Equilibrium unemployment with outsourcing and wage solidarity under labour market imperfections
Koskela, Erkki ; Stenbacka, Rune
Institute of Labor Economics, Bonn
IZA - Bonn
2007
33 p.
labour market ; outsourcing ; trade union attitude ; unemployment ; wage determination
Discussion Paper Series
2733
Production management
English
Bibliogr.
"We evaluate the effects of outsourcing and wage solidarity on wage formation and equilibrium unemployment in a heterogeneous labour market, where wages are determined by a monopoly labour union. We find that outsourcing promotes the wage dispersion between the high-skilled and low-skilled workers. When the labour union adopts a solidaristic wage policy, it will magnify, and not dampen, this tendency. Further, higher outsourcing will increase equilibrium unemployment among the high-skilled workers, whereas it will reduce it among the low-skilled workers. Overall, outsourcing will reduce economy-wide equilibrium unemployment under the reasonable condition that the proportion of high-skilled workers is sufficiently low. "
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