Dieser Gastbeitrag von Shan Huang erschien am 11. Juli 2020 in der Frankfurter Rundschau. „The Great Equalizer“ – als den „großen Gleichmacher“ hatte unter anderem der New Yorker Gouverneur Andrew Cuomo das Coronavirus zu Anfang der Pandemie bezeichnet. Mittlerweile ist deutlich geworden, dass das Gegenteil der Fall ist: Gerade Menschen mit einem schlechteren sozioökonomischen ...
We analyse the political economy of the public provision of private goods when individuals care about their social status. Status concerns motivate richer individuals to vote for the public provision of goods they themselves buy in markets: a higher provision level attracts more individuals to the public sector, enhancing the social exclusivity of market purchases. Majority voting may lead to a public ...
Why has the college wage premium risen rapidly in the United States since the 1980s, but not in European economies such as Germany? We argue that differences in employment protection can account for much of the gap. We develop a model in which firms and workers make relationship-specific investments in skill accumulation. The incentive to invest is stronger when employment protection creates an expectation ...
