Meetings: Spring, 2009

National Security

The NBER's Working Group on the Economics of National Security, directed by NBER President-Emeritus Martin Feldstein of Harvard University, met in Cambridge on February 24. The following papers were discussed:

• Effie Benmelech, Harvard University and NBER; Claude Berrebi, RAND Corporation; and Esteban F. Klor, Hebrew University, “Economic Conditions and the Quality of Suicide Terrorism”
• Nayantara Hensel, U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, “Globalization and the U.S. Defense Industrial Postgraduate School Base”
• Jonathan Lipow, Oberlin University, and Peter Berck, University of California, Berkeley, “Did Monetary Forces Turn the Tide in Iraq?”
• Diana Lien, Aline Quester, and Robert Shuford, Center for Naval Analyses, “Marine Corps Deployment Tempo and Retention from FY04 to FY07”
• Eli Berman, University of California, San Diego and NBER, “Religious Radicalism and Violence in the Modern World”
• Radha Iyengar, London School of Economics and NBER, and Jonathan Monten, Yale University, “The Impact of Reconstruction Spending on the Labor Market for Insurgents”
• Jim Hosek and Francisco Martorell, RAND Corporation, “How Have Deployments during the War on Terrorism Affected Re-Enlistments?”
• Christopher Blattman, Yale University, and Edward Miguel, University of California, Berkeley and NBER, “Civil War”

Cohort Studies

The NBER’s Working Group on Cohort Studies met in Cambridge on March 6. Group Director Dora Costa, NBER and University of California, Los Angeles, organized the meeting. These papers were discussed:

• Daron Acemoglu, MIT and NBER; David Autor, MIT and NBER; and Amanda Pallais, MIT, “Assessing the Rising Return to Education and Ability: Evidence from Army Veterans"
• Grant Miller, Stanford University and NBER; Diana Pinto, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana; and Marcos Vera-Hernández, University College London, “Supply-vs. Demand-Side Rationing in Developing Country Health Insurance: Evidence from Colombia’s Régimen Subsidiado"
• Laura Bierut and Richard Grucza, Washington University, St. Louis, and Karen Norberg, Washington University, St. Louis and NBER, "Adolescence as a Sensitive Period: Long-Term Effects of Minimum Purchase Age Laws on Alcohol and Drug Use Disorders"
• Price V. Fishback, University of Arizona and NBER, and Melissa Thomasson, Miami University and NBER, “The Effects of Experiencing the Great Depression as a Child on Socioeconomic and Health Outcomes"
• James Feyrer, Dartmouth College; Dimitra Politi, Brown University; and David N. Weil, Brown University and NBER, “The Economic Effects of Micronutrient Deficiency: Evidence from Salt Iodization in the United States"
• John Brown, Clark University, “Fertility Control with Imperfect Methods: Strategies of Family Building and the Choice of Technique during the German Fertility Transition, 1885-1915"
• Martha J. Bailey, University of Michigan and NBER, and Nzinga Broussard, Claremont McKenna College, "The Impact of Federal Family Planning Grants Under the War on Poverty"

Development of the American Economy

The NBER’s Program on the Development of the American Economy met in Cambridge on March 7. Program Director Claudia Goldin, of NBER and Harvard University, organized the meeting. These papers were discussed:

• Dora L. Costa, University of California, Los Angeles and NBER, “The Rise of Retirement among African Americans: Wealth and Social Security Effects”
• Jeremy Atack, Vanderbilt University and NBER; Fred Bateman, University of Georgia; Michael Haines, Colgate University and NBER; and Robert Margo, Boston University and NBER, “Did Railroads Induce or Follow Economic Growth? Urbanization and Population Growth in the American Midwest, 1850-60” (NBER Working Paper No. 14640)
• Chiaki Moriguchi, Northwestern University and NBER, “From Pragmatic to Sentimental Adoption: Child Adoption in the United States, 1880-1930”
• Trevon Logan, Ohio State University and NBER, and Paul Rhode, University of Arizona and NBER, “Moveable Feasts: A New Approach to Endogenizing Tastes”

International Finance and Macroeconomics

The NBER’s Program on International Finance and Macroeconomics met in Cambridge on March 13. Roberto Chang, NBER and Rutgers University, and Kristin Forbes, NBER and MIT, organized this program:

• Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan, University of Houston and NBER; Vadym Volosovych, Florida Atlantic University; and Bent Sorensen, University of Houston, “Deep Financial Integration and Volatility”
• Charles Engel, University of Wisconsin and NBER, “Currency Misalignments and Optimal Monetary Policy: A Reexamination”
• Menzie D. Chinn, University of Wisconsin and NBER, and Michael J. Moore, Queen’s University, “Private Information and the Monetary Model of Exchange Rates: Evidence from a Novel Data Set” (NBER Working Paper No. 14175)
• Andrew K. Rose, University of California, Berkeley and NBER, and Mark M. Spiegel, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, “The Olympic Effect”
• Emine Boz, IMF; Christian Daude, OECD; and C. Bora Durdu, Federal Reserve Board, “Emerging Market Business Cycles Revisited: Learning About the Trend”
• Yuriy Gorodnichenko, University of California, Berkeley and NBER; Enrique G. Mendoza, University of Maryland and NBER; and Linda L. Tesar, University of Michigan and NBER, “The Finnish Great Depression: From Russia with Love”
• Petra Moser, Stanford University and NBER, and Alessandra Voena, Stanford University, “Compulsory Licensing: Evidence from the Trading-with-the-Enemy Act”
• Peter Temin, MIT and NBER, “Changes in Labor Relations during the New Deal and War”

Asset Pricing

NBER’s Program on Asset Pricing met in Chicago on March 20. NBER Research Associates Markus K. Brunnermeier and Jose A. Scheinkman of Princeton University organized this program:

• Francis A. Longstaff, UC, Los Angeles and NBER, and Jiang Wang, MIT and NBER, “Asset Pricing and the Credit Market”
• Dimitrios Vayanos, London School of Economics and NBER, and Paul Woolley, London School of Economics, “An Institutional Theory of Momentum and Reversal”
• Bernard Dumas, University of Lausanne and NBER, and Andrew Layasoff, Boston University, “Incomplete-Market Equilibria Solved Recursively on an Event Tree”(NBER Working Paper No. 14629)
• Nicolae Garleanu, UC, Berkeley and NBER; Leonid Kogan, MIT and NBER; and Stavros Panageas, University of Chicago, “The Demographic of Innovation and Asset Returns”
• Panel Discussion: "Rethinking Asset Pricing: Lessen from the current financial crisis" Is the divide between asset pricing and corporate finance useful? Is a framework based on a single representative agent still appropriate? Does asset pricing focus too much on specification of preferences and too little on frictions/constraints/liquidity? Should we switch to an "Institutional Finance" paradigm?
• Panel members: Lars P. Hansen and John H. Cochrane, University of Chicago and NBER; Darrell Duffie, Stanford University and NBER; and Peter Kyle, University of Maryland

Corporate Finance

The NBER’s Program on Corporate Finance met in Chicago on March 20. Francisco Perez-Gonzalez, NBER and Stanford University, organized the meeting. These papers were discussed:

• Elena Loutskina, University of Virginia, and Philip E. Strahan, Boston College and NBER, “Informed and Uninformed Investment in Housing: The Downside of Diversification”
• Rajkamal Iyer, University of Amsterdam; Asim Ijaz Khwaja and Erzo Luttmer, Harvard University and NBER; and Kelly Shue, Harvard University, “Screening in Alternative Credit Markets: Can Individual Lenders’ Infer Borrower Credit-worthiness in Peer-to-Peer Lending?”
• Adriano A. Rampini and S. Viswanathan, Duke University, “Collateral and Capital Structure”
• Alex Edmans, University of Pennsylvania; Xavier Gabaix, New York University and NBER; Tomasz Sadzik, New York University; and Yuliy Sannikov, Princeton University, “Dynamic Incentive Accounts”
• Joshua D. Rauh, University of Chicago and NBER, and Amir Sufi, University of Chicago, “Capital Structure and Debt Structure”
• Armen Hovakimian, Baruch College; Ayla Kayhan, Securities and Exchange Commission; and SHERIDAN TITMAN, University of Texas, Austin and NBER, “Crediting Rating Targets”
• Redouane Elkamhi, University of Iowa; Jan Ericsson, McGill University; and Christopher A. Parsons, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, “ The Cost of Financial Distress and the Timing of Default”
• Isil Erel, Ohio State University; Brandon Julio, London Business School; Michael S. Weisbach, Ohio State University and NBER; and Woojin Kim, Korea University Business School, “Financial Market Conditions and the Structure of Securities”

