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Wages and Employment Growth: Disaggregated Evidence for West Germany

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  • Jens Suedekum
  • Uwe Blien

Abstract

We address the effects of wages on employment growth on the basis of a theoretical model from which cost and demand effects can be derived. In the empirical analysis we take a highly disaggregated perspective and apply a newly developed shift-share regression technique on an exhaustive and very accurate data set for West Germany. The regression shows that the impact of regional wages on employment growth is significantly negative. There is some variation of this effect across sectors, but in no case we find support for the claim that an exogenous wage increase leads to higher employment growth. Keywords: Employment Growth, Shift-Share-Analysis, Regional Wages, Purchasing Power Argument. JEL- Classification: J23, E24, R11

Suggested Citation

  • Jens Suedekum & Uwe Blien, 2004. "Wages and Employment Growth: Disaggregated Evidence for West Germany," ERSA conference papers ersa04p641, European Regional Science Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa04p641
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    Cited by:

    1. Hans-Friedrich Eckey & Reinhold Kosfeld & Matthias Türck, 2007. "Regional Convergence in Germany: a Geographically Weighted Regression Approach," Spatial Economic Analysis, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(1), pages 45-64.
    2. Friso Schlitte, 2012. "Local human capital, segregation by skill, and skill‐specific employment growth," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 91(1), pages 85-106, March.
    3. Jens Suedekum, 2006. "Concentration and Specialization Trends in Germany since Re-unification," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(8), pages 861-873.
    4. Döhrn, Roland & Barabas, György & Gebhardt, Heinz & Kitlinski, Tobias & Micheli, Martin & Vosen, Simeon & Zwick, Lina, 2013. "Die wirtschaftliche Entwicklung im Inland: Aufschwung setzt sich fort," RWI Konjunkturberichte, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, vol. 64(1), pages 41-99.
    5. Ulrich Zierahn, 2012. "The importance of spatial autocorrelation for regional employment growth in Germany," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 32(1), pages 19-43, March.
    6. Blien, Uwe & Suedekum, Jens & Wolf, Katja, 2006. "Local employment growth in West Germany: A dynamic panel approach," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 445-458, August.
    7. Rau, Matthias & Werner, Daniel, 2005. "Vergleichende Analyse von Länderarbeitsmärkten : Länderstudie Baden-Württemberg," IAB-Regional. Berichte und Analysen aus dem Regionalen Forschungsnetz. IAB Baden-Württemberg 200501, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    8. Jens Suedekum & Uwe Blien & Johannes Ludsteck, 2006. "What has caused regional employment growth differences in Eastern Germany?," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 26(1), pages 51-73, March.
    9. Vasilescu, Denisa Maria & Aparaschivei, Larisa & Roman, Mihai Daniel, 2012. "Employment in Romania: evidence from a panel data analysis," MPRA Paper 38388, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    Keywords

    employment growth; shift-share-analysis; regional wages; purchasing power argument. jel- classification: j23; e24; r11;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes

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