The paper uses newly available cross-section data to study wage determination in the United Kingdom in the 1980s. The results are contrasted with those from a comparable sample from the US from 1977-1988

This paper provides evidence for the existence of a wage curve - a micro-econometric association between the level of pay and the local unemployment rate - in modern U.S. data. Consistent with recent evidence from more than 40 other countries, the wage curve in the United States has a long-run...