International real business cycle (IRBC) models predict a real exchange rate volatility that is much lower than the levels observed in the data. In this paper, we build a two-country IRBC model with both a traded and a non-traded goods sector, and calibrate it to UK-euro area (EA) data. We...

This paper seeks to link the two theories put forward to explain (the consequences of) Spain's decision not to adopt the gold standard in the late nineteenth century, and does so by comparing the outcomes of short- and long-run approaches. The empirical results obtained from applying an...

Before 1977, the Spanish government was unable (or unwilling) to increase taxation to finance new social programs. As an alternative to this lack of fiscal capacity, Spanish policy makers in the early 20th century promoted contributive social insurance schemes (mostly financed from employers'...

We analyze the relationship between income inequality and structural change in the sectoral composition of the tradable and the non-tradable sectors. We construct a small open economy two sector model where preferences imply non-linear Engel curves and we show that the relationship between...

Concerns about the consequences of demographic ageing on the sustainability of the pension system has led to the adoption of reforms reducing pension expenditure. However, the impact of these reforms on pension adequacy is now coming under increasing scrutiny. Taking recent Spanish reform as an...

Economic growth has different impacts on gender gaps. Despite that the incorporation of women into the labour market drove towards a convergence with male participation in recent decades, a notable gender pay gap still persists standing at around 15% on average in the European Union. In this...

Public intergenerational transfers (IGTs) may arise because of the failure of private arrangements to provide optimal economic resources for the young and the old. We examine the political sustainability of the system of public IGTs by asking what the outcome would be if the decision per se to...