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The Cost of Wage Rigidity

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  • Faia, Ester
  • Pezone, Vincenzo

Abstract

Private efficiency of wage rigidity has taken center stage in economics. Measuring its effects has proven elusive for lack of actual wage data. Using a unique confidential labor contract level dataset matched with firm-level high frequency asset prices, we find robust evidence that firms’ stock prices and employment fluctuate more in response to monetary policy announcements the higher the degree of wage rigidity. Our empirical strategy is guided by a model of collective bargaining with time- and state-dependent structure. Hand-collected information on the periods across renegotiations of collective bargaining agreements allow us to construct an accurate and predetermined measure of wage rigidity. We find that the amplification induced by wage rigidity is stronger for firms with high labor intensity, low profitability, and a large share of workers with more rigid contracts.

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  • Faia, Ester & Pezone, Vincenzo, 2018. "The Cost of Wage Rigidity," CEPR Discussion Papers 13407, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:13407
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    2. Yurdagul, Emircan & Adamopoulou, Effrosyni & Manaresi, Francesco & Rachedi, Omar, 2021. "Minimum Wages and Insurance within the Firm," CEPR Discussion Papers 16823, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Bernardo Fanfani, 2019. "The Employment Effects of Collective Bargaining," Working papers 064, Department of Economics and Statistics (Dipartimento di Scienze Economico-Sociali e Matematico-Statistiche), University of Torino.
    4. Susanto Basu & Giacomo Candian & Ryan Chahrour & Rosen Valchev, 2021. "Risky Business Cycles," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 1029, Boston College Department of Economics.
    5. Adamopoulou, Effrosyni & Villanueva, Ernesto, 2020. "Wage Determination and the Bite of Collective Contracts in Italy and Spain: Evidence from the Metalworking Industry," IZA Discussion Papers 13542, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Jacquinot, Pascal & Lozej, Matija & Pisani, Massimiliano, 2022. "Macroeconomic effects of tariffs shocks: The role of the effective lower bound and the labour market," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    7. Effrosnyi Adamopoulou & Luis Diez-Catalan & Ernesto Villanueva, "undated". "Staggered Contracts and Unemployment During Recessions," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2022_379, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    8. Javier Bianchi & Jorge Mondragon, 2022. "Monetary Independence and Rollover Crises," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 137(1), pages 435-491.
    9. Carreño, José Gabo & Uras, Burak, 2024. "Macro welfare effects of flexible labor contracts," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    10. Devicienti, Francesco & Fanfani, Bernardo, 2021. "Firms' Margins of Adjustment to Wage Growth: The Case of Italian Collective Bargaining," IZA Discussion Papers 14532, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Adamopoulou, Effrosyni & Villanueva, Ernesto, 2022. "Wage determination and the bite of collective contracts in Italy and Spain," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • J52 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Dispute Resolution: Strikes, Arbitration, and Mediation

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