We review the theory of leverage developed in collateral equilibrium models with incomplete markets. We explain how leverage tends to boost asset prices and create bubbles. We show how leverage can be endogenously determined in equilibrium and how it depends on volatility. We describe the dynamic feedback properties of leverage, volatility, and asset prices, in what we call the leverage cycle, ...

We study markets with costly buyer search in which sellers simultaneously post prices. Buyers costlessly observe one or (with probability 1 q) two of the posted prices, and can accept one or pay to search again. The experiment varies q, the search cost, and the number of buyers. Equilibrium theory predicts a unified very low (high) price for q=0 (q=1) and predicts specific distributions of disp...

The average quality of available educational resources varies significantly across Europe. This not only affects school success and failure but also subsequent labour market outcomes. The main research question in this paper is to what extent this compositional variation among early school leavers (ESLrs) in particular can account for the crossnational variation of their income disadvantage rel...

Using data for 1991 to 1997 from the British Household Panel Survey we investigate the incidence of housing finance problems, evictions and repossessions. Previous research on repossessions and problematical housing debt has focused on cross-sectional data. This paper contributes uniquely to the literature by examining the sequence of household and individual events associated with housing arre...

To better understand information about human health from databases we analyzed three datasets collected for different purposes in Canada: a biomedical database of older adults, a large population survey across all adult ages, and vital statistics. Redundancy in the variables was established, and this led us to derive a generalized (macroscopic state) variable, being a fitness/frailty index that...

We explore the twin hypotheses (i) that high-performance incentives, worker ownership of assets, and worker freedom from direct controls are complementary instruments for motivating workers, and (ii) that such instruments can be expected to covary positively in cross-sectional data. We also relate our conclusions to empirical evidence, particularly that on the organization, compensation, and ma...

The evidence indicates that human capital is an increasingly important determinant of where firms and households locate in the United States. Further, large metropolitan areas have been shown to have an advantage in attracting and producing highly skilled workers. The research in this study provides new information on the relationship between specific large metropolitan areas and educational at...

I show that the cross-sectional standard deviation of individual price changes in the BLS CPI database is countercyclical and comoves strongly with the frequency of price adjustments. Standard Ss models with only …rst moment shocks cannot explain these facts. Adding a second moment (‘uncertainty’) shock improves the model …t signi…cantly. Furthermore, it implies a strongly procyclical sensitivi...

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The purpose of this study was to examine safety observance when spraying pesticide and pesticide related symptoms among Korean farmers. As a cross-sectional study, a questionnaire survey was conducted in rural communities and an investigation carried out by a structured survey of 135 farmers. The results are as follows: The mean of safety observance when spraying pesticides was 3.05±0.58 (range...