Unions, Wage Setting and Monetary Policy Uncertainty

34 Pages Posted: 2 Jun 2005

See all articles by H. P. Gruner

H. P. Gruner

University of Mannheim - Department of Economics; Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Bernd Hayo

University of Marburg - School of Business & Economics

Carsten Hefeker

University of Siegen - School of Economic Disciplines

Date Written: June 2005

Abstract

Recent theoretical research has studied extensively the link between wage setting and monetary policymaking in unionized economies. This paper addresses the question of the role of monetary uncertainty from both an empirical and theoretical point of view. Our analysis is based on a simple model that derives the influence of monetary uncertainty on unionized wage setting. We construct an indicator of monetary policy uncertainty and test our model with data for the G5 countries. The central finding is that monetary policy uncertainty has a negative impact on nominal wage growth in countries where wage setting is relatively centralized. This result is consistent with recent theoretical approaches to central bank transparency and wage setting.

Keywords: Monetary policy uncertainty, centralized wage setting, union behavior

JEL Classification: E58

Suggested Citation

Grüner, Hans Peter and Hayo, Bernd and Hefeker, Carsten, Unions, Wage Setting and Monetary Policy Uncertainty (June 2005). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=711170 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.711170

Hans Peter Grüner (Contact Author)

University of Mannheim - Department of Economics ( email )

D-68131 Mannheim
Germany

Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

Bernd Hayo

University of Marburg - School of Business & Economics ( email )

Universitaetsstr. 24
Marburg, D-35032
Germany
++49(0)6421-28-23091 (Phone)
++49(0)6421-28-23193 (Fax)

Carsten Hefeker

University of Siegen - School of Economic Disciplines ( email )

Hoelderlinstrasse 3
57068 Siegen
Germany