Neither existing nor emerging: euro stabilization by means of European wage coordination

Abstract

ABSTRACT Since the 1990s and even more so since the introduction of the euro, European trade unions have been committed to the transnational coordination of wage demands. This commitment has prevailed until today although, under conditions of persistent institutional heterogeneity, coordination attempts have continuously failed. Keeping the commitment nevertheless alive aims at retaining the option of effective wage coordination for the long-term future. In the short to medium term, in contrast, no evidence suggests that transnational wage coordination will be able to correct the distorted real effective exchange rates that have emerged since the introduction of the euro.