Project description
Exploring wage setting and collective bargaining dynamics
Wage inequality and industrial relations remain central challenges for policymakers globally. Despite substantial research, there is limited understanding of the bargaining dynamics that influence wage outcomes. In particular, the role of collective bargaining and external hiring processes in shaping wages remains underexplored. Additionally, worker and employee representatives, along with their bargaining strategies, are often overlooked in studies. With this in mind, the ERC-funded WeSET project will examine collective bargaining agreements in France and the US. By conducting high-frequency surveys and leveraging online job board data, WeSET explores key dynamics in wage negotiations. The project will also evaluate the effects of negotiation training and union threats, providing insights to inform policy on bargaining rules and employment practices.
Objective
Our project proposes to provide new empirical evidence on wage setting. This evidence will enhance our understanding of industrial relations, and of wage inequality.
First, we will open up the collective bargaining process between incumbent employees and their employers in both France and the US. We will conduct textual analysis of collective bargaining agreements. We will design two-sided high-frequency surveys to follow the bargaining process within firms (e.g. offer sequences) and to measure the preferences of workers’ and employers’ representatives over various tradeoffs (e.g. wages vs employment). Using quasi-experimental designs, we will study how the identity of the workers’ and employers’ representatives matter for agreement outcomes and we will study overall bargaining efficiency.
We will provide the first experimental evidence in industrial relations study through two randomized control trials. In France, we will evaluate the effects of negotiation training programs on collective bargaining outcomes. In the US, we will test for union threat effects in non-unionized workplaces through information experiments.
Second, we will leverage the extraordinary opportunities offered by online job boards to open up the wage setting process for external hires. We will complement matched online-search and employment register data with detail firm and worker high-frequency surveys in both France and Sweden. We will provide a thorough analysis of selection into individual bargaining, and of the determinants of bargaining intensity and offers. We will test for bargaining theories using experimental information shocks. We will propose an empirical classification of recruiters based on their willingness to bargain with external hires that can be used to study strategic interactions among heterogenous bargaining firms.
Our empirical evidence will guide policymakers in the design of collective bargaining rules and of online job boards.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- social sciences sociology industrial relations
- social sciences economics and business business and management employment
You need to log in or register to use this function
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
-
HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
See all projects funded under this funding scheme
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2024-COG
See all projects funded under this callHost institution
Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
20136 Milano
Italy
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.