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Establishment Age and Wages: Evidence from German Linked Employer-Employee Data

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  • Kölling, Arnd

    (Berlin School of Economics and Law)

  • Schnabel, Claus

    (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg)

  • Wagner, Joachim

    (Leuphana University Lüneburg)

Abstract

Research in wage differentials has a long tradition. Prominent reasons why people make more or less money in the labor market include personal characteristics of the employee (e.g., human capital or gender), job characteristics (working conditions demanding compensating wage differentials), and characteristics of the employer (e.g., industry or firm size). An emerging empirical literature suggests that one hitherto overlooked firm characteristic matters, too: Employers which are in business for a longer period of time tend to pay higher wages. Using a unique rich set of linked employer-employee data we present first empirical evidence on this firm age - wage nexus for Germany. We find that older firms pay on average higher wages for workers with the same broadly defined degree of formal qualification. This firm age differential vanishes after controlling for further worker characteristics and other firm characteristics besides age; if anything, younger firms pay more ceteris paribus. These results are in line with findings from a recent study by Brown and Medoff using U.S. data.

Suggested Citation

  • Kölling, Arnd & Schnabel, Claus & Wagner, Joachim, 2002. "Establishment Age and Wages: Evidence from German Linked Employer-Employee Data," IZA Discussion Papers 679, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp679
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. David G. Blanchflower & Andrew J. Oswald, 1995. "The Wage Curve," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 026202375x, December.
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    3. Krueger, Alan B & Summers, Lawrence H, 1988. "Efficiency Wages and the Inter-industry Wage Structure," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 56(2), pages 259-293, March.
    4. David G. Blanchflower & Andrew J. Oswald, 1995. "The Wage Curve," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 026202375x, March.
    5. Oi, Walter Y. & Idson, Todd L., 1999. "Firm size and wages," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 33, pages 2165-2214, Elsevier.
    6. Abowd, John M. & Kramarz, Francis, 1999. "The analysis of labor markets using matched employer-employee data," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 40, pages 2629-2710, Elsevier.
    7. Charles Brown & James L. Medoff, 2003. "Firm Age and Wages," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 21(3), pages 677-698, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Emin Dinlersoz & Henry Hyatt & Hubert Janicki, 2019. "Who Works for Whom? Worker Sorting in a Model of Entrepreneurship with Heterogeneous Labor Markets," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 34, pages 244-266, October.
    2. Emin Dinlersoz & Henry Hyatt & Hubert Janicki, 2019. "Who Works for Whom? Worker Sorting in a Model of Entrepreneurship with Heterogeneous Labor Markets," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 34, pages 244-266, October.
    3. Laura Arranz-Aperte & Almas Heshmati, 2004. "Determinants of Profit Sharing in the Finnish Corporate Sector," Indian Economic Review, Department of Economics, Delhi School of Economics, vol. 39(1), pages 55-79, January.
    4. Emin Dinlersoz & Henry Hyatt & Sang Nguyen, 2011. "Wage Dynamics along the Life-Cycle of Manufacturing Plants," Working Papers 11-24r, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau, revised Mar 2013.
    5. John T. Addison & Paulino Teixeira & Thomas Zwick, 2006. "The Impact of Works Councils on Wages," GEMF Working Papers 2006-08, GEMF, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra.
    6. Udo Brixy & Susanne Kohaut & Claus Schnabel, 2007. "Do Newly Founded Firms Pay Lower Wages? First Evidence from Germany," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 29(1), pages 161-171, June.
    7. Brixy, Udo & Kohaut, Susanne & Schnabel, Claus, 2004. "How fast do newly founded firms mature? Empirical analyses on job quality in start-ups," Discussion Papers 30, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.
    8. Schnabel, Claus, 2005. "Gewerkschaften und Arbeitgeberverbände: Organisationsgrade, Tarifbindung und Einflüsse auf Löhne und Beschäftigung," Discussion Papers 34, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.
    9. Christophe Muller & Christophe Nordman, 2004. "Which Human Capital Matters For Rich And Poor'S Wages: Evidence From Matched Worker-Firm Data From Tunisia," Working Papers. Serie AD 2004-28, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie).
    10. Alda, Holger & Bender, Stefan & Gartner, Hermann, 2005. "The linked employer-employee dataset of the IAB (LIAB)," IAB-Discussion Paper 200506, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    11. Addison, John T. & Teixeira, Paulino & Zwick, Thomas, 2006. "Works councils and the anatomy of wages," ZEW Discussion Papers 06-086, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    12. Arrantz-Aperte, Laura & Heshmati, Almas, 2003. "Determinants of Profit Sharing in the Finnish Sector," Working Papers 492, Hanken School of Economics.
    13. Emin Dinlersoz & Henry Hyatt & Hubert Janicki, 2019. "Who Works for Whom? Worker Sorting in a Model of Entrepreneurship with Heterogeneous Labor Markets," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 34, pages 244-266, October.
    14. repec:dau:papers:123456789/4462 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Christophe Muller & Christophe J. Nordman, 2008. "Intra-Firm Human Capital Externalities in Tunisia," THEMA Working Papers 2008-38, THEMA (THéorie Economique, Modélisation et Applications), Université de Cergy-Pontoise.
    16. Andreas Koch & Jochen Spaeth, 2009. "New Firms---Different Jobs? An Inquiry into the Quality of Employment in Start-ups and Incumbents," IAW Discussion Papers 50, Institut für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung (IAW).
    17. Emin Dinlersoz & Henry Hyatt & Sang Nguyen, 2011. "Wage Dynamics along the Life-Cycle of Manufacturing Plants," Working Papers 11-24, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau, revised Mar 2013.
    18. repec:dau:papers:123456789/10593 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Fredrik Heyman, 2007. "Firm Size or Firm Age? The Effect on Wages Using Matched Employer–Employee Data," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 21(2), pages 237-263, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    linked employer-employee data; wage; establishment age; Germany;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J3 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs

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