Papers by Matthias Doepke
This paper considers the revaluation of nominal wealth as a channel for aggregate and welfare eff... more This paper considers the revaluation of nominal wealth as a channel for aggregate and welfare effects of inflation. In a calibrated OLG model, an inflation episode is viewed as an unanticipated shock to the wealth distribution that hurts old lenders and helps young borrowers. While the redistribution shock is zero-sum, households respond asymmetrically, which generates a decrease in labor supply as well as an in-crease in savings. Although inflation-induced redistribution has a persistent negative effect on output, it improves the weighted welfare of domestic households.
Matthias Doepke is Associate Professor of Economics at UCLA. He is interested in the economic gro... more Matthias Doepke is Associate Professor of Economics at UCLA. He is interested in the economic growth and development, demographic change, political economics, and monetary economics.
This paper,provides,a quantitative,assessment,of the effects of inflation through changes,in the ... more This paper,provides,a quantitative,assessment,of the effects of inflation through changes,in the value of nominal,assets. We document,nominal,positions in the U.S. across sectors as well as different groups of households, and estimate the redistribu- tion brought,about by a moderate,inflation episode. Redistribution takes the form of “ends-against-the-middle:” the middle,class gains at the cost of the rich and poor. In addition, inflation favors the
Episodes of unanticipated inflation reduce the real value of nominal claims and thus redistribute... more Episodes of unanticipated inflation reduce the real value of nominal claims and thus redistribute wealth from lenders to borrowers. In this study, we consider redistribution as a channel for aggregate and welfare effects of inflation. We model an inflation episode as an unanticipated shock to the wealth distribution in a quantitative overlapping-generations model of the U.S. economy. While the redistribution
Policy Research Working Papers, 2011
Empirical evidence suggests that money in the hands of mothers (as opposed to their husbands) ben... more Empirical evidence suggests that money in the hands of mothers (as opposed to their husbands) benefits children. Does this observation imply that targeting transfers to women is good economic policy? We develop a series of noncooperative family bargaining models to understand what kind of frictions can give rise to the observed empirical relationships. We then assess the policy implications of these models. We find that targeting transfers to women can have unintended consequences and may fail to make children better off. Moreover, different forms of empowering women may lead to opposite results. More research is needed to distinguish between alternative theoretical models. * We thank
Journal of Demographic Economics, 2015
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000
We model the decision problem of a parent who chooses an occupation and teaches patience to her c... more We model the decision problem of a parent who chooses an occupation and teaches patience to her children. The two choices are linked by a strategic complementarity: patient individuals choose occupations with a steep income profile; a steep income profile, in turn, leads to a strong incentive to invest in patience. In equilibrium, society becomes stratified along occupational lines. The most patient people are those in occupations requiring the most education and experience. The theory can account for the socio-economic transformation that characterized the British Industrial Revolution, when a new class of entrepreneurs rising from the middle classes and imbued with an ethics emphasizing patience and savings proved most capable of profiting from new economic opportunities, and eventually surpassed the pre-industrial elite.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000
We develop a positive theory of the adoption of child-labor regulation. There are two key mechani... more We develop a positive theory of the adoption of child-labor regulation. There are two key mechanisms at work in our model. First, parental decisions on family size interact with their preferences for child-labor regulation. Second, the supply of child labor affects skilled and unskilled wages. If policies are determined by majority voting, multiple steady states with different child-labor policies can exist. The model is consistent with international evidence on the incidence of child labor. In particular, it predicts a positive correlation between child labor, fertility, and inequality across countries of similar income per capita. The model also predicts that the political support for regulation should increase if a rising skill premium induces parents to choose smaller families. A calibration of the model shows that it can replicate features of the history of the U.K. in the 19th Century, when regulations were introduced after a period of rising wage inequality, and coincided with rapidly declining fertility and rising educational levels.
ABSTRACT We construct a theory of intergenerational preference transmission that rationalizes the... more ABSTRACT We construct a theory of intergenerational preference transmission that rationalizes the choice between alternative parenting styles (related to Baumrind 1967). Parents maximize an objective function that combines Beckerian and paternalistic altruism towards children. They can affect their children’s choices via two channels: either by influencing their preferences or by imposing direct restrictions on their choice sets. Different parenting styles (authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive) emerge as equilibrium outcomes, and are affected both by parental preferences and by the socioeconomic environment. We consider two applications: patience and risk aversion. We argue that parenting styles may be important for explaining why different groups or societies develop different attitudes towards human capital formation, entrepreneurship, and innovation.
