Le contexte socio-économique marqué par la division du travail favorise les fermetures de marché. La professionnalisation représente un type de fermetures par lequel un groupe occupationnel cherche à obtenir et à maintenir le contrôle de l'environnement interne et externe de son activité économique afin d'éviter que ce contrôle s'exerce exclusivement de l'extérieur. En maintenant le contrôle sur un champ de compétence ou sur une fermeture de marché, un groupe assure la maîtrise de sa survie professionnelle et socio-économique. La recherche de fermeture de marché est une explication possible des considérations sousjacentes à l'intérêt d'un groupe occupationnel pour la professionnalisation. Cette considération ne compromet pas nécessairement la mission de protection du public qui doit guider les ordres professionnels dans l'exercice de leurs pouvoirs de contrôle. En effet, le processus de légitimation favorise au contraire le respect de cette mission. Par ce processus, un groupe occupationnel maintient non seulement la reconnaissance sociale de sa compétence et de son utilité mais également l'exercice des pouvoirs de contrôle qui lui sont octroyés. La légitimité ainsi acquise permet de maintenir le degré de crédibilité nécessaire à la survie du groupe. Cette explication de l'intérêt pour la professionnalisation a été élaborée à partir des critères de trois approches sociologiques qui sont le fonctionnalisme, l'interactionnisme et le conflictualisme. Ces approches ont servi à examiner en premier lieu le Code des professions et en second lieu les stratégies et les arguments de deux acteurs sociaux qui ont un point de vue opposé sur ce phénomène social de l'intérêt pour la professionnalisation. / The social economical context characterized by the division of labour favoured the development of c1osed labour markets. The formation of professions is part of this social phenomenon. By controlling internaI and external factors of its economic activity, an occupational group avoids or at least influences in its favour the control exercised by others. It also protects its field of competence from other groups and can even extend it into other spheres. Exercising control over its activity secures professional, social and economical status. This may explain why the formation of professions is so popular. However, such considerations do not necessarily compromise public protection. On the contrary, the legitimatization of an occupational group ensures public protection. A group needs to acquire and maintain not only social recognition of its competence and usefulness but also to legitimise its control. Such legitimacy is required to maintain professional, social and economical status. This explanation to the social phenomenon of formation of professions is based on three sociological views, namely functionalism, interactionism and conflictualism. From these perspectives, the Profèssional Code is first considered. It is followed by the study of the strategies and the arguments of two social groups who hold different views on the formation of professions.

In many immigrant-receiving countries, the increased rate and diversification of immigration has placed immigrant integration high on academic and political agendas. Immigrant integration must also be understood within increasingly complex contexts due to the global recession and new geographies of immigrant settlement. The aim of this thesis is to deepen understanding of immigrant integration processes during the recession by using Sweden as an empirical lens. Using Swedish register data, this thesis examines the registered population during the recent economic boom and bust to explore how the recession may have resulted in differential labour market and migration outcomes between immigrants and natives. The first empirical chapter highlights how long-term processes have produced a spatial, immigrant division of labour that results in differential risks of unemployment during the recession. The second empirical chapter examines internal migration to show that although cyclical patterns of the economy offer some explanation of the differences in experiences between immigrant and natives, long-term, deeper processes are more important in understanding geographies of immigrant integration. The final empirical chapter examines a recent immigrant cohort to show that labour market entry is by no means uniform across time, space and immigrant origin. Conceptually, the thesis shows that existing theories of immigrant integration processes during recessions are underdeveloped and that processes taking place across other temporal and spatial scales offer deeper explanation for the differential outcomes between immigrants and natives. The thesis also reveals what is knowable from register data and how such data allows future research to present a more holistic picture of how various forms of immigrant integration play out across time (economic cycles, lifecourse, generations) and across space (urban, rural areas, old and new immigrant destinations). This methodological contribution is significant given that social scientists are currently evaluating the relative merits of population censuses versus administrative register data.

