This study uses country-level panel data on consumption in Ireland and seven other OECD countries to examine the evolution of Irish consumption patterns as Ireland underwent rapid macroeconomic growth. Consumption levels obviously increased due to substantially higher incomes, but it is less...

Survey evidence on small firms' perceived constraints might provide useful information on the effects of institutional impediments, such as regulatory burdens, on post-entry performance. Using a new dataset that merges ENSR survey data on small firms' major constraints with Eurostat small firm...

Domestic water demand is influenced both by the number of households and their characteristics, in particular the extent to which they employ water-using appliances. This paper focuses on domestic ownership of water-using appliances in Ireland, a country where rapid economic and demographic...

This paper presents robust panel data econometric evidence suggesting that more effective competition policy curtails the exercise of market power because countries in which competition policy is judged to be more effective are characterised by lower market price-cost margins, controlling for...

We analyse the consequences of US real interest rate rises on the real exchange rate (RER) in a two-good overlapping generations model of a semi-small open economy. The equilibrium RER depreciates (appreciates) when the world interest rate increases in a debtor (creditor) country. We then study...

This paper analyses the effect of the education of the self-employed on the success of their firms during economic downturn and upturn in the 1990s in Finland. We find that the business cycle affects the relative closure rates of firms run by the self-employed with any level of education. Exit...

Effort-biased technological change and other explanations for work intensification are investigated. It is hypothesised that technological and organizational changes are one important source of work intensification and supportive evidence is found using establishment data for Britain in the...

We revisit the debate on the sustainability of the current account dynamics in the US. Using the concept of sustainability as the ability to meet the long run intertemporal budget constraint, we test for unit roots in the US current account for the 1960-2004 period. We argue that there are...

We investigate the relationship between training and the likelihood of commercial survival over a 7-year period, using a survey of British establishments. We find that in establishments of 200 or more employees, increased training of those in Professional, Sales, and Clerical and Secretarial...

In an attempt to measure the impact of cultural heritage on growth, this paper matches the definition of culture as a stock with the cultural heritage list provided by UNESCO, as it is a variable that changes at a very low pace. We test the hypothesis on whether the existence of a strong...