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Externalities from Contract Length

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  • Ball, Laurence Markham

Abstract

An increase in the length of a firm's labor contract contributes to rigidity in the aggregate price level. This increases the variance of aggregate demand but decreases the variance of other firms' real wages. Under certain conditions, the net effect is to increase the variance of other firms' employment. This negative externality implies that the equilibrium contract length in a decentralized economy is greater than the social optimum-in other words, wages are too rigid. Copyright 1987 by American Economic Association.

Suggested Citation

  • Ball, Laurence Markham, 1987. "Externalities from Contract Length," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(4), pages 615-629, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:77:y:1987:i:4:p:615-29
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    Cited by:

    1. Marini, G. & Scaramozzino, P., 1989. "Monopolistic competition, expected inflation and contract length," Other publications TiSEM 20b0b441-03ed-47d2-a059-8, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    2. Genda, Yuji & Heckel, Markus & Kambayashi, Ryo, 2019. "Employees who do not know their labour contract term and the implications for working conditions: Evidence from Japanese and Spanish microdata," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 95-104.
    3. Ellis, Christopher J. & Holden, Steinar, 1997. "Optimal contract length in a reputational model of monetary policy," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 227-243, February.
    4. Groth, Charlotta & Johansson, Asa, 2004. "Bargaining structure and nominal wage flexibility," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(6), pages 1349-1365, December.
    5. Lars Calmfors & Åsa Johansson, 2001. "Unemployment Benefits, Contract Length and Nominal Wage Flexibility," CESifo Working Paper Series 514, CESifo.
    6. Laurence Ball, 1994. "What Determines the Sacrifice Ratio?," NBER Chapters, in: Monetary Policy, pages 155-193, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Marini, G. & Scaramozzino, P., 1989. "Monopolistic competition, expected inflation and contract length," Discussion Paper 1989-40, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    8. Tyrowicz, Joanna, 2009. "When Eastern Labour Markets Enter Western Europe CEECs. Labour Market Institutions upon Euro Zone Accession," MPRA Paper 15045, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Danziger, Leif, 2010. "Uniform and nonuniform staggering of wage contracts," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(6), pages 1038-1049, December.
    10. Lucas, Deborah, 1999. "Price and interest rate dynamics induced by multiperiod contracts," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 315-338.
    11. Calmfors, Lars, 2001. "Wages and wage-bargaining institutions in the EMU – a survey of the issues," Seminar Papers 690, Stockholm University, Institute for International Economic Studies.
    12. Taylor, John B., 1999. "Staggered price and wage setting in macroeconomics," Handbook of Macroeconomics, in: J. B. Taylor & M. Woodford (ed.), Handbook of Macroeconomics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 15, pages 1009-1050, Elsevier.
    13. Seppo Honkapohja & Frank Westermann, 2009. "Pay-setting Systems in Europe: Ongoing Developments and Possible Reforms," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Seppo Honkapohja & Frank Westermann (ed.), Designing the European Model, chapter 3, pages 82-121, Palgrave Macmillan.
    14. Hubert Kempf, 1990. "Externalités et contrats salariaux," Économie et Prévision, Programme National Persée, vol. 92(1), pages 51-60.
    15. Víctor López Pérez, 2003. "Wage Indexation and Inflation Persistence," Working Papers wp2003_0303, CEMFI.
    16. Laurence Ball & David Romer, 1989. "Are Prices Too Sticky?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 104(3), pages 507-524.
    17. Carlos Borondo, 1994. "La rigidez nominal de los precios de la Nueva Economía Keynesiana: una panorámica," Investigaciones Economicas, Fundación SEPI, vol. 18(2), pages 245-288, May.
    18. Bowdler, Christopher & Nunziata, Luca, 2010. "Labor market structures and the sacrifice ratio," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 816-826, September.
    19. Romer, David, 1990. "Staggered price setting with endogenous frequency of adjustment," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 205-210, March.
    20. Lars Calmfors, 2001. "Wages and Wage-Bargaining Institutions in the EMU – A Survey of the Issues," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 28(4), pages 325-351, December.
    21. Nir Klein, 2004. "Long-Term Contracts as a Strategic Device," Bank of Israel Working Papers 2004.16, Bank of Israel.

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