IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/oup/restud/v75y2008i2p559-578.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Consumption Commitments and Employment Contracts

Author

Listed:
  • Andrew Postlewaite
  • Larry Samuelson
  • Dan Silverman

Abstract

We examine an economy in which the cost of consuming some goods can be reduced by making commitments that reduce flexibility. We show that such consumption commitments can induce consumers with risk-neutral underlying utility functions to be risk averse over small variations in income, but sometimes to seek risk over large variations. As a result, optimal employment contracts will smooth wages conditional on being employed, but may incorporate a possibility of unemployment. Copyright 2008, Wiley-Blackwell.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew Postlewaite & Larry Samuelson & Dan Silverman, 2008. "Consumption Commitments and Employment Contracts," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 75(2), pages 559-578.
  • Handle: RePEc:oup:restud:v:75:y:2008:i:2:p:559-578
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/j.1467-937X.2008.00472.x
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stephen H. Shore & Todd Sinai, 2010. "Commitment, Risk, and Consumption: Do Birds of a Feather Have Bigger Nests?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(2), pages 408-424, May.
    2. Ellingsen, Tore & Holden, Steinar, 1997. "Indebtedness and Unemployment: A Durable Relationship," SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 186, Stockholm School of Economics.
    3. Tore Ellingsen & Steinar Holden, 1998. "Sticky Consumption and Rigid Wages," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Steven Brakman & Hans Ees & Simon K. Kuipers (ed.), Market Behaviour and Macroeconomic Modelling, chapter 7, pages 183-200, Palgrave Macmillan.
    4. Azariadis, Costas, 1975. "Implicit Contracts and Underemployment Equilibria," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 83(6), pages 1183-1202, December.
    5. Adam Szeidl & Raj Chetty, 2005. "Consumption Commitments: Neoclassical Foundations for Habit Formation," 2005 Meeting Papers 122, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    6. George A. Akerlof & Hajime Miyazaki, 1980. "The Implicit Contract Theory of Unemployment meets the Wage Bill Argument," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 47(2), pages 321-338.
    7. Raj Chetty & Adam Szeidl, 2007. "Consumption Commitments and Risk Preferences," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(2), pages 831-877.
    8. Truman F. Bewley, 2002. "Fairness, Reciprocity, and Wage Rigidity," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 1383, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University.
    9. Martin Neil Baily, 1974. "Wages and Employment under Uncertain Demand," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 41(1), pages 37-50.
    10. Adam Szeidl & Raj Chetty, 2004. "Consumption Commitments and Asset Prices," 2004 Meeting Papers 354, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Schroyen, Fred, 2011. "Attitudes towards income risk in the presence of quantity constraints," Discussion Paper Series in Economics 7/2011, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Economics.
    2. Antoine Bonleu & Bruno Decreuse & Tanguy van Ypersele, 2019. "Job protection, housing market regulation, and the youth," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 21(6), pages 1017-1036, December.
    3. Rotemberg, Julio J., 2008. "Minimally altruistic wages and unemployment in a matching model with monopsony," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(Supplemen), pages 97-110, October.
    4. Drewianka, Scott, 2008. "Constrained labor supply and risk-aversion," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 101(2), pages 130-133, November.
    5. Jianbo Jeff Luo, 2022. "Is Happiness Adaptation to Poverty Limited? The Role of Reference Income," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(6), pages 2491-2516, August.
    6. Minsu Chang, 2024. "Changing Marital Transitions and Homeownership Among Young Households," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 52, pages 46-63, April.
    7. Luigi Guiso, 2014. "Risk Aversion and Financial Crisis," EIEF Working Papers Series 1412, Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance (EIEF), revised Dec 2014.
    8. Guiso, Luigi & Sodini, Paolo, 2013. "Household Finance: An Emerging Field," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, in: G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Finance, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 1397-1532, Elsevier.
    9. Chen Hua & Mahani Reza S., 2012. "Optimal Demand for Insurance with Consumption Commitments," Asia-Pacific Journal of Risk and Insurance, De Gruyter, vol. 6(2), pages 1-26, June.
    10. Nie, Pu-yan & Wang, Chan & Yang, Yong-cong, 2019. "Vertical integration maintenance commitments," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 11-16.
    11. Gelman, Michael & Kariv, Shachar & Shapiro, Matthew D. & Silverman, Dan & Tadelis, Steven, 2020. "How individuals respond to a liquidity shock: Evidence from the 2013 government shutdown," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    12. David Weiss & Cezar Santos, 2011. "Why Not Settle Down Already? A Quantitative Question," 2011 Meeting Papers 921, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    13. Davidoff, Thomas, 2010. "Home equity commitment and long-term care insurance demand," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(1-2), pages 44-49, February.
    14. Decreuse, Bruno & van Ypersele, Tanguy, 2011. "Housing market regulation and the social demand for job protection," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(11), pages 1397-1409.
    15. Vicky Henderson & David Hobson, 2013. "Risk Aversion, Indivisible Timing Options, and Gambling," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 61(1), pages 126-137, February.
    16. Javier López Segovia, 2023. "Consumption Commitments and Unemployment Insurance," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2023_458, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    17. Douglas W. Blackburn & Andrey D. Ukhov, 2013. "Individual vs. Aggregate Preferences: The Case of a Small Fish in a Big Pond," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(2), pages 470-484, August.
    18. University of Iowa & Galina Vereshchagina, 2007. "Preferences for risk in a dynamic model with consumption commitments," 2007 Meeting Papers 567, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    19. Sommer, Kamila, 2016. "Fertility choice in a life cycle model with idiosyncratic uninsurable earnings risk," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 27-38.
    20. SCHROYEN, Fred, 2011. "Attitudes towards income risk in the presence of quantity constraints," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2011020, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    21. Majchrowska Aleksandra & Broniatowska Paulina, 2018. "The workforce’s age structure and wages—Do age and the type of occupation matter?," Lodz Economics Working Papers 8/2018, University of Lodz, Faculty of Economics and Sociology.
    22. Minsu Chang, 2019. "A House Without a Ring: The Role of Changing Marital Transitions for Housing Decisions," 2019 Meeting Papers 514, Society for Economic Dynamics.

