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Outline
Abstract
JEL codes
1. Introduction
2. Scope of the chapter
3. Why are there labor market institutions?
4. Theoretical overview: recent developments in analyzing labor market
institutions, wage levels, wage dispersion, and employment
5. Wage centralization and macroeconomic performance
6. Wage-setting institutions and wage inequality
7. Responses to labor market institutions
8. Conclusions
Acknowledgements
References
Cited By (119)
Figures (2)
Fig.1. Summary measures of male log wagw inequality in OECD countries
Fig.2. Cumulative distribution function, female wages relative to the male wage�
Tables (4)
Table 1
Table 2
Table 3
Table 4
Elsevier
Handbook of Labor Economics
Volume 3, Part A, 1999, Pages 1399-1461
Handbook of Labor Economics
Chapter 25 - Institutions and Laws in the Labor Market
Author links open overlay panelFrancine D.BlauLawrence M.Kahn
https://doi.org/10.1016/S1573-4463(99)03006-0Get rights and content
Abstract
This chapter examines the impact of wage-setting institutions and government
policies on wages and employment, focusing on the OECD countries. There is
considerable evidence that centralized collective bargaining, minimum wages and
antidiscrimination policies raise the relative wages of the low paid. Evidence of
the impact of these institutions and other policies such as mandated severance pay,
advance notice or unemployment insurance is more mixed with some studies finding
negative employment effects while others do not. This may reflect the adoption by
many OECD countries of off-setting policies, such as public employment, temporary
employment contracts and active labor market programs, which, while they may have
reduced the adverse relative employment effects of their less flexible labor market
institutions on the low skilled, appear not to have prevented high overall
unemployment. � 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

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JEL codes
J16J31J38J51J65
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Copyright � 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

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