Real Wage Unemployment

Definition: Real wage unemployment occurs when wages are set above the equilibrium level, causing the supply of labour to be greater than demand.

Classical unemployment of Q1-Q2 caused by a wage NMW above the equilibrium. Classical economists argue the solution is to cut wages to reduce unemployment.

For example, a fall in demand for labour (due to demand-side shock) could cause unemployment, if wages are kept at their old level (W1).

If labour markets are made more flexible, wages would fall to We and equilibrium would be restored at Q1. But, if wages are ‘sticky downward’ then wages will stay at W1, and we will get classical unemployment of the difference between S and D. (Q3-Q2)

To what extent does the level of nominal and real wages influence the rate of unemployment?

The basis of classical economics revolves around labour markets and the assumption of labour markets which perfectly clear. One fundamental idea is that wages above the market clearing equilibrium will cause unemployment.
If wages are reduced to We, then there will be no real-wage unemployment
Some economists go so far as to say all unemployment reflects disequilibrium in the labour market. – If wages were allowed to fall to the market clearing level, then unemployment would be solved. Therefore classical economists place great emphasis on reducing the power of trades unions and legislation which leads to artificially high real wages.

Would cutting wages solve real wage unemployment?

However, other economists, such as Keynes argue that cutting wages is not such a simplistic solution.

Firstly, in a recession, if you cut wages, it will cause a fall in spending because people have less income, this will reduce aggregate demand and therefore lead to lower economic growth. This, in turn, will lead to less demand for labour. Keynesians stress the need for governments to boost aggregate demand, rather than relying on wage cuts.

Secondly, classical economists make the assumption that labour markets are perfectly competitive. However, in the real world, there are many labour market imperfections such as monopsonistic labour markets. This means cutting wages may not boost demand for labour.

Also: Paradox of toil

Other Causes of Unemployment

Unemployment has various causes, we cannot reduce it to a simple case of real wages always being too high. For example, the unemployment could be structural or frictional.
Nevertheless, if wages are artificially high, it is likely to contribute to unemployment. For example, a feature of the Great Depression was policies by both Hoover and Roosevelt increased the power of trades unions creating real wage unemployment at a time when unemployment was already high due to cyclical factors.
Real Wage Unemployment is more of a problem in a period of deflation – falling prices. This is because falling prices may require falling nominal wages to prevent real wage unemployment. But, it is a cut in nominal wages, workers are most likely to resist. This is another problem of deflation.

Real Wage Unemployment in the 1920s

In the 1920s, the UK experienced deflation. Deflation was caused by an overvalued exchange rate (The UK was in the gold standard). To keep the Pound artificially high, the government pursued deflationary fiscal policy and interest rates were kept high. This meant prices fell. However, the newly unionised workforces resisted nominal wage cuts (culminating in the general strike of 1926)

In the 1920s, there was also a 13 percent fall in the normal working week without any compensating adjustment in the weekly wage.

Does a Minimum Wage Cause Real Wage Unemployment?

In theory, a national minimum wage of NMW above the equilibrium of W1 causes real wage unemployment of Q3-Q1.

However, in the real world, increases in the national minimum wage have only caused relatively low levels of unemployment. This is because

Many firms have a degree of monopsony power
Firms can respond to higher wages by increasing productivity or giving shorter working weeks
Higher wage may increase worker productivity (efficiency wage theory) causing higher demand for workers
Firms make smaller profit margin
The wage differential between entry level and mid-level jobs get squeezed.

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About The Author

Tejvan Pettinger

Tejvan Pettinger. Author of “Cracking Economics” “What Would Keynes Do?” – studied PPE Oxford University (1995-99) and works as an economics teacher and writer.

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