The Wage Policy of Firms – Comparative Evidence for the U.S. and Germany from Personnel Data

Christian Grund

No 605, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: The wage policy of a German and a U.S. firm is comparatively analysed with a focus on the relation between wages and hierarchies. While prior studies examine only one particular firm, in this paper two plants of the same owners with similar production processes in different institutional environments are inspected. Convex wage profiles over the hierarchy levels of both plants are found. The U.S. plant shows considerably higher intensity of intra-firm competition in terms of higher intra-level wage inequality and yearly promotion rate. In contrast, wages are more distinctly attached to hierarchy levels in the German firm, as wage regressions show. The results are discussed in comparison to prior studies.

Keywords: intra-firm wages; personnel records; hierarchies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J31 M12 M52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 27 pages
Date: 2002-10
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Published - revised version published in: International Journal of Human Resource Management, 2005, 16 (1), 104-119

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Working Paper: The Wage Policy of Firms: Comparative Evidence for the U.S. and Germany from Personnel Data (2002)
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