ABSTRACT
A comparison of hourly wages, within Europe shows that the average wage in Scandinavian countries and in Switzerland is more than twice as high as that in the Netherlands and Austria and almost three times as high as Italian wages. Comparatively low wages and working conditions may contribute towards a certain equalization of the competitive position in regions where the remaining conditions are unfavourable. Any comparison between nominal wages must take into account the differences in the productivity of the various countries. The wage policy may exert a considerable influence on nominal wages. Among the more important repercussions of an economic integration on the level of wages are movements of migration. The opinion has frequently been expressed that the common market could only function if there were a certain harmonization of the financial burdens resulting from the costs of labour and the social policy.
