We develop a new methodology for quantifying the tasks undertaken within occupations using 3,000 verbs from around 12,000 occupational descriptions in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOTs). Using micro-data from the United States from 1880-2000, we find an increase in the employment share...

This Paper examines city formation in a country whose urban population is growing steadily over time, with new cities required to accommodate this growth. In contrast to most of the literature there is immobility of housing and urban infrastructure, and investment in these assets is taken on the...

Empirical studies consistently report that labour productivity and TFP rise with city size. The reason is that cities attract the most productive agents, select the best of them, and make the selected ones even more productive via various agglomeration economies. This paper provides a...

Economic development in East Germany is not uniform. The building and construction industry is booming but manufacturing industry is stagnating. The paper argues that severe distortions in relative factor prices are the cause of the dichotomous development. These distortions result from...

The feasibility of systemic reforms may depend on their distributional consequences. The shift to a market economy can be expected to increase wage differentials and unemployment, which will have an adverse effect on income distribution. Income tax reform and the change in the system of consumer...

This paper evaluates the robustness of trade liberalization in Central Europe and the role of the Europe Agreements (EAs) in institutionalizing this process. It finds a) that institutions are still fragile in Central Europe; b) that the EAs are not a great force for liberalism (on either side);...