Reexaminations of the nature of the wage relationship lead to consideration of its institutional nature. Nevertheless, in the theoretical literature, contractual relationships are not always incorporated in a real institutional relationship. The interests of French and American institutional economists of the early twentieth century are reflected in the works of contemporary labor economists; it is therefore interesting to compare current work with the analyses of these early institutional economists. Convergences and divergences concerning the contractual and institutional dimensions of the wage-labor relationship will be emphasized in order to stress the potential of an institutionalist approach.