In this paper the effects of different institutional scenarios on rent creation and rent distribution in a labour market are studied. Rent is generated by sinking costs in human capital investment and this rent is distributed between firms and workers by the wage set. In the bench-mark scenario...

This paper demonstrates that insiders can erect barriers to entry and skim rents by sinking costs in human capital when labour markets are otherwise perfectly contestable. The sunk costs nature of human capital investments may result from the need to satisfy ever increasing specialised skill...

The US labour market is characterized by a high skill wage mark-up and low unemployment, while the German labour market has a low skill wage mark-up and a high, mainly unskilled unemployment rate. This paper adds an innovative labour supply explanation to the discussion how these distinct labour...

In this paper the effects of different institutional scenarios on rent creation and rent distribution in a labour market are studied. Rent is generated by sinking costs in human capital investment and this rent is distributed between firms and workers by the wage set. In the bench-mark scenario...

The focus of this paper is on rent distribution under different labour market regimes. When workers determine human capital investment and wages freely, while the firm sets labour demand, the rent created is shared. Investment in human capital is then inefficiently low. When there are unemployed...

The US labour market is characterized by a high skill wage mark-up and low unemployment, while the German labour market has a low skill wage mark-up and a high, mainly unskilled unemployment rate. This paper adds an innovative labour supply explanation to the discussion how these distinct labour...

This paper demonstrates that insiders can erect barriers to entry and skim rents by sinking costs in human capital when labour markets are otherwise perfectly contestable. The sunk costs nature of human capital investments may result from the need to satisfy ever increasing specialised skill...

This paper shows that investment inhuman capital may be another reason for incentive wages in addition to "retain, recruit and motivate". It is shown under which circumstances firms pay wages in excess of the market clearing level in order to induce workers to invest. Investment in human capital...

Der technologische Wandel erhöht den Weiterbildungsbedarf aller Beschäftigten, die in qualifizierten Arbeitsplätzen tätig sein wollen. Dieser Beitrag identifiziert die für die Weiterbildung anfallenden Kosten als eine der treibenden Kräfte für Lohnspreizung und Arbeitslosigkeit in Zeiten...