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Evidence on the Incidence of Wage Posting, Wage Bargaining, and On-the-Job Search

Author(s): Hall, Robert E.; Krueger, Alan B.

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Abstract: Some workers bargain with prospective employers before accepting a job. Others face a posted wage as a take-it-or-leave-it opportunity. Both modes of wage determination have generated large bodies of research. We surveyed a representative sample of US workers to inquire about the wage determination process at the time they were hired into their current or most recent jobs. A third of the respondents reported bargaining over pay before accepting their current jobs. Almost a third of workers had precise information about pay when they first met with their employers, a sign of wage posting. About 40 percent of workers were on-the-job searchers—they could have remained at their earlier jobs at the time they accepted their current jobs, indicating a more favorable bargaining position than is held by unemployed job-seekers. About half of all workers reported that their employers had learned their pay in their earlier jobs before making the offer that led to the current job.
Publication Date: Oct-2012
Citation: Hall, Robert E., Krueger, Alan B. (2012). Evidence on the Incidence of Wage Posting, Wage Bargaining, and On-the-Job Search. American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, 4 (4), 56 - 67. doi:10.1257/mac.4.4.56
DOI: doi:10.1257/mac.4.4.56
ISSN: 1945-7707
EISSN: 1945-7715
Pages: 56 - 67
Type of Material: Journal Article
Journal/Proceeding Title: American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics
Version: Final published version. Article is made available in OAR by the publisher's permission or policy.



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