ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Shapiro–Stiglitz theory

Alright, kiddo, have you ever heard of something called the Shapiro-Stiglitz theory? It's a fancy way of explaining how companies and workers decide how much money they should get paid for the work they do.

Let's say you want to make some lemonade to sell to your friends. You need some lemons, sugar, and water. If you use a lot of lemons but not enough sugar or water, your lemonade will be too sour. If you use too much sugar and not enough lemons, your lemonade will be too sweet – you need to get the right balance.

It's the same with companies and workers. Companies want to pay their workers as little as possible so that they can make more money. But if they pay their workers too little, they might leave to go work for another company. Workers want to get paid as much as possible so they can live a good life, but if they ask for too much, the company might not be able to afford them.

So, the Shapiro-Stiglitz theory says that companies and workers each have some "information" that the other side doesn't know. Companies know how much they're willing to pay their workers, but they don't know how much their workers are willing to work for. Workers know how much they want to be paid, but they don't know how much the company is willing to pay.

So, they need to negotiate to figure out the right balance. The company might offer a salary that's lower than what the worker wants, but the worker might accept it because they need the job. Or, the worker might ask for a higher salary and the company might agree because they really need someone with those skills.

It's like making lemonade – you need to find the right balance of lemons, sugar, and water to make it taste good. Companies and workers need to find the right balance of wages and job security to make the job work for both of them.