"Flexibility and heterogeneity are important topics in labour market research. Since 2004 the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) has funded a research network addressing the issue of 'Flexibility in Heterogeneous Labour Markets', which intends to uncover possibilities for fostering...

"Nachdem wegen der zurückhaltenden Lohnabschlüsse der Tarifparteien in den vergangenen Jahren neuerdings weniger die Entwicklung des Lohnniveaus als der Lohnstruktur diskutiert wird, gewinnen arbeitsmarkttheoretische und empirische Untersuchungen des Zusammenhangs zwischen sektoraler,...

"The prevalence of opening clauses in collective bargaining agreements may indicate a tendency towards more decentralised wage setting. Increasing competition on international product markets is assumed to be one reason for the decentralisation of collective bargaining. Current theoretical...

"The paper explores wage setting practice in eastern Germany since unification. It gathers evidence to support the claim that economically non-viable collective agreements have fostered decentralized wage setting. First, we document the declining organization rates of both employers and...

"This contribution focuses on the relation between wage inequality, participation behavior and employment and the analysis in the project 'Flexibility of the wage distribution, inequality and employment'. In this project we investigate whether the popular idea of an encrusted German labor market...

"This article aims at describing and discussing the development of wage inequality in Germany in relation to the decline in collective wage bargaining, as this could be the institutional cause for the development since the 1990s. At the same time, the polarization hypothesis is discussed. Wage...

"This article studies the role of collective bargaining coverage for the relationship between wages and firm-specific performance. The empirical evidence based upon German linked employer-employee data provides support for the hypothesis that industry-level contracts suppress firm wage...

"1. In view of the severe employment crisis in the European industrial countries, the subject of labour market flexibility is increasingly becoming the focus of public attention. Apossible need for flexibility is, however, not only to be seen in the fields of labour costs, working hours and...

"Theoretically greater wage flexibility, i.e. larger wage dispersion according to industry, regions, occupational groups and qualifications, fosters employment growth. At the same time the number of vacancies can be decreased and the number of unemployed, especially the long-term unemployed, can...

"This article aims at describing and discussing the development of wage inequality in Germany in relation to the decline in collective wage bargaining, as this could be the institutional cause for the development since the 1990s. At the same time, the polarization hypothesis is discussed. Wage...