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The urban wage premium in imperfect labour markets

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  • Hirsch, Boris
  • Jahn, Elke J.
  • Oberfichtner, Michael

Abstract

Using administrative data for West Germany, this paper investigates whether part of the urban wage premium stems from fierce competition in thick labour markets. We first establish that employers possess less wage-setting power in denser markets. Local differences in wage-setting power predict 1.1-1.6% higher wages from a 100 log points increase in population density. We further document that the observed urban wage premium from such an increase drops by 1.1-1.4pp once conditioning on local search frictions. Our results therefore suggest that a substantial part of the urban wage premium roots in differential imperfections across local labour markets.

Suggested Citation

  • Hirsch, Boris & Jahn, Elke J. & Oberfichtner, Michael, 2016. "The urban wage premium in imperfect labour markets," Discussion Papers 97, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:faulre:97
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    4. Kühnle, Daniel & Oberfichtner, Michael, 2017. "Does Early Child Care Attendance Influence Children's Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Skill Development?," IZA Discussion Papers 10661, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Langella, Monica & Manning, Alan Patrick, 2021. "The measure of monopsony," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 113925, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Watanabe, Axel, 2020. "The Size Distribution of Cities with Distance-Bound Households," MPRA Paper 99746, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Oberfichtner Michael & Schnabel Claus, 2019. "The German Model of Industrial Relations: (Where) Does It Still Exist?," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 239(1), pages 5-37, January.
    8. Jeworrek, Sabrina & Brachert, Matthias, 2022. "Where to go? High-skilled individuals' regional preferences," IWH Discussion Papers 27/2022, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    9. Christopher D. Blake, 2022. "A method for comparing compensation and productivity levels across US regions," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 2(12), pages 1-30, December.
    10. Jordy Meekes & Wolter H. J. Hassink, 2023. "Endogenous local labour markets, regional aggregation and agglomeration economies," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(1), pages 13-25, January.
    11. Hinz, Tina & Lechmann, Daniel S. J., 2019. "The role of job satisfaction and local labor market conditions for the dissolution of worker-job matches," Discussion Papers 109, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.
    12. Tina Hinz & Jens Mohrenweiser, 2019. "Competition, Institutions and Company-sponsored Training," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0162, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).
    13. Korpi, Martin & Halvarsson, Daniel, 2023. "City Size, Employer Concentration, and Wage Income Inequality," Ratio Working Papers 363, The Ratio Institute.
    14. Bredemeier, Christian, 2019. "Gender Gaps in Pay and Inter-Firm Mobility," IZA Discussion Papers 12785, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Stockinger, Bastian & Zwick, Thomas, 2016. "Apprentice Poaching in Regional Labor Markets," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145565, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    16. Frings, Hanna & Kamb, Rebecca, 2021. "What explains the urban wage premium? Sorting, non-portable or portable agglomeration effects?," Ruhr Economic Papers 916, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    17. Hinz, Tina & Mohrenweiser, Jens, 2017. "The Effect of Regional Competition and Company-sponsored Training on the Productivity-Wage Wedge," VfS Annual Conference 2017 (Vienna): Alternative Structures for Money and Banking 168292, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    18. Andrew Leigh, 2023. "How uncompetitive markets hurt workers," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 26(1), pages 1-21.
    19. Borghorst, Malte & Mulalic, Ismir & van Ommeren, Jos, 2021. "Commuting, Children and the Gender Wage Gap," Working Papers 15-2021, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Economics.
    20. Frings, Hanna & Kamb, Rebecca, 2022. "The relative importance of portable and non-portable agglomeration effects for the urban wage premium," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    21. Kovalenko, Tim & Sauerbier, Timo & Schröpf, Benedikt, 2023. "The fall and rebound of average establishment size in West Germany," Discussion Papers 126, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.
    22. Kimberly Scharf & Oleksandr Talavera & Linh Vi, 2023. "Gender Differences in Returns to Beauty," Discussion Papers 23-08, Department of Economics, University of Birmingham.
    23. Porcher, Charly & Rubinton, Hannah & Santamaría, Clara, 2023. "JUE insight: The role of establishment size in the city-size earnings premium," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    urban wage premium; imperfect labour markets; monopsony; search frictions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population
    • J42 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Monopsony; Segmented Labor Markets
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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