Search results for "wage bargaining"
showing 8 items of 8 documents
The tax system incidence on unemployment: A country-specific analysis for the OECD economies
2008
Abstract In this paper we evaluate the incidence of the tax structure on the labor market. To do so we go beyond the traditional examination of the “level” effect of the fiscal wedge and consider a “composition” effect defined as a payroll tax bias (PTB): the proportion of payroll taxes paid by employees with respect to the one paid by firms. We develop a right-to-manage model encompassing different wage bargaining systems and the incidence of different types of taxes. Controlling for demand-side and supply-side determinants of unemployment, we show that the PTB plays a significant role in explaining unemployment in the continental European countries, but not in the Nordic nor in the Anglo-…
Wage Bargaining Centralization And Macroeconomic Performance: An Experimental Approach
2001
This paper experimentally analyzes the effect of wage bargaining centralization (WBC) on macroeconomic performance. Our theoretical benchmark comes from that developed by Cukierman and Lippi (1999) to investigate the joint effects of monetary policy and labor market institutions on unemployment and inflation. We focus on the implications of two well known effects related to the degree of WBC: the competitive effect and the strategic effect. To do so we established a simple wage setting mechanism based on the existence of assorted levels of WBC measured by the number of unions in the labor market. In the three control treatments, unions' welfare and monetary rewards depend only on unemployme…
The Concept of Labour Market Flexicurity in the Eurozone
2013
This chapter discusses the evolution of the idea of a flexible labour market as a smooth shock absorber in case of asymmetric shocks. The concept of flexible labour markets became an institutionally well-established concept when the OECD constructed its index of labour market strictness. The OECD recognised, however, the weakness of its narrow approach and the European Commission put forward the more novel notion of flexicurity. Next, this chapter explains how the proposal of the concept of flexicurity aims at reaching a reasonable agreement between both the efficiency and the security principles by taking into consideration the interest of all the stakeholders in the labour market, includi…
Coordination of Wage Bargaining, Exchange Rate Stability and External Adjustment
2016
The literature on the determinants of the rate of current account reversion has been limited to examining the role of exchange rate regimes. We propose that the degree of coordination of wage bargaining affects the speed of current account adjustment. Our point estimates are economically and statistically significant, suggesting that fragmented firm-level wage bargaining facilitates external adjustment. We also find a strong negative interaction between the effects of coordination of wage bargaining and exchange rate stability on the rate of current account reversion.
Commitment and strikes in wage bargaining
2000
Abstract This paper analyzes the long-run strategic relationship between a firm and a union as a repeated bargaining game, where there is incomplete information on the player's motivation on both sides and each party has a fall-back position. The firm and the union will engage in a reputation-building activity, that will produce a limited number of strikes over time. The bargainer that succeeds in building up a reputation for toughness and obtains a favorable payoff in the long-run is, either the more patient (or alternatively the more centralized), or the party with a higher initial probability of stubbornness, or the party with a smaller fall-back position. Our model also offers predictio…
Wage Cyclicality under Different Regimes of Industrial Relations
2010
Since there is scant evidence on the role of industrial relations in wage cyclicality, this paper analyzes the effect of collective wage contracts and of works councils on real wage growth. Using linked employer-employee data for western Germany, we find that works councils affect wage growth only in combination with collective bargaining. Wage adjustments to positive and negative economic shocks are not always symmetric. Only under sectoral bargaining there is a (nearly symmetric) reaction to rising and falling unemployment. In contrast, wage growth in establishments without collective bargaining adjusts only to falling unemployment and is unaffected by rising unemployment.
Current Accounts and Coordination of Wage Bargaining
2018
This study provides novel evidence on the impact of labor market institutions on current account dynamics. Our results suggest that a high degree of coordination of wage bargaining has a positive effect on the current account balance over the long run. This result is not driven entirely by wage moderation induced by centralized wage setting. We also provide robust evidence that a high degree of coordination of wage bargaining is associated with a slower current account adjustment toward its long-run equilibrium. This result seems theoretically plausible; the aggregate shocks in the exporting sector are largely driven by idiosyncratic shocks and the presence of idiosyncratic shocks increases…
Essays on current account imbalances
2017
Global current account imbalances and intra-euro area imbalances have been at the forefront of academic and policy debates for the last ten years. This thesis examines the determinants of current account balances and external adjustment. It consists of an introduction and four empirical studies. This thesis highlights the importance of institutional factors such as differences in national cultures and cross-country differences in the coordination of wage bargaining on external balances. The first study investigates the effects of deep determinants on current account balances. The point estimates are economically and statistically significant, suggesting that countries populated by Roman Cat…