IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/mar/magkse/201729.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Towards an East German wage curve - NUTS boundaries, labour market regions and unemployment spillovers

Author

Listed:
  • Reinhold Kosfeld

    (University of Kassel)

  • Christian Dreger

    (German Institute of Economic Research (DIW Berlin) and European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder))

Abstract

The relevance of spatial effects in the wage curve can be rationalized by the model of monopsonistic competition in regional labour markets. However, distortions in extracting the regional unemployment effects arise in standard regional (i.e. NUTS) classifications as they fail to adequately capture spatial processes. In addition, the nonstationarity of wages and unemployment is often ignored. Both issues are particularly important in high unemployment regimes like East Germany where a wage curve is difficult to establish. In this paper, labour market regions defined by economic criteria are used to examine the existence of an East German wage curve. Due to the nonstationarity of spatial data, a global panel cointegration approach is adopted. By specifying a spatial error correction model (SpECM), equilibrium adjustments are investigated in time and space. The analysis gives evidence on a locally but not a spatially cointegrated wage curve for East Germany.

Suggested Citation

  • Reinhold Kosfeld & Christian Dreger, 2017. "Towards an East German wage curve - NUTS boundaries, labour market regions and unemployment spillovers," MAGKS Papers on Economics 201729, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
  • Handle: RePEc:mar:magkse:201729
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.uni-marburg.de/fb02/makro/forschung/magkspapers/paper_2017/29-2017_kosfeld.pdf
    File Function: First 201729
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    2. Blanchflower, David G. & Oswald, Andrew J., 2005. "The Wage Curve Reloaded," IZA Discussion Papers 1665, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Bernd Fitzenberger & Karsten Kohn & Alexander C. Lembcke, 2013. "Union Density and Varieties of Coverage: The Anatomy of Union Wage Effects in Germany," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 66(1), pages 169-197, January.
    4. 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.
    5. Raul Ramos & Catia Nicodemo & Esteve Sanromá, 2015. "A spatial panel wage curve for Spain," Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 125-139, July.
    6. Baltagi, Badi H. & Blien, Uwe & Wolf, Katja, 2009. "New evidence on the dynamic wage curve for Western Germany: 1980-2004," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 47-51, January.
    7. 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.
    8. Wang, Yiyi & Kockelman, Kara M. & Xiaokun (Cara) Wang, Xiaokun (Cara) Wang, 2013. "The impact of weight matrices on parameter estimation and inference: A case study of binary response using land-use data," The Journal of Transport and Land Use, Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, vol. 6(3), pages 75-85.
    9. M. Hashem Pesaran, 2007. "A simple panel unit root test in the presence of cross-section dependence," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(2), pages 265-312.
    10. Andreas Ammermuller & Claudio Lucifora & Federica Origo & Thomas Zwick, 2010. "Wage Flexibility in Regional Labour Markets: Evidence from Italy and Germany," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(4), pages 401-421.
    11. David Card, 1995. "The Wage Curve: A Review," Working Papers 722, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    12. Pesaran, M. Hashem & Vanessa Smith, L. & Yamagata, Takashi, 2013. "Panel unit root tests in the presence of a multifactor error structure," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 175(2), pages 94-115.
    13. 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.
    14. David Card, 1995. "The Wage Curve: A Review," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 33(2), pages 285-299, June.
    15. Manfred M. Fischer & Arthur Getis (ed.), 2010. "Handbook of Applied Spatial Analysis," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-642-03647-7, June.
    16. Baltagi, Badi H. & Baskaya, Yusuf Soner & Hulagu, Timur, 2012. "The Turkish wage curve: Evidence from the Household Labor Force Survey," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 114(1), pages 128-131.
    17. James P. LeSage & R. Kelley Pace, 2014. "The Biggest Myth in Spatial Econometrics," Econometrics, MDPI, vol. 2(4), pages 1-33, December.
    18. Hagen, Tobias, 2003. "Three Approaches to the Evaluation of Active Labour Market Policy in East Germany Using Regional Data," ZEW Discussion Papers 03-27, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    19. David G. Blanchflower & Andrew J. Oswald, 1995. "An Introduction to the Wage Curve," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 9(3), pages 153-167, Summer.
    20. Baltagi, Badi H. & Baskaya, Yusuf Soner & Hulagu, Timur, 2012. "The Turkish wage curve: Evidence from the Household Labor Force Survey," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 114(1), pages 128-131.
    21. Kubis, Alexander & Titze, Mirko & Ragnitz, Joachim, 2007. "Spillover Effects of Spatial Growth Poles - a Reconciliation of Conflicting Policy Targets?," IWH Discussion Papers 8/2007, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    22. Topel, Robert H, 1986. "Local Labor Markets," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(3), pages 111-143, June.
    23. 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.
    24. Michael Beenstock & Daniel Felsenstein, 2010. "Spatial error correction and cointegration in nonstationary panel data: regional house prices in Israel," Journal of Geographical Systems, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 189-206, June.
    25. Schnabel Claus, 2016. "United, Yet Apart? A Note on Persistent Labour Market Differences between Western and Eastern Germany," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 236(2), pages 157-179, March.
    26. Baltagi, Badi H. & Blien, Uwe & Wolf, Katja, 2012. "A dynamic spatial panel data approach to the German wage curve," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 12-21.
    27. Per Kropp & Barbara Schwengler, 2016. "Three-Step Method for Delineating Functional Labour Market Regions," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(3), pages 429-445, March.
    28. repec:fth:prinin:343 is not listed on IDEAS
    29. Timo Mitze & Selin Özyurt, 2014. "The Spatial Dimension of Trade- and FDI-driven Productivity Growth in Chinese Provinces: A Global Cointegration Approach," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(2), pages 263-291, June.
    30. Pannenberg, Markus & Schwarze, Johannes, 1998. "Labor market slack and the wage curve," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(3), pages 351-354, March.
    31. David G. Blanchflower & Andrew J. Oswald, 1995. "The Wage Curve," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 026202375x, March.
    32. 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.
    33. Blanchflower, David G & Oswald, Andrew J, 1994. "Estimating a Wage Curve for Britain: 1973-90," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 104(426), pages 1025-1043, September.
    34. Shapiro, Carl & Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1984. "Equilibrium Unemployment as a Worker Discipline Device," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(3), pages 433-444, June.
    35. Wagner, Joachim, 1994. "German wage curves, 1979-1990," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 307-311.
    36. 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.
    37. Baltagi, Badi H. & Blien, Uwe, 1998. "The German wage curve: evidence from the IAB employment sample," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 61(2), pages 135-142, November.
    38. Beenstock, Michael & Felsenstein, Daniel, 2015. "Estimating spatial spillover in housing construction with nonstationary panel data," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 42-58.
    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. Anna Gloria Billé & Alessio Tomelleri & Francesco Ravazzolo, 2023. "Forecasting regional GDPs: a comparison with spatial dynamic panel data models," Spatial Economic Analysis, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(4), pages 530-551, October.
    2. Mark J. Holmes & Jesús Otero, 2022. "The wage curve within and across regions: new insights from a pairwise view of US states," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 62(5), pages 2069-2089, May.
    3. Demidova, O. & Timofeeva, E., 2021. "Spatial aspects of wage curve estimation in Russia," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 51(3), pages 69-101.
    4. Venera Timiryanova & Dina Krasnoselskaya & Natalia Kuzminykh, 2022. "Applying the Multilevel Approach in Estimation of Income Population Differences," Stats, MDPI, vol. 6(1), pages 1-32, December.

