T h i s r e p o r t p r e s e n t s the r e s u l t s o f e x p e r i m e n t s o n t h e s t a r t l i n g a n d a w a k e n i n g e f f e c t s o f s o n i c booms. The o b j e c t i v e s o f the s tudy were (1) t o bu i ld and test a dev ice and a s soc ia t ed room where one could simul a t e the e f f e c t s o f s o n i c booms on a room i n a house, and (2) t o conduct s t u d i e s of ...

Theoretical and empirical work seems to support the idea that tight labour markets driven by resource booms induce young individuals to leave school for employment as the opportunity cost of schooling increases. Resource booms may have an adverse long term effect on the productivity of the labor force if workers under-invest in human capital rather than merely altering the timing of schooling. ...

Merger activity is intense during economic booms and subdued during recessions. This paper provides a non-financial explanation for this observable pattern. We construct a model in which the target—by setting the takeover price—screens the acquirer on his (expected) ability to realize synergy gains when merging. In an economic boom, it is less profitable to sort out relatively “bad fit” acquire...

Using data on 50 million home sales from the last U.S. housing cycle, we document that much of variation in volume came rise and fall speculation. Cities with larger speculative booms have price booms, sharper increases unsold listings as market turns, more severe busts. We present a model which predictable endogenously attract short-term buyers than long-term buyers. Short-term amplify by sell...

Explaining asset price booms poses a di cult question for researchers in macroeconomics: how can large and persistent price growth be explained in the absence large and persistent variation in fundamentals? This paper argues that boom-bust behavior in asset prices can be explained by a model in which boundedly rational agents learn the process for prices. The key feature of the model is that le...

Evidence shows that asset price bubbles typically precede financial crises and financial crises are accompanied by the collapse of bubbles. In addition, stock market booms and busts are typically associated with credit market booms and busts. The recent US housing and stock market bubbles and the subsequent Great Recession that began in late 2007 provide an example. The stock market booms in th...

The propagation and subsequent distortion of sonic booms with rippled wave fronts are investigated theoretically using a nonlinear time-domain finite-difference scheme. This work seeks to validate the rippled wave front approach as a method for explaining the significant effects of turbulence on sonic booms [A. S. Pierce and D. J. Maglieri, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 51, 702-721 (1971)]. A very simple...

This paper studies the role of speculation in amplifying housing cycles. Speculation is easier in the land market than in the housing market due to rental frictions. Therefore, speculation amplifies house price booms the most in cities with ample undeveloped land. This observation reverses the standard intuition that cities where construction is easier experience smaller house price booms. It a...