We estimate the effects of a mandate allocating a third of corporate board seats to workers (shared governance). We study a reform in Germany that abruptly abolished this mandate for new firm cohorts but locked it in for incumbents. Rejecting the canonical hold-up prediction - that increasing...

This brief, written for the "Unrigging the Labor Market" convening on June 13, 2018 at Harvard Law School, summarizes the empirical research on the relationship between covenants not to compete, their enforceability, and wages

Workplace sexual harassment is illegal, but many workers report that they have been sexually harassed. Exposure to the risk of sexual harassment may decrease productivity, which would reduce wages. Alternatively, workers may receive a compensating differential for exposure to sexual harassment,...

As recent efforts to reform immigration policy at the federal level have failed, states have started to take immigration matters into their own hands and researchers have been paying closer attention to state dynamics surrounding immigration policy. Yet, to this date, there is not a clear...

This paper describes the patterns of worker turnover in selected Latin American countries and their implications for wage inequality. It documents a higher positive annual wage growth rate for job to job changers compared to stayers, due to turnover capturing the immediate gains from search...

In this paper we look at the evolution of low wage employment in Italy using different data sets, at the individual level, for the 1975-1993 period. The structure of the paper is as follows: first, the nature and the extent of low pay in Italy is analysed in terms of the existing pay setting...

How much employment can be generated by decreasing payroll taxes? We examine this question by exploring the staggered rollout of a large payroll tax reform in Brazil. Using administrative matched employer-employee data, we find an increase of 5 percent on employment due to both firm growth and...

As recent efforts to reform immigration policy at the federal level have failed, states have started to take immigration matters into their own hands and researchers have been paying closer attention to state dynamics surrounding immigration policy. Yet, to this date, there is not a clear...

It is often argued that informal labour markets in developing countries are the engine of growth because their existence allows firms to operate in an environment where wage and regulatory costs are lower. On the other hand informality means that the amount of social protection offered to...

Following monetary union with the west in June 1990, the employment rate for east German 18-54 year olds fell from 89% to 73% in six years, and the decline for women was considerably larger. This employment fall is possibly the worst of any European transition economy, yet one might have...