The economic analysis of labor and employment law is a bold effort to apply economic theory to explain important empirical facts about the regulation of the employment relationship and to provide positive predictions and normative analyses that are useful to policy-makers. This book draws together 24 chapters, by leading scholars in the field, summarizing the important theoretical and empirical work that has been done to date on a wide spectrum of labor and employment law topics including: regulating employment contracts, unions, collective bargaining, minimum wages, health insurance, executive pay, workers' compensation, unemployment, occupational health and safety, discrimination, needs of families, training and slave labor, to name but a few. This volume is one of the first in a series on specific topics within law and economics which builds upon, updates and replaces Elgar's very popular Encyclopedia of Law and Economics. It is designed as an essential starting point for academics and policy-makers who are interested in these topics.