The persistence of socioeconomic outcomes across generations acts as a barrier to a society's ability to exploit its resources efficiently. In order to derive policy measures which aim at accelerating intergenerational mobility, we review the existent body of research on the causes, effects and the measurement of intergenerational mobility. We also present recent empirical works which study intergenerational mobility in Europe, around the Globe, and its relevance for economic growth. We recommend four policy measures to reduce the negative impacts of intergenerational persistence in economic outcomes: universal and high-quality child care and pre-school programs; later school tracking and increased access to vocational training to reduce skill mismatch and facilitate technological development; integration programs for migrants; and simultaneous investment in schooling and later social security programs. / Series: WWWforEurope

Die vorliegende Untersuchung hat die Folgen der Alterung von Beschäftigten auf den Arbeitsmarkt zum Gegenstand. Namentlich werden die Produktivitäts- und Lohn-, die Innovations- sowie die Mobilitätseffekte des Alters auf empirischem Weg analysiert. Der räumliche Fokus liegt dabei auch dem deutschen Arbeitsmarkt; als Datenbasis fungieren Personen- und Betriebsdaten des Instituts für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung Nürnberg (IAB). Mit Blick auf die Produktivitäts- und Lohnwirkung des Alters liefert die ökonometrische Analyse von Betrieben des Verarbeitenden Gewerbes Hinweise auf einen positiven Einfluss des Anteils der mittleren Jahrgänge auf die betriebliche Produktivität. Es bestätigt sich der umgekehrt u-förmige Verlauf des Alters-Produktivitätsprofils, der auch in anderen Ländern gefunden wurde. Die Analyse der Produktivitäts-Lohn-Relation im Altersverlauf erbringt ferner deutliche Belege für ein ungleiches Muster beider Profile. Insbesondere die Altersgruppe der 41-50-Jährigen scheint im Vergleich zur Referenzgruppe der über 50-Jährigen aber auch zur Gruppe der 15-30-Jährigen deutlich unter Produktivität entlohnt zu werden. Hinsichtlich des Einflusses der Altersstruktur auf das betriebliche Innovationsverhalten erbringt die mikroökonometrische Untersuchung ebenfalls Belege für einen umgekehrt u-förmigen Verlauf – die Gruppe der Beschäftigten im Alter von ca. 40 Jahren treibt demnach den betrieblichen Innovationsprozess am stärksten. Ein weiterer Befund der Analyse betrifft die Wirkung von Altersheterogenität. Der erwartet positive Innovationseinfluss einer altersgemischten Belegschaft konnte hier nicht belegt werden. Was die Mobilitätseffekte des Alters betrifft, so besagen die Ergebnisse der Arbeit, dass das ein höheres Alter von Erwerbstätigen die – betriebliche und berufliche – Job-Mobilität dämpft. Das geschätzte Mehrgleichungsmodell macht sichtbar, dass sich der Lohn Älterer durch einen Wechsel nur vergleichsweise wenig oder überhaupt nicht verbessern lässt, mithin für die meisten Älteren keine finanziellen Mobilitätsanreize gegeben sind. Die zweite Erkenntnis der Analyse besteht darin, dass das Alter auch nach Kontrolle dieses für Ältere fehlenden Lohnanreizes immer noch signifikant negativ auf die Wechselneigung wirkt. Neben dem Beitrag zur wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Forschung haben die Untersuchungsergebnisse auch Bedeutung für betriebliches und staatliches Handeln. Allgemein gesprochen sind beide Ebenen aufgefordert, die Herausforderungen des demographischen Wandels für die Produktivitätsentwicklung zu bewältigen. Dies ist einerseits erforderlich, um die nötigen Ressourcen für eine Gesellschaft zu generieren, in der sich ein steigender Anteil im nicht-erwerbsfähigen Alter befindet. Andererseits ist dies unerlässlich, um den wachsenden Anteil der Älteren, die noch im erwerbsfähigen Alter sind, mit echten Beschäftigungschancen auszustatten und so Erwerbstätigkeit im Kontext einer alternden Gesellschaft zu unterstützen. / The present study analyses the labour market effect of workers’ ageing. Explicitly, the impact of age on productivity and wages, on innovation as well as on mobility is explored empirically. The econometric analyses are based on firm and employment data from the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) and, thus, refer to the labour market of Germany. Regarding the productivity and wage effects of age the econometric results confirm a positive correlation between firm productivity and the share of middle-aged employees (41-50 years old) within the manufacturing sector. Hence, the results provide evidence of an inverted u-shaped age-productivity profile in this sector also found for other countries. Furthermore, age-wage and age-productivity profiles seem to follow unequal patterns. Compared to the group of the 15-30 and the 51 and above years old workers the group of middle-aged employees earn less than a productivity