Real Wage Growth, Technical Change and Competition in the Labor Market

1985 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 640 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek Leslie
ILR Review ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry Krashinsky

Less-educated workers exhibited negative real wage growth from the late 1970s to the early 1990s. Frequently cited to explain this pattern are such labor market trends as union decline and the falling real value of the minimum wage, but also of concern is the possible contribution of decreased demand, caused by factors such as skill-biased technological change. To investigate the relative importance of these determinants, the author, using CPS data, compares the experiences of wage-and-salary workers with those of the self-employed. Wages apparently declined little for less-educated self-employed workers, but greatly for similar wage-and-salary workers. Because self-employed workers are affected by the same demand shocks as wage-and-salary workers but are not subject to labor market institutions such as the minimum wage or labor unions, the author concludes that the main source of the observed negative real wage growth was the decline of labor market institutions, not skill-biased technological change.


2017 ◽  
Vol 65 (02) ◽  
pp. 485-506
Author(s):  
LI-HSUAN HUANG ◽  
HSIN-YI HUANG

This study examines how and why the gap between economic growth and real wage growth in Taiwan is widening, a phenomenon that contrasts sharply with South Korea, which has a similar industrial structure to that of Taiwan. We empirically demonstrate that, despite the continued growth of labor productivity, the benefits from economic growth allocated to workers have been falling, and that this process has accelerated following the 2008–2009 financial crisis. The labor market institutional effect contributed partially to the problem. Workers’ purchasing power, measured by the real consumption wage rate, has been declining for a relatively long period, implying significant deterioration of terms-of-trade, and cutting real wage growth by as much as 2.23% per year. The terms-of-trade effect is particularly prominent in the manufacturing sector, which is highly export-oriented. Moreover, we found cash wages to be very sensitive to the rise in the rate of unemployment, and to the changes in output performance of the industry in which the workers are employed. The latter factor significantly reduced the cash wages paid to workers in the manufacturing sector, which highlighted the waning of workers’ bargaining power regarding wages, as well as the negative impact of globalization on the labor market. We therefore conclude that the deterioration of terms-of-trade, increases in the aggregate unemployment rate, the adverse globalization effect and the institutional effect might be the main driving forces for real wage stagnancy in Taiwan.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-96
Author(s):  
Andriana Bellou ◽  
Bariş Kaymak

We study the empirical relevance of implicit insurance contracts for wage setting while accounting for cyclical fluctuations in average job quality. Using proxy measures, we find the latter to be acyclical, if not countercyclical, due to the cleansing effects of layoffs during recessions versus quits during expansions. Then, we study the cyclical behavior of wage growth among job stayers to test for contracts, circumventing differences in job quality altogether. Both methods strongly corroborate the prevalence of wage contracts in the labor market and imply a highly procyclical price for labor. (JEL E24, E32, J31, J41, J63)


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Battisti ◽  
Massimo Del Gatto ◽  
Christopher Parmeter

Challenge ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 57-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Sum ◽  
Paulo Tobar ◽  
Joseph McLaughlin ◽  
Sheila Palma

ILR Review ◽  
1981 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 620-621
Author(s):  
Robert L. Aronson

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document