The effects of active labour market policies (ALMP) on individual employment chances and earnings are evaluated by nonparametric instrumental variables based on Swiss administrative data with detailed re-gional information. Using an exogenous variation in the participation probabilities across...

Between 1991 and 1997 West Germany spent on average about 3.6 bn Euro per year on public sector sponsored training programmes for the unemployed. We base our empirical analysis on a new administrative data base that plausibly allows for selectivity correction by microeconometric matching...

This paper proposes sequential matching and inverse selection probability weighting to estimate dynamic casual effects. The sequential matching estimators extend simple, matching estimators based on propensity scores for static causal analysis that have been frequently applied in the evaluation...

We estimate a state-dependent multifactor model with two endogenous states. Its pricing accuracy is slightly superior to that of the Fama and French (1993, 1996) model. We have evidence for dramatically increased factor loadings for distress factors in one state. These results have implications...

After a short description of some positions which reject the principle of value freedom and after a short specification of what is meant with this principle, first the relation between the genesis of a scientific statement and its validity is discussed. There, we also tackle the problem of...

Ökonomen sehen Armut in aller Regel als strukturelles Problem und versuchen, sie mit Wirtschaftswachstum zu überwinden. Nach einer Diskussion verschiedener Armutskonzepte wird daher zunächst auf die Wachstumsproblematik eingegangen und gezeigt, weshalb es Sinn macht, Armut mit strukturellen...

This paper investigates the dynamic consequences of demographic change and various pension reform scenarios for Austria. The analysis is based on a computable overlapping generations model with life-cycle labor supply, savings, and search unemployment. The public sector is decomposed into...

Research on the macroeconomic effects of aid has expanded rapidly in recent years. In this paper, we provide a survey of this literature. We start by reviewing some theoretical models that suggest a positive impact of aid on investment and growth. We then discuss the empirical evidence, giving...

In this paper the approach of Constitutional Economics is presented and some of its applications are shown. First, the concept of the original position (constitutional convention) with its informational restrictions and the unanimity rule are discussed. Next, the exchange paradigm which lies...

How a sustainable fiscal policy can be performed in a federal system is not only a Swiss problem but is also discussed in other federal countries like Germany and Austria, and in the European Union. Contrary to most other countries, the Swiss Fiscal system is characterised by an extensive fiscal...