{"id":52099,"date":"2023-12-01T17:46:36","date_gmt":"2023-12-01T16:46:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/publication\/old-europes-wage-dynamics-and-trade-imbalances-is-there-a-link\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T22:15:23","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T20:15:23","slug":"old-europes-wage-dynamics-and-trade-imbalances-is-there-a-link","status":"publish","type":"publication","link":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/en\/publication\/52099\/","title":{"rendered":"\"Old\" Europe's wage dynamics and trade imbalances: Is there a link?"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-52099","publication","type-publication","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"subtitle":"","text":"No evidence is found that gains in relative labour productivity have had a positive effect on the trade balance to GDP ratio for the \"old\" EU members (excluding Germany) from 1961 to 2014. Rising relative wage rate is shown to have had strong \u2013 and negative \u2013 effects on the trade balance to GDP ratio for the EU 14, at least in the longer run. It follows that external rebalancing may be achieved through a sufficiently strong fall in the relative wage rates, without productivity changes having a role to play. This is not to claim that the EU 14 (and its members suffering trade deficits in particular) ought to attempt the devastating policy of \"internal devaluation\". A constructive alternative would be to achieve the fall in the relative wage rates through faster growth of German nominal wage rates. Whether that alternative is practicable is another matter. But it can be argued that without that alternative being followed the European Union will remain a stagnant area plagued by recurrent crises caused by imbalanced trade among its member countries.","onlinedate":"2018-05-01 02:00:00","lang":"English","publication_series":"","publication_date":"20180501","publication_date_year":"","publication_date_full":false,"publication_num_pages":"","keywords":"[\"European Union\",\"Relative productivities\",\"Relative wages\",\"Trade imbalances\"]","jelcodes":"[]","related_publications":"[]","pdf":null,"zip":null,"link":"http:\/\/www.springer.com\/10663","monthly_report":false,"monthly_report_main":false,"monthly_report_volume":"45","monthly_report_pages":"395-408","monthly_report_pages_sort":"395","issue":"2","journal":"Empirica","publisher":"","invisible":false,"external":true,"embargo_date":null,"types":[83083],"research_groups":[3510],"collaboration":"","persons":[12211],"persons_data":"[{\"personId\":12211,\"personName\":\"Leon Podkaminer\",\"organisationNames\":[]}]","clients":[],"subclients":[],"partners":[],"topics":[],"host_publication_title":"","host_publication_subtitle":"","place_of_publication":"","host_publication_editors":"[]","type_description":"","output_media":"","chapter":"","article_number":"","scientific_assistance":"[]","scientific_review":"[]","version":"","release_date":null,"expiration_date":null,"surveyor":"","research_assistance":"","edv":"","additional_info_de":"","additional_info_en":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.3 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>&quot;Old&quot; Europe&#039;s wage dynamics and trade imbalances: Is there a link? - WIFO<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/en\/publication\/52099\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"&quot;Old&quot; Europe&#039;s wage dynamics and trade imbalances: Is there a link?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/en\/publication\/52099\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"WIFO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WIFOat\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-22T20:15:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/WIFO-Gebaeude-FotoAlexanderMueller-www.alexandermueller.at-IMG_6326-Bearbeitet-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@WIFOat\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wifo.ac.at\\\/en\\\/publication\\\/52099\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wifo.ac.at\\\/en\\\/publication\\\/52099\\\/\",\"name\":\"\\\"Old\\\" Europe's wage dynamics and trade imbalances: Is there a link? - WIFO\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wifo.ac.at\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-12-01T16:46:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-22T20:15:23+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wifo.ac.at\\\/en\\\/publication\\\/52099\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wifo.ac.at\\\/en\\\/publication\\\/52099\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wifo.ac.at\\\/en\\\/publication\\\/52099\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Startseite\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wifo.ac.at\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\\\"Old\\\" Europe's wage dynamics and trade imbalances: Is there a link?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wifo.ac.at\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wifo.ac.at\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"\u00d6sterreichisches Institut f\u00fcr Wirtschaftsforschung\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wifo.ac.at\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"WIFO\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wifo.ac.at\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wifo.ac.at\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"\u00d6sterreichisches Institut f\u00fcr Wirtschaftsforschung\",\"alternateName\":\"WIFO\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wifo.ac.at\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wifo.ac.at\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wifo.ac.at\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/WIFO_kurz_rechts-2-1920x412.