Weltweit wird Wirtschaftswachstum gefördert, trotz ernsthafter Konflikte mit Nachhaltigkeit und trotz der Tendenz zur säkularen Stagnation. Um zu untersuchen, ob dies „nur“ eine Frage politischen oder persönlichen Willens ist oder „unvermeidlich“ zur Bewahrung ökonomischer...

Die vorliegende Dissertation untersucht die Rolle von Arbeitsmarktinstitutionen, Internationaler Handel und technischer Fortschritt als Bestimmungsfaktoren der Lohnungleichheit. Sie besteht aus zwei allgemeinen Kapiteln (2 und 4) und drei spezifischen (3, 5 and 6), die den Grossteil des Beitrags...

Factor endowments are usually taken as given in trade theoretical analyses of technological change. We use the Deardorff (1974) diagram to show how the steady state capital labor ratio endogenously adjusts to technology shocks in a two-sector small open economy, an effect which has largely been...

In this paper we present a history-friendly model of the changing vertical scope of computer firms during the evolution of the computer and semiconductor industries. The model is history friendly, in that it attempts at replicating some basic, stylized qualitative features of the evolution of...

The growth rate of total factor productivity seems to have increased recently, at least in the United States. Higher US productivity growth may justify higher stock market valuations than in the past and thus herald an emerging New Economy. However, the size of the estimated growth rate of total...

The relationship between recessions and productivity has been the focus of an important body of theoretical and empirical research in the last two decades. We contribute to this literature by presenting new evidence on the evolution of productivity in the aftermath of recessions. Our method...

This paper investigates the processes by which scientific knowledge is created and legitimized. It focuses on scientific developments in a branch of medicine and explores the pathways through which the growth of knowledge enables advances in medical science and in clinical practice. This work...

This paper argues that changes in the returns to occupational tasks have contributed to changes in the wage distribution over the last three decades. Using Current Population Survey (CPS) data, we first show that the 1990s polarization of wages is explained by changes in wage setting between and...

This paper investigates the factors that determine differences across OECD countries in health outcomes, using data on life expectancy at age 65, over the period 1960 to 2007. We estimate a production function where life expectancy depends on health and social spending, lifestyle variables, and...