Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Philip Du Caju
Author-X-Name-First: Philip
Author-X-Name-Last: Du Caju
Author-Email: Philip.DuCaju@nbb.be
Author-Workplace-Name: National Bank of Belgium
Author-Name: Gábor Kátay
Author-X-Name-First: Gábor
Author-X-Name-Last: Kátay
Author-Email: katayg@mnb.hu
Author-Workplace-Name: Magyar Nemzeti Bank
Author-Name: Ana Lamo
Author-X-Name-First: Ana
Author-X-Name-Last: Lamo
Author-Email: ana.lamo@ecb.europa.eu
Author-Workplace-Name: European Central Bank
Author-Name: Daphne Nicolitsas
Author-X-Name-First: Daphne
Author-X-Name-Last: Nicolitsas
Author-Email: dnikolitsa@bankofbreece.gr
Author-Workplace-Name: Bank of Greece
Author-Name: Steven Poelhekke
Author-X-Name-First: Steven
Author-X-Name-Last: Poelhekke
Author-Email: s.poelhekke@dnb.nl
Author-Workplace-Name: De Nederlandsche Bank
  
Title: Inter-industry wage differentials in EU countries: what do cross-country time varying data add to the picture?

Abstract: This paper documents the existence and main patterns of inter-industry wage differentials across a large number of industries for 8 EU countries (Belgium, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, and Spain) at two points in time (in general 1995 and 2002) and explores possible explanations for these patterns. The analysis uses the European Structure of Earnings Survey (SES), an internationally harmonised matched employer-employee dataset, to estimate inter-industry wage differentials conditional on a rich set of employee, employer and job characteristics. After investigating the possibility that unobservable employee characteristics lie behind the conditional wage differentials, a hypothesis which cannot be accepted, the paper investigates the role of institutional, industry structure and industry performance characteristics in explaining interindustry wage differentials. The results suggest that inter-industry wage differentials are consistent with rent sharing mechanisms and that rent sharing is more likely in industries with firm-level collective agreements and with higher collective agreement coverage.

Length: 37 pages
Creation-Date: 2010
File-URL: http://www.mnb.hu/letoltes/wp-2010-9-final.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf

Number: 2010/9
Classification-JEL: J31, J41, J51
Keywords: inter-industry wage differentials, rent sharing, unobserved ability
Handle: RePEc:mnb:wpaper:2010/9