With interest groups significantly affecting economic performance (according to Mancur Olson) and a vital interest of governments in economic growth and low unemployment in order to win elections, there should be a link between political business cycles and the evolution of lobbies over time...

This article focuses on the role of unionized members of the parliament. Referring to the famous study by Freeman and Medoff (1984) and considering the more recent literature we first review unions' political power at the example of the US. We conclude that trade unions have not been very...

Dieser Artikel beleuchtet aus einer wirtschaftsethischen Perspektive, wie Globalisierung im öffentlichen Diskurs wahrgenommen wird und wie sie stattdessen wahrgenommen werden müsste, um die mit Globalisierung verbundenen Chancen und Risiken richtig einschätzen zu können. Die Hauptaussagen...

In Deutschland wurde die öffentliche Diskussion um die Einführung eines flächendeckenden gesetzlichen Mindestlohns vor allem normativ geführt: als Gerechtigkeitsdebatte. Dabei gerieten wichtige Aspekte aus dem Blick. So kam es zu einem gravierenden Diskursversagen: Trotz sachverständiger...

[...]This paper examines the recent recession, with particularattention given to developments in the labor market and in UI program financing. Its three objectives are to describedevelopments in the macroeconomy and in the labor marketthat have relevance for UI funding issues, to present...

[...]In this article, we examine the wage-puzzle phenomenon ofthe 1990s. Specifically, we explore whether changes in paystructure can account for the behavior of CPH during thedecade. Labor markets have changed considerably over the pasttwenty years: workers today receive a higher portion of...

In 1996, Congress passed the Personal Responsibility andWork Opportunity Reconciliation Act, or PRWORA, whichsubstantially restructured public assistance programs.PRWORA gave states almost entire discretion to design andoperate cash assistance programs for families with children,reducing the...

[...]It seems clear that the Federal Reserve’s policy behavior overthe 1979:4-1982:3 period (which I refer to as the “earlyVolcker” period) differed from that of other periods.1 Thestated policy of the Federal Reserve during this period was tofocus more on monetary aggregates than it had...

[...]This exercise is meant to give a quantitativeimpression of whether the interaction between inflationand short-term interest rates exhibits a pattern of behaviorafter the adoption of the inflation target that differsmarkedly from the pattern before.2 The unconditional forecastof each...

The decline in unskilled workers’ real wagesduring the 1980s in the United States andthe increase in their unemployment inEurope (due to the comparative inflexibilityof European labor markets vis-à-vis those in the UnitedStates)1 have prompted a search for possible explanations.This search...