Inside the Firm: Contributions to Personnel Economics

How should firms select their employees? How should they design their compensation schemes such that employees are motivated to work hard? How do the performance and compensation of teammates influence workers’ motivation and productivity? Personnel economics examines human resource practices and answers questions that are of paramount importance for business leaders around the globe. In this volume, Edward P. Lazear, a founding father of personnel economics and winner of the IZA Prize in Labor Economics 2004, takes stock of the economic analysis of personnel management, and the advancements and achievements that have been made in this field over the past 30 years. The book contains an impressive selection of Lazear’s most important papers. It provides a unifying approach to human resource practices and a useful reference on personnel strategies such as hiring, motivating, and training an effective work force.