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Redundancy Payments, Incomplete Labor Contracts, Unemployment and Welfare

Author

Listed:
  • Cahuc, Pierre

    (Sciences Po, Paris)

  • Zylberberg, Andre

    (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne)

Abstract

It is frequently argued that pure government-mandated severance transfers by the employer to the worker have neither employment nor welfare effect because they can be offset by private transfers from the worker to the employer. In this paper, using a dynamic search and matching model à la Mortensen and Pissarides (1994), we show that it may be not any more the case if labor contracts are incomplete and can be renegotiated by mutual agreement only. Indeed, we show that increases in high severance payments are likely to decrease unemployment but systematically decrease welfare and raise inequality. Moreover, it can be understood that insiders try to get high severance payments through political channels, although they do not fight for such a type of advantage at the firm level.

Suggested Citation

  • Cahuc, Pierre & Zylberberg, Andre, 1999. "Redundancy Payments, Incomplete Labor Contracts, Unemployment and Welfare," IZA Discussion Papers 96, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
  • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp96
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bertola, Giuseppe, 1990. "Job security, employment and wages," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 851-879, June.
    2. Cahuc, Pierre & Zylberberg, André, 1999. "Job protection, minimum wage and employment," CEPREMAP Working Papers (Couverture Orange) 9914, CEPREMAP.
    3. Edward P. Lazear, 1990. "Job Security Provisions and Employment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 105(3), pages 699-726.
    4. McLaughlin, Kenneth J, 1991. "A Theory of Quits and Layoffs with Efficient Turnover," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(1), pages 1-29, February.
    5. James M. Malcomson, 1997. "Contracts, Hold-Up, and Labor Markets," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(4), pages 1916-1957, December.
    6. Garey Ramey & Joel Watson, 1997. "Contractual Fragility, Job Destruction, and Business Cycles," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 112(3), pages 873-911.
    7. Hopenhayn, Hugo & Rogerson, Richard, 1993. "Job Turnover and Policy Evaluation: A General Equilibrium Analysis," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(5), pages 915-938, October.
    8. MacLeod, W Bentley & Malcomson, James M, 1993. "Investments, Holdup, and the Form of Market Contracts," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(4), pages 811-837, September.
    9. Mortensen, Dale & Pissarides, Christopher, 2011. "Job Creation and Job Destruction in the Theory of Unemployment," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 1, pages 1-19.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Cited by:

    1. Bruno Deffains & Yannick Gabuthy & Eve-Angéline Lambert, 2007. "Labor Conflicts and Inefficiency of Relationship-Specific Investments: What is the Judge's Role?," Working Papers of BETA 2007-04, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.
    2. Fertig, Michael & Schmidt, Christoph M., 2000. "Discretionary Measures of Active Labor Market Policy: The German Employment Promotion Reform in Perspective," IZA Discussion Papers 182, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Jens Suedekum & Peter Ruehmann, 2003. "Severance Payments and Firm–specific Human Capital," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 17(1), pages 47-62, March.
    4. Bonin, Holger & Zimmermann, Klaus F., 2000. "The Post-Unification German Labor Market," IZA Discussion Papers 185, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Garibaldi, Pietro & Violante, Giovanni, 2002. "Firing Tax and Severance Payment in Search Economies: A Comparison," CEPR Discussion Papers 3636, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. Postel-Vinay, Fabien & Turon, Hélène, 2011. "Severance Packages," IZA Discussion Papers 6023, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Huang, Chun-chieh & Chang, Juin-jen & Lai, Ching-chong, 2009. "Employment effect of dismissal pay in the presence of judicial mistakes," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 38-45, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Unemployment; job protection; severance payments; renegotiation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H29 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Other
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J38 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Public Policy
    • J41 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Labor Contracts
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search

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