This paper presents new empirical evidence about the wage gap between union and nonunion workers in Brazil. In principle, due to the rules governing union organization/mobilization, no one should rationally expect such gap. However, as this paper reveals, there is empirical evidence of its...

Using rich linked employer-employee data for (West) Germany between 1996 and 2014, we analyze the most important drivers of the recent rise in German wage dispersion and pin down the relative contribution of plant and worker characteristics. Moreover, we separately investigate the drivers of...

The literature on wage bargaining so far mainly argues that unemployment benefits are relevant outside options for employees. This paper demonstrates that also a change in outside wage options drives wages in continuing jobs. The authors use the natural experiment of a crafts reform that reduces...

Nowadays, there is a growing debate about the role of collective bargaining in Brazilian labour regulation. Nonetheless, is it possible to discuss such a role without debating the collective actors engaged in that bargaining? The answer is probably no, at least with respect to labour actors...

We analyze the effect of the increase in trade exposure induced by the rise of China and the transformation of Eastern Europe on collective bargaining coverage of German plants in the period 1996-2008. We exploit cross-industry variation in trade exposure and use trade flows of other high-income...

We examine whether low-paid jobs have an effect on the occupational advancement probability of unemployed persons to obtain better-paid jobs in the future (stepping-stone effect). We make use of data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and apply a dynamic random-effects probit model. Our...

This paper studies the impact of downward wage rigidity on wage and employment dynamics after the outbreak of major recessions in Spain. Downward wage rigidity stems from collective agreements, which set province-sector-skill specific minimum wage floors for all workers. By exploiting variation...

This paper focuses on the relationship between higher wages and capital intensity. The relationship itself is by no means a novel finding but we try to provide a meaningful theoretical explanation for the relationship and empirical evidence on its exact nature. Our explanation is the outcome of...