The consequences of business cycle contingencies in unemployment insurance systems are considered in a search-matching model allowing for shifts between "good" and "bad" states of nature. We show that not only is there an insurance argument for such contingencies, but there may also be an...

Abstract. A classic result in dynamic public economics, dating back to Aaron (1966) and Samuelson (1975), states that there is no welfare rationale for PAYG pensions in a dynamically-efficient neoclassical economy with exogenous labor supply. This paper argues that this result, under the...

It is analysed whether risk averse agents possessing different information have an incentive to trade in a zero-sum market. The key to generate trading in a zero-sum speculative market is whether expectations are »homogenized» through the trading process. If not, trading will take place and...

Inflation may enhance the efficiency of the price system in the presence of nominal rigidities. For the price system to function efficiently there is a need for nominal prices to adjust both to real and nominal shocks for relative prices to disseminate the appropriate signals. Since the...

In a two-country model with trade driven by comparative advantages, it is considered how imperfectly competitive labour markets are affected by lower frictions in international goods trade. Easier goods trading is equivalent to increased mobility of employment across countries and thus a change...

This paper analyses the basic labour market inter-dependencies among coun - tries with intra-industrial trade and imper fectly competitive product and labour markets. The paper stresses two major channels through which increased integration may affect product markets and therefore in turn labour...