We examine the response of a sticky-wage economy to various real and nominal shocks. In addition to variations in hours, we allow for an endogenous response in worker effort per hour. Despite wages being predetermined, the labor market clears through the effort margin. We find that the ability...

We analyse the evolution of the business cycle in the accession countries, after a careful examination of the seasonal properties of the available series and the required modification of the cycle dating procedures. We then focus on the degree of cyclical concordance within the group of...

The paper illustrates and compares estimation methods alternative to maximum likelihood, among which multistep estimation and leave-one-out cross-validation, for the purposes of signal extraction, and in particular the separation of the trend from the cycle in economic time series, and...

This paper explores the relationship between obesity and economic conditions in Finland, using individual microdata from 1978 to 2002. The results reveal that an improvement in regional economic conditions measured by the employment-to-population ratio produces a decrease in obesity over the...

Cyclically adjusted budget balance (CAB) is a widely cited and widely used concept in the evaluationof fiscal situations. The key idea behind it involves the identification of potential levels of economic variables.There are two recently used methods: the aggregate approach and the unconstrained...

This note extends Lucas' (1987) analysis to assess welfare gains of economic growth and welfare costs of consumption inequality, both within and across countries. We find that the welfare costs of inequality are significantly larger than the gains of economic growth. While the gains of economic...

Countries with more developed financial sectors experience less fluctuations in real per capita output, consumption and investment growth. However, the manner in which the financial sector develops matters. The relative importance of banks in the financial system is important in explaining...

This paper explores the connection between alcohol mortality, drinking behaviour and macroeconomic fluctuations in Finland by using both aggregate and micro-level data during the past few decades. The results from the aggregate data reveal that an improvement in regional economic conditions...

The purpose of this paper is to give an empirical answer to two related but different questions: First, are economic growth and business cycles interdependent? Second, is money neutral even in the long run? Using data from the United States, this paper finds (using a VAR model) and presents...

This paper investigates the effect of capacity constraints on the sustainability of collusion in markets subject to cyclical demand fluctuations. In the absence of capacity constraints (i.e. a limiting case of our model), Haltiwanger and Harrington (1991) show that firms find it more difficult...