Monetary Economics

The NBER’s Program on Monetary Economics met at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on March 20. NBER Research Associates Laurence Ball of Princeton University and Justin Wolfers of the University of Pennsylvania organized this program:

• Francesco Trebbi and Atif R. Mian, University of Chicago and NBER, and Amir Sufi, University of Chicago, “The Political Economy of the U.S. Mortgage Default Crisis”
• Thomas Philippon, New York University and NBER, and Philipp Schnabl, New York University, “Cost-Efficient Mechanisms against Debt Overhang”
• Simon Gilchrist, Boston University and NBER; Vladimir Yankov, Boston University; and Egon Zakrajsek, Federal Reserve Board, “Credit Market Shocks and Economic Fluctuations: Evidence from Corporate Bond and Stock Markets”
• Carmen M. Reinhart, University of Maryland and NBER, and Kenneth S. Rogoff, Harvard University and NBER, “Banking Crises: An Equal Opportunity Menace” (NBER Working Paper No. 14587)

Program on Technological Progress and Productivity Measurement

The NBER’s Program on Technological Progress and Productivity Measurement met in Cambridge on March 20. Ernst R. Berndt, NBER and MIT, and Christopher R. Knittel, NBER and University of California, Davis, organized the meeting. These papers were discussed:

• Jacques Mairesse, INSEE and NBER; Francesco Lissoni, University of Brescia; Fabio Montobbio, Universita Bocconi; and Michele Pezzoni, University of Bergamo, “Determinants of Promotion and Scientific Productivity: A Study on Italian and French Academic Physicists”
• Fiona Murray, MIT; Philippe Aghion, Harvard University and NBER; Julian Kolev, Harvard University; Scott Stern, Northwestern University and NBER; and Mathias Dewatripont, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, “Of Mice and Academics: Examining the Effects of Openness on Innovation” (NBER Working Paper No. 14819)
• Ashish Arora, Duke University; Lee G. Branstetter, Carnegie Mellon University and NBER; and Matej Drev, Carnegie Mellon University,“The Great Realignment: How the Changing Technology of Technological Change in Information Technology Affected the US and Japanese IT Industries, 1983-1999”
• Alexander J. Field, Santa Clara University, “Should Capital Input Data Receive a Utilization Adjustment?”
• Leonardo Iacovone, The World Bank; Beata Javorcik, University of Oxford; Wolfgang Keller, University of Colorado and NBER; and James Tybout, Pennsylvania State University and NBER, “Supplier Responses to Wal-Mart’s Invasion of Mexico”
• Jonathan Parker and Annette Vissing-Jorgensen, Northwestern University and NBER, “Who Bears Aggregate Fluctuations and How?” (NBER Working Paper No. 14665, summarized in April 2009 NBER Digest)
• Olivier J. Blanchard, International Monetary Fund, “Thoughts on the Financial Crisis”

Behavioral Finance

The NBER’s Program on Behavioral Finance met in Chicago on March 21.Markus Brunnermeier, NBER and Princeton University, and Stefan Nagel, NBER and Stanford University, organized this program:

• Mark Dean, New York University, “Status Quo Bias in Large and Small Choice Sets”
• Nicholas Barberis, Yale University and NBER, “A Model of Casino Gambling”
• Shimon Kogan, University of Texas; Anthony M. Kwasnica, Pennsylvania State University; and Roberto Weber, Carnegie Mellon University, “Coordination in the Presence of Asset Markets”
• Marianne Bertrand, University of Chicago and NBER, and Adair Morse, University of Chicago, “Information Disclosure, Cognitive Biases and Payday Borrowing”
• Wei Xiong, Princeton University and NBER, and Jialin Yu, Columbia University, “The Chinese Warrants Bubble”
• Uday Rajan, University of Michigan; Amit Seru, University of Chicago; and Vikrant Vig, London Business School, “The Failure of Models That Predict Failure: Distance, Incentives, and Defaults”

