Wage-fixing Behaviour of Managers in Australia

Researchers have conducted surveys of firms in an attempt to test various theories of wage rigidity. The survey of Australian firms reported in this paper found strong support for the view that hiring and training costs are important reasons why employers do not reduce wages, consistent with the surveys of Blinder and Choi (1990), Bewley (1995, 1999) and Kaufman (1984). All the surveys find pervasive support for the notion of fairness as an explanation for wage rigidity. Qualified support was found for the idea that fear of unemployment motivates worker effort. Copyright Blackwell Publishers Ltd/London School of Economics 2002.