Wage setting patterns and monetary policy
By: Giovanni Olivei and Silvana Tenreyro.
Contributors: Tenreyro, Silvana.; London School of Economics and Political Science. Centre for Economic Performance.
Series: CEP discussion paper -- no. 872
Publisher: Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics and Political Science
Published: 2008
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Format: Electronic resource
Description: Systematic differences in the timing of wage setting decisions among industrialized countries provide an ideal framework to study the importance of wage rigidity in the transmission of monetary policy. The Japanese Shunto presents the most well-known case of bunching in wage setting decisions: From February to May, most firms set wages that remain in place until the following year; wage rigidity, thus, is relatively higher immediately after the Shunto. Similarly, in the United States, a large fraction of firms adjust wages in the last quarter of the calendar year. In contrast, wage agreements in Germany are well-spread within the year, implying a relatively uniform degree of rigidity. We exploit variation in the timing of wagesetting decisions within the year in Japan, the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, and France to investigate the effects of monetary policy under different degrees of effective wage rigidity. Our findings lend support to the long-held, though scarcely tested, view that wage-rigidity plays a key role in the transmission of monetary policy.
Notes: Title from PDF file (viewed on Oct. 10, 2008).

"June 2008."

Includes bibliographical references.

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