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International Trade and Collective Bargaining Outcomes: Evidence from German Employer–Employee Data
Author(s) -
Felbermayr Gabriel,
Hauptmann Andreas,
Schmerer HansJörg
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the scandinavian journal of economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.725
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1467-9442
pISSN - 0347-0520
DOI - 10.1111/sjoe.12067
Subject(s) - economics , profitability index , collective bargaining , productivity , wage , german , matching (statistics) , labour economics , microeconomics , macroeconomics , finance , history , statistics , mathematics , archaeology
In theoretical trade models with variable mark‐ups and collective wage bargaining, exposure to international markets might reduce the exporter wage premium. We test this prediction using linked German employer–employee data covering the years 1996–2007. To separate the rent‐sharing mechanism from assortative matching, we exploit individual worker information to construct profitability measures that are free of skill composition. Our results show that rent‐sharing is less pronounced in more export‐intensive firms or in more open industries. The exporter wage premium is highest for low‐productivity firms. In line with theory, these findings are unique to the subsample of plants covered by collective bargaining.