A model is considered in which optimal search intensity is a result of a trade-off between short-run losses due to higher search costs (more interviews, commuting...) and long-run gains due to a higher chance to find a job. We show that this optimal search intensity is higher in areas...

This Paper reviews recent econometric work on factor models in large cross-sections of time series. In this literature, traditional factor analysis is adapted to develop parsimonious estimation methods for high dimension time series models. The review covers problems of consistency and rates –...

We study the issue of income convergence across countries and regions with a Bayesian model which allows us to use information in an efficient and flexible way. We argue that the very slow convergence rates to a common level of per-capita income found, for example, by Barro and Sala-i-Martin, is...

It has been argued that the public sector is an insurance against otherwise uninsurable risks. If that is the case, it is reasonable to expect the public sector to be larger in regions where the private labour-market is risky. Using data from Swedish municipalities, this paper reports that...

Recent estimates of convergence equations using panel data techniques tend to produce theoretically unpalatable results which run counter to the views prevailing in the literature. This paper argues that these results may be partly due to the difficulty of empirically separating short-term...

This Paper studies the interaction between repeated auctions of rail franchises of different lengths, uncertainty, and incentives for investment in rolling stock, following the privatization of British Rail. Theoretical predictions are tested empirically using a unique panel of data. Theory...

This Paper investigates the empirical relationship between uncertainty and investment dynamics. This is motivated by the real options literature, which suggests a weaker response of investment to demand shocks at higher levels of uncertainty, as firms place a greater value on the option to wait....

We estimate scale elasticities in firms' money demand using panel data. Our main data set is a sample of Spanish companies observed over 1983-96. We also analyse comparable UK and US data sets. We find that the errors in money demand equations contain two terms correlated with sales: first, a...

There is a vast empirical literature on the effects of training on wages that are taken as an indirect measure of productivity. This paper is part of a smaller literature on the effects of training on direct measures of industrial productivity. We analyse a panel of British industries between...

This Paper works with a broad data sample of Czech voucher-privatized firms during 1996-99. It analyses the development of ownership structure and consequently its effect on a firm's performance Ownership concentration had been quite high in 1996 and steadily increased. The single largest owner...