diff --git a/matlab/PosteriorIRF_core2.m b/matlab/PosteriorIRF_core2.m
index fe05e1b20..8d04661fa 100644
--- a/matlab/PosteriorIRF_core2.m
+++ b/matlab/PosteriorIRF_core2.m
@@ -119,6 +119,7 @@ for i=fpar:npar,
                 box on
                 axis tight
                 xlim([1 options_.irf]);
+                remove_fractional_xticks;
                 hold off
             else
                 h1 = area(1:options_.irf,HPDIRF(:,2,j,i),'FaceColor',[.9 .9 .9],'BaseValue',min([min(HPDIRF(:,1,j,i)),min(HPDIRFdsgevar(:,1,j,i))])); %grey below HPDIsup and minimum of HPDIinf and HPDIRFdsgevar
@@ -132,6 +133,7 @@ for i=fpar:npar,
                 box on
                 axis tight
                 xlim([1 options_.irf]);
+                remove_fractional_xticks;
                 hold off
             end
             name = deblank(varlist(j,:));
diff --git a/matlab/stoch_simul.m b/matlab/stoch_simul.m
index 553a8d6aa..68804ce04 100644
--- a/matlab/stoch_simul.m
+++ b/matlab/stoch_simul.m
@@ -262,6 +262,7 @@ if options_.irf
                         plot([1 options_.irf],[0 0],'-r','linewidth',0.5);
                         hold off
                         xlim([1 options_.irf]);
+                        remove_fractional_xticks;
                         title(deblank(mylist(j,:)),'Interpreter','none');
                     end
                     dyn_saveas(hh,[M_.fname '_IRF_' deblank(tit(i,:))],options_);
@@ -271,7 +272,7 @@ if options_.irf
                             fprintf(fidTeX,['\\psfrag{%s}[1][][0.5][0]{$%s$}\n'],deblank(mylist(j,:)),deblank(mylistTeX(j,:)));
                         end
                         fprintf(fidTeX,'\\centering \n');
-                        fprintf(fidTeX,'\\includegraphics[scale=0.5]{%s_IRF_%s}\n',M_.fname,deblank(tit(i,:)));
+                        fprintf(fidTeX,'\\includegraphics[width=0.8\\textwidth]{%s_IRF_%s}\n',M_.fname,deblank(tit(i,:)));
                         fprintf(fidTeX,'\\caption{Impulse response functions (orthogonalized shock to $%s$).}',titTeX(i,:));
                         fprintf(fidTeX,'\\label{Fig:IRF:%s}\n',deblank(tit(i,:)));
                         fprintf(fidTeX,'\\end{figure}\n');
@@ -293,6 +294,7 @@ if options_.irf
                             plot([1 options_.irf],[0 0],'-r','linewidth',0.5);
                             hold off
                             xlim([1 options_.irf]);
+                            remove_fractional_xticks
                             title(deblank(mylist((fig-1)*nstar+plt,:)),'Interpreter','none');
                         end
                         dyn_saveas(hh,[ M_.fname '_IRF_' deblank(tit(i,:)) int2str(fig)],options_);
@@ -302,7 +304,7 @@ if options_.irf
                                 fprintf(fidTeX,['\\psfrag{%s}[1][][0.5][0]{$%s$}\n'],deblank(mylist((fig-1)*nstar+j,:)),deblank(mylistTeX((fig-1)*nstar+j,:)));
                             end
                             fprintf(fidTeX,'\\centering \n');
-                            fprintf(fidTeX,'\\includegraphics[scale=0.5]{%s_IRF_%s%s}\n',M_.fname,deblank(tit(i,:)),int2str(fig));
+                            fprintf(fidTeX,'\\includegraphics[width=0.8\\textwidth]{%s_IRF_%s%s}\n',M_.fname,deblank(tit(i,:)),int2str(fig));
                             if options_.relative_irf
                                 fprintf(fidTeX,['\\caption{Relative impulse response' ...
                                                 ' functions (orthogonalized shock to $%s$).}'],deblank(titTeX(i,:)));
@@ -325,6 +327,7 @@ if options_.irf
                         plot([1 options_.irf],[0 0],'-r','linewidth',0.5);
                         hold off
                         xlim([1 options_.irf]);
+                        remove_fractional_xticks
                         title(deblank(mylist((nbplt-1)*nstar+plt,:)),'Interpreter','none');
                     end
                     dyn_saveas(hh,[ M_.fname '_IRF_' deblank(tit(i,:)) int2str(nbplt) ],options_);
@@ -334,7 +337,7 @@ if options_.irf
                             fprintf(fidTeX,['\\psfrag{%s}[1][][0.5][0]{$%s$}\n'],deblank(mylist((nbplt-1)*nstar+j,:)),deblank(mylistTeX((nbplt-1)*nstar+j,:)));
                         end
                         fprintf(fidTeX,'\\centering \n');
-                        fprintf(fidTeX,'\\includegraphics[scale=0.5]{%s_IRF_%s%s}\n',M_.fname,deblank(tit(i,:)),int2str(nbplt));
+                        fprintf(fidTeX,'\\includegraphics[width=0.8\\textwidth]{%s_IRF_%s%s}\n',M_.fname,deblank(tit(i,:)),int2str(nbplt));
                         if options_.relative_irf
                             fprintf(fidTeX,['\\caption{Relative impulse response functions' ...
                                             ' (orthogonalized shock to $%s$).}'],deblank(titTeX(i,:)));
diff --git a/matlab/utilities/general/remove_fractional_xticks.m b/matlab/utilities/general/remove_fractional_xticks.m
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..19eab7a04
--- /dev/null
+++ b/matlab/utilities/general/remove_fractional_xticks.m
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+function remove_fractional_xticks
+% function remove_fractional_xticks
+% removes non-integer xtick-labels
+
+% Copyright (C) 2001-2016 Dynare Team
+%
+% This file is part of Dynare.
+%
+% Dynare is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+% it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+% the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+% (at your option) any later version.
+%
+% Dynare is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+% but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+% MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+% GNU General Public License for more details.
+%
+% You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+% along with Dynare.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.    
+
+xticks=get(gca,'xtick');
+fractional_periods=find(rem(xticks,1)~=0);
+if ~isempty(fractional_periods)
+    xticks(fractional_periods)=[];
+    xticklabels=get(gca,'xticklabel');
+    xticklabels(fractional_periods)=[];
+    set(gca,'xtick',xticks);
+    set(gca,'xticklabel',xticklabels);
+end
\ No newline at end of file