We obtain a recursive formulation for a general class of contracting problems involving incentive constraints. These constraints make the corresponding maximization sup problems non-recursive. Our approach consists of studying a recursive Lagrangian. Under standard general conditions, there is a...

Our aim is to provide insights into some basic facts of US government debt management by introducing simple financial frictions in a Ramsey model of fiscal policy. We find that the share of short bonds in total U.S. debt is large, persistent, and highly correlated with total debt. A well known...

From a managerial point of view, the more efficient, simple, and parameter-free (ESP) an algorithm is, the more likely it will be used in practice for solving real-life problems. Following this principle, an ESP algorithm for solving the Permutation Flowshop Sequencing Problem (PFSP) is proposed...

This study analyzes the optimal selective logging regime of a size-distributed forest where individual trees compete for scarce resources such as space, light, and nutrients. The decision problem of the forest manager is formulated as a distributed optimal control problem. The interpretation of...

Multiplier analysis based upon the information contained in Leontief's inverse is undoubtedly part of the core of the input-output methodology and numerous applications an extensions have been developed that exploit its informational content. Nonetheless there are some implicit theoretical...

In spite of having been first introduced in the last half of the ninetieth century, the debate about the possible rebound effects from energy efficiency improvements is still an open question in the economic literature. This paper contributes to the existing research on this issue proposing an...

Ghoshs model is discussed in this paper under two alternative scenarios. In an open version we compare it with Leontiefs model and prove that they reduce to each other under some specific productive conditions. We then move onto reconsidering Ghoshs model alleged implausibility and we do so...

version: September 2011<br><br>This paper is intended to answer why and how innovation activities promoting economic growth may indeed induce economic fluctuations. To this purpose, it adds an adoption lag to an otherwise standard endogenous growth model with expanding product variety. It shows that the...

We investigate the similarities of macroeconomicfluctuations in the Mediterranean basin and their convergence. A model with three geo-political indicators, covering the West, the East and the MENA portions of the Mediterranean, characterizes well the historical experience since the early 1980....

We document three changes in postwar US macroeconomic dynamics: (i) the procyclicality of labor productivity vanished, (ii) the relative volatility of employment rose, and (iii) the relative (and absolute) volatility of the real wage rose. We propose an explanation for all three changes that is...