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Wage and Test Score Dispersion Some International Evidence

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  • Bedard, Kelly
  • Ferrall, Christopher

Abstract

This paper includes fifty observations on wage distributions across eleven countries and two age cohorts defined by international mathematics tests given to thirteen-year-olds in 1962 and 1982. It is found that wage dispersion later in life is never greater than test score dispersion. In particular, Lorenz curves for a cohorts wages always lie above or on top of the cohorts test score Lorenz curve. Wage dispersion, as summarized by Gini coefficients, is significantly related to test score dispersion and union density in the country. A general fall in test score dispersion between 1962 and 1982 appears to be reflected in reduced wage dispersion. For three countries with available data (the U.S., the U. K., and Japan), evidence of skill-based changes in wage dispersion between the early 1970s and the late 1980s is found.
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Suggested Citation

  • Bedard, Kelly & Ferrall, Christopher, 1997. "Wage and Test Score Dispersion Some International Evidence," Queen's Institute for Economic Research Discussion Papers 273381, Queen's University - Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:queddp:273381
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.273381
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    File URL: http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/273381/files/qed_wp_947.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Francine D. Blau & Lawrence Kahn, 2004. "Do Cognitive Test Scores Explain Higher U.S. Wage Inequality?," CESifo Working Paper Series 1139, CESifo.
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    Cited by:

    1. Hadia Majid & Rashid Memon, 2016. "Group inequality and regional development: Evidence from Pakistan," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2016-151, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    2. Lai, Fang, 2010. "Are boys left behind? The evolution of the gender achievement gap in Beijing's middle schools," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 383-399, June.
    3. Francisco H. G. Ferreira & Jérémie Gignoux, 2014. "The Measurement of Educational Inequality: Achievement and Opportunity," World Bank Economic Review, World Bank Group, vol. 28(2), pages 210-246.
    4. Micklewright, John & Schnepf, Sylke V., 2006. "Inequality of Learning in Industrialised Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 2517, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Jorge Calero & Rosario Ivano Scandurra, 2016. "Modelling adult skills in OECD countries," Working Papers 2016/17, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    6. Ersado, Lire & Gignoux, Jeremie, 2014. "Egypt : inequality of opportunity in education," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6996, The World Bank.
    7. Rose, Heather, 2006. "Do gains in test scores explain labor market outcomes?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 430-446, August.
    8. Lire Ersado & Jérémie Gignoux, 2014. "Inequality of Educational Opportunities in Egypt," Working Papers halshs-01064510, HAL.
    9. Ana-Maria ZAMFIR, 2017. "Urban-Rural Educational Inequalities and Human Capital Polarization in Romania," Revista romaneasca pentru educatie multidimensionala - Journal for Multidimensional Education, Editura Lumen, Department of Economics, vol. 9(3), pages 156-164, December.
    10. Das, Jishnu & Zajonc, Tristan, 2010. "India shining and Bharat drowning: Comparing two Indian states to the worldwide distribution in mathematics achievement," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(2), pages 175-187, July.
    11. Lire Ersado & Jérémie Gignoux, 2014. "Inequality of Educational Opportunities in Egypt," PSE Working Papers halshs-01064510, HAL.
    12. Lorenzo Cappellari & Paolo Castelnovo & Daniele Checchi & Marco Leonardi, 2017. "Skilled or Educated? Educational Reforms, Human Capital, and Earnings," Research in Labor Economics, in: Solomon W. Polachek & Konstantinos Pouliakas & Giovanni Russo & Konstantinos Tatsiramos (ed.),Skill Mismatch in Labor Markets, volume 45, pages 173-197, Emerald Publishing Ltd.
    13. Ponce, Juan & Bedi, Arjun S., 2010. "The impact of a cash transfer program on cognitive achievement: The Bono de Desarrollo Humano of Ecuador," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 116-125, February.
    14. Hadia Majid & Rashid Memon, 2016. "Group inequality and regional development: Evidence from Pakistan: Evidence from Pakistan," WIDER Working Paper Series 151, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    15. Adaiah Lilenstein, 2020. "Better measures of progress: Developing reliable estimates of educational access and quality in Francophone sub-Saharan Africa," Working Papers 13/2020, Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics.
    16. Peter Kuhn, 1998. "The Declining Labour Market Outcomes of the Less Skilled: Can Fiscal Policy Make a Difference?," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 24(3), pages 370-377, September.
    17. Salverda, Wiemer & Checchi, Daniele, 2014. "Labour-Market Institutions and the Dispersion of Wage Earnings," IZA Discussion Papers 8220, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Adaiah Lilenstein, 2018. "Integrating Indicators of Education Quantity and Quality in Six Francophone African Countries," Working Papers 09/2018, Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics.
    19. Balcazar, Carlos Felipe & Narayan, Ambar & Tiwari, Sailesh, 2015. "Born with a silver spoon : inequality in educational achievement across the world," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7152, The World Bank.
    20. Zhang Qiwang & Wang Xiaorui, 2020. "Factors Influencing Employment Rate and Mobility of Science and Engineering and Economics and Management Graduates in Northeast China: An Examination," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(2), pages 21582440209, June.
    21. Hadia Majid & Rashid Memon, 2019. "Patronage and Public Goods Provisioning in an Unequal Land," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 145(3), pages 805-830, October.
    22. Checchi, Daniele & van de Werfhorst, Herman Gerbert, 2017. "Policies, Skills and Earnings: How Educational Inequality Affects Earnings Inequality," SocArXiv wn3h2, Center for Open Science.
    23. David Jesuit & Douglas Roscoe & Vincent Mahler, 1997. "Exploring the Impact of Trade and Investment on Income Inequality: A Cross-National Sectoral Analysis of the Developed Market Economy Countries," LIS Working papers 159, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    24. Checchi, Daniele & van de Werfhorst, Herman G., 2014. "Educational Policies and Income Inequality," IZA Discussion Papers 8222, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    25. Francisco H. G. Ferreira & Jérémie Gignoux, 2014. "The Measurement of Educational Inequality: Achievement and Opportunity," World Bank Economic Review, World Bank Group, vol. 28(2), pages 210-246.

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