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In the first chapter,a harmonised linked employer-employee dataset is used to study the impact of firm-level agreements on the wage structure in the manufacturing sector in Belgium, Denmark and Spain. To our knowledge, this is one of the first cross-country studies that examines the impact of firm-level bargaining on the wage structure in European countries. We find that firm-level agreements have a positive effect both on wage levels and on wage dispersion in Belgium and Denmark. In Spain, firm also increase wage levels but reduce wage dispersion. Our interpretation is that in Belgium and Denmark, where firm-level bargaining greatly expanded since the 1980s on the initiative of the employers and the governments, firm-level bargaining is mainly used to adapt pay to the specific needs of the firm. In Spain, the structure of collective bargaining has not changed very much since the Franco period where firm agreements were used as a tool for worker mobilisation and for political struggle. Therefore, firm-level bargaining in Spain is still mainly used by trade unions in order to reduce the wage dispersion. In the second chapter, we analyse the impact of the bargaining level and of the degree of centralisation of wage bargaining on rent-sharing in Belgium. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that considers simultaneously both dimensions of collective bargaining. This is also one of the first papers that looks at the impact of wage bargaining institutions on rent-sharing in European countries. This question is important because if wage bargaining decentralisation increases the link between wages and firm specific profits, it may prevent an efficient allocation of labour across firms, increase wage inequality, lead to smaller employment adjustments, and affect the division of surplus between capital and labour (Bryson et al. 2006). Controlling for the endogeneity of profits, for heterogeneity among workers and firms and for differences in characteristics between bargaining regimes, we find that wages ...

In many European countries, the majority of workers have their wages directly defined by industry-level agreements. In addition, for some workers, industry agreements are complemented by firm-specific agreements. Yet, the relative importance of firm and industry agreements (in other words, the degree of centralization) differs drastically across industries. The authors of this paper use unique linked employer-employee data from a 2003 survey in Belgium to examine how these bargaining features affect the extent of rent-sharing. Their results show that there is substantially more rent-sharing in decentralized than in centralized industries, even when controlling for the endogeneity of profits, for heterogeneity among workers and firms and for differences in characteristics between bargaining regimes. Moreover, in centralized industries, rent-sharing is found only for workers that are covered by a firm agreement. Finally, results indicate that within decentralized industries, both firm and industry bargaining generate rent-sharing to the same extent.

In Belgium, 2007 has been marked by long coalition negotiations over an agreement on a new government. The main bone of contention had been related to the reform of the Belgian Federal State. Among the suggested reforms, the regionalisation of the collective bargaining system turned out frequently. It relies on the assumption that the productivity differences between regions are not fully taken into account in a federal wage setting system. Our findings challenge this hypothesis by putting forward the current existence of wage differentials between regions and joint committees. We also show that regional wage differentials at the joint committee level are correlated to regional productivity differences. Finally, we find that the correlation between regional wage differentials and productivity is higher in decentralised joint committees. Hence, we conclude that productivity variations are already integrated in the Belgian wage setting system. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/published

We use a harmonized matched employer—employee dataset to study the impact of the collective bargaining regime on wages in the manufacturing sector in three countries with a multi-level system of bargaining: Belgium, Denmark and Spain. Single-employer bargaining has a positive effect both on wage levels and on wage dispersion in Belgium and in Denmark. In Spain, it also increases wage levels but reduces wage dispersion. Our interpretation is that in Belgium and Denmark, single-employer bargaining is used to adapt pay to the specific needs of the firm while, in Spain it is mainly used by trade unions in order to compress the wage distribution.

Using a unique harmonized matched employer-employee dataset (European Structure of Earnings Survey, 1995), we study the impact of the regime of collective bargaining on wages in the manufacturing sector of three countries that are characterized by a multi-level system of bargaining: Belgium, Denmark and Spain. Our findings show that, compared to multi-employer bargaining, single-employer bargaining has a positive effect both on wage levels and on wage dispersion in Belgium and in Denmark. In Spain, single-employer bargaining also increases wage levels but reduces wage dispersion. Our interpretation is that in Belgium and Denmark, single-employer bargaining is used to adapt pay to the specific needs of the firm while, in Spain, it is mainly used by trade unions in order to compress the wage distribution.

Depuis près de 20 ans, la plupart des débats concernant la rémunération du travail sont centrés sur la question de la compétitivité. Si la question des coûts salariaux est évidemment importante, on en arrive cependant à oublier que tous les travailleurs belges ne sont pas logés à la même enseigne du point de vue de leur rémunération. Des disparités importantes existent en effet entre certaines catégories de travailleurs. L'objectif de ce rapport est d'identifier les facteurs qui sont à l'origine de ces différentiels. Les résultats obtenus mettent en évidence, au cours des chapitres successifs, l'impact sur le salaire des situations particulières des salariés, selon leur sexe, leurs statuts d'emploi ou de chômeur, leur âge et l'effet sur les différentiels salariaux de la structure et des caractéristiques des entreprises, des secteurs d'activité et des négociations collectives. Chacun de ces chapitres donne lieu, pour finir, à une série de recommandations en terme de politique économique. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/published