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This paper examines the relationship between labour market conditions and wage dynamics by exploiting a unique dataset of more than one million online job vacancies. We find a weak trade-off between aggregate wage inflation and unemployment. This link becomes more evident when the wage inflation is disaggregated at the sectoral and occupational level. The examination, using vacancy-level data, shows a negative correlation between offered wage and unemployment. The degree of wage elasticity, however, is different across regions and skill segments. Our findings suggest the importance of micro-level data's unique dimensions in examining the wage – unemployment relationship.

This paper introduces a maximum likelihood estimator of the value of job amenities and labor productivity in a single matching market based on the observation of equilibrium matches and wages. The estimation procedure simultaneously fits both the matching patterns and the wage curve. While our estimator is suited for a wide range of assignment problems, we provide an application to the estimation of the Value of a Statistical Life using compensating wage differentials for the risk of fatal injury on the job. Using US data for 2017, we estimate the Value of Statistical Life at $6.3 million ($2017).

The novel application of a pairwise autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach provides new insights into the regional wage–unemployment rate relationship. Using this approach, the short- and long-run wage curve slope for each US state is potentially inversely related to the unemployment rate in all other states. In terms of the oft-cited Blanchflower and Oswald elasticity, there is mixed evidence in support of a $$-\,0.1$$ wage curve slope. We find that the pairwise wage curve slope is driven by factors that include state-level home-ownership and education attainment. Our findings suggest that short-run wage flexibility decreased during the period following the Great Recession.

The policy responses to Covid-19 have triggered large-scale reverse migration from cities to rural areas in developing countries, exposing the vulnerability of migrants living precarious lives in cities, giving rise to debates asserting to migration as undesirable and favouring policy options to discourage the process. However, the very basis of spatial concentration and formation of cities is presence of agglomeration economies, benefits accruing to economic agents operating in cities. Presence of these agglomeration benefits in local labour markets manifests themselves in the form of an upward sloping wage curve in urban areas. We estimate the upward sloping wage curve for various size classes of cities in Indian economy and establish the presence of positive returns to occupation and industry concentration at urban locations. Controlling for worker-specific characteristics influencing wages, we establish that higher the share of an industry or an occupation in local employment as compared to national economy, the desirability of firms to pay higher wages increases. For casual labourers, occupational concentration results in higher wages. However, impact of industry concentration varies across sectors. Results supporting presence of upward sloping urban wage curve, therefore, endorse policies to correct the market failure in cities and promote migration as a desirable process. JEL Classification Codes: J2, R2

The wage curve is traditionally defined as the negative relationship between wages and unemployment rates (taking into account various control variables). It was empirically shown that the wage curve exists in some countries, including Russia. However, usually in such studies with data for the Russian regions, the mutual influence of Russian regions is not taken into account. This could create the problem of omitted variable bias. In this paper, we took into account the corresponding impact using spatial-econometric models and gave a detailed interpretation of the results. The estimate of the parameter reflecting the effect of unemployment on wages in the model without spatial effects is almost twice the corresponding estimate in the models where these effects are taken into account. According to panel data for 2005–2018 for 81 regions we estimated the partial marginal effects of changes in unemployment in one region on wages in the other regions. Similar calculations were made for the other variables. Using partial marginal effects, we found for each region: 1) the regions most affected by this one, 2) the regions, changes in which will most likely affect the selected one. This is important, for example, for assessing consequences of government programs etc

This paper addresses (I) the transition dynamics incompatibility between the BPCM and the Prebisch-Singer hypothesis (PSH) (II) the causes of cyclical volatility in developing countries. In order to discuss these issues, we expand the Dutt (2002) model adding: (a) a productivity gap dynamics in which the south has a catching-up element; (b) a labor market dynamics, by including a wage curve in the relationship between employment rate and economic activity; and (c) a labor supply dynamics that considers the labor transfer issue between traditional and modern sectors. The result is a four dimensional dynamic model that represents a lagged developing economy constrained by its balance of payments. We find that our model converges and generates damped cycles. Fragile economies show an oscillatory decline in terms of trade, reinforcing an uneven development pattern between north and south. Industrialization and higher learning capabilities, however, can change the adjustment to a catching-up scenario.

