Lohnstarrheit / Wage Rigidity
In Krisenzeiten greifen Arbeitgeberinnen und Arbeitgeber eher auf Entlassungen als auf das Mittel der Nominallohnsenkung zurück. Dies kann am Einfluss der Gewerkschaften, an unflexiblen Lohnsystemen der Firmen oder auch an Fairnessnormen liegen. Welche Auswirkungen haben nach unten starre Löhne auf dem Arbeitsmarkt? Führen sie in Verbindung mit einer niedrigen Inflationsrate zu höherer Arbeitslosigkeit? Diese IAB-Infoplattform präsentiert wissenschaftliche Literatur zum Thema Abwärtslohnrigidität.
In times of crisis, employers tend to resort to dismissals instead of the medium of reduction in nominal wages. This may be due to the influence of the trade unions, the inflexibility of company wage systems, or possibly also norms of fairness. What effect do downwardly rigid wages have on the labour market? Do they lead - in conjunction with a lower inflation rate - to higher unemployment? This IAB info platform presents scientific literature on the topic of downward wage rigidity.
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Literaturhinweis
The high sensitivity of employment to agency costs: the relevance of wage rigidity (2015)
Hristov, Atanas;Zitatform
Hristov, Atanas (2015): The high sensitivity of employment to agency costs. The relevance of wage rigidity. In: Journal of macroeconomics, Jg. 45, H. September, S. 137-154. DOI:10.1016/j.jmacro.2015.04.007
Abstract
"The paper studies the interaction between financing constraints and labor market imperfections and the role of this interaction on labor market dynamics. In the model economy, a positive productivity shock is amplified through endogenous fluctuations in the financial market. The paper shows that if wages are set via Nash bargaining, the productivity shock substantially increases wage volatility and, as a result, the shock has very little effect on firm profitability and hiring workers over the business cycle. When the model includes wage rigidities, however, firms' profitability becomes highly responsive to productivity changes: the financial accelerator mechanism induces additional fluctuations in labor market quantities, as observed in the data." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
What survey data reveal about price and wage rigidity in Portugal (2015)
Martins, Fernando;Zitatform
Martins, Fernando (2015): What survey data reveal about price and wage rigidity in Portugal. In: Labour, Jg. 29, H. 3, S. 291-309. DOI:10.1111/labr.12056
Abstract
"This paper exploits the information collected from a survey conducted on a sample of Portuguese firms to study the patterns of firms' price and wage adjustments and the extent of nominal price and wage rigidities. The evidence shows that the frequency of price changes varies substantially across sectors and depends on the intensity of competition, the share of labor costs and firms' price reviewing behavior. The results also suggest that the constraint imposed by the presence of downward nominal wage rigidity is less important in firms where the fraction of permanent and high-skilled workers is lower and the share of flexible pay components is higher." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Pay growth, fairness, and job satisfaction: implications for nominal and real wage rigidity (2015)
Smith, Jennifer C.;Zitatform
Smith, Jennifer C. (2015): Pay growth, fairness, and job satisfaction. Implications for nominal and real wage rigidity. In: The Scandinavian journal of economics, Jg. 117, H. 3, S. 852-877. DOI:10.1111/sjoe.12091
Abstract
"Theories of wage rigidity often rely on a positive relationship between pay changes and utility, arising from concern for fairness or gift exchange. Supportive evidence has emerged from laboratory experiments, but the link has not yet been established with field data. This paper contributes a first step, using representative British data. Workers care about the level and the growth of earnings. Below-median wage increases lead to an insult effect, except when similar workers have real wage reductions or when firm production is falling. Nominal pay cuts appear to be insulting even when the firm is doing badly." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Some evidence on the importance of sticky wages (2014)
Barattieri, Alessandro; Basu, Susanto; Gottschalk, Peter;Zitatform
Barattieri, Alessandro, Susanto Basu & Peter Gottschalk (2014): Some evidence on the importance of sticky wages. In: American Economic Journal. Macroeconomics, Jg. 6, H. 1, S. 70-101. DOI:10.1257/mac.6.1.70
Abstract
"We present evidence on the frequency of nominal wage adjustment using SIPP data adjusted for measurement error. The SIPP is a representative sample of the US population. Our main results are: (i) The average quarterly probability of a nominal wage change is between 21.1 and 26.6 percent, depending on the assumptions used. (ii) Wage changes are much more likely when workers change jobs. (iii) The frequency of wage adjustment does not display significant seasonal patterns. (iv) The hazard of a nominal wage change first increases and then decreases, with a peak at 12 months." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
The trade-off between unemployment and wage inequality revisited (2014)
Zitatform
Bičáková, Alena (2014): The trade-off between unemployment and wage inequality revisited. (CERGE-EI working paper 502), Prag, 42 S.
