The method of cross-sectional conditional convergence regression is crucially based on the concept of exogenous control variables. However, there are strong theoretical arguments and solid empirical support for the view that at least a subset of the control variables varies systematically in the...

The commonly held opinion is that credits taken by the government should rather be used for investive purposes than for consumption. However, from this it should not be concluded that public debt is an adequate instrument to finance public investment. Within a microeconomic based growth model it...

As in many countries income inequality in Switzerland has increased between the early 1980s and the early 1990s. This paper applies decomposition methods in order to identify potential causes for this increase. The decomposition is performed by a) population subgroups and b) income sources. Our...

This paper considers different methods for solving the evaluation problem. I highlight the role of heterogeneity in program impacts in defining evaluation parameters of interest and in interpreting estimated program impacts. I discuss the strengths and weaknesses of social experiments and...

In recent years, managers have become increasingly aware of how their organizations can be affected by risks beyond their control. Financial futures are commonly used as hedging instruments by banking firms to insure against interest rate risk. The paper examines the volatility of bank interest...

To limit global environmental risks, countries must cooperate. However, the prisoners' dilemma-type of the problem suggests that international environmental agreements are difficult to obtain and to maintain. In this paper, the role of countries' risk preferences for the prisoners'...

This paper investigates the determinants of self-employment in Switzerland, focusing on the differences between groups that are discriminated against on the wage-job market groups that are treated fairly. The main hypothesis is that members of discriminated against groups may go into...

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In order to offer a balanced assessment of the role of minimum wages in the Welfare State, seven basic questions need to be answered: (i) Why is the minimum wage a useful redistributive tool?; (ii) How binding are minimum wage floors in different countries?; (iii) To what extent do minimum wages...