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on Investment |
| By: | Alkhowaiter, Meshal |
| Abstract: | This paper develops a theoretical framework for understanding how minimum wage policies may create a “poverty trap” that reduces low-wage workers’ incentives to invest in human capital. While minimum wage increases provide immediate income benefits, beyond a certain threshold they diminish expected returns to education and training, thereby reducing occupational mobility. I formalize this relationship through a utility maximization model incorporating time discounting, opportunity costs, and uncertainty. The framework derives explicit conditions under which an inverted-U relationship emerges between minimum wage levels and human capital investment, including bounded skill premia, education affordability constraints, and wage-dependent present bias. Recent empirical work by Alessandrini and Milla (2024) provides partial support, finding minimum wage increases lead to higher community college enrollment but lower university enrollment, consistent with the model’s predictions. The analysis contributes to minimum wage policy debates by highlighting potential trade-offs between short-term income support and long-term economic mobility, suggesting complementary policies are needed. |
| Keywords: | human capital;minimum wage;occupational mobility;poverty trap;skill acquisition |
| JEL: | J24 J31 D91 |
| Date: | 2026–09–28 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:141461 |
| By: | David Baqaee; Ariel Burstein; Joao Guerreiro |
| Abstract: | We study optimal monetary policy in a general heterogeneous-agent New Keynesian (HANK) economy. Instead of maximizing a social welfare function, the policymaker maximizes the joint surplus of all households, without taking a stance on how that surplus should be distributed. This is the policy that maximizes resources left over if winners from reform were to compensate losers. We derive the approximate optimal policy using linear-quadratic methods. The quadratic objective function nests the standard New Keynesian loss function and adds losses from incomplete markets and heterogeneous labor wedges. We show that optimal policy is the sum of time-dependent and state-contingent components. When labor wedges are homogeneous, monetary policy cannot improve household insurance: the time-dependent component is zero, and optimal policy coincides with the representative-agent New Keynesian (RANK) benchmark. Departures from RANK arise from heterogeneous labor wedges. In that case, the time-dependent component temporarily alleviates incomplete-market distortions but vanishes over time. The state-contingent component solves a dual-mandate problem, as in RANK, but with a higher weight on output-gap stabilization relative to inflation stabilization. In a calibrated model, heterogeneous labor wedges raise this weight by about 37 percent. We also find that a dual mandate with this higher weight achieves almost all of the aggregate-surplus gains from the full optimal policy and requires no compensatory transfers between winners and losers. |
| JEL: | E3 E52 E61 |
| Date: | 2026–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35967 |
| By: | Hugo Guillermou (CHRU Montpellier - Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire [Montpellier]); Vera Georgescu (CHRU Montpellier - Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire [Montpellier]); Nicolas Girerd (DCAC - Défaillance Cardiovasculaire Aiguë et Chronique - CHRU Nancy - Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire de Nancy - INSERM - Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale - UL - Université de Lorraine, CIC-P - Centre d'investigation clinique plurithématique Pierre Drouin [Nancy] - CIC 1433 - Centre d'investigation clinique de Nancy - CHRU Nancy - Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire de Nancy - INSERM - Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale - UL - Université de Lorraine, INI-CRCT - Cardiovascular and Renal Clinical Trialists [Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy] - Institut Lorrain du Coeur et des Vaisseaux Louis Mathieu [Nancy], Cardiovascular & Renal Clinical Trialists - CRCT - French-Clinical Research Infrastructure Network - F-CRIN [Paris]); Hariette van Spall (McMaster University [Hamilton, Ontario]); Guillaume Baudry (DCAC - Défaillance Cardiovasculaire Aiguë et Chronique - CHRU Nancy - Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire de Nancy - INSERM - Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale - UL - Université de Lorraine, CIC-P - Centre d'investigation clinique plurithématique Pierre Drouin [Nancy] - CIC 1433 - Centre d'investigation clinique de Nancy - CHRU Nancy - Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire de Nancy - INSERM - Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale - UL - Université de Lorraine, INI-CRCT - Cardiovascular and Renal Clinical Trialists [Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy] - Institut Lorrain du Coeur et des Vaisseaux Louis Mathieu [Nancy], Cardiovascular & Renal Clinical Trialists - CRCT - French-Clinical Research Infrastructure Network - F-CRIN [Paris]); Grégoire Mercier (IDESP - Institut Desbrest d'Epidémiologie et de Santé Publique - INSERM - Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale - UM - Université de Montpellier); François Roubille (PhyMedExp - Physiologie & médecine expérimentale du Cœur et des Muscles [U 1046] - INSERM - Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UM - Université de Montpellier, CHRU Montpellier - Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire [Montpellier]) |
