Authors:

  • Alberto Alesina

Excerpt

Family Values and the Regulation of Labor. Alberto Alesina, May 27, 2014, Paper. "To be efficient, flexible labor markets require geographically mobile workers. Otherwise firms can take advantage of workers’ immobility and extract rents at their expense. In cultures with strong family ties, moving away from home is costly. Thus, to limit the rents of firms and to avoid moving, individuals with strong family ties rationally choose regulated labor markets, even though regulation generates higher unemployment and lower incomes. Empirically, we find that individuals who inherit stronger family ties are less mobile,..." Link verified August 21, 2014