We analyse the question of optimal taxation in a dual economy, when the policy-maker is concerned about the distribution of labour income. Income inequality is caused by the presence of sunk capital investments, which creates a "good jobs" sector due to the capture of quasi-rents by trade...

This paper shows that in an open two-sector economy, centralization of wage setting may be important in determining the employment (and welfare) effects of different monetary targets. By disciplining unions in the sectors open to international trade, exchange rate targeting yields higher...

Are competitive wage premia an obstacle to growth? The answer of the architects of the Scandinavian 'model' in the 1950s and 1960s was in the affirmative. By punishing expansive and growth enhancing sectors of the economy, competitive wage premia imposed an unwarranted drag on the rate of...

The authors consider a noncooperative model of a family's time allocation between market work and providing a home-produced family public good (such as child care or care for the elderly). The model predicts underprovision of the public good. Because of crowding out, this does not necessarily...