This paper addresses the following question: How much information do the kernel function and the bandwidth provide for nonparametric kernel estimation? The question is addressed by showing that kernel estimation of a cumulative distribution function (CDF) is an information transmission procedure...

We study unilateral trade liberalization in the model with variable markups. First, we show that the e¤ect of falling per unit trade costs depends on the use of the outside good assumption: in its presence trade liberalization reduces welfare at home, and raises it otherwise. Second, we derive...

We use the SEC’s 2007 decision that eliminates the reconciliation requirement for foreign listed private issuers (FPIs) reporting under IFRS as a natural experiment to examine whether IFRS and US GAAP produce accounting information of comparable quality. We conduct statistical analyses using a...

Local polynomial regression is extremely popular in applied settings. Recent developments in shape constrained nonparametric regression allow practitioners to impose constraints on local polynomial estimators thereby ensuring that the resulting estimates are consistent with underlying theory....

Policy analysis frequently requires estimates of aggregate (or mean) consumer elasticities. However, estimates are often made incorrectly, based on elasticity calculations at mean income. We provide in this paper an overall integrated analytical framework that encompasses these biases and...

We extend the results of Arkolakis, Costinot and Rodriguez-Clare (2012) to environments with non-homotheticities and show how to measure the welfare gains from trade in a broad class of static, non-CES trade models. In these models, the elasticity of import intensity with respect to trade costs...

Background: Surveys of chronic health conditions provide information about prevalence but not about the incidence and the process of change within the population. Objective: We show how the “age dynamics” of chronic conditions ‐‐ the probabilities of contracting the conditions at...

Can variations in the expected future return on a portfolio of sovereign bonds itself have real effects on a small open economy? We build a model where banks face a capital sufficiency requirement to demonstrate that news about a fall in the expected return on a portfolio of long bonds can lead...

OBJECTIVE: The paper explores the population effects of male preference stopping rules and of alternative combinations of fertility rates and male-biased birth sex ratios. METHODS: The “laboratory” is a closed, stable population with five age groups and a dynamic process represented by a...