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Downward wage rigidity in Europe: A new flexible parametric approach and empirical results

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  • Behr, Andreas
  • Pötter, Ulrich

Abstract

We suggest a new parametric approach to estimate the extent of downward nominal wage rigidity in ten European countries between 1994 and 2001. The data base used throughout is the User Data Base (UDB) of the European Community Household Panel (ECHP). The proposed approach is based on the very flexible generalized hyperbolic distribution which allows to model wage change distributions characterized by thick tales, skewness and leptokurtosis. Significant downward nominal wage rigidity is found in all countries under analysis, but the extent varies considerably across countries. Yearly estimates reveal increasing rigidity in Italy, Greece and Portugal, while rigidity is declining in Denmark and Belgium. The results imply that the costs of price stability differ substantially across Europe.

Suggested Citation

  • Behr, Andreas & Pötter, Ulrich, 2005. "Downward wage rigidity in Europe: A new flexible parametric approach and empirical results," Beiträge zur angewandten Wirtschaftsforschung 14, University of Münster, Center of Applied Economic Research Münster (CAWM).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:cawmbg:14
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jonas Agell & Per Lundborg, 2003. "Survey Evidence on Wage Rigidity and Unemployment: Sweden in the 1990s," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 105(1), pages 15-30, March.
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    5. Christoph Knoppik & Thomas Beissinger, 2009. "Downward nominal wage rigidity in Europe: an analysis of European micro data from the ECHP 1994–2001," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 36(2), pages 321-338, May.
    6. David Card & Dean Hyslop, 1997. "Does Inflation "Grease the Wheels of the Labor Market"?," NBER Chapters, in: Reducing Inflation: Motivation and Strategy, pages 71-122, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. repec:bla:econom:v:70:y:2003:i:280:p:619-638 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Bauer, Christian, 2000. "Value at risk using hyperbolic distributions," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 52(5), pages 455-467.
    9. Smith, Jennifer C, 2000. "Nominal Wage Rigidity in the United Kingdom," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 110(462), pages 176-195, March.
    10. Ole Eiler Barndorff‐Nielsen & Robert Stelzer, 2005. "Absolute Moments of Generalized Hyperbolic Distributions and Approximate Scaling of Normal Inverse Gaussian Lévy Processes," Scandinavian Journal of Statistics, Danish Society for Theoretical Statistics;Finnish Statistical Society;Norwegian Statistical Association;Swedish Statistical Association, vol. 32(4), pages 617-637, December.
    11. Franco Peracchi, 2002. "The European Community Household Panel: A review," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 63-90.
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    Cited by:

    1. Barno Blaes, 2008. "Ausmaß und reale Konsequenzen nach unten starrer Nominallöhne," Working Papers 048, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General
    • C51 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Model Construction and Estimation

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