative defections in meetings. It is shown that the first‐best allocation is implementable under the stricter notion without taxation if people are sufficiently patient. And, if people are free to skip the centralized meeting, then lump‐sum taxation used to pay interest on money does not enlarge the set of implementable allocations.

Who is internationally diversified? Evidence from the 401(k) plans of 296 firms

Journal of Financial Economics 2017 124(1), 86-112
Drawing on a novel database of the 401(k) plans of 296 firms, we examine the international equity allocations of 3.8 million individuals over the 2005–2011 period. We find enormous cross-individual variation, ranging from zero to more than 75%, and strong cohort effects, with younger cohorts investing more internationally than older ones and each cohort investing more internationally over time. Access to financial advice, lower fees, and more international fund choices are associated with higher international allocations, suggesting a role for plan design and policy. Education, financial literacy, and the fraction of foreign-born population in the ZIP code also have positive effects on international diversification, consistent with explanations based on familiarity bias and information barriers.

Fair Value of Earnouts: Valuation Uncertainty or Managerial Opportunism?

The Accounting Review 2024 99(3), 141-167 open access
ABSTRACT This study investigates the economic consequences of the IFRS 3 (2008) requirement for fair valuing earnouts. Using a hand-collected sample of earnout fair value estimates in acquisitions completed by Australian firms, we find that a significant portion of acquirers overstate initial earnout liabilities and strategically reverse them as operating gains to boost post-M&A earnings. These overstatements are more pronounced when acquirers face investment- and performance-related pressure but attenuated in the presence of high-quality auditors and debt-financed deals. Acquirers also obfuscate earnout-related disclosures, inhibiting investors’ assessment of earnout values. By doing so, managers extend their tenure. Further analysis reveals that IFRS 3 (2008) leads to a significant increase in both the frequency and magnitude of earnouts in public acquirers’ transactions. Overall, we highlight the accounting benefit of earnouts for acquirers under IFRS 3 (2008), with implications for investors, analysts, auditors, and standard setters. Data Availability: Data are available from the public sources cited in the text. JEL Classifications: G34; M41.