The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Labor adjustment and gradual reform: when is commitment important?

Labor adjustment and gradual reform: when is commitment important?
Labor adjustment and gradual reform: when is commitment important?
We analyze a model in which a government uses a second best policy to affect the reallocation of labor, following a change in relative prices. We consider two extreme cases, in which the government has either unlimited or negligible ability to commit to future actions. We discuss the factors that determine the importance of commitment ability and provide numerical examples. The degree of commitment ability can alter the equilibrium policy both quantitatively and qualitatively. In both extreme cases the dying sector is protected during the transition to a free market, in order to decrease the amount of unemployment.
adjustment costs, dynamic tariffs, time inconsistency, markov perfection
0022-1996
333-362
Karp, Larry
c0e2efad-f4e6-4fb9-9630-aaa8cf37b72e
Paul, Thierry
0a1ee80f-951d-428e-914a-e674f006b757
Karp, Larry
c0e2efad-f4e6-4fb9-9630-aaa8cf37b72e
Paul, Thierry
0a1ee80f-951d-428e-914a-e674f006b757

Karp, Larry and Paul, Thierry (1998) Labor adjustment and gradual reform: when is commitment important? Journal of International Economics, 46 (2), 333-362. (doi:10.1016/S0022-1996(97)00055-X).

Record type: Article

Abstract

We analyze a model in which a government uses a second best policy to affect the reallocation of labor, following a change in relative prices. We consider two extreme cases, in which the government has either unlimited or negligible ability to commit to future actions. We discuss the factors that determine the importance of commitment ability and provide numerical examples. The degree of commitment ability can alter the equilibrium policy both quantitatively and qualitatively. In both extreme cases the dying sector is protected during the transition to a free market, in order to decrease the amount of unemployment.

This record has no associated files available for download.

More information

Published date: 1 December 1998
Keywords: adjustment costs, dynamic tariffs, time inconsistency, markov perfection

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 33490
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/33490
ISSN: 0022-1996
PURE UUID: db7c2a5e-97bf-44e1-b83e-5dbbb4d79414

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 14 Dec 2007
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 07:44

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: Larry Karp
Author: Thierry Paul

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×