cometadata/datacite-titles-descriptions-related-identifiers huggingface dataset:
DOI: 10.3886/e114016v1
title: Replication data for: Social Connectedness: Measurement, Determinants, and Effects

description: Social networks can shape many aspects of social and economic activity: migration and trade, job-seeking, innovation, consumer preferences and sentiment, public health, social mobility, and more. In turn, social networks themselves are associated with geographic proximity, historical ties, political boundaries, and other factors. Traditionally, the unavailability of large-scale and representative data on social connectedness between individuals or geographic regions has posed a challenge for empirical research on social networks. More recently, a body of such research has begun to emerge using data on social connectedness from online social networking services such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. To date, most of these research projects have been built on anonymized administrative microdata from Facebook, typically by working with coauthor teams that include Facebook employees. However, there is an inherent limit to the number of researchers that will be able to work with social network data through such collaborations. In this paper, we therefore introduce a new measure of social connectedness at the US county level. Our Social Connectedness Index is based on friendship links on Facebook, the global online social networking service. Specifically, the Social Connectedness Index corresponds to the relative frequency of Facebook friendship links between every county-pair in the United States, and between every US county and every foreign country. Given Facebook's scale as well as the relative representativeness of Facebook's user body, these data provide the first comprehensive measure of friendship networks at a national level.
DOI: 10.3886/e114164
title: Replication data for: Productivity Differences between and within Countries

description: We document substantial within-country (cross-municipality) differences in incomes for a large number of countries in the Americas. A significant fraction of the within-country differences cannot be explained by observed human capital. We conjecture that the sources of within-country and between-country differences are related. As a first step toward a unified framework, we propose a simple model incorporating differences in technological know-how across countries and differences in productive efficiency within countries. (JEL E23, I31, J31, O15, O18, O47, R23)
DOI: 10.3886/e114164v1
title: Replication data for: Productivity Differences between and within Countries

description: We document substantial within-country (cross-municipality) differences in incomes for a large number of countries in the Americas. A significant fraction of the within-country differences cannot be explained by observed human capital. We conjecture that the sources of within-country and between-country differences are related. As a first step toward a unified framework, we propose a simple model incorporating differences in technological know-how across countries and differences in productive efficiency within countries. (JEL E23, I31, J31, O15, O18, O47, R23)
DOI: 10.3886/e114165
title: Replication data for: Development Accounting

description: Researchers have made much progress in the past 25 years in accounting for the proximate determinants of income levels: physical capital, human capital, and Total Factor Productivity (TFP). But we still know little about why these factors vary. We argue that TFP exerts a powerful influence on output not only directly, but also indirectly, through its effect on physical and human capital accumulation. We discuss why TFP varies across countries, highlighting misallocation of inputs across firms and industries as a key determinant. (JEL E22, E23, F21, F35, O10, O40)
DOI: 10.3886/e114165v1
title: Replication data for: Development Accounting

description: Researchers have made much progress in the past 25 years in accounting for the proximate determinants of income levels: physical capital, human capital, and Total Factor Productivity (TFP). But we still know little about why these factors vary. We argue that TFP exerts a powerful influence on output not only directly, but also indirectly, through its effect on physical and human capital accumulation. We discuss why TFP varies across countries, highlighting misallocation of inputs across firms and industries as a key determinant. (JEL E22, E23, F21, F35, O10, O40)
DOI: 10.3886/e114166v1
title: Replication data for: The New Kaldor Facts: Ideas, Institutions, Population, and Human Capital

description: In 1961, Nicholas Kaldor highlighted six "stylized" facts to summarize the patterns that economists had discovered in national income accounts and to shape the growth models being developed to explain them. Redoing this exercise today shows just how much progress we have made. In contrast to Kaldor's facts, which revolved around a single state variable, physical capital, our updated facts force consideration of four far more interesting variables: ideas, institutions, population, and human capital. Dynamic models have uncovered subtle interactions among these variables, generating important insights about such big questions as: Why has growth accelerated? Why are there gains from trade? (JEL D01, E01, E22, E23, E24, J11)
DOI: 10.3886/e114465
title: Replication data for: A Cross-Country Comparison of Dynamics in the Large Firm Wage Premium

description: We provide stylized facts on the existence and dynamics over time of the large firm wage premium for four countries. We examine matched employer-employee micro-data from Brazil, Germany, Sweden, and the UK, and find that the large firm premium exists in all these countries. However, we uncover substantial differences among them in the evolution of the wage premium over the past several decades. Moreover, we find no clear evidence of common cross-country industry trends. We conclude by discussing potential explanations for this heterogeneity, and proposing some questions for future work in the area.
DOI: 10.3886/e114465v1
title: Replication data for: A Cross-Country Comparison of Dynamics in the Large Firm Wage Premium

