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Downward Wage Rigidities and Recession Dynamics in Advanced and Emerging Economies

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Abstract

Downward wage rigidity limits the downward adjustment of wages, especially during recessions. Although macroeconomic models generally suggest that wage rigidity exacerbates employment losses and generates asymmetric business cycles, direct empirical evidence is scarce. In this paper, we construct a data set covering 53 countries, including both emerging markets and advanced economies, to measure and compare downward real wage rigidities across countries. We find that wage rigidities are widespread, but overall higher in emerging markets. We provide empirical evidence that countries with higher downward wage rigidities are subject to more sizable contractions in employment and real GDP per capita during recessions. Finally, we show that our downward wage rigidity measure is closely related to minimum wage growth and de jure labor-market rigidity measures but has very different effects from labor unions on employment during recessions.

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  • Johannes Matschke & Jun Nie, 2022. "Downward Wage Rigidities and Recession Dynamics in Advanced and Emerging Economies," Research Working Paper RWP 22-10, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedkrw:94763
    DOI: 10.18651/RWP2022-10
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Wages; Recession; Unemployment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F41 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Open Economy Macroeconomics
    • E23 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Production
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J50 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - General

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