based wage scheme would require. In terms of age effects on innovativeness the micro-econometric analysis again reveals an inverted u-shaped profile. Workers aged around 40 years seem to act as key driver for innovation activities within firms. An additional finding concerns the impact of age diversity on innovation. The expected positive effect of a heterogeneous age structure is not confirmed by the data. With respect to labour market mobility results are in favour of a negative correlation between age and job mobility either in terms of changing professions or firms. The estimation of a multi equation model verifies that expected wages of older workers do not or only marginally increase due to job mobility, so, financial incentives to change jobs are very low. Yet, even after controlling the absent wage incentive older employees still remain more immobile than younger workers. Altogether, these results should not only be of academic interest but also informative for actors on the firm and the governmental level. Both sides are asked to cope with the challenges of demographic change. Only by maintaining productivity and innovativeness until old ages the necessary resources can be generated to preserve an economy’s prosperity even if the share of non-active population is increasing by demographic developments. Secondly, enhancing productivity is essential to ensure employability of older persons and to sustain the size of workforce even in the circumstances of an ageing economy.

Le contexte socio-économique marqué par la division du travail favorise les fermetures de marché. La professionnalisation représente un type de fermetures par lequel un groupe occupationnel cherche à obtenir et à maintenir le contrôle de l'environnement interne et externe de son activité économique afin d'éviter que ce contrôle s'exerce exclusivement de l'extérieur. En maintenant le contrôle sur un champ de compétence ou sur une fermeture de marché, un groupe assure la maîtrise de sa survie professionnelle et socio-économique. La recherche de fermeture de marché est une explication possible des considérations sousjacentes à l'intérêt d'un groupe occupationnel pour la professionnalisation. Cette considération ne compromet pas nécessairement la mission de protection du public qui doit guider les ordres professionnels dans l'exercice de leurs pouvoirs de contrôle. En effet, le processus de légitimation favorise au contraire le respect de cette mission. Par ce processus, un groupe occupationnel maintient non seulement la reconnaissance sociale de sa compétence et de son utilité mais également l'exercice des pouvoirs de contrôle qui lui sont octroyés. La légitimité ainsi acquise permet de maintenir le degré de crédibilité nécessaire à la survie du groupe. Cette explication de l'intérêt pour la professionnalisation a été élaborée à partir des critères de trois approches sociologiques qui sont le fonctionnalisme, l'interactionnisme et le conflictualisme. Ces approches ont servi à examiner en premier lieu le Code des professions et en second lieu les stratégies et les arguments de deux acteurs sociaux qui ont un point de vue opposé sur ce phénomène social de l'intérêt pour la professionnalisation. / The social economical context characterized by the division of labour favoured the development of c1osed labour markets. The formation of professions is part of this social phenomenon. By controlling internaI and external factors of its economic activity, an occupational group avoids or at least influences in its favour the control exercised by others. It also protects its field of competence from other groups and can even extend it into other spheres. Exercising control over its activity secures professional, social and economical status. This may explain why the formation of professions is so popular. However, such considerations do not necessarily compromise public protection. On the contrary, the legitimatization of an occupational group ensures public protection. A group needs to acquire and maintain not only social recognition of its competence and usefulness but also to legitimise its control. Such legitimacy is required to maintain professional, social and economical status. This explanation to the social phenomenon of formation of professions is based on three sociological views, namely functionalism, interactionism and conflictualism. From these perspectives, the Profèssional Code is first considered. It is followed by the study of the strategies and the arguments of two social groups who hold different views on the formation of professions. / "Mémoire présenté à la Faculté des études supérieures en vue de l'obtention du grade de Maîtrise en droit (L.L.M.)". Ce mémoire a été accepté à l'unanimité et classé parmi les 10% des mémoires de la discipline. Commentaires du jury : "Contribution aux connaissances. Recherche fouillée. Approche intéressante".

