Wages and employment in a repeated game with revenue fluctuations

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftTidsskriftartikelForskningfagfællebedømt

Empirical investigations suggests that the real wage is surprisingly flat over the business cycle. This paper analyses a repeated game between a union and a firm which can contribute to explaining the flat wage. The parties cannot enter binding contracts, and revenue is fluctuating. The paper focuses on the best subgame-perfect equilibrium among those sharing the expected surplus in given fixed shares - e.g. equal shares. It is shown that (for moderate discount factors) this equilibrium has a more counter-cyclical wage, than what would be the case if the parties shared the surplus in each period in the same shares
OriginalsprogEngelsk
TidsskriftEuropean Economic Review
Vol/bind41
Udgave nummer1
Sider (fra-til)147-162
ISSN0014-2921
DOI
StatusUdgivet - 1997

Bibliografisk note

JEL classifications: E3, E24, J30, J50

ID: 155833