The aging of the unions in West Germany, 1980 - 2006

Using data from the social survey ALLBUS for West Germany in the period 1980 to 2006, this paper demonstrates that union members are on average older than non-unionized employees. The probability of being unionized shows the inverted U-shaped pattern in age conjectured by Blanchflower (BJIR 2007) only in very few years. It is demonstrated that both intra-cohort change and cohort replacement effects have played a roughly equal role in the substantial fall in union density since 1980. If older cohorts with high densities continue to be replaced by young cohorts with low densities, average union density will fall further. -- Unter Verwendung von ALLBUS-Daten der Jahre 1980 bis 2006 für Westdeutschland zeigt dieser Beitrag, dass Gewerkschaftsmitglieder im Durchschnitt älter sind als nicht gewerkschaftlich organisierte Beschäftigte. Die Wahrscheinlichkeit einer gewerkschaftlichen Mitgliedschaft weist nur in sehr wenigen Jahren den von Blanchflower (BJIR 2007) postulierten umgekehrt U-förmigen Zusammenhang mit dem Alter auf. Es wird gezeigt, dass Intra-Kohorten-Effekte und Kohortenersatz-Effekte eine ungefähr gleich große Rolle beim deutlichen Rückgang des gewerkschaftlichen Organisationsgrads seit 1980 gespielt haben. Falls weiterhin ältere Kohorten mit hohem Organisationsgrad durch Kohorten von Jüngeren mit geringem Organisationsgrad ersetzt werden, wird der durchschnittliche Organisationsgrad weiter zurückgehen.union membership,union density,cohort effects,West Germany

Skill-biased technological change, international trade and the wage structure

During the last two decades, the labour demand structure in Germany and other OECD countries has experienced a decrease in the demand for low skilled and a rise in the demand for highly skilled employees. The adoption of modern technologies in the production process as well as the growth of international trade are often regarded as the main driving factors behind this change. On the other hand, it is often argued that a more flexible wage structure could counteract the falling demand for the unskilled. This study investigates these hypothesis for West Germany, 1994-1997, using the LIAB, a unique German linked employer-employee panel data set, which combines information from the German employment statistics and the IAB establishment panel. Employing a Generalised Leontief cost function and controlling for unobserved plant heterogeneity, the demand for three different skill types of labour is estimated by the SUR-Method. The results show that the major part of the skill structure is determined by wages, while we have found only minor impacts of a skill-biased technological change, of international trade and of short-run effects due to the business cycle.labour demand, substitution, skill-biased technological change, labour hoarding, international trade, linked employer-employee data

Skill-biased technological change, international trade and the wage structure

During the last two decades, the labour demand structure in Germany has experienced a decrease in the demand for the low skilled. Possible explanations for this trend are investigated in this study for West Germany (1994- 1997) using a unique linked employer-employee panel data set for Germany. Estimation results of the conditional labour demand for three different skill types indicate that the major part of the skill structure is determined by wages, while we have found only minor impacts of a skill-biased technological change and of international trade. -- In den letzten beiden Jahrzehnten hat sich die Beschäftigtenstruktur in Deutschland zuungunsten der Un- und Angelernten entwickelt. Mögliche Ursachen für diesen Trend werden in der vorliegenden Studie auf der Basis eines neuen, aus Individual- und Betriebsdaten zusammengefügten Datensatzes, für West-Deutschland (1994-1997) untersucht. Schätzungen der bedingten Arbeitsnachfrage für drei verschiedene Qualifikationsgruppen zeigen, dass der größte Teil der Beschäftigtenstruktur von den Löhnen bestimmt wird, während nur geringe Einflüsse des technologischen Wandels und des internationalen Handels identifiziert werden.labour demand,substitution,skill-biased technological change,labour hoarding,international trade,linked employer-employee data

Employment effects of longer working hours

Standard hours, a major component of total work hours, vary considerably across Europe. Many countries lowered their standard work hours during the 1980s and 1990s, attempting to boost employment by splitting up a fixed number of worker-hours among more workers. Germany has seen a partial reversal of the trend as several companies increased their standard hours to reduce their labor costs in the early 2000s. The employment effect of increased standard hours depends on the time horizon examined, how wages respond, whether employees collected overtime pay before the change, and the productivity of hours worked, among other factors

Die Beschäftigung von Un- und Angelernten : eine Analyse mit dem Linked Employer-Employee Datensatz des IAB (Employment of unskilled and semi-skilled workers * an analysis based on the IAB Linked Employer-Employee data set)

"To analyse the demand for unskilled and semi-skilled labour from 1993 till 1997, this article uses data of the IAB’s new Linked Employer-Employee data set (LIAB), which combines the IAB establishment panel with the historic data file of the employment statistics. The unskilled and semi-skilled workers are identified according to a job-oriented concept. The analyses confirm the postulated relationship between technological progress (as measured by the technical state of the equipment as well as by investment in IT) and a smaller proportion of unskilled and semi-skilled workers in companies. In contrast, a negative correlation between international interdependence (approximated by the export quota) and the demand for unskilled and semi-skilled workers could only partly be ascertained. Cross-sectional as well as longitudinal regressions show a negative relationship between the proportion of unskilled and semi-skilled workers in an establishment and the establishment’s average wage for unskilled and semi-skilled workers. For example, the estimated parameter from an OLS estimate implies that companies with a five per cent lower average wage for unskilled and semi-skilled workers have a one per cent higher proportion of unskilled and semi-skilled workers in their overall workforce. This therefore supports the thesis that one of the reasons for the increase in the unemployment rate of unskilled and semi-skilled workers is a too rigid wage structure which does not balance out the demand problems of unskilled and semi-skilled workers caused by technological progress." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))Ungelernte, Angelernte, Niedrigqualifizierte, Arbeitsmarktchancen, Beschäftigungsentwicklung, technischer Wandel - Auswirkungen, Lohnhöhe, Wirtschaftszweige, IAB-Linked-Employer-Employee-Datensatz, Westdeutschland, Ostdeutschland, Bundesrepublik Deutschland

