This paper investigates the flexibility of real wages at the regional level by estimating the wage curve, the relationship between regional unemployment, and the regional level of wages. For this purpose the authors use a sample of annual district-level unemployment and wage data in the Czech Republic from 1993 to 2001. Previous estimates of the wage curve for the Czech Republic suggested that the regional flexibility of real wages is extraordinarily low. Taking into account the endogeneity of unemployment, the authors' results indicate that regional real wages are flexible at the level observed in most developed and developing economies. The temporary deterioration in the regional flexibility observed during the 1997-99 Czech recession is explained by the standard efficiency wage model. Some indication of weakening elasticity since the end of the 1990s is probably associated with the sharp rise in the incidence of long-term unemployment. As this trend is expected to continue, it could further attenuate the elasticity and complicate adjustment processes if adverse shocks appear in the future, particularly after the Czech Republic's anticipated entry into the European Monetary Union.
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Volume (Year): 55 (2005) Issue (Month): 1-2 (January) Pages: 68-82 Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML
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Find related papers by JEL classification: E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomics: Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, and Vacancies - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data
References listed on IDEAS Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
David Card, 1995.
"The Wage Curve: A Review,"
Working Papers
722, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
[Downloadable!]
Other versions:
David G. Blanchflower & Andrew J. Oswald, 1990.
"The Wage Curve,"
NBER Working Papers
3181, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
Blanchflower, D. & Oswald, A., 1989.
"The Wage Curve,"
Papers
340, London School of Economics - Centre for Labour Economics.
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