Suchergebnisse

Ever since the pioneering work on human capital modeling by Becker (1964) and Mincer (1974), estimation of earning potential and wage differentials in terms of differences in human capital endowments has been a favourite topic of research throughout the world. The empirical evidence has established, may be beyond doubt, that low returns are usually associated with low-level of human capital possessed by economic agents. Using appropriate controls for innate abilities, education, experience and training as primary determinants of human capital, the residual differential in wages among differentiated groups (on the basis of gender, race, and region) has often been characterised as discrimination [Blinder (1973) and Oaxaca (1973)]. The empirical estimation made further advances when the issue of sample selection bias was also settled by Heckman (1980). More recently the focus of research has shifted from differentials measured at the conditional mean (average) value to measurement at different points of wage distribution to test the 'glass ceiling and sticky floor' hypothesis.1 Some of the studies where quantile regression approach of Koenker and Bassett (1978) and Buchinsky (1998) has been adopted include Bjorklund and Vroman (2001), Dolado and Llorens (2004), and Albrecht, Vuuren, and Vroman (2004). On the basis of this research, the glass ceiling hypothesis has received fair amount of empirical support in much of the developed world. On the other hand, the sticky floor hypothesis has only been observed in some of the countries located in the southern Europe. The focus of present study is on Pakistan with three main objectives. First, to investigate if analysis at the conditional mean is sufficient to explain wage differential or an extensive work covering different points of wage distribution is required to have proper insight to the issue. This would, in turn, enable us to determine which of the two hypotheses, i.e., the glass ceiling or the sticky floor, is prevalent in the country? For this purpose, gender wage differentials at different quantiles, i.e., 10th, 25th, median,

This paper studies the effect of wage rigidities on the transmission of fiscal and monetary policy shocks. We calculate downward wage rigidities across U.S. states using the Current Population Survey. These estimates are used to explain differences in the state level economic effects of identical national shocks in interest rates and taxes. In line with the role of sticky wages in New Keynesian models, we find that contractionary monetary policy and tax shocks increase unemployment and decrease economic activity in rigid states considerably more than in flexible states. We also find larger and more persistent effects of monetary and tax policy shocks for states where the ratio between minimum and median wage is higher and for states that do not have right-to-work legislation. ; The ADEMU Working Paper Series is being supported by the European Commission Horizon 2020 European Union funding for Research & Innovation, grant agreement No 649396.

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to analyse the gender wage differential at different points of the wage distribution. It investigates the existence of glass ceilings and sticky floors in the Mauritian labour market. There is no previous empirical work studying gender inequality in the labour market for the small island economy of Mauritius.Design/methodology/approach– To investigate whether wage differentials are higher at the top or bottom ends of the wage distribution, the authors examine the wage disparities across different quantiles of the wage distribution. The gender wage disparities are assessed using quantile regression and decomposition techniques at the 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th and 90th quantiles. Survey data from the Continuous Multi-Purpose Household Survey from 2006 to 2013 is used.Findings– The results reveal that sticky floors are more pronounced than glass ceilings over the years. Further, for the years 2008, 2010 and 2012, it is noted that at the 75th quantiles, the gender wage differentials started to rise showing glass ceiling effects. The combination of both sticky floors and glass ceilings are characterised by the unexplained factors providing evidence for gender discrimination in the Mauritian labour market.Originality/value– This is the first study analysing the glass ceilings or sticky floors in the Mauritian labour market. Though the research is limited to Mauritius, the latter being a small island economy can serve as a case study for other island economies and also for the African continent.

Information on wage levels is essential in evaluating the
living standards and conditions of work and life of the workers. Since
nominal wage fails to explain the purchasing power of employees, real
wage is considered as a major indicator of employees purchasing power
and can be used as proxy for their level of income. Any fluctuations in
the real wage rate have a significant impact on poverty and the
distribution of income. When used in relation with other economic
variables, for instance employment or output they are valuable
indicators in the analysis of business cycles. There has been a long
debate regarding the relationship between real wages and the employment
(output). Despite the apparent simplicity, the relationship between real
wages and output has remained deceptive both theoretically and
empirically. Keynes (1936) viewed cyclical movements in employment along
a stable labour demand schedule thus indicating counter cyclical real
wages. His deduction is in line with sticky wages and sticky
expectations, which augments models like Phillips curve. In these models
real wages behaved as counter-cyclical as nominal wages are slow to
adjust during recession (decrease in aggregate demand and associated
slowdown in price growth). Stickiness of wages or expectations shifts
the labour supply over the business cycles [Abraham and Haltiwanger
(1995)]. Barro (1990) and Christiano and Eichenbaum (1992) have
associated these labour supply shifts with intertemporal labour-leisure
substitution. This in response to temporary changes in real interest
rates (fiscal policy shocks) could yield counter-cyclical real wages.
However, Long and Plosser (1983) and Kydland and Prescott (1982) while
studying the real business cycle models highlight on the technology
shocks which leads to pro-cyclical real wages.

AbstractIn the wake of financial crises in emerging markets, firmly fixed exchange rates and even dollarization have been advocated as a means to decrease vulnerability. There are many important new issues related to fixing the exchange rate and financial vulnerability, but one long‐time vital concern for a fixed currency regime persists: the flexibility of domestic prices and wages. In the presence of high nominal rigidities, fixed rates can lead to large output costs in the aftermath of negative macroeconomic shocks. Employing a method previously applied to the gold standard fixed rate regime, we find generally flat aggregate supply curves in a sample of five emerging markets. This indicates substantial inflexibility of prices, and large losses in terms of income and employment in a fixed exchange rate regime subsequent to negative shocks. © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.