IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/isu/genres/1325.html

Empirical Tests of Efficiency Wage Models

Author

Listed:
  • Huang, Tzu-Ling
  • Hallam, Arne
  • Orazem, Peter
  • Paterno, Elizabeth M.

Abstract

Two-digit manufacturing industry-level production functions are used to test efficiency wage propositions. Conclusive tests require functional forms which allow differences in elasticities of substitution between observable human capital, wage premia and other inputs. Results demonstrate that unexplained industry wage premia and higher unemployment rates raise productivity. Wage premia and the human capital wage component cannot be aggregated into a single human capital index. Nevertheless, 88% of the productivity effect associated with industry wages can be tied to observable human capital in the industry, with only 12% associated with the wage premium.

Suggested Citation

  • Huang, Tzu-Ling & Hallam, Arne & Orazem, Peter & Paterno, Elizabeth M., 1998. "Empirical Tests of Efficiency Wage Models," Staff General Research Papers Archive 1325, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:isu:genres:1325
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a
    for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Griliches, Zvi, 1969. "Capital-Skill Complementarity," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 51(4), pages 465-468, November.
    2. Wadhwani, Sushil B & Wall, Martin, 1991. "A Direct Test of the Efficiency Wage Model Using UK Micro-data," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 43(4), pages 529-548, October.
    3. Willis, Robert J., 1987. "Wage determinants: A survey and reinterpretation of human capital earnings functions," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & R. Layard (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 10, pages 525-602, Elsevier.
    4. Krueger, Alan B & Summers, Lawrence H, 1988. "Efficiency Wages and the Inter-industry Wage Structure," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 56(2), pages 259-293, March.
    5. Peter Cappelli & Keith Chauvin, 1991. "An Interplant Test of the Efficiency Wage Hypothesis," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(3), pages 769-787.
    6. Lawrence F. Katz, 1986. "Efficiency Wage Theories: A Partial Evaluation," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 1986, Volume 1, pages 235-290, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1987. "The Causes and Consequences of the Dependence of Quality on Price," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 25(1), pages 1-48, March.
    8. Jacob A. Mincer, 1974. "Schooling and Earnings," NBER Chapters, in: Schooling, Experience, and Earnings, pages 41-63, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Jacob A. Mincer, 1974. "Schooling, Experience, and Earnings," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number minc74-1, September.
    10. White, Halbert, 1980. "A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(4), pages 817-838, May.
    11. Layard, Richard & Nickell, Stephen & Jackman, Richard, 2005. "Unemployment: Macroeconomic Performance and the Labour Market," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199279173.
    12. Topel, Robert H, 1991. "Specific Capital, Mobility, and Wages: Wages Rise with Job Seniority," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(1), pages 145-176, February.
    13. Levine, David I, 1992. "Can Wage Increases Pay for Themselves? Tests with a Production Function," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 102(414), pages 1102-1115, September.
    14. Strauss, John, 1986. "Does Better Nutrition Raise Farm Productivity?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(2), pages 297-320, April.
    15. Kniesner, Thomas J & Goldsmith, Arthur H, 1987. "A Survey of Alternative Models of the Aggregate U.S. Labor Market," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 25(3), pages 1241-1280, September.
    16. Kevin M. Murphy & Robert H. Topel, 1990. "Efficiency Wages Reconsidered: Theory and Evidence," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Yoram Weiss & Gideon Fishelson (ed.), Advances in the Theory and Measurement of Unemployment, chapter 8, pages 204-240, Palgrave Macmillan.
    17. Solow, Robert M., 1979. "Another possible source of wage stickiness," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 79-82.
    18. Erica L. Groshen, 1991. "Sources of Intra-Industry Wage Dispersion: How Much Do Employers Matter?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(3), pages 869-884.
    19. Juhn, Chinhui & Murphy, Kevin M & Pierce, Brooks, 1993. "Wage Inequality and the Rise in Returns to Skill," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(3), pages 410-442, June.
    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. K Clark & M Tomlinson, 2001. "The Determinants of Work Effort: Evidence from the Employment in Britain Survey," Economics Discussion Paper Series 0113, Economics, The University of Manchester.
    2. Måns Söderbom & Francis Teal & Anthony Wambugu, 2002. "Does firm size really affect earnings?," CSAE Working Paper Series 2002-08, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    3. Mose, Jared Isaboke, 2017. "Drivers of Labour Productivity in Flower Farms in Naivasha, Kenya," Sustainable Agriculture Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 6(4), November.
    4. Carter, Thomas J., 2005. "Money and efficiency wages: the neglected effect of employment on efficiency," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 199-209, March.
    5. Tomás Gómez Rodríguez & Humberto Ríos Bolívar & Ali Aali Bujari, 2018. "Salario eficiente y crecimiento económico para el caso de América Latina. (Efficient wages and Economic Growth in Latin America)," Ensayos Revista de Economia, Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon, Facultad de Economia, vol. 0(2), pages 213-235, October.
    6. Margarita Katsimi, 2008. "Training, Job Security And Incentive Wages," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 55(1), pages 67-78, February.
    7. Francis Teal & Måns Söderbom, 2002. "Does firm size really affect earnings?," Economics Series Working Papers WPS/2002-08, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    8. Fallahi, Firouz & Sakineh, Sojoodi & Mehin Aslaninia, Nasim, 2010. "Determinants of Labor Productivity in Iran’s Manufacturing Firms: With Emphasis on Labor Education and Training," MPRA Paper 27447, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Carlos Alberto Belchior Doria Carneiro & Geovana Lorena Bertussi, 2018. "Outsourcing And Efficiency Wages: The Case Of Brazil," Anais do XLIV Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 44th Brazilian Economics Meeting] 233, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics].
    10. Pablo Villar Vileikis, 2013. "Formalizaci√≥n: Motor de cambio estructural positivo. El caso colombiano entre 2002 y 2011," Documentos CEDE 11467, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    11. Syed Kanwar Abbas & Asad Zaman, 2005. "Efficiency Wage Hypothesis—The Case of Pakistan," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 44(4), pages 1051-1066.
    12. Joydeep Bhattacharya & Shankha Chakraborty, 2005. "What do information frictions do?," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 26(3), pages 651-675, October.
    13. James Heintz, 2011. "Global Labor Standards: Their Impact and Implementation," Chapters, in: Jonathan Michie (ed.), The Handbook of Globalisation, Second Edition, chapter 13, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    14. Ahmad Jafari Samimi, 2011. "Efficiency Wage Hypothesis: The Case Study of Iran's Manufacturing Industries," Journal of Social and Development Sciences, AMH International, vol. 1(5), pages 157-164.

