This paper offers an eclectic survey of the political economy of labor regulation in the United States at federal and … notion that the U.S. labor market is unregulated while also indicating that the political process shows some sensitivity to …

Enforcement of labor regulations in the formal sector may drive workers to informality because they increase the costs … of formal labor. But better compliance with mandated benefits makes it attractive to be a formal employee. We show that …

Flexible labor markets require geographically mobile workers to be efficient. Otherwise, firms can take advantage of … costly. Thus, individuals with strong family ties rationally choose regulated labor markets to avoid moving and limiting the … labor market regulations. There are also positive cross-country correlations between the strength of family ties and labor …

We show how size-contingent laws can be used to identify the equilibrium and welfare effects of labor regulation. Our … framework incorporates such regulations into the Lucas (1978) model and applies this to France where many labor laws start to …

to never retire. Retirement plans are closely related to current labor market position. Specifically, forming … expectations about the age at which one will leave the labor market appears to be easier for workers in jobs with welldefined … heightened desire to remain employed. Finally, men alter their retirement plans in response to labor market shocks, while women …

Child labor is often condemned as a form of exploitation. I explore how the notion of exploitation, as used in everyday … language, can be made precise in economic models of child labor. Exploitation is defined relative to a specific social welfare … models, child labor is never exploitative. In contrast, under an inclusive welfare function, which places additional weight …

labor force survey. Specifically, we provide new ways of measuring occupational licensing and consider what types of … occupational licensing is an important labor market phenomenon that can be measured in labor force surveys. …