International Trade and Investment

NBER’s Program on International Trade and Investment met in Cambridge on March 27and 28. Program Director Robert C. Feenstra, University of California, Davis, organized the meeting. These papers were discussed:

• Bernardo S. Blum and Ignatius J. Horstmann, University of Toronto, and Sebastian Claro, Central Bank of Chile, “Intermediation and the Nature of Trade Costs: Theory and Evidence”
• Gene M. Grossman and Esteban Rossi-Hansberg, Princeton University and NBER, “Task Trade between Similar Countries”
• Irene Brambilla, Yale University and NBER; Daniel Lederman, World Bank; and Guido Porto, Universidad Nacional do La Plata, “The Quality of Trade: Exports, Export Destinations and Wages”
• Kalina Manova, Stanford University and NBER, and Zhiwei Zhang, Hong Kong Monetary Authority, “Export Prices and Heterogeneous Firm Models”
• Julian di Giovanni, International Monetary Fund, and Andrei A. Levchenko, University of Michigan, “Firm Entry, Trade, and Welfare in Zipf’s World”

Public Economics

The NBER’s Program on Public Economics met in Cambridge on April 2 and 3. Program Directors Raj Chetty, University of California, Berkeley, and Amy Finkelstein, MIT, organized the meeting. These papers were discussed:

• Peter Diamond, MIT and NBER, and Johannes Spinnewijn, MIT, “Capital Income Taxes with Heterogeneous Discount Rates”
• Benjamin A. Olken, MIT and NBER, and Monica Singhal, Harvard University and NBER, “Informal Taxation”
• Raj Chetty, “Bounds on Elasticities with Optimization Frictions: An Application to Taxation and Labor Supply”
• Alexander W. Blocker, Boston University; Laurence J. Kotlikoff, Boston University and NBER; and Stephen A. Ross, MIT and NBER, “The True Cost of Social Security”
• Kevin Milligan, University of British Columbia and NBER, and Mark Stabile, University of Toronto, “Do Child Tax Benefits Affect the Well Being of Children? Evidence from Canadian Child Benefits” (NBER Working Paper No. (NBER Working Paper No. 14624)
• Marco Manacorda, London School of Economics; Edward Miguel, University of California, Berkeley and NBER; and Andrea Vigorito, Universidad de la Republica, “Government Transfers and Political Support” (NBER Working Paper No. 14702)
• Jonathan Gruber, MIT and NBER, and Jason Abaluck, MIT, “Choice Inconsistencies among the Elderly: Evidence from Plan Choice in the Medicare Part D Program” (NBER Working Paper No. 14759)
• Jiandong Ju, International Monetary Fund, and Shang-Jin Wei, Columbia University and NBER, “When is the Quality of the Financial System a Source of Comparative Advantage?” (NBER Working Paper No. 13984)
• Bruce A. Blonigen, University of Oregon and NBER, “New Evidence on the Formation of Trade Policy Preferences”

Program Meeting on Labor Studies and Environmental and Energy Economics

The NBER’s Program on Labor Studies, directed by Richard B. Freeman of Harvard University, and the Program on Environmental and Energy Economics, directed by Don Fullerton of the University of Illinois, met jointly in Cambridge on April 17 and 18. NBER Faculty Research Fellow Olivier Deschenes of the University of California, Santa Barbara also served as an organizer of the joint meeting. These papers were discussed:

