ABSTRACT
On the basis of a fairly broad sample of OECD countries, Table 1.1 indicates that nonwage labour costs comprise 20-40 per cent of total labour costs. This chapter examines the degree to which each of the main cost categories shown in Table 2.1 contributes to these totals. It also investigates the changes in the absolute costs in real terms relative to real changes in productivity. As already indicated in Chapter 2, aggregate data on non-wages disguise a great complexity of variation among types of cost, occupational skill group and different industries. Here, these types of breakdown are studied in some more detail, concentrating on the four selected countries. As in Chapter 2, some of the distinctions made here will prove to be useful to later developments.
