Wage negotiations in the Asia Pacific: Does globalization increase the wage gap?

This article uses research from the fields of international business, economics and industrial relations to investigate how the context of multinational corporations affects the bargaining power of shop-floor workers and senior management. It is set in the context of the Asia Pacific region. Senior executives negotiate their salaries from positions of strength, especially when their subsidiaries fulfil important strategic roles. In contrast, shop-floor workers can face threats to 'move the plant to Asia' when negotiating wages. These dissimilar negotiating positions provide the context in which wages are negotiated in the region. It is anticipated that the study will assist managers of multinational corporations and their employees' representatives as they approach wage negotiations.