Benjamin Schoefer

Ungated PDF here:
eml.berkeley.edu/~schoefer/sc...

New paper:
Monopsony, Markdowns,and Minimum Wages
w/E.Faia & B.Lochner

1st direct test of:
Firms exploit monopsony (wage setting) power to "mark down" wages<MRPL
=>Minimum wages restore "wage taking"=>curb markdowns

But: not in data

Weak links?
Monops model?
MD measures?
Research design?
#Econsky

Examining whether measured wage markdowns reflect monopsony power by studying the minimum wage introduction in Germany, from Ester Faia, Benjamin Lochner, and Benjamin Schoefer www.nber.org/papers/w34699

Share of SMAs among all open-ended contract terminations between 2007 and 2022. Open-ended contract terminations include quits, economic, or personal dismissals, and SMAs. Source: Carry and Schoefer (2024). Dismissals are costly and are often subject to stringent employment protection regulations. This column explores how France’s 2008 introduction of separation by mutual agreement affected separation patterns. Despite fast and wide adoption of such agreements, they only replace a small share of dismissals and substitute more for quits rather than dismissals. Highly conflictual dismissals remain unchanged. The reform failed to improve employer–employee relations during separations and added costs to the unemployment insurance scheme.

@paulinecarry.bsky.social & @schoefer.bsky.social show that France's 2008 introduction of separation by mutual agreement failed to improve employer-employee relations during separations and added costs to the unemployment insurance scheme.
cepr.org/voxeu/column...
#EconSky

📢 PhD Workshop in Labor and Behavioral Economics 2026 📢

The next edition will take place at CEBI, University of Copenhagen (June 8–9, 2026).

Keynote speakers: Ingar Haaland (NHH) & Benjamin Schoefer (UC Berkeley).

Call for Papers: sites.google.com/view/behavio...
Deadline: Jan 31, 2026

Dynamik statt Stillstand: Arbeitsmarkt­institutionen als Schlüssel für Wachstum Der Wirtschaftsdienst publiziert jeden Monat Beiträge von namhaften Autoren aus Wissenschaft, Politik und Praxis zu aktuellen Themen der Wirtschafts- und Sozialpolitik in Deutschland und der EU.

#Labour #Hoarding verhindert, dass in einer konjunkturellen Krise viele Menschen arbeitslos werden. Das klingt vielleicht besser als es ist, schreiben Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln und
@schoefer.bsky.social im aktuellen #Wirtschaftdienst 👇
www.wirtschaftsdienst.eu/inhalt/jahr/...

📊 Note IPP n°117 : Rupture conventionnelle et licenciement : conflit ou coopération?
✒️ @paulinecarry.bsky.social, A. Mangold, @schoefer.bsky.social
▶️ Lire la note : www.ipp.eu/publication/...

Show translation

https://www.rfberlin.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/RI01-25.png Authors Christian Dustmann(University College London & RFBerlin) Chiara Lacava(University of Naples Federico II) Benjamin Schoefer(University of California, Berk...

What happens when firms set wages outside of national agreements?

"The Winners and Losers from Collective Bargaining Decentralization", by Christian Dustmann, Chiara Giannetto, Lorenzo Incoronato, @chiaralac.bsky.social, Vincenzo Pezone, Raffaele Saggio, and @schoefer.bsky.social.

We are delighted to conclude the RFBerlin Conference on Worker Co-Determination and Governance with a keynote lecture on “Eurosclerosis at 40: Labor Market Institutions, Dynamism, and European Competitiveness” by @schoefer.bsky.social.

What does consulting do? Lots of strongly held views, very limited data to answer the question.

In new ‪‪NBER paper, Gert Bijnens, @schoefer.bsky.social and I shed light on this question using the first economy-wide data on consulting relationships (based on VAT-based B2B data).

More info👇

Collective bargaining shapes labor markets, yet we know little about its effects. In our new WP, we track workers shifted to contracts with lower wage floors: wages fall, but employment rises, suggesting adjustments along the firm's labor demand curve.

🆕 RFBerlin Discussion Paper: Christian Dustmann, Chiara Giannetto, Lorenzo Incoronato, @chiaralac.bsky.social, Vincenzo Pezone, Raffaele Saggio and @schoefer.bsky.social present micro-empirical evidence on the effects of wage-setting decentralization. 🧵👇

Wie der Arbeitsmarkt in Europa das Wirtschaftswachstum verhindert Amerika hat Europa wirtschaftlich abgehängt. Das hat damit zu tun, dass Europäer seltener den Job wechseln.

