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Are Higher Wages Good For Business? An Assessment Under Alternative Innovation And Investment Scenarios

Author

Listed:
  • Caiani, Alessandro
  • Russo, Alberto
  • Gallegati, Mauro

Abstract

This paper aims at investigating the interplay between inequality, innovation dynamics, and investment behaviors in shaping the long-run patterns of growth of a closed economy. By extending the analysis proposed in Caiani et al. [(2018) Journal of Evolutionary Economics], we explore the effects of alternative wage regimes under different investment and technological change scenarios. Experimental results seem to de-emphasize the role of technological progress as a possible source of greater inequality. Overall, simulation results are consistent with the predominance of a wage-led growth regime in most of the scenarios analyzed: A faster growth of low- and middle-level workers’ wages, relative to managers’, generally exert beneficial effects on the economy and allows to counteract the labor-saving effects of technological progress. Furthermore, a distribution more favorable to workers does not compromise firms’ profitability, but rather strengthen it by creating a more favorable macroeconomic environment, which encourages further innovations, stimulates investment, and sustains economic growth.

Suggested Citation

  • Caiani, Alessandro & Russo, Alberto & Gallegati, Mauro, 2020. "Are Higher Wages Good For Business? An Assessment Under Alternative Innovation And Investment Scenarios," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 24(1), pages 191-230, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:macdyn:v:24:y:2020:i:1:p:191-230_10
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    Blog mentions

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    1. [Segnalazioni] Salari e disuguaglianza, Europa, ruolo nel credito nelle recessioni
      by keynesblog in Keynes Blog on 2017-08-23 22:05:03

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Eugenio Caverzasi & Alberto Russo, 2018. "Toward a new microfounded macroeconomics in the wake of the crisis," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 27(6), pages 999-1014.
    2. Patrick Mellacher, 2021. "Growth, Inequality and Declining Business Dynamism in a Unified Schumpeter Mark I + II Model," Papers 2111.09407, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2023.
    3. Alberto Botta, 2020. "The short- and long-run inconsistency of the expansionary austerity theory: a post-Keynesian/evolutionist critique," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 30(1), pages 143-177, January.
    4. Fierro, Luca Eduardo & Caiani, Alessandro & Russo, Alberto, 2022. "Automation, Job Polarisation, and Structural Change," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 499-535.
    5. Lorenzo Domenico, 2023. "Multiplicity and not necessarily heterogeneity: implications for the long-run degree of capacity utilization," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 18(4), pages 835-877, October.
    6. Lucrezia Fanti, 2021. "‘Kaldor Facts’ and the decline of Wage Share: An agent based-stock flow consistent model of induced technical change along Classical and Keynesian lines," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 31(2), pages 379-415, April.
    7. Lucrezia Fanti, 2018. "An AB-SFC Model of Induced Technical Change along Classical and Keynesian Lines," Working Papers 3/18, Sapienza University of Rome, DISS.
    8. Emiliano Brancaccio & Mauro Gallegati & Raffaele Giammetti, 2022. "Neoclassical influences in agent‐based literature: A systematic review," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(2), pages 350-385, April.
    9. Alessandro Caiani & Ermanno Catullo, 2023. "Fiscal Transfers and Common Debt in a Monetary Union: A Multi-Country Agent Based-Stock Flow Consistent Model," LEM Papers Series 2023/19, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    10. Catullo, Ermanno & Gallegati, Mauro & Russo, Alberto, 2022. "Forecasting in a complex environment: Machine learning sales expectations in a stock flow consistent agent-based simulation model," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    11. Terranova, Roberta & Turco, Enrico M., 2022. "Concentration, stagnation and inequality: An agent-based approach," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 569-595.
    12. Claudius Gräbner & Anna Hornykewycz, 2022. "Capability accumulation and product innovation: an agent-based perspective," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 32(1), pages 87-121, January.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity
    • E64 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Incomes Policy; Price Policy
    • O41 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - One, Two, and Multisector Growth Models

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