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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

Author

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  • Peeters, Marga
  • Den Reijer, Ard
Abstract
This paper discusses the endeavours of policy makers to come to some degree of wage coordination among EU countries, aiming at aligning wage growth with labour productivity growth at the national levels. In this context, we analyse the wage and productivity developments in Germany, the European Union’s periphery countries Greece, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain along with the US for the period 1980-2010. Apart from the contribution of productivity to wages, we take into account the contributions of prices, unemployment, replacement rates and taxes by means of an econometrically estimated non-linear wage equation resulting from a wage bargaining model. We further study the downward rigidities of wages in depth. The findings show that in past times of low productivity, price inflation and reductions in unemployment put significant upward pressure on wage growth, also in the low inflationary period of the 2000s. Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain are far from aligning wage growth with productivity growth. German productivity is a major German wage determinant, but surely not the only one. To steer wages, policy makers can effectively use the replacement rate.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:31102
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Peeters, Marga, 2011. "“Better Safe than Sorry” - Individual Risk-free Pension Schemes in the European Union - Macroeconomic Benefits, the Mobile Working Citizen’s Perspective and Why Nots," MPRA Paper 33571, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Marga Peeters, 2012. "Better Safe than Sorry - Individual Risk-free Pension Schemes in the European Union," Contemporary Economics, University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw., vol. 6(3), September.
    3. Erik Steven Katovich & Alexandre Gori Maia, 2018. "The relation between labor productivity and wages in Brazil: a sectoral analysis [A relaçãoo entre produtividade de trabalho e salário no Brasil: uma análise setorial]," Nova Economia, Economics Department, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (Brazil), vol. 28(1), pages 7-38, January-A.
    4. Sotirios Theodoropoulos, 2011. "A Wage Policy for External Balance and Employment in EMU Environment: A Theoretical Approach," SPOUDAI Journal of Economics and Business, SPOUDAI Journal of Economics and Business, University of Piraeus, vol. 61(3-4), pages 85-102, July - De.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    wages; compensation per employee; unit labour costs; productivity; wage formation; wage coordination; labour market; wage flexibility; unemployment; prices; replacement rate; monetary union;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J3 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs
    • E5 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit
    • C22 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes
    • E6 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook

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