Abstract
"The Krugman hypothesis attributes high wage inequality in the US and high unemployment in continental Europe in the 1980s to the same negative change in the demand for the low skilled under different degrees of wage rigidity. This paper revisits the hypothesis in order to explain the labor market developments in France, the UK, and the US in the 1990s. We estimate a labor supply and labor demand model with heterogenous types of labor to analyze the effects of market forces and wage rigidity on changes in skill-group labor market outcomes. The results provide evidence in favor of the Krugman hypothesis when France is compared to the US and the UK. We also find support for an extended version of the Krugman hypothesis, which suggests that, when labor supply is sensitive to wages, there is a trade-off between unemployment on one hand, and wage inequality and inactivity on the other." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
Ähnliche Treffer
auch erschienen in: Oxford Economic Papers, -
Literaturhinweis
What can wages and employment tell us about the UK's productivity puzzle? (2014)
Zitatform
Blundell, Richard, Claire Crawford & Wenchao Jin (2014): What can wages and employment tell us about the UK's productivity puzzle? In: The economic journal, Jg. 124, H. 576, S. 377-407. DOI:10.1111/ecoj.12138
Abstract
"As in many European countries, labour productivity in the UK has been stagnant since the start of the Great Recession. This article uses individual data on employment and wages to try to understand whether real wage flexibility can help shed light on the UK's productivity puzzle. It finds, perhaps unsurprisingly, that workforce composition cannot explain the reduction in wages and hence productivity that we observe, even compared to previous recessions; instead, real wages have fallen significantly within jobs this time round. Why? One possibility we investigate is that the labour supply in the UK is higher compared to previous recessions." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Health capital and human capital as explanations for health-related wage disparities (2014)
Gilleskie, Donna; Hoffman, Denise;Zitatform
Gilleskie, Donna & Denise Hoffman (2014): Health capital and human capital as explanations for health-related wage disparities. In: Journal of Human Capital, Jg. 8, H. 3, S. 235-279. DOI:10.1086/677855
Abstract
"We use a dynamic modeling strategy to evaluate two potential avenues through which health differences generate a wage gap: directly through reductions in health capital and indirectly through employment transitions that reduce human capital (specifically, occupation and employer tenure). Our results suggest that male workers with a moderate disability are 23 percent more likely to change occupations or employers than nondisabled men. Compared to those who do not make a transition, workers with a moderate disability who change occupations and employers experience an immediate $0.30 decline in hourly wages on top of a $0.57 decline associated with the disability onset." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Real wages and unemployment in the big squeeze (2014)
Gregg, Paul; Machin, Stephen; Fernandez-Salgado, Marina;Zitatform
Gregg, Paul, Stephen Machin & Marina Fernandez-Salgado (2014): Real wages and unemployment in the big squeeze. In: The economic journal, Jg. 124, H. 576, S. 408-432. DOI:10.1111/ecoj.12139
Abstract
"UK real wage growth has slowed down, stagnated and recently turned sharply negative. We document the nature of real wage changes across the wage distribution over the last three decades, showing that recent patterns represent a distinct break of trend that pre-dates the onset of recession. We explore whether unemployment has become a stronger moderating influence on real wage growth and report, using aggregate economy-wide and regional panel data, that real wage - unemployment sensitivities have become stronger in the period from 2003 onwards. Finally, we offer some assessment of possible drivers of this increased sensitivity of real wages to unemployment." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Wage rigidity, inflation, and institutions (2014)
Holden, Steinar; Wulfsberg, Fredrik;Zitatform
Holden, Steinar & Fredrik Wulfsberg (2014): Wage rigidity, inflation, and institutions. In: The Scandinavian journal of economics, Jg. 116, H. 2, S. 539-569. DOI:10.1111/sjoe.12052
Abstract
"We study the possible existence of downward nominal wage rigidity (DNWR) at wage growth rates different from zero in aggregate data. Even if DNWR prevails at zero for individual workers, compositional effects might lead to falling aggregate wages, while changes in relative wages combined with DNWR might lead to positive aggregate wage growth. We explore industry data for 19 OECD countries, over the 1971 - 2006 period. We find evidence for a floor on nominal wage growth at 6 percent in the 1970s and 1980s, at 1 percent in the 1990s, and at 0.5 percent in the 2000s. Furthermore, we find that DNWR is stronger in country-years with strict employment protection legislation, high union density, centralized wage setting, and high inflation." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Wage rigidity and disinflation in emerging countries (2014)