Au moment où le dialogue social européen fête les vingt ans de sa reconnaissance institutionnelle par le Traité de Maastricht, il est pertinent d’analyser le rôle des partenaires sociaux européens dans la régulation de l’emploi, alors que cette dernière connait d’importantes transformations au sein de l’UE. Partant du constat que le marché du travail européen acquiert une consistance propre qui le distingue d’une addition d’espaces nationaux, nous montrons que cette construction ne dérive pas mécaniquement de l’intégration économique du marché des produits mais résulte en partie de l’intervention des partenaires sociaux européens dans la régulation communautaire de l’emploi et des interactions qu’ils nouent avec les autres parties prenantes dont, au premier plan, la Commission européenne. L’expérimentation de nouvelles formes de régulation permet de conforter la légitimité des partenaires sociaux européens en élargissant leur champ d’intervention et en les maintenant dans le circuit de la régulation communautaire alors que d’autres acteurs (société civile organisée, groupes d’experts) auraient pu les en écarter. Cependant, le changement de paradigme de l’emploi, au nom de la « modernisation du marché du travail », les conduit à délibérer sur des objets plus généraux (« plus d’emploi et de meilleure qualité », « marchés du travail inclusifs »), au détriment d’une opérationnalité qui leur fait d’autant plus défaut que le manque d’approfondissement de la régulation de la relation d'emploi entrouvre la porte à des cas de dumping social. Dès lors, plus que les nouvelles formes de régulation, ce sont les déplacements de l’objet de la régulation qui mettent à l’épreuve la portée du dialogue social européen. / When the European social dialogue is celebrating the twentieth anniversary of its institutional recognition in the Maastricht Treaty, analysing the role of the European social partners in the employment regulation which now facing significant changes within the EU is of peculiar relevance. Our study establishes that the making of the European labour market differs from an addition of national scales. We demonstrate that this construction is not mechanically induced by the goods market integration but partly results from the European social partners’ involvement in the Community employment regulation and from their interactions with the other stakeholders, mainly the European commission. Experimenting new forms of regulation reinforces the European social partners’ legitimacy. It widens their scope of intervention and maintains them in the Community regulation process whereas other players (civil society, groups of experts) could have drawn them aside. In However, because of the evolution of the employment paradigm on behalf of the “modernization of the labour market”, the European social partners now deliberate on more general terms (“more and better jobs”, “inclusive labour markets”) at the expense of operability. This limited operability is all the more problematic as the lack of deepening in the regulation of the employment relationship opens the door to cases of social dumping. Therefore, the impact of European social dialogue is more tested by the evolutions of the subject of regulation than by the new forms of regulation.

