The provisions in a labour contract: technology and the market

Abstract

Many common features of the legal regulation of the employment relationship have attracted little attention, although they are to be found in contracts with possible litigation, as for instance the possibility for the employer to reduce the mobility of the employee or to prevent them from retaining some intangible assets. The aim of this paper is to provide some insights into the actual drafting of individual labour contracts, starting with a quantitative description of the usage of contracts in France, and then going further with some explanations of why some provisions exist and in which cases they are expected to be found. The main empirical result is that factors related to the technology of job cannot be considered as the only causes of the specificity of a contract. In many cases, the bargaining process is relevant and is sensitive to the state of the micro labour market.