Distribution, scale and determinants of payment in excess of the collectively agreed wage

Abstract

"Representative data of the IAB establishment panel for the year 2002 show that in the private sector nearly half of the western German but not even one fifth of the eastern German establishments that are obliged to pay in line with a collective wage agreement pay above the negotiated wage. In these establishments, the scale of the payment exceeding the collectively agreed wage is in the order of 10 per cent. The distribution and scale of payment in excess of the collectively agreed wage show a declining tendency over time. As indicated by theoretical considerations and empirical analyses, the few possibilities to differentiate permitted by the German system of relatively centralised collective bargaining form an important background to payment in excess of the collectively agreed wage. The structure of the employees, the standard of the technical equipment, and (at least in western Germany) the size of an establishment play a role as well. However, many of the potential determinants of payment in excess of the collectively agreed wage do not prove to be factors of significant influence when examined econometrically in western and/or eastern Germany." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Kohaut, S. & Schnabel, C. (2003): Verbreitung, Ausmaß und Determinanten der übertariflichen Entlohnung. In: Mitteilungen aus der Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, Vol. 36, No. 4, p. 661-671.