| Abstract: | Aims: Heart failure (HF) is characterized by high mortality rates during hospitalization and after discharge. Socioeconomic deprivation and inequalities are often barriers to effective treatment, substantially impacting mortality in chronic illnesses. We investigated the association between socioeconomic deprivation, all-cause mortality, and HF readmission among patients hospitalized for HF in France. Methods and results: We conducted a retrospective cohort study including all adults hospitalized for worsening HF in France in 2018, using data from the national health insurance database. We estimated the association between area-level socioeconomic disadvantage quintiles and income inequality quantified by the Gini index and the outcomes of all-cause mortality and HF readmission using adjusted survival models. Among 92 111 patients (median age 82 years; 50.5% female), 29.7% were readmitted and 25.9% died within 1 year. Higher levels of deprivation were associated with increased one-year mortality, with HR ranging from 1.03 to 1.06, but not consistently across all quintiles. This association persisted in adjusted analysis at 1 (HR 1.11, 1.07–1.16, P < 0.001, for the most vs. least deprived) and 2 years (HR 1.11, 1.07–1.15, P < 0.001). In contrast, socioeconomic deprivation was not significantly associated with readmission risk, and the Gini index showed no association with either mortality or readmission. Conclusion: In a country with universal healthcare, area-level socioeconomic deprivation was modestly associated with higher mortality after HF hospitalization, but not with readmission risk. Society-level income inequality showed no relationship with either outcome. |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05562498 |
| By: | Chenhao Wang; Hansheng Jiang; Ningyuan Chen |
| Abstract: | When a product is sold out, customers who prefer it may buy a substitute or leave without purchasing. Efficient demand estimation in this setting is challenging when inventory is observed only at replenishments, because the stockout times, and hence the products available to each customer, are unobserved. Estimating demand efficiently under stockout substitution has been a challenging problem since Anupindi et al. (1998), and it has become more pressing as the scale of such problem instances grows thanks to innovations in retailing such as unmanned stores. We provide a complete solution to this problem for the multinomial logit (MNL) model, the most widely used model of customer choice. Using a continuous-time representation of the purchase process developed in Zhou et al. (2026), we show that the exact likelihood and its gradient are one-dimensional integrals, no matter how many products, customers, or stockouts there are. Both can be evaluated at a cost linear in the numbers of products and periods. Our method estimates demand for 2, 000 products from 2, 000 selling periods in under ten minutes. |
| Date: | 2026–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2610.34547 |
| By: | Prakir, Shrisha |
| Abstract: | Emergency responder communications failures have long posed challenges to interagency coordination, prompting nationwide efforts to improve interoperability following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks. However, the extent to which regional initiatives have addressed persistent communications barriers remains an important question. This study evaluates the efficacy of regional firefighter communications systems in Los Angeles County, California, focusing on the Los Angeles Regional Interoperable Communications System (LARICS) and the Interagency Communications Interoperability System (ICI). Its purpose is to examine how these initiatives support interdepartmental coordination and identify what limitations, experienced during 9/11, continue into the present day. The study employed a two-phase qualitative approach grounded in first responder perspectives. Phase I consisted of open-ended interviews with four personnel across three Los Angeles County fire departments, including two field personnel and two communications personnel. Phase II used a five-point Likert scale to assess participants’ perceptions of communications technology, its development over their careers, and the relative influence of technological and procedural factors on communications challenges. Findings indicate that regional interoperability initiatives have supported interdepartmental coordination and provided redundant communications channels. Interviewees generally reported improvements in communications technology over their careers and satisfaction with existing systems, while also identifying continuing needs for improvement. Persistent barriers include radio signal attenuation inside buildings, incompatible technologies and frequencies, and differences in agency terminology and procedures. Participants did not consistently attribute communications problems primarily to technological limitations, underscoring the importance of organizational practices alongside equipment. Although the small, nonrandom interview sample limits generalizability, the findings suggest that regional initiatives have improved communications capabilities without fully resolving the operational challenges facing firefighters. |
| Date: | 2026–10–30 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:5fcx6_v1 |
| By: | Malte Kornemann (University of Bonn); Philipp Schirmer (Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE) |
