We show in a theoretical efficiency wage model where firms differ in monitoring intensity or in the effort intensity of their technologies that the impact of monitoring intensity on wages is ambiguous, a result that mirrors evidence from the empirical literature. We argue that to correctly...

The labor market model is developed within an urban spatial context, where it is shown that effeciency-wage policies can lead to significant levels of involuntary unemployment. Commuting cost differences between workers and nonworkers tend to increase unemployment, and competition for land tends...

We consider a dual labor market with a continuum of heterogeneous workers differentiated by their ability of acquiring a specific skill. In the primary sector, jobs require firm-specific training and firms set efficiency wages. In the secondary sector, wages are competitive and no training is...