This innovative text grounds the economic analysis of labor markets and employment relationships in a unified theoretical treatment of labor exchange conditions. In addition to providing thorough coverage of standard topics including labor supply and demand, human capital theory, and compensating wage differentials, the text draws on game theory and the economics of information to study the implications of key departures from perfectly competitive labor market conditions. Analytical results are consistently applied to contemporary policy issues and empirical debates. Provides a coherent theoretical framework for the analysis of labor market phenomenaFeatures graphical in-chapter analysis supplemented by technical material in appendicesIncorporates numerous end-of-chapter questions that engage the analysis and anticipate subsequent resultsIncludes innovative chapters on employee compensation methods, market segmentation, income inequality and labor market dynamicsBalances theoretical, empirical and policy analysis