This is a list of stuff you would like to have read by the end of this semester. You will not read it all (I have not read it all, and it seems unlikely that anyone has read it all). If in doubt, read less, more carefully. It is good to browse through many papers quickly early in the semester, to get an initial impression of where things fit in, and to get ideas for research papers. Asterisks are used to mark things that seem important, but this is just a rough guide. You should not infer that papers not listed are not worth reading: lists like this are subjective, and sometimes just whimsical.

Papers that are more than four years old can usually be found in the JSTOR archive (some more recent papers can be found there as well -- in particular, papers published in the Journal of Labor Economics through last year). In addition, some papers can be obtained through the library .

A2. Ashenfelter, Orley and Mark W. Plant, "Nonparametric Estimates of the Labor Supply Effects of Negative Income Tax Programs," Journal of Labor Economics 8, January 1990 (part 2), S396-S415.

* A3. Ben-Porath, Yoram, " The Production of Human Capital and the Life Cycle of Earnings ," The Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 75, No. 4, Part 1. (Aug., 1967), pp. 352-365.

A4. Blundell, Richard, Alan Duncan, and Costas Meghir: "Estimating Labor Supply Responses Using Tax Reforms," Econometrica, 66(4), July 1998, 827-861.

* A5. Blundell, Richard, and Thomas MaCurdy, "Labor Supply: A Review of Alternative Approaches," in Orley Ashenfelter and David Card, eds., Handbook of Labor Economics, Volume 3, North-Holland,1999.

* A6. Browning, Martin, Angus Deaton and Margaret Irish: " A Profitable Approach to Labor Supply and Commodity Demands Over the Life-Cycle." Econometrica, 53(3), May 1985, 503-543.

* A7. Card, David, "The Causal Effect of Education on Earnings," in Orley Ashenfelter and David Card, eds., Handbook of Labor Economics, Volume 3, North-Holland, 1999.

A8. Chiappori, Pierre-Andre, "Collective Labor Supply and Welfare," Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 100, No. 3, (June, 1992), pp. 437-467.

* A9. Deaton, Angus and John Muellbauer, Economics and Consumer Behavior, Cambridge University Press, 1980.

A10. Gronau, Reuben, " Leisure, Home Production, and Work--the Theory of the Allocation of Time Revisited," Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 85, No. 6, (Dec., 1977), pp. 1099-1124.

A10a. Heckman, James J., "Shadow Prices, Market Wages, and Labor Supply," Econometrica, Vol. 42, No. 4. (Jul., 1974), pp. 679-694.

A10b. Heckman, James J., "Sample Selection Bias as a Specification Error," Econometrica, Vol. 47, No. 1. (Jan., 1979), pp. 153-162.

* A11. Pencavel, John, "Labor Supply of Men: A Survey," in Orley Ashenfelter and Richard Layard, eds., Handbook of Labor Economics, North-Holland, 1986.

* A12. Rust, John and Christopher Phelan, "How Social Security and Medicare affect Retirement Behavior in a World of Incomplete Markets," Econometrica,65 (4), July 1997, 781-831.

Supplementary Readings

Lundberg, Shelly and Robert A. Pollak, "Bargaining and Distribution in Marriage," The Journal of Economic Perspectives, Fall 1996, 139-158.

Burtless, Gary and Jerry A. Hausman, "The Effect of Taxation on Labor Supply: Evaluating the Gary Negative Income Tax Experiment," Journal of Political Economy, 86, 1978, 1103-1130.

B2. Hamermesh, Daniel S. Labor Demand. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993.

B3. Hicks, J.R.: The Theory of Wages. London: Macmillan, 1932.

B3a. Notes on Hicks.

B4. Kennan, John, "The Elusive Effects of Minimum Wages," Journal of Economic Literature, December 1995.

B5. Sargent, Thomas J.: "Estimation of Dynamic Labor Demand Schedules Under Rational Expectations," in Lucas, Robert E. Jr., and Thomas J. Sargent, eds.: Rational Expectations and Econometric Practice, Minneapolis: The University of Minnesota Press, 1981.
 

C1. Burdett, Kenneth and Dale T. Mortensen, "Wage Differentials, Employer Size, and Unemployment" International Economic Review, Vol. 39, No. 2. (May, 1998), pp. 257-273. American Economic Review, 83, December 1993, 1220-40.

C1a. Coate, Stephen and Glenn C. Loury, " Will Affirmative Action Policies Eliminate Negative Stereotypes? " American Economic Review, 83, December 1993, 1220-40.

C2. Eckstein, Zvi and Kenneth I. Wolpin, "Duration to First Job and the Return to Schooling: Estimates from a Search-Matching Model," Review of Economic Studies 62 (2), April 1995, 263-286.

