We live in a service economy, but the extent of development of service employment differs across developed countries. This paper assesses the role of structural factors and institutions in explaining the common patterns and main differences in the recent expansion of service employment in OECD...

This paper investigates the wage-setting behaviour of Irish firms. We place particular emphasis on the use of flexible pay components and examine how these allow firms to deal with shocks requiring a reduction in costs without having to cut base wages. The results presented in this paper are...

We examine job flows in the 1990s for a sample of 13 European countries. By using a dataset of continuing firms that covers all sectors, we find firm characteristics to be important determinants of job flows, with smaller and younger firms within services typically having a larger degree of job...

This report examines the evidence and policy lessons that can be drawn from the findings of the fifth European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) carried out in 2010. The focus is on the links between working conditions and labour market participation in the light of the EU’s longstanding policy...

The European Restructuring Monitor’s annual report for 2014 explores the rapid transformation of the public sector in Europe since the onset of the financial crisis in 2008. Initially, employment expansion in the sector helped to stabilise Europe’s economy while the private sector suffered...

Societies provide institutions that are costly to use, but able to enforce long-run relationships. We study the optimal decision problem of using self-governance for risk sharing or governance through enforcement provided by these institutions. Third-party enforcement is modelled as a costly...

This paper investigates a dynamic general equilibrium model with search. In particular, search externalities are reßected by an increasing returns to scale matching function, which may imply an indeterminate equilibrium. Hence, the model is capable to generate business ßuctuations, driven by...

This paper develops a model with multiple steady states (low tax and unemployment rate versus high tax and unemployment rate) in which equilibrium selection is not conditioned on a sunspot variable. Instead, large enough shocks initiate unavoidable transitions from one regime to the other. The...

Social expenditure in Poland appears to increase regional employment disparities. In particular, the farmers' social fund (KRUS) seems to contribute to the rising regional dispersion in the number of recipients of social transfers. This is the result of KRUS benefits being poorly related to...

In recent years, Slovakia has introduced wide-ranging reforms in the tax, pension, social and health care systems. These reforms have increased incentives to work, to create jobs and to invest, and have thus fostered growth and economic catching-up. The supply-side driven growth has so far...