IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/socsci/v86y2005is1p1324-1337.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Metropolitan Earnings Inequality: Union and Government‐Sector Employment Effects

Author

Listed:
  • Thomas W. Volscho
  • Andrew S. Fullerton

Abstract

Objective. This study examines the effects of union density and government‐sector employment on earnings inequality in Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in the United States. Methods. Data on 167 MSAs from the 2000 Census are analyzed using standard regression techniques. Four measures of Atkinson's index (e=0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0) are used as the measure of earnings inequality for full‐time, year‐round workers. Results. MSAs with greater union density and greater government‐sector employment have lower earnings inequality. The progressive effect of union density is strongest for earners in the middle of the distribution and less beneficial for workers at the bottom of the distribution. Government employment is generally associated with lower levels of earnings inequality, but state and federal government employment have the strongest effects. Conclusion. Even in the late 1990s, unions and government‐sector employment remain effective at reducing earnings inequality.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas W. Volscho & Andrew S. Fullerton, 2005. "Metropolitan Earnings Inequality: Union and Government‐Sector Employment Effects," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 86(s1), pages 1324-1337, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:socsci:v:86:y:2005:i:s1:p:1324-1337
    DOI: 10.1111/j.0038-4941.2005.00348.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0038-4941.2005.00348.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.0038-4941.2005.00348.x?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. Christopher H. Wheeler, 2007. "Industry localisation and earnings inequality: Evidence from U.S. manufacturing," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 86(1), pages 77-100, March.
    2. Janice F. Madden, 2000. "Changes in Income Inequality within U.S. Metropolitan Areas," Books from Upjohn Press, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, number cii, November.
    3. repec:eee:labchp:v:2:y:1986:i:c:p:1139-1181 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Allen Hyde, 2018. "“Left behind?” Financialization and Income Inequality Between the Affluent, Middle Class, and the Poor," LIS Working papers 745, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    2. Patricia Beeson & Lara Shore-Sheppard & Tara Watson, 2010. "Local Fiscal Policies and Urban Wage Structures," Public Finance Review, , vol. 38(5), pages 540-584, September.
    3. Tara Watson & Sara McLanahan, 2011. "Marriage Meets the Joneses: Relative Income, Identity, and Marital Status," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 46(3), pages 482-517.
    4. Neil Lee & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2013. "Innovation and spatial inequality in Europe and USA," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 13(1), pages 1-22, January.
    5. Töngür, Ünal & Elveren, Adem Yavuz, 2014. "Deunionization and pay inequality in OECD Countries: A panel Granger causality approach," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 417-425.
    6. Linda Lobao & P. Wilner Jeanty & Mark Partridge & David Kraybill, 2012. "Poverty and Place across the United States," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 35(2), pages 158-187, April.

    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. Rey, Sergio, 2015. "Bells in Space: The Spatial Dynamics of US Interpersonal and Interregional Income Inequality," MPRA Paper 69482, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Golan, Amos & Perloff, Jeffrey M. & Wu, Ximing, 2001. "Welfare Effects of Minimum Wage and Other Government Policies," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt0gb7h58q, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    3. Alessia Matano & Paolo Naticchioni, 2009. "Wage distribution and the spatial sorting of workers and firms," Working Papers - Dipartimento di Economia 8-DEISFOL, Dipartimento di Economia, Sapienza University of Rome, revised 2009.
    4. Sergio J. Rey, 2018. "Bells in Space," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 41(2), pages 152-182, March.
    5. Neil Lee & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2013. "Innovation and spatial inequality in Europe and USA," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 13(1), pages 1-22, January.
    6. Neil Lee & Paul Sissons & Katy Jones, 2016. "The Geography of Wage Inequality in British Cities," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(10), pages 1714-1727, October.
    7. Kenyon Bolton & Sébastien Breau, 2012. "Growing Unequal? Changes in the Distribution of Earnings across Canadian Cities," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 49(6), pages 1377-1396, May.
    8. Sun, Churen & Yu, Zhihao & Zhang, Tao, 2012. "Agglomeration and Trade with Heterogeneous Firms," MPRA Paper 49001, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 17 Aug 2013.
    9. Elizabeth A. La Jeunesse & Christopher H. Wheeler, 2007. "Neighborhood income inequality," Working Papers 2006-039, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
    10. Collins, William J. & Margo, Robert A., 2003. "Race and the value of owner-occupied housing, 1940-1990," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 255-286, May.
    11. Wu, Ximing & Perloff, Jeffrey M. & Golan, Amos, 2002. "Effects of Government Policies on Income Distribution and Welfare," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt74r4h1fc, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    12. Diana Alwis, 2020. "Distributional Impacts of Disaster Recovery: Sri Lankan Households a Decade after the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami," Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 195-222, April.
    13. Timothy J. Bartik & Thomas P. Boehm & Alan M. Schlottmann, "undated". "The Perplexing Literature on Growth and Change," Upjohn Working Papers tjb2003rrs, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    14. Hardman, Anna & Ioannides, Yannis M., 2004. "Neighbors' income distribution: economic segregation and mixing in US urban neighborhoods," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 368-382, December.
    15. De Alwis, Diana, 2018. "Distributional impacts of disaster recovery: Sri Lankan households a decade after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami," Working Paper Series 20321, Victoria University of Wellington, School of Economics and Finance.
    16. Kristian Behrens & Frédéric Robert‐Nicoud, 2009. "Krugman's Papers in Regional Science: The 100 dollar bill on the sidewalk is gone and the 2008 Nobel Prize well‐deserved," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 88(2), pages 467-489, June.
    17. Stephen Malpezzi, "undated". "Local Economic Development and Its Finance: An Introduction," Wisconsin-Madison CULER working papers 02-06, University of Wisconsin Center for Urban Land Economic Research.
    18. Haixiao Wu, 2018. "Is There a Kuznets Curve for Intra-City Earnings Inequality?," Working Papers 2018-09, The George Washington University, Institute for International Economic Policy.
    19. Sébastien Breau, 2010. "Low-Income-Country Import Competition and the Structure of Earnings Inequality in Canada, 1996–2001," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 42(8), pages 1964-1986, August.
    20. Christopher H. Wheeler & Elizabeth A. La Jeunesse, 2008. "Trends In Neighborhood Income Inequality In The U.S.: 1980–2000," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(5), pages 879-891, 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:bla:socsci:v:86:y:2005:i:s1:p:1324-1337. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0038-4941 .

    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.