I study the integration of regions in the form of a merger of populations, which I interpret as a revision of people's social space and their comparison set; I illustrate the way in which a merger can aggravate social distress; and I consider policy responses. Specifically, I view the merger of...

Given the recent financial crisis, the German labour market performs relatively well. This has not been the case until recent years: collective bargaining and the rigid system of wage setting have been often cited as one of the reasons for Germany's high structural unemployment. Contrary, a...

This paper reviews Finland's growth strategy in the postwar decades. Finland was able to initiate an impressive mobilization of resources during this period, reflected mostly in a high rate of capital accumulation for manufacturing industries. This was achieved by an unorthodox combination of...

This paper studies corporatism as the outcome of bargaining between the government and a representative labor union. When negotiations between these two parties only relate to macroeconomic stabilization, we show that corporatism can never be beneficial to both parties. As corporatist policies...

Das Europa der 27 ist ein Wirtschaftsraum mit extremen und stark unterschätzten Einkommensunterschieden. Wie lässt sich die Einkommensverteilung innerhalb der Europäischen Union messen? Welche Folgen hat die ungleiche Einkommensstruktur für den Arbeitsmarkt in der EU? Wie kann der soziale...

Central banks in developing countries, wanting to devalue the domestic currency, usually intervene in the foreign exchange market by buying up foreign currency using domestic money-often backing this up with sterilization to counter inflationary pressures. Such interventions are usually...

This paper provides the first firm-level econometric evidence on the skill-bias of ICT in developing countries using a unique new dataset of manufacturing firms in Brazil and India. I use detailed information on firms’ adoption of ICT and the educational composition of their workforce to...

Access to safe water is necessary for lives and livelihoods. In India, a mid-term assessment reveals that the country has already met its MDG (Millennium Development Goal) in terms of expanding access to water infrastructure although in the parallel subsector of sanitation progress is falling...