Project manager: Alexander L.P. Willén

duration: 2023 - 2027

PROJECT summary:

The power dynamics of the employment relationship are shifting. On the one hand, employers are growing larger and occupy increasing shares of labor markets. On the other hand, employees are organizing labor to a much smaller extent and unions are covering different types of workers. 

These changes are affecting current workers through changes in job opportunities and risks, future generations through changes in returns to human capital investments, and society through their impact on economic efficiency, equity, and the trade-off between the two.

This project aims to provide an inclusive understanding of how the employer-employee dynamics in labor markets affect current workers, future generations, and the societal goals of economic efficiency and equality. How do we measure labor market power and how does it impact workers? How do firms respond to changes in labor market power and what does that imply for the future world of work? Can unions balance the asymmetric power in labor markets induced by employer power? How does the balance of power between employers and employees affect investments in human capital and occupational skills? To address these questions, the project will combine state-of-the-art research methods with unique combinations of natural experiments, population-wide register data, and surveys.