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Rethinking wage policy in the face of the Euro crisis: Implications of the wage-led demand regime

Author

Listed:
  • Onaran, Ozlem

    (University of Westminster, UK)

  • Stockhammer, Engelbert

    (Kingston University London)

Abstract

Ten years after its introduction, the Euro is in an existential crisis. The crisis is the outcome of economic policies that have aimed at labour market flexibility and financial integration. The paper argues, firstly, that the aggregate demand regime in the Euro area is wage led. While an increase in wages (other things equal) does have a negative effect on investment and on net exports, it does have a positive effect on consumption. As the Euro area is a relatively closed economy the consumption effect overpowers the investment effect and the export effect. Secondly, we argue that in the Euro area two growth models have emerged: a credit-led and an export-led model. These have given rise to the imbalances that are at the heart of the Euro crisis. Wage flexibility has proven insufficient to prevent these imbalances. Thirdly, we advocate a system of coordinated wage bargaining that aims at wages rising in line with productivity growth and a substantially upward-revised inflation target. If the project of European economic integration is to survive, it needs a drastic change in direction. An important building block of this redirection is a rethinking of the role of wage policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Onaran, Ozlem & Stockhammer, Engelbert, 2011. "Rethinking wage policy in the face of the Euro crisis: Implications of the wage-led demand regime," Economics Discussion Papers 2011-2, School of Economics, Kingston University London.
    • Handle: RePEc:ris:kngedp:2011_002
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Engelbert Stockhammer & Stefan Ederer, 2008. "Demand effects of the falling wage share in Austria," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 35(5), pages 481-502, December.
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Euro crisis; European integration; wage policy; Keynesian economics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E12 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Keynes; Keynesian; Post-Keynesian; Modern Monetary Theory
    • E20 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • E42 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Monetary Sytsems; Standards; Regimes; Government and the Monetary System
    • E61 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Policy Objectives; Policy Designs and Consistency; Policy Coordination

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