Handbook of Economic Growth, 2014
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000
We develop a positive theory of the adoption of child labor laws.
The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2012 Version, 2012
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000
Seit Mitte der achtziger Jahre hat die neue Wachstumstheorie verstärkt Aufmerksamkeit auf Humanka... more Seit Mitte der achtziger Jahre hat die neue Wachstumstheorie verstärkt Aufmerksamkeit auf Humankapital als eine Quelle des Wirtschaftswachstums gelenkt. Neuere empirische Ergebnisse weisen allerdings darauf hin, dass Bildungsinvestitionen nur geringe soziale Externalitäten erzeugen und dass der direkte Beitrag des Humankapitals zum Wirtschaftswachstum relativ gering ist. In dieser Arbeit wird der Beitrag des Humankapitals zur Wirtschaftsentwicklung im Rahmen der langfristigen Wachstumstheorie dargestellt, deren Gegenstand ist, den Übergang von Ländern von vor-industrieller Stagnation zu stetigem Wirtschaftswachstum zu erklären. Hier erweist sich, dass Humankapital nicht nur direkte Produktivitätseffekte erzeugt, sondern auch als Auslöser verschiedener entwicklungsfördernder politischer Reformen dienen kann.
Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, 2008
Seit Mitte der achtziger Jahre hat die neue Wachstumstheorie verstärkt Aufmerksamkeit auf Humanka... more Seit Mitte der achtziger Jahre hat die neue Wachstumstheorie verstärkt Aufmerksamkeit auf Humankapital als eine Quelle des Wirtschaftswachstums gelenkt. Neuere empirische Ergebnisse weisen allerdings darauf hin, dass Bildungsinvestitionen nur geringe soziale Externalitäten erzeugen und dass der direkte Beitrag des Humankapitals zum Wirtschaftswachstum relativ gering ist. In dieser Arbeit wird der Beitrag des Humankapitals zur Wirtschaftsentwicklung im Rahmen der langfristigen Wachstumstheorie dargestellt, deren Gegenstand ist, den Übergang von Ländern von vor-industrieller Stagnation zu stetigem Wirtschaftswachstum zu erklären. Hier erweist sich, dass Humankapital nicht nur direkte Produktivitätseffekte erzeugt, sondern auch als Auslöser verschiedener entwicklungsfördernder politischer Reformen dienen kann.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000
Following a phase of near-constant living standards lasting from Stone Age until the onset of the... more Following a phase of near-constant living standards lasting from Stone Age until the onset of the Industrial Revolution, a large number of countries have experienced growth takeoffs, in which stagnation gives way to sustained economic growth. What causes some countries to enter a growth takeoff, while others remain poor? We discuss three mechanisms that can trigger a growth takeoff in a country previously captured in a poverty trap: fertility decline, structural change, and accelerating technological progress.
Origins and Consequences of Child Labour Restrictions: A Macroeconomic Perspective* In this paper... more Origins and Consequences of Child Labour Restrictions: A Macroeconomic Perspective* In this paper we investigate the positive and normative consequences of childlabour restrictions for economic aggregates and welfare. We argue that even though the laissez-faire equilibrium may be inefficient, there are usually better policies to cure these inefficiencies than the imposition of a child-labour ban. Given this finding, we investigate the potential political-economic reasons behind the emergence and persistence of child-labour legislation. Our investigation is based on a structural dynamic general equilibrium model that provides a coherent and uniform framework for our analysis.
Women's rights and economic development are highly correlated. Today, the discrepancy between the... more Women's rights and economic development are highly correlated. Today, the discrepancy between the legal rights of women and men is much larger in developing compared to developed countries. Historically, even in countries that are now rich women had few rights before economic development took off. Is development the cause of expanding women's rights, or conversely, do women's rights facilitate development? We argue that there is truth to both hypotheses. The literature on the economic consequences of women's rights documents that more rights for women lead to more spending on health and children, which should benefit development. The political-economy literature on the evolution of women's rights finds that technological change increased the costs of patriarchy for men, and thus contributed to expanding women's rights. Combining these perspectives, we discuss the theory of Doepke and Tertilt , where an increase in the return to human capital induces men to vote for women's rights, which in turn promotes growth in human capital and income per capita.
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Papers by Matthias Doepke