IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/aea/apandp/v108y2018p328-33.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Productivity-Wage Premium: Does Size Still Matter in a Service Economy?

Author

Listed:
  • Giuseppe Berlingieri
  • Sara Calligaris
  • Chiara Criscuolo

Abstract

The literature has established two robust stylized facts: (i) the existence of a firm size-wage premium and (ii) a positive relationship between firm size and productivity. However, the existing evidence is mainly based on manufacturing, which nowadays accounts for a small share of the economy. Using a unique micro-aggregated dataset covering 17 countries over 1994–2012, this paper compares these relationships across sectors. While the size-wage and size-productivity premia are significantly weaker in market services compared to manufacturing, the link between wages and productivity is stronger. In a service economy the stylized fact is a "productivity-wage premium" rather than a "size-wage premium."

Suggested Citation

  • Giuseppe Berlingieri & Sara Calligaris & Chiara Criscuolo, 2018. "The Productivity-Wage Premium: Does Size Still Matter in a Service Economy?," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 108, pages 328-333, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:apandp:v:108:y:2018:p:328-33
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20181068
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.aeaweb.org/doi/10.1257/pandp.20181068
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.aeaweb.org/articles/attachments?retrieve=h3Gdywau8hP8pXyBdV8nXSk5F8aR6Gmk
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.aeaweb.org/articles/attachments?retrieve=nt4qL-Y-Kf_Snr-UWHyXkQX6ApDQiiva
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to AEA members and institutional subscribers.
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Giuseppe Moscarini & Fabien Postel-Vinay, 2013. "Stochastic Search Equilibrium," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 80(4), pages 1545-1581.
    2. David Card & Ana Rute Cardoso & Joerg Heining & Patrick Kline, 2018. "Firms and Labor Market Inequality: Evidence and Some Theory," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(S1), pages 13-70.
    3. Eric Bartelsman & Stefano Scarpetta & Fabiano Schivardi, 2005. "Comparative analysis of firm demographics and survival: evidence from micro-level sources in OECD countries," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 14(3), pages 365-391, June.
    4. Marcel P. Timmer & Erik Dietzenbacher & Bart Los & Robert Stehrer & Gaaitzen J. Vries, 2015. "An Illustrated User Guide to the World Input–Output Database: the Case of Global Automotive Production," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(3), pages 575-605, August.
    5. Berlingieri, Giuseppe & Blanchenay, Patrick & Criscuolo, Chiara, 2024. "The great divergence(s)," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(3).
    6. Schmidt, Christoph M & Zimmermann, Klaus F, 1991. "Work Characteristics, Firm Size and Wages," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 73(4), pages 705-710, November.
    7. Giuseppe Moscarini & Fabien Postel-Vinay, 2016. "Did the Job Ladder Fail after the Great Recession?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(S1), pages 55-93.
    8. Matthias Kehrig & Nicolas Vincent, 2021. "The Micro-Level Anatomy of the Labor Share Decline," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 136(2), pages 1031-1087.
    9. Erling Barth & James Davis & Richard B. Freeman, 2018. "Augmenting the Human Capital Earnings Equation with Measures of Where People Work," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(S1), pages 71-97.
    10. Dan Andrews & Chiara Criscuolo & Peter N. Gal, 2016. "The Best versus the Rest: The Global Productivity Slowdown, Divergence across Firms and the Role of Public Policy," OECD Productivity Working Papers 5, OECD Publishing.
    11. Rene Morissette, 1993. "Canadian Jobs and Firm Size: Do Smaller Firms Pay Less?," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 26(1), pages 159-174, February.
    12. Marc J. Melitz, 2003. "The Impact of Trade on Intra-Industry Reallocations and Aggregate Industry Productivity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 71(6), pages 1695-1725, November.
    13. repec:eee:labchp:v:3:y:1999:i:pb:p:2165-2214 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Wooldridge, Jeffrey M., 2009. "On estimating firm-level production functions using proxy variables to control for unobservables," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 104(3), pages 112-114, September.
    15. Bart van Ark & Erik Monnikhof, 1996. "Size Distribution of Output and Employment: A Data Set for Manufacturing Industries in Five OECD Countries, 1960s-1990," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 166, OECD Publishing.
    16. 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.
    17. 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.
    18. Kenneth R. Troske, 1999. "Evidence On The Employer Size-Wage Premium From Worker-Establishment Matched Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 81(1), pages 15-26, February.
    19. Nicolas Vincent & Matthias Kehrig, 2017. "Growing Productivity without Growing Wages: The Micro-Level Anatomy of the Aggregate Labor Share Decline," 2017 Meeting Papers 739, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    20. Brown, Charles & Medoff, James, 1989. "The Employer Size-Wage Effect," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(5), pages 1027-1059, October.
