This paper compares the welfare effects of three ways in which health care can be organized: no competition (NC), competition for the market (CfM) and competition on the market (CoM) where the payer offers the optimal contract to providers in each case. We argue that each of these can be optimal...

This Paper analyses the evolution of quantitative measures of employee rents in Europe during the nineties, using the European Household Panel Survey. I look at two classes of measures: wage differentials between workers along industry and firm size dimensions; and estimated welfare differences...

In order to explore the optimal taxation of low-skilled labour, we extend the standard model of optimal non-linear income taxation in the presence of quasi-linear preferences in leisure by allowing for in-voluntary unemployment, job search, an exogenous welfare benefit, and a non-utilitarian...

We study the influence of social networks on labour market transitions. We develop the first model where social ties and job status co-evolve through time. Our key assumption is that the probability of formation of a new tie is greater between two employed individuals than between an employed...

This paper introduces three methodological advances to study the optimal design of static and dynamic markets. First, we apply a mechanism design approach to characterize all incentive-compatible market equilibria. Second, we conduct a normative analysis, i.e. we evaluate alternative competition...

Does capital-embodied technological change play an important role in shaping labour market inequalities? This Paper addresses the question in a model with vintage capital and search/matching frictions where costly capital investment leads to large heterogeneity in productivity among vacancies in...

We present a theoretical and empirical analysis of different types of active labour market policies (ALMP). In our empirical analysis we use data on 20 OECD countries covering the time period 1985-99. We find that labour market training is the most effective program to bring down unemployment....

In this Paper, I analyse the pros and cons of implementing structural reforms of the labour market in booms versus recessions, in light of considerations of social efficiency, political viability, and macroeconomic fine-tuning. While the optimal timing of a reform depends on the relative...

This Paper presents a theory and an empirical investigation on cyclical fluctuations in workplace accidents. The theory is based on the idea that reporting an accident dents the reputation of a worker and raises the probability that he is fired. Therefore a country with a high or an increasing...

During the nineties, unemployment fell in a number of European countries while it remained high in others. This Paper discusses potential causes for that evolution in light of recent economic research, emphasizing obstacles to reform due to political constraints, the prevalence of ideology, and...