• David Autor, MIT and NBER; Alan Manning, London School of Economics; and Christopher L. Smith, MIT, “The Minimum Wage's Role in the Evolution of US Wage Inequality over Three
• Till Von Wachter, Columbia University and NBER; Jae Song, Social Security Administration; and Joyce Manchester, Congressional Budget Office, “Long-Term Earnings Losses due to Mass Layoffs during the 1982 Recession: An Analysis Using U.S. Administrative Data from 1974 to 2004”
• Mireille Jacobson, University of California, Irvine and NBER, and Heather Royer, Case Western Reserve University, “Aftershocks: The Impact of Clinic Violence on Abortion Services”
• Justin Mccrary, University of California, Berkeley and NBER, and Matias Busso, University of Michigan, “New Evidence on the finite sample properties of propensity score matching and reweighting
• Estimates”
• Avraham Y. Ebenstein, Harvard University, “Water Pollution and Digestive Cancers in China”
• Robin Burgess, London School of Economics and NBER; Olivier Deschenes; Dave Donaldson, London School of Economics; and Michael Greenstone, MIT and NBER, “Weather and Death in India: Mechanisms and Implications of Climate Change”
• Arik Levinson, Georgetown University and NBER, “Valuing Air Quality Using Happiness Data”
• Robert S. Pindyck, MIT and NBER, “Uncertainty, Extreme Outcomes, and Climate Change Policy”
• James Bushnell, University of California, Berkeley and NBER, and Yihsu Chen, University of California, Merced, “Regulation, Allocation, and Leakage in Cap-and-Trade Markets for CO2”
• Soren T. Anderson, Michigan State University, “The Demand for Ethanol as a Gasoline Substitute”
• Lucas W. Davis, University of Michigan and NBER, and Matthew E. Kahn, University of California, Los Angeles and NBER, “International Trade in Used Vehicles: The Environmental Consequences of NAFTA”

Health Care

The NBER’s Health Care Program met in Cambridge on April 21. NBER Research Associate Dana P. Goldman of RAND organized the meeting. These papers were discussed:

• Darius Lakdawalla, RAND and NBER, and Wesley Yin, University of Chicago and NBER, “Insurer Bargaining and Negotiated Pharmacy Drug Prices in Medicare Part D”
• Frank R. Lichtenberg, Columbia University and NBER, “The Quality of Medical Care, Behavioral Risk Factors, and Longevity Growth”
• Marianne P. Bitler and Christopher Carpenter, University of California, Irvine and NBER, “Insurance Mandates and Mammography”
• Ashlesha Datar and Nancy Nicosia, RAND, “Junk Food in Schools and Childhood Obesity: Much Ado about Nothing?”
• Andreea Balan-Cohen, Tufts University, “Sobering up: The Impact of the 1985-1988 Russian Anti-Alcohol Campaign on Child Health”
• Amitabh Chandra, Harvard University and NBER, and Jonathan S. Skinner, Dartmouth College and NBER, “Technology Growth and Expenditure Growth in Health Care”

Education Program Meeting

NBER’s Program on Education met in Cambridge on April 30. Program Director Caroline M. Hoxby of Stanford University organized the meeting. These papers were discussed:

• Jonathan Gruber, MIT and NBER; Susan Dynarski, University of Michigan and NBER; and Danielle Li, MIT, “Cheaper by the Dozen: Using Sibling Discounts at Catholic Schools to Estimate the Price Elasticity of Private School Attendance”
• Philip Babcock and Kelly Bedard , University of California,Santa Barbara, “Wage Gains from Failure: New Evidence on School Retention Policies and Long-run Outcomes”
• Asim Khwaja , Harvard University and NBER; Tahir Andrabi , Pomona College; and Jishnu Da s, The World Bank, “Report Cards: The Impact of Providing School and Child Test Scores on Educational Markets”
• Felipe Barrera-Osorio and Dhushyanth Raju , The World Bank, “Evaluating a Test-based Public Subsidy Program for Low-cost Private Schools: Regression-discontinuity Evidence from Pakistan”
• Martin R. West , Brown University, and Ludger Wößmann , University of Munich,“Every Catholic Child in a Catholic School: Historical Resistance to State Schooling, Contemporary Private Competition, and Student Achievement across Countries”
• Scott Imberman , University of Houston; Adriana Kugler , University of Houston and NBER; and Bruce Sacerdote, Dartmouth College and NBER, “Katrina's Children: A Natural Experiment in Peer Effects from Hurricane Evacuees”

Program on Children

The NBER’s Program on Children met in Cambridge on May 1. Program Director Jonathan Gruber of MIT organized the meeting. These papers were discussed:

