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Till labor cost do us part

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  • Francesca Pancotto
  • Filippo Pericoli

Abstract

A sustainable long-run pattern in the relative competitiveness of Euro area countries is a key factor for the survival of the monetary union. We analyse the issue focussing on unit labour cost dynamics using cointegration analysis for the whole economy and for the manufacturing sector separately. Our findings show that the introduction of the Euro has increased, rather than decreased, the distance among member countries, as measured in the metric of unit labour costs. Dispersion of productivity rather than wage compensation suggests that persisting idiosyncratic dynamics are driven by real factors, i.e. diverging technological patterns rather than by monetary factors, expressed by wage compensation. Copyright Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Francesca Pancotto & Filippo Pericoli, 2014. "Till labor cost do us part," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 11(3), pages 371-395, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:iecepo:v:11:y:2014:i:3:p:371-395
    DOI: 10.1007/s10368-013-0258-3
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    Cited by:

    1. Carlos A. Ibarra, 2016. "Investment, asset market, and the relative unit labor cost in Mexico," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 49(4), pages 339-364, November.
    2. Javier Ordóñez & Hector Sala & José Silva, 2015. "Real unit labour costs in Eurozone countries: drivers and clusters," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-19, December.
    3. Eder, Andreas & Koller, Wolfgang & Mahlberg, Bernhard, 2019. "Price Competitiveness in the European Monetary Union: A Decomposition of Inflation Differentials based on the Leontief Input-Output Price Model for the Period 2000 to 2014," MPRA Paper 95158, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Unit labor costs; Convergence; Competitiveness; Manufacturing sector; Cointegration; E31; O47; C32;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence
    • C32 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Time-Series Models; Dynamic Quantile Regressions; Dynamic Treatment Effect Models; Diffusion Processes; State Space Models

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