IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ake/iiepdt/202269.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Evolution Of The Earnings Distribution In A Volatile Economy: Evidence From Argentina

Author

Listed:
  • Andrés Blanco

    (University of Michigan)

  • Bernardo Diaz de Astarloa

    (Universidad de Buenos Aires)

  • Andrés Drenik

    (University of Texas at Austin)

  • Christian Moser

    (Columbia University)

  • Danilo Trupkin

    (Instituto Interdisciplinario de Economía Política de Buenos Aires - UBA - CONICET)

Abstract

This paper studies earnings inequality and dynamics in Argentina between 1996 and 2015. Following the 2001–2002 crisis, the Argentine economy transitioned from a low- to a high-inflation regime. At the same time, the number of collective bargaining agreements increased, and minimum wage adjustments became more frequent. We document that this macroeconomic transition was associated with a persistent decrease in the dispersion of real earnings and cyclical movements in higher-order moments of the distribution of earnings changes. To understand this transition at the micro level, we estimate processes of regular wages within job spells. As the Argentine economy transitioned from low to high inflation, the monthly frequency of regular-wage adjustments almost doubled, while the distribution of regular-wage changes morphed from having a mode close to zero and being positively skewed to having a positive mode and being more symmetric.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrés Blanco & Bernardo Diaz de Astarloa & Andrés Drenik & Christian Moser & Danilo Trupkin, 2022. "The Evolution Of The Earnings Distribution In A Volatile Economy: Evidence From Argentina," Documentos de trabajo del Instituto Interdisciplinario de Economía Política IIEP (UBA-CONICET) 2022-69, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Instituto Interdisciplinario de Economía Política IIEP (UBA-CONICET).
    • Handle: RePEc:ake:iiepdt:202269
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://iiep-baires.econ.uba.ar/uploads/publicaciones/544/archivos/1.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kehoe, Patrick & Midrigan, Virgiliu, 2015. "Prices are sticky after all," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 35-53.
    2. Mark Gertler & Christopher Huckfeldt & Antonella Trigari, 2020. "Unemployment Fluctuations, Match Quality, and the Wage Cyclicality of New Hires," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 87(4), pages 1876-1914.
    3. Mark Bils & Peter J. Klenow, 2004. "Some Evidence on the Importance of Sticky Prices," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(5), pages 947-985, October.
    4. Isaac Baley & Andrés Blanco, 2021. "Aggregate Dynamics in Lumpy Economies," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 89(3), pages 1235-1264, May.
    5. Alessandro Barattieri & Susanto Basu & Peter Gottschalk, 2014. "Some Evidence on the Importance of Sticky Wages," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 6(1), pages 70-101, January.
    6. Facundo Alvaredo & Guillermo Cruces & Leonardo Gasparini, 2018. "A short episodic history of income distribution in Argentina," Latin American Economic Review, Springer;Centro de Investigaciòn y Docencia Económica (CIDE), vol. 27(1), pages 1-45, December.
    7. Stephanie Schmitt-Grohé & Martín Uribe, 2016. "Downward Nominal Wage Rigidity, Currency Pegs, and Involuntary Unemployment," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 124(5), pages 1466-1514.
    8. Guillermo Cruces, 2005. "Income Fluctuations, Poverty and Well-Being Over Time: Theory and Application to Argentina," Labor and Demography 0502007, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Fatih Guvenen & Serdar Ozkan & Jae Song, 2014. "The Nature of Countercyclical Income Risk," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 122(3), pages 621-660.
    10. William T. Dickens & Lorenz Goette & Erica L. Groshen & Steinar Holden & Julian Messina & Mark E. Schweitzer & Jarkko Turunen & Melanie E. Ward, 2007. "How Wages Change: Micro Evidence from the International Wage Flexibility Project," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 21(2), pages 195-214, Spring.
    11. Ricardo J. Caballero & Eduardo M. R. A. Engel, 1993. "Microeconomic Adjustment Hazards and Aggregate Dynamics," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(2), pages 359-383.
    12. Taylor, John B, 1980. "Aggregate Dynamics and Staggered Contracts," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 88(1), pages 1-23, February.
    13. Fernando E. Alvarez & Francesco Lippi & Luigi Paciello, 2011. "Optimal Price Setting With Observation and Menu Costs," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 126(4), pages 1909-1960.
    14. Audra Bowlus & Émilien Gouin‐Bonenfant & Huju Liu & Lance Lochner & Youngmin Park, 2022. "Four decades of Canadian earnings inequality and dynamics across workers and firms," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 13(4), pages 1447-1491, November.
    15. Casanova, Luis. & Jiménez, Maribel. & Jiménez, Mónica., 2015. "Calidad del empleo y cumplimiento del salario mínimo en Argentina," ILO Working Papers 994980893402676, International Labour Organization.
