Analysis of the influence of wage dispersion on several aspects of the performance of Belgian companies
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TypeDoctorate
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KeywordsWage dispersion – absenteeism – profits – labour demand – linked employer-employee data
Description
The research project aims to analyse the influence of wage dispersion on various aspects of performance of Belgian firms. If various studies examine the link between wage dispersion and firm productivity (see Mahy et al. (2011) for a review of these studies), fewer of them are consecrated to the link between wage dispersion and sickness absenteeism. The first article of the thesis proposes to refine the study of Mahy et al (2016) for Belgium while investigating the potential role of several working environments in the relation wage dispersion – absenteeism. The second paper will examine the influence of wage dispersion on firm profits, through an analysis productivity – costs (e.g. Cardoso et al, 201, Damiani et al. (2016)). The third paper will be consecrated to the influence of wage dispersion on labour demand, by decomposing the productivity and costs effects of wage dispersion (see Mahy and Volral (2011) for a similar approach related to training). On an empirical basis, the estimations will be run on LEED panel data allowing to control for a range of worker and firm characteristics and to address important econometric issues (e.g. firm-level fixed unobserved heterogeneity, potential endogeneity of wage dispersion and state dependency of firm productivity and wages).
Références :
Cardoso, A., Guimaraes, P. and Varejao, J. (2011), “Are older workers worthy of their pay? An empirical investigation of age-productivity and age-wage nexuses,” De Economist, Vol. 159, 95-111.
Damiani, M., Pompei, F. and Ricci, A. (2016), “Performance related pay, productivity and wages in Italy: a quantile regression approach,” International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 37 No.2, 232-256.
Mahy, B., Rycx, F. and Volral, M. (2011), “Does wage dispersion make all firms productive?”, Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 58 No. 4, pp. 455-489.
Mahy, B. and Volral, M. (2011), “ Firm Training and Labour Demand in Belgium: Does Productivity Dominate Cost Effects?”, Brussels Economic Review – Cahiers Economiques de Bruxelles, Vol. 54 No. 4, 367-388.
Mahy, B., Rycx, F. and Volral, M. (2016), “Are workers less absent when wage dispersion is small? ”, International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 37 No. 2, 2016, 197-209.