摘要：Using linked employer-employee data from the German Structure of Earnings Survey
2001, this paper provides a comprehensive picture of the wage structure in three
wage-setting regimes prevalent in the German system of industrial relations. We
analyze wage distributions for various labor market subgroups by means of kernel
density estimation, variance decompositions, and individual and firm-level wage
regressions. Unions’ impact through collective and firm-level bargaining mainly
works towards a higher wage level and reduced overall and residual wage
dispersion. Yet observed effects are considerably heterogeneous across different
labor market groups. There is no clear evidence for wage floors formed by
collectively bargained low wage brackets which would operate as minimum wages
for different groups of workers
关键词：Collective wage bargaining, wage structure, kernel density estimation, variance
decomposition, wage equations, German Structure of Earnings Survey
