We build a model that combines two types of labor market rigidities: real wage rigidities and labor market frictions. The model is used to analyze the implications of the interaction of different degrees and types of labor market rigidities for the business cycle by looking at three dimensions...

In this paper we examine the impacts on child health, using diarrhoea as the health outcome, (amongst children living in households) with access to different types of water and sanitation facilities, and from socio-economic and child specific factors. Using cross-sectional health survey data for...

The paper aims to examine policy-anchor hypotheses by analysing the impact of WTO accession process on domestic economic policies and institutions of newly acceded WTO members. It shows that the process of obtaining WTO membership, under certain circumstances, can lead to a positive improvement...

The paper aims to examine the role of institutions relative to economic policy and geography in explaining the differential level of development across countries over time. To that end, it attempts to construct a Development Quality Index (DQI) and an Institutional Quality Index (IQI) by using...

The paper uses nonparametric methodology to examine the role of institutions in understanding differential levels of development across countries. This technique estimates first order derivatives for every country allowing a deeper look into the impact of institutions on development. The...

This paper focuses on the observed empirical relationship between fiscal rules and budget deficits, and examines whether this correlation is driven by an omitted variable, namely voter preferences. We make use of two different estimation methods to capture voter preferences in a panel of Swiss...

This paper is a simple extension of the standard FDI model of Markusen and Horstmann (1992). This latter predicts firms would supply nearby markets with exports but far away markets with FDI. Nevertheless, this does not match the spatial pattern in the data for many home nations and industries....

We study the incidence of offshoring, or trade in tasks, on firms’ productivity and on manufacturing employment in a standard economic-geography model with iceberg trade costs and a continuum of tasks. In a two-countries world where one country has a Hick’s neutral technological edge over...

This paper studies whether NAFTA contributed to the productivity convergence between Mexico and the US. Using data from the manufacturing sector for 1986 to 2000 and introducing a number of refinements in the computation of the total factor productivity and estimation methods, it shows that the...

This paper is a contribution to the literature on rational design of trade agreements. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an incomplete contract among sovereign states. Incomplete contracts contain gaps. Ex post, contractual gaps may leave gains from trade unrealized; they may create...