| Imprint: |
European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions 2023 |
| Abstract: |
EU economies have been facing since 2021 growing inflation as a consequence of the strain on value chains caused by the pandemic crisis and the increase in energy and food prices following the war in Ukraine. In most countries, this constitutes a major shift in the environment for negotiating wages, as low inflation has been the norm since the late 1990s. This inflationary context creates pressures for collective bargaining actors to adapt and respond to its double impact on wages. First, inflation leads to a decline in the purchasing power of wages and thus private consumption. Secondly, it affects to a larger extent those workers and households with lower incomes, since they have to dedicate a proportionately larger part of their wages to pay for energy bills, food etc (ILO 2022). |
| Abstract: |
Cross-country differences in inflation rates constitute a first element to explain the differential impact on real wages. These differences may arise because of different degrees of dependence on imported gas or the capacity to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy sources. However, the translation into losses in purchasing power of wages as well as its distributional impact depends crucially on the institutional context for setting wages (collective bargaining coverage and structure, among others) and those policies implemented by governments that may reduce the need to set higher wages (Cantero and Aumayr-Pintar, 2023). |
| Rights: |
Tots els drets reservats.  |
| Language: |
Anglès |
| Series: |
EUROFOUND Paper ; WPEF23032 |
| Document: |
Working paper |
| Subject: |
Collective bargaining ;
Inflation ;
Social dialogue |
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