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Institutional features of wage bargaining in 23 European countries, the US and Japan

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Author Info
Philip Du Caju () (Banque Nationale de Belgique, Boulevard de Berlaimont 14, B-1000 Brussels, Belgium.)
Erwan Gautier () (Banque de France, 39, rue Croix-des-Petits-Champs, F-75049 Paris Cedex 01, France.)
Daphne Momferatou () (European Central Bank, Kaiserstrasse 29, 60311 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.)
Melanie Ward-Warmedinger () (European Central Bank, Kaiserstrasse 29, 60311 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.)

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Abstract

This paper presents information on wage bargaining institutions, collected using a standardised questionnaire. Our data provide information from 1995 and 2006, for four sectors of activity and the aggregate economy, considering 23 European countries, plus the US and Japan. Main findings include a high degree of regulation in wage setting in most countries. Although union membership is low in many countries, union coverage is high and almost all countries also have some form of national minimum wage. Most countries negotiate wages on several levels, the sectoral level still being the most dominant, with an increasingly important role for bargaining at the firm level. The average length of collective bargaining agreements is found to lie between one and three years. Most agreements are strongly driven by developments in prices and eleven countries have some form of indexation mechanism which affects wages. Cluster analysis identifies three country groupings of wage-setting institutions. JEL Classification: J31, J38, J51, J58.

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Paper provided by European Central Bank in its series Working Paper Series with number 974.

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Length: 57 pages
Date of creation: Dec 2008
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Handle: RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20080974

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Related research
Keywords: wage bargaining; institutions; indexation; trade union membership; cluster analysis.;

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  6. Daniele Checchi & Claudio Lucifora, 2002. "Unions and labour market institutions in Europe," Economic Policy, CEPR, CES, MSH, vol. 17(35), pages 361-408, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. William T. Dickens & Lorenz Goette & Erica L. Groshen & Steinar Holden & Julian Messina & Mark E. Schweitzer & Jarkko Turunen & Melanie E. Ward, 2007. "How wages change: micro evidence from the international wage flexibility project," Staff Reports 275, Federal Reserve Bank of New York. [Downloadable!]
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  8. Cecchetti, Stephen G, 1987. "Indexation and Incomes Policy: A Study of Wage Adjustment in Unionized Manufacturing," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 5(3), pages 391-412, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. Taylor, John B, 1983. "Union Wage Settlements during a Disinflation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 73(5), pages 981-93, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  12. Cukierman, A. & Lippi, F., 1998. "Central bank independence, centralization of wage bargaining, inflation and unemployment : theory and some evidence," Discussion Paper 116, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
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  1. Marcelo Sánchez, 2008. "Monetary stabilisation in a currency union of small open economies," Working Paper Series 927, European Central Bank. [Downloadable!]
  2. Thomas Y. Mathä & Olivier Pierrard, 2009. "Search in the Product Market and the Real Business Cycle," Working Paper Series 1036, European Central Bank. [Downloadable!]
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