How human capital affects labor income share at the sectoral level?: Evidence from the EU-13 countries and the UK

PurposeThe author investigates the effects of human capital on labor income share in the 15 sectors of the European Union (EU)-13 countries and the United Kingdom (UK) over the period 2008–2015.Design/methodology/approachThe author employs pooled ordinary least squares (OLS) estimation with panel data, using the EU KLEMS database.FindingsThe results show that when education level increases, labor income share increases and gender-based labor income share differentials decrease. Return to education is higher in qualitative sectors in contrast with the other sectors. Moreover, there are gender-based labor income share differentials at the sectoral level. These differentials are higher in nonqualitative sectors, while they are relatively lower in qualitative sectors.Research limitations/implicationsThe biggest limitation of the study is that the data range cannot be expanded because of the database. The author is of opinion that the empirical findings will guide to policy makers in terms of wage setting.Originality/valueThe expected contribution of this study to the literature is to investigate the effect of human capital on labor income share at the sectoral level for the EU-13 countries and the UK. As far as the author knows, there is no study which investigates this topic at the sectoral level such a comprehensive, in the literature.

The Role of Wage Formation in Empirical Macroeconometric Models

The specification of model equations for nominal wage setting has important implications for the properties of macroeconometric models and requires system thinking and multiple equation modeling. The main models classes are the Phillips curve model (PCM), the wage–price equilibrium correction model (WP-ECM), and the New Keynesian Phillips curve (NKPCM). The PCM was included in the macroeconometric models of the 1960s. The WP‑ECM arrived in the late 1980s. The NKPCM is central in dynamic stochastic general equilibrium models (DSGEs). The three model classes can be interpreted as different specifications of the system of stochastic difference equations that define the supply side of a medium-term macroeconometric model. This calls for an appraisal of the different wage models, in particular in relation to the concept of the non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment (NAIRU, or natural rate of unemployment), and of the methods and research strategies used. The construction of macroeconomic model used to be based on the combination of theoretical and practical skills in economic modeling. Wage formation was viewed as being forged between the forces of markets and national institutions. In the age of DSGE models, macroeconomics has become more of a theoretical discipline. Nevertheless, producers of DSGE models make use of hybrid forms if an initial theoretical specification fails to meet a benchmark for acceptable data fit. A common ground therefore exists between the NKPC, WP‑ECM, and PCM, and it is feasible to compare the model types empirically.

The End of the Rhineland Model? Changing Labour Relations in Germany - Evidence from the Minimum Wage Debate

<p>Hypothesis: Effects of globalisation, European Integration and re-unification have pushed the German political economy away from its unique institutional setting, framed as Rhineland Capitalism or the Rhineland Model. Legislative decisions in the last years and current positions of politicoeconomic actors in wage setting mechanisms - a distinctive part of the Rhineland Model - seem to foster that shift and illustrate the incremental 'Anglo-Saxonisation' of the German political economy.</p>

Labour in the Technocratic Frame: Macroeconomic Policy and Wages in 1950s Australia

Though the labour market has always been central to macroeconomics, policy has usually had no instrument for intervening directly in the wage-setting process. But in the mid-twentieth century, economists commonly believed that there should be such an instrument. In 1950s Australia, it seemed that the arbitration system could potentially be used as such. This article uses Trevor Swan’s contemporary model of Australian policy in the 1950s to understand the tensions facing policy and explain why wage control seemed to be a solution. The arbitration judges began to consider macroeconomics in their decisions, and the unions adapted by presenting macroeconomic arguments of their own. In full employment conditions, labour had considerable economic power outside the tribunal, and the limitations of arbitration as an instrument of policy raised the shadow of unemployment as an alternative disciplining device.

Wages of Skilled Migrant and Native Employees in Germany: New Light on an Old Issue

The German Council of Economic Experts (GCEE) argues for a labor market-driven immigration of skilled migrants into Germany to overcome a decline in workforce due to demographic ageing. We pick up this current debate on skilled immigration by analyzing the migrant-native wage differential for skilled workers in Germany and consider various information on firms. Our results indicate that the wage gap is mainly explained by observable characteristics, especially labor market experience and firm characteristics. However, we find lower rewards for migrants’ labor market experience than for natives (flatter experience curves). Our results show that these differences in experience curves become negligible in the long run. Moreover, we reveal firms’ wage-setting policies: Firms evaluate a worker's education independent of migration backgrounds, as migrants possess the same productivity levels as their German counterparts in the same occupations and task levels. Due to Germany's heterogeneous immigration structure, we are able to compare the results for different migrant subgroups and, thus, derive valuable insights into the migrant-native wage structure with a wide reach beyond Germany. This article adds to current debates in various industrialized countries with demographic ageing patterns, as it focuses on an important group for domestic labor markets: skilled immigrants.

Assortative Matching or Exclusionary Hiring? The Impact of Employment and Pay Policies on Racial Wage Differences in Brazil

We measure the effects of firm policies on racial pay differences in Brazil. Non-Whites are less likely to be hired by high-wage firms, explaining about 20 percent of the racial wage gap for both genders. Firm-specific pay premiums for non-Whites are also compressed relative to Whites, contributing another 5 percent for that gap. A counterfactual analysis reveals that about two-thirds of the underrepresentation of non-Whites at higher-wage firms is explained by race-neutral skill-based sorting. Non-skill-based sorting and differential wage setting are largest for college-educated workers, suggesting that the allocative costs of discriminatory hiring and pay policies may be relatively large in Brazil. (JEL J15, J24, J31, J41, J46, J71, O15)