Christian Ragacs

Persistence of Shocks to Output in Austria and Theories of Economic Growth

The paper analyzes the degree of output persistence in GDP in order toempirically discriminate between the Solow growth model, the perfect competition endogenous growth model and the imperfect competition endogenous growth model for the case of Austria. Wefind that a shock in the growth rate of output induces a permanent and larger effect on the level of GDP. This leads us to refute the Solow growth model and the perfect competition model of endogenous growth.We may not reject the imperfect competition growth model.

On the empirics of minimum wages and employment: evidence for the Austrian industry

We investigate the empirical evidence of the textbook theory of minimum wages for Austrian industry. In Austria, minimum wages are the result of wage bargaining which may be best described using a right to manage model. In contrast to the predictions of the textbook analysis, no significant negative effects of minimum wages on employment have been found. This could be the result of the nature of the typical Austrian wage-bargaining situation.We investigate the empirical evidence of the ‘textbook theory’ of minimum wages for Austrian industry. In Austria, minimum wages are the result of wage bargaining which may be best described using a ‘right to manage’ model. In contrast to the predictions of the ‘textbook analysis’, no significant negative effects of minimum wages on employment have been found. This could be the result of the nature of the typical Austrian wage-bargaining situation.