[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cpb/discus/17.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

European wage coordination; nightmare or dream to come true? An economic analysis of wage bargaining institutions in the EU

Author

Listed:
  • Alain Borghijs
  • Sjef Ederveen
  • Ruud de Mooij
Abstract
This paper analyses recent trends in wage bargaining institutions in Europe to explain the gradual deterioration in the bargaining position of trade unions. It appears that the integration of European economies is an important factor. This paper analyses recent trends in wage bargaining institutions in Europe to explain the gradual deterioration in the bargaining position of trade unions. It appears that the integration of European economies is an important factor. This raises the question whether trade unions will respond by coordinating their wages internationally. Our conjecture is that the opportunities for wage coordination are not very strong. This is because of the numerous obstacles associated with heterogenous structures in wage setting in the EU. Softer coordination, e.g. in the form of information exchange or agreements on common rules in wage setting, is more likely to occur and has already been introduced in some cases. If stronger forms of international wage coordination would take off, perhaps in the longer term, this would strengthen the bargaining power of trade unions relative to firms. The implications for equilibrium unemployment are ambiguous. On the one hand, higher bargaining power raises wages and thereby unemployment. On the other hand, it reduces unemployment by better incorporating the response of the ECB to wage demands. Another consequence of stronger forms of international wage coordination may be that the absorption of asymmetric shocks in the EMU gets more problematic. In that case, wage coordination may turn into a nightmare as it hampers a crucial stabilisation mechanism in the EMU.

