Consumption Commitments and Habit Formation

We analyze the implications of household‐level adjustment costs for the dynamics of aggregate consumption. We show that an economy in which agents have “consumption commitments” is approximately equivalent to a habit formation model in which the habit stock is a weighted average of past consumption if idiosyncratic risk is large relative to aggregate risk. Consumption commitments can thus explain the empirical regularity that consumption is excessively sensitive and excessively smooth, findings that are typically attributed to habit formation. Unlike habit formation and other theories, but consistent with empirical evidence, the consumption commitments model also predicts that excess sensitivity and smoothness vanish for large shocks. These results suggest that behavior previously attributed to habit formation may be better explained by adjustment costs. We develop additional testable predictions to further distinguish the commitment and habit models and show that the two models have different welfare implications.     

Public participation and the politics of humiliation

ABSTRACT

The article contends that the most popular form of Public Participation (PP) in SA is public protest, which, as a result of historical continuity, represents a direct response to the humiliations experienced by the poor, unemployed and socially excluded. Despite an enlightened human rights Constitution, if citizens are treated as consumers and left to the vagaries of the market PP mechanisms are likely to fail as they do not address the real social issues at the root of the discontent.     

THE U.S. PRODUCTIVITY SLOWDOWN: A PEAK THROUGH THE STRUCTURAL BREAK WINDOW

This paper provides a formal test of the null hypothesis of a unit root in the log-level of labor productivity against the alternative of linear trend stationarity with a one-time structural break in the level and slope of the trend at an a priori unknown date. Using some newly developed time series tests, we show that the log-level of productivity is more accurately modeled as following a deterministic trend with a regime shift rather than as a unit root process. Some implications of the results for detrending and for testing cointegration relationships between productivity and other variables are discussed. ( JEL C22. O40)     

The existence of the mean of the estimator in seemingly unrelated regressions

The purpose of this note is to spell out the conditions for the existence of the mean of the coefficient; estimator in seemingly unrelated regressions.     

SOME QUALMS ABOUT THE TEST OF THE INSTITUTIONALIST HYPOTHESIS OF THE LONG-RUN BEHAVIOR OF VELOCITY

This paper expresses econometric qualms about Bordo and Jonung's [1981] analysis of long-run velocity. They did not recognize that, for U.S. and Canadian data, the log of velocity has a unit root. Hence, estimation of a log level regression may produce spurious regressions.
When Bordo and Jonung's velocity equation is reestimated in rate of change form, permanent income is significant, contrary to their earlier conclusion. Moreover, using this approach gives a stronger result for one of the institutional variables in the velocity function, in the sense that the remaining variables become more significant.     

Homelessness and Mental Disorder: Policy Considerations

Abstract

‘Photovoice’ is a photographic method that is used for several purposes (e.g. storytelling, building awareness, enhancing personal discovery), including conducting community-based participatory research (CBPR). Since its creation, photovoice has been used as a method for implementing health-related CBPR projects with people experiencing homelessness. As such, this article presents an overview of seven peer-reviewed publications regarding photovoice projects that were conducted with participants who are homeless. The goal of the review is to provide health professionals with a practical summary of the lessons learned from each photovoice project's methods and findings. Based on the literature, the review's major suggestion is that health professionals should plan and implement future projects according to the fundamental aspects of photovoice (e.g. empowerment of participants to document their community, facilitation of group discussions of photos, concerted efforts to reach policymakers).     

Transforming collective memory: mnemonic opportunity structures and the outcomes of racial violence memory movements

While some research on collective memory has addressed the creation of memory projects such as memorials and historical commissions, less attention has been paid to explaining variation in these projects’ success. America’s troubled history of lynchings and race riots is one topic increasingly addressed by commemorative projects. This article evaluates factors shaping efforts to imprint past racial violence into broader collective memory. Building on research on constraints imposed by actual pasts and environmental conditions, I argue that structural influences on collective memory, or mnemonic opportunity structures, powerfully affect the success of commemorative initiatives. I identify three major dimensions of mnemonic opportunity structures: (1) an environment’s present-day commemorative capacity, a past incident’s (2) ascribed significance, and (3) the moral valence of key characters at the time it occurred. Qualitative data from multiple case studies and 90 interviews, along with supplementary quantitative and qualitative comparative analyses (QCAs) of all recent projects marking segregation-era racial violence, illustrate the utility of the framework.     

Development of the India Patriarchy Index: Validation and Testing of Temporal and Spatial Patterning

Social Indicators Research - While existing indices of gender equality measure the role of women’s status and position, they inadequately contextualize the broader construct of patriarchy, a...