[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-325349-105":59,"doc-detail-325349-en":131},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":124,"head_meta":126,"extra_data":128,"updated_unix":130},105,"en","are-wages-inflexible","Are Wages Inflexible?","","Wage adjustment behavior is examined for hourly workers, focusing on whether nominal wages are sticky and whether pay cuts occur as seldom as rigid-wage theories predict. The analysis addresses how frequently wages change, whether changes are gradual or jump-like, and if downward adjustments mirror increases. Using SIPP data for 15,000 households and a refined sample of 2,700 hourly employees, the findings show prevalent nominal wage changes and substantial occurrence of wage cuts, with infrequent adjustments tending to be smaller in magnitude.",{"@graph":69,"@context":123},[70,84,106],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/are-wages-inflexible/325349/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/are-wages-inflexible/325349.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Hazel","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-09","2026-09-21",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":105},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",16,{"@type":107,"mainEntity":108},"FAQPage",[109,115,119],{"name":110,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":112},"How does the document define the main question about wage inflexibility?","Question",{"text":113,"@type":114},"It asks how often hourly wages change, whether employees and employers avoid wage cuts, and whether wage changes occur as small gradual adjustments or as single large shifts. It also asks whether pay cuts follow the same pattern as pay raises.","Answer",{"name":116,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":117},"What does the SIPP-based evidence say about nominal wage changes?",{"text":118,"@type":114},"Nominal wage changes are described as prevalent in the data, contrary to the common presumption that wages are sticky. The document also reports little evidence for downward wage rigidity, noting that actual wage cuts are common.",{"name":120,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":121},"How are the wage measurements carried out using the SIPP data?",{"text":122,"@type":114},"The SIPP interviews measure hourly earnings at multiple points: respondents report whether they are paid hourly and the amount of that rate from their last paycheck. The interviews provide eight separate wage measurements across the study period.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":125,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":127,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":129,"site_id":62},325349,1790467805,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":132},{"doc_id":129,"user_id":133,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":134,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":135,"file_id":136,"file_url":137,"file_type":138,"file_size":139,"view_count":105,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":24,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},137441390410,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/2000252f4ab5702993?_k=1776741390130283984","# Are Wages Inflexible?\n\nby Ben Craig  \nHow often does an average worker'shourly wage change?Doemployeesand employers avoid wage cuts?Whenwage changes occur,do they tend tocome in gradual,small adjustments orin the form of a single large increase?Finally,do pay cuts follow the samepattern as pay raises?  \nThe answers to these questions are ofintense interest to macroeconomists,because the nature of market wage-adjustment processes lies at the heart ofmany long-standing debates about theeffects of monetary policy.For example,workers may resist nominal(actual dol-lar)wage cuts,but be willing to acceptunchanged nominal wages as the overallprice level rises(and thus see a declinein their real,or inflation-adjustedwages).In this case,it may be in soci-ety's best interest to achieve positive,moderate rates of inflation.  \nBeyond monetary policy questions are ahost of other important policy issues thatdepend crucially on the nature of wageadjustments in U.S.labor markets.Forinstance,cross-regional differences inreturns to workers may persist becausewage compensation patterns respondsluggishly to changing economic condi-tions.Also,labor market rigidities maycritically interfere with the private sec-tor's ability to withstand the effects ofincreased international competition.  \nThis Economic Commentary documentstwoimportant facts about how wageschange for hourly workersFirst,con-trary to the common presumption thatwages are “sticky”(that is,they respond  \nsluggishly to changing circumstances),nominal wage changes are in fact preva-lent.Furthermore,there is little evidenceto suggest the presence of downwardwage rigidity:Actual wage cuts arecommon in the data examined here.  \nSecond,we explore the possibility thatonly some wages are sticky by examin-ing the relationship between the fre-quency of wage changes and their mag-nitude.For example,some might expectadjustment pressures in sticky-wage sec-tors to build over time,resulting in rela-tively large changes when they do occur.However,our investigation suggeststhat,if anything,infrequent wage adjust-ments tend to be smaller in magnitudethan frequent ones.  \nTaken together,these facts present achallenge for proponents of the view thatlabor markets are subject to substantialwage rigidity.Indeed,the evidence pre-sented here makes a compelling case forthe view that wage flexibility is perva-sive in the U.S.economy.  \n## ■ The SIPP Data\n\nThe characteristics of wage adjustmentcan be evaluated with real-world datathat carefully measure hourlyearnings.A particularly useful data set for this pur-pose is the Survey of Income and Pro-gram Participation(SIPP)from the U.S.Census Bureau.The SIPP examined  \n15,000 households from October 1983through May 1986 to observe how peo-ple use government transfer programssuch as welfare(or AFDC)to balance outchanges in their lives,such as divorce orloss ofajob.Every four months,people  \nApril1.1995  \nUsing data adapted from the US.Census Bureau's Survey of Incomeand Program Participation,theauthor shows that wage adjustmentsfor hourly employees are much morevariable than is commonly supposed.Workers whose wages change oftenare likely to experience larger fluctu-ations,while those whose wageschange infrequently tend to see small-er movements.Wage flexibility wouldappear to be the rule,rather than theexception,in U.S.labor markets.  \nwere asked if they were paid on an hour-ly basis and,if so,the amount of that rateon their last paycheck.The interviewsprovided eight separate wage measure-ments over the period.  \nThe SIPPis especially valuable becauseit covers many people at separate mo-ments in a short time frame.Other datasets survey workers'wages over longersample periods,but measure their hourlypay only once a year.!This may be lessaccurate than the SIPP's measurementsfor two reasons.First,people may haveonly a hazy recollection of their pay ratesover the entire year.There is no substi-tute for being able to refer to a recent paystub.Second,surveys that depend ","cbCain9iOfcXFNIE","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCain9iOfcXFNIE","pdf",1256033,"English","# The SIPP Data\n## Wage adjustment measurement and sampling\n## Wage change frequency and magnitude","[{\"question\":\"How does the document define the main question about wage inflexibility?\",\"answer\":\"It asks how often hourly wages change, whether employees and employers avoid wage cuts, and whether wage changes occur as small gradual adjustments or as single large shifts. It also asks whether pay cuts follow the same pattern as pay raises.\"},{\"question\":\"What does the SIPP-based evidence say about nominal wage changes?\",\"answer\":\"Nominal wage changes are described as prevalent in the data, contrary to the common presumption that wages are sticky. The document also reports little evidence for downward wage rigidity, noting that actual wage cuts are common.\"},{\"question\":\"How are the wage measurements carried out using the SIPP data?\",\"answer\":\"The SIPP interviews measure hourly earnings at multiple points: respondents report whether they are paid hourly and the amount of that rate from their last paycheck. The interviews provide eight separate wage measurements across the study period.\"}]","Are Wages Inflexible? | PDF",1789970292,13]