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wifo.ac.at\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/WIFO_kurz_rechts-2-1920x412.jpg\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":429,\"caption\":\"\u00d6sterreichisches Institut f\u00fcr Wirtschaftsforschung\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wifo.ac.at\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/WIFOat\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/WIFOat\",\"https:\\\/\\\/linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/wifoat\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/@WIFO_at\"],\"description\":\"Das WIFO, 1927 von Friedrich August von Hayek und Ludwig von Mises zur Konjunkturanalyse gegr\u00fcndet, ist heute das f\u00fchrende Institut f\u00fcr angewandte empirische Wirtschaftsforschung in \u00d6sterreich mit starkem Engagement auf europ\u00e4ischer Ebene.\",\"email\":\"office@wifo.ac.at\",\"telephone\":\"+43 1 798 26 01 \u2013 0\",\"legalName\":\"\u00d6sterreichisches Institut f\u00fcr Wirtschaftsforschung\",\"foundingDate\":\"1927-01-02\",\"numberOfEmployees\":{\"@type\":\"QuantitativeValue\",\"minValue\":\"51\",\"maxValue\":\"200\"},\"publishingPrinciples\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wifo.ac.at\\\/institut\\\/mission-und-strategie\\\/\",\"ownershipFundingInfo\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wifo.ac.at\\\/institut\\\/organisation\\\/\",\"actionableFeedbackPolicy\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wifo.ac.at\\\/aktuelles\\\/presse\\\/\",\"correctionsPolicy\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wifo.ac.at\\\/institut\\\/kontakt\\\/\",\"ethicsPolicy\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wifo.ac.at\\\/institut\\\/evidenzbasierung-transparenz-und-unabhaengigkeit\\\/\",\"diversityPolicy\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wifo.ac.at\\\/institut\\\/gleichstellung\\\/\",\"diversityStaffingReport\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.wifo.ac.at\\\/institut\\\/gleichstellung\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"Old\" Europe's wage dynamics and trade imbalances: Is there a link? - WIFO","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/en\/publication\/52099\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"Old\" Europe's wage dynamics and trade imbalances: Is there a link?","og_url":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/en\/publication\/52099\/","og_site_name":"WIFO","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WIFOat\/","article_modified_time":"2025-10-22T20:15:23+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1280,"url":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/WIFO-Gebaeude-FotoAlexanderMueller-www.alexandermueller.at-IMG_6326-Bearbeitet-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@WIFOat","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/en\/publication\/52099\/","url":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/en\/publication\/52099\/","name":"\"Old\" Europe's wage dynamics and trade imbalances: Is there a link? - WIFO","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-12-01T16:46:36+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-22T20:15:23+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/en\/publication\/52099\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/en\/publication\/52099\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/en\/publication\/52099\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Startseite","item":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\"Old\" Europe's wage dynamics and trade imbalances: Is there a link?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/en\/","name":"\u00d6sterreichisches Institut f\u00fcr Wirtschaftsforschung","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/en\/#organization"},"alternateName":"WIFO","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/en\/#organization","name":"\u00d6sterreichisches Institut f\u00fcr Wirtschaftsforschung","alternateName":"WIFO","url":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/WIFO_kurz_rechts-2-1920x412.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/WIFO_kurz_rechts-2-1920x412.jpg","width":2000,"height":429,"caption":"\u00d6sterreichisches Institut f\u00fcr Wirtschaftsforschung"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WIFOat\/","https:\/\/x.com\/WIFOat","https:\/\/linkedin.com\/company\/wifoat\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@WIFO_at"],"description":"Das WIFO, 1927 von Friedrich August von Hayek und Ludwig von Mises zur Konjunkturanalyse gegr\u00fcndet, ist heute das f\u00fchrende Institut f\u00fcr angewandte empirische Wirtschaftsforschung in \u00d6sterreich mit starkem Engagement auf europ\u00e4ischer Ebene.","email":"office@wifo.ac.at","telephone":"+43 1 798 26 01 \u2013 0","legalName":"\u00d6sterreichisches Institut f\u00fcr Wirtschaftsforschung","foundingDate":"1927-01-02","numberOfEmployees":{"@type":"QuantitativeValue","minValue":"51","maxValue":"200"},"publishingPrinciples":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/institut\/mission-und-strategie\/","ownershipFundingInfo":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/institut\/organisation\/","actionableFeedbackPolicy":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/aktuelles\/presse\/","correctionsPolicy":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/institut\/kontakt\/","ethicsPolicy":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/institut\/evidenzbasierung-transparenz-und-unabhaengigkeit\/","diversityPolicy":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/institut\/gleichstellung\/","diversityStaffingReport":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/institut\/gleichstellung\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication\/52099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/publication"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication\/52099\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":432911,"href":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication\/52099\/revisions\/432911"}],"acf:post":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/external_person\/12211"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/research_group\/3510"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/publication_type\/83083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wifo.ac.at\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}