IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ilrrev/v56y2003i3p393-408.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Effect of Implicit Contracts on the Movement of Wages over the Business Cycle: Evidence from the National Longitudinal Surveys

Author

Listed:
  • Darren Grant

Abstract

A 1991 study by Paul Beaudry and John DiNardo found evidence of internal labor markets that augment incumbent workers' wages when the external labor market is tight (when unemployment is low) and shield their wages when it is slack. Current wages, they found, depend on the tightest labor market conditions observed since a worker was hired, not current labor market tightness or labor market tightness at the time of hiring. This paper replicates and extends that research using data from six cohorts of the National Longitudinal Surveys that together span more than three decades, as well as an estimation framework more robust than that in the original study. The author finds strong support for Beaudry and DiNardo's key prediction. Supplementary regressions confirm other implications of the theory as well. Recently, at least, the effect of implicit contracting on wages has been similar for men and women.

Suggested Citation

  • Darren Grant, 2003. "The Effect of Implicit Contracts on the Movement of Wages over the Business Cycle: Evidence from the National Longitudinal Surveys," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 56(3), pages 393-408, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:56:y:2003:i:3:p:393-408
    DOI: 10.1177/001979390305600302
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/001979390305600302
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/001979390305600302?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Neumark, David & Polsky, Daniel & Hansen, Daniel, 1999. "Has Job Stability Declined Yet? New Evidence for the 1990s," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 17(4), pages 29-64, October.
    2. Gary Solon & Robert Barsky & Jonathan A. Parker, 1994. "Measuring the Cyclicality of Real Wages: How Important is Composition Bias?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 109(1), pages 1-25.
    3. William E. Even & David A. Macpherson, 1993. "The Decline of Private-Sector Unionism and the Gender Wage Gap," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 28(2), pages 279-296.
    4. Darren Grant, 2001. "A Comparison of the Cyclical Behavior of Union and Nonunion Wages in the United States," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 36(1), pages 31-57.
    5. James Ted McDonald & Christopher Worswick, 1999. "Wages, Implicit Contracts, and the Business Cycle: Evidence from Canadian Micro Data," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 107(4), pages 884-913, August.
    6. Paul Beaudry & John DiNardo, 1995. "Is the Behavior of Hours Worked Consistent with Implicit Contract Theory?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 110(3), pages 743-768.
    7. Topel, Robert H, 1991. "Specific Capital, Mobility, and Wages: Wages Rise with Job Seniority," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(1), pages 145-176, February.
    8. Sumner, Scott & Silver, Stephen, 1989. "Real Wages, Employment, and the Phillips Curve," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(3), pages 706-720, June.
    9. Beaudry, Paul & DiNardo, John, 1991. "The Effect of Implicit Contracts on the Movement of Wages over the Business Cycle: Evidence from Micro Data," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(4), pages 665-688, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Johannes F. Schmieder & Till von Wachter, 2010. "Does Wage Persistence Matter for Employment Fluctuations? Evidence from Displaced Workers," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 1-21, July.
    2. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/f4rshpf3v1umfa09lat214kj4 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Pedro Portugal & Anabela Carneiro, 2004. "Workers' Flows and Real Wage Cyclicality," Working Papers w200409, Banco de Portugal, Economics and Research Department.
    4. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/f4rshpf3v1umfa09lat214kj4 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/f4rshpf3v1umfa09lat214kj4 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Shin, Donggyun & Shin, Kwanho, 2008. "Why Are The Wages Of Job Stayers Procyclical?," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(1), pages 1-21, February.
    7. repec:eee:labchp:v:3:y:1999:i:pb:p:2291-2372 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Arozamena, Leandro & Centeno, Mario, 2006. "Tenure, business cycle and the wage-setting process," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 401-424, February.
    9. Basu, S. & House, C.L., 2016. "Allocative and Remitted Wages," Handbook of Macroeconomics, in: J. B. Taylor & Harald Uhlig (ed.), Handbook of Macroeconomics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 297-354, Elsevier.
    10. Anne-Gisèle Privat, 2005. "L'avenir des retraites en France: Evalutation de l'impact des réformes de 1993 et de 2033 à l'aide du modèle de microsimulation Artémis," Sciences Po publications info:hdl:2441/f4rshpf3v1u, Sciences Po.
    11. Paul J. Devereux & Robert A. Hart, 2007. "The Spot Market Matters: Evidence On Implicit Contracts From Britain," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 54(5), pages 661-683, November.
    12. Leena Rudanko, 2008. "Aggregate and Idiosyncratic Risk in a Frictional Labor Market," Boston University - Department of Economics - Working Papers Series wp2008-009, Boston University - Department of Economics.
    13. Thierry Debrand & Sophie Pennec & Anne-Gisèle Privat, 2003. "Un modèle de microsimulation pour la projection des retraites du régime général," Economie & Prévision, La Documentation Française, vol. 0(4), pages 215-230.
    14. Silke Anger, 2007. "The Cyclicality of Effective Wages within Employer-Employee Matches: Evidence from German Panel Data," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 719, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    15. Juha Kilponen & Torsten Santavirta, 2010. "New Evidence on Implicit Contracts from Linked Employer–Employee Data," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 112(4), pages 864-883, December.
    16. Schob, Ronnie & Wildasin, David E., 2007. "Economic integration and labor market institutions: Worker mobility, earnings risk, and contract structure," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 141-164, March.
    17. Jonathan P. Thomas & Tim Worrall, 2007. "Limited Commitment Models Of The Labour Market," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 54(5), pages 750-773, November.
    18. Martins, Pedro & Snell, Andy & Thomas, Jonathan, 2010. "Minu, Startu and all that:- Pitfalls in estimating the sensitivity of a worker’s wage to aggregate unemployment," SIRE Discussion Papers 2010-109, Scottish Institute for Research in Economics (SIRE).
    19. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2010_012 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Devereux, Paul J., 2002. "The Importance of Obtaining a High-Paying Job," MPRA Paper 49326, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    21. Otrok Christopher & Pourpourides Panayiotis M., 2019. "On the cyclicality of real wages and wage differentials," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 19(1), pages 1-18, January.
    22. Bellou, Andriana & Kaymak, Barış, 2012. "Wages, implicit contracts, and the business cycle: Evidence from a European panel," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(6), pages 898-907.
    23. Ran Gu, 2023. "Human Capital and the Business Cycle Effects on the Postgraduate Wage Premium," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 48, pages 345-376, April.
    24. Anger, Silke, 2011. "The Cyclicality of Effective Wages within Employer–Employee Matches in a Rigid Labor Market," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 18(6), pages 786-797.
    25. Juha Kilponen & Torsten Santavirta, 2010. "New Evidence on Implicit Contracts from Linked Employer–Employee Data," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 112(4), pages 864-883, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:56:y:2003:i:3:p:393-408. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.ilr.cornell.edu .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.