We provide a detailed descriptive analysis of the long-term effects of the 50 percent public sector wage increase initiated by the government in 2002 in order to improve the relative situation of public sector workers. The aim of this policy was to attract high quality workers to the public...

I identify wage spillovers from the public to the corporate sector with the help of a large public sector wage increase, which raised public sector wages by 40 percent in two years time, changing the average public relative wage from a fallback of 10.5 percent to a 12.5 percent premium. The...

The paper investigates teachers' decisions to leave the profession. First we examine the role of earnings and earnings in alternative occupations in these decisions, and then the paper discusses how the public sector wage increase in 2002 has effected exiting decisions of teachers. Using large...

The paper looks at the effect of exceptionally large fluctuations in the level of public sector pay on the number and quality of workers moving from the private to the public sector in Hungary. Special emphasis is put on the unique pay rises taking place before and after the 2002 elections. The...