Working paper available through PEDL. Published article available here.
Abstract
Labor market subcontracting is a global phenomenon. Basu et al. (2019) present a theory of wage fairness in a subcontracted labor market, where workers confront multi-party employment relationships and deep wage inequities between regular and subcontractor-mediated hires. They show that subcontracting derives its appeal from a downward revision of workers' fair wage demand when producers delegate employment decisions down the supply chain. Furthermore, subcontracting creates a holdup problem, resulting in wages that workers deem unfair, along with adverse worker morale consequences in equilibrium. These insights reveal the efficiency costs of subcontracting as an employer strategy to redress workers' demand for fair wages.
In response to the Covid-19 crisis, 186 countries implemented direct cash transfers to households, and 181 introduced in-kind programs that lowered the cost of utilities such as electricity, water, transport, and mobile money.
Organizational and managerial structure plays an important role in the productivity difference among firms. However, studies that assessed the quality of firm management and its link with their performance are still scanty.
Research suggests that partisanship and social media usage correlate with belief in COVID-19 misinformation, and that misinformation shapes citizens’ willingness to get vaccinated.
Using data from the largest online job portal in Nigeria, we document: (a) gender differences in salary offers for jobs, and (b) the response of (a) to recessions.
Many small businesses in low-income countries hire employees from their kinship networks. This fact is often attributed to hiring from the kinship network reducing contracting frictions or informational asymmetries.
Worker sorting into tasks and occupations based on their skills plays a potentially important role in aggregate labor productivity. This sorting may be inefficient if jobseekers do not apply to jobs that match their skills.