The Economics of Language

By Victor Ginsburgh and Shlomo Weber

Journal of Economic Literature, June 2020

This paper brings together methodological, theoretical, and empirical analysis into the framework of linguistic diversity. It reflects both historical and contemporary research by economists and other social scientists on the impact of language on economi...

Radical Markets by Eric Posner and E. Glen Weyl: A Review Essay

By David K. Levine

Journal of Economic Literature, June 2020

At a time when standards of living have improved more than any time in history, this book makes a proposal for radical change. It is based—loosely—on market design principles. The plan for attacking overlapping ownership is reasonably well thought out...

The Limits of the Commune: A Review of The Mystery of the Kibbutz

By John V. C. Nye

Journal of Economic Literature, June 2020

Ran Abramitzky's book, The Mystery of the Kibbutz: Egalitarian Principles in a Capitalist World, tries to answer the questions of why the communal kibbutz worked so well in Israel's formative years and what limits its current success in modern Is...

Book Reviews

Journal of Economic Literature, June 2020

Annotated Listing of New Books

Journal of Economic Literature, June 2020

JEL Classification System

Journal of Economic Literature, June 2020

AER: Insights Q&A with Editor Amy Finkelstein

[News]

May 19, 2020

As AER: Insights approaches its first anniversary, its founding editor, Amy Finkelstein, answers some questions about the journal.

2019 Signaling Candidate Survey

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2019 Signaling Employer Survey

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Take it again

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Retaking the SAT boosts scores and college enrollment, especially for minority and low-income students.

Few companies, fewer products

[Research Highlight]

May 12, 2020

The oligopolistic smartphone market isn't producing enough phones for consumers.

Competition, Product Proliferation, and Welfare: A Study of the US Smartphone Market

By Ying Fan and Chenyu Yang

American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, May 2020

This paper studies (1) whether, from a welfare point of view, oligopolistic competition leads to too few or too many products in a market, and (2) how a change in competition affects the number and the composition of product offerings. We address these tw...

Financial culture

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Do bankers have different values than the rest of society?

Figuring out what works

[Research Highlight]

June 04, 2020

Healthy people follow health trends. That behavior can actually cloud research.

Health Recommendations and Selection in Health Behaviors

By Emily Oster

American Economic Review: Insights, June 2020

Consider a case in which a new research finding links a health behavior with good health outcomes. A possible consequence is take-up of this behavior among individuals who engage in other positive health behaviors. If this occurs, later analyses of observ...

The Economist as Plumber

By Esther Duflo

American Economic Review, May 2017

As economists increasingly help governments design new policies and regulations, they take on an added responsibility to engage with the details of policy making and, in doing so, to adopt the mindset of a plumber. Plumbers try to predict as well as possi...

Breaking the poverty cycle

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Can a support program for disadvantaged high school students have lasting effects?