Financial Contracts and Contingent Control Rights

In this paper we study the implications of the unemployment insurance (UI) financing system on wage levels and employment when labour markets are unionised and the revenues of the firms are stochastic. We use the basic monopoly union approach of wage and employment determination and assume that unemployment benefits are financed by employees' UI contributions to the union's UI fund and by the government's tax revenue. The main focus of this paper is on the effects of UI buffer funding on employment fluctuations. We show that, compared with the pay-as-you-go financing system, buffer funding stabilises the economy by decreasing employment fluctuations where wages are flexible. If wages are rigid, buffer funding stabilises net wage variations, but has hardly any effect on employment fluctuations.

Buffer Funding of Unemployment Insurance in a Dynamic Labour Union Model

Halko

2007

Competition and Regulation in European Retail Payment Systems

Kemppainen

2003

In this study, the interaction between the competition-cooperation nexus and regulation in retail payment systems is analysed by applying the main lessons from the theory of network industries. This is justifiable on the grounds that the payment systems industry inherently has many characteristics in common with network industries. On the other hand, since the provision of payment services also has many special characteristics, the regulatory tools commonly used in many other network industries cannot be applied directly. In general, the main role of payment system regulators is to provide a level playing field for different service providers. To secure dynamic efficiency, the regulators also need to ensure adequate incentives for innovation and investment. In this respect, it is important that they do not take too restrictive an attitude towards cooperation among payment service providers. In addition to general policy analysis, the study also analyses developments in the European retail payment system field and the roles and aims of market participants.

A Positive Theory of Monetary Policy and Robust Control

Kilponen

2003

This paper applies the robust control approach to a simple positive theory of monetary policy, when the central bank's model of the economy is subject to misspecifications. It is shown that a central bank should react more aggressively to supply shocks when the model misspecifications grow larger. Moreover, the model misspecifications aggravate the inflation bias and a trade-off between output stabilisation and inflation worsens when the uncertainty surrounding the central bank's model increases. This implies that the larger the model misspecifications are, the more inflation-averse the central bank should be.