C3. Farber, Henry S. and Robert Gibbons, "Learning and Wage Dynamics," Quarterly Journal of Economics, 111(4), November 1996, pages 1007-47.

C4 Felli, Leonardo and Christopher Harris, "Learning, Wage Dynamics and Firm-Specific Human Capital," Journal of Political Economy, 104(4), August 1996, 838-868.

* C5. Friedman, Milton, "The Supply of Factors of Production," chapter 11 in Milton Friedman, Price Theory, Chicago: Aldine, 1962.

C6. Gibbons, Robert and Michael Waldman ",A Theory of Wage and Promotion Dynamics Inside Firms," Quarterly Journal of Economics, 114(4), November 1999, pages 1321-58.

* C7. Harris, Milton and Bengt Holmstrom, "A Theory of Wage Dynamics," Review of Economic Studies, Vol. 49, No. 3. (Jul., 1982), pp. 315-333.

C8. Johnson, George and Frank Stafford, "The Labor Market Implications of International Trade," in Orley Ashenfelter and David Card, eds., Handbook of Labor Economics, Volume 3, North-Holland,1999.

C9. Jovanovic, Boyan, "Job Matching and the Theory of Turnover ," The Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 87, No. 5, Part 1. (Oct., 1979), pp. 972-990.

C10. Jovanovic, Boyan, "Firm-specific Capital and Turnover," The Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 87, No. 6, (Dec., 1979), pp. 1246-1260.

C11. Kennan, John, "An Econometric Analysis of Fluctuations in Aggregate Labor Supply and Demand," Econometrica, 56(2), March 1988, 317-333.

C13. McCall, B. P. and J. J. McCall (1987) "A Sequential Study of Migration and Job Search," Journal of Labor Economics 5 (October 1987), 452-476.

C13. Moen, Espen R. "Competitive Search Equilibrium," Journal of Political Economy 105(2), April 1997, 385-411.

C13a. Montgomery, James D., "Equilibrium Wage Dispersion and Interindustry Wage Differentials," Quarterly Journal of EconomicsVol. 106, No. 1. (Feb., 1991), pp. 163-179.

* C15. Mortensen, Dale T. and Christopher A. Pissarides, "Job Creation and Job Destruction in the Theory of Unemployment," Review of Economic Studies 61(3), July 1994, 397-415.

C16. Neal, Derek and Sherwin Rosen, "Theories of the Distribution of Earnings," in Atkinson, A.B. and F. Bourguignon, eds, Handbook of Income Distribution, New York: North-Holland, 2000.

C17. Pissarides, C.A. (2000). Equilibrium Unemployment Theory, MIT Press.

C17a. Prendergast, Canice, "The Provision of Incentives in Firms," Journal of Economic Literature, March 1999, 37, 7-63.

C18. Rosen, Sherwin, " Hedonic Prices and Implicit Markets", Journal of Political Economy 82 (1), January-February 1974, 34-55.

* C19. Rosen, Sherwin: "The Theory of Equalizing Differences," Handbook of Labor Economics. New York: North-Holland, 1986.

* C20. Roy, A. D. "Some Thoughts on the Distribution of Earnings," Oxford Economic Papers (New Series) 3, June 1951, 135-146.

* C21. Shapiro, Carl and Joseph E. Stiglitz, "Equilibrium Unemployment as a Worker Discipline Device," American Economic Review, 74, (June 1984), 433-444.

* C22. Smith, Adam. The Wealth of Nations. New York: The Modern Library 1937 (originally published 1776). Chapter X, Of Wages and Profit in the Different Employments of Labour and Stock , pages 99-143.

C23. Stole, Lars and J. Zwiebel, "Organizational Design and Technology Choice under Intrafirm Bargaining," American Economic Review, 86(1), March 1996, 195-222.

C24. Stole, Lars and J. Zwiebel, "Intrafirm Bargaining and Non-Binding Employment Contracts," Review of Economic Studies, 63, 1996, 375-410.

* C25. Walsh, Frank, "A Multisector Model of Efficiency Wages," Journal of Labor Economics, Apr 1999; Vol. 17, Iss. 2; pg. 351-77.

* C26. Willis, Robert J. and Sherwin Rosen, "Education and Self Selection ," JPE 87, no. 5, pt. 2 (1979), S7-S36.

C27. Wolinsky, Asher, "A Theory of the Firm with Non-Binding Contracts," Econometrica, 68(4), July 2000, 875-910.

Supplementary Readings

van den Berg, Gerard J. and Geert Ridder: "An Empirical Equilibrium Search Model of the Labor Market," Econometrica, 66(5), September 1998, 1183-1221.

