Quarterly Journal of Economics articles from May 1995

Quarterly Journal of Economics archives from May 1995

Arm's length relationships.
May 1, 1995... In classical principal agent theory there is never any loss, and there are, in general, benefits, in using all available information in the design of incentive schemes (see Holmstrom [1979]). However, individuals often make definite efforts not...

Pensions and retirement: evidence from Union Army veterans.
May 1, 1995... I. RETIREMENT SINCE THE TURN OF THE CENTURY Increasing numbers of men have permanently abandoned the labor force at ever younger ages during the twentieth century. In 1880 78 percent of men 65 years of age or older were in the labor force and...

The timing and magnitude of retail store markdowns: evidence from weekends and holidays.
May 1, 1995... I. INTRODUCTION The occurrence of periodic price markdowns or "sales" on a variety of items is one of the most pervasive and well-known of all microeconomic phenomena. Hence it is surprising that economists have written relatively little on...

Economic growth and the environment.
May 1, 1995... I. INTRODUCTION Will continued economic growth bring ever greater harm to the earth's environment? Or do increases in income and wealth sow the seeds for the amelioration of ecological problems? The answers to these questions are critical for...

Prices and trading volume in the housing market: a model with down-payment effects.
May 1, 1995... This paper seeks to address two fundamental and related questions about the housing market. (1) What accounts for fluctuations in house prices, and (2) why is it that there appears to be more intense trading activity (i.e., a higher volume of...

The effects of credit market competition on lending relationships.
May 1, 1995... Is it possible for firms facing competitive credit markets to form strong ties to particular creditors? Does the benefit to a firm of forming such relationships diminish when credit markets get more competitive? There is a theoretical reason for...

A theoretical and empirical investigation of the effects of public health subsidies for STD testing. (sexually transmitted disease)
May 1, 1995... I. INTRODUCTION Despite the magnitude of the AIDS epidemic and its significance for public policy, economists have paid little attention to the causes and consequences of its growth and the effect of alternative policies on that growth(1) or...

The effects of tax-based saving incentives on government revenue and national saving.
May 1, 1995... The low rate of saving in the United States is a major impediment to national economic growth and rising real wages. Study after study confirms that the primary explanation of inter-country differences in economic growth is the share of GNP...

Time series tests of endogenous growth models.
May 1, 1995... I. INTRODUCTION A hallmark of the endogenous growth literature is that permanent changes in variables that are potentially affected by government policy lead to permanent changes in growth rates. This is the result in both the early "AK"-style...

The high unemployment trap.
May 1, 1995... I. INTRODUCTION It is often believed that one of the key rigidities which account for the period of high sustained unemployment in Europe is the existence of high firing costs. High firing costs can potentially have a negative impact on labor...