Wages versus profits, an inevitable conflict?
Overview
Is the division of value between wages and profits destined to be a modern David versus Goliath? An opposition between two camps, employees against investors, labour against capital, each claiming the lion’s share of the wealth created, leaving corporate governance to act as referee, even though its own interests lean towards one side more than the other? This situation, which is often caricatured, calls into question two essential dimensions. On the one hand, the role of each party in the creation of value. On the other hand, the risk that each of these parties carries. Three particular years of crisis, policy and recovery have shaken up our economic and social environment and are once again fuelling the debate. Is the distribution of value between wages and profits unbalanced? What criteria of justice and equity should be used to evaluate it? What tools should be mobilised or created to restore a sustainable balance?