This study provides empirical evidence for the economic rationality of wage rigidities. Theoretically wage rigidities can result from contracts, implicit contracts, from efficiency wages and from insider-outsider behaviour. Based on a survey of 801 firms strong support has been found for...

Die Arbeitserlaubnis ist das wichtigste Instrument zur Kontrolle des Arbeitsmarktzugangs von ausländischen Immigranten. Die Erteilung einer allgemeinen Arbeitserlaubnis wird - unter Beachtung des Anwerbestopps - normalerweise nur dann vorgenommen, wenn kein Deutscher oder gleichberechtigter...

Temporary agency work and outsourcing to a service contractor are two forms of alternative work arrangements with rather complex legal aspects which firms use for external staffing. The regulatory complexity of temporary agency work can lead to intended or unintended non-compliance when firms...

Reputation indexes of employment protection have proven popular constructs in studies of the covariation of labor market institutions and macroeconomic outcomes. Portugal occupies an unenviable rank order in such measures of the stringency of employment protection. We critique this reputation in...

Wage flexibility is often considered to be caused by the highly regulated labor market and the rigid system of labor law existing in Germany, especially in the field of wage determination. In this paper the impact of existing labor agreements on incentive systems in Germany is analyzed. It...

Using a survey with 57 German firms, we evaluate the level of digitalization of the human resource management (HRM) function and document perceived benefits and barriers of technology adoption from organizational and individual users’ perspectives. The results give reason for optimism. Most of...