IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/imk/wpaper/7-2011.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Impact of Financialization on Income Distribution in the USA and Germany: A Proposal for a New Adjusted Wage Share

Author

Listed:
  • Petra Duenhaupt

    (Macroeconomic Policy Institute (IMK) at the Hans Boeckler Foundation)

Abstract

Over the recent decades, the USA has witnessed major changes in corporate governance partly due to an overall increase in financialization. The most pronounced development is the escalation of management salaries caused by the rise of stock options. On theoretical grounds, this trend was fostered by advances in the economic discipline of agency theory. In practice, changes in tax laws contributed to promoting the change. Empirical evidence shows that income concentration has increased at the top.This paper contributes to the ongoing debate about income shares by introducing a new adjusted wage share. Arguing that top incomes are closer to profits than to wages, top incomes are removed from the calculation of the indicator. The presented evidence shows that the wage share and the adjusted wage share start to diverge by the end of the 1980s, exactly at the time when the compensation practices of corporations changed considerably. Although shareholder value orientation has increased in Germany as well, business owners are still at the top of the income hierarchy. Therefore, the adjustment of the German wage income share for top management salaries shows only minor discrepancies, which, however, are in the same direction as in the US.

Suggested Citation

  • Petra Duenhaupt, 2011. "The Impact of Financialization on Income Distribution in the USA and Germany: A Proposal for a New Adjusted Wage Share," IMK Working Paper 7-2011, IMK at the Hans Boeckler Foundation, Macroeconomic Policy Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:imk:wpaper:7-2011
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.boeckler.de/pdf/p_imk_wp_7_2011.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Edward N. Wolff, 2007. "Recent Trends in Household Wealth in the United States: Rising Debt and the Middle-Class Squeeze," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_502, Levy Economics Institute.
    2. Olivier Blanchard & Francesco Giavazzi, 2003. "Macroeconomic Effects of Regulation and Deregulation in Goods and Labor Markets," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(3), pages 879-907.
    3. A. B. Atkinson, 2009. "Factor shares: the principal problem of political economy?," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 25(1), pages 3-16, Spring.
    4. Brian J. Hall & Kevin J. Murphy, 2003. "The Trouble with Stock Options," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 17(3), pages 49-70, Summer.
    5. Anthony Atkinson & Thomas Piketty, 2007. "Top incomes over the twentieth century: A contrast between continental european and english-speaking countries," Post-Print halshs-00754859, HAL.
    6. Thomas I. Palley, 2006. "Class Conflict and the Cambridge Theory of Income Distribution," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Eckhard Hein & Arne Heise & Achim Truger (ed.), Wages, Employment, Distribution and Growth, chapter 10, pages 223-246, Palgrave Macmillan.
    7. Stefan Bach & Giacomo Corneo & Viktor Steiner, 2007. "From Bottom to Top: The Entire Distribution of Market Income in Germany, 1992-2001," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 51, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    8. Bengt Holmstrom & Steven N. Kaplan, 2001. "Corporate Governance and Merger Activity in the United States: Making Sense of the 1980s and 1990s," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(2), pages 121-144, Spring.
    9. Brian J. Hall & Kevin J. Murphy, 2003. "The Trouble with Stock Options," NBER Working Papers 9784, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Bentolila Samuel & Saint-Paul Gilles, 2003. "Explaining Movements in the Labor Share," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 3(1), pages 1-33, October.
    11. Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez, 2006. "The Evolution of Top Incomes: A Historical and International Perspective," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(2), pages 200-205, May.
    12. Stefan Bach & Giacomo Corneo & Viktor Steiner, 2009. "From Bottom To Top: The Entire Income Distribution In Germany, 1992–2003," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 55(2), pages 303-330, June.
    13. Edward N. Wolff, 2010. "Recent Trends in Household Wealth in the United States-- Rising Debt and the Middle-Class Squeeze--An Update to 2007," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_589, Levy Economics Institute.
    14. Lucian Bebchuk, 2005. "The Growth of Executive Pay," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 21(2), pages 283-303, Summer.
    15. Paul Gomme & Peter Rupert, 2004. "Measuring labors share of income," Policy Discussion Papers, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, issue Nov.
