IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/kdifor/274.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Wage Inequality: How and Why it has Changed over the Decades

Author

Listed:
  • Koh, Youngsun

Abstract

From 1980 to 2016, Korea exhibited ups and downs in wage inequality and a slowdown in wage growth. - Wage inequality fell in the 1st phase (1980-1994), rose in the 2nd (1995-2007), and fell again in the 3rd (2008-2016). - The annual growth rate of the real median wage plummeted from 9.2% in the 1st phase to 4.0% in the 2nd and then to 1.1% in the 3rd. - So far as wages are a form of compensation for the skills provided, wage inequality is affected by the changes in the supply of and demand for skills. - An important indicator of skill is the educational attainment of workers. The demand for high-school graduates rapidly increased in the 1st phase, weakening the wage premium of college graduates and reducing wage inequality. The situation reversed in the 2nd phase with a sharp upturn in the demand for college graduates, in their wage premium, and in wage inequality. In the 3rd phase, the wage premium of the latter dipped again as their supply continued amid the subdued demand for them. - The large demand for high-school graduates observed in the 1st phase may derive from the rising demand for mid-skilled workers by the heavy and chemical industry while the growing demand for college graduates observed in the 2nd phase may be the result of an increasing demand for high-skilled workers driven by technological progress. - To accelerate the wage growth while keeping wage inequality in check, technological progress should be encouraged and the quality of higher education upgraded.

Suggested Citation

  • Koh, Youngsun, 2019. "Wage Inequality: How and Why it has Changed over the Decades," KDI Policy Forum 274, Korea Development Institute (KDI).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:kdifor:274
    DOI: 10.22740/kdi.forum.e.2019.274
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/204691/1/kdi-pol-forum-274.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22740/kdi.forum.e.2019.274?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lawrence F. Katz & Kevin M. Murphy, 1992. "Changes in Relative Wages, 1963–1987: Supply and Demand Factors," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 107(1), pages 35-78.
    2. Koh, Youngsun, 2018. "The Evolution of Wage Inequality in Korea," KDI Policy Studies 2018-01, Korea Development Institute (KDI).
    3. Katz, Lawrence F. & Autor, David H., 1999. "Changes in the wage structure and earnings inequality," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 26, pages 1463-1555, Elsevier.
    4. Daron Acemoglu, 2002. "Technical Change, Inequality, and the Labor Market," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(1), pages 7-72, March.
    5. Juhn, Chinhui & Murphy, Kevin M & Pierce, Brooks, 1993. "Wage Inequality and the Rise in Returns to Skill," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(3), pages 410-442, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Fatih Guvenen & Burhanettin Kuruscu, 2010. "A Quantitative Analysis of the Evolution of the US Wage Distribution, 1970–2000," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2009, Volume 24, pages 227-276, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. James Spletzer & Elizabeth Weber Handwerker, 2015. "The Role of Establishments and the Concentration of Occupations in Wage Inequality," Working Papers id:7427, eSocialSciences.
    3. Bourguignon, Francois, 2005. "The Effect of Economic Growth on Social Structures," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 27, pages 1701-1747, Elsevier.
    4. Xuejun Liu & Albert Park & Yaohui Zhao, 2010. "Explaining Rising Returns to Education in Urban China in the 1990s," Trade Working Papers 22720, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    5. Fitzenberger, Bernd & Kohn, Karsten, 2006. "Skill Wage Premia, Employment, and Cohort Effects: Are Workers in Germany All of the Same Type?," IZA Discussion Papers 2185, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Ariell Reshef, 2013. "Is Technological Change Biased Towards the Unskilled in Services? An Empirical Investigation," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 16(2), pages 312-331, April.
    7. Koh, Youngsun, 2018. "The Evolution of Wage Inequality in Korea," KDI Policy Studies 2018-01, Korea Development Institute (KDI).
    8. Daron Acemoglu, 2003. "Cross-Country Inequality Trends," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 113(485), pages 121-149, February.
    9. Fabián Slonimczyk, 2013. "Earnings inequality and skill mismatch in the U.S.: 1973–2002," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 11(2), pages 163-194, June.
    10. Alexandra Spitz-Oener, 2006. "Technical Change, Job Tasks, and Rising Educational Demands: Looking outside the Wage Structure," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 24(2), pages 235-270, April.
    11. Frederiksen, Anders & Poulsen, Odile, 2010. "Increasing Income Inequality: Productivity, Bargaining and Skill-Upgrading," IZA Discussion Papers 4791, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. David H. Autor & Lawrence F. Katz & Melissa S. Kearney, 2005. "Trends in U. S. Wage Inequality: Re-Assessing the Revisionists," Harvard Institute of Economic Research Working Papers 2095, Harvard - Institute of Economic Research.
    13. Jonathan Heathcote & Fabrizio Perri & Giovanni L. Violante, 2010. "Unequal We Stand: An Empirical Analysis of Economic Inequality in the United States: 1967-2006," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 13(1), pages 15-51, January.
    14. Stephen Machin & John Van Reenen, 2007. "Changes in Wage Inequality," CEP Reports 18, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    15. Borghans, Lex & ter Weel, Bas, 2007. "The diffusion of computers and the distribution of wages," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 715-748, April.
    16. Ariell Reshef, 2013. "Is Technological Change Biased Towards the Unskilled in Services? An Empirical Investigation," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 16(2), pages 312-331, April.
    17. David H. Autor & Lawrence F. Katz & Melissa S. Kearney, 2008. "Trends in U.S. Wage Inequality: Revising the Revisionists," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(2), pages 300-323, May.
    18. Rosario Crinò, 2009. "Offshoring, Multinationals And Labour Market: A Review Of The Empirical Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(2), pages 197-249, April.
    19. Azam Mehtabul, 2010. "India's Increasing Skill Premium: Role of Demand and Supply," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 10(1), pages 1-28, October.
    20. Acemoglu, Daron & Aghion, Philippe & Violante, Giovanni L., 2001. "Deunionization, technical change and inequality," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(1), pages 229-264, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:zbw:kdifor:274. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/kdiiikr.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.