Wage Rigidities and Labor Market Adjustment in Europe
基于欧洲多国企业调查，发现约60%的企业每年调整一次基本工资，且存在名义和实际向下刚性；面对负面冲击时，企业更倾向于减少用工而非降薪。
Based on an ad hoc firm-level survey on wage and pricing policies conducted in a large number of European countries, this study finds that about 60% of firms change base wages once a year with some clustering of wage changes observed in January. Differences in the frequency of wage changes between firms are mainly attributable to the institutional framework of the labor market in which they operate. There is evidence of both nominal and real downward wage rigidity. Moreover, when facing a negative shock, European firms prefer to reduce the amount of labor rather than cutting wages. Among those that decide to cut wages a majority prefers to cut flexible wage components rather than base wages. The rigidity of base wages is largely explained by fairness and efficiency considerations.