James Zuccollo
Why didn’t we see it coming? - The Dismal Science
May 21, 2013 •
A lot of things in economic models are ‘exogenous’ and outside our usual frame of investigation. Not just little, unimportant things but big things, too: innovation and technological change, recessions, Continue Reading →
Experience may not improve judgement - The Dismal Science
May 12, 2013 •
We’ve all met hardened cynics in our professional lives. Those people who think the worst of those they meet at every turn because they’ve been burned so many times. They Continue Reading →
Housing fuelled consumption boom? - The Dismal Science
May 10, 2013 •
In the EJ: There is strong evidence that house prices and consumption are synchronised. There is, however, disagreement over the causes of this link. This study examines if there is Continue Reading →
Who can we really believe? - The Dismal Science
May 09, 2013 •
In a great interview, Dani Rodrik asks why You get trade theorists who have built their entire careers on “anomalous” results who are at the same time the greatest defenders Continue Reading →
Is education really an investment? - The Dismal Science
Feb 18, 2013 •
Education, particularly at the tertiary level, is usually viewed as an investment by economists. It’s a voluntary cost that you pay to get skills and qualifications that will increase your future wealth and prosperity. That metaphor is reflected in the wealth of research into the ‘rate of return’ on university study and the discussions of [...]
Carney on NGDPLT - The Dismal Science
Feb 08, 2013 •
Mark Carney appeared at the Treasury Select Committee today for interrogation before being confirmed as the next Governor of the Bank of England. The big question everybody wanted answered is whether he favoured a move from inflation targeting to NGDP level targeting. The answer is ‘no’, but the reasons are interesting. Carney is a known [...]
Embarrassment is a barrier to sales - The Dismal Science
Jan 13, 2013 •
Why shop online? Avoid the embarrassment of mispronouncing foreign words or being viewed as a giant fattie! Nom nom nom nom… Abstract: We show that social interaction reduces the diversity of products purchased by consumers in two retail settings. First, we consider a field experiment conducted by Sweden’s monopoly alcohol retailer and find that moving [...]
Impact of file sharing on film industry - The Dismal Science
Jan 13, 2013 •
Interesting that movie downloads haven’t had a significant impact on video rentals. That will probably change as video streaming services like Netflix become more common. Abstract: The music industry has struggled during the past decade due to file sharing and movie business executives fear the same fate. This paper seeks to provide measurements of the [...]
Get out and shout about it - The Dismal Science
Jan 10, 2013 •
Another study where the main question is whether you believe in their identification strategy. Abstract: Can protests cause political change, or are they merely symptoms of underlying shifts in policy preferences? We address this question by studying the Tea Party movement in the United States, which rose to prominence through coordinated rallies across the country [...]
Cigarette prices and subjective well-being - The Dismal Science
Jan 10, 2013 •
We’ve written a lot previously about cigarette taxes as a precommitment device that can increase welfare. However, while those models fit the stylised facts, it’s hard to know for sure if people are better off. For that you’d need to make a prediction about their increase in subjective wellbeing and test it. Now a couple [...]