This paper aims to explain the cross sectional differences in, and the time series evolution of, OECD unemployment from 1960 to 1995. We want to know how much of it can be accounted for by changes in labour market institutions, and the interactions of institutions and macroeconomic shocks. Our...

We present a theoretical as well as empirical analysis of the impact of employment regulations on permanent and temporary employment. We consider three different forms of such regulations, namely insider protection, fixed term contract regulations, and legislation on temporary work agencies, and...

We present an empirical analysis of the determinants of labour cost in OECD countries, with particular reference to the impact of labour market institutions from 1960 to 1994. The main contribution of the paper is to show that labour market regulations can explain a large part of labour cost...

Boschen and Weise (Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, (2003)) model the probability of a large upturn in inflation. We extend their work to show that openness to trade exerts a negative effect on the probability of such an event.