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IZA Discussion Paper No. 17447
November 2024
Scarce Workers, High Wages?

Labor market tightness tremendously increased in Germany between 2012 and 2022. We analyze the effect of tightness on wages by combining social security data with unusually rich information on vacancies and job seekers. Instrumental variable regressions reveal positive elasticities between 0.004 and 0.011, implying that higher tightness explains between 7 and 19 percent of the real wage increase. We report greater elasticities for new hires, high-skilled workers, the Eastern German labor market, and the service sector. In particular, tightness raised wages at the bottom of the wage distribution, contributing to the decline in wage inequality over the last decade.

Communications
Mark Fallak
mark.fallak@liser.lu
+352 585-855-526
World of Labour
Olga Nottmeyer
olga.nottmeyer@liser.lu
+352 585-855-501
Network Coordination
Christina Gathmann
christina.gathmann@liser.lu

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