Pay developments in Britain and Germany: collective bargaining, 'benchmarking', and 'mimetic wages'
Schmidt, Werner ; Dworschak, Bernd
European Journal of Industrial Relations
2006
12
1
March
89-109
collective bargaining ; comparison ; history ; statistics ; wage policy ; wages
Wages and wage payment systems
English
Bibliogr.
"This article examines the impact of national industrial relations institutions on pay movements in Britain and Germany between 1980 and 2000. Pay increases are slightly higher in Britain, despite the breakdown of multi-employer bargaining and agreements in the UK and their persistence in Germany. Evidence shows that pay decisions in Britain are mainly determined by imitation and not by markets. The article suggests that a system of ‘pay benchmarking' in Britain acts as a substitute for the German ‘sectoral agreement model' and explains similarities in pay movements."
Paper
The ETUI is co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the ETUI.