Pro-Labor Institutions and Corporate Employment Efficiency

We examine how labor-friendly institutional features (i.e., laborism) relate to corporate investment efficiency in labor in a sample of firms from 33 countries over 1996–2012. We consider three dimensions of laborism—the presence of a left-leaning government, rigidity of employee protection laws, and collectivist culture. Our evidence shows that firms operating in stronger laborism countries make less efficient labor investment decisions, which is consistent with higher labor adjustment costs associated with laborism.

Gig Economy: Value Comparison Against Noncontingent Income and Corporate Employment Benefits

The free-market approach of work has risen for the past few years. The on-demand workforce has a preference to stay in nontraditional employment and are generally satisfied with their income and the elasticity of employment that contingent work offers. Independent workers are also less likely to grow their careers in the same manner as a traditional job ensues, and market prevalence influences their wages comparatively more. This paper analyzes the influence which gig economy has posed on the growth of the employee and examines the benefits and deficits of contingent pay and noncontingent pay. In the assessment of conventional employment, corporate compensations such as retirement plans and health insurance add significant value to organizational service. The uncertainty of payment, as well as variable timelines of compensation, disallow a contingent worker to privately retain insurances and savings plans, whereas an employer in a firm typically offers such allowances as standard. This comparison suggests that the value lost in the gig economy is, in fact, the corporate occupational benefits and not the steady noncontingent salary.