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Search, Concave Production, and Optimal Firm Size

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Author Info
Smith, Eric

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Abstract

This paper presents a simple search and bargaining economy in which firms use concave production. Because a firm and worker negotiate over the worker's marginal productivity, the firm's wage is a function of its labour force. Reacting to this wage function, firms choose an excessively large and inefficient number of workers. They overemploy, but because too few firms exist in equilibrium, aggregate employment and vacancies are suboptimal. Imposing a fixed exogenous wage, for example by legislating a minimum wage or through union contracting, reduces this inefficiency.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number 882.

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Date of creation: Jan 1994
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Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:882

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Related research
Keywords: Bargaining; Firm Size; Minimum Wages; Search; Unions;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General
J41 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Labor Contracts
J50 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - General

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. Ronald G. Ehrenberg, 1992. "New minimum wage research: Symposium introduction," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, ILR School, Cornell University, vol. 46(1), pages 3-5, October.
  2. Chalkley, Martin, 1991. "Monopsony Wage Determination and Multiple Unemployment Equilibria in a Non-linear Search Model," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 58(1), pages 181-93, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. repec:fth:prinin:300 is not listed on IDEAS
  4. David Card, 1992. "Using Regional Variation in Wages to Measure the Effects of the Federal Minimum Wage," Working Papers 680, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section.. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Berman, Eli, 1997. "Help Wanted, Job Needed: Estimates of a Matching Function from Employment Service Data," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 15(1), pages S251-92, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Lucas, Robert Jr. & Prescott, Edward C., 1974. "Equilibrium search and unemployment," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 188-209, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Coles, Melvyn G & Smith, Eric, 1996. "Cross-Section Estimation of the Matching Function: Evidence from England and Wales," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 63(252), pages 589-97, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Winfried Koeniger & Julien Prat, 2007. "Employment Protection, Product Market Regulation and Firm Selection," Working Papers 07-03, Utrecht School of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Monique Ebell & Christian Haefke, 2009. "Product Market Deregulation and the U.S. Employment Miracle," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 12(3), pages 479-504, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Monique Ebell & Christian Haefke, 2002. "Product Market Deregulation and Labor Market Outcomes," Economics Working Papers 726, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, revised Dec 2003. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Noritaka Kudoh & Masaru Sasaki, 2007. "Employment and Hours of Work," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 07-35, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics and Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. André Kurmann, 2009. "Holdups and Overinvestment in Physical Capital Markets," Cahiers de recherche 0904, CIRPEE. [Downloadable!]
  6. Noritaka Kudoh & Masaru Sasaki, 2007. "Precautionary Demand for Labor in Search Equilibrium," Discussion Papers in Economics and Business 07-34, Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics and Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP). [Downloadable!]
  7. Monique Ebell & Christian Haefke, 2006. "Product Market Regulation and Endogenous Union Formation," IZA Discussion Papers 2222, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  8. Krause, Michael & Lubik, Thomas A., 2007. "Does intra-firm bargaining matter for business cycle dynamics?," Discussion Paper Series 1: Economic Studies 2007,17, Deutsche Bundesbank, Research Centre. [Downloadable!]
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