Uncertainty, Pay for Performance and Adverse Selection in a Competitive Labor Market

Uncertainty, Pay for Performance and Adverse Selection in a Competitive Labor Market

Author: Felipe Balmaceda

Publisher:

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

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This paper develops a new rationale for the emergence of pay-for-performance contracts. The labor market is competitive, workers are risk averse and firms risk neutral. The paper shows that in stable environments more productive workers self-select into pay-for-performance jobs because risk is less costly to them than to their less productive counterparts which prefer fixed-salary contracts. When uncertainty is sufficiently large a pooling equilibrium emerges in which all workers have pay-for-performance contracts, thereby reducing more productive workers' costs of being pooled with less productive workers. The model explains several empirical regularities unaccounted for by alternative models, such as markets where all observed contracts involve pay-for-performance, and also that such markets are more likely to emerge in highly uncertain environments.


Asymmetric Information and the Market Structure of the Banking Industry

Asymmetric Information and the Market Structure of the Banking Industry

Author: Mr.Giovanni Dell'Ariccia

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 1998-06-01

Total Pages: 32

ISBN-13: 145195154X

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The paper analyzes the effects of informational asymmetries on the market structure of the banking industry in a multi-period model of spatial competition. All lenders face uncertainty with regard to borrowers’ creditworthiness, but, in the process of lending, incumbent banks gather proprietary information about their clients, acquiring an advantage over potential entrants. These informational asymmetries are an important determinant of the industry structure and may represent a barrier to entry for new banks. The paper shows that, in contrast with traditional models of horizontal differentiation, the steady-state equilibrium is characterized by a finite number of banks even in the absence of fixed costs.


Moral Hazard in Health Insurance

Moral Hazard in Health Insurance

Author: Amy Finkelstein

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2014-12-02

Total Pages: 161

ISBN-13: 0231538685

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Addressing the challenge of covering heath care expenses—while minimizing economic risks. Moral hazard—the tendency to change behavior when the cost of that behavior will be borne by others—is a particularly tricky question when considering health care. Kenneth J. Arrow’s seminal 1963 paper on this topic (included in this volume) was one of the first to explore the implication of moral hazard for health care, and Amy Finkelstein—recognized as one of the world’s foremost experts on the topic—here examines this issue in the context of contemporary American health care policy. Drawing on research from both the original RAND Health Insurance Experiment and her own research, including a 2008 Health Insurance Experiment in Oregon, Finkelstein presents compelling evidence that health insurance does indeed affect medical spending and encourages policy solutions that acknowledge and account for this. The volume also features commentaries and insights from other renowned economists, including an introduction by Joseph P. Newhouse that provides context for the discussion, a commentary from Jonathan Gruber that considers provider-side moral hazard, and reflections from Joseph E. Stiglitz and Kenneth J. Arrow. “Reads like a fireside chat among a group of distinguished, articulate health economists.” —Choice


Compensation

Compensation

Author: Barry Gerhart

Publisher: SAGE

Published: 2003-05-07

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 0761921079

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`Gerhart and Rynes provide a thorough, comprehensive review of the vast literatures relevant to compensation. Their insights regarding the integration of economic, psychological and management perspectives are particularly enlightening. This text provides an invaluable tool for those interested in advancing our understanding of compensation practices' - Alison Barber, Eli Broad College of Business, Michigan State UniversityCompensation provides a comprehensive, research-based review of both the determinants and effects of compensation. Combining theory and research from a variety of disciplines, authors Barry Gerhart and Sara Rynes examine the three major compensation decisions - pay level, pay structure and pay delivery systems.Revealing the impact of different compensation policies, this interdisciplinary volume examines: the relationship between performance-based pay and intrinsic motivation; implications of individual pay differentials for team or unit performance; the consequences of pay for performance policies; effect sizes and practical significance of compensation findings; and directions for future research.Compensation considers why organizations pay people the way they do and how various pay strategies influence the success of organizations. Critically evaluating areas where research is inconsistent with common beliefs, Gerhart and Rynes explore the motivational effects of compensation.Primarily intended for graduate students in human resource management, psychology, and organizational behaviour courses, this book is also an invaluable reference for compensation management consultants and organizational development specialists.


