An Empirical Evaluation of the Disequilibrium Real Wage Rate Hypothesis

The rise in the share of labor costs invalue added in many industrial countries during the 1970s and early 1980s has led many observers to conclude that real wages are now too high and a source of "classical" unemployment. These conclusions are not necessarily valid. The increase in the labor share could be warranted by long-run changes in production techniques,in the price of energy, or in the relative availability of labor and capital. This paper uses a production function approach to examine these possibilities.