Collective contracts, wages and wage dispersion in a multi-level model

"The authors use German linked employer-employee data for the years 1990, 1995 and 2001 to analyze, which dimensions of wage setting differ across three wage-setting regimes: Establishments applying sectoral collective contracts, establishments with firm-level contracts and uncovered establishments. The empirical analysis is restricted to workers without supervisory functions in larger manufacturing firms and shows that for this group of workers base wages are higher in firms applying collective contracts, while returns to human capital and the gender wage gap are reduced. Moreover, during the nineties these effects have become stronger." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))Tarifvertrag, Lohnstruktur, Lohnfindung, Flächentarifvertrag, Firmentarifvertrag, Tariflohn, Lohnhöhe, geschlechtsspezifische Faktoren

Individual tenure and collective contracts

"The paper analyses the relationship between individual tenure and the application of collective contracts at the firm level, using a multi-level model and a German linked employer-employee data set for the years 1990, 1995 and 2001. The main result is that elapsed tenure is longer in firms applying collective contracts than in companies with individual wage-setting. Thus workers in firms with collective contracts benefit not only from higher wages, but also from higher job stability. Furthermore, we find no significant changes in mean tenure during the nineties as well as stable differences across wage-setting regimes." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))Betriebszugehörigkeit - Dauer, Firmentarifvertrag, Tarifbindung, Arbeitsplatzsicherheit, Lohnhöhe

Wage distributions by wage-setting regime

"Collective wage contracts impose restrictions on wage-setting. We utilize German linked employer-employee data for blue-collar worker to compute the dispersion of wages and wage components within and across firms under three different wage-setting regimes: Establishments applying sectoral collective contracts, establishments with firm-level contracts and uncovered establishments. The empirical analysis confirms a lower dispersion of wages and wage components for firms applying sectoral collective contracts compared to companies in the other two wage-setting regimes. Implications for policy are discussed." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))Lohnstruktur, Tarifvertrag, Firmentarifvertrag, Tarifbindung

The acceptability of layoffs and pay cuts : comparing North America with Germany

"Substantial evidence shows that North Americans are generally more accepting of the market than Europeans and attribute market outcomes to a larger degree to effort or skill. This article discusses the perceived fairness of layoffs and pay cuts in North America and Germany. We expect North Americans to be more accepting of layoffs and pay cuts than Germans and that procedures and conditions under which pay cuts or layoffs occur have a stronger impact on fairness perceptions for Germans than for North Americans. This hypothesis is tested using a quasi-experimental design. The empirical results are in line with our considerations." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))Entlassungen - Akzeptanz, Lohnsenkung - Akzeptanz, institutionelle Faktoren, gesellschaftliche Einstellungen, Gerechtigkeit, soziale Wahrnehmung - internationaler Vergleich, Einkommensunterschied, psychische Faktoren, Arbeitsbeziehungen, soziale Normen, soziale Einstellungen, USA, Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Kanada, Nordamerika, Silicon Valley, Toronto

Individual tenure and collective contracts

"The paper analyses the relationship between individual tenure and the application of collective contracts at the firm level, using a multi-level model and a German linked employer-employee data set for the years 1990, 1995 and 2001. The main result is that elapsed tenure is longer in firms applying collective contracts than in companies with individual wagesetting. Thus workers in firms with collective contracts benefit not only from higher wages, but also from higher job stability. Furthermore, we find no significant changes in mean tenure during the nineties as well as stable differences across wage-setting regimes." [authors abstract

Wage distributions by wage-setting regime

"Collective wage contracts impose restrictions on wage-setting. We utilize German linked employer-employee data for blue-collar worker to compute the dispersion of wages and wage components within and across firms under three different wage-setting regimes: Establishments applying sectoral collective contracts, establishments with firm-level contracts and uncovered establishments. The empirical analysis confirms a lower dispersion of wages and wage components for firms applying sectoral collective contracts compared to companies in the other two wage-setting regimes. Implications for policy are discussed." (author's abstract)Ausgehend von der These, dass Tarifverträge die Lohnfindung einschränken, untersuchen die Autoren anhand von Linked-Employer-Employee-Daten für gewerbliche Arbeitskräfte die Lohnspreizung bei drei unterschiedlichen Lohnfindungsverfahren: Firmen mit Branchentarifvertrag, solche mit Werktarifvertrag sowie Firmen ohne Tarifbindung. Die empirische Analyse ergibt, dass bei Firmen mit Branchentarifverträgen eine niedrigere Lohnspreizung auftritt als bei den anderen beiden Typen. (IAB

