Talent rewards, talent uncertainty, and career tracks
Jeong, Byeongju
2020 - English I present a model in which (1) a more talent-demanding task increases both rewards for high talent and the penalty for low talent due to a greater fixed cost of production, and (2) individual talent is task-specific and talent updates occur only for tasks near the attempted task, which implies a task-sequence problem in which the initial task constrains subsequent task choices. Rising talent rewards and penalty stemming from a rising scale economy\nmotivate young workers to choose a more talent-demanding task, raise the failure rate (i.e., the probability of the updated talent being lower than the exit threshold), and concentrate income gains in a diminishing fraction of high-talent workers. Rising talent rewards and penalty also increase the share of young workers subject to binding minimum currentincome constraints, thus increasing the dispersion of tasks among young workers. The model sheds light on the rising stratification of careers among young workers and the rising polarization of the residual labor income distribution (i.e., the labor income distribution controlling for observable worker characteristics such as education and age). Keywords: career track; talent reward; talent uncertainty Fulltext is available at external website. Talent rewards, talent uncertainty, and career tracks

I present a model in which (1) a more talent-demanding task increases both rewards for high talent and the penalty for low talent due to a greater fixed cost of production, and (2) individual talent ...

Jeong, Byeongju
Národohospodářský ústav, 2020

Do women face a glass ceiling at home? The division of household labor among dual-earner couples
Lichard, Tomáš; Pertold, Filip; Škoda, S.
2020 - English In this paper we ask how the division of household labor varies across heterosexual dual-earner couples with different relative wages with a focus on differences between Southern and Western Europe. Using the EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions we first show that high income married or cohabiting women do twice as much housework as single women in Southern Europe. Further, their time spent in household production relative to their spouses’ time in Southern Europe is the same regardless of their relative wages, while in Western Europe we find positive elasticity of substitution in household production with respect to relative wages. We thus present positive evidence for the presence of a “second-shift” that women face in Southern Europe, which may stem from regional gender norms. Our findings hold after instrumenting for relative wages using the relative wages of similar socio-economic groups in other countries. Keywords: household production; division of labor; gender gap Fulltext is available at external website. Do women face a glass ceiling at home? The division of household labor among dual-earner couples

In this paper we ask how the division of household labor varies across heterosexual dual-earner couples with different relative wages with a focus on differences between Southern and Western Europe. ...

Lichard, Tomáš; Pertold, Filip; Škoda, S.
Národohospodářský ústav, 2020

Intra-industry transfer of information inferred from trading volume
Brushko, Iuliia; Ferris, S. P.; Hanousek, Jan; Trešl, Jiří
2020 - English This study examines the responsiveness of trading volume to a firm’s earnings announcements. We find that the volume and earnings surprise information generated at the first earnings announcement within an industry help to explain the stock returns of the non-announcing firm. Specifically, it explains their equity performance at the time of the first industry announcement and then again after their own earnings announcement. These results provide novel insights into how earnings announcements contain both firm specific as well as industry information that is value relevant for investors. Keywords: intra-industry; earnings announcement; earnings surprise Fulltext is available at external website. Intra-industry transfer of information inferred from trading volume

This study examines the responsiveness of trading volume to a firm’s earnings announcements. We find that the volume and earnings surprise information generated at the first earnings announcement ...

Brushko, Iuliia; Ferris, S. P.; Hanousek, Jan; Trešl, Jiří
Národohospodářský ústav, 2020

Optimal menu when agents make mistakes
Mikhalishchev, Sergei
2020 - English This paper studies a welfare maximization problem with heterogeneous agents. A social planner designs a menu of choices for agents who misperceive either the properties of options or their own preferences. When agents misperceive the true properties of alternatives, it is optimal to limit a menu when the probability of a mistaken choice is moderately high. Additionally, it could be optimal to construct the menu with more distinct alternatives. However, when agents misperceive their own tastes, it is optimal to limit choice only when agents choose randomly, and to propose alternatives that are more similar when there is a greater probability of agents making a mistake. Keywords: discrete choice; optimal menu; bounded rationality Fulltext is available at external website. Optimal menu when agents make mistakes

This paper studies a welfare maximization problem with heterogeneous agents. A social planner designs a menu of choices for agents who misperceive either the properties of options or their own ...

Mikhalishchev, Sergei
Národohospodářský ústav, 2020

Using survey questions to measure preferences: lessons from an experimental validation in Kenya
Bauer, Michal; Chytilová, Julie; Miguel, E.
2020 - English Can a short survey instrument reliably measure a range of fundamental economic preferences across diverse settings? We focus on survey questions that systematically predict behavior in incentivized experimental tasks among German university students (Becker et al. 2016) and were implemented among representative samples across the globe (Falk et al. 2018). This paper presents results of an experimental validation conducted among low-income individuals in Nairobi, Kenya. We find that quantitative survey measures -- hypothetical versions of experimental tasks -- of time preference, attitude to risk and altruism are good predictors of choices in incentivized experiments, suggesting these measures are broadly experimentally valid. At the same time, we find that qualitative questions -- self-assessments -- do not correlate with the experimental measures of preferences in the Kenyan sample. Thus, caution is needed before treating self-assessments as proxies of preferences in new contexts.\n Keywords: preference measurement; experiment; survey Fulltext is available at external website. Using survey questions to measure preferences: lessons from an experimental validation in Kenya

Can a short survey instrument reliably measure a range of fundamental economic preferences across diverse settings? We focus on survey questions that systematically predict behavior in incentivized ...