    16. Ann Harrison, 2022. "Has Globalization Eroded Labor’s Share? Some Cross-Country Evidence," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Globalization, Firms, and Workers, chapter 5, pages 89-135, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    17. Atkinson, A. B. & Piketty, Thomas (ed.), 2007. "Top Incomes Over the Twentieth Century: A Contrast Between Continental European and English-Speaking Countries," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199286881.
    18. Ian Dew-Becker & Robert J. Gordon, 2005. "Where Did Productivity Growth Go? Inflation Dynamics and the Distribution of Income," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 36(2), pages 67-150.
    19. Eckhard Hein & Arne Heise & Achim Truger (ed.), 2006. "Wages, Employment, Distribution and Growth - International Perspectives," Conference proceedings of the Research Network Macroeconomics and Macroeconomic Policies (FMM), IMK at the Hans Boeckler Foundation, Macroeconomic Policy Institute, number 8a-2006.
    20. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    21. Thomas I. Palley, 2010. "Managerial Pay (Cadrisme) and the Post Keynesian Growth Model," IMK Working Paper 9-2010, IMK at the Hans Boeckler Foundation, Macroeconomic Policy Institute.
    22. Joachim R. Frick & Markus M. Grabka, 2009. "Gestiegene Vermögensungleichheit in Deutschland," DIW Wochenbericht, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 76(4), pages 54-67.
    23. James Crotty, 2002. "The Effects of Increased Product Market Competition and Changes in Financial Markets on the Performance of Nonfinancial Corporations in the Neoliberal Era," Working Papers wp44, Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
    24. Wolfgang Bernhardt, 1999. "Stock Options For or Against Shareholder Value? – New compensation plans for top management and the interests of the shareholders," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 7(2), pages 123-135, April.
    25. Eckhard Hein & Arne Heise & Achim Truger (ed.), 2006. "Wages, Employment, Distribution and Growth," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-230-37178-1.
    26. Petra Dünhaupt & Eckhard Hein & Till van Treeck, 2007. "Finanzsystem und wirtschaftliche Entwicklung: Tendenzen in den USA und in Deutschland aus makroökonomischer Perspektive," IMK Studies 05-2007, IMK at the Hans Boeckler Foundation, Macroeconomic Policy Institute.
    27. Marc Lavoie, 2009. "Cadrisme within a Post-Keynesian Model of Growth and Distribution," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(3), pages 369-391.
    28. F. A. Lutz, 1961. "The Theory of Capital," International Economic Association Series, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-349-08452-4 edited by D. C. Hague, December.
    29. Nicholas Kaldor, 1961. "Capital Accumulation and Economic Growth," International Economic Association Series, in: D. C. Hague (ed.), The Theory of Capital, chapter 0, pages 177-222, Palgrave Macmillan.
    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. Eckhard Hein & Daniel Detzer, 2015. "Finance-Dominated Capitalism and Income Distribution: A Kaleckian Perspective on the Case of Germany," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 1(2), pages 171-191, July.
    2. Obst, Thomas., 2014. "Long-term trends in income distribution a global perspective," ILO Working Papers 994869353402676, International Labour Organization.
    3. Luca Giangregorio & Davide Villani, 2023. "Income inequality, top shares of income and social classes in the 21st century," JRC Working Papers on Social Classes in the Digital Age 2023-05, Joint Research Centre.
    4. Kiguchi, Takehiro & Mountford, Andrew, 2013. "The macroeconomics of immigration," MPRA Paper 45517, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Herr, Hansjörg. & Ruoff, Bea., 2014. "Wage dispersion : empirical developments, explanations, and reform options," ILO Working Papers 994853253402676, International Labour Organization.
    6. repec:ilo:ilowps:486935 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Tristan Auvray & Cédric Durand & Joel Rabinovich & Cecilia Rikap, 2020. "Financialization's conservation and transformation: from Mark I to Mark II," CEPN Working Papers hal-03079425, HAL.
    8. Giampaolo Gabbi & Elisa Ticci & Pietro Vozzella, 2014. "Financialisation and Economic and Financial Crises: The Case of Italy," FESSUD studies fstudy23, Financialisation, Economy, Society & Sustainable Development (FESSUD) Project.
    9. Tristan Auvray & Cédric Durand & Joel Rabinovich & Cecilia Rikap, 2021. "Corporate financialization’s conservation and transformation: from Mark I to Mark II," Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, Springer, vol. 2(3), pages 431-457, December.
    10. Margarita Carvalho & João Cerejeira, 2019. "Financialization, Corporate Governance and Employee Pay: A Firm Level Analysis," NIPE Working Papers 08/2019, NIPE - Universidade do Minho.
    11. repec:ilo:ilowps:485325 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Herr, Hansjörg, 2018. "Karl Marx's thoughts on functional income distribution - a critical analysis," IPE Working Papers 101/2018, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).

