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Labour shares, employment protection and unions in European economies

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  • Damiani, Mirella
  • Pompei, Fabrizio
  • Andrea, Ricci

Abstract

We analyse the role that the liberalization of temporary contracts plays in labour share in some EU countries. The empirical analysis mainly relies on the EUKLEMS database and applies a difference-in-difference approach. Our results, focused on periods of different length (1996–2007 and 1996–2013), show that legislative innovations that favour the extensive use of temporary contracts negatively affect the labour share, likely because they lower employees’ average compensations. We hypothesize that these labour reforms, which lead to enduring skill deficits, thus failing to halt the erosion of the labour share of previous decades.

Suggested Citation

  • Damiani, Mirella & Pompei, Fabrizio & Andrea, Ricci, 2018. "Labour shares, employment protection and unions in European economies," MPRA Paper 91300, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:91300
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    Cited by:

    1. Valeria Cirillo & Andrea Ricci, 2022. "Heterogeneity matters: temporary employment, productivity and wages in Italian firms," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 39(2), pages 567-593, July.
    2. Ramskogler, Paul, 2021. "Labour market hierarchies and the macro-economy – Do labour market dualities affect wage growth in Europe?," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 154-165.
    3. Kyoji Fukao & Cristiano Perugini, 2021. "The Long‐Run Dynamics of the Labor Share in Japan," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 67(2), pages 445-480, June.
    4. Guschanski, Alexander & Onaran, Özlem, 2021. "The effect of global value chain participation on the labour share – Industry level evidence from emerging economies," Greenwich Papers in Political Economy 31973, University of Greenwich, Greenwich Political Economy Research Centre.
    5. Francesco Bloise & Irene Brunetti & Valeria Cirillo, 2022. "Firm strategies and distributional dynamics: labour share in Italian medium-large firms," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 39(2), pages 623-655, July.
    6. Alexander Guschanski & Özlem Onaran, 2023. "Global Value Chain Participation and the Labour Share: Industry‐level Evidence from Emerging Economies," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 54(1), pages 31-63, January.
    7. Weisstanner, David, 2019. "Insiders under pressure: Flexible employment and wage inequality," INET Oxford Working Papers 2019-06, Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    factor income distribution; labour regulation;

    JEL classification:

    • E25 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Aggregate Factor Income Distribution
    • J50 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - General

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