Efficiency Wage Models of the Labor Market

Efficiency Wage Models of the Labor Market

Author: George A. Akerlof

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1986-11-28

Total Pages: 196

ISBN-13: 9780521312844

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The contributors explore the reasons why involuntary unemployment happens when supply equals demand.


Risk, Uncertainty and Profit

Risk, Uncertainty and Profit

Author: Frank H. Knight

Publisher: Cosimo, Inc.

Published: 2006-11-01

Total Pages: 401

ISBN-13: 1602060053

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A timeless classic of economic theory that remains fascinating and pertinent today, this is Frank Knight's famous explanation of why perfect competition cannot eliminate profits, the important differences between "risk" and "uncertainty," and the vital role of the entrepreneur in profitmaking. Based on Knight's PhD dissertation, this 1921 work, balancing theory with fact to come to stunning insights, is a distinct pleasure to read. FRANK H. KNIGHT (1885-1972) is considered by some the greatest American scholar of economics of the 20th century. An economics professor at the University of Chicago from 1927 until 1955, he was one of the founders of the Chicago school of economics, which influenced Milton Friedman and George Stigler.


Pay for Performance in Health Care

Pay for Performance in Health Care

Author: Jerry Cromwell

Publisher: RTI Press

Published: 2011-02-28

Total Pages: 388

ISBN-13: 1934831042

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This book provides a balanced assessment of pay for performance (P4P), addressing both its promise and its shortcomings. P4P programs have become widespread in health care in just the past decade and have generated a great deal of enthusiasm in health policy circles and among legislators, despite limited evidence of their effectiveness. On a positive note, this movement has developed and tested many new types of health care payment systems and has stimulated much new thinking about how to improve quality of care and reduce the costs of health care. The current interest in P4P echoes earlier enthusiasms in health policy—such as those for capitation and managed care in the 1990s—that failed to live up to their early promise. The fate of P4P is not yet certain, but we can learn a number of lessons from experiences with P4P to date, and ways to improve the designs of P4P programs are becoming apparent. We anticipate that a “second generation” of P4P programs can now be developed that can have greater impact and be better integrated with other interventions to improve the quality of care and reduce costs.


The Handbook of Organizational Economics

The Handbook of Organizational Economics

Author: Robert S. Gibbons

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 1248

ISBN-13: 0691132798

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(E-book available via MyiLibrary) In even the most market-oriented economies, most economic transactions occur not in markets but inside managed organizations, particularly business firms. Organizational economics seeks to understand the nature and workings of such organizations and their impact on economic performance. The Handbook of Organizational Economics surveys the major theories, evidence, and methods used in the field. It displays the breadth of topics in organizational economics, including the roles of individuals and groups in organizations, organizational structures and processes, the boundaries of the firm, contracts between and within firms, and more.


High Wage Workers and High Wage Firms

High Wage Workers and High Wage Firms

Author: John M. Abowd

Publisher: Université de Montréal, Centre de recherche et développement en économique

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 94

ISBN-13:

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We study a longitudinal sample of over one million French workers and over 500,000 employing firms. Real total annual compensation per worker is decomposed into components related to observable characteristics, worker heterogeneity, firm heterogeneity and residual variation. Except for the residual, all components may be correlated in an arbitrary fashion. At the level of the individual, we find that person-effects, especially those not related to observables like education, are the most important source of wage variation in France. Firm-effects, while important, are not as important as person-effects. At the level of firms, we find that enterprises that hire high-wage workers are more productive but not more profitable. They are also more capital and high-skilled employee intensive. Enterprises that pay higher wages, controlling for person-effects, are more productive and more profitable. They are also more capital intensive but are not more high-skilled labor intensive. We also find that person-effects explain 92% of inter-industry wage differentials.