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Size doesn't matter! Gift exchange in experimental labor markets

  • Jordi Brandts*
  • , Klarita Gërxhani
  • , Arthur Schram
  • , Jolanda Ygosse-Battisti
  • *Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

We study how the number of traders affects the interaction between a centralized exchange and bilateral negotiations in an experimental labor market with excess supply and incomplete contracts. Our large markets are three times as large as our small markets. In bilateral negotiations firms obtain information about employees' performance in previous jobs. Though market forces put a downward pressure on wages in large markets, reciprocal tendencies do not differ. Hence, the occurrence of bilateral negotiations increases overall efficiency for both market sizes.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)544-548
Number of pages5
JournalJournal of Economic Behavior and Organization
Volume76
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2010
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Financial support by The Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation , The Barcelona GSE research Network , CONSOLIDER-INGENIO 2010 (CSD2006-00016), The São Paulo School of Business Administration (EAESP) and The School of Economics (EESP) of the Getulio Vargas Foundation in São Paulo is gratefully acknowledged. The authors thank Fabiana D’Atri and Marcela Prada for very able research assistance.

Funding

Financial support by The Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation , The Barcelona GSE research Network , CONSOLIDER-INGENIO 2010 (CSD2006-00016), The São Paulo School of Business Administration (EAESP) and The School of Economics (EESP) of the Getulio Vargas Foundation in São Paulo is gratefully acknowledged. The authors thank Fabiana D’Atri and Marcela Prada for very able research assistance.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

  1. SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth
    SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth

Keywords

  • Experiments
  • Gift exchange
  • Market size
  • Worker recruitment

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