Cette thèse analyse le traitement public du chômage artistique en France. Elle prend pour objet deux dispositifs publics spécialisés, qui visent le « retour à l’emploi » d’artistes demandeurs d’emploi et/ou allocataires du RSA : l’un relève de la politique nationale de l’emploi (ANPE puis Pôle emploi spectacle), l’autre de la politique sociale départementale (RMI puis RSA artiste). L’enquête, socio-historique et ethnographique, a été conduite à Paris et en Gironde entre 2010 et 2014. Elle a permis de récolter un matériau diversifié, composé d’archives administratives, d’entretiens et d’observations, à tous les niveaux de l’action publique – ministères et élus locaux, experts et partenaires institutionnels, cadres territoriaux, street-level bureaucrats et usagers. La spécialisation sectorielle d’une action publique généraliste accentue les tensions relatives à l’organisation institutionnelle, à la formalisation des rôles professionnels et au traitement ordinaire des usagers. D’un côté, les agents de l’administration des vocations tentent d’adapter des usagers suspectés d’onirisme à la « réalité » du marché de l’emploi. De l’autre côté, ils s’efforcent eux-mêmes de se conformer au fonctionnement d’un domaine d’activités peu porté vers l’intermédiation publique. L’incongruité du rapprochement entre logique bureaucratique standardisée et impératif artistique de singularisation permet de renouveler l’analyse de l’individualisation d’un traitement de masse, caractéristique structurante de la régulation politique des rapports sociaux. / This thesis analyses the public handling of unemployment in the French arts sector. It examines two specialised public schemes devoted to the ‘return to work’ of artists living on welfare benefits. One pertains to national employment policy (ANPE agency, then Pôle emploi spectacle), while the other falls under departmental welfare policy (RMI, then RSA artiste). Socio-historical and ethnographic research was conducted in Paris and in the department of Gironde between 2010 and 2014. The resulting material is varied, including administrative archives, interviews and observations at all public policy levels – with ministers and local representatives, experts and institutional partners, civil service managers, street-level bureaucrats and clients. The sectoral specialisation of a generalist public policy increases tensions surrounding the institutional organisation, the formalisation of professional roles, and everyday interactions with clients. On the one hand, the agents of this administration of vocations tend to seek to adjust clients often suspected of being dreamers to the ‘reality’ of the job market. On the other, they make efforts themselves to adjust to the workings of a field of activity where public intermediation is not well perceived. This unlikely balance between a standardized bureaucratic rationale and the artistic imperative of singularity sheds new light on the analysis of the individualization of a mass treatment, which is a structuring feature of the political regulation of social relations.

Die vorliegende Arbeit untersucht die Intensität zwischenbetrieblicher Mobilität von Hochqualifizierten für Deutschland auf regionaler Ebene und überprüft, welcher Wirkungszusammenhang mit regionaler Innovationsfähigkeit besteht. Zentral für die Entstehung von Innovationen werden Wissensspillover angesehen. Hochqualifizierten Arbeitskräften wird eine besondere Rolle zugeschrieben, Wissensspillover auszulösen. In der wissenschaftlichen Literatur wird für Regionen in den USA und den skandinavischen Raum auf den positiven Einfluss zwischenbetrieblicher Mobilität von Hochqualifizierten und der Innovationsentstehung verwiesen. Im Fokus dieser Arbeiten stehen zumeist Beschäftigte im IT-Bereich. Für Deutschland liegen bisher nur wenige Befunde vor. Dementsprechend wird in dieser Arbeit der Frage nachgegangen, wie sich die zwischenbetriebliche Mobilität von Hochqualifizierten räumlich darstellt und welche Auswirkungen regionale Unterschiede im Mobilitätsverhalten auf den Wissenstransfer und damit auf die Innovationsfähigkeit haben. Zur Klärung der Forschungsfrage wird ein Methodenmix angewandt. Auf Grundlage einer quantitativen Auswertung von Berufsbiographien und der Analyse des räumlichen Innovationsgeschehens wird deutlich, dass zwischenbetriebliche Mobilität in einem positiven Zusammenhang mit regionaler Innovationsaktivität steht. Die Befunde für deutsche Regionen bestätigen die Forschungsliteratur zur Wirkungsweise von zwischenbetrieblicher Mobilität auf die Innovationsentstehung. Die qualitative Auswertung von Interviews mit Experten aus Maschinenbaufirmen und regionalen Institutionen in vier deutschen Fallregionen zeigt jedoch, dass in diesem Bereich des produzierenden Sektors spezifische Barrieren existieren, die Einfluss darauf haben, dass Arbeitskräftemobilität nur bedingt zu Wissensspillovern führt. Weiterhin zeigt sich, dass räumliche Unterschiede bei der Wahrnehmung von Arbeitskräftemobilität bestehen, die auf betriebsstrukturelle Merkmale zurückzuführen sind. / This work examines the intensity of inter-firm mobility of highly qualified employees at a local level in Germany and analyses the consequences of labour mobility for the creation of innovation. Knowledge spillovers are considered as a key element in the development of innovative products and processes. A special role in the knowledge transfer mechanism has been attributed to highly qualified employees. Scientific research has shown a positive influence of inter-firm mobility of highly qualified employees and innovation processes for various regions in the USA and Scandinavia. This applies in particular to employees in the IT sector. Concerning Germany one has gained only little insight in in this range of topics so far. Hence, this work addresses the question how the intensity of inter-firm mobility of highly qualified employees looks like at a local level in Germany and which consequences regional disparities of labour mobility have for knowledge spillover effects and thus for the creation of innovation. To tackle the research question, a method mix is applied in this paper. On the basis of quantitative research of nationwide professional biographies and the analysis of spatial innovation activities, it grows apparent that there exists a positive correlation between inter-firm mobility and regional innovation performance. The findings of this analysis of German regions confirm the mechanism between labour mobility and innovation activities in international research. Qualitative research in the form of interviews with experts from mechanical engineering companies and local institutions in four German regions has shown that there are special barriers in this field of the manufacturing sector, which limit the knowledge spillover of labour mobility. Moreover, one has shown spatial differences with regard to the perception of labour mobility, which, however, can be traced back to the structural characteristics of firms in the respective region.

