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Limited Commitment Models of the Labour Market

Author

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  • Jonathan P Thomas

    (Economics, University of Edinburgh)

  • Tim Worrall

    (Economics, Keele University)

Abstract

We present an overview of models of long-term self-enforcing labour contracts in which risk sharing is the dominant motive for contractual solutions. A base model is developed which is sufficiently general to encompass the two-agent problem central to most of the literature, including variable hours. We consider two-sided limited commitment and look at its implications for aggregate labour market variables. We consider the implications for empirical testing and the available empirical evidence. We also consider the one-sided limited commitment problem for which there exists a considerable amount of empirical support.

Suggested Citation

  • Jonathan P Thomas & Tim Worrall, 2007. "Limited Commitment Models of the Labour Market," Keele Economics Research Papers KERP 2007/11, Centre for Economic Research, Keele University.
    • Handle: RePEc:kee:kerpuk:2007/11
    Note: The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Economic and Social Research Council (Research Grant:RES-000-23-0865). We also thank Jim Malcomson, Leena Rudanko and Dongyun Shin for helpful comments on an earlier draft and the participants of the workshop on ``The theory and empirics of risk sharing'' at the Toulouse School of Economics, September 2007. The usual caveats apply.
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Citations

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    Cited by:

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    2. Pratap, Sangeeta & Quintin, Erwan, 2011. "Financial crises and labor market turbulence," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(6), pages 601-615.
    3. David A. Green & James Townsend, 2010. "Understanding the wage patterns of Canadian less skilled workers: the role of implicit contracts," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(1), pages 373-403, February.
    4. Pedro S. Martins & Gary Solon & Jonathan Thomas, 2010. "Measuring What Employers Really Do about Entry Wages over the Business Cycle," NBER Working Papers 15767, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Yicheng Wang, 2015. "Can Wage Dynamics in Long-term Employment Relationships Help Mitigate Financial Shocks?," 2015 Meeting Papers 1189, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    6. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2010_012 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Ábrahám, Árpád & Laczó, Sarolta, 2024. "Efficient risk sharing and separation," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    8. Oikonomou, Rigas, 2013. "Optimal Unemployment Insurance with Private Insurance," MPRA Paper 55726, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Juha Kilponen & Torsten Santavirta, 2010. "New Evidence on Implicit Contracts from Linked Employer–Employee Data," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 112(4), pages 864-883, December.
    10. Philip Jung & Moritz Kuhn, 2013. "Wage dynamics in long-term contracts," 2013 Meeting Papers 556, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    11. Rudanko, Leena, 2009. "Labor market dynamics under long-term wage contracting," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 170-183, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Labour contracts; self-enforcing contracts; business cycle; unemployment.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • J41 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Labor Contracts

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