Missing Links: Referrer Behavior and Job Segregation

The importance of networks in labor markets is well-known, and their job segregating effects in organizations taken as granted. Conventional wisdom attributes this segregation to the homophilous nature of contact networks, and leaves little role for organizational influences. But employee referrals are necessarily initiated within a firm by employee referrers subject to organizational policies. We build theory regarding the role of referrers in the segregating effects of network recruitment. Using mathematical and computational models, we investigate how empirically-documented referrer behaviors affect job segregation. We show that referrer behaviors can segregate jobs beyond the effects of homophilous network recruitment. Further, and contrary to past understandings, we show that referrer behaviors can also mitigate most if not all of the segregating effects of network recruitment. Although largely neglected in previous labor market network scholarship, referrers are the missing links revealing opportunities for organizations to influence the effects of network recruitment

Noisy Macroeconomic Announcements, Monetary Policy, and Asset Prices

The current literature has provided a number of important insights about the effects of macroeconomic data releases on monetary policy expectations and asset prices. However, one puzzling aspect of that literature is that the estimated responses are quite small. Indeed, these studies typically find that the major economic releases, taken together, account for only a small amount of the variation in asset prices%u2014even those closely tied to near-term policy expectations. In this paper we argue that this apparent detachment arises in part from the difficulties associated with measuring macroeconomic news. We propose two new econometric approaches that allow us to account for the noise in measured data surprises. Using these estimators, we find that asset prices and monetary policy expectations are much more responsive to incoming news than previously believed. Our results also clarify the set of facts that should be captured by any model attempting to understand the interactions between economic data, monetary policy, and asset prices.

The Impact of Monetary Policy on Asset Prices

Estimating the response of asset prices to changes in monetary policy is complicated by the endogeneity of policy decisions and the fact that both interest rates and asset prices react to numerous other variables. This paper develops a new estimator that is based on the heteroskedasticity that exists in high frequency data. We show that the response of asset prices to changes in monetary policy can be identified based on the increase in the variance of policy shocks that occurs on days of FOMC meetings and of the Chairman's semi-annual monetary policy testimony to Congress. The identification approach employed requires a much weaker set of assumptions than needed under the 'event-study' approach that is typically used in this context. The results indicate that an increase in short-term interest rates results in a decline in stock prices and in an upward shift in the yield curve that becomes smaller at longer maturities. The findings also suggest that the event-study estimates contain biases that make the estimated effects on stock prices appear too small and those on Treasury yields too large.

The hosts of z=2z=2 QSOs

We present results of the hosts of four high-redshift ($z \approx 2$) and high luminosity (M_B \lsim -28 mag) QSOs, three radio-quiet one radio-loud, imaged in R and K bands. The extensions to the nuclear unresolved source are most likely due to the hosts galaxies of these QSOs, with luminosities at rest-frame 2300\AA of at least 3-7% of the QSO luminosity, and most likely around 6-18% of the QSO luminosity. Our observations show that, if the extensions we have detected are indeed galaxies, extraordinary big and luminous host galaxies are not only a characteristic of radio-loud objects, but of QSOs as an entire class.Comment: 6 pages, 4 Figures, Latex, uses lamuphys.sty, also available at http://www.mpa-garching.mpg.de/~itziar To appear in the Proceedings of the ESO/IAC Conference on 'Quasar Hosts' ESO Astrophysics Symposia eds. D. Clements and I. Perez-Fourno

A Granular Look at Internet Speeds and Demographic Groups: Implications for Digital Equity

This brief takes a granular look at broadband access using three broadband speed thresholds and 2020 Census block-level data in the nation and southern region of the U.S. Results indicate that rural Census blocks continue to lag urban blocks and that the share of population, including children, declines significantly when looking at faster speeds. Surprisingly, a higher share of minorities resided in Census blocks with broadband at faster speeds compared to Whites. Robust efforts, including leveraging Extension’s trust and partnerships with providers, are needed to ensure everybody can benefit from adequate internet

Back In Power? Brazil\u27s Military Under Bolsonaro

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the 2018 election of Jair Bolsonaro represented the biggest shock to civil-military relations in Brazil in the last 40 years. Bolsonaro, a former Army captain who campaigned on a platform of dictatorship nostalgia amid the country’s worst-ever economic crisis, vowed to bring the generals back to the center of Brazilian politics. Indeed, the military today is exercising power not seen since Brazil concluded its decade-long “gradual transition” from dictatorship to democracy during the late 1970s and 1980s. Retired (and sometimes active-duty) senior military officers are now occupying several critical positions in the administration, including in policy areas outside the realm of defense and security – from Vice President Hamilton Mourão to ministries charged with energy, infrastructure and relations with Congress.https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/jgi_research/1004/thumbnail.jp

Broadband Availability vs. Adoption: Which Matters More for Economic Development?

Many academic articles have explored the relationship between broadband and economic development in the United States. Looking at research published since 2012, we find that studies focusing on broadband availability find impacts on local employment and entrepreneurship- but mostly use outdated speed thresholds. Other studies show that broadband adoption is closely linked to household- and farm- level outcomes. When both elements are considered simultaneously, adoption seems to matter more