Industry-level wage bargaining : a partial rehabilitation ; the German experience

Arbeitspapier

In order to reduce unemployment, it is often recommended that industry-level wage bargaining in Germany should be replaced by a more decentralized system. This paper provides a critical assessment of the current wage bargaining institutions and reexamines the case for a more decentralized system. Based on a theoretical model integrating Insider-Outsider aspects into the comparison, the unformly superior employment performance of a decentralized wage bargaining system is questioned. We conclude that, rather than solely trying to decentralize wage bargaining, a promising policy option may be to improve the skills of the unemployed by efficient labour market policies and to foster institutional reforms such that wage bargaining takes account of the long-run employment consequences of wage setting.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: ZEW Discussion Papers ; No. 99-33

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials ; Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects
• Subject: Centralization of Wage Bargaining ; Union Preferences ; Insider-Outsider Theory ; Germany ; Tarifpolitik ; Lohnverhandlungen ; Firmentarifvertrag ; Insider-Outsider-Modell ; Theorie ; Deutschland

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Fitzenberger, Bernd ; Franz, Wolfgang
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung (ZEW)
• (where): Mannheim
• (when): 1999

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/24316
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET