Debates in which moral imperatives run up against finite economic resources and the pragmatics of policy-making are rarely productive. Each side arrives armed with studies and statistics to support their own position—this thing must be done at all costs; this thing costs too much to do; this thing cannot realistically be done—and each usually departs with those same beliefs intact. To move beyo...

A proper understanding of the patterns, sources and implications of wage and labour cost dynamics is an essential requirement for the effective conduct of monetary policy. Wage costs are an important determinant of prices. The fi ndings of the Infl ation Persistence Network (IPN), a Eurosystem research network analysing the features and determinants of price setting in the euro area, suggest th...

Multiple Equilibria and Minimum Wages in Labor Markets with Informational Frictions and Heterogeneous Production Technologies It is often argued that a mandatory minimum wage is binding only if the wage density displays a spike at it. In this paper we analyze a model with search frictions and heterogeneous production technologies, in which imposition of a minimum wage affects wages even though,...

This paper contributes to the policy debate on minimum wage by highlighting its role in enforcing compliance with fiscal rules in economies where underreporting of earnings is widespread. First, I propose a simple model exploring the interaction between the minimum wage and underreporting of earnings. Then, I provide supportive evidence by documenting a positive correlation within European labo...

This paper analyzes collective bargaining using Spanish firm level data. Central to the analysis are the joint determination of wage and strike outcomes in a dynamic framework and the possibility of segregate wage equation for strike and non-strike outcomes. Conditional to strikes taking place, we confirm a negative relationship between strike duration and wage changes in a dynamic context. Fur...

This paper presents a simple model to characterize the discriminatory behavior of a non-complying firm in a minimum-wage economy. In the analysis, the violating firm pays one “favored” group of workers the statutory minimum and the other “non-favored” group of workers a sub-minimum. We find conditions under which law enforcement is ineffective in improving the between-group wage differentials. ...

Many studies document significantly positive associations between schooling attainment and wages in developing countries. But when individuals enter occupations subsequent to completing their schooling, they not only face an expected work-life path of wages, but a number of other occupational characteristics, including wage risks and disability risks, for which there may be compensating wage di...

Economists explain welfare dependency of the unemployed and in-work poverty by the low labour market quality of the poor. Work can be made to pay by working family tax credits. But these might lower wages and price nonrecipients out of the market, widening the eligibility for the wage supplementation and raising social welfare bills. This was precisely the effect of the Speenhamland system of w...

We propose an extended PAYG social security system that conditions pension benefits on the aggregate wage sum and on the wage of one’s children. The latter increases parents’ incentives to provide their children with good within-family education. However, since wages depend stochastically on parents’ unobservable investment in their children’s human capital, some insurance against the productiv...