Understanding wage restraint in the German public sector: does the pattern bargaining hypothesis really hold water?

Artikel

German public sector wage restraint has been explained through the presence of a specific type of inter-sectoral wage coordination in the industrial relations system—that is, export sector-led pattern bargaining. First, as a literature-assessing exercise, this paper reviews the literature in industrial relations and comparative political economy (CPE) and finds that (i) the origins and mechanics of inter-sectoral wage coordination through pattern bargaining have never been laid out clearly; (ii) that the mechanisms of the pattern bargaining thesis have never been tested empirically; and (iii) that the CPE literature reveals an export-sector bias. Second, as a theory-testing exercise, hoop tests are performed to verify the pattern bargaining hypothesis. The key finding is that Germany cannot be considered a case of export sector-driven pattern bargaining, opening a new research agenda for the study of public sector wage setting centred on public sector employment relations, public finance, public administrations and the politics of fiscal policy.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Journal: Industrial Relations Journal ; ISSN: 1468-2338 ; Volume: 51 ; Year: 2020 ; Issue: 3 ; Pages: 185-208 ; Hoboken, NJ: Wiley

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Di Carlo, Donato
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Wiley
• (where): Hoboken, NJ
• (when): 2020

Further information

• DOI: doi:10.1111/irj.12288
• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/230180
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:41 AM CET