The Economics of Imperfect Labor Markets, Third Edition

The leading textbook on imperfect labor markets and the institutions that affect them―now completely updated and expanded

Today's labor markets are witnessing seismic changes brought on by such factors as rising self-employment, temporary employment, zero-hour contracts, and the growth of the sharing economy. This fully updated and revised third edition of The Economics of Imperfect Labor Markets reflects these and other critical changes in imperfect labor markets, and it has been significantly expanded to discuss topics such as workplace safety, regulations on self-employment, and disability and absence from work. This new edition also features engaging case studies that illustrate key aspects of imperfect labor markets.

Authoritative and accessible, this textbook examines the many institutions that affect the behavior of workers and employers in imperfect labor markets. These include minimum wages, employment protection legislation, unemployment benefits, family policies, equal opportunity legislation, collective bargaining, early retirement programs, and education and migration policies. Written for advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students, the book carefully defines and measures these institutions to accurately characterize their effects, and discusses how these institutions are being transformed today.

• Fully updated to reflect today's changing labor markets
• Significantly expanded to discuss a wealth of new topics, including the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
• Features quantitative examples, new case studies, data sets that enable users to replicate results in the literature, technical appendixes, and end-of-chapter exercises
• Unique focus on institutions in imperfect labor markets
• Self-contained chapters cover each of the most important labor-market institutions
• Instructor's manual available to professors―now with new exercises and solutions

Tito Boeri is professor of economics at Bocconi University in Milan and visiting professor at the European Institute at the London School of Economics. Twitter @Tboeri Jan van Ours is professor of applied economics at Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands and honorary professorial fellow in economics at the University of Melbourne.