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Wage-productivity gap in OECD economies

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  • Elgin, Ceyhun
  • Kuzubas, Tolga Umut

Abstract

The Walrasian theory of labor market equilibrium predicts that in the absence of any market frictions, workers earn a wage rate equal to their marginal productivity. However, this observation is not supported empirically for various economies. Based on the neoclassical tradition, the ratio of the marginal product of labor to real wages is generally defined as the Pigouvian exploitation rate. In this paper, the authors calculate this specific wage-productivity gap for the manufacturing sector in OECD economies and investigate its relation to the unemployment rate along with other variables such as government taxation, capital expansion, unionization, inflation. The authors find that the wage productivity gap gives a robust and significantly positive response to shocks to the unemployment rate and negative response to shocks to unionization.

Suggested Citation

  • Elgin, Ceyhun & Kuzubas, Tolga Umut, 2013. "Wage-productivity gap in OECD economies," Economics Discussion Papers 2013-18, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:ifwedp:201318
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    Cited by:

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    2. Chen, W.D., 2018. "Upward wage rigidity and Japan's dispatched worker system," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 152-162.
    3. Thomas Ziesemer, 2023. "Labour-augmenting technical change data for alternative elasticities of substitution: growth, slowdown, and distribution dynamics," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(4), pages 449-475, May.
    4. Gomez, Francisco & Mac-Auliffe, Raimundo & Rosselot, Santiago, 2014. "Brecha Productividad – Salario: Un Acercamiento Por Rama," Estudios Nueva Economía, Estudios Nueva Economía, vol. 3(1), pages 44-49.
    5. Jiménez Polanco, Miguel Alejandro & López Hawa, Nabil, 2017. "Explicando la brecha entre el salario real y la productividad laboral en la República Dominicana: Análisis macroeconómico y recomendaciones de políticas basadas en microsimulaciones [Explaining the," MPRA Paper 83441, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Tristan Auvray & Cédric Durand & Joel Rabinovich & Cecilia Rikap, 2021. "Corporate financialization’s conservation and transformation: from Mark I to Mark II," Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, Springer, vol. 2(3), pages 431-457, December.
    7. Luis A. Gil-Alana & Marinko Skare, 2018. "Testing the great decoupling: a long memory approach," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 45(4), pages 801-820, November.
    8. Tristan Auvray & Cédric Durand & Joel Rabinovich & Cecilia Rikap, 2020. "Financialization's conservation and transformation: from Mark I to Mark II," CEPN Working Papers hal-03079425, HAL.
    9. Ceyhun ELGİN & Tolga Umut KUZUBAŞ, 2012. "Wage-Productivity Gap in Turkish Manufacturing Sector," Iktisat Isletme ve Finans, Bilgesel Yayincilik, vol. 27(316), pages 09-31.
    10. Attar, M. Aykut, 2021. "Growth, distribution and dynamic inefficiency in Turkey: An analysis of the naïve neoclassical theory of capital," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 20-30.
    11. SJ, Balaji & Pal, Suresh, 2021. "Agricultural Productivity, Pay-Gap, and Non-Farm Development: Contribution to Structural Transformation in India," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315213, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    12. Tristan Auvray & Cédric Durand & Joel Rabinovich & Cecilia Rikap, 2020. "Financialization's conservation and transformation: from Mark I to Mark II," Working Papers hal-03079425, HAL.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    wages; marginal productivity of labor; panel-VAR; OECD economies;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search

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