Over the period 2002 to 2003, Switzerland and the European Union (EU) were engaged in negotiations regarding banking secrecy. The EU's stated goal was for Switzerland to abolish banking secrecy. Switzerland refused and offered to impose a withholding tax on interest income instead. The two...

When information is costly, a seller may wish to prevent prospective buyers from acquiring information, for the cost of information acquisition is ultimately borne by the seller. A seller can achieve the desired prevention of information acquisition through posted-price selling, by offering...

We investigate the observable determinants of sorting between salary and performace pay jobs, the extent to which wage functions differ between the two, and the magnitude of the unobserved ability differential between salary and performance pay workers...

It is commonly alleged that foreign direct investment (FDI) in the service sector haspositive consequences for the domestic labor market. This paper shows that this widelyaccepted view does not generally hold...

We explore the pricing of variance risk by decomposing stocks' total variance into systematicand idiosyncratic return variances. While systematic variance risk exhibits a negative priceof risk, common shocks to the variances of idiosyncratic returns carry a large positive riskpremium. This...

We investigate the suitability of securitization as an alternative to reinsurance forthe purpose of transferring natural catastrophe risk. We characterize the conditionsunder which one or the other form of risk transfer dominates using a setting in whichreinsurers and traders in financial...

Using a unique dataset containing separate information on the base andbonus pay of over a million workers, we provide novel evidence on the determinantsand earnings effects of performance pay. Several observables—in particularage, education, tenure, and job complexity—have a large impact on...

We explore the pricing of variance risk by decomposing stocks' total variance into systematicand idiosyncratic return variances. While systematic variance risk exhibits a negative priceof risk, common shocks to the variances of idiosyncratic returns carry a large positive riskpremium. This...

Implementing performance pay requires that workers' output be measured. When measurement costs differ among firms, those with a measurement cost advantage choose to implement performance pay. They attract the best workers, and both the level and variability of compensation are higher at these...

Dieser Beitrag untersucht die potentiellen Beschäftigungseffekte von Direktinvestitionen der Unternehmen des Dienstleistungssektors für die Schweiz. In einer theoretischen Perspektive werden zunächst die Konsequenzen der Besonderheiten von Dienstleistungsgütern gegenüber Industriegütern...