description: We provide stylized facts on the existence and dynamics over time of the large firm wage premium for four countries. We examine matched employer-employee micro-data from Brazil, Germany, Sweden, and the UK, and find that the large firm premium exists in all these countries. However, we uncover substantial differences among them in the evolution of the wage premium over the past several decades. Moreover, we find no clear evidence of common cross-country industry trends. We conclude by discussing potential explanations for this heterogeneity, and proposing some questions for future work in the area.
DOI: 10.3886/e114466
title: Replication data for: The Productivity-Wage Premium: Does Size Still Matter in a Service Economy?

description: The literature has established two robust stylized facts: (i) the existence of a firm size-wage premium and (ii) a positive relationship between firm size and productivity. However, the existing evidence is mainly based on manufacturing, which nowadays accounts for a small share of the economy. Using a unique micro-aggregated dataset covering 17 countries over 1994–2012, this paper compares these relationships across sectors. While the size-wage and size-productivity premia are significantly weaker in market services compared to manufacturing, the link between wages and productivity is stronger. In a service economy the stylized fact is a "productivity-wage premium" rather than a "size-wage premium."
DOI: 10.3886/e114466v1
title: Replication data for: The Productivity-Wage Premium: Does Size Still Matter in a Service Economy?

description: The literature has established two robust stylized facts: (i) the existence of a firm size-wage premium and (ii) a positive relationship between firm size and productivity. However, the existing evidence is mainly based on manufacturing, which nowadays accounts for a small share of the economy. Using a unique micro-aggregated dataset covering 17 countries over 1994–2012, this paper compares these relationships across sectors. While the size-wage and size-productivity premia are significantly weaker in market services compared to manufacturing, the link between wages and productivity is stronger. In a service economy the stylized fact is a "productivity-wage premium" rather than a "size-wage premium."
DOI: 10.3886/e114467
title: Replication data for: The Welfare Consequences of Income-Induced Expenditure Switching

description: Bems and di Giovanni (2016) establish that income-induced expenditure switching (IIES) from foreign goods to cheaper domestic substitutes played a significant role in external rebalancing during the 2008–2009 financial crisis in Latvia. In this paper, we examine the welfare consequences of IIES under different external sector rebalancing scenarios. We find that IIES reduced the negative welfare consequences that accompany external rebalancing by between 12–17 percent. We also show, using a historical decomposition, that IIES accounted for 18 percent of the 2008–2009 collapse in imports, which is greater than the 14 percent contribution due to the conventional price-induced expenditure switching channel.
DOI: 10.3886/e114467v1
title: Replication data for: The Welfare Consequences of Income-Induced Expenditure Switching

description: Bems and di Giovanni (2016) establish that income-induced expenditure switching (IIES) from foreign goods to cheaper domestic substitutes played a significant role in external rebalancing during the 2008–2009 financial crisis in Latvia. In this paper, we examine the welfare consequences of IIES under different external sector rebalancing scenarios. We find that IIES reduced the negative welfare consequences that accompany external rebalancing by between 12–17 percent. We also show, using a historical decomposition, that IIES accounted for 18 percent of the 2008–2009 collapse in imports, which is greater than the 14 percent contribution due to the conventional price-induced expenditure switching channel.
DOI: 10.3886/e114468
title: Replication data for: What Is the Impact of Food Stamps on Prices and Products Variety? The Importance of the Supply Response

description: Comparing US states that implemented policies generating state-specific variation in the take-up rate for food stamps, I find that food stamp eligible households experienced lower inflation and a faster increase in product variety in states with a larger increase in take-up (i.e., with increasing demand from the eligible population). Consistent with a causal interpretation, the effects are driven by food products with strong local brands and there is no comparable pattern for ineligible households across the income distribution. Thus, the long-run supply response to changes in demand from food stamp recipients has a first-order impact on the program's cost-benefit analysis.
DOI: 10.3886/e114468v1
title: Replication data for: What Is the Impact of Food Stamps on Prices and Products Variety? The Importance of the Supply Response

description: Comparing US states that implemented policies generating state-specific variation in the take-up rate for food stamps, I find that food stamp eligible households experienced lower inflation and a faster increase in product variety in states with a larger increase in take-up (i.e., with increasing demand from the eligible population). Consistent with a causal interpretation, the effects are driven by food products with strong local brands and there is no comparable pattern for ineligible households across the income distribution. Thus, the long-run supply response to changes in demand from food stamp recipients has a first-order impact on the program's cost-benefit analysis.
DOI: 10.3886/e114469v1
title: Replication data for: The Geographic Spread of a Large Devaluation

