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This volume includes 10 original papers on various aspects of the economics of crime, together with an introductory essay by the editors that characterizes the intellectual agenda and approach of the economists in this field. The papers cover a number of substantive topics, including both reviews and original research. There are review articles on the consequences of drug prohibition (John Donohue), on “mechanism experiments” for crime policy (Jens Ludwig, Jeff Kling, and Sendhil Mullainathan), on the relationship between crime and immigration (Brian Bell and Stephen Machin), on what works in reducing recidivism (Aurėlie Ouss), and on policy experiments for reducing football hooliganism (Mikael Priks). The original empirical research reported in the other papers include (1) the effect of police hiring on arrest volume (Emily Owens); (2) the effect of crime on police hiring in the U.S. and Italy (Paolo Buonanno and Giovanni Mastrobuoni); (3)the consequences of a change in the structure of policing in a Brazilian state (Rodrigo Soares and Igor Viveiros); (4) the surprising effect of processing older adolescents in adult courts in Germany (Stefan Pichler and Daniel Rőmer); AND (5) the effect of organized crime on the quality of political candidates in Italy (Paolo Pinotti). This book is part of the CESifo Seminar Series. The papers were presented and discussed at a CESifo conference in Venice.

Most experts would agree that the current medical malpractice system in the United States does not work effectively either to compensate victims fairly or prevent injuries caused by medical errors. Policy responses to a series of medical malpractice crises have not resulted in effective reform and have not altered the fundamental incentives of the stakeholders. This book examines the U.S. medical malpractice process from legal, medical, economic, and insurance perspectives; analyzes past efforts at reform; and offers realistic, achievable policy recommendations. The book reviews the considerable empirical evidence in a balanced fashion and assess objectively what works in the current system and what does not. Chapters argue that the complexity of medical malpractice stems largely from the interaction of the four discrete markets that determine outcomes: legal, medical malpractice insurance, medical care, and government activity. After describing what the evidence shows about the functioning of medical malpractice, types of defensive medicine, and the effects of past reforms, the chapters examine such topics as scheduling damages as an alternative to flat caps, jury behavior, health courts, incentives to prevent medical errors, insurance regulation, reinsurance, no-fault insurance, and suggestions for future reforms.

In April of 2015, the International Monetary Fund gathered leading academic economists and policymakers, to discuss the shape of future macroeconomic policy. This book presents their combined insights. The chapters of the book address the policy debate in a number of areas: (i) whether the global economy has entered a “new normal” of low growth, negative real interest rates, and deflationary pressures; (ii) whether new financial regulations have helped stem systemic risk; (iii) the effectiveness of macro prudential tools; (iv) the future of monetary policy and whether it will revert to pre-crisis frameworks; (v) the future of fiscal policy and the balance between macro stabilization and debt sustainability; (vi) the volatility of international capital flows and the scope for exchange rate management and capital controls; and (vii) the international monetary system and the role of international policy coordination. In the final chapter, volume editor Olivier Blanchard asks whether there is progress or confusion regarding the future of macroeconomic policy. The answer is both. Many lessons have been learned; however, there is no clear agreement on several key issues.

The public sector has grown substantially in the last fifty years. In the euro area total government expenditures have been around 50% of GDP since the early 2000s, resulting in a growing tax burden, high public debt or both. All while government intervened in all aspects of economic life, from the provision of public goods and services to product and labor market regulation. Research shows that the effect of government size on economic performance is positive in countries where the public sector is efficient but negative in countries where it is inefficient. In this book, experts from academe and central banking discuss reforms that would make the public sector more efficient and/or more equitable. After a review of the public sector reform policy agenda, with attention to the role of the public sector and how to improve the provision of public goods and services, the contributors offer perspectives on some specific policy topics. These include public wage and employment policy, the role of international institutions such as the World Bank in promoting public sector reforms, the optimal mix of tax policy, the measurement of public sector efficiency, and the study of fiscal sustainability. The contributors relate these topics to such issues as individual incentives, policy debates over privatization, and austerity. Contributors Konstantinos Angelopoulos, Stylianos Asimakopoulos, Danilo Ballanti, Roberto A. De Santis, Roberto Dispotico, George Economides, Pedro Gomes, Gabriella Legrenzi, James Malley, Costas Milas, Ilaria Petrarca, Apostolis Philippopoulos, Francesco Porcelli, Roberto Ricciuti, Lodewijk Smets, Peter Birch Sørensen, Petros Varthalitis, Francesco Vidoli