    16. Storesletten, Kjetil & Telmer, Christopher I. & Yaron, Amir, 2004. "Consumption and risk sharing over the life cycle," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 609-633, April.
    17. John Grigsby & Erik Hurst & Ahu Yildirmaz, 2021. "Aggregate Nominal Wage Adjustments: New Evidence from Administrative Payroll Data," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(2), pages 428-471, February.
    18. Hoffmann, Eran B. & Malacrino, Davide, 2019. "Employment time and the cyclicality of earnings growth," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 160-171.
    19. Luminita Stevens, 2020. "Coarse Pricing Policies," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 87(1), pages 420-453.
    20. Lawrence J. Christiano & Martin Eichenbaum & Charles L. Evans, 2005. "Nominal Rigidities and the Dynamic Effects of a Shock to Monetary Policy," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(1), pages 1-45, February.
    21. Deaton, Angus & Paxson, Christina, 1994. "Intertemporal Choice and Inequality," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 102(3), pages 437-467, June.
    22. Robert J. Barro, 1972. "A Theory of Monopolistic Price Adjustment," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 39(1), pages 17-26.
    23. Fernando Alvarez & Francesco Lippi, 2020. "Temporary Price Changes, Inflation Regimes, and the Propagation of Monetary Shocks," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 12(1), pages 104-152, January.
    24. Niklas Engbom & Gustavo Gonzaga & Christian Moser & Roberta Olivieri, 2022. "Earnings inequality and dynamics in the presence of informality: The case of Brazil," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 13(4), pages 1405-1446, November.
    25. Kevin L. McKinney & John M. Abowd & Hubert P. Janicki, 2022. "U.S. long‐term earnings outcomes by sex, race, ethnicity, and place of birth," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 13(4), pages 1879-1945, November.
    26. Fernando Alvarez & Martin Beraja & Martín Gonzalez-Rozada & Pablo Andrés Neumeyer, 2019. "From Hyperinflation to Stable Prices: Argentina’s Evidence on Menu Cost Models," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(1), pages 451-505.
    27. Casanova, Luis. & Jiménez, Maribel. & Jiménez, Mónica., 2015. "Calidad del empleo y cumplimiento del salario mínimo en Argentina," ILO Working Papers 994891263402676, International Labour Organization.
    28. Martin Eichenbaum & Nir Jaimovich & Sergio Rebelo, 2011. "Reference Prices, Costs, and Nominal Rigidities," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(1), pages 234-262, February.
    29. Jonathon Hazell & Bledi Taska, 2020. "Downward Rigidity in the Wage for New Hires," Discussion Papers 2028, Centre for Macroeconomics (CFM).
    30. Sigurdsson, Jósef & Sigurdardottir, Rannveig, 2016. "Time-dependent or state-dependent wage-setting? Evidence from periods of macroeconomic instability," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 50-66.
    31. Fatih Guvenen & Fatih Karahan & Serdar Ozkan & Jae Song, 2021. "What Do Data on Millions of U.S. Workers Reveal About Lifecycle Earnings Dynamics?," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 89(5), pages 2303-2339, September.
    32. Wojciech Kopczuk & Emmanuel Saez & Jae Song, 2010. "Earnings Inequality and Mobility in the United States: Evidence from Social Security Data Since 1937," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 125(1), pages 91-128.
    33. Robert Shimer, 2004. "The Consequences of Rigid Wages in Search Models," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 2(2-3), pages 469-479, 04/05.
    34. Emi Nakamura & Jón Steinsson, 2008. "Five Facts about Prices: A Reevaluation of Menu Cost Models," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 123(4), pages 1415-1464.
    35. Andrés Blanco, 2021. "Optimal Inflation Target in an Economy with Menu Costs and a Zero Lower Bound," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 13(3), pages 108-141, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Niembro, Andrés & Calá, Carla Daniela, 2024. "Regional structural change in Argentina (1996-2019): Concepts, measurements and unequal trajectories over the business cycle," Nülan. Deposited Documents 4106, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Sociales, Centro de Documentación.
    2. Demirgüç-Kunt, Asli & Lokshin, Michael & Kolchin, Vladimir, 2023. "Effects of public sector wages on corruption: Wage inequality matters," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 941-959.
    3. Fatih Guvenen & Luigi Pistaferri & Giovanni L. Violante, 2022. "Global trends in income inequality and income dynamics: New insights from GRID," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 13(4), pages 1321-1360, November.
    4. Daniela Puggioni & Mariana Calderón & Alfonso Cebreros Zurita & León Fernández Bujanda & José Antonio Inguanzo González & David Jaume, 2022. "Inequality, income dynamics, and worker transitions: The case of Mexico," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 13(4), pages 1669-1705, November.