description: Cravino and Levchenko (2017) establish that the 1994 Mexican peso devaluation raised the prices of consumption baskets of low-income households substantially more than the prices of the consumption baskets of high-income households. In this paper, we explore this result further by focusing on the regional variation in how much prices of consumption baskets changed following the devaluation. Our main finding is that the devaluation was anti-poor in all regions, but there is substantial regional dispersion in the relative inflation faced by the poor.
DOI: 10.3886/e113717
title: Replication data for: Role Models or Individual Consulting: The Impact of Personalizing Micro-entrepreneurship Training

description: Using a randomized experiment in Chile we study the impact role models have in the context of a training program for micro-entrepreneurs. We show that being in a group randomly chosen to be visited by a successful alumnus of the program increases household income one year after, mostly due to increased business participation and business income. We also randomized the provision of personalized "consulting sessions" vis-á-vis group sessions, and observe similar effects on income, with the role model intervention being significantly more cost effective and better suited for less experienced businesses.
DOI: 10.3886/e113717v1
title: Replication data for: Role Models or Individual Consulting: The Impact of Personalizing Micro-entrepreneurship Training

description: Using a randomized experiment in Chile we study the impact role models have in the context of a training program for micro-entrepreneurs. We show that being in a group randomly chosen to be visited by a successful alumnus of the program increases household income one year after, mostly due to increased business participation and business income. We also randomized the provision of personalized "consulting sessions" vis-á-vis group sessions, and observe similar effects on income, with the role model intervention being significantly more cost effective and better suited for less experienced businesses.
DOI: 10.3886/e114017
title: Replication data for: Finance and Business Cycles: The Credit-Driven Household Demand Channel

description: What is the role of the financial sector in explaining business cycles? This question is as old as the field of macroeconomics, and an extensive body of research conducted since the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 has offered new answers. The specific idea put forward in this article is that expansions in credit supply, operating primarily through household demand, have been an important driver of business cycles. We call this the credit-driven household demand channel. While this channel helps explain the recent global recession, it also describes economic cycles in many countries over the past 40 years.
DOI: 10.3886/e114017v1
title: Replication data for: Finance and Business Cycles: The Credit-Driven Household Demand Channel

description: What is the role of the financial sector in explaining business cycles? This question is as old as the field of macroeconomics, and an extensive body of research conducted since the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 has offered new answers. The specific idea put forward in this article is that expansions in credit supply, operating primarily through household demand, have been an important driver of business cycles. We call this the credit-driven household demand channel. While this channel helps explain the recent global recession, it also describes economic cycles in many countries over the past 40 years.
DOI: 10.3886/e114018
title: Replication data for: What Happened: Financial Factors in the Great Recession

description: At the onset of the recent global financial crisis, the workhorse macroeconomic models assumed frictionless financial markets. These frameworks were thus not able to anticipate the crisis, nor to analyze how the disruption of credit markets changed what initially appeared like a mild downturn into the Great Recession. Since that time, an explosion of both theoretical and empirical research has investigated how the financial crisis emerged and how it was transmitted to the real sector. The goal of this paper is to describe what we have learned from this new research and how it can be used to understand what happened during the Great Recession. In the process, we also present some new empirical work. We argue that a complete description of the Great Recession must take account of the financial distress facing both households and banks and, as the crisis unfolded, nonfinancial firms as well. Exploiting both panel data and time series methods, we analyze the contribution of the house price decline, versus the banking distress indicator, to the overall decline in employment during the Great Recession. We confirm a common finding in the literature that the household balance sheet channel is important for regional variation in employment. However, we also find that the disruption in banking was central to the overall employment contraction.
DOI: 10.3886/e114018v1
title: Replication data for: What Happened: Financial Factors in the Great Recession

description: At the onset of the recent global financial crisis, the workhorse macroeconomic models assumed frictionless financial markets. These frameworks were thus not able to anticipate the crisis, nor to analyze how the disruption of credit markets changed what initially appeared like a mild downturn into the Great Recession. Since that time, an explosion of both theoretical and empirical research has investigated how the financial crisis emerged and how it was transmitted to the real sector. The goal of this paper is to describe what we have learned from this new research and how it can be used to understand what happened during the Great Recession. In the process, we also present some new empirical work. We argue that a complete description of the Great Recession must take account of the financial distress facing both households and banks and, as the crisis unfolded, nonfinancial firms as well. Exploiting both panel data and time series methods, we analyze the contribution of the house price decline, versus the banking distress indicator, to the overall decline in employment during the Great Recession. We confirm a common finding in the literature that the household balance sheet channel is important for regional variation in employment. However, we also find that the disruption in banking was central to the overall employment contraction.
DOI: 10.3886/e114019
title: Replication data for: Identification in Macroeconomics

