In the decades immediately after World War II, many private employment agencies in the US were owned by women. This column investigates whether these women-owned agencies helped female jobseekers obtain better jobs. The authors find that women-owned agencies provided more opportunities to women by expanding the agency services available to them, including help finding male-dominated […]
Differences in the attention that households pay to economic news may offer important insights for the business cycle and the propagation of economic shocks. This column uses responses from the ECB’s Consumer Expectations Survey to show that in a high-inflation, high-interest-rate environment, consumers pay much more attention to price developments than to interest rates. The […]
Global poverty has decreased markedly since the 1980s, whilst access to education has improved significantly over the same period. This column uses a novel database and distributional growth accounting model of education to identify the portion of reduced global inequality that can be attributed to widespread education. The author finds that private returns to schooling […]
Increasing geopolitical fragmentation can create dilemmas for neutral countries. This column studies how firms in neutral countries adjusted their supply chains in response to Western sanctions on Russia. Firms in non-sanctioning countries reduced exports of sanctioned products to Russia when their headquarters were in sanctioning countries. However, domestic firms in neutral countries significantly increased exports […]
Concerns over government debt have been on the rise, with a growing number of observers and institutions pointing to the unprecedented levels reached in many EU countries. In parallel, there is an even more lively debate about the need to find additional public resources to tackle pressing challenges such as the green transition or strengthening […]
Though health disparities have long been the subject of research and debate, life expectancy gaps between rich and poor remain striking, even in countries with universal access to healthcare. This column analyses the roots of health inequality using data from the Netherlands. While mortality differences are most apparent at old-age, chronic illness starts shaping these […]
Inflation rates soared over the period 2021-2023, driving down households’ real incomes in the UK and other countries. This column uses detailed data on price and spending patterns for groceries to assess the relative impacts of inflation across rich and poor households. Significant differences in grocery price inflation experienced by rich and poor households only […]
Many market participants, analysts, and policymakers believe that interest rates will remain significantly higher than in the pre-pandemic era after the current monetary policy cycle concludes. This column argues that the combined forces of constrained aggregate demand due to global debt and a likely normalisation of the risk premium suggest a different outcome – a […]
The recent economic sanctions imposed on Russia and several other countries, including Syria, Iran, Venezuela, and North Korea, have reignited interest in the use of sanctions as a tool of foreign policy. While numerous studies have debated the effectiveness of sanctions on Russia, particularly during the initial phase in 2014, opinions remain divided. This column […]
What factors could drive transactional demand for central bank digital currency? This column analyses payment survey data to arrive at a framework for understanding the role of adoption frictions and design strategies in shaping demand for such a currency. The results of the analysis show that, while consumers may initially prefer to use more traditional […]
