In this episode, Mathilde studies whether jobs supplied locally are protected from globalization and how trade liberalization interacts with labor market regulations and affects wage inequality. Working Paper: “International Trade Responses to Labor Market Regulations” Most recent version (February 2023): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tuVIbzn9QbplrtmfQalpVGcP3QfC-Xal/view Recommendation: “Has Globalization Gone Too Far?” (1997) Dani Rodrik ..read more

Does trade reduce wages? Why? In this episode, Mayara Felix considers the impact of trade liberalization on workers’ wages, and their ability to find gainful employment. Using the example of Brazil, Mayara argues that trade affects a key economic variable: labor market concentration, and explores its consequences on wage inequality. Working Paper: “Trade, Labor Market Concentration, and Wages” Most recent version (October 2022): https://www.mayarafelix.com/papers/Felix_JMP.pdf Recommendations: “The Second Mother,” by Anna Muylaert (2015) "This Earth of Mankind” (1980) by Pramoedya Ananta Toer ..read more

Housing is the main asset in most individual portfolios. The recent rise in private wealth with respect to national income has been mainly driven by capital gains on housing. How do house price cycles affect wealth inequality? Clara Martínez-Toledano explores the dynamics of wealth accumulation over forty years in Spain. Recommendations: "The Hidden Wealth of Nations" by Gabriel Zucman http://gabriel-zucman.eu/hidden-wealth/ Paper: "House Price Cycles, Wealth Inequality and Portfolio Reshuffling" by Clara Martínez-Toledano https://www.dropbox.com/s/2l1xe9mf95jmaiq/mtt_wealthinequalityspain ..read more

Despite significant process of industrialization in developping countries across the world, agricultural land is still a vital resource for three out of four of the poorest billion individuals in the world. How does land ownership inequality vary across countries and regions of the world? How different is the picture if we account for land area and value, or for the landless population? Yajna Govind gives a full picture of global land inequality. Recommendations: Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/393199.Down_and_Out_in_Paris_and_London Pape ..read more

Lydia Assouad revisits the "Arab Inequality puzzle" : survey estimates suggest that inequality in the Middle East is not particularly high. In reality, the Middle East is the most unequal region in the world, with both enormous inequality between countries and large inequality within countries. Recommendations: Comics "Palestine" by Joe Sacco https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/769712.Palestine Movie "Capernaum" by Nadine Labaki https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8267604/ Paper: "Rethinking the Lebanese economic miracle: The extreme concentration of income and wealth in Lebanon 2005-2014" by Lydi ..read more

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the U.S economy at an incredibly rapid pace. Michael Stepner presents his most recent work with Opportunity Insights. Combining anonymized data from private companies, the Opportunity Insights Economic Tracker provides a real-time picture of how the economy is performing. How and where do people spend their money? Who are the most vulnerable workers? Where are located the most affected businesses? What is the impact of state-ordered reopenings, small business loans and stimulus checks on consumption? Recommendations: Podcast Threshold Season 1 https://www.th ..read more

In recent years, decreasing federal minimum wage, low unionization rates and growing outsourcing trends have had some important effects on wage growth in the US low wage sector. As major firms throughout the world come under scrutiny for their failure to compensate their workers fairly, it is becoming increasingly necessary to better understand what motivates companies to mirror other larger firms’ wage changes. In this episode, Ellora Derenoncourt explains that when it comes to wage changes, just a few large employers in the labor market can have substantial ripple effects. Using the examples ..read more

How do beliefs shape and determine our attitudes towards policies? In this episode, Thomas Douenne looks at carbon taxation in the context of the Yellow Vest Movement, and how French people rejected a tax & dividend policy which they assumed would negatively impact their purchasing power. Working Paper: “Yellow Vests, Pessimistic Beliefs and Carbon Tax Aversion”, with Adrien Fabre https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/pol.20200092&&from=f Recommendation: “The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good?” (2020) by Michael J. Sandel https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50 ..read more

What are racial covenants? How do they target specific ethnic and religious minorities? And how do they affect present-day economic outcomes? In this episode, Aradhya Sood tells us about her research on the prevalence of racially-restrictive covenants during the early-to-mid 20th century, and how these contracts continue to impact house prices and promote racial segregation today. Working Paper: Long Shadow of Racial Discrimination: Evidence from Housing Covenants, with William Speagle and Kevin Ehrman-Solberg https://drive.google.com/file/d/1J8KdEYskg4l2WvBTOESTogftChaYr8yo/view Recommendatio ..read more

In recent decades, firms' decision to rely on contract labor over "in-house" workers has become increasingly prevalent. In this episode, Adrien Bilal tells us about his research on labor outsourcing and inequality in France. He explains that while domestic outsourcing may increase aggregate productivity, it nonetheless leads to oursourced workers suffering important wage losses. Paper: “Outsourcing, Inequality and Aggregate Output”, with H. Lhuillier (2021) https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hqW5FFkGqqdolZdHti4QIvTm6fLdqZvB/view Recommendation: Les Misérables, Ladj Ly (2019), with Damien Bonnard ..read more