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Downward Nominal Wage Rigidity: Unions’ Merit Or Firms’ Foresight?

Author

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  • Alexander V. Larin

    (National Research University Higher School of Economics)

Abstract

This paper investigates the sources of the downward nominal wage rigidity in Russia. The empirical analysis is based on the RLMS-HSE household survey from 2004 to 2013. We show that, in spite of weak labor unions in Russia, the extent of downward nominal wage rigidity is high. Moreover, the probability of a wage freeze is decreasing in firm size and is lower for industries with industry-level tarif agreements. Our ndings present empirical evidence that the main source of the downward nominal wage rigidity is not the labor unions, but firms' voluntary decision to prevent wage cuts, which may cause quits of valuable employees and/or a decrease in their efforts

Suggested Citation

  • Alexander V. Larin, 2014. "Downward Nominal Wage Rigidity: Unions’ Merit Or Firms’ Foresight?," HSE Working papers WP BRP 86/EC/2014, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hig:wpaper:86/ec/2014
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Downward nominal wage rigidity; RLMS-HSE;

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J51 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects

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