Minimum Wages,On-the-Job Training,and Wage Growth

Using data from the Employment Opportunities Pilot Project, we examine the relationships between minimum wages, wage growth, and on-the-job training. We find that minimum wage jobs exhibit less wage growth than other jobs, particularly for men. We find no evidence, however, of a unique minimum wage effect on training opportunities. We conclude that indirect methods of proxying training with wage growth can be misleading as they fail to distinguish whether the reduced wage growth of workers on minimum wage jobs results from their receiving less training than other workers or whether it is strictly a result of the wage determination process.     

Bertrand-Edgeworth equilibrium in a cash-in-advance economy

This paper is about price and wage competition in a dynamicgeneral equilibrium model. We consider an equity financed economywhere firms need money to finance their input costs. Part ofthe output is sold for money to be used in the next period asworking capital and the remaining part is distributed to ownersas real dividends. We first characterize the steady state competitiveequilibrium path. Second, we study whether this competitiveequilibrium can be supported as a pure strategy Nash equilibriumin price and wage setting games. We prove a positive resultfor price competition and a negative one for wage competition.     

EFFECT OF IT JOB TRAINING ON EMPLOYMENT AND WAGE PREMIUM: EVIDENCE FROM KOREA PANEL DATA

In this paper, we examine whether IT job training raises the probability of getting employed and enables the trainee to obtain a high wage. In this paper, it is reported that, in the Republic of Korea, IT job training as a whole affects not only employment but also wage premium, even though the effect on wage premium is somewhat less conspicuous. In particular, the intensity of IT job training is more instrumental in the opportunity of getting employed than simply whether receiving IT job training or not. This effect is intensified in the low‐education group. In this group, the probability for the persons who undergo IT job training for more than six months of getting employed is higher than that for a person without any job training. Additionally, provision of IT job training by a private institute and cost sharing with the government enhances the opportunity of employment.     

Is wage compression a necessary condition for firm-financed general training?

In recent contributions, Acemoglu and Pischke argue that wagecompression induces firms to invest in general training. However,they consider only absolute wage compression. We extend theirapproach to consider relative wage compression and argue thatwage compression as generally understood in the literature isof the latter type. We show that factors associated with anincrease in the absolute difference between output and wagesmight have no effect on the ratio of output and wages (e.g.,if the output and wage of every worker doubles, there is absolutewage compression but not relative wage compression). Importantly,we show that, although relative wage compression is not a necessarycondition for firms’ willingness to pay for general training,it does increase firms’ incentives to pay for workers’general training. We show that the departure from the competitiveframework highlighted in Acemoglu and Pischke is much more generalthan implied by their analysis.     

Effects of state-sponsored human capital investment on the selection of training type

Since the 1990s, firms in Japan have reduced their human capital investment in the workplace to minimize costs. Moreover, in response to the increase in the number of non-regular employees and turnover rates, workers need to have greater incentive to make the self-motivated investment in themselves for their self-protection. In this study, we first estimate the effects of workers’ self-motivated investment in themselves on wage rates. Next, we explore who is likely to participate in which training type and accordingly estimate the effects of the self-motivated investment on wage rates by training type. Our estimates controlling for individual-level fixed-effects indicate that the return is significantly positive and particularly high for practical training related to workers’ current jobs, and regular workers tend to self-select these higher-returns programs, while non-regular workers are more likely to enroll in lower-returns programs, such as schooling. This trend in investment in oneself could potentially increase the wage inequality between regular and non-regular workers through the self-selection of training types. Our estimates reveal that receiving the training and education benefit raises the likelihood for workers to participate in a high-return training program regardless of whether they are non-regular or regular workers. This suggests that government benefits on self-investment change workers’ self-selection of training type and serve to promote practical trainings that lead to high returns.     

Is Informal Job Experience of Youth Undermining their Labor-Market Prospects in Transition Economies?

The objective of the paper is to investigate if previous informal employment experience of youth affects later labor-market outcomes in transition economies. We consider the effects on employment, decent job and wages. Some theories suggest that previous informal job experience may extend informality later and negatively impact decent employment and wages, while others argue that informal jobs may provide training, networks and working attitudes to young workers hence improving their formal employment and wage potential. We rely on the newly-produced School to Work Transition Surveys for seven transition economies of Southeast Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Our results robustly suggest that early informality of youth is negative for the later labor-market outcomes. However, for the wage, there is limited evidence that the negative effect potentially turns positive for long informal job experiences. The negative effect of informal job on later outcomes is stronger for females, while any differences between the two regions of transition economies are neither systematic nor robust.     

