This paper examines the effects of tmporary jobs in a matching model with ranking. If firms and workers are uncertain about the worker's actual productivity level at the moment of hiring and if long unemployment durations increase the probability of having low productivity, firms will be...

In this paper we examine asset price dynamics (i.e. the convergence speed) in the event of pre-announced conversion values and dates. The theoretical framework for these dynamics has been developed in De Grauwe, Dewachter and Veestraeten (1999). We examine two instances of conversion, notably...

China now engages in multilateral trade liberalization as a new member of the WTO. Concurrently, the number of regional trade agreements is increasing worldwide. China and its trading partners would benefit from increased regional liberalization. Using a gravity equation for 23 Asia-Pacific...

This paper extends a previous analysis by Franckx (2001). We consider an inspection game between n polluting firms and an environmental enforcement agency. If the cost of monitoring ambient pollution is low enough, the optimal inspection policy consists in, on the one hand, imposing the maximal...

This paper examines the rationale for the different tax treatment of gasoline and diesel cars currently observed in Europe. First, we analyse possible justifications for a different tax treatment: pure tax revenue considerations, externality considerations and constraints on the tax instruments...

We consider an inspection game between an arbitrary number of polluting firms and an agency who can choose to monitor ambient pollution. We obtain an equilibrium where all firms comply with the same probability and where the inspection agency inspects all firms individually if ambient pollution...

In this paper we investigate the progressivity impact of various components of the Belgian personal income tax system, before and after a major reform of this system. The reform reduced the top tax rates, broadened the tax base and increased tax credits. We show that, contrary to the opinion,...

When consumers do not only care for the intrinsic consumption component of commodities but also for the value of a commodity, it can be rational to purchase products as they become more expensive. Standard revealed preference conditions are however unable to take diamond effects into account. We...

Many trade models of monopolistic competition identify cost efficiency as the main determinant of firm performance in export markets. To date, the analysis of demand factors has received much less attention. We propose a new model where consumer preferences are asymmetric across varieties and...