    21. Eric Bartelsman & John Haltiwanger & Stefano Scarpetta, 2013. "Cross-Country Differences in Productivity: The Role of Allocation and Selection," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(1), pages 305-334, February.
    22. Chad Syverson, 2011. "What Determines Productivity?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 49(2), pages 326-365, June.
    23. Albaek, Karsten & Arai, Mahmood & Asplund, Rita & Barth, Erling & Strojer Madsen, Erik, 1998. "Measuring wage effects of plant size," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(4), pages 425-448, December.
    24. John Haltiwanger & Henry Hyatt & Erika McEntarfer, 2015. "Cyclical Reallocation of Workers Across Employers by Firm Size and Firm Wage," NBER Working Papers 21235, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    25. Moore, Henry Ludwell, 1911. "Laws of Wages: An essay in statistical economics," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number moore1911.
    26. J. Adam Cobb & Ken-Hou Lin, 2017. "Growing Apart: The Changing Firm-Size Wage Premium and Its Inequality Consequences," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(3), pages 429-446, June.
    27. Eric Bartelsman & John Haltiwanger & Stefano Scarpetta, 2009. "Measuring and Analyzing Cross-country Differences in Firm Dynamics," NBER Chapters, in: Producer Dynamics: New Evidence from Micro Data, pages 15-76, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    28. Main, Brian G M & Reilly, Barry, 1993. "The Employer Size-Wage Gap: Evidence for Britain," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 60(238), pages 125-142, May.
    29. Robert E. Lucas Jr., 1978. "On the Size Distribution of Business Firms," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 9(2), pages 508-523, Autumn.
    30. Kenneth R. Troske & Kimberly Bayard, 1999. "Examining the Employer-Size Wage Premium in the Manufacturing, Retail Trade, and Service Industries Using Employer-Employee Matched Data," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(2), pages 99-103, May.
    31. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/22qd4iha9ql84kd2t534hdeb is not listed on IDEAS
    32. Giuseppe Berlingieri & Patrick Blanchenay & Sara Calligaris & Chiara Criscuolo, 2017. "The Multiprod project: A comprehensive overview," OECD Science, Technology and Industry Working Papers 2017/04, OECD Publishing.
    33. Burdett, Kenneth & Mortensen, Dale T, 1998. "Wage Differentials, Employer Size, and Unemployment," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 39(2), pages 257-273, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Michael Peneder & Fabian Unterlass, 2024. "Die Produktivitätsentwicklung österreichischer Unternehmen in den Jahren 2013 bis 2020. Eine Auswertung von Mikrodaten," WIFO Monatsberichte (monthly reports), WIFO, vol. 97(2), pages 43-56, February.
    2. Javier Papa & Luke Rehill & Brendan O'Connor, 2021. "Patterns of Firm-Level Productivity in Ireland," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 52(3), pages 241-268.
    3. Bajgar, Matej & Berlingieri, Giuseppe & Calligaris, Sara & Criscuolo, Chiara & Timmis, Jonathan, 2019. "Industry concentration in Europe and North America," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 103427, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Fontanelli, Luca & Guerini, Mattia & Napoletano, Mauro, 2023. "International trade and technological competition in markets with dynamic increasing returns," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    5. Kambayashi, Ryo & Ohyama, Atsushi & Hori, Nobuko, 2021. "Management practices and productivity in Japan: Evidence from six industries in JP MOPS," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    6. Nickel, Christiane & Bobeica, Elena & Koester, Gerrit & Lis, Eliza & Porqueddu, Mario, 2019. "Understanding low wage growth in the euro area and European countries," Occasional Paper Series 232, European Central Bank.
    7. Yu, Jinliang & Qi, Yu, 2022. "BT-to-VAT reform and firm productivity: Evidence from a quasi-experiment in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    8. Matej Bajgar & Giuseppe Berlingieri & Sara Calligaris & Chiara Criscuolo & Jonathan Timmis, 2019. "Industry concentration in Europe and North America," CEP Discussion Papers dp1654, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    9. Audra Bowlus & Émilien Gouin‐Bonenfant & Huju Liu & Lance Lochner & Youngmin Park, 2022. "Four decades of Canadian earnings inequality and dynamics across workers and firms," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 13(4), pages 1447-1491, November.
    10. Mattsson, Pontus & Reshid, Abdulaziz, 2023. "Productivity divergence and the role of digitalisation," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 942-966.
    11. Timothy DESTEFANO & HANEDA Sho & KWON Hyeog Ug, 2019. "Determinants of Structural Adjustment and Employment Use in Japan: Firm Characteristics, Offshoring and Industrial Robotics," Discussion papers 19067, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    12. Cirera, Xavier & Martins-Neto, Antonio Soares, 2023. "Do innovative firms pay higher wages? Micro-level evidence from Brazil," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(1).
    13. Ai Oku & Shun Inoue & Tsubasa Masui, 2020. "Does Firm Size Effect Wages and Labor productivity? -Micro data analysis in case of Japan-," Discussion papers ron320, Policy Research Institute, Ministry of Finance Japan.
    14. Peter Bauer & Igor Fedotenkov & Aurelien Genty & Issam Hallak & Peter Harasztosi & David Martinez Turegano & David Nguyen & Nadir Preziosi & Ana Rincon-Aznar & Miguel Sanchez Martinez, 2020. "Productivity in Europe: Trends and drivers in a service-based economy," JRC Research Reports JRC119785, Joint Research Centre.
