Benjamin Schoefer
Associate Professor (with tenure)
Department of Economics
UC Berkeley
schoefer@berkeley.edu
Twitter account (occasional news about my research) Bsky account (less active)
Director, Macro Labor Center for the Study on Aggregate Labor Markets, Policies, and Institutions, at UC Berkeley and IRLE
Journal of Monetary Economics, Associate Editor
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Visiting Researcher
Bundesbank (German Central Bank), Research Professor
IWH Halle Research Fellow (Senior Researcher)
NBER Research Associate (Economic Fluctuations & Growth, Monetary,
Public, Labor)
CEPR
Research Affiliate
(Monetary Economics and Fluctuations, Labour, Public)
IZA Research Fellow
CESifo
Affiliate Member
Selected Work in Progress
What Does Consulting Do?with Gert Bijnens and Simon Jäger
Conference draft and slides
Efficiency Wages
In preparation for Journal of Economic Literature
Job Mobility and Unemployment Risk
with Alex Clymo, Piotr Denderski and Yusuf Mercan
Conference draft and slides
Opting Out of Centralized Collective Bargaining: Firm and Worker Consequences
with Christian Dustmann, Chiara Giannetto, Lorenzo Incoronato, Chiara Lacava, Vincenzo Pezone and Raffaele Saggio
Conference draft and slides
Minimum Wages, Market Power, and Misallocation: Theory and Evidence from a Large Minimum Wage Introduction
with Ester Faia and Benjamin Lochner
Conference draft
Why do Firms Outsource? Evidence from Norway
with Johannes Schmieder, Marte Strom, and Mirjam Wentzel
Slides
Micro-Macro Turnover Links
with Yusuf Mercan
Slides
Working Papers
Conflict in Dismissals
Working paper, February 2025, with Pauline Carry
NBER Working Paper,
Slides
From Labor to Intermediates: Firm Growth, Input Substitution, and Monopsony
Working paper, March 2025, with Matthias Mertens
NBER Working Paper,
Slides
Unions, Collective Bargaining, and the Wage Structure: An International Perspective
In preparation for the Handbook of Labor Economics, working paper, December 2024, with Simon Jäger and Suresh Naidu
NBER Working Paper
Deadwood Labor? The Effects of Eliminating Employment Protection for Older Workers
Working paper, October 2024, with Emmanuel Saez and David Seim
NBER Working Paper,
Slides,
VOX
summary,
Presentation video (NBER SI 2023, joint Labor & Public)
The
Financial Channel of Wage Rigidity
Working paper, April 2022 (substantially revised update of previous version, the
2015 dissertation chapter)
NBER Working Paper,
Marginal
Revolution blog summary, Slides
Publications
Voice
at Work
American Economic Journal: Applied, Forthcoming, with Jarkko Harju and Simon Jäger
Publication,
VOX
summary,
Slides
Worker Beliefs About Outside Options
Quarterly Journal of Economics, 139(3), 2024, with Simon Jäger, Christopher Roth and Nina Roussille
Publication,
Slides, Microeconomic Insights Summary , EconImate Video Summary
Reservation
Raises: The Aggregate Labor Supply Curve at the Extensive Margin
Review
of Economic Studies, 92(1), 2025, with Preston Mui
Publication,
Slides
(outdated)
Productivity,
Place, and Plants
Review
of Economics and Statistics, 106 (5), 2024, Lead Article, with Oren
Ziv
Publication, Slides
(NBER Summer Institute)
A
Congestion Theory of Unemployment Fluctuations
American
Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, 16(1), 2024,
with Yusuf Mercan and Petr Sedlacek
Publication,
Slides,
Marginal
Revolution blog summary
The German Model of Industrial Relations: Balancing Flexibility and Collective Action
Journal of Economic Perspectives, 36(4), 2022,
with Simon Jäger and Shakked Noy
Publication
Marginal
Jobs and Job Surplus: A Test of the Efficiency of Separations
Review
of Economic Studies, 90(3), 2023, with Simon Jäger and Josef Zweimüller
Publication, Slides,
VOX summary
What
Does Codetermination Do?
