THE EFFECTS OF MINIMUM BARGAINED WAGES ON EARNINGS - EVIDENCE FROM SPAIN

This paper provides an empirical evaluation of the effects of Spanish sectoral collective bargaining on wages. For this purpose, we use a sa mple of workers for whom bargained wage rates and earnings are availab le. Using a variant of the Meyer and wise approach, we are able to est imate wage gains due to minimum bargained wages and their employment e ffects. The most relevant conclusion is that there is evidence of a 's word of justice' effect by unions, but this is limited by non-complian ce among unskilled workers and the non-binding nature of bargained wag es for skilled workers. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.