Do the cultural traits that promote the pursuit of material goals contribute to economic transformation? This study models the interplay between culturally-driven material aspirations and productivity growth – offering further insights into the economic take-off and beyond.

The International Economic Review has just published a new exciting paper by Evangelos Dioikitopoulos & Dimitrios Varvarigos on Material Aspirations, Cultural Change, and the Transition Toward Sustained Growth. It is available through @WileyEconomics here:

We study debt ceilings in a political-agency model with uncertainty about both policymaker type (benevolent or selfish) and economic state (good or bad). Fiscal transparency per se does not make constant debt ceilings more effective; state-contingent ceilings do improve welfare.

The International Economic Review has just published a new exciting paper by Randolph Sloof, Roel Beetsma and Alina Steinweg on Debt Ceilings With Fiscal Intransparency and Imperfect Electoral Accountability. It is available through @WileyEconomics here:

We study optimal income taxation under parameter uncertainty about preferences and wage dynamics. Estimating a life-cycle model on U.S. data, we find it raises tax progressivity—widening the marginal tax rate gap by 5.5 pp—and imposes sizable welfare costs.

The International Economic Review has just published a new exciting paper by Minsu Chang and Chunzan Wu on When in Doubt, Tax More Progressively? Uncertainty and Progressive Income Taxation. It is available through @WileyEconomics here:

Why do capital-rich countries keep importing capital? This paper shows that technological specialization creates a capital Matthew effect, where tech choices amplify rather than reducing global capital imbalances.

The International Economic Review has just published a new exciting paper by Dan Su on The Capital Matthew Effect: Directed Technical Change and International Capital Flows. It is available through @WileyEconomics here:

The paper reveals that increased demand for electric batteries is linked to increased child labor and reduced education in mining villages. It's crucial to enforce child labor regulations to mitigate these impacts.

The International Economic Review has just published a new exciting paper by Maurizio Malpede on The Dark Side of Batteries: Cobalt Mining and Children's Education in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is available through @WileyEconomics here:

How do policies spread across countries? Using financial reforms as a case study, our new IER paper shows that geopolitical alignment and learning drive global policy contagion. A novel 90-country dataset (1973–2014) sheds light on these reform waves and reversals.

The International Economic Review has just published a new exciting paper by Nan Li, Chris Papageorgiou, Tong Xu and Tao Zha on Policy Contagion: What Do We Learn From Financial Reforms?. It is available through @WileyEconomics here:

We test the buffer stock model in an experiment with varying liquidity constraints & income variance. Our results align with most predictions, but we do not find the expected impact of constraints on savings. Debt aversion, learning, and cognitive differences explain departures.

The International Economic Review has just published a new exciting paper by John Duffy and Andreas Orland on Liquidity Constraints, Income Variance, and Buffer Stock Savings: Experimental Evidence. It is available through @WileyEconomics here:

Exchange economies must conflate a continuum of goods into a finite set of commodities. The conflation design constrains trading opportunities and may have surprising consequences. For instance, expanding the number of commodities may make everyone worse off.

The International Economic Review has just published a new exciting paper by Niccolò Urbinati and Marco LiCalzi on Market Allocations Under Conflation of Goods. It is available through @WileyEconomics here:

Paper was part of a 2025 conference organized by Peking University HSBC Business School and IER. Will be part of special issue on Financial Frictions for Firms and Households: Implications for Economic Development and Government Policies that the IER will publish in December 2025.

Financing fiscal deficits by rolling over debt is feasible with slow-moving debt when interest rates are low. For temporary deficits, it causes persistent inflation but dominates conventional debt policy in welfare. The opposite is true for permanent deficits.

The International Economic Review has just published a new exciting paper by Jianjun Miao, Zhouxiang Shen and Dongling Su on Inflation and Debt Rollover Under Low Interest Rates. It is available through @WileyEconomics here:

How do candidates choose positions if adjusting during the campaign is costly? Model shows they may hedge by diverging from the center early on, and moderate later if the race turns out to be competitive. Small shifts by a favorite candidate to secure victory are the most likely.