Today’s labor markets are witnessing seismic changes brought on by such factors as rising self-employment, temporary employment, zero-hour contracts, and the growth of the sharing economy. This fully updated and revised third edition of The Economics of Imperfect Labor Markets reflects these and other critical changes in imperfect labor markets, and it has been significantly expanded to discuss topics such as workplace safety, regulations on self-employment, and disability and absence from work. This new edition also features engaging case studies that illustrate key aspects of imperfect labor markets.
Authoritative and accessible, this textbook examines the many institutions that affect the behavior of workers and employers in imperfect labor markets. These include minimum wages, employment protection legislation, unemployment benefits, family policies, equal opportunity legislation, collective bargaining, early retirement programs, and education and migration policies. Written for advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students, the book carefully defines and measures these institutions to accurately characterize their effects, and discusses how these institutions are being transformed today.
- Fully updated to reflect today’s changing labor markets
- Significantly expanded to discuss a wealth of new topics, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
- Features quantitative examples, new case studies, data sets that enable users to replicate results in the literature, technical appendixes, and end-of-chapter exercises
- Unique focus on institutions in imperfect labor markets
- Self-contained chapters cover each of the most important labor-market institutions
- Instructor’s manual available to professors—now with new exercises and solutions
Tito Boeri is professor of economics at Bocconi University in Milan and visiting professor at the European Institute at the London School of Economics. Twitter @Tboeri Jan van Ours is professor of applied economics at Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands and honorary professorial fellow in economics at the University of Melbourne.
"Understanding the role of labor market institutions is a difficult but central task. Good institutions can alleviate the adverse effects of the many imperfections that characterize labor markets. But unfortunately bad institutions can, and often do, make things worse. By relying on simple theory and an accumulating body of careful evidence, this book helps us think straight. An essential read for anybody interested in going beyond clichés and understanding what institutions do and should do."—Olivier Blanchard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
"An invaluable survey of how policy affects the labor market, using the best of theory and empirical evidence."—Richard Layard, London School of Economics
"A very useful book aimed at providing a theoretical explanation and empirical reviews of evidence about a number of important issues in labor economics."—Peter Cappelli, Journal of Economic Literature
"By focusing on frontline policy debates, this book should hold the interest of students who often find traditional labor economics courses a bit dry."—Alan Manning, London School of Economics
"There is no real equivalent to this book. And although it is an undergraduate-level textbook, it may also interest economists working at government institutions and international organizations who want an accessible review of the academic literature."—Fabien Postel-Vinay, University College London
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