Suggested Citation

  • Alain Borghijs & Sjef Ederveen & Ruud de Mooij, 2003. "European wage coordination; nightmare or dream to come true? An economic analysis of wage bargaining institutions in the EU," CPB Discussion Paper 17, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpb:discus:17
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cpb.nl/sites/default/files/publicaties/download/european-wage-coordination.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Frankel, Jeffrey A & Rose, Andrew K, 1998. "The Endogeneity of the Optimum Currency Area Criteria," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 108(449), pages 1009-1025, July.
    2. Soskice, David, 1990. "Wage Determination: The Changing Role of Institutions in Advanced Industrialized Countries," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 6(4), pages 36-61, Winter.
    3. Danthine, Jean-Pierre & Hunt, Jennifer, 1994. "Wage Bargaining Structure, Employment and Economic Integration," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 104(424), pages 528-541, May.
    4. Cukierman, Alex & Lippi, Francesco, 1999. "Central bank independence, centralization of wage bargaining, inflation and unemployment:: Theory and some evidence," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(7), pages 1395-1434, June.
    5. Fabrizio Coricelli & Alex Cukierman & Alberto Dalmazzo, 2006. "Monetary Institutions, Monopolistic Competition, Unionized Labor Markets and Economic Performance," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 108(1), pages 39-63, March.
    6. Bovenberg, A. Lans & Graafland, Johan J. & de Mooij, Ruud A., 2000. "Tax reform and the Dutch labor market: an applied general equilibrium approach," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(1-2), pages 193-214, October.
    7. Henk Kox & Hugo Rojas-Romagosa, 2010. "Exports and Productivity Selection Effects for Dutch Firms," De Economist, Springer, vol. 158(3), pages 295-322, September.
    8. Caballero, Ricardo J. & Hammour, Mohamad L., 1998. "Jobless growth: appropriability, factor substitution, and unemployment," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 51-94, June.
    9. Heijdra, Ben J., 2017. "Foundations of Modern Macroeconomics," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, edition 3, number 9780198784135.
    10. Nickell, Stephen & Layard, Richard, 1999. "Labor market institutions and economic performance," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 46, pages 3029-3084, Elsevier.
    11. Guzzo, Vincenzo & Velasco, Andres, 1999. "The case for a populist Central Banker," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(7), pages 1317-1344, June.
    12. Teulings,Coen & Hartog,Joop, 2008. "Corporatism or Competition?," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521049399, September.
    13. Alain Serres & Stefano Scarpetta & Christine Maisonneuve, 2001. "Falling Wage Shares in Europe and the United States: How Important is Aggregation Bias?," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 28(4), pages 375-401, December.
    14. Robert J. Flanagan, 1999. "Macroeconomic Performance and Collective Bargaining: An International Perspective," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 37(3), pages 1150-1175, September.
    15. BORGHIJS, Alain & DU CAJU, Philip, 1999. "EMU and European trade union cooperation," Working Papers 1999013, University of Antwerp, Faculty of Business and Economics.
    16. Hall, Peter A. & Franzese, Robert J., 1998. "Mixed Signals: Central Bank Independence, Coordinated Wage Bargaining, and European Monetary Union," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(3), pages 505-535, July.
    17. repec:bla:scandj:v:97:y:1995:i:2:p:223-43 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Wiji Arulampalam & Alison L. Booth & Mark L. Bryan, 2004. "Training in Europe," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 2(2-3), pages 346-360, 04/05.
    19. Siebert, Horst, 1998. "The Euro: A dozen do's and don't's," Kiel Discussion Papers 312, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    20. Hans Peter Grüner & Carsten Hefeker, 1999. "How Will EMU Affect Inflation and Unemployment in Europe?," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 101(1), pages 33-47, March.
    21. Torres,Francisco & Giavazzi,Francesco (ed.), 1993. "Adjustment and Growth in the European Monetary Union," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521440196, September.
    22. Naylor, Robin, 1999. "Union Wage Strategies and International Trade," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 109(452), pages 102-125, January.
    23. George A. Akerlof & Andrew K. Rose & Janet L. Yellen & Helga Hessenius, 1991. "East Germany in from the Cold: The Economic Aftermath of Currency Union," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 22(1), pages 1-106.
    24. Lars Calmfors, 2001. "Wages and Wage-Bargaining Institutions in the Emu : A Survey of the Issues," CESifo Working Paper Series 520, CESifo.
    25. Driffill, John & van der Ploeg, Frederick, 1993. "Monopoly Unions and the Liberalisation of International Trade," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 103(417), pages 379-385, March.
    26. repec:bla:scandj:v:95:y:1993:i:2:p:249-55 is not listed on IDEAS
    27. Naylor, Robin, 1998. "International trade and economic integration when labour markets are generally unionised," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(7), pages 1251-1267, July.
    28. Huizinga, H.P., 1993. "International market integration and union wage bargaining," Other publications TiSEM 567712dd-8f03-40d8-8428-c, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    29. Lars Calmfors, 1993. "Centralisation of Wage Bargaining and Macroeconomic Performance: A Survey," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 131, OECD Publishing.
    30. Wolfgang Ochel, 2001. "Collective Bargaining Coverage in the OECD from the 1960s to the 1990s," CESifo Forum, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 2(04), pages 62-65, February.
    31. Machiel Mulder & Gijsbert Zwart, 2006. "Market failures and government policies in gas markets," CPB Memorandum 143.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    32. Lippi, Francesco, 1999. "Strategic Monetary Policy with Non-Atomistic Wage Setters: A Case for Non-Neutrality," CEPR Discussion Papers 2218, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Peeters, Marga & Den Reijer, Ard, 2011. "On wage formation, wage flexibility and wage coordination : A focus on the wage impact of productivity in Germany, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and the United States," MPRA Paper 31102, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Glassner, Vera & Pusch, Toralf, 2010. "The Emergence of Wage Coordination in the Central Western European Metal Sector and its Relationship to European Economic Policy," IWH Discussion Papers 13/2010, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Alain Borghijs & Sjef Ederveen & Ruud de Mooij, 2003. "European wage coordination; nightmare or dream to come true? An economic analysis of wage bargaining institutions in the EU," CPB Discussion Paper 17.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    2. Lars Calmfors, 2001. "Wages and Wage-Bargaining Institutions in the EMU – A Survey of the Issues," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 28(4), pages 325-351, December.
    3. Seppo Honkapohja & Frank Westermann, 2009. "Pay-setting Systems in Europe: Ongoing Developments and Possible Reforms," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Seppo Honkapohja & Frank Westermann (ed.), Designing the European Model, chapter 3, pages 82-121, Palgrave Macmillan.
    4. Markus Knell, 2002. "Wage Formation in Open Economies and the Role of Monetary and Wage-Setting Institutions," Working Papers 63, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank).
    5. Holden, Steinar, 2005. "Monetary regimes and the co-ordination of wage setting," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 833-843, May.
    6. Peter Mooslechner & Martin Schürz, 2001. "The Interaction of Wage Bargaining Institutions and an Independent Central Bank – A Methodological Reflection on Current Theories," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 28(4), pages 487-506, December.
    7. Calmfors, Lars, 2001. "Wages and wage-bargaining institutions in the EMU – a survey of the issues," Seminar Papers 690, Stockholm University, Institute for International Economic Studies.
    8. Aidt, T.S. & Tzannatos, Z., 2005. "The Cost and Benefits of Collective Bargaining," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 0541, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    9. Sánchez, Marcelo, 2008. "Monetary stabilisation in a currency union of small open economies," Working Paper Series 927, European Central Bank.
    10. Michele Santoni, 2009. "Does product market integration lead to decentralised wage bargaining institutions?," UNIMI - Research Papers in Economics, Business, and Statistics unimi-1091, Universitá degli Studi di Milano.
    11. Lars Calmfors, 2001. "Wages and Wage-Bargaining Institutions in the Emu : A Survey of the Issues," CESifo Working Paper Series 520, CESifo.
    12. Lilia Cavallari, 2001. "Macroeconomic Performance and Wage Bargaining in a Monetary Union," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 28(4), pages 419-433, December.
    13. Santoni, Michele, 2014. "Product market integration and wage bargaining institutions," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 1-15.
    14. Robert Franzese, 2001. "Strategic Interactions of Monetary Policymakers and Wage/Price Bargainers: A Review with Implications for the European Common-Currency Area," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 28(4), pages 457-486, December.
    15. Nicola Acocella & Giovanni Bartolomeo, 2004. "Is a Conservative Central Banker a (Perfect) Substitute for Wage Coordination?," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 31(2), pages 281-294, June.
    16. Philip Du Caju & Erwan Gautier & Daphne Momferatu & Melanie Ward-Warmedinger, 2009. "Institutional Features of Wage Bargaining in 23 European Countries, the US and Japan," Ekonomia, Cyprus Economic Society and University of Cyprus, vol. 12(2), pages 57-108, Winter.
    17. Sebastian Weber, 2006. "Labor Market Structures, Trade and their Effect on Unemployment: A Theoretical Analysis and Empirical Investigation," IHEID Working Papers 22-2006, Economics Section, The Graduate Institute of International Studies.
    18. Jakob Munch & Jan Sørensen, 2000. "Competitiveness and Integration of Product Markets," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 11(4), pages 359-381, October.
    19. Glassner, Vera & Pusch, Toralf, 2010. "The Emergence of Wage Coordination in the Central Western European Metal Sector and its Relationship to European Economic Policy," IWH Discussion Papers 13/2010, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    20. Hartmut Egger & Daniel Etzel, 2012. "Union Wage Setting and International Trade," IAAEU Discussion Papers 201209, Institute of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J5 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining
    • J51 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects
    • E61 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Policy Objectives; Policy Designs and Consistency; Policy Coordination
    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cpb:discus:17. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cpbgvnl.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.