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A Dynamic Model of Bargaining in a Unionized Firm with Irreversible Investment

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  • Curtis J. Eberwein
  • Tryphon Kollintzas

Abstract

This paper develops a dynamic model of bargaining between a firm and union. Capital is assumed to be firm-specific, so only nonnegative investments are possible. Collective bargaining contracts specify the level of the wage rate that will prevail for a fixed contract length, while the firm unilaterally chooses employment. Two types of equilibria are considered. In one equilibrium, the wage-employment outcomes lie on the marginal revenue product of labor curve and the wage is determined by a generalized Nash bargain. This equilibrium is Pareto inefficient. In another equilibrium, wage-employment pairs lie on the contract curve and wages are set above the marginal product of labor. In this equilibrium, the firm's desire to reduce employment strategies in which the union bargains tougher in the future and the Pareto inefficient equilibrium prevails. Existence results are established and the equilibria are characrerized for a particular specification of the firm's revenue function and the union's temporal utility function, using recursive methods. The model is calibrated on stylized facts from the U.S. economy. It turns out that the calibrated model can account for several other stylized facts; in particular, the relatively low variability of the wage rate and the countercyclicality of the union wage premium. Moreover, it is found that irreversibilities are crucial in this respect, in the ergodic as well as the nonergodic states.

Suggested Citation

  • Curtis J. Eberwein & Tryphon Kollintzas, 1995. "A Dynamic Model of Bargaining in a Unionized Firm with Irreversible Investment," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 37-38, pages 91-115.
    • Handle: RePEc:adr:anecst:y:1995:i:37-38:p:91-115
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Paul Heidhues, 2000. "Employers’ Associations, Industry-wide Unions, and Competition," CIG Working Papers FS IV 00-11, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin (WZB), Research Unit: Competition and Innovation (CIG).
    2. Petrakis, Emmanuel & Vlassis, Minas, 1996. "Endogenous scope of bargaining in oligopoly," UC3M Working papers. Economics 3978, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Economía.
    3. Fabio Canova & Eva Ortega, 1996. "Testing calibrated general equilibrium models," Economics Working Papers 166, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    4. Knabe, Andreas, 2009. "Implementing endogenous inside options in Nash wage bargaining models," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 57(2), pages 161-176, March.
    5. Minas Vlassis, 2003. "Wage Centralization and the Scope of Firm–Union Bargaining: ‘Efficient Bargains’ or ‘Labour Demand’?," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 71(3), pages 308-329, June.
    6. Kollintzas, Tryphon & Vassilatos, Vanghelis & Papageorgiou, Dimitris, 2013. "A Neoclassical Growth Model for the Insiders ? Outsiders Society," CEPR Discussion Papers 9640, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    7. Eberwein, Curtis J., 2001. "Repeated bargaining and the role of impatience and incomplete contracting," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(5), pages 573-592, December.
    8. de la Croix, David & Fagnart, Jean-Francois, 1995. "Underemployment of production factors in a forward-looking model," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 2(2), pages 131-159, June.
    9. Jean-François Fagnart & Marc Germain, 1997. "Investment and technological choice in a right-to-manage model," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 66(3), pages 223-247, October.
    10. Kollintzas, Tryphon & Vassilatos, Vanghelis, 2000. "A small open economy model with transaction costs in foreign capital," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(8), pages 1515-1541, August.
    11. Petrakis, Emmanuel & Vlassis, Minas, 2000. "Endogenous scope of bargaining in a union-oligopoly model: when will firms and unions bargain over employment?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 261-281, May.
    12. de la Croix, David & Palm, Franz C. & Pfann, Gerard A., 1996. "A dynamic contracting model for wages and employment in three European economies," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 429-448, February.

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