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Are changes in the dispersion of hours worked a cause of increased earnings inequality?

Author

Listed:
  • Daniele Checchi

    (Department of Economics - UNIMI - Università degli Studi di Milano = University of Milan)

  • Cecilia García-Peñalosa

    (GREQAM - Groupement de Recherche en Économie Quantitative d'Aix-Marseille - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - ECM - École Centrale de Marseille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Lara Vivian

    (GREQAM - Groupement de Recherche en Économie Quantitative d'Aix-Marseille - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - ECM - École Centrale de Marseille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

Earnings are the product of wages and hours of work; hence, the dispersion of hours can magnify or dampen a given distribution of wages. This paper examines how earnings inequality is affected by the dispersion of working hours using data for the USA, the UK, Germany, and France over the period 1989–2012. We find that hours dispersion can account for over a third of earnings inequality in some countries and that its contribution has been growing over time. We interpret the expansion in hours inequality in European countries as being the result of weaker union power that led to less successful bargaining concerning working hours.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniele Checchi & Cecilia García-Peñalosa & Lara Vivian, 2016. "Are changes in the dispersion of hours worked a cause of increased earnings inequality?," Post-Print hal-01440291, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01440291
    DOI: 10.1186/s40174-016-0065-2
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://amu.hal.science/hal-01440291v1
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    Cited by:

    1. Daniele Checchi & Cecilia Garcia-Peñalosa & Lara Vivian, 2022. "Hours Inequality," Working Papers hal-03872764, HAL.
    2. Abbritti, Mirko & Consolo, Agostino, 2024. "Labour market skills, endogenous productivity and business cycles," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    3. Iván Fernández‐Val & Aico van Vuuren & Francis Vella & Franco Peracchi, 2024. "Hours worked and the US distribution of real annual earnings 1976–2019," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(4), pages 659-678, June.
    4. Hajime Takatsuka & Dao‐Zhi Zeng, 2018. "Elastic labor supply, variable markups, and spatial inequalities," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(5), pages 1084-1100, November.
    5. Hammar, Olle & Waldenström, Daniel, 2017. "Global Earnings Inequality, 1970–2015," Working Paper Series 1166, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    6. Biewen Martin & Plötze Daniela, 2019. "The Role of Hours Changes for the Increase in German Earnings Inequality," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 239(2), pages 1-28, April.
    7. Joanna Tyrowicz & Magdalena Smyk, 2019. "Wage Inequality and Structural Change," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 141(2), pages 503-538, January.
    8. Koray Aktas, 2021. "Characterizing Life-Cycle Dynamics of Annual Days of Work, Wages, and Cross-Covariances," Working Papers 465, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics.
    9. Beckmannshagen, Mattis & Schröder, Carsten, 2022. "Earnings inequality and working hours mismatch," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    10. Domenico Depalo & Salvatore Lattanzio, 2023. "The increase in earnings inequality and volatility in Italy: the role and persistence of atypical contracts," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 801, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    11. Peter Benczur & Zsombor Cseres-Gergely & Peter Harasztosi, 2017. "EU-wide income inequality in the era of the Great Recession," Budapest Working Papers on the Labour Market 1713, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies.
    12. Behringer, Jan & Gonzalez Granda, Martin & van Treeck, Till, 2022. "Varieties of the rat race: Working hours in the age of abundance," ifso working paper series 17, University of Duisburg-Essen, Institute for Socioeconomics (ifso).
    13. Shao, Lin & Sohail, Faisal & Yurdagul, Emircan, 2022. "Labor Supply and Firm Size," CEPR Discussion Papers 17469, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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