# The effect of company-specific bargaining on the targeting of wage increases

**Published:** 2022-12-05  
**URL:** https://www.etla.fi/en/research/the-effect-of-company-specific-bargaining-on-the-targeting-of-wage-increases/

In Europe, the direction of bargaining on terms of employment has been from centralised negotiation systems towards more decentralised systems, which means that negotiations are moving closer to company-specific bargaining at the company level. However, Finland’s bargaining system has remained remarkably stable compared to Sweden, Denmark, and Germany. The transition of the Finnish Forest Industries Federation to company-specific bargaining was a significant change in Finland’s collective bargaining system, and it sparked a lively debate about the wage effects of local bargaining.

This research project studies the effects of company-specific bargaining on wage levels and their dispersion. In addition, the project analyses the effects of company-specific bargaining in which pay batches make up earnings (wage formation) and how company-specific bargaining affects wage differences between different groups.

The project aims to answer the following research questions:

- How does company-specific bargaining affect the level of wages and their dispersion more than a year after the transition to company-specific bargaining?
- How does company-specific bargaining affect wage formation (i.e. the proportional distribution of wages)?
- How does company-specific bargaining affect the wage dispersion between different groups?

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## Additional Information

**Research Status:** No

**Sponsor:** Confederation of Finnish Industry and Employers (TT) Foundation

**Start Year:** 2022

**Stop Year:** 2024

**Research Program:** 65316