We explain the public’s support for the minimum wage (MW) institution despite economists’ warnings that the MW is a “blunt instrument” for redistribution. To do so we build a model in which workers are heterogeneous in ability, and the government engages in redistribution through the...

Using an intertemporal model of saving and capital accumulation we demonstrate that it is impossible for any binding minimum wage to increase the after-tax incomes of workers if the production function is Cobb-Douglas with constant returns to scale, or if there are no differences in ability...

This paper analyzes long run outcomes resulting from adopting a binding minimum wage in a neoclassical model with perfectly competitive labour markets and capital accumulation. The model distinguishes between workers of heterogeneous ability and capitalists who do all the saving, and it entails...

To many economists the public's support for the minimum wage (MW) institution is puzzling, since the MW is considered a "blunt instrument" for redistribution. To delve deeper in this issue we build models in which workers are heterogeneous in ability. In the first model, the government does not...

To many economists the public’s support for the minimum wage (MW) institution is puzzling, since the MW is considered a “blunt instrument” for redistribution. To delve deeper in this issue we build models in which workers are heterogeneous in ability. In the first model, the government...

Using an intertemporal model of saving and capital accumulation with two types of agents (workers and capitalists) we demonstrate that it is impossible for any binding minimum wage to increase the after-tax incomes of workers if the production function is Cobb-Douglas with constant returns to...

This paper attempts to identify the effect of fiscal decentralization on public sector efficiency (PSE). We employ data envelopment analysis on a panel of 21 OECD countries over the period 1970-2000 to construct two alternative PSE indicators that reflect the governmental goals of economic...

This paper investigates whether OECD countries compete with each other for mobile factors by using various fiscal (tax-spending) policy instruments. We use a panel dataset of 20 OECD countries over the 1982-2000 period. There is evidence that international capital inflows (FDI) are affected by...

We investigate what happens when the fiscal authorities do not react to rising public debt so that the unpleasant task of fiscal sustainability falls upon the Central Bank (CB). In particular, we explore whether the CB's bond purchases in the secondary market can restore stability and...

Calculations based on the intertemporal government budget constraint can be only indicative regarding an economy's fiscal sustainability. Sovereign interest rates, growth rates, as well as primary fiscal balances are all endogenous variables that are jointly determined. This rationalizes the use...