Eden, Maya

Person:
Eden, Maya

Development Research Group, The World Bank

Fields of Specialization

macroeconomics

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Development Research Group, The World Bank

Last updated: January 31, 2023

Biography

Maya Eden is an economist in the Macroeconomics and Growth Team of the Development Economics Research Group at the World Bank. She joined the group in August 2011, after completing a PhD in economics at MIT. She also hold a BSc in mathematics and economics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. Her research interests include international finance and macroeconomics. In addition to her work at the World Bank, she holds a visiting position at the Office of Financial Research of the United States Treasury.

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 16

Do Poor Countries Really Need More IT?
(Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank, 2020-02) Gaggl, Paul; Eden, Maya
Productivity differences across countries are often attributed to differences in technological capabilities. This paper asks whether there are systematic cross-country differences in the adoption of information technologies (IT). We document a positive correlation between IT use and income, which weakens over time. However, given that IT use is an endogenous outcome of both technological capabilities and the abundance of complementary factors of production, it tends to over-state the degree of cross-country differences in technology. We propose two novel calibration approaches to address this problem. After accounting for endogenous differences in industrial composition, we find that there is no systematic relationship between income and IT capabilities.
On the Welfare Implications of Automation
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-11) Gaggl, Paul; Eden, Maya
This paper establishes that the rise in the income share of information and communication technology accounts for half of the decline in labor income share in the United States. This decline can be decomposed into a sharp decline in the income share of “routine” labor—which is relatively more prone to automation—and a milder rise in the non-routine share. Quantitatively, this decomposition suggests large effects of information and communication technology on the income distribution within labor, but only moderate effects on the distribution of income between capital and labor. A production structure calibrated to match these trends suggests modest aggregate welfare gains from automation.
Is There Enough Redistribution?
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2017-03) Eden, Maya
This paper asks whether there are welfare gains from additional redistribution. First, it derives a sufficient condition for the existence of welfare gains from a small increase in lump-sum transfers financed by a uniform increase in labor income taxes. A calibration suggests that, even under very conservative assumptions, most countries would benefit from such a scheme. Second, it asks whether, given existing tax revenues, there are gains from diverting public funds from government investment projects toward redistributive programs. The analysis suggests that the answer is highly sensitive to parameter values and the rate of return on government investment.
Transitioning from Low-Income Growth to High-Income Growth: Is There a Middle-Income Trap?
(Taylor and Francis, 2017) Bulman, David; Eden, Maya; Nguyen, Ha
Is there a ‘middle-income trap’? Theory suggests that the determinants of growth at low and high income levels may be different. If countries struggle to transition from growth strategies that are effective at low income levels to growth strategies that are effective at high income levels, they may stagnate at some middle-income level; this phenomenon can be thought of as a ‘middle-income trap.’ Defining income levels based on per capita gross domestic product relative to the United States, we do not find evidence for (unusual) stagnation at any particular middle-income level. However, we do find evidence that the determinants of growth at low and high income levels differ. These findings suggest a mixed conclusion: middle-income countries may need to change growth strategies in order to transition smoothly to high income growth strategies, but this can be done smoothly and does not imply the existence of a middle-income trap.
The Welfare Cost of Inflation and the Regulations of Money Substitutes
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-02) Eden, Benjamin; Eden, Maya
This paper studies the possibility of using financial regulation that prohibits the use of money substitutes as a tool for mitigating the adverse effects of deviations from the Friedman rule. When inflation is not too high regulation aimed at eliminating money substitutes improves welfare by economizing on transaction costs. The gains from regulation depend on the distribution of income and the level of direct taxation. The area under the demand for money curve is equal to the welfare cost of inflation only when there are no direct taxes and no proportional intermediation cost: otherwise, the area under the demand curve overstates the welfare cost of inflation when money substitutes are not important and understates the welfare cost when money substitutes are important.
The Week
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-03) Eden, Maya
Is a five-day workweek followed by a two-day weekend a socially optimal schedule? This paper presents a model in which labor productivity and the marginal utility of leisure evolve endogenously over the workweek. Labor productivity is shaped by two forces: restfulness, which decreases over the workweek, and memory, which improves over the workweek. The structural parameters of the model are disciplined using daily variation in electricity usage per worker. The results suggest that increases in the ratio of vacation to workdays lead to output losses. A calibration of the model suggests that a 2-3 day workweek followed by a 1 day weekend can increase welfare.
Do Poor Countries Really Need More IT?: The Role of Relative Prices and Industrial Composition
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2015-06) Gaggl, Paul; Eden, Maya
Conventional wisdom suggests too little information and communication technologies (ICT) in poor countries. Indeed, within 70 countries at various levels of development, there is a positive relationship between income per capita and the capital share of ICT. While this regularity is consistent with explanations based on technology adoption lags and ICT-labor substitutability, there is little empirical support for these hypotheses. Instead, the paper establishes that this regularity can be fully accounted for by (a) relatively higher ICT prices in low-income countries and (b) industrial composition.
Transitioning from Low-Income Growth to High-Income Growth : Is There a Middle Income Trap?
(World Bank Group, Washington, DC, 2014-11-01) Bulman, David; Eden, Maya; Nguyen, Ha
Is there a "middle income trap"? Theory suggests that the determinants of growth at low and high income levels may be different. If countries struggle to transition from growth strategies that are effective at low income levels to growth strategies that are effective at high income levels, they may stagnate at some middle income level; this phenomenon can be thought of as a "middle income trap." This paper does not find evidence for (unusual) stagnation at any particular middle income level. However, it does find evidence that the determinants of growth at low and high income levels differ. These findings suggest a mixed conclusion: middle-income countries may need to change growth strategies to transition smoothly to high-income growth strategies, but this can be done smoothly and does not imply the existence of a middle income trap.
"Crowding in" and the Returns to Government Investment in Low-Income Countries
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2014-02) Eden, Maya; Kraay, Aart
This paper estimates the effect of government investment on private investment in a sample of 39 low-income countries. Fluctuations in a predetermined component of disbursements on loans from official creditors to developing country governments are used as an instrument for fluctuations in public investment. The analysis finds evidence of "crowding in": an extra dollar of government investment raises private investment by roughly two dollars, and output by 1.5 dollars. To understand the implications for the return to public investment, a CES production function with public and private capital as inputs is calibrated. For most countries in the sample, the returns to government investment exceed the world interest rate. However, for some countries that already have high government investment rates, the return to further investment is below the world interest rate.
Inflation and Indivisible Investment in Developing Economies
(World Bank Group, Washington, DC, 2014-07) Eden, Maya; Nguyen, Ha
In countries with limited access to finance, firms accumulate retained earnings to finance indivisible investment projects. McKinnon (1973) illustrates that when cash is used as a primary store of value, inflation may discourage investment as it increases the cost of accumulating retained earnings. This paper formalizes this argument in a dynamic framework and provides a simple calibration of the model that suggests sizable effects of inflation on investment. The mechanism is particularly relevant for small firms, as firms with lower cash flows must accumulate retained earnings for longer periods of time to meet the price of indivisible investment goods. Consistent with the model, empirical evidence suggests that inflation disproportionately reduces investment in small firms.