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Wage setting and wage flexibility in Ireland - Results from a firm-level survey

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Listed:
  • Lawless, Martina
  • Keeney, Mary

Abstract

This paper investigates the wage-setting behaviour of Irish firms. We place particular emphasis on the use of flexible pay components and examine how these allow firms to deal with shocks requiring a reduction in costs without having to cut base wages. The results presented in this paper are based on a survey of Irish firms undertaken as part of the Wage Dynamics Network (WDN), which is a Euro-system research network. Our main findings are that almost two-thirds of firms applied at least some elements of the national wage agreement in place at the time of the survey (Towards 2016). Wage cuts or freezes were reported by a very small percentage of firms but changes in bonuses and other flexible pay components were relatively common if the firm needed to reduce labour costs. When asked about the relevance of different explanations for avoiding cuts in base wages, worker morale and loss of experienced workers were the main concerns. Regulatory or collective bargaining obstacles to wage cuts were the lowest ranked. JEL Classification: J3, E24, J4

Suggested Citation

  • Lawless, Martina & Keeney, Mary, 2010. "Wage setting and wage flexibility in Ireland - Results from a firm-level survey," Working Paper Series 1181, European Central Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20101181
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    File URL: https://www.ecb.europa.eu//pub/pdf/scpwps/ecbwp1181.pdf
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Daragh Clancy & Rossana Merola, 2016. "ÉIRE Mod: A DSGE Model for Ireland," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 47(1), pages 1-31.
    2. Thomas Turner & Michelle O’Sullivan, 2013. "Economic Crisis and the Restructuring of Wage Setting Mechanisms for Vulnerable Workers in Ireland," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 44(2), pages 197-219.
    3. Bergin, Adele & Kelly, Elish & McGuinness, Seamus, 2012. "Explaining Changes in Earnings and Labour Costs During the Recession," Papers EC9, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    4. O'Brien, Derry & Scally, John, 2012. "Cost Competitiveness and Export Performance of the Irish Economy," Quarterly Bulletin Articles, Central Bank of Ireland, pages 86-102, July.
    5. Linehan, Suzanne & Lydon, Reamonn & Scally, John, 2015. "Labour Cost Adjustment during the Crisis: Firm-level Evidence," Quarterly Bulletin Articles, Central Bank of Ireland, pages 73-92, July.
    6. Marianna Cervena, 2012. "Labor Cost Adjustment: Evidence From a Survey of Slovak Firms," Working and Discussion Papers WP 4/2012, Research Department, National Bank of Slovakia.
    7. Clancy, Daragh & Merola, Rossana, 2014. "The effect of macroprudential policy on endogenous credit cycles," Research Technical Papers 15/RT/14, Central Bank of Ireland.
    8. M. Ali Choudhary & Saima Mahmood & Gylfi Zoega, 2015. "Informal Labour Markets in Pakistan," BCAM Working Papers 1504, Birkbeck Centre for Applied Macroeconomics.
    9. M. Ali Choudhary & Saima Mahmood & Sajawal Khan & Waqas Ahmed & Gylfi Zoega, 2013. "Sticky Wages in a Developing Country: Lessons from Structured Interviews in Pakistan," School of Economics Discussion Papers 0213, School of Economics, University of Surrey.
    10. O'Brien, Derry & Weymes, Laura, 2010. "The Impact of Oil Prices on Irish Inflation," Quarterly Bulletin Articles, Central Bank of Ireland, pages 66-82, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Ireland; survey; Wage Negotiations;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J3 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J4 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets

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