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.

The aim of this paper is to show that both location and race matter for explaining the high criminality rate in cities. In our model, blacks and whites are identical in all respects. However, if, for no economic but for extrinsic reasons, everybody (including blacks) believes that blacks are...

The paper considers a simple "three goods" model in which firms simultaneously decide hiring workers. The production is sold later at a market clearing price; the buyers'purchasing power depend on their income, that itself depends on the firms'previous decisions. The rational expectations...