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An Efficiency-wage Model with Habit Concerns About Wages

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  • Laszlo Goerke

    (Institute for Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU), Trier University)

Abstract

We analyse the implications of habit formation relating to wages in a multi-period efficiency-wage model. If employees have such preferences, their existence provides firms with incentives to raise wages and reduce employment over time. Greater intensity does not necessarily have the same consequences, because wage adjustments counteract the initial level impact. The firm's response additionally depends on the wage-dependency of dismissal costs since such costs make an increasing wage profile more attractive and mitigate the effects of greater intensity of habit formation. We further show that short-lived productivity shocks have long-lasting wage and employment consequences. Moreover, habit concerns by firm owners reduce wages.

Suggested Citation

  • Laszlo Goerke, 2020. "An Efficiency-wage Model with Habit Concerns About Wages," IAAEU Discussion Papers 202004, Institute of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU).
    • Handle: RePEc:iaa:dpaper:202004
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Efficiency wages; Habit formation; Wage profile; Wage rigidity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D90 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - General
    • 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

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