• Anna Aizer , Brown University and NBER, and Laura Stroud and Stephen Buka, Brown University, “Maternal Poverty, Stress, and Child Well-Being: Evidence from Siblings”
• Seema Jayachandran, Stanford University and NBER, and Ilyana Kuziemko, Princeton University and NBER, “Why Do Mothers Breastfeed Girls Less than Boys? Evidence and Implications for Child Health in India”
• David E. Frisvold, Emory University, and Julie C. Lumeng, University of Michigan,“Expanding Exposure: Can Increasing the Daily Duration of Head Start Reduce Childhood Obesity?”
• Ann Huff Stevens, University of California, Davis and NBER, and Jessamyn Schaller, University of California, Davis, “Short Run Effects of Parental Job Loss on Children’s Academic Achievement”
• Stacey Chen, Royal Holloway University of London; Yie-Chien Chen, National Taiwan University; and Jin-Tan Liu, National Taiwan University and NBER, “Separate Effects of Sibling Gender and Family Size on Education: Methods and First Evidence”

Higher Education

The NBER’s Working Group on Higher Education met in Cambridge on May 1. Director Charles T. Clotfelter of Duke University organized the meeting. These papers were discussed:

• Yona Rubinstein, Brown University, and Sheetal Sekhri, University of Virginia,“Do Public Colleges in Developing Countries Provide Better Education than Private Ones? Evidence from General Education Sector in India”
• Jason M. Lindo and Nicholas J. Sanders, University of California, Davis, and Philip Oreopoulos, University of British Columbia and NBER, “Ability, Gender, and Performance Standards: Evidence from Academic Probation”
• Philippe Aghion, Harvard University and NBER; Mathias Dewatripont, Université Libre de Bruxelles; Caroline M. Hoxby, Stanford University and NBER; Andreu Mas-Colell, Universitat Pompeu Fabra; and Andre Sapir, Université Libre de Bruxelles, “The Governance and Performance of Research Universities: Evidence from Europe and the U.S.”(NBER Working Paper No. 14851)
• Scott E. Carrell and Marianne E. Page, University of California, Davis and NBER, and James E.West, United States Air Force Academy, “Sex and Science: How Professor Gender Perpetuates the Gender Gap” (NBER Working Paper No. 14959)
• Shulamit Kahn, Boston University, and Megan MacGarvie, Boston University and NBER, “How Important is U.S. Location for Research in Science?”
• Katja Maria Kaufmann, Stanford University, “Understanding the Income Gradient in College Attendance in Mexico: The Role of Heterogeneity in Expected Returns to College”

International Trade and Organizations

The NBER’s Working Group on International Trade and Organizations met in Cambridge on May 1. Pol Antràs, NBER and Harvard University, organized the meeting. These papers were discussed:

• Andrew Atkeson and Ariel Burstein, University of California, Los Angeles and NBER, “Innovation, Firm Dynamics, and International Trade”
• Maria Guadalupe, Columbia University and NBER, and Julie Wulf, Harvard University, “The Flattening Firm and Product Market Competition”
• Federico Díez, University of Wisconsin, “The Asymmetric Effects of Tariffs on Offshoring Industries: How North/South Tariffs Affect Intra-Firm Trade”
• Wolfgang Keller, University of Colorado and NBER, and Stephen R. Yeaple, Pennsylvania State University and NBER, “Global Production and Trade in the Knowledge Economy” (NBER Working Paper No. 14626)

Health Economics

NBER’s Program on Health Economics met in Cambridge on May 8. Program Director Michael Grossman of City University of New York Graduate Center and Theodore Joyce of Baruch College organized the meeting. These papers were discussed:

• Joshua D. Angrist, MIT and NBER; Stacey H. Chen, University of London; and Brigham Frandsen, MIT, “Did Vietnam Veterans Get Sticker in the 1990s?” (NBER Working Paper No. 14781)
• Jay Bhattacharya, Stanford University and NBER; Thomas DeLeire, University of Wisconsin; Kanaka D. Shetty, RAND Corporation; and Chapin White, Congressional Budget Office, “Changes in U.S. Hospitalization and Mortality Rates Following Smoking Bans”(NBER Working Paper No. 14790)
• Partha Deb, CUNY and NBER; William T. Gallo, Yale University; and Jody L. Sindelar, Yale University and NBER, “Involuntary Job Loss, Body Mass and Alcohol Consumption”
• Phillip B. Levine and Robin McKnight, Wellesley College and NBER, and Samantha Heep, Wellesley College, “Public Policy, Health Insurance, and the Transition to Adulthood”
• Robert Kaestner, University of Illinois-Chicago and NBER, and Jeffrey Silber, University of Pennsylvania, “New Evidence on the Efficacy of Medicare Spending”
• Gabriella Conti and, University of Chicago; James J. Heckman, University of Chicago and NBER; and Sergio Urzua, Northwestern University, “Early Endowments, Education, and Health”

