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Bargaining and Inequality in the Labor Market

Author

Listed:
  • Sydnee Caldwell

    (University of California-Berkeley and NBER)

  • Ingrid Haegele

    (LMU and IAB)

  • Jorg Heining

    (IAB)

Abstract

We use novel surveys of firms and workers, linked to administrative employer-employee data, to study the prevalence and importance of individual bargaining in wage determination. We show that simple survey questions accurately elicit firms’ bargaining strategies. Using the elicited strategies for 772 German firms, we document that the majority of firms are willing to engage in individual wage bargaining. Labor market factors predict firms’ strategies better than firm characteristics. Survey responses from nearly 10,000 full-time workers indicate that most worker-firm interactions begin with the worker rejecting the offer and remaining at the incumbent firm. There is substantial heterogeneity in workers’ bargaining behavior, which translates into within-firm wage inequality. Firms that set pay via individual bargaining have a 3 percentage point higher gender wage gap.

Suggested Citation

  • Sydnee Caldwell & Ingrid Haegele & Jorg Heining, 2025. "Bargaining and Inequality in the Labor Market," Upjohn Working Papers 25-413, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:upj:weupjo:25-413
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    wage bargaining; employer-employee; Germany; wage inequality; gender wage gap;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J41 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Labor Contracts
    • J53 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Labor-Management Relations; Industrial Jurisprudence
    • L21 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Business Objectives of the Firm

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