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On the substitutability between public and private employment

Author

Listed:
  • Gonzalo F De córdoba

    (Universidad de Málaga)

  • Javier J Pérez

    (Bank of Spain)

  • José L Torres

    (Universidad de Málaga)

Abstract

In this note we provide empirical evidence that shows that there seems to be a high degree of substitutability between public and private employment. We estimate an aggregated production function with a CES specification over labor inputs both public and private. Under the assumption that private and public workers are paid their marginal products, we obtain an equation that relates wages' ratios with employment ratios. By estimating that expression for a number of OECD countries we find that for most countries this simple model can explain strikingly well the dynamics of the observed relationship between private and public labor sectors.

Suggested Citation

  • Gonzalo F De córdoba & Javier J Pérez & José L Torres, 2012. "On the substitutability between public and private employment," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 32(3), pages 2700-2709.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-12-00329
    as

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    File URL: http://www.accessecon.com/Pubs/EB/2012/Volume32/EB-12-V32-I3-P260.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    4. Ana Lamo & Javier J. Pérez & Ludger Schuknecht, 2008. "Public and private sector wages:comovement and casuality," Economic Working Papers at Centro de Estudios Andaluces E2008/14, Centro de Estudios Andaluces.
    5. Gonzalo Fernández-de-Córdoba & Javier Pérez & José Torres, 2012. "Public and private sector wages interactions in a general equilibrium model," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 150(1), pages 309-326, January.
    6. Ardagna, Silvia, 2007. "Fiscal Policy in Unionized Labor Markets," Scholarly Articles 2580048, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    7. Ardagna, Silvia, 2007. "Fiscal policy in unionized labor markets," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 1498-1534, May.
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    9. Dimitri G. Demekas & Zenon G. Kontolemis, 2000. "Government Employment and Wages and Labour Market Performance," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 62(3), pages 391-415, July.
    10. Keith A. Bender, 1998. "The Central Government‐Private Sector Wage Differential," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(2), pages 177-220, April.
    11. Domeij, David & Ljungqvist, Lars, 2006. "Wage Structure and Public Sector Employment: Sweden versus the United States 1970-2002," SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 638, Stockholm School of Economics.
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    Cited by:

    1. Javier J. Pérez & Marie Aouriri & Maria M. Campos & Dmitrij Celov & Domenico Depalo & Evangelia Papapetrou & Jurga Pesliakaite & Roberto Ramos Magdaleno & Marta Rodríguez-Vives, 2016. "The fiscal and macroeconomic effects of government wages and employment reform," Occasional Papers 1607, Banco de España.
    2. Lamo, Ana & Pérez, Javier J. & Schuknecht, Ludger, 2013. "Are government wages interlinked with private sector wages?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 697-712.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Public wages; public employment; labor market;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J3 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs
    • J4 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets

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