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Wage Rigidities in Western Germany? Microeconometric Evidence from the 1990s

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  • Patrick A. Puhani

    (SIAW, University of Sankt Gallen)

Abstract

This paper investigates whether and in what sense the west German wage structure has been 'rigid' in the 1990s. To test the hypothesis that a rigid wage structure has been responsible for rising low-skilled unemployment, I propose a methodology which makes less restrictive identifying assumptions than some previous related work. I find that the relative stability of educational wage premia was justified by market forces. However, relative wages did not respond to negative net demand shocks for young workers, as well as white-collar workers.

Suggested Citation

  • Patrick A. Puhani, 2002. "Wage Rigidities in Western Germany? Microeconometric Evidence from the 1990s," 10th International Conference on Panel Data, Berlin, July 5-6, 2002 D3-3, International Conferences on Panel Data.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpd:pd2002:d3-3
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Puhani, Patrick A., 2003. "A Test of the 'Krugman Hypothesis' for the United States, Britain, and Western Germany," ZEW Discussion Papers 03-18, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    2. Patrick Puhani, 2002. "A Note on Changes in the Wage and Unemployment Structures in Spain: Evidence from the Luxembourg Income Study," LIS Working papers 328, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    3. Patrick A. Puhani, 2002. "The Rise and Fall of Swiss Unemployment - Relative Demand Shocks, Wage Rigidities, and Temporary Immigrants," University of St. Gallen Department of Economics working paper series 2002 2002-29, Department of Economics, University of St. Gallen.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    wages; unemployment; rigidities; identification; Germany;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search

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