Documents Upmann, Thorsten 3 results

"We explore the implications of the generalised Alchian–Allen theorem for the labour-leisure-child-care decision of a mother with young children. In this framework we find: (i) For mothers who work only a few hours a week, a rise in wages arguably increases the demand for leisure relative to parental child care; (ii) given empirical evidence that an increase in wages induces mothers to spend less time on leisure and more with children, the generalised Alchian–Allen theorem implies that this requires the income elasticity of parental child care to be substantially higher than that of leisure. This finding, though, imposes substantial restrictions on reasonable specifications of a mother's utility function."

"In this paper we investigate trade union formation. To this end we apply a model with two types of labour where the interests of both groups of labourers are represented by either a joint (industry) labour union or by two independent group-specific (professional) labour unions. We investigate whether, and if so, under which conditions, it is beneficial for at least one group of labourers to form its own independent union; or whether it is in the interest of both groups to have a joint industry labour union. Applying the (asymmetric) Nash bargaining solution, we find that under reasonable conditions, it is beneficial for at least one group of labourers to form its own independent labour union. In this case a joint union must be considered as an unstable institution. The profit share, however, is always higher if the firm bargains with a joint labour union. This explains why employers vehemently oppose recent split offs of specialized labour groups from existing industry unions and from tariff unions."

"We analyse the two-dimensional Nash bargaining solution (NBS) deploying a standard labour market negotiations model (McDonald and Solow, 1981). We show that the two-dimensional bargaining problem can be decomposed into two one-dimensional problems such that the two solutions together replicate the solution of the two-dimensional problem, if the NBS is applied. The axiom of Independence of Irrelevant Alternatives turns out to be crucial for decomposability. Our result has significant implications for actual negotiations, as it allows for the decomposition of a multi-dimensional bargaining problem into simpler problems—and thus helps to facilitate real-world negotiations."