Decentralised bargaining and performance related pay: new evidence from a panel of Italian firms

Purpose: This paper examines two institutional aspects closely related: (i) the extent to which collective bargaining has been decentralized at firm or district level; (ii) the extent to which, at this level of bargaining, Performance Related Pay (PRP) have been used. Design/methodology/approach: On the basis of a unique database, which contains recent information on nationwide sample of firms, panel estimates aimed at identifying the main factors which have favoured the adoption of the second level of bargaining and PRP are presented. Findings. unions, after size, is the main factor associated to the probability of the second level of bargaining and PRP. Significant estimates are also found for training. Research limitations/implications – Further research based on additional data should enable us to identify causal effects. Practical implications: It offers new evidence to evaluate ongoing reform proposals to implement firm-level agreements more tailored to firms’ specific needs. Originality/value our estimates are based on a unique dataset which contains recent information and a nationwide sample of firms, representative of the whole Italian economy (other studies on Italy are more limited in scope, since they focus on specific sectors or regions). Second, it addresses the question of training, an aspect so far not examined in relation to PRP in Italy.Performance–related pay, unions

Performance-Related Pay, Unions and Productivity in Italy: evidence from quantile regressions

Purpose – This study analyses the effects on productivity of Performance-Related Payments (PRP) and unions, and examines to what extent heterogeneity between firms characterises these influences. Design - For the Italian economy, the study presents firm-level quantile regressions for Total Factor Productivity (TFP) and controls for various observed characteristics of firms, worker composition and labour relations. Findings - The paper shows the significant effect of PRP and unions on the whole economy and on firms operating in the manufacturing industries. In these industries, the uniform incentive effects of PRP but the increasing impact of unions are estimated along the productivity distribution. Conversely, the role of management - significant in all sectors- is more efficacious in prospering large firms operating in services. Research limitations – The adoption of PRP schemes and the presence of unions maybe endogenous to firms’ productivity, and our estimates do not prove causal links but simply suggest correlations. Practical implications - The limited incentive effects of PRP schemes in services contribute towards explaining the slowdown in Italian productivity, whereas the role of unions is quite uniform among sectors. Originality- The paper addresses the hitherto poorly developed issue of firm heterogeneity and TFP, and offers the first Italian study of PRP and unions, which covers all dimensional classes of firms and non-agricultural sectors of the Italian economy.Performance – related pay, productivity.

Temporary job protection and productivity growth in EU economies

The present study examines cross-national and sectoral differences in Total Factor Productivity (TFP) in fourteen European countries and ten sectors from 1995 to 2007. The main aim is to ascertain the role of employment protection of temporary contracts on TFP by estimating their effects with a “difference-in-difference” approach. Results show that deregulation of temporary contracts negatively influences the growth rates of TFP in European economies and that, within sectoral analysis, the role of this liberalization is greater in industries where firms are more used to opening short-term positions. By contrast, in our observation period, restrictions on regular jobs do not cause significant effects on TFP, whereas limited regulation of product markets and higher R&D expenses positively affect efficiency growth.

Temporary job protection and productivity growth in EU economies

The present study examines cross-national and sectoral differences in Total Factor Productivity (TFP) in fourteen European countries and ten sectors from 1995 to 2007. The main aim is to ascertain the role of employment protection of temporary contracts on TFP by estimating their effects with a “difference-in-difference” approach. Results show that deregulation of temporary contracts negatively influences the growth rates of TFP in European economies and that, within sectoral analysis, the role of this liberalisation is greater in industries where firms are more used to opening short-term positions. By contrast, in our observation period, restrictions on regular jobs do not cause significant effects on TFP, whereas limited regulation of product markets and higher R&D expenses positively affect efficiency growth.productivity, labour regulation.

Unemployment, inflation and monetary policy in a dynamic New Keynesian model with hiring costs

The dynamic general equilibrium model with hiring costs presented in this paper delivers involuntary unemployment in the steady state and involuntary fluctuations in unemployment. After calibrating the model, through simulations we are able to show that our model with labour market imperfections outperforms the standard NK model as for the persistence of responses to monetary shocks. Besides, the model can be easily used to assess the impact of different market imperfections on both the steady state and the dynamics of the economy. We are also able to show how two economies, differing in their “degrees of imperfection”, react to policy or non policy shocks: a rigid economy turns out to be less volatile than a flexible economy. Something that reflects the actual experience of the US (flexible) and European (rigid) economies.Hiring Costs, Wage Bargaining, Output Gap, New Keynesian Phillips Curve, Monetary Policy

Temporary job protection and productivity growth in EU economies

The present study examines cross-national and sectoral differences in Total Factor Productivity (TFP) in fourteen European countries and ten sectors from 1995 to 2007. The main aim is to ascertain the role of employment protection of temporary contracts on TFP by estimating their effects with a “difference-in-difference” approach. Results show that deregulation of temporary contracts negatively influences the growth rates of TFP in European economies and that, within sectoral analysis, the role of this liberalization is greater in industries where firms are more used to opening short-term positions. By contrast, in our observation period, restrictions on regular jobs do not cause significant effects on TFP, whereas limited regulation of product markets and higher R&D expenses positively affect efficiency growth.productivity, labor regulation

Unemployment, Inflation and Monetary Policy in a Dynamic New Keynesian Model with Hiring Costs

The dynamic general equilibrium model with hiring costs presented in this paper delivers involuntary unemployment in the steady state and involuntary fluctuations in unemploy- ment. After calibrating the model, through simulations we are able to show that our model with labour market imperfections outperforms the standard NK model as for the persis- tence of responses to monetary shocks. Besides, the model can be easily used to assess the impact of di¤erent market imperfections on both the steady state and the dynamics of the economy. We are also able to show how two economies, differing in their degrees of imperfection, react to policy or non policy shocks: a rigid economy turns out to be less volatile than a flexible economy. Something that reflects the actual experience of the US (flexible) and European (rigid) economies.Hiring Costs; Wage bargaining; Output Gap; New Keynesian Phillips Curve; Monetary Policy

Labour market imperfections, "divine coincidence" and the volatility of employment and inflation

The dynamic general equilibrium model with hiring costs presented in this paper delivers involuntary unemployment in the steady state as well as involuntary fluctuations in unemployment. The existence of hiring friction introduces externalities that, in turn, entail the breakdown of the "divine coincidence" without assuming real wage rigidity. Our model with labour market imperfections outperforms the standard NK model as for the persistence of responses to monetary shocks. The model also allows for an analysis of the volatility of economies, differing in their "degrees of labour market rigidity". It turns out that "rigid" economies exhibit less unemployment volatility and more inflation volatility than "flexible" economies.Hiring Costs, Wage Bargaining, Output Gap, New Keynesian Phillips Curve

Moddicom: a Complete and Easily Accessible Library for Prognostic Evaluations Relying on Image Features

Decision Support Systems (DSSs) are increasingly exploited in the area of prognostic evaluations. For predicting the effect of therapies on patients, the trend is now to use image features, i.e. information that can be automatically computed by considering images resulting by analysis. The DSSs application as predictive tools is particularly suitable for cancer treatment, given the peculiarities of the disease –which is highly localised and lead to significant social costs– and the large number of images that are available for each patient. At the state of the art, there exists tools that allow to handle image features for prognostic evaluations, but they are not designed for medical experts. They require either a strong engineering or computer science background since they do not integrate all the required functions, such as image retrieval and storage. In this paper we fill this gap by proposing Moddicom, a user-friendly complete library specifically designed to be exploited by physicians. A preliminary experimental analysis, performed by a medical expert that used the tool, demonstrates the efficiency and the effectiveness of Moddicom