Wage formation in the Italian private sector after the 1992-93 income policy agreements

Abstract

The effects of the 1992-93 Income Policy Agreements on wages and wage differentials are analysed. In the last decade, both the aggregate real wages and their differentials among individual remained constant. Thanks to the effectiveness of the new Government target inflation, the national contracts embodied a substantial wage moderation, driving the inflation expectations. At the opposite, the firm-level contracts coverage only slightly increased, insufficiently distributing the productivity growth. The cooperative framework favoured the diffusion of organisational change, temporary contracts and flexibility. The income policy was crucial to introduce the wage moderation, favouring the employment growth and helping the fiscal adjustment. Currently such positive results are at risk.Wage determination, Inflation, Income Policy, Performance-related Pay