The paper integrates human-capital investments of heterogeneous individuals into a neoclassical growth framework. The accumulation of physical capital changes relative factor prices and thus incentives to acquire skills, thereby altering the composition of the labor force. This interplay between...

According to empirical studies, the relation between the relative wage of skilled workers and their relative supply is U-shaped. This finding is explained by the effect of technological change on the incentives for humancapital investments made by heterogeneous individuals.

In this paper we offer an explanation why a poor majority does not necessarily expropriate a rich minority. We present a dynamic model in which individuals are willing to accept an unequal distribution of income in the current period if they are sufficiently optimistic about their future...

We study human capital accumulation in an environment of competitive search. Given that unemployed workers can default on their education loans, skilled individuals with a larger debt burden prefer riskier but better paid careers than is socially desirable. A higher level of employment risk in...

We present a model of growth and distributional conflict that implies a non-monotonic relationship between average wealth and the likelihood of radical redistribution: while the net benefits of redistribution for members of the poor class are small at low stages of development, a shift towards...

The double-dividend argument (as used in political debates) addresses worries that a green tax may lead to higher unemployment when wages are inflexible. As protection against this possibility, it is proposed to use the proceeds of the green tax to subsidize employment. In the best case, this...

This paper examines positive and normative implications of efficiency-wage induced unemployment within a model of endogenous growth. Sectorspecific impacts of the wage rate on labor efficiency establish a correlation between the growth rate and the rate of unemployment. The sign of this...

This paper addresses the criticism that balanced growth models are inconsistent with the dynamics of structural change typical for the process of economic growth. Using a sectoral disaggregated version of a researchdriven growth model, we develop the concept of a generalized balanced growth path...

This paper integrates institutionally determined wage rigidities into an otherwise standard Heckscher-Ohlin model of international trade. It accounts for differences in individual productivities and their implications for individual wage incomes and demand for education. Although preserving the...

We analyze the employment effects of immigration within a model that accounts for several stylized facts of the German labor market. The co-existence of positive wage spans and unemployment is explained by wage rigidities that are simultaneously caused by effciency-wage setting and minimum...