The present paper develops a simple asymmetrical informational model that allows us to understand the individual´s willingness to participate in a strike. We develop and compare two signaling models of strikes: in one, firms are able to monitor and enforce hours and offer different workweeks to...

The present paper aims at explaining strike incidence, measured by the proportion of strikers observed in each sector, and strike severeness, proxied by a measure of mean strike hours lost per worker in each industry. We find that Industry concentration dissuades striking – more concentrated...

In labor markets, the ratchet effect refers to a situation where workers subject to performance pay choose to restrict their output, because they rationally anticipate that firms will respond to higher output levels by raising output requirements or cutting pay. We model this effect as a...

We develop a framework where mismatch between vacancies and job seekers across sectors translates into higher unemployment by lowering the aggregate job-finding rate. We use this framework to measure the contribution of mismatch to the recent rise in U.S. unemployment by exploiting two sources...

This paper offers a theoretical exploration and empirical outlook towards a triptych heretofore not properly investigated: atypical work (e.g., self-employed, agency workers, and workers with a fixed-term contract), participation within the firm, and innovation. How, it must be asked, can and...

This chapter focus is on the evaluation of part-time workers’ well-being through analysis of part-time jobs in the social services sector. The main factors influencing part-time workers’ satisfactions and part-timers' perceptions about their jobs, internal fairness, and the quality of the...

The Netherlands has been dubbed “the only part-time economy” (Freeman 1998). This expression reflects the popularity of part-time jobs in the country, particularly among working women. The purpose of this study is to explore whether workers who prefer part-time work differ from their...

Teacher contracts that condition pay and retention on demonstrated performance can improve selection into and out of teaching. I study alternative contracts in a simulated teacher labor market that incorporates dynamic self-selection and Bayesian learning. Bonus policies create only modest...

Women work off-farm for numerous reasons, ranging from supporting the farm or household financially, meeting people, and having an independent source of income. But very few studies have analyzed factors affecting motivations, and impacts of these motivations on individual behavior, e.g., the...

This paper explores the rationale for unemployment benefits as a complement to optimal nonlinear income taxation. We find under plausible assumptions that the optimal unemployment benefits targeted at the low-skilled will be higher than the pure insurance and efficiency purposes would prescribe....