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What a Difference Trade Makes - Export Activity and the Flexibility of Collective Bargaining Agreements

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Author Info
Wolf Dieter Heinbach ()
Stefanie Schröpfer ()

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Abstract

The prevalence of opening clauses in collective bargaining agreements may indicate a tendency to a higher decentralised wage settlement. Increasing competition on international product markets is assumed to be one reason for wage-setting decentralisation, whereas theoretical explanations focus currently on the change of production structure and the impact of exogenous shocks. Incorporating stylised facts about exporting firms, new trade models suggest a different way of adjustment to increasing competition depending on a firm's nature. While the most productive exporters expand into new markets, small, less productive non-exporters are threatened by import competition. Based on the model from Bernard et al. (2003), we apply the theoretical implications to explain why decentralisation in bargaining may arise. We examine in a second step whether small, less productive, non-exporting firms paying low average wages, possess a higher propensity to use opening clauses than more productive, large exporters with a high wage level. Based on IAB Establishment Data covering the German Manufacturing, our results indicate that firms exporting to EMU countries -- but not exporters in general -- have a lower propensity of using opening clauses than non-exporters. However, inconsistent with theory, slight evidence suggests a rising propensity with increasing firm size and increasing wage level.

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Paper provided by Department of Economics, University of Hohenheim, Germany in its series Diskussionspapiere aus dem Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre der Universität Hohenheim with number 293/2007.

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Length: 26 pages
Date of creation: Dec 2007
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Handle: RePEc:hoh:hohdip:293

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Related research
Keywords: trade model; opening clauses; collective bargaining;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
J51 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects

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  1. Wolf Dieter Heinbach & Stefanie Schröpfer, 2007. "Typisierung der Tarifvertragslandschaft. Eine Clusteranalyse der tarifvertraglichen Öffnungsklauseln," IAW Discussion Papers 28, Institut für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung (IAW). [Downloadable!]
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  2. Andrew B. Bernard & Jonathan Eaton & J. Bradford Jensen & Samuel Kortum, 2000. "Plants and Productivity in International Trade," Boston University - Institute for Economic Development 105, Boston University, Institute for Economic Development. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Harry C. Katz, 1993. "The decentralization of collective bargaining: A literature review and comparative analysis," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, ILR School, Cornell University, vol. 47(1), pages 3-22, October.
  4. Wolf Heinbach, 2007. "Wages in wage-setting regimes with opening clauses," AStA Wirtschafts- und Sozialstatistisches Archiv, Springer, vol. 1(3), pages 233-245, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Thorsten Schank & Claus Schnabel & Joachim Wagner, 2006. "Do exporters really pay higher wages? First evidence from German linked employer-employee data," Working Paper Series in Economics 28, University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  6. Andrew Bernard & Joachim Wagner, 1997. "Exports and success in German manufacturing," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer, vol. 133(1), pages 134-157, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Joachim Wagner, 2007. "Exports and Productivity: A Survey of the Evidence from Firm-level Data," The World Economy, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 30(1), pages 60-82, 01. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Kenneth Train, 2003. "Discrete Choice Methods with Simulation," Online economics textbooks, SUNY-Oswego, Department of Economics, number emetr2, March. [Downloadable!]
  9. Jens Matthias Arnold & Katrin Hussinger, 2005. "Export Behavior and Firm Productivity in German Manufacturing: A Firm-Level Analysis," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer, vol. 141(2), pages 219-243, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Jensen, Uwe & Rässler, Susanne, 2007. "The effects of collective bargaining on firm performance : new evidence based on stochastic production frontiers and multiply imputed German establishment data," IAB-Forschungsbericht 200703, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]. [Downloadable!]
  11. Tamás Bartus, 2005. "Estimation of marginal effects using margeff," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 5(3), pages 309-329, September. [Downloadable!]
  12. Olaf Huebler, 2005. "Sind betriebliche Bündnisse für Arbeit erfolgreich?," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), Justus-Liebig University Giessen, Department of Statistics and Economics, vol. 225(6), pages 630-652, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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