Werner Smolny - Böcker

A macroeconomic disequilibrium model is developed for the Federal Republic of Germany. Starting with a microeconomic model of a firm's behaviour, the optimal dynamic adjustment of employment and investment is derived. The model of the firm is complemented by an explicit aggregation procedure from which it derives macroeconomic relations. The model is estimated with macroeconomic data for the Federal Republic of Germany. An important feature is the consistent introduction of dynamic adjustment into a model of the firm. A new method is the particular approach of a delayed adjustment of employment and investment. The estimation results show significant underutilizations of labour and capital, and indicate the importance of supply constraints for imports and exports. As the most prominent result, they reveal the importance of the slow adjustment of employment and investment for the macroeconomic situation in Germany, especially for the persistence of high unemployment in the 1980s.

This book contains a theoretical and empirical analysis of the sources of technological change and economic growth.The first part takes an aggregate view at the growth process. Scale economies and knowledge spillovers are analysed with a broad panel of sectoral data for Germany and the United States.The second part contains a micro analysis of endogenous innovations and knowledge spillovers. The determinants of innovations are analysed and the effects of innovations on productivity and market behaviour are discussed. The models are estimated with a broad panel of firm level data from the ifo firm panel.

No detailed description available for "Labour Economics".