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Asymmetric wage adjustment and employment in European firms

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  • Marotzke, Petra
  • Anderton, Robert
  • Bairrao, Ana
  • Berson, Clémence
  • Tóth, Peter

Abstract

We explore the impact of wage adjustment on employment with a focus on the role of downward nominal wage rigidities. We use a harmonised survey dataset, which covers 25 European countries in the period 2010-2013. These data are particularly useful for this paper given the firm-level information on the change in economic conditions and collective pay agreements. Our findings confirm the presence of wage rigidities in Europe: first, collective pay agreements reduce the probability of downward wage adjustment; second, the rise in the probability of downward base wage responses following a decrease in demand is significantly smaller than the rise in the probability of an upward wage response associated with an increase in demand. Estimation results point to a negative effect of downward wage rigidities on employment at the firm level. JEL Classification: J23, J30

Suggested Citation

  • Marotzke, Petra & Anderton, Robert & Bairrao, Ana & Berson, Clémence & Tóth, Peter, 2017. "Asymmetric wage adjustment and employment in European firms," Working Paper Series 2103, European Central Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20172103
    Note: 339014
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    Cited by:

    1. Mario Izquierdo & Juan Francisco Jimeno & Theodora Kosma & Ana Lamo & Stephen Millard & Tairi Rõõm & Eliana Viviano, 2017. "Labour market adjustment in Europe during the crisis: microeconomic evidence from the Wage Dynamics Network survey," Occasional Papers 1704, Banco de España.
    2. Marotzke Petra & Anderton Robert & Bairrao Ana & Berson Clémence & Tóth Peter, 2020. "Asymmetric wage adjustment and employment in European firms," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 20(2), pages 1-25, June.
    3. repec:bfr:quarte:2016:45:01 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Brand, Claus & Obstbaum, Meri & Coenen, Günter & Sondermann, David & Lydon, Reamonn & Ajevskis, Viktors & Hammermann, Felix & Angino, Siria & Hernborg, Nils & Basso, Henrique & Hertweck, Matthias & Bi, 2021. "Employment and the conduct of monetary policy in the euro area," Occasional Paper Series 275, European Central Bank.
    5. C. Devillers & K. Parra Ramirez, 2017. "French Banks confirm their fourth rank in international banking," Quarterly selection of articles - Bulletin de la Banque de France, Banque de France, issue 45, pages 31-44, Spring.
    6. Berson, C. & Malgouyres, C. & Ray, S., 2017. "Marché du travail : institutions et réformes - Synthèse de la cinquième conférence annuelle sur le marché du travail des 1er et 2 décembre 2016 organisée à Aix-en-Provence par l’École d’économie d’Aix," Bulletin de la Banque de France, Banque de France, issue 210, pages 71-78.
    7. repec:bfr:quarte:2016:45:05 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Jan Babecký & Clémence Berson & Ludmila Fadejeva & Ana Lamo & Petra Marotzke & Fernando Martins & Pawel Strzelecki, 2019. "Non-base wage components as a source of wage adaptability to shocks: evidence from European firms, 2010–2013," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 8(1), pages 1-18, December.
    9. B. Bureau & M. Bürker & T. Libert, 2017. "The financial situation of companies in France in 2015," Quarterly selection of articles - Bulletin de la Banque de France, Banque de France, issue 45, pages 53-69, Spring.
    10. W. Arrata & A. Gautier & P. Lopez & I. Rahmouni-Rousseau & M. Girotti & B. Mojon & U. Szczerbowicz & M. Vari & T. Foucault, 2017. "12th Annual Central Bank Workshop on the Microstructure of Financial Markets 29-30 September 2016, Banque de France (Non-technical summary)," Quarterly selection of articles - Bulletin de la Banque de France, Banque de France, issue 45, pages 23-30, Spring.
    11. Fernando Martins & Jan Babecký, 2018. "Flexible wage components as a source of wage adaptability to shocks:evidence from European firms, 2010–2013," Working Papers w201808, Banco de Portugal, Economics and Research Department.
    12. repec:bfr:quarte:2016:45:02 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. repec:bfr:quarte:2016:45:03 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Lehner, Lukas & Ramskogler, Paul & Riedl, Aleksandra, 2022. "Begging thy coworker – Labor market dualization and the slow-down of wage growth in Europe," INET Oxford Working Papers 2022-04, Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford.
    15. repec:bfr:quarte:2016:45:06 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. L. Ferrara & G. Gauthier & F. Pappadà, 2017. "Fiscal consolidation episodes in OECD countries: the role of tax compliance and fiscal space," Quarterly selection of articles - Bulletin de la Banque de France, Banque de France, issue 45, pages 15-22, Spring.
    17. Berson Clémence, 2020. "Shocks and wage adjustments [Chocs économiques et ajustements salariaux]," Bulletin de la Banque de France, Banque de France, issue 231.
    18. Clémence Berson & Louis de Charsonville & Pavel Diev & Violaine Faubert & Laurent Ferrara & Sophie Guilloux-Nefussi & Yannick Kalantzis & Antoine Lalliard & Julien Matheron & Matteo Mogliani, 2018. "Does the Phillips curve still exist?," Rue de la Banque, Banque de France, issue 56, february.
    19. A. Lalliard, 2017. "An alternative method for capturing tensions in the residential property market," Quarterly selection of articles - Bulletin de la Banque de France, Banque de France, issue 45, pages 5-13, Spring.
    20. repec:bfr:quarte:2016:45:04 is not listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    demand shocks; employment; wage rigidity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General

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