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Fairness as a source of hysteresis in employment and relative wages

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  • Peter Skott

    (University of Massachusetts Amherst)

Abstract

This paper analyses the influence of norms of fairness on wage formation. Fairness is defined by `real-wage' and `relative-wage' norms that relate wage offers to workers' own current wage and to the wages of other groups of workers, and, to avoid shirking, firms pay fair wages. The wage norms change endogenously, and the result is hysteresis with respect to both employment and the distribution of wages. An extension of the model that allows `induced overeducation' may help explain trends in wage inequality.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter Skott, 2004. "Fairness as a source of hysteresis in employment and relative wages," UMASS Amherst Economics Working Papers 2004-04, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:ums:papers:2004-04
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    as
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Wage norms; fairness; hysteresis; overeducation; wage inequality; unemployment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E12 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Keynes; Keynesian; Post-Keynesian; Modern Monetary Theory
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J41 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Labor Contracts

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