    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. Andreas P. Georgiadis, 2006. "Is there a Wage-Supervision Trade-Off? Efficiency Wages Evidence From the 1990 British Workplace Industrial Relations Survey," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 06/152, The Centre for Market and Public Organisation, University of Bristol, UK.
    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. Seref Saygili, 1998. "Is the Efficiency Wage Hypothesis Valid for Developing Countries? Evidence from the Turkish Cement Industry," Studies in Economics 9810, School of Economics, University of Kent.
    4. repec:eee:labchp:v:3:y:1999:i:pb:p:2291-2372 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. repec:iab:iabdpa:201619 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Bhalotra, Sonia., 2003. "The impact of economic liberalization on employment and wages in India," ILO Working Papers 993650543402676, International Labour Organization.
    7. Katarzyna Budnik, 2012. "Do those who stay work less? On the impact of emigration on the measured TFP in Poland," NBP Working Papers 113, Narodowy Bank Polski.
    8. A. Preston, 1996. "Where Are We Now With Human Capital Theory in Australia?," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 96-18, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    9. repec:eee:labchp:v:3:y:1999:i:pb:p:2373-2437 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Peter Thompson, 2003. "Technological Change and the Age-Earnings Profile: Evidence from the International Merchant Marine, 1861-1912," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 6(3), pages 578-601, July.
    11. repec:ilo:ilowps:365054 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Philip Du Caju & François Rycx & Ilan Tojerow, 2011. "Inter‐Industry Wage Differentials: How Much Does Rent Sharing Matter?," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 79(4), pages 691-717, July.
    13. Victor Zarnowitz, 1989. "Cost and Price Movements in Business Cycle Theories and Experience: Hypotheses of Sticky Wages and Prices (SEE ALSO WP3132-send out together)," NBER Working Papers 3131, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. John M. Abowd & Paul A. Lengermann & Kevin L. McKinney, 2002. "The Measurement of Human Capital in the U.S. Economy," Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics Technical Papers 2002-09, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau, revised Mar 2003.
    15. Soheïl Chennouf & Louis Lévy-Garboua & Claude Montmarquette, 1997. "Les effets de l’appartenance à un groupe de travail sur les salaires individuels," L'Actualité Economique, Société Canadienne de Science Economique, vol. 73(1), pages 207-232.
    16. Edward N. Wolff, "undated". "Skills, Computerization, and Earnings in the Postwar U.S. Economy," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_331, Levy Economics Institute.
    17. Mark D. Brenner, 2004. "The Economic Impact of Living Wage Ordinances," Working Papers wp80, Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
    18. Robert Plasman & François Rycx & Ilan Tojerow, 2007. "Wage differentials in Belgium: the role of worker and employer characteristics," Brussels Economic Review, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles, vol. 50(1), pages 11-40.
    19. López Enciso, Enrique & Ramírez Giraldo, María Teresa (ed.), 2011. "Formación de precios y salarios en Colombia T.2," Books, Banco de la Republica de Colombia, volume 2, number 2011b-04, November.
    20. David Neumark & Steven A. Sharpe, 1992. "Hostile takeovers and expropriation of extramarginal wages: a test," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 197, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    21. Kevin Lang, 2020. "Effort and wages: Evidence from the payroll tax," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 53(1), pages 108-139, February.
    22. Robert Gibbons & Lawrence F. Katz & Thomas Lemieux & Daniel Parent, 2005. "Comparative Advantage, Learning, and Sectoral Wage Determination," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 23(4), pages 681-724, October.
    23. Gustavo Adolfo González Palomino & Vanessa Hern�ndez Castro & Kelly Johana Pulgar�n Villada, 2018. "Mercado laboral para los profesionales en Sucre, 2008 y 2014," Revista Economía y Región, Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar, vol. 12(1), pages 37-63.
    24. Rebekka Christopoulou & Juan F. Jimeno & Ana Lamo, 2010. "Changes in the wage structure in EU countries," Working Papers 1017, Banco de España.

    More about this item

    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:isu:genres:1325. 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: Curtis Balmer (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/deiasus.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.