Social and private returns to education are computed using the structural estimates of an extended Burdett-Mortensen search equilibrium model. The extension includes different skill groups linked via a production function with variable degree of homogeneity, allowing thereby for a unimodal...

Can local industrial policies increase local firm competitiveness? Cluster-oriented policies targeted at selected industries have just such a goal and are very popular among politicians, despite the controversy surrounding these policies in academia. Thus, it would appear useful to discover if...

Using a cross-section of countries, we adapt Frankel and Romer’s (1999) IV strategy to international labor mobility. Controlling for institutional quality, trade, and financial openness, we establish a robust and non-negative causal effect of immigration on real per capita income.

This paper develops a theory of consumer boycotts. To affect a firm’s ethical behavior, moral consumers refuse to buy from an unethical firm. Consumers who do not care about ethical behavior may join the boycott to (falsely) signal that they do care, increasing the disciplinary power of...

Recent literature has argued that, contrary to the results of a seminal paper by Rose (2004), General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)/World Trade Organization (WTO) membership does promote bilateral trade, at least for developed economies and if membership includes non-formal compliance....

We analyse an experimental public goods game in which group members can endogenously determine whether they want to supplement a standard voluntary contribution mechanism with the possibility of rewarding or punishing other group members. We find a significantly positive effect of endogenous...

Previous empirical work on the link between domestic and foreigninvestment has provided mixed results. This may partly be due to thelevel of aggregation of the data. In this paper, we argue that theimpact of FDI on the domestic capital stock depends on the structure ofindustries. Using...

Religious participation is much more widespread in the United Statesthan in Europe, while Europeans tend to view sects more suspiciouslythan Americans We propose an explanation for these patterns withoutassuming differences in preferences or market fundamentals We study areligious market where...

Crisis Issue: The papers in this title have been written in response to the global financial and economic crisis that has been ongoing since Summer 2007. Top economists provide a concise and accessible evaluation of major developments in trade and trade policy. Economic Policy has earned a...