    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. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. 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).
    4. Demidova, O. & Timofeeva, E., 2021. "Spatial aspects of wage curve estimation in Russia," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 51(3), pages 69-101.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. Haci Mevlut Karatas, 2017. "The Turkish Spatial Wage Curve," Econometrics, MDPI, vol. 5(3), pages 1-21, August.
    8. Dieter von Fintel, 2016. "Wage flexibility in a high unemployment regime: spatial heterogeneity and the size of local labour markets," Working Papers 09/2016, Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics.
    9. 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.
    10. David G. Blanchflower & Andrew J. Oswald, 2005. "The Wage Curve Reloaded," NBER Working Papers 11338, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. 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.
    12. 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.
    13. Koenig, Felix & Manning, Alan & Petrongolo, Barbara, 2014. "Reservation wages and the wage flexibility puzzle," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 60613, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    14. Badi H. Baltagi & Yusuf Soner Başkaya, 2022. "Spatial wage curves for formal and informal workers in Turkey," Journal of Spatial Econometrics, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 1-24, December.
    15. Simonetta Longhi, 2012. "Job Competition and the Wage Curve," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(5), pages 611-620, August.
    16. 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.
    17. Lili Kang & Fei Peng, 2017. "Wage flexibility in the Chinese labour market, 1989–2009," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(4), pages 616-628, April.
    18. Guilherme Cemin Paula & André M. Marques, 2022. "Brazilian Wage Curve: Further Evidence Based on Spatial Interactions in Times of Recession, 2012–2019," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 65(3), pages 689-708, September.
    19. 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.
    20. Iara, Anna & Traistaru, Iulia, 2004. "How flexible are wages in EU accession countries?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 431-450, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Wage curve; labour market regions; global cointegration; spatial error-correction model;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General
    • J60 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - General
    • C33 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • R15 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Econometric and Input-Output Models; Other Methods

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:mar:magkse:201729. 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: Bernd Hayo (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vamarde.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.