This thesis develops and applies three different frameworks to analyse monetary policy from a theoretical and empirical perspective within three self-contained chapters. Chapter 2 looks at optimal monetary policy in the modern micro-founded New Keynesian macroeconomic model, while chapter 3...

This dissertation analyzes the importance of institutions for economic performance. The first two chapters assess the importance of institutions empirically, while the last one provides a dynamic model of institutional change. Chapter 1 analyzes the robustness of institutions in growth...

This dissertation is composed of three self-contained essays on strategic interactions under incomplete contracting. Chapter 1 considers the evolution of reciprocal preferences in a setting where individuals live in separate groups. Chapter 2 analyzes the costs and benefits of a separation of...

The thesis contains three independent papers. The first examines why women in Ireland had high mortality rates relative to men at the end of the 19th century. The second searches for the determinants of German east-west migration of labour force. The third finally tests empirically the theory of...