INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS OF INTER-INDUSTRY WAGE DIFFERENTIALS

We use OECD data to examine inter-industry wage differentials (relative wages among industries) for 14 OECD countries over the period 1970–85. We find, first, that the industrial wage structures have shown remarkable stability over time in terms of rank order for all the countries in the sample. Second, despite their rank order stability, wage structures show a tendency to expand or contract. While the U.S. has shown increasing industry wage dispersion between 1970 and 1985, the pattern is very mixed for other countries. Unionization is a significant factor in explaining cross-country differences. Third, industry wage rankings show some evidence of becoming increasingly similar across nations over time, and this movement is associated with a convergence of per capita incomes. Fourth, industry wage differentials are positively related to an industry's productivity growth, output growth, capital intensity, and export orientation.     

Wage differentials across sectors in Europe

Using a unique harmonized linked employer–employee dataset, this paper analyses the structure and determinants of inter‐industry wage differentials in Central and Eastern European countries (Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland) and compares them to those observed in Western European states. Findings show substantial differences in earnings across sectors in all countries, even when controlling for a wide range of employee, job and employer characteristics. The hierarchy of sectors in terms of wages appears to be quite similar in Eastern and Western European countries, although the former tend to have higher levels of dispersion of inter‐industry wage differentials.     

个人特征还是行业特征——吉林省行业工资差异的成因研究

基于统计年鉴宏观数据和吉林省劳动力市场状况调查微观数据,采用两步骤回归模型分析吉林省行业间工资差异的成因。结果发现,个人特征对吉林省行业工资回报具有正向作用;行政垄断等行业特征变量对吉林省行业工资差距同样产生正向影响。可见,个人特征和行业特征都是行业间工资差异形成的原因,相比之下,行业特征因素更为显著。因此,政府在调控现阶段行业间工资回报差异方面,更应该倾向于关注行政垄断带来的工资差异。     

The Ddeterminants of Individual Wages in Australia: Competitive and Non-Competitive Influences

This work provides a test of competitive theories of wage determination by examining the wages of identical workers across industry classifications. The finding that a set of significant industry wage differentials exists would seem to contradict a purely competitive theory of wage determination. However, the apparent presence of unmeasured human capital that is correlated with industry status does provide one potential competitive explanation for the industry wage effects. Moreover, non-competitive explanations for the differences in industry wages, such as efficiency wage theory or institutional factors, appear to be inconsistent with the nature of the wage differentials.     

A comparative analysis of inter-industry wage differentials: industrialized versus developing countries

This study aims to compare the available evidence on inter-industry wage structure for industrialized and developing countries and to find whether the industry wage differentials are consistent and stable independent of time and space. Moreover, it tries to clarify some of the determinants of industry wage differentials. International evidence supports the wage differential regularity across countries, and the factors underlying inter-industry wage differentials are found to be more or less the same for both industrialized and developing countries.     

How large are wage differentials in Austria?

The OECD has repeatedly recommended that wage bargaining in Austria be decentralised to allow wage diferentials to widen. But the status quo itself is in question. While studies of aggregate industry data indicate a high degree of wage dispersion, research based on data from household surveys seems suggest that income inequality in Austria is as small as in the Scandinavian countries. This paper seeks to reconcile these opposing views. It shows that data from the household surveys underestimate the size of inter-industry wage differentials. An analysis of the structure of contractual wage rates supports the view that wage inequality is very pronounced in Austria and that a narrowing of the wage gap would lead both to an increase in productive efficiency and an increase in income equality.     

A comparative analysis of inter-industry wage differentials: before and after the Korean financial crisis

Korean economy has changed rapidly since the 1997 Korean financial crisis. This article investigates whether the inter-industry wage differentials in the Korean manufacturing industry are consistent over time and how the inter-industry wage structure has changed after the financial crisis. We used the 1995 and 1999 survey report on the wage structure–Korea. Our empirical results provide evidences for a wider inter-industry wage differentials and changes of the wage structure. After the crisis, company size, region (live in capital), sex, tenure, education are more critical to determine wages. According to factor analysis, the job quality factor is most closely related to wages before the crisis, while the industry attributes factor does in 1999.     

