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Egalitarian and elitist education systems as the basis for international differences in wage inequality

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  • Walde, Klaus

Abstract

This paper investigates one reason why some countries have experienced a strong increase in wage inequality over the last decades while others have not. The explanation is based on the link between the quality of education and induced technological change. A country with qualitatively better-educated skilled workers, relative to unskilled workers, has a higher ratio of human capital to labour than a country where the quality of education is more equal across education levels. These differences lead to different paths of induced technological change across countries, which in turn imply different histories of the distribution of labour income.
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  • Walde, Klaus, 2000. "Egalitarian and elitist education systems as the basis for international differences in wage inequality," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 445-468, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:poleco:v:16:y:2000:i:3:p:445-468
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    Cited by:

    1. Kevin James Bowman, 2008. "Endogenous Human Capital Investment And The Interaction Of Frontier And Adoptive Knowledge On Growth And Wage Inequality," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(6), pages 571-592.
    2. Brezis, Elise S. & Hellier, Joël, 2018. "Social mobility at the top and the higher education system," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 36-54.
    3. Thushyanthan Baskaran & Zohal Hessami, 2012. "Public education spending in a globalized world:," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 19(5), pages 677-707, October.
    4. Baskaran, Thushyanthan & Hessami, Zohal, 2010. "Globalization and the Composition of Public Education Expenditures: A Dynamic Panel Analysis," MPRA Paper 25750, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Bowman, Kevin James, 2007. "Knowledge stocks by distance to frontier: Linking low education inequality to high growth in developing countries," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 613-635, August.
    6. Thushyanthan Baskaran & Zohal Hessami, 2011. "Public Education Spending in a Globalized World: Is there a Shift in Priorities Across Educational Stages?," Working Paper Series of the Department of Economics, University of Konstanz 2011-42, Department of Economics, University of Konstanz.
    7. Glomm, Gerhard & Ravikumar, B., 2003. "Public education and income inequality," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 289-300, June.
    8. Janssen, Simon & Mohrenweiser, Jens, 2015. "The long-lasting effect of technological change on the careers of young workers: Evidence from changes of mandatory training regulations," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 112851, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    9. Di Gioacchino, Debora & Sabani, Laura, 2009. "Education policy and inequality: A political economy approach," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 463-478, December.
    10. Klaus Wälde & Pia Weiss, 2004. "International Competition, Slim Firms and Wage Inequality," CESifo Working Paper Series 1254, CESifo.
    11. Elisa S. Brezis & Joel Hellier, 2016. "Social Mobility and Higher-Education Policy," Working Papers 095, "Carlo F. Dondena" Centre for Research on Social Dynamics (DONDENA), Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • D33 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Factor Income Distribution
    • H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education

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