Wesleyan Economics Working Papers

From Wesleyan University, Department of Economics
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2026-007: At times, the data presented in firms’ audited financial statements can seem puzzling. This article describes instances in which the reported figures could leave the firm’s stakeholders with a first impression that the data must be in error, as they are difficult to believe or even counterintuitive. As student detectives address the discussion questions provided, they encounter the discretion provided to firms in designating quarterly-reporting periods, computing gross-profit percentages, and influencing the gains and losses reported on disposal of depreciable assets. In addition, their learn that sizable differences between a firm’s current and quick ratios and spectacular returns on stockholders’ equity might not signify what usually is implied when they are encountered by stakeholders. Other situations addressed include a firm with huge gross profits that nevertheless felt it necessary to liquidate, a retailer of discretionary goods that somehow fared much better than a service firm during an economic meltdown, and a firm reporting different amounts for its account changes depending on which financial statement one looks at. A teaching note provides suggested answers to the discussion questions, learning takeaways, and follow-up discussion points for instructors

Martin Gosman, Zach Idinopulos, Sophia Lindus and Michael Manieri

2026-006: Runs on Tokenized Debt

Luis Araujo, Ryuichiro Izumi and Fabrizio Mattesini

2026-005: Demographics and International Capital Flows: An Empirical Assessment

Balázs Zélity

2026-004: Globalization and Temporary Worker Employment in Vietnam

Alicia Dang, Joyce Jacobsen, Sooyoung Lee and Ngoc Pham

2026-003: Feminist Thought and Financial Systems

Joyce Jacobsen

2026-002: Cultural Transmission, Property Rights, and Treatment of the Elderly

Matthew Baker and Joyce Jacobsen

2026-001: Impaired Credit Dynamism and the Innovation Slowdown

Masami Imai, Koji Sakai and Michiru Sawada

2025-010: Remote Investing in Latin America, 1869-1929

Gareth Campbell, Áine Gallagher and Richard Grossman

2025-009: Was Freedom Road a Dead End? Socio-economic effects of Reconstruction in the American South

Jeffry Frieden, Richard Grossman and Daniel Lowery

2025-008: Bricks and Mortar versus Computers and Modems: The Influences of Enrollment in K–12 Virtual Schools

Carycruz Bueno

2025-007: Stock Market Liberalization and Capital Misallocation

Xiaoxue Zhao and Abigail Hornstein

2025-006: In Search of Countercyclical Capital Inflow Controls

Ryuichiro Izumi, Weng Fei Leong and Balázs Zélity

2025-005: You Be the Detective: Pondering Financial-Reporting Conundrums and Business Actions

Martin Gosman, Mathius Gazi and Michael Manieri

2025-004: Bank Runs and Policy Interventions under Uncertainty

Jennie Ebihara and Ryuichiro Izumi

2025-003: Opacity, Signaling, and Bail-ins

Kentaro Asai, Bruce Grundy and Ryuichiro Izumi

2025-002: The Statistical Mechanics of Income in Peripheral Capitalism: Peru, 2004-2022

César Castillo-García

2025-001: Preferential Trade Agreements and Non-tariff Measures

David Kuenzel and Rishi Sharma

2024-014: Evaluating the Liquidity of Retailers Terminating Operations: Lessons to Take to the Classroom

Martin Gosman, Mathius Gazi, Liam Kennedy and Sophia Lindus

2024-013: Living La Vida Loca? Remote Investing in Latin America, 1869-1929

Gareth Campbell, Áine Gallagher and Richard Grossman

2024-012: Economic growth and foreign direct investment in Asia: When investors imperfectly fulfil approved investment plans

Abigail Hornstein

2024-011: Peer Effects from Schoolmates Exposed to Violence at Home

Jarod Apperson and Carycruz Bueno

2024-010: The Design of Bonus Schemes and Their Impact on Teacher Recruitment and Retention: The Case of Georgia’s Bonus Program for Early-Career Math and Science Teachers

Carycruz Bueno and Tim Sass

2024-009: Firm Survival and Gender Composition of Employment: Evidence from Vietnam

Joyce Jacobsen and Sooyoung Lee

2024-008: Demography, Human Capital Investment, and Lifetime Earnings for Women and Men

Joyce Jacobsen, Melanie Khamis and Mutlu Yuksel

2024-007: Wine as an Investment

Joyce Jacobsen

2024-006: Rapid Bank Runs and Delayed Policy Responses

Ryuichiro Izumi and Yang Li

2024-005: A Case of Financial Ratios That Can Inadvertently Mislead

Martin Gosman, Mathius Gazi and Akiva Lind

2024-004: Trademarks in Banking

Ryuichiro Izumi, Antonis Kotidis and Paul Soto

2024-003: Was Freedom Road a Dead End? Political and socio-economic effects of Reconstruction in the American South

Jeffry Frieden, Richard Grossman and Daniel Lowery

2024-002: Assessing Atlanta’s Placed-Based College Scholarship

Carycruz Bueno, Lindsay Page and Jonathan Smith

2024-001: Employee Ownership and Craft Beer: Drinking the Company Kool-Aid?

John Bonin

2023-004: Non-tariff Measures vs. Tariffs: A Fresh Look at the Evidence

David Kuenzel

2023-003: Zombie Lending, Labor Hoarding, and Local Industry Growth

Kin Wai Cheung and Masami Imai

2023-002: CBDC: Banking and Anonymity

Yuteng Cheng and Ryuichiro Izumi

2023-001: Geographical Protections and Trade: Product-level Evidence from EU Agreements

David Kuenzel

2022-003: Measuring Retailers’ Timing of Payments to Suppliers in Good and Bad Economic Times

Martin Gosman and Aoife Reynolds

2022-002: Does a Financial Crisis Impair Corporate Innovation?

Masami Imai and Michiru Sawada

2022-001: Seasonality and Consumer Confidence

Balázs Zélity

2021-002: Financial Stability with Fire Sale Externalities

Ryuichiro Izumi and Yang Li

2021-001: Welfare Effects of FDI: A Quantitative Analysis

Balázs Zélity

2020-006: Non-tariff Measures: What’s Tariffs Got to Do with It?

David Kuenzel

2020-005: The Nash Bargaining Solution in Labor Market Analysis

Gilbert Skillman

2020-004: Age Diversity and Aggregate Productivity

Balázs Zélity

2020-003: Permanent Income Shocks and Inflation

Balázs Zélity

2020-002: Local Economic Impacts of Legislative Malapportionment

Masami Imai

2020-001: Financial Stability with Sovereign Debt

Ryuichiro Izumi

2019-005: Opacity: Insurance and Fragility

Ryuichiro Izumi

2019-004: Preferential Trade Agreements and MFN Tariffs: Global Evidence

David Kuenzel and Rishi Sharma

2019-003: Before the Cult of Equity:New Monthly Indices of the British Share Market, 1829-1929

Gareth Campbell, Richard Grossman and John Turner

2019-002: The Effects of Lender of Last Resort on Financial Intermediation during the Great Depression in Japan

Masami Imai, Tetsuji Okazaki and Michiru Sawada