This paper reports on ongoing research on the interactions between product regulation and labor market outcomes. In particular, I summarize work on the employment effects of shop-closing regulation in the retail and other related sectors. Evidence on employment in the retail sector from Germany,...

Starting from the secular fact of an increasing governmentś share, a retrospective on Adolph Wagnerś writings seems worthwhile. A leading German economist of the Bismarck era, he first formulated the famous law of increasing state activityʺ for industrializing nations. After analyzing his way...