Tax policy in a matching model with training

This paper develops a model of search on the labour market withtraining. We explore how the combination of an average job taxand a marginal wage tax can be used to alleviate inefficienciesin job matching and, at the same time, raise a positive revenuewith minimal distortions in search and training. We find that(i) a wage tax is less distortionary to raise revenue than isa job tax if training is not distorted initially; (ii) thisconclusion may reverse in the presence of training distortions;(iii) marginal wage taxes are less distortionary in economieswhere bargaining parties can commit to the wage profile.     

Evaluating public sector sponsored training in East Germany

Support of training has been a very important instrument ofactive labor market policy in East Germany. This paper attemptsan evaluation of the employment and wage effects of trainingsupported by public income maintenance outside of a firm. Afterdescribing the labor market developments in East Germany, weillustrate the evaluation problem. Then, we estimate a simultaneousmodel for participation in training, employment, and wages.Taking account of selection effects before participation, ourfindings mostly suggest positive though only partially significantlong-run effects of training on employment or wages.     

Union membership,union coverage and wage dispersion of rural migrants: Evidence from Suzhou industrial sector

Using the data from an original survey on rural migrant workers from Suzhou industrial sector in 2013, we estimate the wage effect of both union membership and union coverage across the wage distributions using decomposition approach based on unconditional quantile regression. The results show that union membership has a significant effect on the wage level of rural migrant workers across the wage distribution. The effect of coefficient differences which results from the different rewarding systems explains the majority wage differentials between union members and non-members in non-unionized firms. There is also significant union coverage effect at the lower part of the distribution when comparing the union-covered non-member to the nonunion-covered non-member, which is also mainly caused by the coefficient effect. By contrast, wage differentials between union members and non-members in unionized firms are attributed to significant composition effect, which reveals that union members are positively selected within unionized firms. As a result, the positive wage effect of union is limited to the more advantaged group among migrant workers.     

Health and Productivity: Panel Data Evidence from Ethiopia

Abstract: Neoclassical growth models and endogenous growth theories show the positive contribution of human capital to growth. Using household panel data (1994–2000) on individuals who reported their wages in urban Ethiopia, we estimated a relationship between health measures (i.e. proxied by height and BMI) and wages (which proxies productivity/growth). Our findings from the IV quantile regression estimates indicate that productivity is positively and significantly affected by education, height and BMI. The return to BMI is important both at the lower and upper end of the wage distribution. The return to height is significant only at the end of the wage distribution. The substantive content of the results (i.e. the high‐nutrition and high‐productivity equilibrium story) does not change even if we did not control for endogeneity of schooling. Non‐parametric evidence also supports the strong and positive relationship between productivity and our indicators of human capital.     

The impact of firm-provided training on productivity,wages, and transition to regular employment for workers in flexible arrangements

This paper examines the incidence and density of firm-provided training for workers in flexible work arrangements – i.e., non-regular employees who are working part-time or with fixed-term employment contracts – and analyzes the effect of this training on skills, productivity, and wage growth, using a unique survey of Japanese workers. Among non-regular employees, those who work on a full-time basis are found to receive a higher density of both on-the-job training (OJT) and off-the-job training (Off-JT). Participation in firm-provided training is shown to improve job skills and productivity, but does not appear to impact the wage growth of non-regular workers. However, training participation is shown to make the transition from non-regular to regular employment in the current occupation more likely, enhancing the probability of future wage increases.     

外包与工资差距——基于工业行业数据的经验研究

本文首先检验了国际外包对我国熟练劳动力与非熟练劳动力工资差距的影响.计量结果表明,与斯托尔帕-萨缪尔逊定理所揭示的相反,外包贸易降低了我国相对丰裕的非熟练劳动力的相对工资.微电子设备的使用也加大了对熟练劳动力的需求,进一步加大熟练劳动力与非熟练劳动力的工资差距.为了检查是否是因为贸易形态的变化所导致的结果,我们进一步检...     

Foreign Takeovers and Wages in Hungary

This study investigates the wage premium that foreign takeover firms pay for a type of worker on top of the wage before takeover. We apply Hungarian employee-employer matched data from 1992 until 2001, and find a nonlinear wage premium profile before and after a foreign takeover. Takeover targets do not pursue a different wage policy before ownership change compared to other indigenous firms. Then, there is a hike in the wage premium during the takeover year. Moreover, there is gradually building up a wage premium over the following years after the takeover. The later stylized fact helps discriminating bargaining theories of the foreign-investor wage premium from technology spillover theories. JEL no. E24, F16, F23     

Efficiency wages and the balanced budget theorem

Macroeconomic literature has long agreed that the balanced budget multiplier is positive. By adopting the principal tenets of efficiency wage theories, this paper makes a new attempt to examine the validity of the balanced budget theorem. It is found that the impact of an expansion in government spending on output with a balanced government budget will definitely be contractionary in the presence of the efficiency wage consideration. Further, this paper also examines the role of alternative wage indexation rules on the validity of the balanced budget theorem. It is shown that the balanced budget theorem is not tenable when there is full indexation of wages.     