    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. Hein, Eckhard, 2011. "Distribution, ‘Financialisation’ and the Financial and Economic Crisis – Implications for Post-crisis Economic Policies," MPRA Paper 31180, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Parui, Pintu, 2021. "Financialization and endogenous technological change: A post-Kaleckian perspective," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 221-244.
    3. Robert Z. Lawrence, 2015. "Recent Declines in Labor's Share in US Income: A Preliminary Neoclassical Account," Working Paper Series WP15-10, Peterson Institute for International Economics.
    4. repec:pra:mprapa:43050 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Sonali Jain-Chandra & Tidiane Kinda & Kalpana Kochhar & Shi Piao & Johanna Schauer, 2019. "Sharing the Growth Dividend: Analysis of Inequality in Asia," Journal of Banking and Financial Economics, University of Warsaw, Faculty of Management, vol. 2(12), pages 5-28, September.
    6. Eckhard Hein & Achim Truger, 2012. "Finance-dominated capitalism in crisis—the case for a global Keynesian New Deal," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(2), pages 187-213.
    7. Yaowen Shan & Terry Walter, 2016. "Towards a Set of Design Principles for Executive Compensation Contracts," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 52(4), pages 619-684, December.
    8. Gordon, Robert J. & Dew-Becker, Ian, 2008. "Controversies about the Rise in American Inequality: A Survey," CEPR Discussion Papers 6817, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    9. Mirella Damiani & Fabrizio Pompei & Andrea Ricci, 2012. "Labour Shares and Employment Protection in European Economies," Quaderni del Dipartimento di Economia, Finanza e Statistica 111/2012, Università di Perugia, Dipartimento Economia.
    10. Marjan Petreski, 2022. "Minimum wage and manufacturing labor share: Evidence from North Macedonia," Finance Think Policy Studies 2022-02/41, Finance Think - Economic Research and Policy Institute.
    11. Michael R. Veall, 2012. "Top income shares in Canada: recent trends and policy implications," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 45(4), pages 1247-1272, November.
    12. Eckhard Hein, 2012. "The Macroeconomics of Finance-Dominated Capitalism – and its Crisis," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14931.
    13. Ivan D. Trofimov, 2019. "Stability of Labour Shares: Evidence from OECD Economies," South-Eastern Europe Journal of Economics, Association of Economic Universities of South and Eastern Europe and the Black Sea Region, vol. 17(1), pages 57-89.
    14. Luciano BOGGIO & Vincenzo DALL’AGLIO & Marco MAGNANI, 2010. "On Labour Shares in Recent Decades: A Survey," Rivista Internazionale di Scienze Sociali, Vita e Pensiero, Pubblicazioni dell'Universita' Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, vol. 118(3), pages 283-333.
    15. Eckhard Hein & Till van Treeck, 2010. "‘Financialisation’ in Post-Keynesian Models of Distribution and Growth: A Systematic Review," Chapters, in: Mark Setterfield (ed.), Handbook of Alternative Theories of Economic Growth, chapter 13, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    16. D., Ivan, 2017. "Stability of the labour shares: evidence from OECD economies," MPRA Paper 79822, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. van Treeck, Till. & Sturn, Simon., 2012. "Income inequality as a cause of the Great Recession? : A survey of current debates," ILO Working Papers 994709343402676, International Labour Organization.
    18. Paul Makdissi & Myra Yazbeck, 2012. "On the Measurement of Indignation," Working Papers 1213E, University of Ottawa, Department of Economics.
    19. Eckhard Hein, 2015. "Finance-dominated capitalism and re-distribution of income: a Kaleckian perspective," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 39(3), pages 907-934.
    20. Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez & Stefanie Stantcheva, 2014. "Optimal Taxation of Top Labor Incomes: A Tale of Three Elasticities," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 6(1), pages 230-271, February.
    21. Carola Frydman & Dirk Jenter, 2010. "CEO Compensation," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 2(1), pages 75-102, December.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E3 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles
    • E6 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook
    • H1 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government

    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:imk:wpaper:7-2011. 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: Sabine Nemitz (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/imkhbde.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.