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Pay Inequality

Karl Ove Moene1; Michael Wallerstein2

1 University of Oslo · 2 Northwestern University

Journal of Labor Economics 1997

We investigate the effects of wage compression through centralized collective bargaining when growth depends on the continual reallocation of labor from older, less productive plants to new, more productive plants. We first study the compression of wage differentials that derive from decentralized bargaining in heterogeneous plants. We then consider wage compression when wage difterentials arise from competition among employers over workers of differing quality. We show that wage compression through centralized bargaining can result in higher profits and greater entry of new plants than either decentralized bargaining or a competitive labor market.

DOI
10.1086/209866
Volume
15 (3)
Pages
403-430
Language
en
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