    15. Criscuolo, Chiara & Andrews, Dan & Gal, Peter N., 2019. "The best versus the rest: divergence across firms during the global productivity slowdown," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 103405, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    16. Porcher, Charly & Rubinton, Hannah & Santamaría, Clara, 2023. "JUE insight: The role of establishment size in the city-size earnings premium," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    17. repec:gdk:wpaper:55 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Yoshimichi Murakami, 2021. "Trade liberalization and wage inequality: Evidence from Chile," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(3), pages 407-438, April.
    19. Matteo Alpino & Irene Di Marzio & Maurizio Lozzi & Vincenzo Mariani, 2022. "Labor market spillovers of a large plan opening. Evidence from the oil industry," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1386, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    20. Charly Porcher & Hannah Rubinton & Clara Santamaría, 2020. "The Role of Establishment Size in the City-Size Earnings Premium," Working Papers 2020-029, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, revised 29 Nov 2022.
    21. Garnadt, Niklas & von Rueden, Christina & Thiel, Esther, 2021. "Labour reallocation dynamics in Germany during the COVID-19 pandemic and past recessions," Working Papers 08/2021, German Council of Economic Experts / Sachverständigenrat zur Begutachtung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Berlingieri, Giuseppe & Blanchenay, Patrick & Criscuolo, Chiara, 2024. "The great divergence(s)," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(3).
    2. Thierry Lallemand & Robert Plasman & François Rycx, 2007. "The establishment-size wage premium: evidence from European countries," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 34(5), pages 427-451, December.
    3. Jaime Arellano-Bover, 2024. "Career Consequences of Firm Heterogeneity for Young Workers: First Job and Firm Size," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 42(2), pages 549-589.
    4. Majumdar, Sumit K., 2010. "Institutional changes, firm size and wages in the telecommunications sector," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 201-217, July.
    5. Green, Colin & Heywood, John S. & Theodoropoulos, Nikolaos, 2017. "Employer Size and Supervisor Earnings: Evidence from Britain," GLO Discussion Paper Series 136, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    6. Jha, Priyaranjan & Rodriguez-Lopez, Antonio, 2021. "Monopsonistic labor markets and international trade," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    7. Emilien Gouin-Bonenfant, 2018. "Productivity Dispersion, Between-firm Competition and the Labor Share," 2018 Meeting Papers 1171, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    8. John Haltiwanger & Henry Hyatt & Erika McEntarfer, 2018. "Who Moves Up the Job Ladder?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(S1), pages 301-336.
    9. Thierry Lallemand & François Rycx, 2007. "Employer Size and the Structure of Wages: A Critical Survey," Reflets et perspectives de la vie économique, De Boeck Université, vol. 0(2), pages 75-87.
    10. Claudio Michelacci & Vincenzo Quadrini, 2009. "Financial Markets and Wages," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 76(2), pages 795-827.
    11. Melanie Jones & Ezgi Kaya, 2023. "The UK gender pay gap: Does firm size matter?," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 90(359), pages 937-952, July.
    12. Strobl, Eric & Thornton, Robert, 2002. "Do Large Employers Pay More in Developing Countries? The Case of Five African Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 660, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Ai Oku & Shun Inoue & Tsubasa Masui, 2020. "Does Firm Size Effect Wages and Labor productivity? -Micro data analysis in case of Japan-," Discussion papers ron320, Policy Research Institute, Ministry of Finance Japan.
    14. Schröpf, Benedikt, 2021. "The dynamics of wage dispersion between firms: The role of firm entry and exit," Discussion Papers 120, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.
    15. Miguel Marcelle & Eric Strobl, 2003. "Do Smaller Firms Pay Less in the Caribbean? The Case of Trinidad and Tobago," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(5), pages 181-198.
    16. Colin P. Green & John S. Heywood & Nikolaos Theodoropoulos, 2021. "Hierarchy and the Employer Size Effect on Wages: Evidence from Britain," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 88(351), pages 671-696, July.
    17. Bin, Peng & Chen, Xiaolan & Fracasso, Andrea & Tomasi, Chiara, 2018. "Resource allocation and productivity across provinces in China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 103-113.
    18. Emanuele Forlani & Ralf Martin & Giordano Mion & Mirabelle Muûls, 2023. "Unraveling Firms: Demand, Productivity and Markups Heterogeneity," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 133(654), pages 2251-2302.
    19. Matteo G. Richiardi & Luis Valenzuela, 2024. "Firm heterogeneity and the aggregate labour share," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 38(1), pages 66-101, March.
    20. Matej Bajgar & Giuseppe Berlingieri & Sara Calligaris & Chiara Criscuolo & Jonathan Timmis, 2019. "Industry concentration in Europe and North America," CEP Discussion Papers dp1654, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:aea:apandp:v:108:y:2018:p:328-33. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Michael P. Albert (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aeaaaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.