Profits, Wages and Productivity in the Business Cycle


Book Description

The purpose of this book is to explain the changes in specific macroeconomic variables such as the relative share of labour, the profit rate and the real wage rate in advanced capitalist economies, in relation to the influence of the business cycle in income distribution. To explain these changes the author examines three types of theory - Kaldorian theory, the Real Business Cycle theory, and the new Keynesian theory - with a specific focus on Kaldor's approach.




Three Essays on Productivity (RLE: Business Cycles)


Book Description

The behaviour of US productivity since this book was originally publishedin 1994, has added new relevance to the relationship between profits and productivity. In the long run, productivity growth determines the economic standard of living. This book is divided into three parts: the basis of the first is the empirical finding that, controlling for normal business cycle effects, productivity grows faster when profits have been low than otherwise. The second part discusses how to measure marginal cost using time series data and the third tests a basic assumption that productivity growth is exogenous to labour and capital.




Productivity, Prices, and Incomes


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Wages, Profitability, and Growth in a Small Open Economy


Book Description

This paper examines issues raised by the evolution of a rapidly growing small open economy—Singapore—from a labor-intensive, low-technology production base to a capital-intensive, high-technology, knowledge-and-skill-intensive emphasis as it approached the limits of its resource constraints in the labor market. In order to analyze the process of restructuring a model of endogenous growth for a small open economy that is driven by increases in labor productivity from learning and that allows for the dynamic acquisition of comparative advantage is developed. In this framework the effects of various policies and exogenous shocks on the direction and pace of restructuring are investigated.




The Distribution of Wealth


Book Description




Marginal Revenue Productivity Theory of Wages


Book Description

What is Marginal Revenue Productivity Theory of Wages It is a model of wage levels that is set to match to the marginal revenue product of labor, which is the increment to revenues generated by the increment to output created by the last laborer employed. The marginal revenue productivity theory of wages is a model of why wage levels are set to match to the marginal revenue product of labor. In a model, this is justified by the premise that the company is maximizing its profits and, as a result, would only employ labor up to the point where the marginal labor expenses are equal to the marginal income generated by the company. This is an example of a model that is seen in neoclassical economics. How you will benefit (I) Insights, and validations about the following topics: Chapter 1: Marginal revenue productivity theory of wages Chapter 2: Perfect competition Chapter 3: Profit maximization Chapter 4: Price elasticity of demand Chapter 5: Marginal cost Chapter 6: Production function Chapter 7: Marginal product Chapter 8: Diminishing returns Chapter 9: Marginal revenue Chapter 10: Cournot competition Chapter 11: Ramsey problem Chapter 12: Cost curve Chapter 13: Solow-Swan model Chapter 14: Harrod-Domar model Chapter 15: Marginal rate of technical substitution Chapter 16: Supply (economics) Chapter 17: Incremental capital-output ratio Chapter 18: Marginal product of capital Chapter 19: Marginal product of labor Chapter 20: Robinson Crusoe economy Chapter 21: Monopoly price (II) Answering the public top questions about marginal revenue productivity theory of wages. (III) Real world examples for the usage of marginal revenue productivity theory of wages in many fields. Who this book is for Professionals, undergraduate and graduate students, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and those who want to go beyond basic knowledge or information for any kind of Marginal Revenue Productivity Theory of Wages.




The Profit Paradox


Book Description

A pioneering account of the surging global tide of market power—and how it stifles workers around the world In an era of technological progress and easy communication, it might seem reasonable to assume that the world’s working people have never had it so good. But wages are stagnant and prices are rising, so that everything from a bottle of beer to a prosthetic hip costs more. Economist Jan Eeckhout shows how this is due to a small number of companies exploiting an unbridled rise in market power—the ability to set prices higher than they could in a properly functioning competitive marketplace. Drawing on his own groundbreaking research and telling the stories of common workers throughout, he demonstrates how market power has suffocated the world of work, and how, without better mechanisms to ensure competition, it could lead to disastrous market corrections and political turmoil. The Profit Paradox describes how, over the past forty years, a handful of companies have reaped most of the rewards of technological advancements—acquiring rivals, securing huge profits, and creating brutally unequal outcomes for workers. Instead of passing on the benefits of better technologies to consumers through lower prices, these “superstar” companies leverage new technologies to charge even higher prices. The consequences are already immense, from unnecessarily high prices for virtually everything, to fewer startups that can compete, to rising inequality and stagnating wages for most workers, to severely limited social mobility. A provocative investigation into how market power hurts average working people, The Profit Paradox also offers concrete solutions for fixing the problem and restoring a healthy economy.




Labor Markets and Business Cycles


Book Description

Labor Markets and Business Cycles integrates search and matching theory with the neoclassical growth model to better understand labor market outcomes. Robert Shimer shows analytically and quantitatively that rigid wages are important for explaining the volatile behavior of the unemployment rate in business cycles. The book focuses on the labor wedge that arises when the marginal rate of substitution between consumption and leisure does not equal the marginal product of labor. According to competitive models of the labor market, the labor wedge should be constant and equal to the labor income tax rate. But in U.S. data, the wedge is strongly countercyclical, making it seem as if recessions are periods when workers are dissuaded from working and firms are dissuaded from hiring because of an increase in the labor income tax rate. When job searches are time consuming and wages are flexible, search frictions--the cost of a job search--act like labor adjustment costs, further exacerbating inconsistencies between the competitive model and data. The book shows that wage rigidities can reconcile the search model with the data, providing a quantitatively more accurate depiction of labor markets, consumption, and investment dynamics. Developing detailed search and matching models, Labor Markets and Business Cycles will be the main reference for those interested in the intersection of labor market dynamics and business cycle research.




Jobs, Earnings, and Employment Growth Policies in the United States


Book Description

John D. Kasarda By all accounts, the United States has led the world in job creation. During the past 20 years, its economy added nearly 40 million jobs while the combined European Economic Community added none. Since 1983 alone, the U. S. gener ated more than 15 million jobs and its unemployment rate dropped from 7. 5 percent to approximately 5 percent while the unemployment rate in much of western Europe climbed to double digits. Even Japan's job creation record pales in comparison to the United States'. with its annual employment growth rate less than half that of the United States over the past 15 years (0. 8 percent vs. 2 percent. ) Yet, as the U. S. economy has been churning out millions of jobs annually, con flicting views and heated debates have emerged regarding the quality of these new jobs and its implications for standards of living and U. S. economic competi tiveness. Many argue that the "great American job machine" is a "mirage" or "grand illusion. " Rather than adding productive, secure, well-paying jobs, most new employment, critics contend, consists of poverty level, dead-end, service sector jobs that contribute little or nothing to the nation's productivity and inter national competitiveness. Much of the blame is placed on Reagan-Bush policies that critics say undermine labor unions, encourage wasteful corporate restructur ing, foster exploitative labor practices, and reduce fiscal support for education and needed social services.




Profits, Deficits and Instability


Book Description

The papers drawn together in this book seek to make a contribution in the study of an important area in economics - profits. There are insights into the questions of the inter-relationships between profits, corporate investment and financing activity and the causes of government deficits.