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Skill heterogeneity and market labour income inequality

Author

Listed:
  • Luis Medrano-Adán

    (Centro Universitario de la Defensa)

  • Vicente Salas-Fumás

    (University of Zaragoza)

  • Javier Sanchez-Asin

    (University of Zaragoza)

Abstract

Occupational choice models predict that, ceteris paribus, countries with higher dispersion of skill will have higher market labour income inequality. However, an extended conclusion from empirical research is that cross-country variations in dispersion of skill explain little of the variation in income inequality. This paper identifies factors related to production and organization technologies that moderate the relationship between dispersion of skill and dispersion of income in occupational choice equilibrium outcomes and that, if not properly accounted for, can bias the results of the empirical studies that explain dispersion of income as a function of dispersion of skill. In particular, comparing equilibrium outcomes from occupational choices in economies that differ in the distribution of skill and in the efficiency of supervision hierarchies, the paper can explain why the US and Sweden have similar labour productivity, but income inequality is higher in the US than in Sweden, and why productivity is lower and income inequality is higher in Spain than in Sweden.

Suggested Citation

  • Luis Medrano-Adán & Vicente Salas-Fumás & Javier Sanchez-Asin, 2024. "Skill heterogeneity and market labour income inequality," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 15(2), pages 203-234, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:series:v:15:y:2024:i:2:d:10.1007_s13209-023-00287-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s13209-023-00287-x
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Income inequality; Labour income; Occupational choice; Distribution of skills; Scale economies of skills; Organizational size diseconomies;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality

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