As members of the baby boom generation head into retirement, they face an economic environment that has changed noticeably since their parents retired. Most of these new retirees will not be equipped, as many in the earlier generation were, with private pension plans, early retirement options, and fully paid retiree health benefits in addition to Social Security and Medicare. Today it is increasingly left to retirees themselves to plan how to maximize retirement income and minimize risk. This book describes strategies, products, and public policies that will help a new generation achieve financial security and income growth in retirement. The author, who has worked in both government and private industries, analyzes two insurance vehicles—life annuities and long-term care insurance—and their capacity to protect against the extra costs arising from longevity and disability. After examining recent research, retiree preferences, and asset allocation and distribution strategies, he proposes two innovations, the first of which is a strategy that includes a set percentage withdrawal from a balanced portfolio, which is gradually used to purchase a ladder of life annuities. The second proposal, which includes a description of the potential choices in product design and available tax characteristics, is a product that integrates the immediate life annuity and long-term care insurance. The book offers not abstract theory nor highly technical methodology but practical ideas based on the results of empirical investigations and analyses, which can be applied to household decision making by retirees and their financial planners, and to the design of insurance products.

Kicking in the Doorprovides an insider’s view of how sexism operates—what it’s like to live it, study it, and fight it. For not only was I the first woman ever to hold a tenure-track faculty position at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, I was also the founding director of Stanford’s Center for Research on Women (now the Clayman Institute for Gender Research). I have been not only a role model, but also an initiator of institutional change—as an author, leader of national and international feminist organizations, consultant to businesses, and expert witness in discrimination and divorce cases. In addition to its major theme, kicking in the door, the memoir examines my efforts to combine a demanding career with raising a family, my search for a loving relationship after my divorce, my quest for a non-sexist spiritual home within Judaism, the crucial supportive role of my women friends and male allies, the difficulties I experienced trying to create a loving relationship with my sister, Alice Amsden, who was also a Ph.D. economist at a prestigious university, the development of feminist economics and the importance of forgiveness as one moves through life.

Macroprudential regulation is the latest buzzword in economics but it means different things to different people. This book offers a framework to operationalize macroprudential policy. It defines systemic risk and macroprudential regulation, offers a rationale for macroprudential regulation and explains its differences with microprudental policy, discusses its interactions with macroeconomic policies, presents alternative methods to measure systemic risk, reviews country experiences with macroprudential policy, and discusses the strengths and weaknesses of various macroprudential tools and the trade-offs involved in choosing an optimal policy mix. The book emphasizes the preventive role of macroprudential policy in limiting the possibility and impact of financial crises, and concludes that the macroprudential policy mix needs to be chosen such that it deals both with the time dimension (i.e. procyclicality) and cross-sectional dimension (i.e., firm heterogeneity) of systemic risk. At the same time, the powers and effectiveness of macroprudential policy should not be overestimated. Its implementation will require a multitude of measures and there is a risk that these measures will conflict with each other, even though they share the same objective. Also, macroprudential policy needs to be combined with strong supervision, with an increased focus on the buildup of systemic risk through correlated risk exposures and risk taking by systemically important financial intermediaries. Weak supervision and generous too big to fail subsidies hamper the effectiveness of macroprudential policy. And there is a risk of political interference in the design and implementation of macroprudential regulation, limiting its effectiveness.