Informal incentives and labor markets

Arbeitspapier

This paper theoretically investigates how labor-market tightness affects market outcomes if firms use informal and self-enforcing agreements to motivate workers. We characterize profit-maximizing equilibria and derive the following results. First, an increase in the supply of homogenous workers can increase wages. Second, even though all workers are identical in terms of skills or productivity, a discrimination equilibrium exists in which a group of majority workers are paid higher wages than a group of minority workers. Third, minimum wages can reduce such discrimination and increase employment. We discuss how these results are consistent with empirical evidence on immigration and a gender pay gap, and provide new testable implications.

Objekt anzeigen

• Sprache: Englisch

Verweise und Beziehungen

• Erschienen in: Series: Working Paper ; No. 2205

Klassifikation und Themen

• Klassifikation: Wirtschaft ; Firm Behavior: Theory ; Economics of Contract: Theory ; Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure ; Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs: Public Policy ; Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers ; Labor Discrimination
• Thema: Informal Incentives ; Labor Supply ; Immigration ; Wage Discrimination ; Minimum Wage

Beteiligte, Orts- und Zeitangaben

• Ereignis: Geistige Schöpfung
• (wer): Fahn, Matthias ; Murooka, Takeshi
• Ereignis: Veröffentlichung
• (wer): Johannes Kepler University of Linz, Department of Economics
• (wo): Linz
• (wann): 2022

Weitere Informationen

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/269914