Kauppi, Heikki (University of Helsinki) Koskela, Erkki () (University of Helsinki and IZA Bonn) Stenbacka, Rune (Swedish School of Economics)
Abstract
We study the implications of product market competition and investment for price setting, wage bargaining and thereby for equilibrium unemployment in an economy with product and labour market imperfections. We show that intensified product market competition will reduce equilibrium unemployment, whereas the effect of increased capital intensity is more complex. Higher capital intensity will decrease the equilibrium unemployment when the elasticity of substitution between capital and labour is less than one, while the reverse happens when this elasticity is higher than one but smaller than the elasticity of substitution between products. Finally, we demonstrate how labour and product market imperfections, characterized by the wage and price setting mark-ups, affect the optimal capital stock. Our findings raise important questions for future empirical research.
Download Info
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to
view it first. Information about this may be contained
in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read
the IDEAS help
page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
Publisher Info
Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number
1058.
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.:
Nickell, S & Vainiomaki, J & Wadhwani, S, 1994.
"Wages and Product Market Power,"
Economica,
London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 61(244), pages 457-73, November.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Alberto Alesina & Silvia Ardagna & Giuseppe Nicoletti & Fabio Schiantarelli, 2003.
"Regulation and Investment,"
NBER Working Papers
9560, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
Alesina, Alberto F & Ardagna, Silvia & Nicoletti, Giorgio & Schiantarelli, Fabio, 2003.
"Regulation and Investment,"
CEPR Discussion Papers
3851, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)