Publications:
· “Optimal Technology and Development”
Forthcoming Journal of Macroeconomics
Skill intensive technologies seem to be adopted by rich countries rather than poor ones. Related to that observation, the ratio of wages of skilled to unskilled workers - the skill premium - shows two important features over time and across countries. In the US the skill premium decreased during the first half of the 20th century and it increased after 1950, evolving according to a U shaped pattern. On the other hand, the same measure across countries around 1990 is hump shaped when countries are ordered by GDP per worker.
By modeling the decisions for factor accumulation and technology adoption, this paper gives a systematic explanation as to why we see ever more skill intensive technologies being adopted both over time in the US and across countries. The model developed here endogenously generates predictions for the skill premium that are consistent with both the US and international observations under the same set of parameter values.
Working papers:
· “Financial Structure, Informality and Development” (with Pablo D’Erasmo)
Last Draft: Aug 2009
The objective of the paper is to quantify the effects of observed entry, operating and exit frictions on the firm's production decisions and their effects on total factor productivity across countries. We build a firm dynamics model with imperfect credit markets and endogenous formal and informal sectors. We find that, by reducing allocative efficiency, the frictions explain up to 58% of total factor productivity differences between the US and the developing economies.
· “Evaluating the Effects of Entry Regulations and Firing Costs on International Income Differences” (with Toshihiko Mukoyama)
Last Draft: Jul 2009, Submitted
This paper analyzes the effects of entry regulations and firing costs on cross-country differences in income and productivity. We construct a general equilibrium industry dynamics model and evaluate it using the cross-country data on entry costs and firing costs. Entry costs lower productivity through making the establishment size inefficiently large, and firing costs lower productivity through reducing the reallocation of labor from low-productivity establishments to high-productivity establishments. We show that the quantitative effect of extreme costs, which we find for some countries in the data, can be substantial.
· “Optimal Technology, Development and the role of Government: The case of OECD countries”
Last Draft: May 2006
This paper highlights the effect of the presence of the goverment and its redistribution policy in the technology adoption decision. As a result it helps explain the differences in skill premium patterns across the North Atlantic between developed economies such as the US and Continental Europe, keeping the general result of Moscoso Boedo (2006), that skill premium and output per worker are negatively correlated
· “Former Communist Countries and their transition to Capitalism”
Last Draft: May 2006
This paper uses the technology adoption general equilibrium model developed by Moscoso Boedo (2006) to analyze the transition for the countries of the former USSR and Eastern Europe. There the real output displayed a U-shaped pattern together with increases in inequality, which are features matched by the model
· “Sectoral reallocation, growth and labor income inequality”
Last Draft: November 2003
Focuses on the transitory relationship between output level and Income inequality. As a result of either permanent or transitory sectoral technological shocks the economy will adjust to a new steady state equilibrium, but during the transition the dynamics of wages and workers will generate departures from the steady state level of income inequality.
Work in progress:
· “What is the true cost of Doing Business” with Pablo D’Erasmo
· “Effects of Immigration on Technology Adoption and Relative Wages”
