THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF DUTCH WAGE POLICY
| Author | J. Pen |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8543.1963.tb00979.x |
| Published date | 01 June 1963 |
| Date | 01 June 1963 |
THE STRANGE ADVENTURES
OF
DUTCH WAGE
POLICY
J.
PEN"
1.
Dutch Folklore
IN
many respects Dutch wage policy is an improbable affair. To begin
with it is an offence to pay wages that deviate from the basic wage rates
that are fixed by the Government. This draconic legal interference
with collective bargaining seems hardly compatible with the idea
of
a free economy. There exist an impressive number of organs which
have
B
say in wage policy and at first sight it is difficult to distinguish
between them. Wage directives are complicated; they were especially
so
in the years
1960
and
1961
when formulas were used and agreements
concluded, which made an almost surrealistic impression on many
observers. Remarkable, too, is the continuous discussion around these
things;
a
seeming paradox, for instance, is that the employers insist,
in theory, on freedom-whatever that may be-but in practice shrink
back from it. The results of the wage policy are that some partners in
the E.E.C. hold the view that the Dutch are guilty of social dumping,
but the Dutch trade union movement co-operates in the scheme and,
although there are slight differences of opinion, is content with it. Real
wages have continually risen
as
has labour's share in the national in-
come, and wage inflation has been kept within narrow limits. Some
people readily hold up the system as an example to other Western
countries, who allegedly can find no solution for their price-wage diffi-
culties
('
The biggest unsolved economic problem of our time
'
accord-
ing
to
P.
A. Samuelson.) Other voices are heard to
say
that this special
folklore is no more suitable for export than Volendam costumes.
Moreover, the system appears
to
be crumbling.
In the beginning
of
1963,
fairly radical changes were introduced;
the Government's legal powers were cut for the
first
time since
1945.
It might be argued that the basic principle-the all important influence
of
the Government-has now been deserted, although it has been
said
plus
Ca change, plus
Ca
reste
la
m&me chose.
This article seeks
to describe the events and considerations that have led to these
changes. As yet, not much can be said about the working of the new
system, which has been functioning only a few months.
Much was written about Dutch wage policy in the first ten years
after liberation';
I
will only say a few things about it. The stress in
this article will be on the period from
1959
until
1963.
It
is perhaps
*
Professor
of
Economics, Groningen University; formerly Director
of
General Economic
1A
good
description (hut rather disputable evalrations is given by
B.
C.
Roberts in
Policy, Ministry
of
Economic Affairs, The Hague.
his
'
National Wages Policy in War and Peace
,
Lon
d
on, Allen and Unwin, 1958. I
shall come back to this book.
318
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