Unit labor costs and competitiveness - a micro econometric analysis for East Germany
Harald Lehmann
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 180,
2003
Abstract
Die wirtschaftliche Entwicklung in Ostdeutschland hängt neben der Gründung neuer Unternehmen und der Attraktion auswärtiger Investitionen vor allem davon ab, wie es den bestehenden Unternehmen gelingt, ihre Wettbewerbsfähigkeit zu steigern bzw. auf einem hohen Niveau zu halten. Wettbewerbsfähige Betriebe sind auch immer rentable Betriebe. Sie sind in der Lage Eigenkapital aufzubauen, was eine wichtige Voraussetzung fur die Finanzierung von Innovationen und Investitionen, aber auch für eine gewisse Krisenfestigkeit ist. Damit tragen sie erheblich zum gesamtwirtschaftlichen Wachstum und zu höherer Beschäftigung bei.
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Uncovered Workers in Plants Covered by Collective Bargaining: Who Are They and How Do They Fare?
Boris Hirsch, Philipp Lentge, Claus Schnabel
Abstract
In Germany, employers used to pay union members and non-members in a plant the same union wage in order to prevent workers from joining unions. Using recent administrative data, we investigate which workers in firms covered by collective bargaining agreements still individually benefit from these union agreements, which workers are not covered anymore, and what this means for their wages. We show that about 9 percent of workers in plants with collective agreements do not enjoy individual coverage (and thus the union wage) anymore. Econometric analyses with unconditional quantile regressions and firm-fixed-effects estimations demonstrate that not being individually covered by a collective agreement has serious wage implications for most workers. Low-wage non-union workers and those at low hierarchy levels particularly suffer since employers abstain from extending union wages to them in order to pay lower wages. This jeopardizes unions' goal of protecting all disadvantaged workers.
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