Tarifverträge und betriebliche Entlohnungsstrukturen

"Zentrales Anliegen des Beitrags ist es, den Zusammenhang zwischen dem Lohnregime - Anwendung eines Flächen- bzw. Haustarifvertrags oder von individuellen Lohnvereinbarungen - und der Höhe der betrieblichen Durchschnittslöhne sowie der Streuung der Löhne im Betrieb zu analysieren. Die Untersuchung basiert auf den niedersächsischen Stichproben der Gehalts- und Lohnstrukturerhebungen für die Jahre 1990, 1995 und 2001. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Betriebe mit individuellen Lohnvereinbarungen durchschnittlich niedrigere Löhne zahlen und über eine größere interne Lohndispersion verfügen als Unternehmen, die Flächen- oder Haustarifverträge anwenden. Es ist zu vermuten, dass die Entwicklung der Tarifbindung in Westdeutschland durch diese Unterschiede beeinflusst wird." (Autorenreferat, IAB-Doku)Lohnhöhe - Determinanten, Lohnstruktur, Flächentarifvertrag, Firmentarifvertrag, Tarifbindung, produzierendes Gewerbe, Beschäftigungseffekte, Niedersachsen, Bundesrepublik Deutschland

Lebenszufriedenheit und Erwerbsstatus : Ost- und Westdeutschland im Vergleich (Satisfaction with life and employment status : eastern and western Germany in comparison)

"Empirical studies show firstly that unemployment clearly reduces the subjectively perceived satisfaction with life compared with employment and also compared with economic inactivity; secondly eastern Germans regularly report a lower level of satisfaction with life than western Germans. On the basis of the data from the socio-economic panel for the period 1992 to 1999, this study compares the subjectively perceived satisfaction with life of eastern and western Germans, dependent on their employment status. The results indicate that the event of unemployment impairs the satisfaction with life of eastern and western German men and women clearly and to roughly the same extent. The lower level of satisfaction with life of eastern Germans can, however, only be partly explained by the higher level of unemployment and the lower incomes in eastern Germany." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))Zufriedenheit - Determinanten, Einkommen, Arbeitslosigkeit, Erwerbstätigkeit, Lebenssituation, Westdeutschland, Ostdeutschland, Bundesrepublik Deutschland

Firmenlohndifferenziale und Tarifverträge : eine Mehrebenenanalyse (Company wage differentials and collective agreements * a multi-level analysis)

"Theoretical and empirical research shows that an individual’s earned income is not only dependent on his/her individual productivity-relevant characteristics. The employer and his pay policy, too, have an independent influence on the pay level, which is reflected by the payment of company wage differentials. The main objective of this report is analysing the relationship between the pay regime - use of an industry-wide wage agreement, use of a company wage agreement or an individual wage agreement - and the level and spread of the relevant company wage differentials. The study is based on the Lower Saxony sample of the wage and salary structure survey for 1995, which contains information on employees and companies as well as on the use of collective agreements. As regards methodology, a multi-level model is estimated which explicitly takes into account the hierarchical nature of the data. The findings indicate that a use of collective agreements is accompanied by higher incomes most of all because the base wage for all employees in a firm is increased. Furthermore, the gender-specific wage gap within a company diminishes when a collective agreement is used. However, no systematic differences between the pay regimes can be proven for the rates of return for schooling or for potential work experience, which comes as a surprise against the backdrop of the trade unions’ wage policy that aims at wage standardisation and compression, at least in programmatic respects." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))Lohnunterschied - Determinanten, Tarifvertrag - Auswirkungen, Lohnhöhe, Betrieb, Lohnpolitik, Flächentarifvertrag, Firmentarifvertrag, Humankapital