In this paper, we argue that many of the rigidities that characterize European labour markets can be understood as the outcome of political influence by incumbent employees. We then empirically investigate the determinants of labour market institutions and show that the results are consistent...

We develop a model to analyse the implications of firing costs on international specialization.

This paper presents an econometric analysis of 65 episodes of fiscal adjustment in the OECD from 1960 through 1992. The episodes are the ones that Perotti (1995) has identified as entailing major reductions of previous deficits. The paper estimates the effect on the growth of GDP and of...

In this paper we use a survey of 281 Czech, Hungarian and Polish newly established small private firms in order to shed some light on the constraints these firms face in the credit market. We show that financial intermediation works reasonably well: it is difficult to find signs of credit...

According to more recent theories on the optimal capital structure, the availability of external financing is not always guaranteed, or it may come at different costs, depending on the methods of financing used (debt vs. equity, long-term debt vs. short-term debt, etc.). Under such...

On analyse une societé hétérogène où les agents ont des qualifications différentes. Dans un premier temps, les agents choisissent collectivement un niveau de compression salariale. Cette compression salariale crée du chômage et change la distribution des revenus. Dans un second temps,...