← Search

Journal of Political Economy Vol. 94 No. 3, Part 2 1986

An Empirical Model of Wage Indexation Provisions in Union Contracts

David Card1,2,3

1 National Bureau of Economic Research · 2 Princeton University · 3 University of California, Berkeley

open access

Abstract

Cost of living escalators are an important feature of North American labor contracts. This paper presents a measure of the response of indexlinked wage increases to concurrent price increases for a sample of Canadian contracts, and then analyses this response in terms of a simple model of indexation to the aggregate price level. The model highlights the importance of aggregate price movements in conveying information about industryspecific prices. The empirical analysis confirms that industry-specific correlations between input and output prices and the Consumer Price Index are important determinants of the response of wage to prices across index contracts.

DOI
10.1086/261402
Volume
94
Issue
3, Part 2
Pages
S144-S175
Language
en
Sources
openalex crossref

Cite