Messina, Julián; Sanz-de-Galdeano, Anna;Zitatform
Messina, Julián & Anna Sanz-de-Galdeano (2014): Wage rigidity and disinflation in emerging countries. In: American Economic Journal. Macroeconomics, Jg. 6, H. 1, S. 102-133. DOI:10.1257/mac.6.1.102
Abstract
"This paper examines the consequences of rapid disinflation for downward wage rigidities in two emerging countries, Brazil and Uruguay. Although wage rigidities are altered by disinflation, in neither of the two countries does price stability eliminate frictions in wage-setting mechanisms. In a context of individual wage negotiations and weak unions, disinflation in Uruguay puts an end to its history of indexation, but strong resistance to nominal wage cuts emerges. In strongly unionized Brazil, wage indexation is highly persistent, but the introduction of inflation targeting by the Central Bank in 1999 moves the focal point of wage negotiations to expected inflation." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Growth, unemployment and wage inertia (2014)
Raurich, Xavier; Sorolla, Valeri;Zitatform
Raurich, Xavier & Valeri Sorolla (2014): Growth, unemployment and wage inertia. In: Journal of macroeconomics, Jg. 40, H. June, S. 42-59. DOI:10.1016/j.jmacro.2014.02.007
Abstract
"We introduce wage setting via efficiency wages in the neoclassical one-sector growth model to study the growth effects of wage inertia. We compare the dynamic equilibrium of an economy with wage inertia with the equilibrium of an economy without it. We show that wage inertia affects the long run employment rate and that the transitional dynamics of the main economic variables will be different because wages are a state variable when wage inertia is introduced. In particular, we show that the model with wage inertia can explain some growth patterns that cannot be explained when wages are flexible. We also study the growth effects of permanent technological and fiscal policy shocks in these two economies. During the transition, the growth effects of technological shocks obtained when wages exhibit inertia may be the opposite of those obtained when wages are flexible. These technological shocks may have long run effects if there is wage inertia." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Wage rigidity, collective bargaining and the minimum wage: evidence from French agreement data (2013)
Avouyi-Dovi, Sanvi; Gautier, Erwan; Fougère, Denis;Zitatform
Avouyi-Dovi, Sanvi, Denis Fougère & Erwan Gautier (2013): Wage rigidity, collective bargaining and the minimum wage. Evidence from French agreement data. In: The Review of Economics and Statistics, Jg. 95, H. 4, S. 1337-1351. DOI:10.1162/REST_a_00329
Abstract
"Using data sets on wage agreements at both industry and firm levels in France, we document stylized facts on wage stickiness. The average duration of wages is a little less than one year, and 10% of wages are modified each month by a wage agreement. The frequency of wage change agreements is staggered over the year, but the frequency of effective wage changes is seasonal. The national minimum wage has a significant impact on the probability and the seasonality of wage changes. Negotiated wage increases are correlated with inflation, minimum wage increases, and firm profitability." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Shocks and rigidities as determinants of CEE labour markets' performance: a panel SVECM approach (2013)
Zitatform
Bukowski, Maciej, Grzegorz Koloch & Piotr Lewandowski (2013): Shocks and rigidities as determinants of CEE labour markets' performance. A panel SVECM approach. In: Economics of Transition, Jg. 21, H. 3, S. 553-581. DOI:10.1111/ecot.12017
Abstract
"In this article, the impact of real wage, productivity, labour demand and supply shocks on eight Central and Eastern European (CEE) economies from 1996-2007 is analysed with a panel structural vector error correction model. A set of long-run restrictions derived from the dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model is used to identify structural shocks, and fluctuations in foreign demand are controlled for. We find that the propagation of shocks on CEE labour markets resembles that found for OECD countries. Labour demand shocks emerge as the main determinant of employment and unemployment variability in the short-to-medium run, but wage rigidities were equally important for observed labour market performance, especially in Poland, Czech Republic and Lithuania. We associate these rigidities with collective bargaining, minimum wage, active labour market policies and employment protection legislation." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Wage rigidity and employment adjustment at the firm level: evidence from survey data (2013)
Dias, Daniel A.; Marques, Carlos Robalo; Martins, Fernando;Zitatform