The chief goal of this paper is to provide an investigation of the Wage Curve spatial heterogeneity for Brazilian northeast labor market. To do so, using the Wage Curve as Theoretical Framework, we apply spatial panel data techniques to compiled data set of 1,793 municipalities over 13 years from RAIS data to obtain the estimates of interest. Our results allow us to conclude there is a statistically significant negative correlation between unemployment and real wage as also that there are statistically significant effects on wages. In addition to confirm our initial assumption of existence of a Wage Curve, our finds also provide estimates that at least control spatial heterogeneity.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to provide the estimates of returns to schooling using consistent methodology and comparable set of data for a long time horizon for a country undergoing economic transition. Second, the paper aims to verify if returns to schooling in Poland were pro-cyclical or counter-cyclical.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on the human capital theory in estimating the wage returns to years of schooling controlling additionally for unemployment rates at a regional level. Data come from a collection of Polish individual LFS waves for the period 1995–2017.FindingsReturns to schooling in Poland were increasing until 2006 and declining afterwards unveiling the supply side effects domination. The estimates suggested counter-cyclicality of returns in Poland.Research limitations/implicationsUsing LFS data made it impossible to control for ability bias therefore it is possible that the estimates are somewhat biased (the literature however suggests that the extent of the bias is likely to be small). It might still be argued that using consistent methodology for the whole period of analysis still offers valuable insight into returns evolution.Originality/valueThis paper finds a reversal of returns trend after 2006 suggesting the period after accession to EU exhibited a supply side effect domination. The findings on counter-cyclicality of returns to education in Poland have not yet been documented in the literature.

For a given technique, the wage-rate of profit curve is linear in one-sector models. In multisector models, Wicksell effects appear and some paradoxes in capital theory are linked to the complex shape of the wage curve. We study the conditions ensuring the linearity of the curve for a bisector model and for models satisfying a specific rank condition.

