Expansion in access to public infrastructure has been found to improve a host of development outcomes. This column uses variation in the access to paved roads through a large-scale rural road construction programme in India to study how road access impacts fertility decisions and investments in child health. It finds that increased access to paved […]
Women in Latin America have higher educational attainment than men, and gender inequality in maths and reading scores has fallen over time. Yet, gender gaps in labour force participation persist. This column examines gender inequality in Latin America, and finds that employed women are over-represented in smaller firms and the informal sector. Women still spend […]
Firm inflation expectations are a key driver of future price growth. This column uses a large economy-wide business survey to understand the response of firms to monthly CPI inflation releases in the UK. Firms’ CPI inflation perceptions respond very quickly, in a matter of hours after the CPI release. Expected own-price growth also responds strongly […]
The need to mitigate climate change has never been more urgent. Governments play a critical role in the green transition, through green public investment, subsidies, and implementing carbon pricing policies. This column uses a macro-climate model to examine the interplay between mitigation policies and fiscal sustainability considerations. It highlights a key trade-off between limiting transition […]
Working mothers often face lower wages, fewer formal contracts, and less job security than their male counterparts, a disparity that is exacerbated by traditional gender roles and the time-intensive nature of childrearing. This column reports on a study of the potential of longer school hours as a strategy for improving their employment opportunities, providing compelling […]
Multiple-choice tests are widely used to evaluate job candidates, but attitudes towards risk can influence gender differences in test performance. This column analyses data from a large multiple-choice admission exam for the medical profession in Spain. Gender differences in answering strategies negatively affect women in the upper part of the performance distribution. Reducing penalties for […]
The declining labour share of income in advanced economies is an important topic for policymakers. This column studies how different types of capital interact with labour using firm-level data from Korea. It shows that equipment capital and labour are complements, but software (a part of intangible capital) and labour are substitutes. As software improves, labour […]
If you invested one dollar in the post-war years in a diversified portfolio of all publicly traded firms, by 1980 you would have seen a real return of zero. Instead, if you invested one dollar in 1980, today you would have nearly ten dollars. This column argues that the rise of stock market valuations is […]
Household inflation expectations feature prominently in current central bank policy discussions. This column summarises key insights from the recent literature on household inflation expectations for the conduct of monetary policy. First, households appear to act on their beliefs about inflation, yet often in heterogeneous and context-dependent ways. Second, household inflation expectations present significant deviations from […]
Flexible working time arrangements can help parents reconcile family and work commitments. This column examines the impact of the statutory right to work part-time on the labour supply and labour income of eligible mothers in Germany. The entitlement to work part-time leads to an increase in part-time employment, in the short and long run, and […]
