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The Effects of Technical Change on Labour Market Inequalities

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Author Info
Hornstein, Andreas
Krusell, Per
Violante, Giovanni L

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Abstract

In this chapter we inspect economic mechanisms through which technological progress shapes the degree of inequality among workers in the labour market. A key focus is on the rise of US wage inequality over the past 30 years. However, we also pay attention to how Europe did not experience changes in wage inequality but instead saw a sharp increase in unemployment and an increased labour share of income, variables that remained stable in the US We hypothesize that these changes in labour market inequalities can be accounted for by the wave of capital-embodied technological change, which we also document. We propose a variety of mechanisms based on how technology increases the returns to education, ability, experience, and ‘luck’ in the labour market. We also discuss how the wage distribution may have been indirectly influenced by technical change through changes in certain aspects of the organization of work, such as the hierarchical structure of firms, the extent of unionization, and the degree of centralization of bargaining. To account for the US-Europe differences, we use a theory based on institutional differences between the United States and Europe, along with a common acceleration of technical change. Finally, we briefly comment on the implications of labour market inequalities for welfare and for economic policy.

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Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number 5025.

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Date of creation: Apr 2005
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Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:5025

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Related research
Keywords: inequality; institutions; labour market; skills; technological change;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
D30 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - General
J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General
O30 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Technological Change - - - General

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  6. Heathcote, Jonathan & Storesletten, Kjetil & Violante, Giovanni L, 2005. "Insurance and Opportunities: The Welfare Implications of Rising Wage Dispersion," CEPR Discussion Papers 5200, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Donghoon Lee & Kenneth I. Wolpin, 2005. "Accounting for Wage and Employment Changes in the U. S. from 1968-2000: A Dynamic Model of Labor Market Equilibrium," PIER Working Paper Archive 06-005, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania, revised 02 Jan 2006. [Downloadable!]
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  9. Jonathan Heathcote & Kjetil Storesletten & Giovanni L. Violante, 2007. "Insurance and Opportunities: A Welfare Analysis of Labor Market Risk," NBER Working Papers 13673, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Mika Maliranta & Satu Nurmi & Hanna Virtanen, 2008. "It takes three to tango in employment: Matching vocational education organisations, students and companies in labour market," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0022, University of Zurich, Institute for Strategy and Business Economics (ISU). [Downloadable!]
  11. Guido Cozzi & Giammario Impullitti, 2008. "Government spending composition, technical change and wage inequality," Working Papers 2009_02, Department of Economics, University of Glasgow. [Downloadable!]
  12. Gene M. Grossman & Esteban Rossi-Hansberg, 2006. "The rise of offshoring: it's not wine for cloth anymore," Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, pages 59-102. [Downloadable!]
  13. Katsunori Yamada, 2005. "Public versus Private Education in an Endogenous Growth Model with Social Status," Economics Bulletin, Economics Bulletin, vol. 15(11), pages 1-9. [Downloadable!]
  14. Cozzi, Guido & Impullitti, Giammario, 2006. "Technological policy and wage inequality," MPRA Paper 10140, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
  15. Jonathan Heathcote & Kjetil Storesletten & Giovanni L. Violante, 2008. "The Macroeconomic Implications of Rising Wage Inequality in the United States," NBER Working Papers 14052, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  16. Ansgar Belke & Thorsten Polleit & Kai Geisslreither, 2006. "Nobelpreis für Wirtschaftswissenschaften 2006 an Edmund S. Phelps," Diskussionspapiere aus dem Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre der Universität Hohenheim 278/2005, Department of Economics, University of Hohenheim, Germany. [Downloadable!]
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  19. Luis Garicano & Esteban Rossi-Hansberg, 2005. "Organization and Inequality in a Knowledge Economy," NBER Working Papers 11458, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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