Στόχος της παρούσας διδακτορικής διατριβής είναι η διερεύνηση της δομής των μισθών και των μισθολογικών διαφορών στην Ελληνική αγορά εργασίας, δεδομένων ορισμένων χαρακτηριστικών της, ιδιαίτερα εκείνων που σχετίζονται με το θεσμικό πλαίσιο που διέπει τη λειτουργία της αγοράς εργασίας και ρυθμίζει τις εργασιακές σχέσεις. Η διδακτορική διατριβή αποτελείται από τέσσερις ξεχωριστές μελέτες, ωστόσο τα ευρήματα και συμπεράσματα της κάθε μίας έχουν γενικότερη εφαρμογή και ερμηνεία. Το πρώτο μέρος της διδακτορικής διατριβής ερευνά τις μισθολογικές διαφορές που οφείλονται στο μέγεθος των επιχειρήσεων, όπως αυτό μετράται από τον συνολικό αριθμό των εργαζόμενων σε αυτές. Οι εκτιμήσεις πραγματοποιούνται μέσω της χρήσης διαστρωματικών ενοποιημένων δεδομένων εργαζόμενων-εργοδοτών. Τα αποτελέσματα των οικονομετρικών εκτιμήσεων υποδεικνύουν την ύπαρξη ενός μισθολογικού πλεονεκτήματος υπέρ των εργαζόμενων σε επιχειρήσεις μεγαλύτερου μεγέθους, το μέγεθος του οποίου είναι ανάλογο με αντίστοιχα εκτιμημένα πλεονεκτήματα τα οποία αναφέρονται στη διεθνή βιβλιογραφία. Επίσης, εξετάζεται η εγκυρότητα διαφόρων πιθανών ερμηνειών που έχουν προταθεί στην σχετική βιβλιογραφία. Σύμφωνα με τα αποτελέσματα των εκτιμήσεων, οι διαφορές σε ανθρώπινο κεφάλαιο, η ύπαρξη ανταποδοτικών αμοιβών, οι μισθοί αποδοτικότητας και η λειτουργία εσωτερικών αγορών εργασίας είναι παράγοντες ικανοί να ερμηνεύσουν το μεγαλύτερο μέρος του μισθολογικού πλεονεκτήματος υπέρ των εργαζόμενων σε μεγαλύτερες επιχειρήσεις. Σκοπός του δεύτερου κεφαλαίου της παρούσας διδακτορικής διατριβής, είναι η διερεύνηση των επιπτώσεων της σύναψης επιχειρησιακών συλλογικών συμβάσεων εργασίας στη δομή των μισθών στην αγορά εργασίας. Για τους σκοπούς της ανάλυσης χρησιμοποιούνται ενοποιημένα στοιχεία εργαζόμενων-εργοδοτών για το έτος 2006, εκτιμήσεις μη δεσμευμένων ποσοστημορίων καθώς και οι σχετικές μέθοδοι διαχωρισμού επιδράσεων. Τα αποτελέσματα επιβεβαιώνουν την ύπαρξη ενός μισθολογικού πλεονεκτήματος υπέρ των εργαζόμενων που καλύπτονται από επιχειρησιακές συλλογικές συμβάσεις εργασίας, το οποίο ακολουθεί μια κοίλη τάση κατά μήκος κατανομής των ατομικών αμοιβών. Επιπλέον, οι μισθολογικές διαφορές μεταξύ των εργαζόμενων που καλύπτονται από επιχειρησιακές συλλογικές συμβάσεις και εκείνων που καλύπτονται από συλλογικές συμβάσεις που υπογράφονται σε πιο κεντρικά επίπεδα διαπραγμάτευσης, οφείλονται σε διαφορές στον τρόπο συλλογικής διαπραγμάτευσης για όσους βρίσκονται στο αριστερό ήμισυ της συνολικής κατανομής των ατομικών αμοιβών, ενώ για όσους βρίσκονται στο δεξί ήμισυ της κατανομής, το μεγαλύτερο μέρος των μισθολογικών διαφορών εξηγείται από διαφορές στο ανθρώπινο κεφάλαιο και στα χαρακτηριστικά των επιχειρήσεων. Το τρίτο μέρος της διδακτορικής διατριβής ερευνά την ύπαρξη μιας καμπύλης μισθών στην Ελληνική αγορά εργασίας χρησιμοποιώντας μικροοικονομικά δεδομένα για την περίοδο 2001-2012.Τα εκτιμημένα αποτελέσματα υποδεικνύουν ότι ο “εμπειρικός νόμος της Οικονομικής Επιστήμης” σύμφωνα με τον οποίο υπάρχει μια βραχυχρόνια αρνητική σχέση μεταξύ ατομικών αμοιβών και τρέχουσας περιφερειακής ανεργίας, μπορεί να επιβεβαιωθεί μόνο για την περίοδο μετά το 2010, όπου μια σειρά δημοσιονομικών μέτρων και μεταρρυθμίσεων του θεσμικού πλαισίου των εργασιακών σχέσεων έλαβαν μέρος, με στόχο τη μείωση του μισθολογικού κόστους και την αύξηση του βαθμού ευελιξίας της αγοράς εργασίας. Πριν το 2010, δεν ήταν δυνατός ο προσδιορισμός μιας συστηματικής σχέσης μεταξύ ατομικών αμοιβών και περιφερειακής ανεργίας. Η ανυπαρξία μιας τέτοιας σχέσης, μπορεί να αποδοθεί κυρίως σε θεσμικές δυσκαμψίες οι οποίες απαγόρευαν τις μισθολογικές προσαρμογές προς τα κάτω. Το συμπέρασμα αυτό ενισχύεται από το γεγονός ότι η ύπαρξη καμπύλης μισθών πριν το 2010, δεν επιβεβαιώνεται ανεξάρτητα από το επίπεδο των συλλογικών διαπραγματεύσεων στο οποίο προσδιορίζονται οι αμοιβές στην Ελληνική αγορά εργασίας. Τέλος, το τέταρτο μέρος της παρούσας διδακτορικής διατριβής πραγματοποιεί την πρώτη αποτίμηση μιας πρόσφατης θεσμικής μεταρρύθμισης στην Ελληνική αγορά εργασίας. Σκοπός της μεταρρύθμισης αυτής είναι η αποκέντρωση του συστήματος των συλλογικών διαπραγματεύσεων έτσι ώστε να διευκολύνεται η προσαρμογή των μισθών στα χαρακτηριστικά των επιχειρήσεων και στις επικρατούσες συνθήκες στην αγορά εργασίας. Για τους σκοπούς αυτής της μελέτης, αναπτύχθηκε μια μοναδική βάση δε-δομένων αποτελούμενη από πληροφορίες που προέρχονται από το σύνολο των επιχειρησιακών συμβάσεων που υπογράφηκαν στην Ελληνική αγορά εργασίας τα τελευταία χρόνια. Τα αποτελέσματα μιας σειράς εκτιμήσεων υποδειγμάτων περιορισμένων εξαρτημένων μεταβλητών υποδεικνύουν ότι η εισαγωγή της νέας εργασιακής νομοθεσίας επηρεάζει σημαντικά την πιθανότητα τα διαπραγματευόμενα μέρη να συμφωνήσουν σε προς τα κάτω μισθολογική προσαρμογή, ειδικά στο επίπεδο του κατώτατου μισθού που περιγράφεται στην Εθνική Γενική Συλλογική Σύμβαση Εργασίας, ενώ οι τρέχουσες συνθήκες που επικρατούν στην αγορά εργασίας είναι επίσης σημαντικοί προσδιοριστικοί παράγοντες των συμφωνηθεισών μισθολογικών προσαρμογών.

