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The Effect of Establishment and Firm Size On Public Wage Differentials

Author

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  • Dale Belman

    (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)

  • John S. Heywood

    (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)

Abstract

Despite large separate literatures, the influence of establishment (plant) and firm size on wages has not been combined with estimation of public wage differentials. We find that doing so alters the estimated public differentials at each level of government. Federal workers in particular appear far less "overpaid " when estab lishment size premiums are included in the wage equations. Indeed, the usually reported federal differential is driven mainly by large wage gaps in the very smallest of establishments. Moreover, when both establishment and firm size premiums are included in the wage equations, little or no evidence emerges that even federal workers are "overpaid. " These results follow from the existence of size premiums among private and local workers but virtually no such premiums among federal or state workers.

Suggested Citation

  • Dale Belman & John S. Heywood, 1990. "The Effect of Establishment and Firm Size On Public Wage Differentials," Public Finance Review, , vol. 18(2), pages 221-235, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:pubfin:v:18:y:1990:i:2:p:221-235
    DOI: 10.1177/109114219001800205
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David S. Evans & Linda S. Leighton, 1989. "Why Do Smaller Firms Pay Less?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 24(2), pages 299-318.
    2. Richard B. Freeman & Casey Ichniowski, 1988. "When Public Sector Workers Unionize," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number free88-1, May.
    3. Charles C. Brown & James L. Medoff, 1988. "Employer Size, Pay, and the Ability to Pay in the Public Sector," NBER Chapters, in: When Public Sector Workers Unionize, pages 195-216, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Smith, Sharon P., 1977. "Government wage differentials," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 4(3), pages 248-271, July.
    5. William T. Dickens & Lawrence F. Katz, 1986. "Interindustry Wage Differences and Industry Characteristics," NBER Working Papers 2014, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Morikawa, Masayuki, 2016. "A comparison of the wage structure between the public and private sectors in Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 73-90.
    2. John S. Heywood & Nikolaos Theodoropoulos, 2016. "Employer Size Effects for Workers vs. Supervisors: British Survey Data," University of Cyprus Working Papers in Economics 07-2016, University of Cyprus Department of Economics.
    3. Jeff Borland & Joe Hirschberg & Jenny Lye, 1998. "Earnings of Public Sector and Private Sector Employees in Australia: Is There a Difference?," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 74(224), pages 36-53, March.
    4. Dale Belman & John S. Heywood, 2004. "Public wage differentials and the treatment of occupational differences," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(1), pages 135-152.
    5. repec:eee:labchp:v:3:y:1999:i:pc:p:3573-3630 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. John Gibson, 2009. "The public sector pay premium, compensating differentials and unions: propensity score matching evidence from Australia, Canada, Great Britain and the United States," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 29(3), pages 2325-2332.
    7. Gregory, Robert G. & Borland, Jeff, 1999. "Recent developments in public sector labor markets," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 53, pages 3573-3630, Elsevier.
    8. Justin Falk, 2012. "Comparing Wages in the Federal Government and the Private Sector: Working Paper 2012-03," Working Papers 42922, Congressional Budget Office.
    9. Colin Green & John S. Heywood & Nikolaos Theodoropoulos, 2017. "Employer size and supervisor earnings: Evidence from Britain," University of Cyprus Working Papers in Economics 04-2017, University of Cyprus Department of Economics.
    10. Domenico Depalo & Raffaela Giordano & Evangelia Papapetrou, 2015. "Public–private wage differentials in euro-area countries: evidence from quantile decomposition analysis," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 49(3), pages 985-1015, November.
    11. Melanie Jones & Ezgi Kaya, 2023. "The UK gender pay gap: Does firm size matter?," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 90(359), pages 937-952, July.
    12. Jesús CLEMENTE & Millán DIAZ-FONCEA & Carmen MARCUELLO & Marcos SANSO-NAVARRO, 2012. "The Wage Gap Between Cooperative And Capitalist Firms: Evidence From Spain," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 83(3), pages 337-356, September.
    13. Philip Murphy & David Blackaby & Nigel O'Leary & Anita Staneva, 2020. "Understanding What Has Been Happening to the Public‐Sector Pay Premium in Great Britain: A Distributional Approach Based on the Labour Force Survey," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 58(2), pages 273-300, June.
    14. Colin P. Green & John S. Heywood & Nikolaos Theodoropoulos, 2021. "Hierarchy and the Employer Size Effect on Wages: Evidence from Britain," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 88(351), pages 671-696, July.
    15. Dale Belman & John S. Heywood, 2004. "Public-Sector Wage Comparability: The Role of Earnings Dispersion," Public Finance Review, , vol. 32(6), pages 567-587, November.

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