Bauer, Michal; Chytilová, Julie; Miguel, E.
Národohospodářský ústav, 2020

On policy evaluation with aggregate time-series shocks
Arkhangelsky, D.; Korovkin, Vasily
2020 - English We propose a general strategy for estimating treatment effects, in contexts where the only source of exogenous variation is a sequence of aggregate time-series shocks. We start by arguing that commonly used estimation procedures tend to ignore the crucial time-series aspects of the data. Next, we develop a graphical tool and a novel test to illustrate the issues of the design using data from influential studies in development economics [Nunn and Qian, 2014] and macroeconomics [Nakamura and Steinsson, 2014]. Motivated by these studies, we construct a new estimator, which is based on the time-series model for the aggregate shock. We analyze the statistical properties of our estimator in the practically relevant case, where both cross-sectional and time-series dimensions are of similar size. Finally, to provide causal interpretation for our estimator, we analyze a new causal model that allows taking into account both rich unobserved heterogeneity in potential outcomes and unobserved aggregate shocks. Keywords: continuous difference in differences; panel data; causal effects Fulltext is available at external website. On policy evaluation with aggregate time-series shocks

We propose a general strategy for estimating treatment effects, in contexts where the only source of exogenous variation is a sequence of aggregate time-series shocks. We start by arguing that ...

Arkhangelsky, D.; Korovkin, Vasily
Národohospodářský ústav, 2020

Using Bluetooth technology for COVID-19 contact tracing
Jann, Ole; Kocourek, Pavel; Steiner, Jakub
2020 - English The coronavirus is transmitted indiscriminately through proximity, which makes tracing infections difficult. Bluetooth tracing apps can reliably record transmission possibilities even when the participants do not know each other and do not remember the interaction. This can be done with a high degree of privacy. A well-designed app provides a similar level of privacy to not using an app at all. Decentralized data storage means that the privacy and security of the system is highly resilient against exploitation by any powerful actor (such as a government). A disadvantage of protecting privacy through decentralization is that tracing apps need to be taken up by the population one person at a time. Their use cannot be checked remotely and hence cannot be effectively mandated by governments or health authorities. A very high degree of take-up is necessary to make them an effective weapon against the virus. The eRouška app by COVID19cz follows these principles and offers a very high degree of privacy protection. Specifically, it does not collect any data except the phone numbers of non-infected users, and only collects anonymized meeting data (and no location or other metadata) of infected users – this data is only available to a hygienist after voluntary data transmission by the user. No data is transmitted to the server without explicit user agreement. Keywords: COVID-19; COVID-19 contact tracing Fulltext is available at external website. Using Bluetooth technology for COVID-19 contact tracing

The coronavirus is transmitted indiscriminately through proximity, which makes tracing infections difficult. Bluetooth tracing apps can reliably record transmission possibilities even when the ...

Jann, Ole; Kocourek, Pavel; Steiner, Jakub
Národohospodářský ústav, 2020

Globalization of science: evidence from authors in academic journals by country of origin
Macháček, Vít
2020 - English Keywords: globalization of science; academic journals Available at various institutes of the ASCR Globalization of science: evidence from authors in academic journals by country of origin

Macháček, Vít
Národohospodářský ústav, 2020

Avoiding root-finding in the Krusell-Smith algorithm simulation
Bakota, Ivo
2020 - English This paper proposes a novel method to compute the simulation part of the Krusell-Smith (1997, 1998) algorithm when the agents can trade in more than one asset (for example, capital and bonds). The Krusell-Smith algorithm is used to solve general equilibrium models with both aggregate and uninsurable idiosyncratic risk and can be used to solve bounded rationality equilibria and to approximate rational expectations equilibria. When applied to solve a model with more than one financial asset, in the simulation, the standard algorithm has to impose equilibria for each additional asset (find the market-clearing price), for each period simulated. This procedure entails root-finding for each period, which is computationally very expensive. I show that it is possible to avoid this rootfinding by not imposing the equilibria each period, but instead by simulating the model without market clearing. The method updates the law of motion for asset prices by using Newton-like methods (Broyden’s method) on the simulated excess demand, instead of imposing equilibrium for each period and running regressions on the clearing prices. Since the method avoids the root-finding for each time period simulated, it leads to a significant reduction in computation time. In the example model, the proposed version of the algorithm leads to a 32% decrease in computational time, even when measured conservatively. This method could be especially useful in computing asset pricing models (for example, models with risky and safe assets) with both aggregate and uninsurable idiosyncratic risk since methods which use linearization in the neighborhood of the aggregate steady state are considered to be less accurate than global solution methods for these particular types of models. Keywords: portfolio choice; heterogeneous agents; Krusell-Smith Fulltext is available at external website. Avoiding root-finding in the Krusell-Smith algorithm simulation

This paper proposes a novel method to compute the simulation part of the Krusell-Smith (1997, 1998) algorithm when the agents can trade in more than one asset (for example, capital and bonds). The ...

Bakota, Ivo
Národohospodářský ústav, 2020

Stakeholder consultation: needs assessment
Dvořáčková, Jana; Rozsíval, F.; Slezáková, Katarína
2019 - English The text was created in the framework of the Gender Equality Academy project which aims to develop and implement a high-quality capacity-building programme on gender equality in research, innovation and higher education. It presents an overview of the results of 1) quantitative survey and 2) qualitative interviews mapping the training needs of different target audiences (HR managers, management of research performing organizations, gender trainers and experts, researchers) to help tailor the future capacity-building programme to their needs. Keywords: Higher education; research; gender Available at various institutes of the ASCR Stakeholder consultation: needs assessment

The text was created in the framework of the Gender Equality Academy project which aims to develop and implement a high-quality capacity-building programme on gender equality in research, innovation ...

Dvořáčková, Jana; Rozsíval, F.; Slezáková, Katarína
Sociologický ústav, 2019