Previous studies of regional wage formation in Norway have indicated low regional wage responses to regional unemployment. However, previous analyses have not investigated whether wages are more rigid in rural areas than in urban areas, which in the case of Norway is important for the efficiency of regional differentiated payroll taxes. In the paper, the authors focus on the rural–urban nature of the wage curve in Norway. We re‐estimate the wage curve on the basis of a large Norwegian microlevel dataset covering the entire Norwegian labour market during the years 2008–13. Our findings are rural–urban heterogeneity in the wage curve, with higher unemployment elasticity of pay in the urban region than in the rural regions. The elasticity of the average rural wage curve is about 70 per cent that of the of the urban wage curve. The authors conclude that to achieve the goals of regional policy in Norway, more rigid wages in rural areas seem to be an argument for continuing to have an active labour market policy for rural regions.

By introducing the efficiency wage hypothesis into a simple “new economic geography” model, Suedekum (2005) argued that lower (higher) unemployment rates and higher (lower) real wages hold in the higher (lower) population region when workers are immobile across regions and that the workers’ free mobility increases such regional disparities. We show, however, that his argument about the stability of equilibria is questionable and under the valid stability analysis his result no longer holds.

This paper studies the relationship between wages and the unemployment rate across the wealth distribution. Using microdata from Norway covering the entire population of residents between 2000 and 2015, we introduce four novel findings on this relationship. First, the share of unemployed individuals belonging to the bottom decile of the gross wealth distribution is tenfold larger than that belonging to the top decile (34% and 3.2%, respectively). Second, the share of unemployed individuals belonging to the bottom decile of the gross wealth distribution moves in the opposite manner to that of the top decile. Third, the negative slope of the wage curve is confirmed. Fourth, the wage-to-unemployment ratio increases monotonically with gross wealth. © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Using longitudinal micro-data from Finland, a country with a geographically dispersed population and relatively long distances between local labor markets, this paper examines the responsiveness of the pay level to local unemployment conditions. In particular, this study tests the hypothesis that the pay level is more responsive to the unemployment level in less agglomerated and more remote regions as might be expected if employers have a higher degree of monopsony power in such regions. The results consistently suggest that the pay level is lower in localities with a higher unemployment level and, hence, provide strong support for the so-called wage curve hypothesis, which predicts that a negative relationship exists between local unemployment and the pay level. Although the results provide some evidence that the magnitude of the regional pay–unemployment relationship varies across different regions of the country, the findings do not provide consistent support for the monopsony power hypothesis. In particular, after controlling for unobserved worker heterogeneity, the responsiveness of the pay level to the local unemployment conditions is similar across regions with different degrees of economic agglomeration.

