Inter-Industry and Inter-Firm Wage and Hours Differentials in Switzerland

In the present paper, we analyse the role of demand factors on wages and hours in Switzerland. To accomplish this task, we used the 1996 Swiss Wage Structure Survey, a large employee-employer survey. Results indicate that capital intensity appears to have a certain impact on the relation between wages and hours: the "inter-industry wage-hours differentials line" we inferred is clearly positive. Further, an analysis of the determinants of inter-firm wage differentials shows that the internal organisational structure of firms clearly affects the relation between inter-firm wage differentials and inter-firm hours differentials. A change away from a Taylorist organisation of work towards more flexible structures seems to imply an increase in the hours-elasticity of effort, as does capital intensification.