Browsing by Subject "Lohntheorie"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4

Fairness considerations in labor union wage setting : a theoretical analysis
(2012) Strifler, Matthias; Beißinger, Thomas
We consider a theoretical model in which unions not only take the outside option into account, but also base their wage-setting decisions on an internal reference, called the fairness reference. Wage and employment outcomes and the shape of the aggregate wagesetting curve depend on the weight and the size of the fairness reference relative to the outside option. If the fairness reference is relatively high compared to the outside option, higher wages and lower employment than in the standard model will prevail. If hit by an adverse technology shock, the economy will then react with a stronger downward adjustment in employment, whereas real wages are more rigid than in the standard model. With a low fairness reference the opposite results are obtained. An increase in the fairness weight amplifies the deviations of wages and employment from those of the standard model. It also leads to an increase in the degree of real wage rigidity if the fairness reference is high and an increase in the degree of real wage flexibility if the fairness reference is low. Thus, higher wages go hand in hand with more pronounced wage stickiness.
Perspectives of workers with low qualifications in Germany under the pressures of globalization and technical progress
(2007) Rukwid, Ralf; Hagemann, Harald
This paper gives a detailed analysis of the perspectives of workers with low qualifications in Germany under the twofold pressures of globalization and technological change. First, alternative explanations for the skill-bias in the development of labour demand are discussed, with particular emphasis on the ?trade versus technology? debate. The consequences of the demand shift away from low-skilled labour in Germany are examined in a detailed empirical analysis of the development of (un)employment problems differentiated for qualification groups. Compared to other advanced economies, Germany shows a higher unemployment rate among less-qualified workers which is generally associated with a lack of flexibility in the German wage structure. However, an analysis of German, U.S. and British wage data based on the Cross National Equivalent File (CNEF) does not confirm the assumption of a simple monocausal relationship between wage disparity and the intensity of group-specific unemployment. Finally, some political approaches for an improvement of the job prospects of less-qualified persons in Germany are outlined briefly and evaluated against the background of the empirical results.
Price stability versus full employment : the Phillips curve dilemma reconsidered
(2016) Schwarzer, Johannes A.; Hagemann, Harald
This dissertation focuses on different interpretations of the Phillips curve particularly from the end of the 1950s to the beginning of the 1970s. In the 1950s and 1960s the Phillips curve was mainly perceived as a “cruel dilemma”. From this perspective the curve seemed to imply that price stability and full employment (and to some extent also economic growth) are mutually conflicting policy objectives. Furthermore, the curve was usually regarded as describing disequilibrium phenomena, that is, excess demand or supply on the labour market causing a price reaction. On the other hand, particularly since the late 1960s, the Phillips curve became more and more embedded into an equilibrium approach, so that departures from a “natural rate of unemployment” are possible only by surprise inflation. Moreover, within this view, price stability and full employment are assumed to be compatible policy goals. These two different lines of thought are presented in three already published peer-reviewed journal articles which are reproduced in the first half of this Ph.D. thesis. The underlying reasons for these different views are then discussed in the remainder of the dissertation. It is shown that both lines of thought built on very different assumptions regarding the causes of inflation and the specific kind of unemployment prevailing in the economy. The discussion is then related to current economic models (such as the New Keynesian approach) which also point at a possible conflict between price stability and full employment.
Real wage cyclicality of newly hired workers
(2013) Stüber, Heiko
Several recent marcoeconomic models rely on rigid wages. Especially wage rigidity of newly hired workers seems to play a crucial role, since the decision of opening a vacancy or not is mainly influenced by their real wages. However, so far little empirical evidence exists on how real wages of newly hired workers react to business cycle conditions. This paper aims at filling this gap for a large economy, namely Germany, by analyzing the cyclical behavior or real wages of newly hired workers while controlling for "cyclical up- and downgrading" in employer/employee matches. For the analysis two endogenous variables are used: either the "typical" (e.g. modal) real wages paid to entrants into particular jobs of particular firms or entrants' individual real wages. The results show that entry-wages are not rigid, but considerably respond to business cycle conditions. This finding strengthens Pissarides' (2009) dismissal of theories based on cyclically rigid hiring wages. Furthermore, I show that the procyclicality of the employment / population ratio is (nearly) identical to the procyclicality of real entry-wages.