Do wages react to regional unemployment, as proposed by the theory behind the regional wage curve, if regional price differences are taken into account? This paper applies regional price indexes to assess the wage curve, whereas in the literature only nominal wages are used for wage curve regressions. In order to test the impact of regional prices on the wage curve we apply a variety of methodological approaches. With individual data from the US Census and the Polish Labor Force Survey we find a wage curve. However, in both countries, the local unemployment elasticity and spatial spillovers decrease significantly once regional price deflators are applied. Reagieren die Löhne auf regionale Arbeitslosigkeit, wie es die Theorie hinter der regionalen Lohnkurve behauptet, wenn regionale Preisunterschiede berücksichtigt werden? In diesem Papier werden regionale Preisindizes zur Beurteilung der Lohnkurve verwendet, während in der Literatur nur Nominallöhne für Lohnkurvenregressionen verwendet werden. Mit Individualdaten aus der US-Volkszählung und der polnischen Arbeitskräfteerhebung finden wir eine Lohnkurve. In beiden Ländern nehmen jedoch der Lohneffekt der Arbeitslosigkeit und ihre räumlichen Auswirkungen erheblich ab, sobald regionale Preisdeflatoren angewendet werden.

I argue in this paper that the estimation of wage curves and NAWRUs at the country level suffers from spatial aggregation bias. Using European data for the years 2000-2017, I find steeper country level wage curves and higher NAWRUs, compared to estimating at the underlying regional level. The distribution of regional unemployment rates within countries over time is not mean-scaled. Regions with low unemployment rates are the main drivers of changes in aggregate unemployment. The steepness of a log-linear wage curve in regions with low unemployment dominates at the aggregate (country) level, overestimating wage pressure. Lagged wages are important in explaining wage growth, together with unemployment. This suggests that a wage curve fits the data better than the assumption of a NAWRU or long run natural rate of unemployment. With regional wage curves, spatial aggregation bias can produce aggregate data that resembles such a natural rate of unemployment, however.

The phenomenon of the Wage curve, discovered by Blanchflower and Oswald, has shown a remarkable persistence in time and across different countries. It relates the regional unemployment rate negatively to the absolute level of wages. This work examines the presence of the wage curve in the Czech Republic by two different models using district level data. A panel model is constructed for 2008-2017 and a cross-sectional model with additional control variables is specified for 2011. The data on average wage in this work are related to specific employees with multiple sources of income. The wage curve is then found with a coefficient of -0.42 for the longitudinal analysis and -0.78 for isolated cross- section. However, after including fixed regional effects in the panel model, the wage-unemployment elasticity diminishes to zero. The other part of this work studies the convergence in the Czech Republic district wage levels. By means of σ and β convergence indicators, it is concluded that the wages converged in the period of 2008-2017, with a faster rate in years 2013-2017. JEL Classification J22, J31, J51, R15 Keywords Wage curve, Unemployment, Regional wage, Czech Republic, Labor economics, Wage conver- gence Title The Wage Curve and Regional Salary Differen- tials in the Czech Republic Author's e-mail...

This article presents a simple formalization of Marx's circuit of capital framework, but with some modern additions: a public sector, an investment function that shifts over time in reaction to disequilibria, and a ‘wage curve’ linking income distribution to the size of the reserve army of labor. The dynamics can gravitate toward either a low‐employment trajectory in which public spending has expansionary long‐run effects, or a high‐employment trajectory characterized by a profit squeeze. The stability of the different trajectories depends on the investment function.

This paper reassesses the wage curve applying regional price deflators, whereas in the literature only uniform national price levels are generally used in wage curve regressions. Existing estimates for the unemployment elasticities vary across countries but lie mostly in the neighborhood of −0.1. Using the data for the 49 US states over the 2008–2015 period and 16 Polish NUTS2 regions over the 2000–2015 period, we test the impact of regional prices on the wage curve employing a variety of approaches. We confirm the existence of wage curves for both countries. Following the theory of monopsonistic competition, this inverse relationship stems from the costs faced by both firms and workers. However, the elasticity of local unemployment and spatial spillovers decreases significantly if regional price deflators are applied. This is due to the fact that there exists a negative relationship between regional prices and unemployment.