Wednesday 729
Mostly summarized from Gregory Mankiw’s Principles of Economics, 5th Ed. PART 9 The Real Economy in the Long Run Chapter 28 of 36 Unemployment Section 18 of 21 … Here we consider four aspects of efficiency wage theory, each suggests a different explanation for why firms may want to pay above-equilibrium wages -1- worker health -2- worker turnover -3- worker quality -4- worker effort … -3- Worker Quality Firms want talented workers but because firms cannot perfectly gauge applicants’ quality hiring is somewhat random. When a firm offers a high wage it attracts better workers to apply for its jobs thereby increasing the quality of its workforce. If the firm offers an equilibrium level wage the most competent applicants may choose not to apply because they are more likely to have better opportunities than less talented applicants. If this influence of the wage on worker quality is strong enough it may be profitable for the firm to pay a wage above the equilibrium level. … -4- Worker...