The importance of worker, firm and match effects in the formation of wages

This paper estimates a Mincerian wage equation with worker, firm, and match specific effects and thereby complements the growing empirical literature started by the seminal paper of Abowd (Econometrica 67:251–333, 1999b). The analysis takes advantage of the extensive Danish IDA data which provides wage information on the entire working population in a 27-year period. We find that the major part of wage dispersion in the Danish labor market can be explained by differences in worker characteristics. However, the relative contributions of the three components vary across subgroups of workers. The match effect constitutes a non-negligible part of the overall wage dispersion. An analysis of inter-industry wage differentials shows that firm characteristics are more important at the industry level than at the worker level. Similarly, we find evidence that high-wage workers tend to sort into high-wage industries to a larger extent than they sort into high-wage firms within industries. The mobility pattern of workers is related to the quality of the firm and the match. Finally, we find that firms’ wage policies differ across subgroups.     

Wage Setting, Wage Curve and Phillips Curve: The Italian evidence

The purpose of this paper is to investigate some issues of wage setting in order to assess if nominal inertia and wage flexibility characterise the Italian supply side, using multivariate cointegration models. Our estimates indicate that an explicit distinction between stationary and non-stationary variables and a joint analysis of long-run and short-run structure is crucial for achieving clearer results. To this end, we use quarterly time series data for industry sector 1976:1–1993:4. Interesting results have been found concerning the empirical evidence of a long-run wage curve and the existence of a Phillips curve, through adopting alternative order reduction of the I(2) wage and price variables. Moreover, some insights on regional (North-South) unemployment effects are pointed out and discussed.     

Globalization and inter‐industry wage differentials in China

This paper explores the relationship between globalization and inter‐industry wage differentials in China by using a two‐stage estimation approach. Taking advantage of a rich household survey dataset, this paper estimates the wage premium for each industry in the first stage conditional on individual worker and firm characteristics. Alternative measures of globalization are considered in the second stage: trade openness and capital openness. A disaggregation of trade into trade in final and intermediate goods shows that increases in import (export) shares of final goods reduce (increase) the wage premia significantly, whereas imports or exports of intermediate goods do not explain differences in industry wage premia. This finding is supported by stronger effects for final goods trade in coastal than noncoastal regions. Our results also show a positive relationship between capital openness and industrial wage premia, though this finding is less robust when potential endogeneity issues are allowed for.     

Unions,wages and productivity: some evidence from UK engineering firms

Estimates of union wage and productivity effects are derived using primary micro-level panel data for a sample of firms in the UK engineering industry. Union wage differentials of the order of 10% are suggested from the results, whereas union productivity impacts appear to be non-linear with respect to union density.     

Manufacturing Wage Differentials and Employment in Some Scandinavian Countries, the U.S. and the U.K.: An Analysis of Variance Approach

This paper presents some empirical evidence on the factors determining changes in wage differentials between skilled and unskilled workers and in their employment. An ``analysis of variance' (ANOVA) model is estimated using UN data for five OECD countries in order to assess the relative importance of industry-specific, country-specific and international shocks (as well as interactions between industry and country effects). It is found that both international shocks and national policies affect wage differentials over the whole sample, whilst skill-biased technical change (SBTC) was a significant factor in the seventies. Employment responds mainly to international shocks, although national policies and SBTC were important determinants in the seventies and eighties respectively. Some of the results are found to be sensitive to the technology level of the industries considered.     

中国行业收入不平等问题的解析

进入新世纪以来,中国行业收入不平等有持续扩大的趋势。基于回归方程的Shap-ley分解结果表明,人力资本、所有制、资本投资、技术等因素对行业收入差距有显著影响,其中人力资本对行业收入差距的贡献约为45%,所有制的贡献在20%以上。因此在治理措施上,实施教育均等化,提高教育回报率,开放垄断行业的劳动力市场,推行劳资谈判制度可以有效缓解行业收入差距持续扩大的问题。     

Industry Wages Across Countries and Over Time: A New Database of Micro Survey Data

This paper presents a newly collected database on industry wages. The underlying data are micro datasets collected through nationally representative household surveys which are mostly conducted by national statistical agencies. In comparison with wage measures based on macroeconomic data sources, we find that industry wages based on micro survey data are more reliable. Furthermore, data from nationally representative micro surveys are becoming increasingly available, thus allowing for better coverage, especially of low‐income countries. The database provides a reliable source of data for research on inter‐industry wage structures and gender wage differentials, across countries and over time. It may also serve as a basis for further research on the determinants and implications of inter‐industry and gender wage variations.     

