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The Wage Curve an Italian Perspective

Author

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  • DESTEFANIS, Sergio

    (CELPE - Centre of Labour Economics and Economic Policy, University of Salerno - Italy)

  • PICA, Giovanni

    (CELPE - Centre of Labour Economics and Economic Policy, University of Salerno - Italy)

Abstract

In this paper we appraise the existence of a negative relationship between the wage level and the unemployment rate (the wage curve) across Italian regions, using data from the Bank of Italy’s Survey on Household Income and Wealth. The main advantage of this data-set is the availability of information on human capital characteristics of individuals (such as gender, age and education) and, more importantly, on hours worked. Our main finding is that, even though a wage curve exists in Italy, at least after the 1992-93 wage reforms, for annual and monthly wages, no such relationship exists for hourly wages. Consistently, after the reforms we find a negative elasticity of annual hours and months worked with respect to the unemployment rate.

Suggested Citation

  • DESTEFANIS, Sergio & PICA, Giovanni, 2011. "The Wage Curve an Italian Perspective," CELPE Discussion Papers 117, CELPE - CEnter for Labor and Political Economics, University of Salerno, Italy.
    • Handle: RePEc:sal:celpdp:0117
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    Cited by:

    1. Riccardo Leoni, 2018. "Efficienza ed efficacia della contrattazione integrativa aziendale. Una rassegna della letteratura empirica italiana," Economia & lavoro, Carocci editore, issue 1, pages 131-170.
    2. Gabriele Ruiu, 2023. "Exploring polarisation in economic hardship among Italian macro-regions," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 57(1), pages 787-817, February.
    3. Gucciardi, Gianluca, 2014. "The Italian wage curve reloaded: Does occupation matter?," Economics Discussion Papers 2014-44, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    4. Triki, Mohamed Bilel, 2019. "The Italian wage curve revisited: A local and spatial cointegration," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 55, pages 73-90.
    5. Riccardo Leoni & Paola Gritti, 2017. "Institutional Wage Setting, Distinctive Competencies and Wage Premia," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 3(1), pages 71-111, March.
    6. F. Pastore, 2015. "The Mezzogiorno and Crisis after Market and State Failures. A Review of Economic Literature," Rivista economica del Mezzogiorno, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 3-4, pages 525-582.
    7. Destefanis, Sergio, 2012. "Alcune considerazioni sul mercato del lavoro italiano alla luce della ricostruzione delle serie storiche territoriali per il mercato del lavoro, 1861-2011 [Some Considerations on the Italian Labour," MPRA Paper 59611, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Wage Drift; Unemployment; Labour Market Flexibility;
    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

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