IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/vrs/poicbe/v18y2024i1p130-141n1002.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do Wages Follow Productivity? Evidence from European Countries

Author

Listed:
  • Kosuliev Aleksandar

    (“Angel Kanchev” University of Ruse, Ruse, Bulgaria)

Abstract

Economic theory assumes that factors are paid according to their marginal productivity, however the empirical validity of this hypothesis has been questioned in some of the literature. We use data from Eurostat to examine the changes of labour remuneration and labour productivity during the period 2004-2020 in a panel of European countries. The results from the panel regression analysis confirm that in general there is a strong link between labour productivity and the compensation of employees. However, exploratory analysis shows that the sample is characterized with internal heterogeneity. Growth is higher in Central and Eastern Europe and for some countries from the region there is decoupling of productivity and labour remuneration. The latter has seen stronger growth, with the exception of Romania, where in real terms productivity has been growing faster than wages. Possible explanations of the decoupling are catching up and convergence, integration in the world economy, factor mobility, difference in labour market institutions and excessive labour demand, but the present research is inconclusive.

Suggested Citation

  • Kosuliev Aleksandar, 2024. "Do Wages Follow Productivity? Evidence from European Countries," Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence, Sciendo, vol. 18(1), pages 130-141.
  • Handle: RePEc:vrs:poicbe:v:18:y:2024:i:1:p:130-141:n:1002
    DOI: 10.2478/picbe-2024-0011
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.2478/picbe-2024-0011
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.2478/picbe-2024-0011?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. Alan Manning, 2021. "Monopsony in Labor Markets: A Review," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 74(1), pages 3-26, January.
    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. Bas Scheer & Wiljan van den Berge & Maarten Goos & Alan Manning & Anna Salomons, 2022. "Alternative Work Arrangements and Worker Outcomes: Evidence from Payrolling," CPB Discussion Paper 435, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    2. Pérez, Jorge & Vial, Felipe & Zárate, Román, 2022. "Urban Transit Infrastructure: Spatial Mismatch and Labor Market Power," Research Department working papers 1992, CAF Development Bank Of Latinamerica.
    3. Orley Ashenfelter & David Card & Henry Farber & Michael R. Ransom, 2022. "Monopsony in the Labor Market: New Empirical Results and New Public Policies," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 57(S), pages 1-10.
    4. Martins, Pedro S. & Melo, António, 2024. "Making their own weather? Estimating employer labour-market power and its wage effects," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    5. Peter Hull & Michal Kolesár & Christopher Walters, 2022. "Labor by design: contributions of David Card, Joshua Angrist, and Guido Imbens," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 124(3), pages 603-645, July.
    6. Holt, Andrew Chase, 2024. "Monopsony power in the United States: Evidence from the great depression," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    7. Arnd Kölling, 2022. "Monopsony power and the demand for low-skilled workers," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 33(2), pages 377-395, June.
    8. Dan A. Black & Lars Skipper & Jeffrey A. Smith & Jeffrey Andrew Smith, 2023. "Firm Training," CESifo Working Paper Series 10268, CESifo.
    9. Maciej Albinowski & Piotr Lewandowski, 2022. "The heterogeneous regional effects of minimum wages in Poland," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(2), pages 237-267, April.
    10. Geloso, Vincent & Kufenko, Vadim & Arsenault-Morin, Alex P., 2023. "The lesser shades of labor coercion: The impact of seigneurial tenure in nineteenth-century Quebec," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    11. Amior, Michael & Stuhler, Jan, 2023. "Immigration, Monopsony and the Distribution of Firm Pay," IZA Discussion Papers 16692, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Brochu, Pierre & Green, David A. & Lemieux, Thomas & Townsend, James, 2023. "The Minimum Wage, Turnover, and the Shape of the Wage Distribution," IZA Discussion Papers 16514, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Fahn, Matthias & Murooka, Takeshi, 2024. "Informal Incentives and Labor Markets," IZA Discussion Papers 17042, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Gaurab Aryal & Manudeep Bhuller & Fabian Lange, 2022. "Signaling and Employer Learning with Instruments," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(5), pages 1669-1702, May.
    15. Mertens, Matthias, 2023. "Labor Market Power and Between-Firm Wage (In)Equality," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    16. Thomas Ziesemer, 2023. "Labour-augmenting technical change data for alternative elasticities of substitution: growth, slowdown, and distribution dynamics," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(4), pages 449-475, May.
    17. Erik Hurst & Patrick J. Kehoe & Elena Pastorino & Thomas Winberry, 2022. "The Distributional Impact of the Minimum Wage in the Short and Long Run," NBER Working Papers 30294, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Dobbelaere, Sabien & Hirsch, Boris & Müller, Steffen & Neuschaeffer, Georg, 2020. "Organised Labour, Labour Market Imperfections, and Employer Wage Premia," IZA Discussion Papers 13909, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Michael A. Clemens, 2021. "The Fiscal Effect of Immigration: Reducing Bias in Influential Estimates," RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 2134, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM).
    20. Jose Garcia-Louzao & Alessandro Ruggieri, 2023. "Labor Market Competition and Inequality," Bank of Lithuania Working Paper Series 117, Bank of Lithuania.

    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:vrs:poicbe:v:18:y:2024:i:1:p:130-141:n:1002. 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: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciendo.com .

    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.