Endogenous distortions in product and labor markets

Martin Rama and Guido Tabellini

No 1413, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: The authors use the common agency approach to analyze the joint determination of product and labor market distortions in a small (developing) open economy. Capital owners and union members lobby the government on tariffs and minimum wages, while factors of production in agriculture (the informal sector) are not organized. The government cares about social welfare, but also values the contributions (monetary or else) made by organized groups. The authors show that product and labor market distortions move in the same direction in response to changes in the relevant economic and political parameters, and that the level of those distortions is not modified by social pacts between capital and labor. They also show that conditionality by foreign agencies should target product market distortions, not labor market distortions. Labor market distortions ought not to be targeted because they are second best: they are the optimal response to the product market distortions. Labor market distortions are likely to adjust in the desired direction once product market distortions are removed or diminished.

Keywords: Labor Policies; Environmental Economics&Policies; Economic Theory&Research; Banks&Banking Reform; Transport and Trade Logistics; Environmental Economics&Policies; Economic Theory&Research; Banks&Banking Reform; TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT; Health Economics&Finance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1995-01-31
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSC ... d/PDF/multi_page.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Endogenous Distortions in Product and Labour Markets (1995)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:1413

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20433. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Roula I. Yazigi ().