IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/inrsre/v30y2007i2p173-191.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

New Evidence on the Wage Curve

Author

Listed:
  • J. Paul Elhorst

    (Faculty of Economics, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands)

  • Uwe Blien

    (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg, Germany)

  • Katja Wolf

    (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg, Germany, katja.wolf@iab.de)

Abstract

Following Blanchflower and Oswald, a “wage curve†describes the wage level as a downward-sloping convex curve of the regional unemployment rate. This article makes two major contributions in the analysis of the wage curve. First, it is recognized that potential endogeneity of the regional unemployment rate should be subject to testing not only in combination with regional-specific effects but also in combination with time-specific effects. For this purpose, the authors develop a new estimator, the spatial first difference 2SLS estimator. Second, it is recognized that wages may not only respond to the regional but also to the national unemployment rate. In the empirical analysis, the wage curve for East Germany is estimated using a comprehensive database that provides panel data classified into 114 administrative districts during the 1993 to 1999 period.

Suggested Citation

  • J. Paul Elhorst & Uwe Blien & Katja Wolf, 2007. "New Evidence on the Wage Curve," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 30(2), pages 173-191, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:inrsre:v:30:y:2007:i:2:p:173-191
    DOI: 10.1177/0160017606298426
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0160017606298426
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0160017606298426?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Blanchflower, David G. & Oswald, Andrew J., 2005. "The Wage Curve Reloaded," IZA Discussion Papers 1665, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. M. Hashem Pesaran, 2006. "Estimation and Inference in Large Heterogeneous Panels with a Multifactor Error Structure," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 74(4), pages 967-1012, July.
    3. Karsten Albæk & Rita Asplund & Stig Blomskog & Erling Barth & Björn Rúnar Guðmundsson & Vifill Karlsson & Erik Strøjer Madsen, 1999. "Dimensions of the Wage-Unemployment Relationship in the Nordic Countries: Wage Flexibility without Wage Curves," Discussion Papers 99-24, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics.
    4. J. Paul Elhorst, 2003. "The Mystery of Regional Unemployment Differentials: Theoretical and Empirical Explanations," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(5), pages 709-748, December.
    5. Uwe Blien & Katja Wolf, 2002. "Regional development of employment in eastern Germany: an analysis with an econometric analogue to shift-share techniques," Papers in Regional Science, Springer;Regional Science Association International, vol. 81(3), pages 391-414.
    6. Durlauf, Steven N. & Quah, Danny T., 1999. "The new empirics of economic growth," Handbook of Macroeconomics, in: J. B. Taylor & M. Woodford (ed.), Handbook of Macroeconomics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 4, pages 235-308, Elsevier.
    7. Simonetta Longhi & Peter Nijkamp & Jacques Poot, 2006. "Spatial Heterogeneity And The Wage Curve Revisited," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(4), pages 707-731, October.
    8. Blanchflower, David G., 2001. "Unemployment, Well-Being, and Wage Curves in Eastern and Central Europe," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 364-402, December.
    9. Baltagi, Badi H & Griffin, James M, 1984. "Short and Long Run Effects in Pooled Models," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 25(3), pages 631-645, October.
    10. Peter Nijkamp & Jacques Poot, 2005. "The Last Word on the Wage Curve?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(3), pages 421-450, July.
    11. Keane, Michael P & Runkle, David E, 1992. "On the Estimation of Panel-Data Models with Serial Correlation When Instruments Are Not Strictly Exogenous: Reply," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 10(1), pages 26-29, January.
    12. Jens Suedekum, 2005. "Increasing returns and spatial unemployment disparities," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 84(2), pages 159-181, June.
    13. repec:fth:prinin:343 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. David Card, 1995. "The Wage Curve: A Review," Working Papers 722, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    15. David Card, 1995. "The Wage Curve: A Review," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 33(2), pages 285-299, June.
    16. Lawrence F. Katz & Olivier Blanchard, 1999. "Wage Dynamics: Reconciling Theory and Evidence," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(2), pages 69-74, May.
    17. Bell, Brian & Nickell, Stephen & Quintini, Glenda, 2002. "Wage equations, wage curves and all that," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 341-360, July.
