The dynamic behavior of a democratic monopoly labor union that allocates employment on a length-of-service basis is studied. In the context of a simple model, the author shows that a median voter equilibrium can exist in a union consisting of senority-ranked workers when voting membership...

In a democratic model of union wage-setting, monopoly unions can induce hysteresis in the behavior of employment, at least locally. As a result, autoregressive representations of employment and membership should contain a unit root even if the determinants of labor demand are stationary. In...

This paper proposes a model in which the removal of barriers to trade and factor mobility is associated with endogenous fragmentation of the value-added chain. Fragmentation is the outcome of cost competition--the profit-maximizing choice of cost structure by monopolistically competitive firms....

Using Solow-Törnqvist residuals as well as two alternative measurements, we present the estimates of total factor productivity (TFP) growth in a sample of 30 European economies for the period 1994–2004. In most of Western Europe, we find a deceleration of TFP growth since 2000. However, the...

The deterioration of the U.S. merchandise trade deficit in the 1980s fell mostly on durable goods. Using a representative-agent model, the authors show that the key distinction between the trade balance in nondurables and durables is the role of intertemporal prices in the latter. A decrease in...