本文精选了经济学国际顶刊《Journal of Political Economy》近期发表的论文，提供经济学领域最新的学术动态。

On the Nature of Entrepreneurship

原刊和作者：

Journal of Political Economy, Volume 134, Number 6

Anmol Bhandari （University of Minnesota）

Tobey Kass （Office of Tax Analysis）

Thomas J. May （California State University）

Ellen R. McGrattan （University of Minnesota）

Evan Schulz （Internal Revenue Service）

Abstract

This paper examines the nature of entrepreneurship using a novel panel dataset based on US Internal Revenue Service data. We analyze income growth trajectories and the determinants of entrepreneurial choice for business owners. Compared with prior household survey–based studies, we find that self-employed individuals have significantly higher average incomes and steeper income growth than their wage-earning matched peers. Contrary to survey evidence, we find a limited role for nonpecuniary motives, uninsurable risk, and liquidity constraints driving entrepreneurial choice. Prior work experience predicts entrepreneurial entry. Entry and exit rates into self-employment remain stable over time, including during the Great Recession.

Link: https://doi.org/10.1086/739823

Revolutionary Transition: Inheritance Change and Fertility Decline

原刊和作者：

Journal of Political Economy, Volume 134, Number 6

Victor Gay （University of Toulouse Capitole）

Paula E. Gobbi （Université Libre de Bruxelles）

Marc Goñi （University of Bergen）

Abstract

We test Le Play’s 1875 hypothesis that the French Revolution contributed to France’s early fertility decline by imposing equal partition of inheritance among all children, including women. We combine new data on local inheritance rules before the Revolution and individual-level demographic data from historical sources and crowdsourced genealogies. Difference-in-differences and regression discontinuity estimates show that the inheritance reforms enacted during the Revolution reduced completed fertility by 0.5 children. A key mechanism was the desire to avoid land fragmentation across generations. These reforms closed the fertility gap between regions with different historical inheritance rules and crucially contributed to France’s demographic transition.

Link: https://doi.org/10.1086/739821

Health Shocks, Health Insurance, Human Capital, and the Dynamics of Earnings and Health

原刊和作者：

Journal of Political Economy, Volume 134, Number 6

Elena Capatina （Australian National University）

Michael Keane （University of New South Wales）

Abstract

We develop a life-cycle model of labor supply and human capital formation that incorporates health shocks, health insurance, and medical treatment decisions. We use the model to study effects of health shocks on health, labor supply, earnings, and earnings inequality. We also simulate provision of public insurance to agents who lack employer-sponsored insurance. While this increases medical spending substantially, it creates positive labor supply incentives for low-skill workers while reducing costs of social insurance, Medicaid, and free care. The net program cost is modest, and all model agents are ex ante better off in a balanced budget simulation.

Link: https://doi.org/10.1086/739831

Glass Walls: Experimental Evidence on Constraints Faced by Women in Accessing Valuable Skilling Opportunities

原刊和作者：

Journal of Political Economy, Volume 134, Number 6

Ali Cheema （Lahore University of Management Sciences）

Asim I. Khwaja （Harvard Kennedy School）

M. Farooq Naseer （Lahore University of Management Sciences）

Jacob N. Shapiro （Princeton University）

Abstract

Experimental evidence from Pakistan shows that distance poses a large and discontinuous access constraint: women with village-based training centers are four times more likely to access valued training opportunities. More than half of the travel penalty is incurred when crossing the village boundary. Exogenous stipend variation reveals that this boundary effect is costly to offset and is not explained by travel costs. Security considerations are an important factor: providing secure group transport raises take-up, while women with greater safety concerns and those traversing underpopulated areas, a proxy for insecurity, have lower take-up. The training has similar positive benefits for women attending inside- and outside-village centers.

Link: https://doi.org/10.1086/739830

Ever since Allais

Journal of Political Economy, Volume 134, Number 6

Aluma Dembo （Reichman University）

Shachar Kariv （University of California）

Matthew Polisson （University of Leicester）

John K.-H. Quah （National University of Singapore）

Abstract

The Allais critique of expected utility theory (EUT) has led to the development of theories of choice under risk that relax the independence axiom but adhere to the fundamental/conventional axioms of ordering (completeness and transitivity) and monotonicity (with respect to first-order stochastic dominance). Unlike experimental work designed to test independence, our experiment is comprehensive, testing the entire set of axioms on which EUT is based. Our econometric analysis is also nonparametric and performed at the level of each individual subject. For the vast majority of subjects, departures from independence are small relative to departures from ordering and/or monotonicity.

Link: https://doi.org/10.1086/739829