Moro, Andrea and Peter Norman: "Affirmative Action in a Competitive Economy ," March 2001.

* D1. Bound, John and George Johnson, "Changes in the Structure of Wages in the 1980's: An Evaluation of Alternative Explanations," American Economic Review, 82, June 1992, 371-392.

D2. Davis, Steven J. and John Haltiwanger, "Gross Job Flows," in Orley Ashenfelter and David Card, eds., Handbook of Labor Economics, Volume 3, North-Holland,1999.

* D3. Juhn, Chinhui, Kevin M. Murphy and Brooks Pierce, "Wage Inequality and the Rise in Returns to Skill," Journal of Political Economy, 101 (3), June 1993, 410-442.

D4. Katz, Lawrence F. and David H. Autor, "Changes in the Wage Structure and Earnings Inequality," in Orley Ashenfelter and David Card, eds., Handbook of Labor Economics, Volume 3, North-Holland,1999.

* D5. Krueger, Alan B. and Lawrence H. Summers: "Efficiency Wages and the Inter-Industry Wage Structure," Econometrica, vol. 56, no. 2 (March 1988), 259-293.

D6. Murphy, Kevin M. and Finis Welch, "Empirical Age-Earnings Profiles," Journal of Labor Economics, 8, April 1990, 202-229.

D7. Murphy, Kevin M. and Finis Welch, "The Structure of Wages," Quarterly Journal of Economics, 107, February 1992, 285-326.

D8. Neal, Derek, "The Complexity of Job Mobility among Young Men," Journal of Labor Economics, Apr 1999; 17(2), 237-61.

* D9. Neal, Derek and William R. Johnson, " The Role of Premarket Factors in Black-White Wage Differences," Journal of Political Economy, 104 (5), October 1996, 869-895.

D10. Robinson, Chris, "The Joint Determination of Union Status and Union Wage Effects: Some Tests of Alternative Models," Journal of Political Economy, 97 (3), June 1989, 639-667.
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E2. Cramton, Peter C., "Strategic Delay in Bargaining with Two-Sided Uncertainty," Review of Economic Studies, 1992.

E3. Gibbons, Robert, Game Theory for Applied Economists, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992.

E4. Kennan, John, "Repeated Bargaining with Persistent Private Information," Review of Economic Studies, October 2001.

* E5. Kennan, John and Robert Wilson, "Bargaining with Private Information," Journal of Economic Literature, March 1993.

E6. Osborne, Martin J. and Ariel Rubinstein, Bargaining and Markets. San Diego: Academic Press, 1990.

E7. Rubinstein, Ariel (1982), " Perfect Equilibrium in a Bargaining Model", Econometrica, 50: 97-110.
 

* F3. Ashenfelter, Orley and George E. Johnson. "Bargaining Theory, Trade Unions and Industrial Strike Activity," American Economic Review, 59 (March 1969), 35-49.

F4. Card, David (1988), "Longitudinal Analysis of Strike Activity," Journal of Labor Economics, 6, 147-176.

* F5. Cramton, Peter C. and Tracy, Joseph S., "Strikes and Holdouts in Wage Bargaining: Theory and Data," American Economic Review, March 1992.

* F6. Hart, Oliver (1989), "Bargaining and Strikes", Quarterly Journal of Economics, 104: 25-44.

F7. Kennan, John, "The Economics of Strikes," in Orley Ashenfelter and Richard Layard, eds., Handbook of Labor Economics, North-Holland, 1986.

* F8. Kennan, John and Robert Wilson, "Strategic Bargaining Models and Interpretation of Strike Data," Journal of Applied Econometrics, December 1989 (Supplement), Vol. 4, S87-S130.

F9. Lewis, H. Gregg, "Union Relative Wage Effects," in Orley Ashenfelter and Richard Layard, eds., Handbook of Labor Economics, North-Holland, 1986.

G2. Beaudry, Paul and John DiNardo, "The Effect of Implicit Contracts on the Movement of Wages over the Business Cycle: Evidence from Micro Data," Journal of Political Economy, 99, No. 4, August 1991, 665-688.

G3. Lazear, Edward P. and Sherwin Rosen, "Rank-Order Tournaments as Optimum Labor Contracts," Journal of Political Economy 89(5), October 1981, 841-864.

G4. Ramey, Garey and Joel Watson, "Contractual Fragility, Job Destruction, and Business Cycles," Quarterly Journal of Economics, 117(3), August 1997, 873-911.

* G5. Rosen, Sherwin, "Implicit Contracts: A Survey," Journal of Economic Literature, XXIII (September 1985), 1144-1175.