The evolution of income distribution over two centuries is an attractive topic because it allows one to test the inverse U-curve hypothesis using long series instead of cross-section data. In Section 1 the distribution trends in countries where global data are available, is considered, that is...

Since the publication of Volume 1 of the Handbook of Defense Economics , key events have shaped the defense manpower research agenda and called for research to help policymakers deal with the challenges that these factors presented. One event was the end of the Cold War, which permitted drastic...

This chapter reviews recent developments in research on public sector labor markets. Public sector labor markets have two important characteristics which account for the interest in their operation. First, public sector labor markets are large — in most developed countries the public sector...

The chapter discusses the role played by labor market institutions in shaping the dynamics of wages, employment, and unemployment across European countries and the United States. The first part of the chapter uses simple, but formal models to show that the greater job security granted to...

Equilibrium models of labor markets characterized by search and recruiting friction and by the need to reallocate workers from time to time across alternative productive activities represent the segment of the research frontier explored in this chapter. In this literature, unemployment spell and...

This chapter summarizes the empirical and theoretical research on executive compensation and provides a comprehensive and up-to-date description of pay practices (and trends in pay practices) for chief executive officers (CEOs). Topics discussed include the level and structure of CEO pay...

Policy makers view public sector-sponsored employment and training programs and other active labor market policies as tools for integrating the unemployed and economically disadvantaged into the work force. Few public sector programs have received such intensive scrutiny, and been subjected to...

This chapter examines the impact of wage-setting institutions and government policies on wages and employment, focusing on the OECD countries. There is considerable evidence that centralized collective bargaining, minimum wages and antidiscrimination policies raise the relative wages of the low...

This chapter provides an overview of the methodological and practical issues that arise when estimating causal relationships that are of interest to labor economists. The subject matter includes identification, data collection, and measurement problems. Four identification strategies are...

This chapter covers recent solutions to aggregation problems in three application areas: consumer demand analysis, consumption growth and wealth, and labor participation and wages. Each area involves treatment of heterogeneity and nonlinearity at the individual level. Three types of...