This paper studies the effect of labor market reform on the welfare cost of business cycles. Motivated by the German labor market reforms of 2003-2005, the so-called Hartz reforms, the paper focuses on two labor market institutions: the unemployment insurance system determining search incentives...

"Many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have achieved considerable economic growth, yet the region still faces many seemingly intractable problems. The conventional wisdom in development agencies - that prioritization is impossible and that everything must be done - is simply not...