Does inequality in skills explain inequality of earnings across advanced countries?

Devroye, Dan and Freeman, Richard B. (2002) Does inequality in skills explain inequality of earnings across advanced countries? CEPDP, 552. Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK. ISBN 0753015900

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Abstract

The distribution of earnings and the distribution of skills vary widely among advanced countries, with the major English-speaking countries, the US, UK, and Canada, having much greater inequality in both earnings and skills than continental European Union countries. This raises the possibility that cross-country differences in the distribution of skills determine cross-country differences in earnings inequality. Using the International Adult Literacy Survey, we find that skill inequality explains only about 7% of the cross-country difference in inequality. Most striking, the dispersion of earnings in the US is larger in narrowly defined skill groups than is the dispersion of earnings for European workers overall. The bulk of cross-country differences in earnings inequality occur within skill groups, not between them

Item Type:	Monograph (Discussion Paper)
Official URL:	http://cep.lse.ac.uk
Additional Information:	© 2002 the authors
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Wage inequality, distribution of skills, skills and education
Library of Congress subject classification:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
Journal of Economic Literature Classification System:	J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J3 - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs > J31 - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials by Skill, Training, Occupation, etc.
Sets:	Collections > Economists Online Research centres and groups > Centre for Economic Performance (CEP)
Rights:	http://www.lse.ac.uk/library/rights/LSERO.htm
Identification Number:	552
URL:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/20058/

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