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The wage curve before and during the Greek economic crisis

Author

Listed:
  • Joan Daouli

    (University of Patras)

  • Michael Demoussis

    (University of Patras)

  • Nicholas Giannakopoulos

    (University of Patras)

  • Ioannis Laliotis

    (University of Surrey)

Abstract

Using cross-sectional data from the Labour Force Survey, we investigate whether a wage curve, i.e. a negative relationship between real wages and regional unemployment, could be estimated in the Greek labour market and in the period 1999–2014. Adopting individual static and regional dynamic specifications, our results do not support the existence of such a relationship despite the extensive macroeconomic adjustment of real wages after 2009. However, allowing for period-specific heterogeneous slopes, we find that a negative relationship between wages and regional unemployment emerged in the period 2010Q2–2011Q4 which however was short-lived. This relationship appears to be exclusively due to the restructuring of the collective bargaining regime and the reduction in the national minimum wages, both of which were implemented in the private sector.

Suggested Citation

  • Joan Daouli & Michael Demoussis & Nicholas Giannakopoulos & Ioannis Laliotis, 2017. "The wage curve before and during the Greek economic crisis," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 52(1), pages 59-77, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:empeco:v:52:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1007_s00181-016-1073-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s00181-016-1073-9
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    Cited by:

    1. Georgios Gatopoulos & Alexandros Louka & Ioannis Polycarpou & Nikolaos Vettas, 2021. "Evaluating the Impact of Labour Market Reforms in Greece during 2010-2018," GreeSE – Hellenic Observatory Papers on Greece and Southeast Europe 156, Hellenic Observatory, LSE.
    2. Effrosyni Adamopoulou & Ernesto Villanueva, 2020. "Wage determination and the bite of collective contracts in Italy and Spain: evidence from the metal working industry," Working Papers 2036, Banco de España.
    3. Vassilis Monastiriotis & Angelo Martelli, 2021. "Crisis, Adjustment and Resilience in the Greek Labor Market: An Unemployment Decomposition Approach," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 44(1), pages 85-112, January.
    4. Michael Chletsos & Stelios Roupakias, 2020. "Education and wage inequality before and during the fiscal crisis: A quantile regression analysis for Greece 2006–2016," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(4), pages 1333-1364, November.
    5. Mark J. Holmes & Jesús Otero, 2022. "The wage curve within and across regions: new insights from a pairwise view of US states," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 62(5), pages 2069-2089, May.
    6. Rolando Gonzales Martinez, 2018. "The Wage Curve, Once More with Feeling: Bayesian Model Averaging of Heckit Models," Econometric Research in Finance, SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Collegium of Economic Analysis, vol. 3(2), pages 79-92, December.
    7. Adamopoulou, Effrosyni & Villanueva, Ernesto, 2022. "Wage determination and the bite of collective contracts in Italy and Spain," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    8. Juho Jokinen, 2020. "The wage curve and local monopsony power," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 64(1), pages 159-183, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Wage curve; Regional unemployment; Reforms; Crisis; Greece;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J60 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - General

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