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Wage Inequality and Structural Change

Author

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  • Joanna Tyrowicz

    (University of Warsaw)

  • Magdalena Smyk

    (Warsaw School of Economics)

Abstract

Income inequality in the context of large structural change has received a lot of attention in the literature, but most studies relied on household post-transfer inequality measures. This study utilizes a novel and fairly comprehensive collection of micro data sets from between 1980’s and 2010 for both advanced market economies and economies undergoing transition from central planning to market based system. We show that wage inequality was initially lower in transition economies and immediately upon the change of the economic system surpassed the levels observed in advanced economies. We find a very weak link between structural change and wages in both advanced and post-transition economies, despite the predictions from skill-biased technological change literature. The decomposition of changes in wage inequality into a part attributable to changes in characteristics (mainly education) and a part attributable to changes in rewards does not yield any leading factors.

Suggested Citation

  • Joanna Tyrowicz & Magdalena Smyk, 2019. "Wage Inequality and Structural Change," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 141(2), pages 503-538, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:141:y:2019:i:2:d:10.1007_s11205-018-1846-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-018-1846-y
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    9. de Pinto Marco & Goerke Laszlo, 2019. "Efficiency Wages in Cournot-Oligopoly," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 19(4), pages 1-13, October.
    10. Monika Martišková & Marta Kahancová & Jakub Kostolný, 2021. "Negotiating wage (in)equality: changing union strategies in high-wage and low-wage sectors in Czechia and Slovakia," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 27(1), pages 75-96, February.
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    13. Doan, Tinh & Ha, Van & Tran, Tuyen & Yang, Judy, 2023. "Dynamics of wage inequality over the prolonged economic transformation: The case of Vietnam," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 816-834.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Wage inequality; structural change; Transition; Skill biased technological change;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • N34 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Europe: 1913-
    • O57 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Comparative Studies of Countries
    • P36 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions - - - Consumer Economics; Health; Education and Training; Welfare, Income, Wealth, and Poverty
    • P51 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems - - - Comparative Analysis of Economic Systems

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