Exporting firms do not pay higher wages, ceteris paribus : First evidence from linked employer-employee data

18 studies using data from 20 highly developed, developing, and less developed countries document that average wages in exporting firms are higher than in non-exporting firms from the same industry and region. The existence of these so-called exporter wage premia is one of the stylized facts found in the emerging literature on the microeconometrics of international trade. This paper uses a large and rich set of linked employer-employee data from Germany to demonstrate that these premia vanish when individual characteristics of the employees and of the work place are controlled for. -- 18 Studien, die sich auf Daten aus 20 hochentwickelten, sich entwickelnden und weniger entwickelten Ländern stützen, zeigen, dass die Durchschnittslöhne in exportierenden Firmen höher liegen als in nichtexportierenden Firmen aus der gleichen Branche und Region. Die Existenz dieser Lohnzuschläge bei Exporteuren ist einer der stilisierten Fakten der wachsenden Literatur zur Mikroökonometrie des internationalen Handels. Die vorliegende Arbeit verwendet einen großen und reichhaltigen Satz von kombinierten Firmen- Beschäftigten-Daten aus Deutschland um zu zeigen, dass diese Lohnzuschläge verschwinden, wenn die individuellen Charakteristika der Mitarbeiter und des Arbeitsplatzes angemessen berücksichtigt werden.Exports,wages,exporter wage premia,linked employer-employee data,Germany

Higher Wages in Exporting Firms: Self-selection, Export Effect, or Both? First Evidence from German Linked Employer-Employee Data

ABSTRACT: While it is a stylized fact that exporting firms pay higher wages than non-exporting firms, the direction of the link between exporting and wages is less clear. Using a rich set of German linked employer-employee panel data we follow over time plants that start to export. We show that the exporter wage premium does already exist in the years before firms start to export, and that it does not increase in the following years. Higher wages in exporting firms are thus due to self-selection of more productive, better paying firms into export markets; they are not caused by export activities.exports; wages; exporter wage premium; Germany

Productivity, investment in ICT and market experimentation: micro evidence from Germany und the US

This paper examines the relationship between the use of advanced technologies such as ICT, and outcomes such as productivity, the skill mix of the workforce and wages using micro data for the U.S. and Germany. We find support to the idea that U.S. businesses engage in experimentation in a variety of ways not matched by their German counterparts. In particular, there is greater experimentation amongst young U.S. businesses and also among those actively changing their technology. This is evidenced in a greater dispersion in productivity and related key business choices. We also find that the mean impact of adopting new technology on productivity and wages is greater the in U.S. than in Germany. -- Dieses Papier untersucht die Beziehung zwischen dem Einsatz neuer Technologien, wie von IKT, und betrieblichen Kenngrößen wie der Produktivität, der Qualifikationsstruktur und den Löhnen, wobei Mikrodaten für die USA und Deutschland verwendet wurden. Dabei kann die Hypothese unterstützt werden, dass in den USA Betriebe stärker experimentieren - gemessen anhand der Streuung der Produktivität und anderen betrieblichen Entscheidungsvariablen - als in Deutschland. Dies zeigt sich insbesondere bei jungen Betrieben und bei Betrieben, die ihre Technologie verändern. Wir finden ebenfalls einen größeren durchschnittlichen Einfluss der Einführung neuer Technologien auf die Produktivität und die Löhne in den USA als in Deutschland.ICT,Experimentation,Productivity,Internet Use,U.S.,Germany

Gender Differences in Labor Supply to Monopsonistic Firms: An Empirical Analysis Using Linked Employer-Employee Data from Germany

This paper investigates women's and men's labor supply to the firm within a structural approach based on a dynamic model of new monopsony. Using methods of survival analysis and a linked employer-employee dataset for Germany, we find that labor supply elasticities are small (0.9 - 2.4) and that women's labor supply to the firm is substantially less elastic than men's (which is the reverse of gender differences in labor supply usually found at the level of the market). One implication of these findings is that the gender pay gap could be the result of wage discrimination by profit-maximizing monopsonistic employers.labor supply, monopsony, gender, discrimination

Wage Cyclicality under Different Regimes of Industrial Relations

Since there is scant evidence on the role of industrial relations in wage cyclicality, this paper analyzes the effect of collective wage contracts and of works councils on real wage growth. Using linked employer-employee data for western Germany, we find that works councils affect wage growth only in combination with collective bargaining. Wage adjustments to positive and negative economic shocks are not always symmetric. Only under sectoral bargaining there is a (nearly symmetric) reaction to rising and falling unemployment. In contrast, wage growth in establishments without collective bargaining adjusts only to falling unemployment and is unaffected by rising unemployment.wage cyclicality, wage bargaining, works council, Germany