Market Design

The NBER’s Working Group on Market Design met in Cambridge on May 15-16. The field of “market design” examines the reasons why market institutions fail and considers the properties of alternative mechanisms, in terms of efficiency, fairness, incentives, and complexity. Research on market design is influenced by ideas from industrial organization and microeconomic theory; it brings together theoretical, empirical, and experimental methods, with an aim of studying policy-relevant tradeoffs with practical consequences. Working Group co-directors Susan Athey of Harvard University and Parag A. Pathak of MIT organized the meeting. These papers were discussed:

• Patrick Bajari, University of Minnesota and NBER, and Gregory Lewis, Harvard University and NBER, “Procurement Contracting with Time Incentives: Theory and Evidence”
• Francesco Decarolis, University of Chicago, “When the Highest Bidder Loses the Auction: Theory and Evidence from Public Procurement”
• Michael Ostrovsky, Stanford University, “Information Aggregation in Dynamic Markets with Strategic Traders”
• Luis Rayo, University of Chicago, and Ilya Segal, Stanford University, “Optimal Information Disclosure”
• Estelle Cantillon, ECARES, and Pai-Ling Yin, MIT, “Competition between Exchanges: Lessons from the Battle of the Bund”
• Itay P. Fainmesser, Harvard University, “Community Structure and Market Outcomes: Towards a Theory of Repeated Games in Networks”
• Maher Said, Yale University, “Auctions with Dynamic Populations: Efficiency and Revenue Maximization”
• Alex Gershkov and Paul Schweinzer, University of Bonn, “When Queueing is better than Push and Shove”
• Peter Cramton, University of Maryland, “Spectrum Auction Design”
• Jeremy Bulow and Jonathan Levin, Stanford University and NBER, and Paul Milgrom, Stanford University, “Winning Play in Spectrum Auctions” (NBER Working Paper No. 14765)
• Eric Budish, Harvard University, “The Combinatorial Assignment Problem: Approximate Competitive Equilibrium from Equal Incomes”
• John H. Kagel, Ohio State University; Yuanchuan Lien, California Institute of Technology; and Paul Milgrom, “Ascending Prices and Package Bidding: A Theoretical and Experimental Analysis”

Market Microstructure

The NBER’s Working Group on Market Microstructure met in Cambridge on May 29. Organizers Charles I. Jones, NBER and Stanford University; Eugene Kandel, Hebrew University, Jerusalem; Group Director Bruce Lehmann of NBER and the University of California, San Diego; and Avanidhar Subrahmanyam, University of California, Los Angeles, chose these papers for discussion:

• Ronnie Sadka, Boston College, “Liquidity Risk and the Cross-Section of Hedge-Fund Returns”
• Shane A. Corwin and Paul Schultz, University of Notre Dame, “A Simple Way to Estimate Bid-Ask Spreads from Daily High and Low Prices”
• Alain Chaboud, Erik Hjalmarsson, and Clara Vega, Federal Reserve Board, and Benjamin Chiquoine, The Investment Fund for Foundations, “The Rise of the Machines: Algorithmic Trading in the Foreign Exchange Market”
• Lawrence E. Harris, University of Southern California; Ethan Namvar, University of California, Irvine; and Blake Phillips, University of Alberta, “Price Inflation and Wealth Transfer during the 2008 SEC Short-Sale Ban”
• Zhi Da and Pengjie Gao, University of Notre Dame, and Joseph Engelberg, University of North Carolina, “ In Search of Attention”
• Stewart Mayhew and Timothy McCormick, Securities and Exchange Commission, and Chester Spatt, Carnegie Mellon University and NBER, “The Information Content of Market-on-Close Imbalances, the Specialist and NYSE Equity Prices”