AN EQUILIBRIUM SEARCH MODEL WHEN FIRMS OBSERVE WORKERS' EMPLOYMENT STATUS*

This article considers an equilibrium search model, where firms post wages using information on workers' employment status. Earnings differentials between workers of different employment statuses are driven by firms' ability to discriminate workers' reservation wages. I study how these wage policies depend on firms' and workers' characteristics, and how these policies affect the wage distribution. The model delivers new predictions for the amount of wage dispersion that can be generated with search models and provides a better representation of the left tail of the wage distribution in the presence of a legal minimum wage than standard equilibrium search models.     

Generalized measures of wage differentials

This paper considers measures of wage differentials not solely determined by mean comparisons but summarizing differences across complete wage distributions. The approach builds on considerations of risk or inequality aversion and on standard expected utility concepts. In an application to the gender pay gap in Luxembourg the disadvantage of women persists according to the proposed measures: lower mean wages for women are not compensated by differences in higher moments of wage distributions (e.g., by less dispersion) at least for realistic assumptions about women preferences toward risk and inequality. The paper also illustrates an original empirical model for wage distributions in the presence of covariates and under endogenous labour market participation.     

The effect of wage dispersion on team outcome and the way team outcome is produced

The impact of intra-team pay dispersion on team productivity is a highly discussed issue. On the one hand, wage differentials provide incentives for higher employee effort. On the other hand, pay inequality may reduce team cohesiveness and increase feelings of relative deprivation leading to lower performance. Analysing nonlinear effects of wage dispersion in professional soccer, we find empirical evidence that team performance is strongest when there is either very high or very low wage inequality. Medium levels produce the weakest team performance. In addition, we show that the pay structure affects the team's playing style even after controlling for team and coach heterogeneity. We discuss the theoretical and managerial implications as well as the limits of generalization.     

DOES WAGE DISPERSION MAKE ALL FIRMS PRODUCTIVE?

This article puts the relationship between wage dispersion and firm productivity to an updated test, taking advantage of access to detailed Belgian linked employer–employee panel data. Controlling for simultaneity issues, time‐invariant workplace characteristics and dynamics in the adjustment process of productivity, empirical results reveal the existence of a positive impact from conditional intra‐firm wage dispersion to firm productivity (measured by the average value added per hour worked), which however decreases for higher dispersion levels. Findings thus suggest that the incentive effect of wage dispersion, predicted for instance by the ‘tournament’ model, dominates ‘fairness’ and/or ‘sabotage’ considerations. Further results reveal that the influence of wage dispersion on firm productivity is stronger among firms with a larger proportion of highly skilled workers but does not depend on whether wages are collectively renegotiated at the firm level.     

Viewpoint: Male‐female wage differentials: how can that be?

Abstract.  The paper outlines the main empirical procedures that are used to document the male‐female wage differential and the extent to which it reflects discrimination. It then discusses the evidence on male‐female wage differentials – their existence, the extent to which they reflect discrimination, their changes over time and the factors that influence the gap. Particular attention is paid to more recent studies that control for a wider range of conventionally unobserved factors. Theoretical perspectives are then outlined, focusing on the issue of how discriminatory wage differentials can survive given the forces of competition. The impacts of policy initiatives are also discussed.     

Permanent versus transitory wage differentials and the inequality-hours hypothesis

This paper disentangles the effect of inequality in permanent and transitory wages on hours worked by, first, estimating the two components for Swedish industries and, second, using the resulting estimates as explanatory variables in an hours-worked equation. Consistent with Bell and Freeman’s (2001) inequality-hours hypothesis, permanent wage differentials are found to have a positive effect on individuals’ hours of work while transitory wage differentials have no effect. However, the analysis also shows that, in estimated hours-worked equations, inequality in observed wages is potentially a good approximation for inequality in permanent wages.