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Changes in Male Labor Supply and Wages

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  • Paul J. Devereux

Abstract

In the 1980s, both wages and labor supply of poorly educated men fell substantially relative to those of educated men. Some observers have interpreted this positive association between changes in wages and labor supply as reflecting movement along stable labor supply curves. The author casts doubt on this interpretation by showing that the wage elasticity necessary to account, by itself, for the observed labor supply decline would greatly exceed elasticity levels typically found in prior studies. Analysis of Census data shows little relationship between changes in relative wages at the state level and changes in male labor supply. Also, panel data analysis shows no strong correlation between long-run changes in individual hours and wages. The small implied labor supply elasticities suggest that very little of the labor supply changes of men during the 1980s can be related to changes in relative wages.

Suggested Citation

  • Paul J. Devereux, 2003. "Changes in Male Labor Supply and Wages," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 56(3), pages 409-428, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:56:y:2003:i:3:p:409-428
    DOI: 10.1177/001979390305600303
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    Cited by:

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    2. Jorgen Hansen & Xingfei Liu, 2015. "Estimating labour supply responses and welfare participation: Using a natural experiment to validate a structural labour supply model," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 48(5), pages 1831-1854, December.
    3. Olivier Bargain & Karina Doorley, 2016. "The Effect of Social Benefits on Youth Employment: Combining RD and a Behavioral Model," Post-Print hal-03894917, HAL.
    4. Olivier Donni & Eleonora Matteazzi, 2012. "On the Importance of Household Production in Collective Models: Evidence from U.S. Data," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 105-106, pages 99-125.
    5. Bargain, Olivier & Peichl, Andreas, 2013. "Steady-state labor supply elasticities: A survey," ZEW Discussion Papers 13-084, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    6. Bargain, Olivier & Jara, H. Xavier & Rivera, David, 2024. "Tax disincentives to formal employment in Latin America," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 125368, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. Olivier Bargain & Kristian Orsini & Andreas Peichl, 2012. "Comparing Labor Supply Elasticities in Europe and the US: New Results," Working Papers halshs-00805736, HAL.
    8. Abe, Yukiko & Tamada, Keiko, 2010. "Regional patterns of employment changes of less-educated men in Japan: 1990-2007," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 69-79, March.
    9. Michiel Evers & Ruud de Mooij & Daniel van Vuuren, 2005. "What explains the variation in estimates of labour supply elasticities?," CPB Discussion Paper 51, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    10. Olivier Bargain & Kristian Orsini & Andreas Peichl, 2014. "Comparing Labor Supply Elasticities in Europe and the United States: New Results," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 49(3), pages 723-838.
    11. Olivier Bargain & Andreas Peichl, 2016. "Own-wage labor supply elasticities: variation across time and estimation methods," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-31, December.
    12. Tanja Fendel, 2020. "How Elastic is the Labour Supply of Female Migrants Relative to the Labour Supply of Female Natives?," De Economist, Springer, vol. 168(4), pages 475-517, December.
    13. Daniel Felsenstein & Joseph Persky, 2011. "Gender and Job Chains in Local Economic Development," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 25(2), pages 172-181, May.

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