    5. Puggioni Daniela & Calderón Mariana & Cebreros Alfonso & Fernández León & Inguanzo José A. & Jaume David, 2022. "Inequality, Income Dynamics, and Transitions of Mexican Workers," Working Papers 2022-14, Banco de México.
    6. Jorge Eduardo Camusso & Ana Inés Navarro, 2021. "Asymmetries in aggregate income risk over the business cycle: evidence from administrative data of Argentina," Asociación Argentina de Economía Política: Working Papers 4447, Asociación Argentina de Economía Política.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cosmin Ilut & Rosen Valchev & Nicolas Vincent, 2020. "Paralyzed by Fear: Rigid and Discrete Pricing Under Demand Uncertainty," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(5), pages 1899-1938, September.
    2. Guido Ascari & Timo Haber, 2019. "Sticky prices and the transmission mechanism of monetary policy: A minimal test of New Keynesian models," Economics Series Working Papers 869, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    3. Taylor, J.B., 2016. "The Staying Power of Staggered Wage and Price Setting Models in Macroeconomics," Handbook of Macroeconomics, in: J. B. Taylor & Harald Uhlig (ed.), Handbook of Macroeconomics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 2009-2042, Elsevier.
    4. Francisca Sara-Zaror, 2024. "Inflation, Price Dispersion, and Welfare: The Role of Consumer Search," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2024-047, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    5. Effrosyni Adamopoulou & Ernesto Villanueva, 2020. "Wage determination and the bite of collective contracts in Italy and Spain: evidence from the metal working industry," Working Papers 2036, Banco de España.
    6. Nakov, Anton & Petit, Borja & Costain, James, 2018. "Monetary policy implications of state-dependent prices and wages," CEPR Discussion Papers 13398, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    7. Etienne Gagnon & David López-Salido & Nicolas Vincent, 2013. "Individual Price Adjustment along the Extensive Margin," NBER Macroeconomics Annual, University of Chicago Press, vol. 27(1), pages 235-281.
    8. Emi Nakamura & Jón Steinsson, 2013. "Price Rigidity: Microeconomic Evidence and Macroeconomic Implications," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 5(1), pages 133-163, May.
    9. Ray, Sourav & Snir, Avichai & Levy, Daniel, 2023. "Retail Pricing Format and Rigidity of Regular Prices," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, pages 1-1.
    10. Khan, Hashmat & Phaneuf, Louis & Victor, Jean Gardy, 2020. "Rules-based monetary policy and the threat of indeterminacy when trend inflation is low," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 317-333.
    11. Steven J. Davis & Pawel M. Krolikowski, 2023. "Sticky Wages on the Layoff Margin," NBER Working Papers 31528, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Luo, Shaowen & Villar, Daniel, 2021. "The price adjustment hazard function: Evidence from high inflation periods," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    13. Sanvi Avouyi-Dovi & Denis Fougère & Erwan Gautier, 2013. "Wage Rigidity, Collective Bargaining, and the Minimum Wage: Evidence from French Agreement Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(4), pages 1337-1351, October.
    14. John Grigsby & Erik Hurst & Ahu Yildirmaz, 2021. "Aggregate Nominal Wage Adjustments: New Evidence from Administrative Payroll Data," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(2), pages 428-471, February.
    15. Knotek, Edward S., 2024. "The roles of price points and menu costs in price rigidity," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    16. James Costain & Anton Nakov, 2019. "Logit Price Dynamics," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 51(1), pages 43-78, February.
    17. Daniel Schaefer & Carl Singleton, 2023. "The Extent of Downward Nominal Wage Rigidity: New Evidence from Payroll Data," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 51, pages 60-76, December.
    18. Terence Tai Leung Chong & M. S. Rafiq & Tingting Juni Zhu & Zhang Wu, 2019. "Are Prices Sticky In Large Developing Economies? An Empirical Comparison Of China And India," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 64(02), pages 341-363, March.
    19. Pinelopi Goldberg & Rebecca Hellerstein, 2009. "How Rigid Are Producer Prices?," Working Papers 1184, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    20. Le, Vo Phuong Mai & Meenagh, David & Minford, Patrick, 2021. "State-dependent pricing turns money into a two-edged sword: A new role for monetary policy," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Earnings inequality; Earnings volatility; Earnings mobility; Wage rigidity; Inflation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • E31 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Price Level; Inflation; Deflation
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ake:iiepdt:202269. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: IIEP UBA-CONICET (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ieeubar.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.