Michael Kumhof

Wage Moderation in Crises; Policy Considerations and Applications to the Euro Area

The paper studies the impacts of wage moderation in the euro area. Simulation results show that if a single euro area crisis-hit economy undertakes wage moderation, the impact on output is positive for that economy and for the entire euro area. If all crisis-hit economies undertake wage moderation together, their output still expands, albeit to a lesser degree. If the wage moderation is accompanied by cuts in policy interest rates by the central bankâx80x94and by quantitative easing once interest rates hit the zero lower boundâx80x94then output for the entire euro area expands as well.