Economics Commons^™

Household Saving: Micro Theories And Micro Facts, Martin Browning, Annamaria Lusardi

Dartmouth Scholarship

In this survey, we review the recent theoretical and empirical literature on household saving and consumption. The discussion is structured around a list of motives for saving and how well the standard theory captures these motives. We show that almost all of the motives for saving that have been suggested in the informal saving literature can be captured in the standard optimizing model. Particular attention is given to recent work on the precautionary motive and its implications for saving and consumption behavior. We also discuss the "behavioral" or "psychological" approach that eschews the use of standard optimization techniques and focuses …

An Appraisal Of Local Exchange And Trading Systems In The United Kingdom, Colin C. Williams

Colin C Williams

The Stock Market As A Leading Indicator: An Application Of Granger Causality, Brad Comincioli

University Avenue Undergraduate Journal of Economics

The purpose of this paper, then, is to evaluate stock prices as a leading indicator of economic activity. Time-series analysis and the notion of "Granger causality" are used in this project to estimate relationships between stock prices and the economy, and to see if they are consistent with theory. In this paper, we will explore the following questions. First, does the stock market lead the real economy, in the sense that variation in its past values explains some of the variation in the real economy? Second, does the stock market "Granger-cause" the real economy, in which case past values of …

Deficit Reduction Through Diversity: How Affirmative Action At The Fcc Increased Auction Competition, Peter Cramton, Ian Ayres

Peter Cramton

In recent auctions for paging licenses, the Federal Communications Commission has granted businesses owned by minorities and women substantial bidding credits. In this article, Professors Ayres and Cramton analyze a particular auction and argue that the affirmative action bidding preferences, by increasing competition among auction participants, increased the government’s revenue by $45 million. Subsidizing the participation of new bidders can induce established bidders to bid more aggressively. The authors conclude that this revenue-enhancing effect does not provide a sufficient constitutional justification for affirmative action—but when such justification is independently present, affirmative actions can cost the government much less than is …

How Retirement Saving Programs Increase Saving, James M. Poterba, Steven F. Venti, David A. Wise

Dartmouth Scholarship

This paper summarizes the authors work on the effect of IRA and 401(k) contributions on net personal saving. They consider many different nonparametric approaches to controlling for heterogeneity in individual saving behavior and conclude that the weight of the available evidence suggests that contributions to both IRAs and 401(k)s largely represent new saving. The authors devote particular attention to reconciling their results with the findings in other studies that reach different conclusions, sometimes using the same databases that the authors analyze. Methodological limitations that undermine the reliability of results in other studies explain many of these disparities.

A Reliance Damages Approach To Corporate Lockups, David A. Skeel Jr.

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

America's Shifting Fascination With Comparative Corporate Governance, Edward B. Rock

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.