Gerlach and Stephan (1994) proposed a test based on the idea that the wage premium, the part of the wage which is not explained by the stock of human capital, should help predict variables such as career expectations (quit, change occupation, leave the labour force) and some job characteristics...

This paper investigates the increase in wage inequality, the decline in collective bargaining, and the development of the gender wage gap in West Germany between 2001 and 2006. Based on detailed linked employer-employee data, we show that wage inequality is rising strongly – driven not only by...

Collective bargaining in Germany takes place either at the industry level or at the firm level; collective bargaining coverage is much higher than union density; and not all employees in a covered firm are necessarily covered. This institutional setup suggests to explicitly distinguish union...

Fixed-term labour contracts were liberalised in Germany in order to raise the flexibility of the labour market. However, empirical studies using industry-level data find no significant effect of FTCs on employment adjustment. This paper investigates the impact of FTC employment on firms?...

This study provides empirical evidence for the economic rationality of wage rigidities. Theoretically wage rigidities can result from contracts, implicit contracts, from efficiency wages and from insider-outsider behaviour. Based on a survey of 801 firms strong support has been found for...

This paper considers training, mobility decisions and wages together to test for the specificity of human capital contained in continuing training courses. We empirically analyse the relationship between training, mobility and wages in two ways. First, we examine the correlation between training...

The study provides evidence for the rationale of wage rigidity in Germany compared to the United States. Based on a survey of 801 firms, we extend the study of Campbell and Kanlani (1997, this journal) by using more thorough econometric methods, for example, and find strong support for...

This paper demonstrates that insiders can erect barriers to entry and skim rents by sinking costs in human capital when labour markets are otherwise perfectly contestable. The sunk costs nature of human capital investments may result from the need to satisfy ever increasing specialised skill...

Ob und wie lange Jugendliche nach Abschluß ihrer Lehre weiterhin im Ausbildungsbetrieb arbeiten, ist eine Fragestellung, deren Beantwortung für das Verständnis des Arbeitsmarktes in mehrfacher Hinsicht von Nutzen sein kann. Zum einen liefern Abgänge aus dem Ausbildungsbetrieb ohne...

In diesem Beitrag werden Ausmaß und Konsequenzen von nominalen und tariflichen Lohnrigiditäten mikroökonomisch und mikroökonometrisch untersucht. Die Analyse verdeutlicht, dass in Deutschland Lohnrigiditäten keineswegs selten sind. Diese haben eine Lohnaufschwemmung mit beachtlichen...