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Increasing Earnings Inequality and Unemployment in Developed Countries: Markets, Institutions and the "Unified Theory"

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Abstract

It is widely accepted that global forces of technology and trade have caused a profound shift in labor demand towards the most highly skilled, generating sharply rising earnings inequality in flexible labor markets (the U.S.) and persistently high unemployment in rigid labor markets (Europe). This paper critically assesses the evidence for this "Unified Theory." It finds little compelling empirical support for either the skill-biased demand shift explanation for high U.S. earnings inequality or the rigid labor markets explanation for high unemployment in Europe. This assessment challenges the policy orthodoxy of the 1990's that developed economies feature a strict inequality-unemployment tradeoff and that policy options are therefore limited to skills enhancement in the U.S. and labor market de-regulation in Europe. It is suggested that the theoretical dominance of the textbook supply/demand model has contributed to the neglect of labor market institutions for U.S. wage outcomes and tight macroeconomic policy for European unemployment.

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  • David R. Howell, 2002. "Increasing Earnings Inequality and Unemployment in Developed Countries: Markets, Institutions and the "Unified Theory"," SCEPA working paper series. 2002-01, Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis (SCEPA), The New School.
    • Handle: RePEc:epa:cepawp:2002-01
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    Cited by:

    1. Avram, Silvia, 2020. "Labour market flexibility and unemployment duration: evidence from the UK," ISER Working Paper Series 2020-11, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    2. Skott, Peter, 2005. "Fairness as a source of hysteresis in employment and relative wages," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 57(3), pages 305-331, July.
    3. Jurgita Markevičiūtė & Jolita Bernatavičienė & Rūta Levulienė & Viktor Medvedev & Povilas Treigys & Julius Venskus, 2022. "Impact of COVID-19-Related Lockdown Measures on Economic and Social Outcomes in Lithuania," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(15), pages 1-20, August.
    4. Susan Hayter, 2015. "Unions and collective bargaining," Chapters, in: Janine Berg (ed.), Labour Markets, Institutions and Inequality, chapter 4, pages 95-122, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Yolanda Kodrzycki, 2000. "Discouraged and other marginally attached workers: evidence on their role in the labor market," New England Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, issue May, pages 35-40.
    6. Kenworthy, Lane, 2002. "Do affluent countries face an income-jobs tradeoff?," MPIfG Discussion Paper 01/10, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    7. repec:aia:aiaswp:122 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Katharine L. Bradbury, 2000. "Rising tide in the labor market: to what degree do expansions benefit the disadvantaged?," New England Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, issue May, pages 3-33.

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