Wage inequality and establishment heterogeneity

We analyze wage dispersion within and across establishments in Korea between 2007 and 2013. We find that foreign owned establishments and those operating in global markets have higher within-establishment wage dispersion. The effect is over and above the establishment size effect. Furthermore, wages are higher in larger establishments and internationally oriented ones. Our findings are consistent with theories explaining management pay and the scope of control. Our results also provide evidence that can explain the rise in wage inequality due to the emergence of ‘super star’ firms and global supply chains.     

健康人力资本与性别工资差异

现有对性别工资差异的研究大多是基于教育、经验等人力资本对工资的影响进行分析而忽视了健康人力资本的作用。本文运用中国健康与营养调查数据,将健康人力资本引入工资决定模型,对我国劳动力市场上健康人力资本对工资的影响以及性别工资差异进行了实证分析。研究发现：健康人力资本是影响我国居民工资收入的重要因素;我国劳动力市场上存在明显的性别工资差异,女性工资显著低于男性;利用Oaxaca—Cotton的分解方法发现性别工资差异中大约只有20％可以被个体特征合理解释,余下的部分被认为是对女性的歧视和没能观测到的因素所致。健康人力资本对工资的边际贡献在性别之间的差异是性别工资差异的重要来源。     

Export Activity,Firm Size and Wage Structure: Evidence from Taiwanese Manufacturing Firms*

This study adopts a semiparametric smooth coefficient model to evaluate the export–wage premiums, firm size–wage premiums, and the wage gap between skilled and unskilled labor. Particular focus is placed upon widespread evidence indicating that pay levels in ‘large’ and ‘export‐oriented’ firms are higher than in their ‘small’ and ‘domestic‐oriented’ counterparts. Applying the firm‐level data for Taiwanese manufacturing firms, we find a positive export–wage premium for skilled workers and a negative export–wage premium for unskilled workers. The hypothesis of a constant export premium across firm size is rejected. While most of the export–wage premiums for skilled labor can be attributed to the small and medium firms, the large exporting firms have a significant adverse effect on wages for unskilled labor. Moreover, our results suggest that the firm size–wage premiums for skilled workers are larger than those for unskilled workers. The wage gap between the two skill groups is also sensitive to size categories.     

Wage structure effects of international trade in a small open economy: the case of Belgium

This paper investigates the impact of international trade on wage dispersion in a small open economy, Belgium. It is one of the few to: (i) use detailed, matched employer-employee data to compute industry wage premia and disaggregated industry-level panel data to examine the impact of changes in international trade on changes in wage differentials, (ii) simultaneously analyse both imports and exports, and (iii) examine the impact of imports according to the country of origin. Looking at the export side, we find (on the basis of the system generalized method of moments estimator) a positive effect of exports on industry wage premia. The results also show that import penetration has a significant and negative impact on industry wage differentials. However, the detrimental effect of imports on wages is found to be significantly greater when imports originate from low- and middle-income countries than from high-income countries.     

全球生产网络、贸易结构与工资差距：来自中国的证据

论文通过建立全球生产网络的中间投入品模型,实证分析中间品贸易对一国技术劳动力和非技术劳动力工资差异的影响。研究发现：加工贸易是中国融入全球生产网络的典型形态;其出口会扩大对技术和非技术劳动力的需求。但技术劳动力的工资上涨幅度要高于非技术劳动力的工资涨幅,从而使相对工资差距扩大。短期内,中间品的进口减少了技术劳动力的需求和就业,但长期来看中间品进口会扩大对技术劳动力的需求,相对工资差距拉大。人力资本投资的供给增长由于未能满足劳动力市场的需求,从而在一定程度上表现为工资差距拉大;但长期来看,人力资本积累机制的完善使得相对工资差距会逐渐缓和。     

Re-examination of wage, employment, and hours adjustments: what is crucial for differences in the adjustments?

Manufacturing wage, employment, and hours adjustments are significantly different among developed countries, typically between Japan and the US. The problem of explaining the differences is closely related to that of what effect the extent of wage flexibility has on labor market adjustments. However, prevailing theories are invalid or incomplete for explaining the differences. The differences in the adjustments cannot be unrelated with institutional features of the labor market. Indeed, the extent of wage flexibility depends on the differences in the institutional features. Using a new model with such an idea, this paper theoretically re-examines the cause of the differences in the adjustments. The crucial causes are the characteristics of wage flexibility as well as the differences of the institutional features. The characteristics are that wage adjustment is discontinuous, infrequent, and has a lower limit in comparison with changes in demand.