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Labor Market Models of Worker and Firm Heterogeneity

Author

Listed:
  • Rasmus Lentz
  • Dale T. Mortensen

    (Department of Economics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, NBER, and CAM
    Department of Economics, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, Aarhus University, NBER, and IZA)

Abstract

Microeconomic data on individual firms and employer-employee matches reveal substantial and persistent dispersion in firm size, productivity, and average wage paid and a positive correlation between each pair. To the extent that intrinsic differences in firm productivity explain these facts, there are several important consequences. First, the reallocation of employment from less to more productive firms will yield efficiency gains. Second, workers will find it in their interest to seek out higher-paying employers. Recent research has provided support for both hypotheses. Third, the existence of worker and employer heterogeneity offers possible gains from sorting. However, because the problem of identifying the presence of sorting is model dependent, it is too early for conclusions about its significance.

Suggested Citation

  • Rasmus Lentz & Dale T. Mortensen, 2010. "Labor Market Models of Worker and Firm Heterogeneity," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 2(1), pages 577-602, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:anr:reveco:v:2:y:2010:p:577-602
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    File URL: http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.economics.102308.124511
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Michele Raitano & Francesco Vona, 2017. "Competition, firm size and returns to skills: Evidence from currency shocks and market liberalisations," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(12), pages 2676-2703, December.
    2. Mikael Carlsson & Julián Messina & Oskar Nordström Skans, 2016. "Wage Adjustment and Productivity Shocks," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 126(595), pages 1739-1773, September.
    3. Koch, Michael & Egger, Hartmut, 2013. "Trade and the Firm-Internal Allocation of Workers to Tasks," VfS Annual Conference 2013 (Duesseldorf): Competition Policy and Regulation in a Global Economic Order 79841, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    4. Marcus Hagedorn & Tzuo Hann Law & Iourii Manovskii, 2017. "Identifying Equilibrium Models of Labor Market Sorting," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 85, pages 29-65, January.
    5. Bent Christensen & Jesper Bagger, 2014. "Wage and Productivity Dispersion: The Roles of Rent Sharing, Labor Quality and Capital Intensity," 2014 Meeting Papers 473, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    6. Meinen, Philipp & Parrotta, Pierpaolo & Sala, Davide & Yalcin, Erdal, 2022. "Managers as knowledge carriers – Explaining firms’ internationalization success with manager mobility," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    7. Jean‐Baptiste Michau, 2021. "On the Provision of Insurance against Search‐Induced Wage Fluctuations," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 123(1), pages 382-414, January.
    8. Niklas Engbom & Christian Moser, 2022. "Earnings Inequality and the Minimum Wage: Evidence from Brazil," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(12), pages 3803-3847, December.
    9. Donna, Javier D. & Schenone, Pablo & Veramendi, Gregory F., 2020. "Networks, frictions, and price dispersion," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 406-431.
    10. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/2bppdssek78iho8jevmfdq9vu2 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Elise Coudin & Sophie Maillard & Maxime Tô, 2018. "Family, Firms and the Gender Wage Gap in France," Working Papers 2018-09, Center for Research in Economics and Statistics.
    12. Krasnokutskaya, Elena & Song, Kyungchul & Tang, Xun, 2022. "Estimating unobserved individual heterogeneity using pairwise comparisons," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 226(2), pages 477-497.
    13. Rogerson, Richard & Shimer, Robert, 2011. "Search in Macroeconomic Models of the Labor Market," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 7, pages Pages: 61, Elsevier.
    14. Yannick Bormans & Angelos Theodorakopoulos, 2023. "Productivity dispersion, wage dispersion and superstar firms," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 90(360), pages 1145-1172, October.
    15. Gregory Veramendi, 2012. "Labor Market Dynamics: A Model of Search and Human Capital Accumulation," 2012 Meeting Papers 1059, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    16. Ija Trapeznikova & Juan Pablo Rud, 2015. "Wage Dispersion, Job Creation and Development: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," 2015 Meeting Papers 1005, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    17. Anagaw Derseh Mebratie & Peter A. G. van Bergeijk, 2013. "Firm heterogeneity and development: A meta-analysis of FDI productivity spillovers," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(1), pages 53-74, February.
    18. Patrick Kline & Neviana Petkova & Heidi Williams & Owen Zidar, 2019. "Who Profits from Patents? Rent-Sharing at Innovative Firms," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(3), pages 1343-1404.
    19. Luca Macedoni, 2022. "Monopsonistic competition, trade, and the profit share," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 124(2), pages 488-515, April.
    20. Rui Baptista & Francisco Lima & Miguel Preto, 2013. "Entrepreneurial skills and workers’ wages in small firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(2), pages 309-323, February.
    21. Michèle A. Weynandt, 2014. "Selective Firing and Lemons," NRN working papers 2014-05, The Austrian Center for Labor Economics and the Analysis of the Welfare State, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    productivity differentials; size distribution of firms; wage dispersion; reallocation; assortative matching;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J41 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Labor Contracts
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance

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