New data makes it possible to measure the evolution of social program generosity over the roughly three decades since the affluent democracies entered the era of austerity. Compared with plausible expectations derived from power resource theory, as well as prior historical experience, these data...

Rational partisan theory of political business cycles suggests differences in inflation under left-wing and right-wing governments. It also suggests temporary post-electoral booms after election of left-wing governments and temporary recessions after election of right-wing ones. However, the...

The developed world stands at the fore of a phenomenal demographic transition. Over the next 30 years the number of elderly in the OECD countries will more than double. At the same time, the number of workers available to pay the elderly their government-guaranteed pension and health care...

This paper empirically investigates the effectiveness of competition policy by estimating its impact on Total Factor Productivity (TFP) growth for 22 industries in 12 OECD countries over the period 1995-2005. We find a robust positive and significant effect of competition policy as measured by...

Based on data for eight OECD countries this paper empirically explores the factors driving exports in the automotive sector between 1991 and 2008. The factors considered explicitly account for possible lead market effects which have recently been identified in the literature as relevant factors...

In order to face the aging of their populations governments of developed countries reformed their retirement systems during the last two decades, by discouraging early retirement and increasing incentives to work for older workers. Senior participation rates to the labor force not only differ...

Mit dem Vergleich zweier unterschiedlicher Systeme von Umweltzeichen, stellt diese Studie ein Politikinstrument ins Zentrum, das eine sehr viel schnellere Verbreitung gefunden hat als andere Politikinnovationen. Verglichen wird die Diffusion zweier unterschiedlicher Typen von...

The study deals with eco-labeling systems that have spread faster than other types of new policy instruments. The paper focuses on the diffusion of two different types of eco-labels: (1) general eco-labeling systems such as the German Blue Angel (Blauer Engel), and (2) the Forest Stewardship...

Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird der Zusammenhang zwischen Output und Beschäftigung im Konjunkturverlauf über eine Modifizierung des Okun'schen Gesetzes für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Frankreich, Großbritannien, Kanada und die USA untersucht. Dabei wird sowohl auf Einzelschätzungen als...