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Trading Up and the Skill Premium

Author

Listed:
  • Nir Jaimovich
  • Sergio Rebelo
  • Arlene Wong
  • Miao Ben Zhang

Abstract

We study the impact on the skill premium of increases in the quality of goods consumed by households (“trading up”). Our empirical work shows that high-quality goods are more intensive in skilled labor than low-quality goods and that household spending on high-quality goods rises with income. We propose a model consistent with these facts. This model accounts for the past rise in the skill premium with more plausible rates of skill-biased technical change than those required by the canonical model. It also implies that an expansion of the skilled labor force reduces the skill premium by much less than in the canonical model.

Suggested Citation

  • Nir Jaimovich & Sergio Rebelo & Arlene Wong & Miao Ben Zhang, 2020. "Trading Up and the Skill Premium," NBER Macroeconomics Annual, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(1), pages 285-316.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:macann:doi:10.1086/707185
    DOI: 10.1086/707185
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    Cited by:

    1. Martin S. Eichenbaum & Sergio Rebelo & Mathias Trabandt, 2022. "Inequality in Life and Death," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 70(1), pages 68-104, March.
    2. Gyöngyösi, Győző & Rariga, Judit & Verner, Emil, 2021. "The anatomy of consumption in a household foreign currency debt crisis," SAFE Working Paper Series 332, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.
    3. Óscar Afonso & Pedro G. Lima & Tiago Sequeira, 2022. "The effects of automation and lobbying in wage inequality: a directed technical change model with routine and non-routine tasks," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 32(5), pages 1467-1497, November.

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