Rent-sharing under different bargaining regimes : Evidence from linked employer-employee data

In many European countries, the majority of workers have their wage rates determined directly by industry-level agreements. For some workers, industry agreements are supplemented by firm-specific agreements. Yet, the relative importance of individual company and industry agreements (in other words, the degree of centralisation) differs drastically across industries. The authors of this paper use unique linked employer-employee data from a 2003 survey in Belgium to examine how these bargaining features affect the extent of rent-sharing. Their results show that there is substantially more rent-sharing in decentralised than in centralised industries, even when controlling for the endogeneity of profits, for heterogeneity among workers and firms and for differences in characteristics between bargaining regimes. Moreover, in centralised industries, rent-sharing is found only for workers that are covered by a company agreement. The findings of this paper finally suggest that, within decentralised industries, both firm-specific and industry-wide bargaining generate rent-sharing to the same extent.Rent-sharing, collective bargaining, propensity score matching.

Rent-Sharing under Different Bargaining Regimes: Evidence from Linked Employer-Employee Data

In many European countries, the majority of workers have their wages directly defined by industry-level agreements. In addition, for some workers, industry agreements are complemented by firm-specific agreements. Yet, the relative importance of firm and industry agreements (in other words, the degree of centralization) differs drastically across industries. The authors of this paper use unique linked employer-employee data from a 2003 survey in Belgium to examine how these bargaining features affect the extent of rent-sharing. Their results show that there is substantially more rent-sharing in decentralized than in centralized industries, even when controlling for the endogeneity of profits, for heterogeneity among workers and firms and for differences in characteristics between bargaining regimes. Moreover, in centralized industries, rent-sharing is found only for workers that are covered by a firm agreement. Finally, results indicate that within decentralized industries, both firm and industry bargaining generate rent-sharing to the same extent.rent-sharing, collective bargaining, propensity score matching

God in Berlin, Newton in Brussels: On the power of linguistic images in the Eurozone crisis

The limits of our language are the limits of our world, famously observed the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. For him, word and fact are in a representational relationship: a word is only an image of a fact, but we are only able to think this image and not the fact behind it. This is the archetypical source of failing communication

The Regional Dimension of Collective Wage Bargaining: The Case of Belgium

The potential failure of national industry agreements to take into account productivity levels of least productive regions has been considered as one of the causes of regional unemployment in European countries. Two solutions are generally proposed: the first, encouraged by the European commission and the OECD, consists in decentralising wage bargaining to the firm. The second solution, the regionalisation of wage bargaining, is frequently mentioned in Belgium or in Italy where regional unemployment differentials are high. The objective of this paper is to verify if the Belgian wage setting system, where industry bargaining has a national scope, indeed prevents regional productivity levels to be taken into account in wage formation. Using a very rich linked employer-employee dataset which provides detailed information on wages, productivity, and worker's and firm's characteristics, we find that regional wage differentials and regional productivity differentials within joint committees are positively correlated. Moreover, this relation is stronger (i) for joint committees where firm-level bargaining is relatively frequent and (ii) for joint committees already sub-divided along a local line. We conclude that the current Belgian wage setting system (which combines interprofessional, industry and firm level bargaining) already includes mechanisms that allow regional productivity to be taken into account.wages, collective bargaining, federalism, regions, Belgium

IPM Vegetable Web Log

Grower - to grower information sharing has proved to be an effective teaching tool that is increasingly promoted by educational institutions and requested by growers.  Growers in the Hudson Valley and Capital District have expressed a need for a mechanism by which they can frequently communicate with each other and Extension educators about the status of their crops.  In response to this need, Cornell Cooperative Extension proposed to pilot and sponsor an IPM vegetable web log site for growers in the Capital District and in Ulster County.  Beginning in May, the assistance of Cornell Cooperative Extension Information Technology was requested to set up the web log account.  The assistance and web log account information was received the first week of August, too late to be useful for the 2006 growing season.  Both project leaders learned the system and are ready to utilize the web log technology for the 2007 growing season

Influence of projectile shape on dynamic behavior of steel sheet subjected to impact and perforation

Authors thank Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Poland for financial support under Grants: R00 0097 12. Authors thank also M. Tavian technician in electronics from ENIM for his contribution on the development of the residual velocity measurement sensors.The paper describes a work focused on the process of perforation of steel sheet.Experimental,analytical and numerical investigations have been carried out to analyze in details the perforation process.Based on these approaches,the ballistic properties of the material and the failure modes depending on the projectile nose shape(conical,blunt or hemispherical) have been studied.Different failure modes have been observed,including petaling, plug ejection and circumference necking.The special study about the number of petals has been done for different nose angles using conical shape projectiles.The complete energy balance is also reported and the absorbed energy by the steel sheet has been obtained by measuring initial and residual projectile velocities.A wide range of impact velocities from 35to180m/s has been covered during the tests.All the projectiles are 13mm in diameter and the plates are1mm thick.Moreover,the mass ratio(projectile mass/steel sheet mass) and the ratio between the span of the steel sheet and the diameter of the projectile are constant, equal to 0.38 and 3.85, respectively