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Wage Rigidity in Canadian Collective Bargaining Agreements

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  • Louis N. Christofides
  • Thanasis Stengos

Abstract

We examine wage-change distributions in Canadian union contracts for evidence of downward nominal wage rigidity. Its probability increases substantially during low-inflation periods. During such periods, we discern no reduction in the incidence of real wage cuts. However, their magnitude is modest, suggesting that the labour market may not function as smoothly.

Suggested Citation

  • Louis N. Christofides & Thanasis Stengos, 2003. "Wage Rigidity in Canadian Collective Bargaining Agreements," University of Cyprus Working Papers in Economics 1-2003, University of Cyprus Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucy:cypeua:1-2003
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    Cited by:

    1. Fella Giulio, 2012. "Matching, Wage Rigidities and Efficient Severance Pay," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 12(1), pages 1-35, December.
    2. Andy Snell & Jonathan P. Thomas, 2010. "Labor Contracts, Equal Treatment, and Wage-Unemployment Dynamics," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 98-127, July.
    3. Thomas Beissinger & Chritoph Knoppik, 2005. "Sind Nominallöhne starr? Neuere Evidenz und wirtschaftspolitische Implikationen," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 6(2), pages 171-188, May.
    4. Christofides, Louis N. & Mamuneas, Theofanis P., 2003. "Inflation and productivity shocks," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 78(1), pages 117-123, January.
    5. E. Gautier & D. Fougère & S. Roux, 2016. "The Impact of the National Minimum Wage on Industry-Level Wage Bargaining in France," Working papers 587, Banque de France.
    6. Jonas Agell & Helge Bennmarker, 2003. "Endogenous Wage Rigidity," CESifo Working Paper Series 1081, CESifo.
    7. Christofides, Louis N. & Nearchou, Paris, 2007. "Real and nominal wage rigidities in collective bargaining agreements," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 695-715, August.
    8. Christofides, Louis N. & Li, Dingding, 2005. "Nominal and real wage rigidity in a friction model," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 235-241, May.
    9. Guangjie Ning, 2008. "Wage forming mechanism in the market transitional process of China (1993–2005): Evidence from the provincial panel data," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 3(2), pages 312-326, June.
    10. repec:dau:papers:123456789/11159 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Patrick J. Coe, 2018. "Downward nominal wage rigidity: Evidence from Canada 1901–1950," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 51(3), pages 946-967, August.
    12. Barno Blaes, 2008. "Abwärtsnominal- und Tariflohnstarrheit in Deutschland," Working Papers 049, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    13. Louis Christofides & Amy Chen Peng, 2007. "Real Wage Chronologies," CESifo Working Paper Series 2096, CESifo.
    14. Fougère, Denis & Gautier, Erwan & Roux, Sébastien, 2018. "Wage floor rigidity in industry-level agreements: Evidence from France," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 72-97.
    15. Dany Brouillette & Olena Kostyshyna & Natalia Kyui, 2018. "Downward nominal wage rigidity in Canada: Evidence from micro-level data," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 51(3), pages 968-1002, August.
    16. Jonathan Thomas & Andy Snell, 2007. "Real and Nominal Wage Rigidity in a Model of Equal-Treatment Contracting," CDMA Conference Paper Series 0708, Centre for Dynamic Macroeconomic Analysis.
    17. Sanvi Avouyi-Dovi & Denis Fougère & Erwan Gautier, 2013. "Wage Rigidity, Collective Bargaining, and the Minimum Wage: Evidence from French Agreement Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(4), pages 1337-1351, October.
    18. Barno Blaes, 2008. "Ausmaß und reale Konsequenzen nach unten starrer Nominallöhne," Working Papers 048, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    19. Fang, Ying & Li, Qi & Wu, Ximing & Zhang, Daiqiang, 2015. "A data-driven smooth test of symmetry," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 188(2), pages 490-501.
    20. Zeira, Joseph & Strawczynski, Michel, 2009. "Cyclicality of Fiscal Policy: Permanent and Transitory Shocks," CEPR Discussion Papers 7271, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    21. Petri Böckerman & Seppo Laaksonen & Jari Vainiomäki, 2007. "Who bears the burden of wage cuts? Evidence from Finland during the 1990s," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 28(2), pages 100-121, May.
    22. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/3mjt8d63i195voq228mf1sr91q is not listed on IDEAS
    23. Joan Daouli & Michael Demoussis & Nicholas Giannakopoulos & Ioannis Laliotis, 2016. "The 2011 Industrial Relations Reform and Nominal Wage Adjustments in Greece," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 37(4), pages 460-483, December.
    24. Giannakopoulos, Nicholas & Laliotis, Ioannis, 2017. "Decentralized Bargaining and the Greek Labour Relations Reform (Law 4024/2011)," MPRA Paper 76513, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    25. Böckerman, Petri & Laaksonen, Seppo & Vainiomäki, Jari, 2006. "Micro-level evidence on wage rigidities in Finland," MPRA Paper 1811, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    nominal; real; wage rigidity;
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