Across-Country Wage Compression in Multinationals
75 Pages Posted: 5 Mar 2020
There are 3 versions of this paper
Across-Country Wage Compression in Multinationals
Across-Country Wage Compression in Multinationals
Across-Country Wage Compression in Multinationals
Date Written: February 29, 2020
Abstract
Many employers link wages at the firm’s establishments outside of the home region to the level at headquarters. Multinationals that anchor-to-the headquarters also transmit wage changes arising from shocks to minimum wages and exchange rates in the home country/state to their foreign establishments. Such multinationals fire more low-skill workers and hire fewer new workers abroad after a permanent (minimum wage-induced) foreign establishment wage increase originating in shocks to headquarter wages, but not after a temporary (exchange rate-induced) one. We show this using data on 1,060 multinationals’ establishments across the world and in employee-level data on the same employers’ establishments in Brazil.
JEL Classification: F23, J01, J3, J31
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation