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The Wage Curve in Italy and Spain. Are European Wages Flexible?

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  • P Canziani

Abstract

In this paper I address the question of whether wages are affected by current and past labor market conditions. Using microeconomic data from Italy and Spain I obtain three main results. First, the unemployment elasticity of wages is negative and significant, but much smaller than the one document in the existing literature. In particular, I show that in Italy a doubling of unemployment is associated with a drop in wages of 5.2 percent. Second, according to my results, Italian wages are significantly and negatively correlated not only with the contemporaneous unemployment, but also with unemployment at the time the worker is hired. Finally, Spanish wages are not significantly correlated with past unemployment. An important determinant of wages in Spain is the contemporaneous unemployment. In particular, I find that the unemployment elasticity of wages in Spain is equal to 10 percent. The results obtained can be interpreted in terms of wage flexibility in Europe.

Suggested Citation

  • P Canziani, 1997. "The Wage Curve in Italy and Spain. Are European Wages Flexible?," CEP Discussion Papers dp0375, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    • Handle: RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0375
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    Cited by:

    1. David G. Blanchflower & Andrew J. Oswald, 2005. "The Wage Curve Reloaded," NBER Working Papers 11338, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Ana-Isabel Guerra & Laura Varela-Candamio & Jesús López-Rodríguez, 2016. "Evaluating Macroeconomic And Distributional Impacts Of Current And Alternative Tax Reforms In Spain: An Applied General Equilibrium Approach," EcoMod2016 9322, EcoMod.
    3. Ana-Isabel Guerra & Laura Varela-Candamio & Jesús López-Rodríguez, 2022. "Tax reforms in Spain: efficiency levels and distributional patterns," Economic Systems Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(1), pages 41-68, January.
    4. Triki, Mohamed Bilel, 2019. "The Italian wage curve revisited: A local and spatial cointegration," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 55, pages 73-90.
    5. Andreas Ammermuller & Claudio Lucifora & Federica Origo & Thomas Zwick, 2010. "Wage Flexibility in Regional Labour Markets: Evidence from Italy and Germany," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(4), pages 401-421.
    6. Ipek Ilkaracan & Raziye Selim, 2002. "The Role of Unemployment in Wage Determination: Further Evidence on the Wage Curve from Turkey," SCEPA working paper series. 2002-11, Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis (SCEPA), The New School.
    7. Esteban Sanroma & Raul Ramos, 2005. "Further Evidence on Disaggregated Wage Curves: The Case of Spain," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 8(3), pages 227-243, September.
    8. Sanz de Galdeano, Anna & Turunen, Jarkko, 2005. "Real wages and local unemployment in the euro area," Working Paper Series 471, European Central Bank.
    9. Ipek Ilkkaracan & Raziye Selim, 2003. "The role of unemployment in wage determination: further evidence on the wage curve from Turkey," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(14), pages 1589-1598.
    10. Raul Ramos & Catia Nicodemo & Esteve Sanromá, 2015. "A spatial panel wage curve for Spain," Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 125-139, July.
    11. Víctor M. Montuenga‐Gómez & José M. Ramos‐Parreño, 2005. "Reconciling the Wage Curve and the Phillips Curve," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(5), pages 735-765, December.
    12. Montuenga, Victor & Garcia, Inmaculada & Fernandez, Melchor, 2003. "Wage flexibility: evidence from five EU countries based on the wage curve," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 78(2), pages 169-174, February.
    13. Inmaculada Garcia-Mainar & Victor Montuenga-Gomez, 2003. "The Spanish Wage Curve: 1994-1996," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(9), pages 929-945.

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