Since the early 1990's the growth rates of the four largest European economies--France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom--have slowed. This persistent slowdown suggests a low-frequency structural change is at work. A combination of longer individual life expectancies and declining...

This paper provides quantitative estimates of the welfare costs of nominal wage contracts. We find that the welfare costs of such contracts are fairly small and are generally relatively insensitive to changes in the economic environment. We then study how contract length might respond to changes...

Since the early 1990's the growth rates of the four largest European economies—France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom—have slowed. This persistent slowdown suggests a low-frequency structural change is at work. A combination of longer individual life expectancies and declining...

Since the early 1990's the growth rates of the four largest European economies — France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom — have slowed. This persistent slowdown suggests a low-frequency structural change is at work. A combination of longer individual life expectancy and declining...