In this paper, we provide new explanations for the puzzling findings in the literature that migrants do not decrease natives' wages, and that skilled immigration can actually increase them. We develop a model with regional labor markets and heterogeneous firms in which workers of different skill...

In this paper, we analyze the determination of immigration policy in a direct democracy setting. We formulate a model of voting and participation behavior integrating instrumental and expressive motivations. The model is estimated using data drawn from a survey carried out after a vote in...

The paper uses a two-sector efficiency-wage model to analyze the consequences of immigration for a small open economy with a dual labor market. Immigrants are characterized by an (exogenous) return probability. Legal regulations impose preferential hiring of natives or "old" immigrants. As a...

We study the role of inattention as a key source of inertia in health plan choices. Our structural model shows that more than 90% of the elderly in Switzerland are inattentive and thus stick to their previous plan. We estimate sizeable switching costs ($1,200) even conditional on attention...

We study the impact of financial incentives on the prescription behavior of physicians based on a natural experiment that resulted from a recent reform in two large Swiss cities. The reform opened up an additional income channel for physician by allowing them to earn a markup on drugs they...

In this paper, we provide new explanations for the puzzling findings in the literature that migrants do not decrease natives’ wages, and that skilled immigration can actually increase them. We develop a model with regional labor markets and heterogeneous firms in which workers of different...