Scrutinizing for-profit colleges

[Research Highlight]

May 06, 2020

Stephanie Cellini discusses the ways students are affected in a much maligned industry.

Where Do Students Go When For-Profit Colleges Lose Federal Aid?

By Stephanie R. Cellini, Rajeev Darolia, and Lesley J. Turner

American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, May 2020

We examine the effects of federal sanctions imposed on for-profit institutions in the 1990s. Using county-level variation in the timing and magnitude of sanctions linked to student loan default rates, we estimate that sanctioned for-profits experience a 6...

Will an internet "fast lane" ruin the web?

[Research Highlight]

May 23, 2016

Why the net neutrality issue is less clear-cut than advocates on both sides make it out to be

CeMENT

[Page]

Front Matter

American Economic Review, June 2020

Mortgage Debt, Consumption, and Illiquid Housing Markets in the Great Recession

By Carlos Garriga and Aaron Hedlund

American Economic Review, June 2020

Using a quantitative heterogeneous agents macro-housing model and detailed microdata, this paper studies the drivers of the 2006–2011 housing bust, its spillovers to consumption and the credit market, and the ability of mortgage rate interventions to ac...

Turnover Liquidity and the Transmission of Monetary Policy

By Ricardo Lagos and Shengxing Zhang

American Economic Review, June 2020

We provide empirical evidence of a novel liquidity-based transmission mechanism through which monetary policy influences asset markets, develop a model of this mechanism, and assess the ability of the quantitative theory to match the evidence.

The Elephant in the Room: The Impact of Labor Obligations on Credit Markets

By Jack Favilukis, Xiaoji Lin, and Xiaofei Zhao

American Economic Review, June 2020

We show that labor market frictions are first-order for understanding credit markets. Wage growth and labor share forecast aggregate credit spreads and debt growth as well as or better than alternative predictors. They also predict credit risk and debt gr...

Expert-Captured Democracies

By Archishman Chakraborty, Parikshit Ghosh, and Jaideep Roy

American Economic Review, June 2020

Does public cheap talk by a biased expert benefit voters? The answer depends on the nature of democratic institutions and the extent of communication possibilities. Expert endorsements induce office-seeking parties to serve the expert's interests, hurting...

Social Ties and the Selection of China's Political Elite

By Raymond Fisman, Jing Shi, Yongxiang Wang, and Weixing Wu

American Economic Review, June 2020

We study how sharing a hometown or college connection with an incumbent member of China's Politburo affects a candidate's likelihood of selection as a new member. In specifications that include fixed effects to absorb quality differences across cities and...

Revealed Preferences over Risk and Uncertainty

By Matthew Polisson, John K.-H. Quah, and Ludovic Renou

American Economic Review, June 2020

We develop a nonparametric method, called Generalized Restriction of Infinite Domains (GRID), for testing the consistency of budgetary choice data with models of choice under risk and under uncertainty. Our test can allow for risk-loving and elation-seeki...

Is the Cure Worse Than the Disease? Unintended Effects of Payment Reform in a Quantity-Based Transfer Program

By Katherine Meckel

American Economic Review, June 2020

Quantity vouchers are used in redistributive programs to shield participants from price variation and alter their consumption patterns. However, because participants are insensitive to prices, vendors of program goods are incentivized to price discriminat...

Report of Independent Auditor

American Economic Review, June 2020

Oliver E. Williamson (1932-2020)

[News]

May 28, 2020

The Nobel Laureate's work focused on the structure of organizations.

CTREE Conference 2020 - Cancelled

[Page]

Initially scheduled for May 27–29, 2020, Chicago, IL

Front Matter

American Economic Review: Insights, June 2020

Optimal Quality Certification

By Andriy Zapechelnyuk

American Economic Review: Insights, June 2020

Quality certification not only informs consumers but also stimulates producers to supply better-quality products. We study a problem of quality certification in a moral hazard setting. We show that, under standard assumptions, simple certification systems...

Ambiguity, Nominal Bond Yields, and Real Bond Yields

By Guihai Zhao

American Economic Review: Insights, June 2020

This paper presents an equilibrium bond-pricing model that jointly explains the upward-sloping nominal and real yield curves and the violation of the expectations hypothesis. Instead of relying on the inflation risk premium, the ambiguity-averse agent fac...

Statistical Nonsignificance in Empirical Economics

By Alberto Abadie

American Economic Review: Insights, June 2020

Statistical significance is often interpreted as providing greater information than nonsignificance. In this article we show, however, that rejection of a point null often carries very little information, while failure to reject may be highly informative....

Long-Run Effects from Comprehensive Student Support: Evidence from Pathways to Education

By Adam M. Lavecchia, Philip Oreopoulos, and Robert S. Brown

American Economic Review: Insights, June 2020

Offering comprehensive education support services to disadvantaged students shows promise for improving academic attainment. We explore longer-term impacts of the Pathways to Education program, a set of coaching, tutoring, group activities, and financial ...