In this paper we analyse the employment implications of firing restrictions. We find that when a recession is expected and the trend rate of productivity growth is small, a rise in firing costs affects mainly the hiring decision. Thus there is a negative effect on average employment. When, on...

This study examines performance gaps among foreign-owned and domestically- owned Austrian firms. In line with earlier findings our results suggest that the positive effects of participating in a foreign multinational?s network can mainly be found in productivity and profitability. A further...

We study an overlapping generations model of human capital accumulation with threshold effects using regional data for West Germany. Our basic goal is to shed light on the growth of West German regions. The paper finds that the relative income distribution appears to be stratifying into a...