description: This paper discusses empirical approaches macroeconomists use to answer questions like: What does monetary policy do? How large are the effects of fiscal stimulus? What caused the Great Recession? Why do some countries grow faster than others? Identification of causal effects plays two roles in this process. In certain cases, progress can be made using the direct approach of identifying plausibly exogenous variation in a policy and using this variation to assess the effect of the policy. However, external validity concerns limit what can be learned in this way. Carefully identified causal effects estimates can also be used as moments in a structural moment matching exercise. We use the term "identified moments" as a short-hand for "estimates of responses to identified structural shocks," or what applied microeconomists would call "causal effects." We argue that such identified moments are often powerful diagnostic tools for distinguishing between important classes of models (and thereby learning about the effects of policy). To illustrate these notions we discuss the growing use of cross-sectional evidence in macroeconomics and consider what the best existing evidence is on the effects of monetary policy.
DOI: 10.3886/e114019v1
title: Replication data for: Identification in Macroeconomics

description: This paper discusses empirical approaches macroeconomists use to answer questions like: What does monetary policy do? How large are the effects of fiscal stimulus? What caused the Great Recession? Why do some countries grow faster than others? Identification of causal effects plays two roles in this process. In certain cases, progress can be made using the direct approach of identifying plausibly exogenous variation in a policy and using this variation to assess the effect of the policy. However, external validity concerns limit what can be learned in this way. Carefully identified causal effects estimates can also be used as moments in a structural moment matching exercise. We use the term "identified moments" as a short-hand for "estimates of responses to identified structural shocks," or what applied microeconomists would call "causal effects." We argue that such identified moments are often powerful diagnostic tools for distinguishing between important classes of models (and thereby learning about the effects of policy). To illustrate these notions we discuss the growing use of cross-sectional evidence in macroeconomics and consider what the best existing evidence is on the effects of monetary policy.
DOI: 10.3886/e114020v1
title: Replication data for: Outside the Box: Unconventional Monetary Policy in the Great Recession and Beyond

description: In November 2008, the Federal Reserve faced a deteriorating economy and a financial crisis. The federal funds rate had already been reduced to virtually zero. Thus, the Federal Reserve turned to unconventional monetary policies. Through "quantitative easing," the Fed announced plans to buy mortgage-backed securities and debt issued by government-sponsored enterprises. Subsequent purchases would eventually lead to a five-fold expansion in the Fed's balance sheet, from $900 billion to $4.5 trillion, and leave the Fed holding over 20 percent of all mortgage-backed securities and marketable Treasury debt. In addition, Fed policy statements in December 2008 began to include explicit references to the likely path of the federal funds interest rate, a policy that came to be known as "forward guidance." The Fed ceased its direct asset purchases in late 2014. Starting in October 2017, it has allowed the balance sheet to shrink gradually as existing assets mature. From December 2015 through June 2018, the Fed has raised the federal funds interest rate seven times. Thus, the time is ripe to step back and ask whether the Fed's unconventional policies had the intended expansionary effects—and by extension, whether the Fed should use them in the future.
DOI: 10.3886/e114167
title: Replication data for: Inflation-Gap Persistence in the US

description: We estimate vector autoregressions with drifting coefficients and stochastic volatility to investigate whether US inflation persistence has changed. We focus on the inflation gap, defined as the difference between inflation and trend inflation, and we measure persistence in terms of short- to medium-term predictability. We present evidence that inflation-gap persistence increased during the Great Inflation and that it fell after the Volcker disinflation. We interpret these changes using a dynamic new Keynesian model that highlights the importance of changes in the central bank's inflation target. (JEL E12, E31, E52, E58)
DOI: 10.3886/e114167v1
title: Replication data for: Inflation-Gap Persistence in the US

description: We estimate vector autoregressions with drifting coefficients and stochastic volatility to investigate whether US inflation persistence has changed. We focus on the inflation gap, defined as the difference between inflation and trend inflation, and we measure persistence in terms of short- to medium-term predictability. We present evidence that inflation-gap persistence increased during the Great Inflation and that it fell after the Volcker disinflation. We interpret these changes using a dynamic new Keynesian model that highlights the importance of changes in the central bank's inflation target. (JEL E12, E31, E52, E58)