The Wage Curve in West German districts : an analysis using local average wages

Abstract

"The Wage Curve is estimated using average wage data for 327 West German districts for the years 1987-1993. Detailed information on the sectoral composition of employment is used tocontrol for the sectoral wage structure. The influence of the choice of the spatial units is reduced by taking into account spatial correlation in the wages. Using wage data of two different sources a highly significant but rather low effect of the local unemployment rate on the wage level is found. At higher levels of unemployment, the wage curve becomes flat. The sectoral wage structure is revealed to exert a strong influence on local wages. In the case of wage data from the official statistics a 1:1 relation to the local average of national sectoral wages holds, ceteris paribus. Among the other explaining factors are the wage level at the neighboring counties and the population density." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Büttner, T. (1996): Die Lohnkurve in den westdeutschen Kreisen. Eine Analyse auf der Basis regionaler Durchschnittslöhne. In: Mitteilungen aus der Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, Vol. 29, No. 3, p. 475-478.