Research Interests:
This article is the transcript of the plenary lecture that Michael Spence delivered at theRimini Conference in Economics and Finance 2014 (RCEF2014) of RCEA. It has beenmoderately edited so as to enable the transfer from the spoken word... more
This article is the transcript of the plenary lecture that Michael Spence delivered at theRimini Conference in Economics and Finance 2014 (RCEF2014) of RCEA. It has beenmoderately edited so as to enable the transfer from the spoken word to the printed page.RCEA owes special thanks to Angelo Melino for organizing and chairing ProfessorSpence lecture.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
... Shifts in prod-uct or service quality affect inframarginal consumers. ... Surveys of consum-ers designed to establish their willingness to pay for increases in service quality will not necessarily provide information about the... more
... Shifts in prod-uct or service quality affect inframarginal consumers. ... Surveys of consum-ers designed to establish their willingness to pay for increases in service quality will not necessarily provide information about the profitability of quality improvements. ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This paper discusses the Washington Consensus, its origins, and its insights in terms of subsequent development experience in a broad range of countries. I continue to find that when properly interpreted as a guide to the formulation of... more
This paper discusses the Washington Consensus, its origins, and its insights in terms of subsequent development experience in a broad range of countries. I continue to find that when properly interpreted as a guide to the formulation of country-specific development strategies, the Washington Consensus has withstood the test of time quite well. In my view, subsequent experience, especially in Asia, reveals a number of places where a shift in emphasis would be warranted. Finally, I try to identify some misuses of the Washington Consensus and suggest that it was vulnerable to misuse due to the absence of an accompanying and explicit development model.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
is an:ies of would A central aspect of the dynamic problem facing the firm in an evolving industry is the decision about additions to productive capacity. Particu-larly in capital intensive industries, capacity decisions have long lead... more
is an:ies of would A central aspect of the dynamic problem facing the firm in an evolving industry is the decision about additions to productive capacity. Particu-larly in capital intensive industries, capacity decisions have long lead times and involve commitments of resources may be large in relation to firms ' total capitalization. If the firm fails to add capacity at the..S 10. appropriate time, it not only loses immediate sales and market shares but also may diminish its long-run competitive position—if the firm adds too much capacity, it can be burdened with unmet fixed charges for long periods of time. From a competitive standpoint, additions to capacity cania of pose major problems since the matching of capacity to demand is often a major determinant of industry rivalry and profits. The problem is most acute in industries producing standardized products, where product dif-ferentiation does not protect firms against mistaken capacity decisions of others. The capacity dec...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This paper discusses the Washington Consensus, its origins, and its insights in terms of subsequent development experience in a broad range of countries. I continue to find that when properly interpreted as a guide to the formulation of... more
This paper discusses the Washington Consensus, its origins, and its insights in terms of subsequent development experience in a broad range of countries. I continue to find that when properly interpreted as a guide to the formulation of country-specific development strategies, the Washington Consensus has withstood the test of time quite well. In my view, subsequent experience, especially in Asia, reveals a number of places where a shift in emphasis would be warranted. Finally, I try to identify some misuses of the Washington Consensus and suggest that it was vulnerable to misuse due to the absence of an accompanying and explicit development model.
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Climate Change, Arbitration, Economic Growth, Capital Markets, Developing Countries, and 15 moreEconomic Development, Developing Country, Export Processing Zones, Agricultural Production, Connectivity, Debt, Developing Economies, Communication technologies, Bond, Bonds, Capital Accumulation, Child mortality, Commodity, Advanced Countries, and Export Processing Zone
The term "market signaling" is not exactly a part of the well-defined, technical vocabulary of the economist. As a part of the preamble, therefore, I feel I owe the reader a word... more
The term "market signaling" is not exactly a part of the well-defined, technical vocabulary of the economist. As a part of the preamble, therefore, I feel I owe the reader a word of explanation about the title. I find it difficult, however, to give a coherent and comprehensive ...
Research Interests: Economics and Job Market
Cervicitis has been associated with several infections of the female genital tract. Criteria have been established for making the diagnosis of cervicitis in gynecologic populations but there are no well-established criteria for diagnosing... more
Cervicitis has been associated with several infections of the female genital tract. Criteria have been established for making the diagnosis of cervicitis in gynecologic populations but there are no well-established criteria for diagnosing cervicitis in obstetrical populations. Because of the association of the cervicitis and sexually transmitted diseases, and because of the association of sexually transmitted diseases and adverse pregnancy outcome, the present study was undertaken in an attempt to establish criteria for the diagnosis of cervicitis in pregnancy. We also attempted to determine the reproducibility of that diagnosis with respect to intra- and interobserver variability. We concluded that intraobserver variability is improved after specific training has been completed and that interobserver variability may be reduced to an acceptable level. On a public health scale, this may allow for identification of a population at high risk for adverse pregnancy outcome when sophisticated microbiologic techniques are unavailable.
Research Interests:
This paper examines the underlying structural elements of US growth patterns, pre- and post-crisis. Prior to the recession, the US economy exhibited a defective growth pattern driven by outsized domestic demand. As domestic aggregate... more
This paper examines the underlying structural elements of US growth patterns, pre- and post-crisis. Prior to the recession, the US economy exhibited a defective growth pattern driven by outsized domestic demand. As domestic aggregate demand retreats to more sustainable levels relative to total income, the tradable side of the economy is a catalyst for restoring strong growth. A structural rebalancing is already underway; although it is only a third of the economy, the tradable sector generated more than half of gross gains in value-added since the start of the recovery. However, distributional issues loom on the horizon.
Research Interests:
This paper examines the evolving structure of the American economy, specifically the trends in employment, value added, and value added per employee from 1990 to 2008. Employing historical time series data from the Bureau of Labor... more
This paper examines the evolving structure of the American economy, specifically the trends in employment, value added, and value added per employee from 1990 to 2008. Employing historical time series data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Bureau of Economic Analysis, US industries are separated into internationally tradable and nontradable components, allowing for employment and value added trends at both the industry and the aggregate level to be examined. Value added grew across the economy, but almost all of the incremental employment increase of 27.3 million jobs was on the nontradable side, where government and health care are the largest employers and provided the largest increments (an additional 10.4 million jobs) over the past two decades. There are obvious questions about whether those trends can continue; without fast job creation in the nontradable sector during this period, the United States would already have faced a major employment challenge. The nontradable sector also expe- rienced much slower growth in value added per employee; because value added per em- ployee is highly correlated with income, it goes a long way to explain the stagnation of wages across large segments of the workforce. The evolution of the US economy supports the notion of there being a long-term structural challenge with respect to the quantity and quality of employment opportunities in the United States.