Monday 727
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 17 of 21 ... In this chapter we discuss four explanations for long-run unemployment -1- frictional unemployment -2- minimum wage laws -3 - unions and collective bargaining -4- efficiency wages … -4- Efficiency Wages The theory of efficiency wages holds firms can operate more efficiently and profitably if they pay wages above equilibrium level. The unemployment that arises from efficiency wages is similar to that arising from minimum-wage laws and unions. Unemployment results from paying wages above the level that balances the quantity of labor supplied and the quantity of labor demanded. An important difference is efficiency wages are set at the discretion of the firm, while minimum-wage laws and union wages are forced on the firm. … Efficiency wage theory holds government and union forced wage levels are unnecessary, because firms...