Abstract

The present essay describes the collective bargaining patterns most commonly adopted by the small firms of the industry sector, assessing their impact in terms of wage levels and dispersion, both at country level and in the different areas of Italy. Although median pay levels set by the collective bargaining agreements of the craft sector are lower than those set by the collective bargaining agreements entered into by Confindustria, these two types of collective bargaining agreement feature risible differences in terms of low pay levels, which usually represent a starting point for jobseekers. In 2019, the first decile of the wage distribution of the collective bargaining agreements of the craft sector was 11.5% lower than that of the collective bargaining agreements entered into by Confindustria. The gap monotonically increases along the distribution, and attains its peak in the ninth decile (17%). Such trend is more evident in southern regions, where low pay levels feature a less significant deviation than that observed in other areas of the country. Overall, the findings point out the presence of a minimum threshold below which pay levels are not set, although the Italian legislative framework does not envisage a statutory minimum wage.