Thomas Le Barbanchon Wins an ERC Grant
Thomas Le Barbanchon, from the Bocconi Department of Economics, won European funding for his research project WeSET (New Direct Empirical Evidence on Wage Setting), aimed at investigating the wage setting process. This study aims to improve understanding of industrial relations and wage inequality dynamics through a multidisciplinary approach. This is the second ERC grant in his academic career, the first in the Consolidator section reserved for researchers between 7 and 12 years of experience.
The project will explore two key dimensions of wage setting: collective bargaining and wage determination for new hires. On the former front, the research team will conduct a textual analysis of collective bargaining agreements in both France and the United States. The goal is to understand how the identities of representatives influence the outcomes of agreements and the overall efficiency of bargaining. Regarding the wage determination process for new hires, Thomas Le Barbanchon and his team will study how wage negotiation unfolds for workers in France and Sweden. Using combined data from employment records and detailed surveys of workers and companies, they will analyze the factors that influence the intensity of negotiation and wage offers.
The results of the project will not only contribute to the academic debate on industrial relations and wage inequality, but also offer practical guidance for policymakers. The evidence gathered may prove useful in designing rules for collective bargaining and optimizing online work platforms, with the aim of improving the efficiency of labor markets and reducing wage inequality.
Thomas Le Barbanchon said, “I am very happy and honored to have been awarded my second ERC grant, this time as a Consolidator! I plan to create interdisciplinary teams to study collective bargaining and look forward to working with economists, negotiation experts and data scientists. I’m sure we will have a social impact on labor markets and businesses.”
With this project, 65 ERC grants have been won overall by Bocconi researchers since the program began. In particular, Bocconi is the top institution in Europe in the disciplinary area “Individuals, Markets and Organizations” with 35 projects.
The European Research Council, established by the European Union in 2007, is Europe’s leading funding organization for research excellence. Through its grants, it funds researchers of all nationalities and ages to run projects across Europe. The total ERC budget from 2021 to 2027 is more than 16 billion euros, within the Horizon Europe program, under the responsibility of the European Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation. This year’s Consolidator Grants were awarded to 328 researchers for a total of 678 million euros.
