Quarterly Journal of Economics articles from November 2000

Quarterly Journal of Economics archives from November 2000

THE RAZOR'S EDGE: DISTORTIONS AND INCREMENTAL REFORM IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA [*].
November 1, 2000... "Sages say the path [to salvation] is narrow and difficult to tread, narrow as the edge of a razor." [**] In a partially reformed economy, distortions beget distortions. Segments of the economy that are freed from centralized control...

CURRENT ACCOUNTS IN DEBTOR AND CREDITOR COUNTRIES [*].
November 1, 2000... What is the current account response to transitory income shocks such as temporary changes in the terms of trade, transfers from abroad, or fluctuations in production? We propose this new rule: the current account response equals the saving...

WHY DID THE WEST EXTEND THE FRANCHISE? DEMOCRACY, INEQUALITY, AND GROWTH IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE [*].
November 1, 2000... During the nineteenth century most Western societies extended voting rights, a decision that led to unprecedented redistributive programs. We argue that these political reforms can be viewed as strategic decisions by the political elite to...

CREATIVE DESTRUCTION AND FIRM ORGANIZATION CHOICE [*].(Statistical Data Included)
November 1, 2000... Firms' organizational choices are influenced by external conditions such as the instability of the product market. In order to address this issue in a macroeconomic perspective, we embed the firm's choice of organizational structure in a model...

THE EFFECTS OF CLASS SIZE ON STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT: NEW EVIDENCE FROM POPULATION VARIATION [*].
November 1, 2000... I identify the effects of class size on student achievement using longitudinal variation in the population associated with each grade in 649 elementary schools. I use variation in class size driven by idiosyncratic variation in the population....

POWER COUPLES: CHANGES IN THE LOCATIONAL CHOICE OF THE COLLEGE EDUCATED, 1940-1990 [*].
November 1, 2000... College educated couples are increasingly located in large metropolitan areas. These areas were home to 32 percent of all college educated couples in 1940, 39 percent in 1970, and 50 percent in 1990. We investigate whether this trend can be...

DIFFERENT PATHS TO FREE TRADE: THE GAINS FROM REGIONALISM [*].
November 1, 2000... We compare free trade reached through expanding regional trading blocs to free trade accomplished by multilateral negotiation. With sunk costs, the outcomes are different. Trade in an imperfectly competitive good flows disproportionately more...

HOSPITAL OWNERSHIP AND PUBLIC MEDICAL SPENDING [*].
November 1, 2000... The hospital market is served by firms that are private for-profit, private not-for-profit, and government-owned and operated. I use a plausibly exogenous change in hospital financing that was intended to improve medical care for the poor to...

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT MACROECONOMICS THAT FISHER AND WICKSELL DID NOT? [*].
November 1, 2000... This essay argues that the history of macroeconomics during the twentieth century can be divided into three epochs. Pre-1940: a period of exploration, during which all the right ingredients were developed. But also a period where confusion...

WALRASIAN ECONOMICS IN RETROSPECT [*].
November 1, 2000... Two basic tenets of the Walrasian model, behavior based on self-interested exogenous preferences and complete and costless contracting have recently come under critical scrutiny. First, social norms and psychological dispositions extending...

THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE ECONOMICS OF INFORMATION TO TWENTIETH CENTURY ECONOMICS [*].
November 1, 2000... In the field of economics, perhaps the most important break with the past--one that leaves open huge areas for future work--lies in the economics of information. It is now recognized that information is imperfect, obtaining information can be...