It’s where you work: increases in the dispersion of earnings across establishments and individuals in the United States

Barth, Erling, Bryson, Alex, Davis, James C. and Freeman, Richard (2016) It’s where you work: increases in the dispersion of earnings across establishments and individuals in the United States. Journal of Labor Economics, 34 (S2). S67-S97. ISSN 0734-306X

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Abstract

This paper analyzes the role of establishments in the upward trend in dispersion of earnings that has become a central topic in economic analysis and policy debate. It decomposes changes in the variance of log earnings among individuals into the part due to changes in earnings among establishments and the part due to changes in earnings within establishments. The main finding is that much of the 1970s–2010s increase in earnings inequality results from increased dispersion of the earnings among the establishments where individuals work. Our results direct attention to the role of establishment-level pay setting and economic adjustments in earnings inequality.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/jole/current
Additional Information:	© 2016 by The University of Chicago
Divisions:	Centre for Economic Performance
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Date Deposited:	03 Jun 2016 12:02
Last Modified:	25 Apr 2024 02:24
Projects:	173591/S20
Funders:	Harvard Academy for International Area Studies, Harvard University, National Bureau of Economic Research, Norwegian Research Council
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/66808

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