Firm heterogeneity and wages in unionised labour markets: Theory and evidence

Paulo Bastos, Natália Monteiro and Odd Rune Straume

No 14/2008, NIPE Working Papers from NIPE - Universidade do Minho

Abstract: In many countries wages are set in two stages, where industry-level collective bargaining is followed by firm-specific arrangements determining actual paid wages as a mark-up on the industry wage floor. What explains the wage set in each of these stages? In this paper we show that both the industry wage floor and the average wage cushion are systematically associated with the degree of firm heterogeneity in the industry: The former (latter) is negatively (positively) associated with the productivity spread. Furthermore, since the response of the wage floor dominates that of the wage cushion, workers in more heterogeneous industries tend to get lower actual paid wages. These conclusions are reached in a model of Cournot oligopoly with firm productivity heterogeneity and a two-tiered wage setting system. They are then confirmed by administrative data covering virtually all workers, firms and collective bargaining agreements of the Portuguese private sector for the period 1991-2000.

Keywords: Wage determination; Trade unions; Firm heterogeneity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D21 J31 J51 L13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-bec and nep-lab
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Firm heterogeneity and wages in unionised labour markets: Theory and evidence (2009)
Working Paper: Firm Heterogeneity and Wages in Unionised Labour Markets: Theory and Evidence (2008)
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