In 2014, Gregory Clark proposed a ‘simple law of mobility’ suggesting that intergenerational mobility is much lower than previously believed, and relatively uniform across countries. This column tests this law using US and Swedish data. The results show, in contrast to the simple law of mobility, no evidence of a rise in intergenerational persistence and no evidence of uniformity across countries.
In today’s world of globalised finance, regulators in developing countries have to weigh up the international ramifications of their decisions. This column presents the results of a research project which combines cross-country panel analysis and in-depth case studies of the political economy of the adoption of Basel II/III in the developing world. It finds that regulators in developing countries do not merely adopt Basel II/III because these standards provide the optimal technical solution to financial stability risks in their jurisdictions; concerns about reputation and competition are also important.
Can the introduction of new legislation influence how citizens think about key social issues? This column uses the gradual rollout of same-sex relationship recognition policies throughout Europe to demonstrate how laws can shape attitudes towards sexual minorities. As marriage equality and other policies expand throughout the world we can expect to see continued improvements in attitudes towards sexual minorities in the countries involved but, conversely, anti-LGBT legislation could erode such acceptance.
Bank creditors have non-financial preferences too, and may withdraw deposits as a form of discipline. This column shows that protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline that targeted investor banks caused significant decreases in deposit growth, and global data suggest that this type of reaction to bank-specific scandals is widespread.
Changes to compulsory school leaving laws that force some people to stay in school longer have been shown to boost education and reduce crime. This column uses changes in such laws in the US to show that the driver behind the reduction in crime is not better employment outcomes, but ‘dynamic incapacitation’. Crime rates peak at age 18, and keeping teenagers in school during this key period can help ensure that they never proceed down the wrong track.
Other Recent Columns:
- The making of the modern metropolis: Evidence from London
- Explaining geographic variation in health care use
- The effectiveness of large-scale asset purchases
- New ideas about new ideas: Paul Romer, Nobel laureate
- How digital platforms reduce moral hazard
- A methodology for measuring the collaborative economy
- How we create and destroy growth: The 2018 Nobel laureates
- Increasing the effectiveness and ownership of European fiscal rules
- Some simple Bitcoin economics
- When or where to buy under saw-tooth gasoline price cycles
- The Wild West of information markets
- The economic effects of Brexit: Evidence from the stock market
- Turning national growth-indexed bonds into European assets
- Reforms are too important to be left to reformers
- Global value chains and export elasticities: All linkages matter
- Regulating cryptocurrencies: Assessing market reactions
- Differences in citation patterns across journal tiers in economics
- Cutting the corruption tax: A way out for Greece
- The Trump doctrine on international trade: Part two
- The Trump doctrine on international trade: Part one
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5 - 7 November 2018 / Florence, Italy / Florence School of Banking and Finance
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17 - 19 November 2018 / Barcelona / Barcelona Graduate School of Economics
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13 - 15 December 2018 / Seoul, South Korea / Asian and Australasian Society of Labour Economics (AASLE)