Dias, Daniel A., Carlos Robalo Marques & Fernando Martins (2013): Wage rigidity and employment adjustment at the firm level. Evidence from survey data. In: Labour economics, Jg. 23, H. August, S. 40-49. DOI:10.1016/j.labeco.2013.02.001
Abstract
"This paper uses firm level survey data from Portugal to investigate how firms adjust their labour costs in the presence of wage rigidities. We document that Portuguese firms, besides reducing employment or freezing nominal base wages, also make frequent use of other cost-cutting strategies, like freezing or cutting bonuses and other monetary or non-monetary benefits, slowing down or freezing the rate at which promotions are filled, or recruiting new employees at wages lower than those received by the employees that have left the firm. We show that the utilization of these different adjustment strategies is affected by workers' and firms' attributes, as well as by some indicators of the economic environment in which firmsoperate. More importantly, we provide evidence that firms with more flexible base wages are less likely to reduce employment, and that such effect may be significantly strengthened by the availability of alternative labour-cost adjustment margins that firms can use in bad times." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Wage rigidity and job creation (2013)
Haefke, Christian; Sonntag, Marcus; Rens, Thijs van;Zitatform
Haefke, Christian, Marcus Sonntag & Thijs van Rens (2013): Wage rigidity and job creation. In: Journal of monetary economics, Jg. 60, H. 8, S. 887-899. DOI:10.1016/j.jmoneco.2013.09.003
Abstract
"Recent research in macroeconomics emphasizes the role of wage rigidity in accounting for the volatility of unemployment fluctuations. We use worker-level data from the CPS to measure the sensitivity of wages of newly hired workers to changes in aggregate labor market conditions. The wage of new hires, unlike the aggregate wage, is volatile and responds almost one-to-one to changes in labor productivity. We conclude that there is little evidence for wage stickiness in the data. We also show, however, that a little wage rigidity goes a long way in amplifying the response of job creation to productivity shocks." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Nominal and real wage rigidities: in theory and in Europe (2013)
Knell, Markus;Zitatform
Knell, Markus (2013): Nominal and real wage rigidities. In theory and in Europe. In: Journal of macroeconomics, Jg. 36, H. June, S. 89-105. DOI:10.1016/j.jmacro.2013.01.006
Abstract
"In this paper I study the relation between real wage rigidity (RWR) and nominal price and wage rigidity. I show that in a standard DSGE model RWR is mainly affected by the interaction of the two nominal rigidities and not by other structural parameters. The degree of RWR is, however, considerably influenced by the modelling assumption about the structure of wage contracts (Calvo vs. Taylor) and about other institutional characteristics of wage-setting (clustering of contracts, heterogeneous contract length, indexation). I use survey evidence on price- and wage-setting for 15 European countries to calculate the degrees of RWR implied by the theoretical model. The average level of RWR is broadly in line with empirical estimates based on macroeconomic data. In order to be able to also match the observed cross-country variation in RWR it is, however, essential to move beyond the country-specific durations of price and wages and to take more institutional details into account." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Real wage rigidities and optimal monetary policy in a small open economy (2013)
Rhee, Hyuk Jae; Song, Jeongseok;Zitatform
Rhee, Hyuk Jae & Jeongseok Song (2013): Real wage rigidities and optimal monetary policy in a small open economy. In: Journal of macroeconomics, Jg. 37, H. September, S. 110-127. DOI:10.1016/j.jmacro.2013.04.004
Abstract
"The main objective of the study is to provide a theoretical analysis of optimal monetary policy in a small open economy where households set real wage in a staggered fashion. The introduction of real wage rigidities plays a important role to resolve main shortcomings of the standard new Keynesian small open economy model. The main findings regarding the issue of monetary policy design can be summarized as three fold. First, the optimal policy is to seek to minimize variance of domestic price inflation, real wage inflation, and the output gap if both domestic price and real wage are sticky. Second, controlling CPI inflation directly or indirectly induces relatively large volatility in output gap and other inflations. Therefore, both CPI inflation-based Taylor rule and nominal wage-inflation based Taylor rule are suboptimal. Last, a policy that responds to a real wage inflation is most desirable." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Real wage cyclicality of newly hired workers (2013)
Zitatform
Stüber, Heiko (2013): Real wage cyclicality of newly hired workers. (FZID discussion papers 2013/62), Hohenheim, 33 S.
