Using responses obtained through the Nielsen Homescan panel survey, we explore the differences between managers’ and non-managers’ expectations and perceptions of inflation and unemployment. By and large, managers and non-managers exhibit similar average inflation and unemployment expectations as well as similar levels of disagreement and sensitivity to information provided in a randomized control trial. Responses to hypothetical questions suggest that inflation expectations of managers frequently affect their economic decisions. Finally, the inflation expectations of managers deviate systematically from the predictions of "anchored" expectations.

This paper examines the division of household work in several post-socialist countries during their democratic transition period and compares them to advanced economies between 1994 and 2012. While female time allocation became more similar to that in advanced economies over time, some differences persist. Conventional determinants of time allocation to unpaid work at home are relevant in post-socialist countries; however, female time availability matters significantly less than in advanced economies. The Kitagawa–Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition suggests that differences between the regimes exist largely due to unobservable factors rather than determinants controlled for in this study.

We study how workers form inflation expectations and incorporate them into labor supply decisions using experimental evidence from the U.S. online labor market. Exploiting exogenous variation in expectations from randomized information provision, we find that higher price inflation expectations do not raise reservation wages. Instead, workers lower reservation wages for multi-period contracts, even after controlling for wage growth and unemployment expectations. These patterns are consistent with a labor search model in which higher inflation expectations increase perceived real income risk and induce a precautionary reduction in reservation wages. Overall, the findings suggest a limited risk of wage-price spirals in the U.S. in 2022.

I assemble a novel dataset to examine the long-term consequences of blacklisting, a Soviet policy used to deter market-oriented behavior through collective punishment of Ukrainian villages in 1932-33. Under blacklisting, all village residents could be banned from trade and provision of crucial goods, prohibited from moving, and imposed harsh in-kind fines. Formally, the policy was meant to punish the communities underperforming in terms of state food procurement (similar to in-kind taxation) because local procurement shortfalls supposedly were a consequence of intentional, profit-seeking behavior. Using a weather-based instrument for the locality’s blacklisting status, I document that blacklisting significantly reduced the present-day nightlight intensity (a proxy measure for economic development). Additional evidence points to entrepreneurship and trust as channels for this effect. My results support the notion that policies that suppress economic freedoms and disrupt social structure can have persistent negative effects on economic performance.

This paper examines the effect of military occupation on firm performance during russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Combining offcial data on territorial control with firm-level balance sheets from Orbis, we exploit quasi-random variation in occupation status across postal areas in 2022-2023 using an event-study design. We find that firms in temporarily occupied but soon-liberated areas experienced moderate sales declines followed by recovery, whereas those under prolonged occupation suffered large and persistent losses. Employment dynamics closely mirror sales, while firm capital remains largely unaffected, suggesting that labour adjustments rather than capital destruction are a key attribute of performance decline. Manufacturing and services are most negatively affected by occupation, while trade firms recover rapidly after de-occupation. This pattern points to the central role of local demand, labour supply shortages, and supply-chain disruptions as the main channels through which occupation depresses firm sales. Overall, these findings highlight that beyond human and social costs, prolonged military occupation entails lasting and sizeable economic losses with little evidence of recovery until liberation.