ABSTRACT In this article I discuss the micro-economics of American slavery in light of recent research on monopsonistic labour markets. I argue that the defining characteristic of coerced labour, the threat of violence to prevent voluntary quits from a job, can be helpfully understood by contrasting it with free labour markets that are riven with imperfect competition and agency problems. American slavery looks closer to the textbook competitive model of labour markets than does free labour.

中文翻译：

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美国奴隶制和劳动力市场力量

摘要在本文中，我将根据对单调劳动力市场的最新研究来讨论美国奴隶制的微观经济学。我认为，将强迫劳动的定义特征，即防止自愿离职的暴力威胁，可以与竞争不完善和代理问题困扰的自由劳动力市场进行对比，从而可以有所帮助。与奴役相比，美国奴隶制更接近教科书上的劳动力市场竞争模式。