| Abstract: | Most economic decisions require aggregating multiple attributes into an overall evaluation. We develop and experimentally test a theory where aggregation is error-prone and, in response, attributes are weighted optimally given an environment of likely options. We characterize these decision weights, which generically differ from attributes’ impact on utility, and the bias they induce in choice. When attributes are independently distributed among likely options, higher-variance attributes are over-weighted, and this bias increases in the level of aggregation errors. We test the theory in an experiment by first manipulating between subjects which attribute varies more in choice options, and then comparing choices between options that are identical across subjects. Consistent with the model’s predictions, choice probabilities shift toward the option favored by the high-variance attribute, in our baseline treatments by about 10 percentage points. We also test the effect of aggregation complexity by lowering the number of attributes. Compared to the baseline, this reduces the shift in choice probabilities by about 72%. We apply our model to purchases where base and add-on prices may be displayed separately. A consumer reacts to a short-term change in the display as if it were a price change, while her reaction to a long-run change depends on the details of the environment. Consumer welfare is generally maximized by a fully aggregated price. |
| Keywords: | Aggregation errors, cognitive noise, multi-attribute choice, decision weights, complexity, adaptation |
| JEL: | C91 D01 D81 D91 |
| Date: | 2026–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ajk:ajkdps:442 |
| By: | Kumari, Simran; Raj, Aditya |
| Abstract: | The Mediation Act, 2023 establishes a statutory framework for institutional, online and community mediation in India. A central feature of the Act is pre-litigation mediation, under which parties to civil or commercial disputes may voluntarily and with mutual consent attempt settlement before approaching a court. The Act also gives mediated settlement agreements a final, binding and enforceable status, subject to limited statutory grounds of challenge. This study evaluates the practical feasibility and challenges of the framework through doctrinal analysis, secondary literature and a primary Google Form survey of nine respondents collected on 10 and 14 September 2026 through convenience sampling. The respondents were predominantly law students and urban residents. Descriptive analysis indicates strong perceived support for awareness-building, mediator training, online-dispute-resolution infrastructure, prompt constitution of institutional bodies and stronger enforcement mechanisms. The results also identify lack of awareness, inadequate rural digital access, perceived power imbalance and incomplete institutional readiness as significant barriers. The study clarifies an important legal point: section 5 of the Mediation Act makes general pre-litigation mediation voluntary and consensual; it does not itself create a universal mandatory requirement. Mandatory pre-institution mediation continues separately for qualifying commercial disputes under section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015. The study concludes that effective case diversion will depend not merely on statutory recognition but on accessible mediation service providers, trained mediators, enforceable settlements, legal awareness, safeguards for weaker parties and reliable digital infrastructure. |
| Date: | 2026–10–15 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:lawarc:jp5r6_v1 |
| By: | Xindi He; Lubos Pastor |
| Abstract: | We use LLMs as synthetic survey respondents to elicit green tastes, return beliefs, portfolio allocations, and investment motives from 480 retail and 60 institutional investor identities. Compared with retail, institutions report weaker tastes yet greener portfolio tilts, citing outside pressure. A greener tilt therefore need not indicate a stronger taste for greenness. Retail tastes depend mostly on political affiliation, institutional tastes on type and geography. Beliefs differ across the three ESG dimensions, with high-governance portfolios expected to outperform. We reconstruct survey responses under 2014--2025 information environments using date-masked information modules shuffled across years. Tastes vary little over time, but beliefs about green portfolios become more pessimistic after 2020. The two reconstructed series relate to different real-world data: tastes to measures of green demand, beliefs to measures of attention. |
| JEL: | C83 G11 G23 G41 Q56 |
| Date: | 2026–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35982 |
| By: | Georg Reischauer (Leuphana University of Lüneburg, JKU - Johannes Kepler Universität = Johannes Kepler University); Héloïse Berkowitz (LEST - Laboratoire d'Economie et de Sociologie du Travail - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, AMU - Aix Marseille Université); Ashley Metz (Universiteit van Tilburg = Tilburg University [Netherlands]); Sophie Michel (EM Strasbourg - École de Management de Strasbourg = EM Strasbourg Business School - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg) |
| Abstract: | Meta-organizations – organizations whose members are themselves organizations – have emerged as an important driver of collective action resulting in transformative changes. These changes can increase sustainability and responsibility in organizations, industries, and society as a whole. At present, we face a paradoxical moment where horizons of collective action can both expand and shrink, calling for scholarship on the role of meta-organizations in expanding, maintaining, or even shrinking horizons for transformative change. Here, we take stock of how papers in this volume contribute to better understanding of this issue. We also highlight the need to design meta-organizations that deliberately change social orders to be more sustainable. To do so, we reflect on core features of transformative meta-organizations and highlight the importance of collective imaginaries and the roles meta-organizations can play in pluralizing them. |
| Date: | 2026–11–19 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05843561 |