The outbreak of the financial crisis in 2008 has had significant effects on economic activity, unemployment, and public finances for all European countries. However, European economies do not form a homogenous region, and any serious analysis of macroeconomic imbalances in Europe must account...

Capital market imperfections make the future purchasing power of wage income risky. Therefore, current nominal wages may have intertemporal implications which affect wage determination. The influence of consumption risk on wage setting is analysed in a general equilibrium model with an...

The role of demand management policies is considered in an intertemporal model for a two-sector open economy with labour market imperfections causing persistent unemployment. Structural unemployment is shown to depend on demand management policies, although demand expansion need not in general...

This paper revisits the role played by myopia in generating a theoretical rationale for pay-as-you-go social security in dynamically efficient economies. Contrary to received wisdom, if the real interest rate is exogenously fixed, enough myopia may justify public pensions but never alongside...

Is there a Nordic model? What are the main characteristics of the Nordics? What challenges are they facing? Is the Nordic welfare state viable in conditions of globalization and ageing populations? What reforms are needed? The Nordic countries have attracted much international attention in...

The implications of product market integration for public sector activities (transfers and public consumption) are considered in a standard setting. The analysis supports that a larger public sector (higher tax rate) tends to increase wages and worsen wage competitiveness. However, the...

Will the current employment crisis produce lost generations with permanently lower labour market attachment? Taking an explicit cohort perspective and based on Danish data we do not find strong persistence in employment rates at the cohort level. Younger workers tend to be more exposed to...