This paper surveys the history of The Scandinavian Journal of Economics and the early contributions of Davidson, Wicksell, Cassel, Heckscher, Ohlin, Myrdal, and Lindahl. It also analyzes the population dynamics of economics journals. Finally, it addresses some issues concerning the publishing...

In an analysis of the relative income, or relative consumption, hypothesis, it is shown that if the ratio of agent i's consumption to agent j's consumption enters into the utility function, a tax on labor income may increase welfare for all agents. If pretax wage inequality is low, all agents...

This paper analyzes how firms can use job security as an incentive mechanism. The author examines how "macroeconomic job security" (measured by the reemployment probability) may affect productivity differently from "microeconomic job security" (measured by the probability of being retained). The...

This paper explores a variety of government policies that can stimulate employment when unemployment is generated through conflicts of interest between insiders and outsiders. It also provides guidelines for identifying polices that may be ineffective. The authors show how supply-side policies...

It is assumed in this paper that habits and social norms constrain the influence of economic disincentives on individual behavior but that these constraints themselves may subsequently be influenced by the very same disincentives. It is also assumed that an individual is more likely to obey such...