A Model of Union Formation

In an analysis of the formation of unions within a single firm, this paper addresses conditions under which encompassing unions form. It is shown that a production function satisfying decreasing marginal productivity leads to the formation of encompassing unions. This result holds for different ways of dividing the surplus within the union. The effects of changes in heterogeneity, e.g. increased demand for skilled labor, are also analyzed. In the most reasonable setup, a change in heterogeneity does not affect the decision whether to form a union or not. This contrasts with the result in Jun (1989).Union; Heterogeneity; Labor

Real and nominal wage adjustment in open economies

How are wages set in an open economy? What role is played by demand pressure, international competition, and structural factors in the labour market? How important is nominal wage rigidity and exchange rate policy for the medium term evolution of real wages and competitiveness? To answer these questions, we formulate a theoretical model of wage bargaining in an open economy and use it to derive a simple wage equation where all parameters have clear economic interpretations. We estimate the wage equation on data for aggregate manufacturing wages in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden from the mid 1960s to the mid 1990s.Wage formation; efficiency wage; turnover; bargaining; rent sharing; nominal wage rigidity; exchange rate policy; competitiveness

Real and Nominal Wage Adjustment in Open Economies

How are wages set in an open economy? What role is played by demand pressure, international competition, and structural factors in the labour market? How important is nominal wage rigidity and exchange rate policy for the evolution of real wages and competitiveness? To answer these questions, we formulate a theoretical model of wage bargaining in an open economy and use it to derive a simple wage equation where all parameters have clear economic interpretations. We estimate the wage equation on data for aggregate manufacturing wages in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden from the mid 1960s to the mid 1990s.wage formation, efficiency wage, turnover, bargaining, rent sharing, nominal wage rigidity, exchange rate policy, competitiveness

Extremism, Campaigning and Ambiguity

This paper studies a model of how political parties use resources for campaigning to inform voters. We show existence of equilibrium under mild assumptions for an arbitrary number of parties. The main result is that if the parties are more extreme, then they spend less resources on campaigning (on average), compared with moderate parties. The reason is the following. Consider voters that are informed by one party only, say party 1. If both parties move closer to each other, then the actual and expected platform moves closer to the indifferent voters peak. By concavity of preferences, the increase in payoff of voting for the party that informed is bigger than the increase in payoff of voting for the other party. Thus, the previously indifferent voter now strictly prefers party 1. The effect makes parties gain more votes by informing when parties are moderate. Since spending increases, voters are (on average) more informed when parties are moderates.Political Parties; Campaigning

Comparative study on blocking, filtering and take-down of illegal internet content

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A firm bargaining with many workers

The purpose of this paper is to analyze bargaining between a firm and a finite set of workers. In particular employment choice and the payoffs in equilibrium are studied. In the model, the firm first selects the workers it wants to hire. The selected workers then decide whether they want to proceed in bargaining with the firm. Finally, bargaining takes place. In contrast to Stole &amp; Zweibel (1996), we assume that contracts are binding. The payoff for a worker is given by a share of the contribution to production, treating all other workers as employed, in addition to the worker's outside option

A model of union formation

In an analysis of the formation of unions within a single firm, this paper addresses conditions under which encompassing unions form. It is shown that a production function satisfying decreasing marginal productivity leads to the formation of encompassing unions. This result holds for different ways of dividing the surplus within the union. The effects of changes in heterogeneity, e.g. increased demand for skilled labor, are also analyzed. In the most reasonable setup, a change in heterogeneity does not affect the decision whether to form a union or not. This contrasts with the result in Jun (1989)