Abstract
"Several recent macroeconomic models rely on rigid wages. Especially wage rigidity of newly hired workers seems to play a crucial rote, since the decision of opening a vacancy or not is mainly influenced by their real wages. However, so far little empirical evidence exists on how real wages of newly hired workers react to business cycle conditions. This paper aims at filling this gap for a large economy, namely Germany, by analyzing the cyclical behavior of real wages of newly hired workers while controlling for 'cyclical up- and downgrading' in employer/employee matches. For the analysis two endogenous variables are used: either the 'typical' (e.g. modal) real wages paid to entrants into particular jobs of particular firms or entrants' individual real wages. The results show that entry-wages are not rigid, but considerably respond to business cycle conditions. This finding strengthens Pissarides' (2009) dismissal of theories based on cyclically rigid hiring wages. Furthermore, I show that the procyclicality of the employment/population ratio is (nearly) identical to the procyclicality of real entry-wages." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Wage rigidity in Germany (2013)
Zitatform
Stüber, Heiko (2013): Wage rigidity in Germany. (IAB-Bibliothek 340), Bielefeld: Bertelsmann, 149 S. DOI:10.3278/300806w
Abstract
"Die Interaktion zwischen Inflation und Arbeitslosigkeit beschäftigt Forscher und Politiker bereits eine längere Zeit. Doch existiert tatsächlich ein Zielkonflikt zwischen Inflation und Arbeitslosigkeit? Der Autor geht dieser und anderen Fragen, die sich mit Lohnstarrheit beschäftigen, nach. Der erste und gewichtigste Teil des Buches beschäftigt sich mit Abwärtsnominallohnstarrheit. Er bietet einen Überblick über Ursachen, Ausmaß und Implikationen dieser Starrheit, betrachtet ihre makroökonomischen Konsequenzen und untersucht, inwiefern die Starrheit Arbeitnehmer unterschiedlich betrifft. Der zweite Teil des Buches beschäftigt sich mit der Reallohnrigidität neu eingestellter Arbeitnehmer über den Konjunkturzyklus. Der Buchteil bietet einen kurzen Überblick bisheriger empirischer Untersuchungen und neuester Entwicklungen und stellt empirische Evidenz zur Zyklizität von Einstiegslöhnen in Deutschland bereit." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)
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Literaturhinweis
Wage stagnation, rising inequality and the financial crisis of 2008 (2013)
Wisman, Jon D.;Zitatform
Wisman, Jon D. (2013): Wage stagnation, rising inequality and the financial crisis of 2008. In: Cambridge Journal of Economics, Jg. 37, H. 4, S. 921-945. DOI:10.1093/cje/bes085
Abstract
"Explanations of the financial crisis of 2008 have centred upon inadequate regulation stemming from laissez-faire ideology and low interest rates. Although true, the deeper determining forces of wage stagnation and dramatically increasing inequality in the USA over the preceding 35 years have received less notice. Wage stagnation and heightened inequality generated three dynamics that made the economy vulnerable to systemic dysfunction. First, consumption was constrained, reducing profitable investment potential in the real economy and encouraging an ever-wealthier elite to flood financial markets with credit, helping keep interest rates low, stimulating the creation of new credit instruments, greater indebtedness and speculation. The second dynamic is that consumption externalities were generated, forcing households to struggle harder to maintain the welfare of their families and their relative social status, resulting in plummeting household saving, ever-greater indebtedness and longer work hours. The third dynamic is that as the rich took larger shares of income and wealth, they gained more command over ideology and hence politics, resulting in tax cuts for the rich, reduced welfare for the poor and deregulation." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))