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Wage setting in Hungary: evidence from a firm survey

Author

Listed:
  • Gábor Kézdi

    (Central European University)

  • István Kónya

    (Magyar Nemzeti Bank (central bank of Hungary))

Abstract

We document results from a survey of wage setting in Hungarian enterprises. The survey was developed and coordinated by the Eurosystem Wage Dynamics Network, and it was administered in 17 European countries; this allows us to put the Hungarian findings in context. The main conclusion from the survey is that while Hungarian firms operate in a quite flexible institutional environment, their wage setting practices are relatively rigid. In its wage setting outcomes, Hungary shares more similarities with Western European countries than with countries in the Central and Eastern European region. The survey provides strong evidence that the observed wage setting behaviour can be explained by internal factors related to employee motivation, perceived fairness, and firms’ desire to maintain a desired wage distribution.

Suggested Citation

  • Gábor Kézdi & István Kónya, 2009. "Wage setting in Hungary: evidence from a firm survey," MNB Bulletin (discontinued), Magyar Nemzeti Bank (Central Bank of Hungary), vol. 4(3), pages 20-26, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:mnb:bullet:v:4:y:2009:i:3:p:20-26
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Boza, István & Reizer, Balázs, 2024. "The Role of Flexible Wage Components in Gender Wage Difference," IZA Discussion Papers 17125, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Kónya, István & Jakab M., Zoltán, 2012. "Munkapiaci súrlódások DSGE modellekben [Labour market frictions in DSGE models]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(9), pages 933-962.
    3. Biswajit Banerjee & Matija Vodopivec & Urban Sila, 2013. "Wage setting in Slovenia: interpretation of the Wage Dynamics Network (WDN) survey findings in an institutional and macroeconomic context," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 2(1), pages 1-23, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    wage setting; survey; Hungary; Wage Dynamics Network.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General
    • J50 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - General
    • J60 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - General
    • C83 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Survey Methods; Sampling Methods

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