We use new migration modelling and projection techniques in order to quantify the effect of migration in the context of ageing societies in Europe over the forthcoming decades. Using new empirical results, data and projections of migration flows developed in the framework of the WWWforEUROPE project, we inform the policy discussion concerning the role of demographic change, inequality dynamics, labour market integration of migrants and the sustainability of public finances in the continent. / Series: WWWforEurope

This thesis consists of four self-contained studies in empirical labor economics. Micro data on both employers and workers are used to analyze the questions asked in the essays. By using disaggregated information, issues related to firm and individual heterogeneity can be studied.The first essay, The Impact of Temporary Contracts on Gross Job and Worker Flows (with Mahmood Arai), examines job and worker flow dynamics for temporary and permanent contracts. The micro approach to job flows concerns changes in employment at the plant or firm level. Data used in earlier research on gross labor flows do not allow for a distinction between different types of employment contracts (an exception is Abowd et al. (1999). This distinction is especially important in Europe since several European countries discriminate between permanent and temporary contracts in their employment legislation.The data contain quarterly information on the stock of permanent and temporary contracts, as well as direct information on hires and separations for permanent and temporary workers. The information is from a representative sample of around 10,000 Swedish private establishments.The results indicate that temporary contracts, covering only around 10 percent of all contracts, stand for half of all gross job (and worker) flows. This means that gross job (and worker) flow rates for temporary contracts are around 10 times larger than job (and worker) flows for permanent contracts. Our results imply that job reallocation associated with temporary contracts is acyclical in both manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors. For permanent contracts, job reallocation only exhibits a countercyclical pattern in manufacturing, characterized by a low fraction of temporary contracts. Services employing a higher fraction of temporary contracts exhibit no cyclical pattern in job reallocation, implying that establishments in services use temporary contracts as an adjustment buffer and can adjust its labor input more smoothly.The share of temporary contracts varies with the industry structure and changes as a result of sectoral shifts. This implies that cross-country comparisons, as well as studies of the dynamics of job and worker flows, based on aggregated time-series data, can be distorted by the impact of the fraction of temporary labor on gross labor flows. This, in turn, makes the distinction between permanent and temporary contracts crucial in analyzing job and worker flows, especially when labor protection laws discriminate between short-and long-term employment contracts. The second essay, Wage Dispersion and Allocation of Jobs, investigates the relationship between job turnover and the distribution of wages. One possible explanation for similar labor reallocation rates across labor markets with very different employment-protection legislations is related to differences in wage setting institutions. Bertola and Rogerson (1997) argue that although job-security laws lead to lower job flows, their impact might be reduced if differences in wage-setting institutions have opposite effects. Bertola and Rogerson’s conclusion is that when labor protection laws and wages are jointly considered, the result might very well be that job flows in countries with high adjustment costs and a compressed wage structure mimic those in countries with low adjustment costs and decentralized wages.Using establishment data on job turnover and wages for a panel of around 10,000 establishments in the Swedish private sector, the relationship between wage compression and job reallocation is studied at the industry level.Estimating industry fixed-effects models for 14 two-digit industries yield results indicating large sector differences regarding the effect of the degree of wage dispersion on job reallocation. In accordance with the Bertola and Rogerson hypothesis, this effect is positive in the manufacturing sector. Running separate regressions for job creation and job destruction shows a negative and significant effect of wage dispersion on job destruction, whereas it is insignificant in the job-creation equation. These results are in accordance with wages being more rigid downwards than upwards. The quantitative effect of the impact of wage dispersion