IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ecoind/v29y2008i1p64-95.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is Wages Policy on the Agenda of Trade Unions Again? Voluntary Wage Moderation in Spain

Author

Listed:
  • Jesús Ferreiro

    (Universidad del Pais Vasco)

  • Carmen Gómez

    (Universidad del Pais Vasco)

Abstract

This article analyses the Spanish experience with voluntary wage moderation, focusing on the differences between the current model of wage moderation that began in 1997 and the traditional model of wages policies and social pacts implemented between 1977 and 1986. The article stresses the importance of changes in the economic and political environment and in the attitudes of unions towards the effectiveness and suitability of wage moderation as a tool to solve micro- and macroeconomic problems, to explain the abandonment of wages policies and then their renaissance in the late 1990s.

Suggested Citation

  • Jesús Ferreiro & Carmen Gómez, 2008. "Is Wages Policy on the Agenda of Trade Unions Again? Voluntary Wage Moderation in Spain," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 29(1), pages 64-95, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecoind:v:29:y:2008:i:1:p:64-95
    DOI: 10.1177/0143831X07085140
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0143831X07085140
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0143831X07085140?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jesus Ferreiro, 2004. "Decentralized versus centralized collective bargaining: is the collective bargaining structure in Spain efficient?," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(4), pages 695-728.
    2. J. Davidson Alexander, 1989. "The Political Economy of Tax-Based Incomes Policy: Wealth Effects of Post Keynesian TIP," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(1), pages 135-146, March.
    3. Steve Ludlam & Stephen Wood & Edmund Heery & Andrew Taylor, 2003. "Politics and Employment Relations," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 41(4), pages 609-616, December.
    4. Paul Teague, 2000. "Macroeconomic Constraints, Social Learning and Pay Bargaining in Europe," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 38(3), pages 429-452, September.
    5. Kerstin Hamann & John Kelly, 2003. "The Domestic Sources of Differences in Labour Market Policies," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 41(4), pages 639-663, December.
    6. Anke Hassel, 2003. "The Politics of Social Pacts," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 41(4), pages 707-726, December.
    7. Franz Traxler, 2003. "Bargaining (De)centralization, Macroeconomic Performance and Control over the Employment Relationship," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 41(1), pages 1-27, March.
    8. Recio, Albert & Roca, Jordi, 1998. "The Spanish Socialists in Power: Thirteen Years of Economic Policy," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 14(1), pages 139-158, Spring.
    9. Jesus Ferreiro & Felipe Serrano, 2001. "The Spanish Labour Market: Reforms and consequences," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(1), pages 31-53.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jesús Ferreiro & Carmen Gómez, 2014. "Implementing a Voluntary Wage Policy: Lessons from the Irish and Spanish Wages Policies before the Crisis," Panoeconomicus, Savez ekonomista Vojvodine, Novi Sad, Serbia, vol. 61(1), pages 107-127, Februar.
    2. Amaia Altuzarra & Felipe Serrano, 2010. "Firms' Innovation Activity and Numerical Flexibility," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 63(2), pages 327-339, January.
    3. repec:ces:ifodic:v:1:y:2003:i:2:p:14567948 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Jason Heyes & Ludek Rychly (ed.), 2013. "Labour Administration in Uncertain Times," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15525.
    5. Bayo-Moriones, Alberto & Galdon-Sanchez, Jose Enrique & Martinez-de-Morentin, Sara, 2008. "What Are the Factors Behind Pay Settlements? Evidence from Spanish and British Data," IZA Discussion Papers 3401, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Eichhorst, Werner & Weishaupt, J. Timo, 2013. "Mit Neo-Korporatismus durch die Krise? Die Rolle des Sozialen Dialogs in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz," IZA Discussion Papers 7498, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Jimmy Donaghey, 2008. "Deliberation, Employment Relations and Social Partnership in the Republic of Ireland," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 29(1), pages 35-63, February.
    8. Christopher Loewald & Nic Spearman Andreas Wrgtter, 2023. "Less sacrifice from collective to competitive price coordination in the South African economy," Working Papers 11049, South African Reserve Bank.
    9. Alfonso Arpaia & Gilles Mourre, 2012. "Institutions And Performance In European Labour Markets: Taking A Fresh Look At Evidence," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(1), pages 1-41, February.
    10. Simon Sturn, 2011. "Labour market regimes and unemployment in OECD countries," IMK Working Paper 6-2011, IMK at the Hans Boeckler Foundation, Macroeconomic Policy Institute.
    11. Jorg Bibow, "undated". "Easy Money Through The Back Door: The Markets Vs. The ECB," Economics Public Policy Brief Archive ppb_65, Levy Economics Institute.
    12. Höpner, Martin & Schäfer, Armin (ed.), 2008. "Die Politische Ökonomie der europäischen Integration," Schriften aus dem Max-Planck-Institut für Gesellschaftsforschung Köln, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, volume 61, number 61.
    13. Schnabel, Claus & Zagelmeyer, Stefan & Kohaut, Susanne, 2005. "Collective bargaining structure and its determinants : an empirical analysis with British and German establishment data," IAB-Discussion Paper 200516, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    14. Franz Traxler & Bernd Brandl, 2012. "Collective Bargaining, Inter‐Sectoral Heterogeneity and Competitiveness: A Cross‐National Comparison of Macroeconomic Performance," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 50(1), pages 73-98, March.
    15. Wolfgang Pollan, 2004. "Pattern Bargaining and Wage Leadership in Austria," Austrian Economic Quarterly, WIFO, vol. 9(2), pages 88-101, June.
    16. Eichhorst, Werner & Konle-Seidl, Regina, 2005. "The Interaction of Labor Market Regulation and Labor Market Policies in Welfare State Reform," IZA Discussion Papers 1718, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Berthold, Norbert & Gründler, Klaus, 2011. "Nation size and unemployment," Discussion Paper Series 116, Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg, Chair of Economic Order and Social Policy.
    18. Damian Grimshaw & Mat Johnson & Stefania Marino & Jill Rubery, 2017. "Towards more disorganised decentralisation? Collective bargaining in the public sector under pay restraint," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 22-41, January.
    19. Sofía Pérez de Guzmán & Beltrán Roca & Iban Diaz-Parra, 2016. "Political exchange, crisis of representation and trade union strategies in a time of austerity," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 22(4), pages 461-474, November.
    20. Paulo Marques & Dora Fonseca, 2022. "Understanding the positions taken by moderate union confederations and centre-left parties during labour market reforms in Portugal and Spain: Why the configuration of left parties and trade union con," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 28(1), pages 65-84, March.
    21. Luisanna Onnis & Patrizio Tirelli, 2010. "Challenging the popular wisdom. New estimates of the unobserved economy," Working Papers 184, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised Apr 2010.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:ecoind:v:29:y:2008:i:1:p:64-95. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.ekhist.uu.se/english.htm .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.