Institute for the Study of Labor

About: Institute for the Study of Labor is a nonprofit organization based out in Bonn, Germany. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Wage & Unemployment. The organization has 2039 authors who have published 13475 publications receiving 439376 citations.

Remittances, Institutions and Economic Growth

Abstract: There is considerable debate regarding the relative contribution of international migrants' remittances to sustainable economic development. While the rates and levels of officially recorded remittances to developing countries has increased enormously over the last decade, academic and policy-oriented research has not come to a consensus over whether remittances contribute to longer-term growth by building human and financial capital or degrade long-run growth by creating labor substitution and "Dutch disease" effects. This paper suggests that contradictory findings have emerged when looking at the remittances-growth link because previous studies have not correctly controlled for endogeneity. Using Dynamic Data Panel estimates we find that remittances exert a weakly positive impact on long-term macroeconomic growth. The paper also considers the proposition that the longer-term developmental impact of remittances is increased in the presence of sound economic policies and institutions.

Do Small Businesses Create More Jobs? New Evidence for the United States from the National Establishment Time Series

Abstract: We use a new database, the National Establishment Time Series (NETS), to revisit the debate about the role of small businesses in job creation. Birch (e.g., 1987) argued that small firms are the most important source of job creation in the U.S. economy. But Davis et al. (1996a) argued that this conclusion was flawed, and based on improved methods and using data for the manufacturing sector, they concluded that there was no relationship between establishment size and net job creation. Using the NETS data, we examine evidence for the overall economy, as well as for different sectors. The results indicate that small firms and small establishments create more jobs, on net, although the difference is much smaller than what is suggested by Birch's methods. Moreover, in the recent period we study, a negative relationship between establishment size and job creation holds for both the manufacturing and services sectors.

Why Pay More? Corporate Tax Avoidance Through Transfer Pricing in OECD Countries

Abstract: This paper presents evidence of profit shifting in response to differences in corporate tax rates for a large selection of OECD countries. In our estimates we control for the effects of tax rate changes on real activity. Our baseline estimates suggest that, on average, a unilateral increase in the corporate tax rate does not lead to an increase in corporate tax revenues owing to a more than offsetting decline in reported profits.

Selection or Network Effects? Migration Flows into 27 OECD Countries, 1990-2000

Abstract: Recent migration patterns show growing migration pressure and changing composition of immigrants in many Western countries. During the latest decade, an increasing proportion of the OECD immigrants have been from poor countries, where the educational level of the population is low. The migration patterns may be affected by the relatively generous welfare schemes in most OECD countries, but also network effects and migration policy changes may be important factors behind the observed development. This paper presents empirical evidence on immigration flows into 27 OECD countries during a period of 11 years, 1990-2000. Using a panel data model, we analyze the determinants of the migration flows. Our results indicate that traditional factors as cultural and linguistic distance are important. Network effects are also strong, but vary between source and destination countries. We do not find clear evidence that selection effects have had a major influence on the observed migration patterns until now. This may partly be explained by restrictive migration policies in many OECD countries which may have dampened the potential selection effects.

Macroeconomic Consequences of Terror: Theory and the Case of Israel

Abstract: This Paper analyzes the effect of terror on the economy. Terror endangers life such that the value of the future relative to the present is reduced. Hence, due to a rise in terror activity, investment goes down, and in the long run, income and consumption go down as well. Governments can offset terror by putting tax revenues into the production of security. Facing a tide of terror, a government that acts optimally increases the proportion of output spent on defense, but does not fully offset the tide. Thus, when terror peaks, the long-run equilibrium with an optimizing government is of lower output and welfare. Next, we show that this theory of terror and the economy helps to understand changes in trend and business cycle of the Israeli economy. The estimates show that terror has a large impact on the aggregate economy. Continued terror, at the level of the death toll by about the same size as due to car accidents, is expected to decrease annual consumption per capita by about 5% in 2004. Had Israel not suffered from terror during the last three years, we estimate that output per capita would have been about 10% higher than it is today.