As regards labor market effects of International Outsourcing, empirical studies have difficulties in confirming theoretical results. The use of different indices adds to the puzzle. The paper examines whether measurement differences are one reason for the mismatch between empirical and...

International Outsourcing effects on labor markets are mostly analyzed within flexible wage settings. Using a modern duality approach, this paper formally investigates differences occurring in industries with low skilled wage rigidity and, for the first time in literature, presents empirical...

International Outsourcing effects on labor markets are mostly analyzed within flexible wage settings. Using a modern duality approach, this paper formally investigates differences occurring in industries with low skilled wage rigidity and, for the first time in literature, presents empirical...

In international relations, short-run incentives for non-cooperation often dominate. Yet, (external) institutions for enforcing cooperation are hampered by national sovereignty, supposedly strengthening the role of selfenforcing mechanisms. This paper examines their scope with a focus on...

Studies on EU enlargement mostly focus on its welfare-economic and much less so on its public-choice dimension. Yet, the latter may be as important as the former when it comes to sustain integration. This paper aims at filling the gap by exploring theoretically and empirically how enlargement of...

Taking Macur Olson´s theory of the decline of nations as pathbreaking in this field we develop a formal model of the behavior of interest groups and their interaction to win some deeper insights into the interior mechanics of the interest-group-state. Followed by a brief survey of empirical...

As regards labor market effects of International Outsourcing, empirical studies have difficulties in confirming theoretical results. The use of different indices adds to the puzzle. The paper examines whether measurement differences are one reason for the mismatch between empirical and...

With interest groups significantly affecting economic performance (according to Mancur Olson) and a vital interest of governments in economic growth and low unemployment in order to win elections, there should be a link between political business cycles and the evolution of lobbies over time...

Mancur Olson's theory of the decline of nations is path-breaking in political economics. It has been tested cross-sectionally in numerous empirical studies. We survey the existing results briefly, with a special focus on studies using the number of lobbies as an exogenous variable. Using data...

Considering the sector bias of International Outsourcing within a 2x2 framework, four different scenarios appear. Each industry can either relocate its high or its low skill intensive production fragment. Traditionally, depending on the superiority of a wage vs. an outsourcing-effect, general...