The impact of capital market imperfections and costs of creating and operating formal sector firms on total factor productivity is studied. We propose a firm dynamics model with endogenous formal and informal sectors where firms face a technology adoption opportunity. The model predicts that...

Skill intensive technologies seem to be adopted more often by rich countries rather than poor ones. Related to that observation, the ratio of wages of skilled to unskilled workers - the skill premium - shows two important features over time and across countries. In the US the skill premium...

The aim of this paper is to quantify the role of formal-sector institutions in shaping the demand for human capital and the level of informality. We propose a firm dynamics model where firms face capital market imperfections and costs of operating in the formal sector. Formal firms have a larger...

This paper studies the link between credit conditions and formalization in Brazil, as both credit and the rate of formalization have notably increased in the last decade. A firm dynamics model with endogenous formal and informal sectors is developed to quanti- tatively evaluate how much of the...

This paper analyzes the effects of entry regulations and firing costs on cross-country differences in income and productivity. We construct a general equilibrium industry- dynamics model and quantitatively evaluate it using the cross-country data on entry costs and firing costs. Entry costs...

This paper highlights the effect of the presence of the goverment and its redistribution policy in the technology adoption decision. As a result it helps explain the differences in skill premium patterns across the North Atlantic between developed economies such as the US and Continental Europe.

Skill intensive technologies seem to be adopted by rich countries rather than poor ones. Related to that observation, the ratio of wages of skilled to unskilled workers - the skill premium - shows two important features over time and across countries. In the US the skill premium decreased during...

This paper focuses on the transitory relationship between output level and Income inequality. As a result of either permanent or transitory sectoral technological shocks the economy will adjust to a new steady state equilibrium, but during the transition the dynamics of wages and workers will...

This paper uses the technology adoption general equilibrium model developed by Moscoso Boedo (2006) to analyze the transition for the countries of the former USSR and Eastern Europe. There the real output displayed a U-shapped pattern together with increases in inequality, which are features...