We study the potential benefits and mechanisms of firms' political connections by analyzing the Italian experience, where, in the early nineties, Silvio Berlusconi, a rich TV tycoon, became the leader of the conservative political coalition. Using firm-level data, we find that the 101 companies...

Somewhat surprisingly, cross-country empirical evidence (at least in the cross section) does not seem to support the predictions of standard models that economies with stricter regulations on hiring and firing should have a lower pace of job reallocation. One problem in exploring these issues...

We analyse the impact of innovation activity and product and labour market institutions on multi-factor productivity in a panel of 23 industries in 18 OECD countries using a novel harmonised database. First, we provide evidence of convergence in productivity levels within most industries across...