on job turnover is limited, however. A one standard deviation increase in wage dispersion reduces the total job reallocation by around 10 percent. Turning to the non-manufacturing sector, the Bertola and Rogerson hypothesis is not supported.Further results include (i) a strong positive effect of the industry-share of temporary employees on job reallocation and (ii) a negative relationship between the use of overtime and job turnover.In the third essay, Wages, Profits and Individual Unemployment Risk: Evidence from Matched Worker-Firm Data (with Mahmood Arai), the impact of firm performance on individual wages is studied. Several studies have found a positive and significant effect of profits on wages. The most widely suggested interpretation for this phenomenon is that employers and employees engage in rent-sharing, thereby splitting the profits created between themselves.The purpose of this study is to examine the extent of rent-sharing and the impact of individual and aggregated unemployment risk on wages of individual workers. We use a sample of over 170,000 Swedish employees for 1991 and 1995 matched with their employing firm’s profits and the unemployment registers. The matched data contain detailed information on individual characteristics, including their unemployment experience during 1992-1995 as well as annual profits as reported in the firms’ balance-sheet reports.The contribution of this paper is that it provides evidence on the wage determination, based on disaggregated individual and firm data dealing with the problems of firm and worker heterogeneity, and the endogeneity of profits. Our results imply positive effects of profits on wages, both in 1991 and 1995. The reported elasticities imply that the wage inequality in Sweden due to the spread in profits is as high as 13% of the mean wages in 1991, according to Lester’s range of pay. These correlations are robust for controlling for time-invariant unobserved individual- and firm characteristics.Using firm-reported short-term product market elasticity and the number of competitors as instruments for profits suggest Lester’s measure of wage inequality due to profits to be as high as 50% of the mean wages.Finally, we investigate the impact of individual heterogeneity with respect to unemployment risk that might also affect wages. We include the individuals’ unemployment event record in our regressions, and our results confirm that individuals with a higher unemployment risk also have lower wages. Including aggregated measures along with individual unemployment risk in our estimations show results suggesting that there exists a robust negative correlation between unemployment risk and wages at various aggregation levels.The final essay, Pay Inequality and Firm Performance: Evidence from Matched Employer-Employee Data, tests several implications from tournament models on the same matched employer-employee data set as in essay 3.According to a variety of theories, the wage distribution both within and between firms can have important effects on individual productivity and firm performance. One argument for high wage differentials, based on incentive effects, is found in Lazear and Rosen’s (1981) tournament theory. Higher wage differentials lead to higher individual effort, and are therefore productivity enhancing. This, in turn, suggests that there is a positive relationship between wage dispersion and productivity. The opposite relationship is found in theories stressing fairness and cooperation between co-workers.For white-collar workers, the results show a positive effect of intra-firm pay spread on firm performance for 1991 and 1995. This applies to different measures of wage dispersion, capturing both raw differences and differences corrected for the fact that part of the wage spread is due to differences in human capital accumulation. To take firm heterogeneity into account, difference equations are estimated on a panel of firms. Once more, consistent with tournament theory, a positive and significant effect of wage dispersion on profits is found. The results for managers are based on information on about 10,000 managers. For various measures of wage dispersion and specifications, a positive and significant association between managerial pay and profits is found. No support is found for the hypothesis of a positive relationship between the number of managers (contestants) and wage spread. Instead, the results show a negative and significant effect of the number of executives and pay spread among managers.Finally, consistent with tournament theory, higher wage dispersion is found in firms operating in volatile product markets characterized by a high degree of output uncertainty. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögsk., 2002