Initiatives to reduce transatlantic trade barriers or to harmonize trade-related domestic policies in the EU and the US appear regularly on the agenda of policy makers. The last decade saw also considerable steps in transatlantic economic cooperation focusing on special aspects. In February...

The paper introduces the concept of a firm's normal employment level as a weighted average of past employment levels and it analyzes the impact of an incentive scheme in which a firm receives a reward (or pays a penalty) when it deviates above (below) its normal employment level. The result is...