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

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Author Info
Philip Ducaju () (National Bank of Belgium, Research Department)
Erwan Gautier () (Banque de France)
Daphné Momferatou () (European Central Bank)
Mélanie Ward-Warmedinge () (European Central Bank)

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Abstract

This paper presents information on wage-bargaining institutions, collected for 23 European countries, plus the US and Japan using a standardised questionnaire. Our data provide information from the years 1995 and 2006, for four sectors of activity and the aggregate economy. The main findings include a high degree of regulation in wage-setting in most countries. Although union membership is limited in many of them, 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 individual 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 of the countries surveyed have some form of indexation mechanism which affects wages. Cluster analysis identifies three country groupings of wage-setting institutions

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Paper provided by National Bank of Belgium in its series Research series with number 200812-3.

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Length: 56 pages
Date of creation: Dec 2008
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Handle: RePEc:nbb:reswpp:200812-3

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Related research
Keywords: wage bargaining; institutions; indexation; coverage; trade union membership; contract length;

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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
J38 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Public Policy
J51 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects
J58 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Public Policy

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  2. Ana Rute Cardoso & Pedro Portugal, 2005. "Contractual Wages and the Wage Cushion under Different Bargaining Settings," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 23(4), pages 875-874, October. [Downloadable!]
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  5. Acocella, Nicola & Di Bartolomeo, Giovanni & Hibbs Jr., Douglas A., 2008. "Labor market regimes and the effects of monetary policy," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 134-156, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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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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Cited by:
(explanations, 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.)

  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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