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Wage Interactions: Comparisons or Fall-back Options?

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  • Jennifer Smith

Abstract

It is widely accepted that wage comparisons with other firms play an important part in wage bargaining, but what is less clear is precisely why these comparisons are important. There are two main explanations. First, that fairness considerations mean workers are unwilling to see their wage fall below that offered in other similar firms. Second, that wages in other firms constitute a worker's fall-back option since if the worker leaves his current firm he will probably seek employment in the same industry. Unfortunately, it is difficult to distinguish between these two explanations since both offer similar predictions. This paper proposes that these two explanations can be differentiated by looking at the role of 'pay leaders' (firms that set the standard for later settlements and which, anecdotal evidence suggests, dominate changes in pay and conditions in an industry) in wage bargaining. If the fall back option is important then the pay leader should only influence wages in other firms to the extent that the pay leader firm constitutes one of many firms that workers could move to. If, on the other hand, fairness is important then the pay leader can have a disproportionate influence by creating the standard for other wage negotiations. Using a unique panel of data covering 321 bargaining units in the UK chemical industry between 1978 and 1989, the paper then looks at the influence of the pay leader in that industry (ICI) on wage setting in other firms. It finds that the ICI wage does indeed have a disproportion effect on wage bargains in other firms; indeed ICI's wage dominates all other measures that capture the worker's fall-back option. This supports the notion that it is fairness considerations that drive wage interactions.

Suggested Citation

  • Jennifer Smith, 1995. "Wage Interactions: Comparisons or Fall-back Options?," Bank of England working papers 37, Bank of England.
    • Handle: RePEc:boe:boeewp:37
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Tomohara, Akinori & Takii, Sadayuki, 2011. "Does globalization benefit developing countries? Effects of FDI on local wages," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 511-521, May.
    3. Stoyanov, Andrey & Zubanov, Nikolay, 2014. "The distribution of the gains from spillovers through worker mobility between workers and firms," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 17-35.
    4. Markus Knell & Alfred Stiglbauer, 2009. "The Impact of Reference Norms on Inflation Persistence When Wages are Staggered," Working Papers 153, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank).
    5. Andy Haldane & Bennett McCallum & Chris Salmon, 1996. "Base Money Rules in the UK," Bank of England working papers 45, Bank of England.
    6. Anthony Yates, 1998. "Downward nominal rigidity and monetary policy," Bank of England working papers 82, Bank of England.
    7. Francis Breedon & Ian Twinn, 1995. "Valuation of underwriting agreements for UK rights issues: evidence from the traded option market," Bank of England working papers 39, Bank of England.
    8. Bell, David N.F. & Hart, Robert A., 2010. "Retire Later or Work Harder?," IZA Discussion Papers 4720, IZA Network @ LISER.
    9. Stoyanov, A. & Zubanov, N.V., 2012. "Productivity Gains from Worker Mobility and their Distribution between Workers and Firms," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2012-009-STR, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
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    11. Panos, Georgios A. & Theodossiou, Ioannis, 2010. "Unionism and Peer-Referencing," SIRE Discussion Papers 2010-122, Scottish Institute for Research in Economics (SIRE).
    12. Paul L. Latreille & Neil Manning, 2000. "Inter‐industry and Inter‐occupational Wage Spillovers in UK Manufacturing," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 62(1), pages 83-99, February.
    13. Marco Bianchi, 1996. "A Comparison of Methods for Seasonal Adjustment of the Monetary Aggregates," Bank of England working papers 44, Bank of England.
    14. Stoyanov, Andrey & Zubanov, Nick, 2013. "Money on the Table? Firms' and Workers' Gains from Productivity Spillovers through Worker Mobility," IZA Discussion Papers 7702, IZA Network @ LISER.
    15. Nigel Driffield & Karl Taylor, 2006. "Wage Spillovers, Inter-regional Effects and the Impact of Inward Investment," Spatial Economic Analysis, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 1(2), pages 187-205.
    16. Ascari, Guido & Garcia, Juan A., 2004. "Relative wage concern: the missing piece in the contract multiplier?," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(4), pages 343-369, December.

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