We do not know which characteristics affect cryptocurrency prices, if any. The column argues that there are two fundamental factors that drive prices in the long run: the trustworthiness of the cryptocurrency’s blockchain and the adoption of the blockchain. Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Monero are affected by these fundamentals. In some periods prices deviate, but eventually retrace the trend.
Recent evidence suggests that competitive intensity has been declining in the US. This column aims to contribute to our understanding of these trends in the euro area. It finds that, in contrast to the situation in the US, market power metrics have been relatively stable over recent years and mark-ups have marginally been trending down since the late 1990s. It suggests that more research on the sectoral level and with better data is necessary to analyse the complex welfare and policy implications of these developments.
The Perry Preschool Project was a social experiment implemented in the US in the 1960s. The oldest early childhood intervention trial with long-term follow-up, it saw five cohorts of African American children from low-income families in Ypsilanti, Michigan, randomly assigned to attend free, high-quality pre-school. This column shows some of the lasting benefits, particularly for males, of an early childhood education programme targeted at disadvantaged children – from reduced crime to improved executive functioning, socioemotional skills, earnings, and health. It also documents the intergenerational benefits of the intervention on the children of the original participants. The conclusions are supported by statistically conservative small-sample tests.
How would units of assessment submitted to the UK’s 2014 evaluation of scholarly research have fared if they had had been assessed using the bibliometric algorithm of the agency for evaluation of research in Italian universities? This column finds very high correlation between the two methods. In particular, the allocation of government funding to institutions that would have been obtained is essentially identical to that determined by the rules used by the REF2014.
When deciding whether to switch employers, technology workers care not only about wages, but also about other factors, such as technology, perks and the quality of co-workers. Using job board data from 2007, this column shows that high-tech workers also ‘pay’ for the opportunity to acquire training in a new technology. Tech workers require more money to leave their current employers when they are working with more interesting technologies. For older and more established technologies, this premium disappears. The effects are stronger for younger workers.
Other Recent Columns:
- Replicating successful charter schools in Boston
- Assessing house prices: Insights from a dataset of price level estimates
- The Great Trade Collapse: An evaluation of competing stories
- Physician bias and racial disparities in veteran health
- The economic impact of India’s demonetisation
- Managerial quality and productivity dynamics
- Lessons in economics from Algeria’s victory in the Africa Cup of Nations
- Neighbourhood effects in early education
- Religiosity, education, and economic progress in 19th-century France
- International business cycle co-movement in the global production network
- The effect of automatic enrolment on debt
- Externalities - and cheating - in the financial crisis
- Foreign acquisitions and energy intensity
- Inter-city trade
- Offshoring and the decline in US manufacturing employment
- Financial crises, regulation, and the structure of interbank networks
- Purely financial market participants improve spot market performance
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