ILR
Review, 75(4), 2022, with Shakked Noy and Simon Jäger
Publication,
Harvard
Law School Forum on Corporate Governance Summary
Paying
Outsourced Labor: Direct Evidence from Linked Temp Agency-Worker-Client Data
Review
of Economics and Statistics, 105(1), 2023, 206-216 with Andres Drenik, Simon
Jäger and Pascuel Plotkin
Publication,
VOX
summary
Hysteresis
from Employer Subsidies
Journal
of Public Economics, 200, 2021, 104459, with Emmanuel Saez and David Seim
Publication
Labor
in the Boardroom
Quarterly
Journal of Economics, 136(2), 2021, 669-725, Editor's Choice (lead article),
with Simon Jäger and Joerg Heining
Publication,
VOX
summary, NBER
Digest February 2020, Harvard
Law School Forum on Corporate Governance Summary, IZA
Newsroom Summary, EconImate
Video Summary
Wages
and the Value of Nonemployment
Quarterly
Journal of Economics, 135(4), 2020, 1905-1963, with Simon Jäger, Samuel Young
and Josef Zweimüller
Publication,
Slides
Jobs
and Matches: Quits, Replacement Hiring, and Vacancy Chains
American
Economic Review: Insights, 2(1), 2020, 101-124, with Yusuf Mercan
Publication,
Slides
Payroll
Taxes, Firm Behavior, and Rent Sharing: Evidence from a Young Workers' Tax Cut
in Sweden
American
Economic Review 109(5), 2019, 1717-1763, with Emmanuel Saez and David
Seim
Publication,
Online
Appendix, Slides,
Older
and Longer NBER WP Version, VOX
summary
Regulation
and Taxation: A Complementarity
Journal
of Comparative Economics 38.4 (2010): 381-94 (Undergraduate
Thesis)
Publication
Policy Papers and Other Writing
Codetermination
and Power in the Workplace
Journal of Law and Political Economy 3.1 (2022), with Simon Jäger and Shakked Noy
Publication,
Economic Policy
Institute: Unequal Power
Project
Working paper, March 2025, with Matthias Mertens
NBER Working Paper, Slides
In preparation for the Handbook of Labor Economics, working paper, December 2024, with Simon Jäger and Suresh Naidu
NBER Working Paper
Deadwood Labor? The Effects of Eliminating Employment Protection for Older Workers
Working paper, October 2024, with Emmanuel Saez and David Seim
NBER Working Paper,
Slides,
VOX
summary,
Presentation video (NBER SI 2023, joint Labor & Public)
The
Financial Channel of Wage Rigidity
Working paper, April 2022 (substantially revised update of previous version, the
2015 dissertation chapter)
NBER Working Paper,
Marginal
Revolution blog summary, Slides
Publications
Voice
at Work
American Economic Journal: Applied, Forthcoming, with Jarkko Harju and Simon Jäger
Publication,
VOX
summary,
Slides
Worker Beliefs About Outside Options
Quarterly Journal of Economics, 139(3), 2024, with Simon Jäger, Christopher Roth and Nina Roussille
Publication,
Slides, Microeconomic Insights Summary , EconImate Video Summary
Reservation
Raises: The Aggregate Labor Supply Curve at the Extensive Margin
Review
of Economic Studies, 92(1), 2025, with Preston Mui
Publication,
Slides
(outdated)
Productivity,
Place, and Plants
Review
of Economics and Statistics, 106 (5), 2024, Lead Article, with Oren
Ziv
Publication, Slides
(NBER Summer Institute)
A
Congestion Theory of Unemployment Fluctuations
American
Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, 16(1), 2024,
with Yusuf Mercan and Petr Sedlacek
Publication,
Slides,
Marginal
Revolution blog summary
The German Model of Industrial Relations: Balancing Flexibility and Collective Action
Journal of Economic Perspectives, 36(4), 2022,
with Simon Jäger and Shakked Noy
Publication
Marginal
Jobs and Job Surplus: A Test of the Efficiency of Separations
Review
of Economic Studies, 90(3), 2023, with Simon Jäger and Josef Zweimüller
Publication, Slides,
VOX summary
What
Does Codetermination Do?
ILR
Review, 75(4), 2022, with Shakked Noy and Simon Jäger
Publication,
Harvard
Law School Forum on Corporate Governance Summary
Paying
Outsourced Labor: Direct Evidence from Linked Temp Agency-Worker-Client Data
Review
of Economics and Statistics, 105(1), 2023, 206-216 with Andres Drenik, Simon
Jäger and Pascuel Plotkin
Publication,
VOX
summary
Hysteresis
from Employer Subsidies
Journal
of Public Economics, 200, 2021, 104459, with Emmanuel Saez and David Seim
Publication
Labor
in the Boardroom
Quarterly
Journal of Economics, 136(2), 2021, 669-725, Editor's Choice (lead article),
with Simon Jäger and Joerg Heining
Publication,
VOX
summary, NBER
Digest February 2020, Harvard
Law School Forum on Corporate Governance Summary, IZA
Newsroom Summary, EconImate
Video Summary
Wages
and the Value of Nonemployment
Quarterly
Journal of Economics, 135(4), 2020, 1905-1963, with Simon Jäger, Samuel Young
and Josef Zweimüller
Publication,
Slides
Jobs
and Matches: Quits, Replacement Hiring, and Vacancy Chains
American
Economic Review: Insights, 2(1), 2020, 101-124, with Yusuf Mercan
Publication,
Slides
Payroll
Taxes, Firm Behavior, and Rent Sharing: Evidence from a Young Workers' Tax Cut
in Sweden
American
Economic Review 109(5), 2019, 1717-1763, with Emmanuel Saez and David
Seim
Publication,
Online
Appendix, Slides,
Older
and Longer NBER WP Version, VOX
summary
Regulation
and Taxation: A Complementarity
Journal
of Comparative Economics 38.4 (2010): 381-94 (Undergraduate
Thesis)
Publication
Policy Papers and Other Writing
Journal of Law and Political Economy 3.1 (2022), with Simon Jäger and Shakked Noy
Publication, Economic Policy Institute: Unequal Power Project
Equitable
Wage Growth: Macroeconomic Perspectives
Invited book chapter, in: "Boosting Wages for U.S.
Workers in the New Economy"
(Washington Center for Equitable Growth/US Berkeley Institute for Research on
Labor and Employment 2021 Essay Series)
Web
version, Complete
book (PDF) Complete
book (web version)
Recent Discussions etc.
NBER Summer Institute, Labor Studies, July 2023
Slides
NBER Wage Dynamics in the 21st Century, September 2022
Slides
Invited short talk connecting academic and policy
perspectives CEPR-IZA-OECD Workshop: Employment Support
Strategies during COVID-19, October 2020
Slides
Teaching
Econ
202B: Macroeconomic Theory (mandatory first-year PhD course)
Econ 101B: Intermediate Macroeconomics (Math Intensive/Honors Track)
Econ 191: Topics in Economic Research
[Econ 236B: Macroeconomics (second-year field course) (not
currently)]
Econ 237: Macroeconomics Research Seminar
Econ 101B: Intermediate Macroeconomics (Math Intensive/Honors Track)
Econ 191: Topics in Economic Research
[Econ 236B: Macroeconomics (second-year field course) (not currently)]
Econ 237: Macroeconomics Research Seminar