Labor Contracts as Partial Gift Exchange

S-Tier
Journal: Quarterly Journal of Economics
Year: 1982
Volume: 97
Issue: 4
Pages: 543-569

Score contribution per author:

8.043 = (α=2.01 / 1 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

This paper explains involuntary unemployment in terms of the response of firms to workers' group behavior. Workers' effort depends upon the norms determining a fair day's work. In order to affect those norms, firms may pay more than the market-clearing wage. Industries that pay consistently more than the market-clearing wage are primary, and those that pay only the market-clearing wage are secondary. Thus, this paper also gives a theory for division of labor markets between primary and secondary.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:oup:qjecon:v:97:y:1982:i:4:p:543-569.
Journal Field
General
Author Count
1
Added to Database
2026-01-24