Wage Inequality and Employment in the German Labor Market PDF Download

Author: Katrin Sommerfeld
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 206

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Author: Gerhard Bosch
Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation
ISBN: 1610440765
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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In recent years, the German government has intentionally expanded the low-wage work sector in an effort to reduce exceptionally high levels of unemployment. As a result, the share of the German workforce employed in low-paying jobs now rivals that of the United States. Low Wage Work in Germany examines both the federal policies and changing economic conditions that have driven this increase in low-wage work. The new "mini-job" reflects the federal government's attempt to make certain low-paying jobs attractive to both employers and employees. Employers pay a low flat rate for benefits, and employees, who work a limited number of hours per week, are exempt from social security and tax contributions. Other factors, including slow economic growth, a declining collective bargaining system, and the influx of foreign workers, also contribute to the growing incidence of low-wage work. Yet while both Germany and the United States have large shares of low-wage workers, German workers receive health insurance, four weeks of paid vacation, and generous old age support—benefits most low-wage workers in the United States can only dream of. The German experience offers an important opportunity to explore difficult trade-offs between unemployment and low-wage work. A Volume in the Russell Sage Foundation Case Studies of Job Quality in Advanced Economies

Author: Eswar Prasad
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 70

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The objective of this paper is to document the evolution of the German wage structure over the period 1984-97. The paper also investigates the roles of various factors that could have influenced patterns of changes in the wage structure. While a documentation of the evolution of the wage structure in Germany is interesting in its own right, the analysis in this paper, by facilitating comparisons with changes in the wage structures of other industrial countries, could potentially provide important clues to understanding the poor functioning of the German labor market in recent years. In particular, the analysis sheds light on the reasons behind and possible solutions for a particularly troubling problem, the high and rising rate of nonemployment among low-skilled workers.

Author: Jannek Mühlhan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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In the last 15 years before the COVID-19 crisis, Germany has experienced a strong and continuous increase in employment - the 'German job miracle'. During this period, income inequality, which had previously increased sharply, remained relatively stable. This paper analyzes the impact of employment changes on disposable income inequality between 2004 and 2015 and gives an answer to the question why inequality remained constant despite the dramatic increase in employment. It is the first study to examine the effect of changing labor supply patterns due to changes in policies, wages and preferences, as well as the role that labor market constraints have played for inequality of disposable income. It finds that inequality would have increased further due to a transforming population structure, but increasing employment and policy changes almost completely offset this development. The results show that employment growth due to the reduction of labor market constraints has been more important in slowing down the increase in inequality than changes in labor supply.

Author: Lewis C. Solmon
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429723601
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 394

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This clear, accessible volume provides a comprehensive overview of the ongoing debate over the determining factors of and key influences on employment growth and labor market training, education, and related policies in the United States. Drawing on the work of distinguished labor economists, the chapters tackle questions posed by job and skill demands in the "new high-tech economy" and explore sources of employment growth; productivity growth and its implications for future employment; government mandates, labor costs, and employment; and labor force demographics, income inequality, and returns to human capital. These topics are central concerns for government, which must judge every prospective policy proposal by its effects on employment growth. Washington keeps at least one eye firmly on the jobs picture, and public officials at every level are constantly aware of the issues surrounding American job security. The jobs issue reaches beyond this focus on the unemployment rate and on total employment, including the rate at which employment is seen as growing, the growth of real wages, the security of employment, returns to human capital, uncertainty about the education and training best suited for a world of rapidly changing economic conditions, and the distribution of the gains from growth across economic classes and population groups.

Author: David Brady
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Author: International Monetary Fund
Publisher: INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
ISBN: 9781451810318
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 167

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This Selected Issues paper analyzes labor market asymmetries and macroeconomic adjustment in Germany. Empirical work reported shows that in Germany, negative demand shocks increase the unemployment rate by more than the decrease in the unemployment rate caused by a comparable-sized positive demand shock. The contribution of labor costs to explaining the high level of unemployment, particularly since unification, is studied. Empirical estimates are obtained for the wage gap-the deviation of actual labor costs from warranted labor costs based on estimated production functions assuming competitive factor markets and full employment.

Author: Benjamin Bruns
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3656486921
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 67

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Master's Thesis from the year 2013 in the subject Leadership and Human Resources - Miscellaneous, grade: 1,1, Humboldt-University of Berlin (Angewandte Mikroökonometrie / Arbeitsmarktökonomik), language: English, abstract: Working time and wages represent two elementary components of economic welfare. Yet, in spite of both having witnessed signi cant changes during recent decades, economists have expended far greater efforts on probing changes in the structure of wages than on exploring trends in the composition of working hours. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel for the period from 1984 to 2009, my thesis sets out to do three things: firstly, to document recent changes in the distribution of hours; secondly, to describe the related trends in part-time employment; and thirdly, to elaborate on the interrelation between hours, wages, and incomes. My results show a protracted decline of average hours that materialises next to a growing diversication of working time between and within different groups of the labour market. I find a secular expansion of part-time work that has accomodated a surge of female employment, and appealed to young and low-skilled workers alike. Due to a persistently high share of full-time work among men, male income inequality is extensively shaped by changes in the distribution of wages. Among women, where part-time arrangements are common, both hours and wages exert a commensurate impact on the distribution of incomes. Restricting attention to full-time workers removes any variation of hours over time.

Author: Uwe Becker
Publisher: Amsterdam University Press
ISBN: 9053567550
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Why did some economies experience a boom in the 1990s? Discussing this crucial question, Employment 'Miracles' comparatively analyzes select "miracle" economies. The contributors critically analyze how the small sizes and institutional structures of seven countries—including the Netherlands, Denmark, and Ireland—accounted for their success and their status as economic models. Comparisons to the American and German markets reveal how differing policies—liberal versus corporatist/social democratic—determine job growth and levels of income inequality and poverty. The book also stresses the relevance of fortuitous circumstances such as the housing-price bubble. Employment 'Miracles' is an important resource for political scientists and economists in their study of national economies.

Author: Bernd Fitzenberger
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3642586872
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 255

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For some time, it has been debated whether a lack of wage flexibility is at the roots of the high and persistent unemployment in West Germany. In the presence of a skill bias in labor demand, which increases the relative de mand for more highly skilled labor over time, there only seems to exist the choice between higher wage inequality or higher unemployment rates. This study scrutinizes whether and in what way this line of thought is consis tent with empirical findings for West Germany. The analysis ranges from extensive descriptive evidence on wage trends to the estimation of a struc tural model of wage bargaining. As the most important database, I use the IAB-Beschiiftigtenstichprobe from 1975 to 1990. This study was accepted as a Habilitation thesis by the Department of Economics and Statistics of the University of Konstanz in October 1998. The only major change relates to appendix B on the block bootstrap procedure now summarizing the main aspects of the method. I am very grateful to my advisor Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Franz for his support, encouragement, and inspiration. From 1993 to 1997, he ran the Center for International Labor Economics at the University of Konstanz in such a way that it provided a fruitful environment for empirical research in labor economics. I am also indebted to Prof. Dr. Winfried Pohlmeier and to Prof. Dr. Gerd Ronning for undertaking the task to evaluate my Habilitation thesis.