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The Macroeconomic Consequences of Reciprocity in Labor Relations

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  • Jean-Pierre Danthine
  • André Kurmann

Abstract

We develop and analyze a structural model of effciency wages founded on reciprocity. Workers are assumed to face an explicit trade-off between the disutility of providing effort and the psychological benefit of reciprocating the gift of a wage offer above some reference level. The model provides a rationale for rent sharing - a feature that is very much present in the data but absent from previous formulations of the effciency wage hypothesis. This firm-internal perspective on effciency wages has important macroeconomic consequences: rent-sharing considerations promote wage rigidity, internal amplification and asymmetric responses to technology and demand shocks.

Suggested Citation

  • Jean-Pierre Danthine & André Kurmann, 2005. "The Macroeconomic Consequences of Reciprocity in Labor Relations," Cahiers de Recherches Economiques du Département d'économie 05.08, Université de Lausanne, Faculté des HEC, Département d’économie.
    • Handle: RePEc:lau:crdeep:05.08
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    reciprocity; rent-sharing; effciency wages; wage rigidity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • J50 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - General

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