Implementing a Voluntary Wage Policy: Lessons from the Irish and Spanish Wages Policies before the Crisis

Abstract

Despite the relevance given by the Post-Keynesian thought to wage and incomes policies, little attention has been paid to the institutional elements that would favour the unions’ acceptance of a voluntary moderation of wage claims. Recent wage policies have been implemented in European countries, like Ireland and Spain, which do not fulfil the requirements assumed by corporatist analysis for a successful implementation of wage policies. The success of wage policies in Ireland and Spain, in terms of economic performance and the length of current wage policies, offers a valuable insight on how wages policies can be implemented as a key piece of macroeconomic policy: It also helps our understanding of the institutional framework that favours the implementation of voluntary wages policies.

Key words: Incomes policy, Wage policies, Ireland, Spain.
JEL: J51, J52, P52.