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The Relation between Productivity and Compensation in Europe

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  • Paolo Pasimeni

Abstract

One of the classical problems of political economy has been to understand the relation between labour compensation and labour productivity; in more recent years, then, wage growth has become a key concern for the conduct of monetary policy by major central banks. This paper studies to what extent increases in productivity translate into increases in compensations. While previous studies had investigated this relation in the case of the US, this work enlarges the scope of the analysis to a set of 34 advanced economies over the past half century. The results show on average a significant link between growth in productivity and growth in compensation, however there is no one-to-one relation, there is instead a significant gap. Cyclical conditions as well as labour market structures greatly affect this relation. These findings imply that policies aiming at increasing productivity are a necessary but not sufficient condition to achieve also appropriate pay growth, because other factors intervene to weaken the link between the two. Although this topic has gained more prominence in the US, the analysis shows that these findings apply to the EU and to other advanced economies as well. Finally, to the extent that the gap between productivity and compensation affects aggregate demand, understanding it is crucial for the conduct of macroeconomic policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Paolo Pasimeni, 2018. "The Relation between Productivity and Compensation in Europe," European Economy - Discussion Papers 079, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
  • Handle: RePEc:euf:dispap:079
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Feldstein, Martin, 2008. "Did wages reflect growth in productivity?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 591-594.
    2. Richard B. Freeman & Lawrence F. Katz, 1995. "Differences and Changes in Wage Structures," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number free95-1.
    3. Anna M. Stansbury & Lawrence H. Summers, 2017. "Productivity and Pay: Is the link broken?," NBER Working Papers 24165, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Freeman, Richard B. & Katz, Lawrence F. (ed.), 1995. "Differences and Changes in Wage Structures," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226261607, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Francesco De Palma & KSamuel Ligonnière & Jamel Saadaoui & Yann Thommen, 2022. "The Role of Wage Bargaining Institutions in the Phillips curve Flattening," Working Papers REM 2022/0236, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, REM, Universidade de Lisboa.
    2. Walter Paternesi Meloni & Antonella Stirati, 2023. "The decoupling between labour compensation and productivity in high‐income countries: Why is the nexus broken?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 61(2), pages 425-463, June.
    3. Sania Zafar & Danish Ahmed Siddiqui, 2019. "Factors Affecting Employees Performance and Retention: A Comparative Analysis of Banking and Educational Sector of Karachi," Business Management and Strategy, Macrothink Institute, vol. 10(1), pages 93-124, December.
    4. Fofack, Achille & Temkeng, Serge, 2021. "A cross-sectoral analysis of the relation between labor productivity and labor compensation in the European Union," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 62, pages 54-65.
    5. Walter Paternesi Meloni & Antonella Stirati, 2021. "What has driven the delinking of wages from productivity? A political economy-based investigation for high-income economies," Working Papers PKWP2104, Post Keynesian Economics Society (PKES).
    6. Ignacio ÁLVAREZ & Maarten KEUNE & Jesús CRUCES & Jorge UXÓ, 2021. "Missing links in the inclusive growth debate: Functional income distribution and labour market institutions," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 160(3), pages 337-362, September.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D3 - Microeconomics - - Distribution
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • E25 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Aggregate Factor Income Distribution
    • J3 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs

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