| Summary: | The importance of wages in the analysis and forecasting of macroeconomic developments needs no emphasis. Nominal wage inflation is a crucial component of price inflation, while real wages importantly influence the demand for labour and for other factors of production. More generally, the way in which nominal wages are set is an important determinant of whether or not there is any short- or longer-run trade off between inflation and employment. The way that wages evolve in the current situation of recovering output and profits, where inflation has declined and unemployment remains high, will be critical in determining whether there are pressures which might contribute to a resurgence of inflation. This paper analyses the historical determinants of nominal wages in ten OECD economies and considers the implications for future wage, and hence inflation, developments. The Phillips curve represents a dynamic adjustment process of nominal wages to equilibrium and disequilibrium phenomena ..
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