    18. James P. Ziliak & Beth A. Wilson & Joe A. Stone, 1999. "Spatial Dynamics And Heterogeneity In The Cyclicality Of Real Wages," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 81(2), pages 227-236, May.
    19. Keane, Michael P & Runkle, David E, 1992. "On the Estimation of Panel-Data Models with Serial Correlation When Instruments Are Not Strictly Exogenous," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 10(1), pages 1-9, January.
    20. Moulton, Brent R, 1990. "An Illustration of a Pitfall in Estimating the Effects of Aggregate Variables on Micro Unit," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 72(2), pages 334-338, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Víctor M. Montuenga‐Gómez & José M. Ramos‐Parreño, 2005. "Reconciling the Wage Curve and the Phillips Curve," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(5), pages 735-765, December.
    2. Reinhold Kosfeld & Christian Dreger, 2018. "Local and spatial cointegration in the wage curve – a spatial panel analysis for german regions," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 38(1), pages 53-75, February.
    3. Ilias Livanos, 2010. "The Wage-Local Unemployment Relationship in a Highly Regulated Labour Market: Greece," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(4), pages 389-400.
    4. Ana Maria Bonomi Barufi & Eduardo A. Haddad, Peter Nijkamp, 2016. "New evidence on the wage curve: non-linearities, urban size, and spatial scale in Brazil," Working Papers, Department of Economics 2016_39, University of São Paulo (FEA-USP).
    5. David G. Blanchflower & Andrew J. Oswald, 2005. "The Wage Curve Reloaded," NBER Working Papers 11338, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Simonetta Longhi, 2012. "Job Competition and the Wage Curve," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(5), pages 611-620, August.
    7. Bernard Fingleton & Simonetta Longhi, 2013. "The Effects Of Agglomeration On Wages: Evidence From The Micro-Level," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(3), pages 443-463, August.
    8. Peter Nijkamp & Jacques Poot, 2005. "The Last Word on the Wage Curve?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(3), pages 421-450, July.
    9. Roberto Bande Ramudo & Melchor Fernández Fernández & Víctor Montuenga Gómez, 2011. "Wage flexibility and local labour markets: homogeneity of the wage curve in Spain," Documentos de trabajo - Analise Economica 0044, IDEGA - Instituto Universitario de Estudios e Desenvolvemento de Galicia.
    10. Ana Barufi & Eduardo Haddad & Peter Nijkamp, 2016. "A comprehensive analysis of the wage curve in Brazil: Non-linearities, urban size, and the spatial dimension," ERSA conference papers ersa16p279, European Regional Science Association.
    11. Marisa Carla Bucheli Anaya & Cecilia González Rodríguez-Villamil, 2012. "An estimation of the wage curve for Uruguay," Revista Cuadernos de Economia, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, FCE, CID, June.
    12. Hynninen, Sanna-Mari, 2009. "Is there a wage curve for the highly educated?," ISER Working Paper Series 2009-17, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    13. García-Mainar , Inmaculada & Montuenga-Gómez , Víctor M., 2012. "Wage dynamics in Spain: evidence from individual data (1994-2001)," INVESTIGACIONES REGIONALES - Journal of REGIONAL RESEARCH, Asociación Española de Ciencia Regional, issue 24, pages 41-58.
    14. Baltagi, Badi H. & Rokicki, Bartlomiej, 2014. "The spatial Polish wage curve with gender effects: Evidence from the Polish Labor Survey," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 36-47.
    15. Elhorst, J. Paul & Blien, Uwe & Wolf, Katja, 2002. "A spatial panel approach to the east German wage curve," ERSA conference papers ersa02p444, European Regional Science Association.
    16. Bernard FINGLETON & Silvia PALOMBI, 2013. "The Wage Curve Reconsidered: Is It Truly An 'Empirical Law Of Economics'?," Region et Developpement, Region et Developpement, LEAD, Universite du Sud - Toulon Var, vol. 38, pages 49-92.
    17. Häkkinen Skans, Iida & Carlsson, Mikael & Nordström Skans, Oskar, 2017. "Wage Flexibility in a Unionized Economy with Stable Wage Dispersion," Working Papers 149, National Institute of Economic Research.
    18. Joan Daouli & Michael Demoussis & Nicholas Giannakopoulos & Ioannis Laliotis, 2017. "The wage curve before and during the Greek economic crisis," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 52(1), pages 59-77, February.
    19. Johnes, Geraint, 2007. "The wage curve revisited: Estimates from a UK panel," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 94(3), pages 414-420, March.
    20. Fingleton, Bernard & Palombi, Silvia, 2013. "Spatial panel data estimation, counterfactual predictions, and local economic resilience among British towns in the Victorian era," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 649-660.

    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:sae:inrsre:v:30:y:2007:i:2:p:173-191. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    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.