The increasing wage inequality in many countries is usually seen as brought about by economic forces that drive for economic efficiency within a changing technological and social environment. Ethical evaluations of these developments diverge, yet the view that free labor markets drive to...

In this paper, we examine major trends and potential for cooperatives in the context of four prominent socio-economic issues: the lack of jobs, economic and social inequality, educational mobility, and the priority need for innovations. We present recent data on the amount and types of job...

In this paper I survey the recent economics of education literature in order to identify which education policies can effectively improve the quality of primary schooling, as measured by pupil test-based achievements. Particular attention is devoted to the experience of England, a country which...

Energy subsidies are used widely. Although adverse from an efficiency perspective, subsidies confer private benefits on particular groups and, once introduced, tend to be persistent. This paper examines the reasons why and possible ways of overcoming the barriers to reform. The starting point is...

In den letzten zwanzig Jahren hat die Bedeutung internationaler Vergleiche für die Bewertung der Arbeitsmarkt- und Sozialpolitik deutlich zugenommen. Weniger eindeutig ist jedoch die Frage zu beantworten, ob und unter welchen Bedingungen von ausländischen Erfahrungen für die Gestaltung von...

This lecture argues that mental health is a major factor of production. It is the biggest single influence on life satisfaction, with mental health eight years earlier a more powerful explanatory factor than current income. Mental health also affects earnings and educational success. But, most...

Cross-country growth regressions have become an increasingly common tool in empirical development research. But these regressions typically do not attempt to distinguish among countries in different stages of development. Two empirical methods are used to test for such differences. Several of...

Cross-country growth regressions have in recent years become a major growth industry. The most common purpose of this work has been to investigate the determinants of economic growth. But it is also possible to use the existing growth data to determine the extent to which policy choices help or...