    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. Andrew Postlewaite & Larry Samuelson & Dan Silverman, 2006. "Consumption Commitments and Employment Contracts, Fourth Version," PIER Working Paper Archive 07-020, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania, revised 09 Jul 2007.
    2. Andrew Postlewaite & Larry Samuelson & Dan Silverman, 2001. "Consumption Commitments and Preferences for Risk," PIER Working Paper Archive 04-021, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania, revised 18 May 2004.
    3. Lloyd Ulman, 1992. "Why Should Human Resource Managers Pay High Wages?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 30(2), pages 177-212, June.
    4. Olivier Blanchard & Jean Tirole, 2004. "The Optimal Design of Unemployment Insurance and Employment Protection. A First Pass," NBER Working Papers 10443, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Haltiwanger, John, 1984. "The Distinguishing Characteristics of Temporary and Permanent Layoffs," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 2(4), pages 523-538, October.
    6. Pissarides, Christopher A., 2001. "Employment protection," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 131-159, May.
    7. John Geanakoplos & Takatoshi Ito, 1982. "On Implicit Contracts and Involuntary Unemployment," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 640, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University.
    8. Olivier J. Blanchard & Jean Tirole, 2008. "The Joint Design of Unemployment Insurance and Employment Protection: A First Pass," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 6(1), pages 45-77, March.
    9. repec:eee:labchp:v:2:y:1986:i:c:p:789-848 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Jacquet, Nicolas L. & Tan, Serene, 2012. "Wage-vacancy contracts and coordination frictions," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 147(3), pages 1064-1104.
    11. Christian Etter, 1986. "Versicherungsaspekte des Arbeitsverhältnisses: Der Einfluß impliziter Arbeitsverträge auf Löhne und Beschäftigung," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (SJES), Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES), vol. 122(III), pages 405-424, September.
    12. Sakuma, Akimitsu, 1982. "Imperfect Information and Contracts Between Two Firms," Hitotsubashi Journal of commerce and management, Hitotsubashi University, vol. 17(1), pages 25-41, October.
    13. Rotemberg, Julio J., 2008. "Minimally altruistic wages and unemployment in a matching model with monopsony," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(Supplemen), pages 97-110, October.
    14. John Haltiwanger, 1982. "Specific CApital, Long Term Implicit Contracts, and Temporary Layoffs," UCLA Economics Working Papers 245, UCLA Department of Economics.
    15. repec:eee:labchp:v:2:y:1986:i:c:p:1001-1035 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Jonathan P. Thomas, 2000. "Fair pay and a Wagebill Argument for Wage Rigidity and Excessive Employment Variability," Labor and Demography 0004004, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Robert Dur & Heiner Schmittdiel, 2019. "Paid to Quit," De Economist, Springer, vol. 167(4), pages 387-406, December.
    18. R.W. Fraser, 1982. "Inventories and a Firm's Incentive for Wage Constraints," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 82-23, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    19. Ulman, Lloyd, 1992. "Why Should Human Resource Managers Pay High Wages?," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt8378t1rz, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    20. Andrew Garin & Filipe Silverio, 2017. "How Does Firm Performance Affect Wages? Evidence from Idiosyncratic Export Shocks," 2017 Papers pga940, Job Market Papers.
    21. Ian M. McDonald, 1984. "Trying to Understand Stagflation," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 17(3), pages 32-56, November.
    22. Carstensen, Vivian, 1999. "Beschäftigungssicherung durch Arbeitszeitflexibilisierung," Hannover Economic Papers (HEP) dp-228, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty

    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:oup:restud:v:75:y:2008:i:2:p:559-578. 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: Oxford University Press (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://academic.oup.com/restud .

    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.