Amerika hat Europa wirtschaftlich abgehängt. Viel ist schon über die Gründe philosophiert worden. Hier kommt ein neuer (aber eigentl. sehr alter) Vorschlag von @schoefer.bsky.social: Der Arbeitsmarkt ist das Problem. Europäer wechseln selten den Job. Der Staat gibt ihnen aber auch wenig Grund dazu.

Das war er ‒ der 20. IWH/IAB-Workshop zur Arbeitsmarktpolitik: Arbeitskräfteknappheit und Arbeitsmarktinstitutionen. Mit spannenden Präsentationen, regem Austausch und gelungener Keynote von @schoefer.bsky.social. Danke an alle Beteiligten, Gäste und unseren Mitstreiter @iabnews.bsky.social.

20. IWH/IAB-Workshop zur Arbeitsmarktpolitik: Arbeitskräfteknappheit und Arbeitsmarktinstitutionen

📍 @iwh-halle.bsky.social, Halle (Saale)
📅 15./16. Mai 2025

Keynote: Benjamin @schoefer.bsky.social (UC Berkeley)

➡ Infos & Programm: bit.ly/4i2FZVn
➡ Registrierung (bis 25. April): bit.ly/3PWtiir

Call for Papers

Picture from 1st edition

📢 *Updated* Call for Paper 📢

2nd workshop in Labour Economics at Nottingham GEP @uniofnottingham.bsky.social

When: June 16-17, 2025

Keynotes: @schoefer.bsky.social and Alexandra Roulet

Small workshop, great opportunity for feedback!

Submit by March 15 🗓️

Link: t.ly/e4dtL

#EconSky #EconConf

✨✨Important Updates!✨✨

2nd Labour Workshop in Nottingham

🎵Amazing Keynotes: @schoefer.bsky.social and Alexandra Roulet
🗺️Where: @uniofnottingham.bsky.social
📆When: 16-17 June

Submit by March 15 ➡️shorturl.at/TZqG0

How do unions and collective bargaining work around the world? And how do they affect the wage structure?

A new paper with Suresh Naidu and Benjamin Schoefer
@schoefer.bsky.social out NBER WP today and prepared for the Handbook of Labor Economics.

Thread below. 👇

New paper
w/ @simonjaeger.bsky.social & Suresh Naidu

An attempt at an account of how unions/collective bargaining work and shape wages, across various international settings.

In prep for Handbook of Labor => please email us any feedback!
www.nber.org/papers/w33267
eml.berkeley.edu/~schoefer/sc...

Collective Bargaining, Unions, and the Wage Structure: An International Perspective Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

Don't miss this enormous overview of collective bargaining literature and institutions + a model of how unions shape wages applied to 26 countries! My final pre-doc RA'ed project is finally out - including a little preview of something that I've been working on :)

www.nber.org/papers/w3326...

Our paper (w/ Jarkko Harju and @schoefer.bsky.social ) on what happened when Finland introduced a right to worker representation on corporate boards, now in @aeajournals.bsky.social: Applied. 👇

How do employers and workers behave during dismissals?

In a new paper with @schoefer.bsky.social, we test between cooperation and deliberate imposition of costs.

Summary 🧵:

1/9

Excited to share a new paper w/ Matthias Mertens:

From Labor to Intermediates: Firm Growth, Input Substitution, and Monopsony

Also: implications for firm-level labor share dynamics.

PDFs:
www.nber.org/papers/w33172
eml.berkeley.edu/~schoefer/sc...

Longer Twitter summary:
x.com/Schoefer_B/s...

Just in time for our departure en masse, REStat tweeted our article in the Sep issues. Cross posted for #econsky:
New fact: 75% of the differences in productivity across cities reflects plant-level idiosyncrasies.
t.co/fo633CbMXU
Lead article, so it’s open access!

New paper!

How many jobs are "deadwood"?
Which ones?
Where?
What role do firing costs and employment protections play?

In our new paper (w/ Benjamin Schoefer, Emmanuel Saez), we find some answers:

Deadwood Labor:
The Effects of Eliminating Employment Protection

PDF:

eml.berkeley.edu/~schoefer/sc...