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Financial sector pay and labour income inequality: Evidence from Europe

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  • Oliver Denk

    (OECD)

Abstract

Public questioning about the role of finance has been fuelled by the perception that financial sector pay is an important factor behind high economic inequalities. This paper is the first to provide a comprehensive look at the level of earnings in finance and the implications for labour income inequality for European countries. Financial sector workers are shown to make up 19% among the top 1% earners, although the overall employment share of finance is only 4%. Nonetheless, the relatively small size of the sector limits the contribution that financial sector pay has on income inequality to a small, but noticeable amount. Simulations indicate that most of this contribution is explained by financial institutions paying salaries and bonuses which are above what employees with similar profiles get in other sectors. Estimations that allow for heterogeneity across workers reveal that this wage premium is more than twice as high for financial sector workers at the top of the distribution than at the bottom. The labour market in finance displays other symptoms of imperfection, with, for example, male financial sector workers earning a large wage premium over female financial sector workers, again especially at the top. Rémunérations du secteur financier et inégalités des revenus du travail : Données d'observation en Europe Les interrogations dans l’opinion sur le rôle de la finance se sont nourries du sentiment que les rémunérations dans ce secteur sont un élément important des fortes inégalités économiques. Ce document est le premier à donner une vue d’ensemble du niveau des rémunérations dans la finance et de leurs implications pour les inégalités des revenus du travail dans les pays européens. Il s’avère que les travailleurs du secteur financier constituent 19 % des 1 % de salariés les mieux rémunérés, alors que la part de ce secteur dans l’emploi total n’est que de 4 %. Néanmoins, sa taille relativement modeste fait que son impact sur les inégalités de revenu est réduit, mais visible. Les simulations réalisées montrent que cet impact s’explique essentiellement par les rémunérations et les primes versées par les établissements financiers, supérieures à celles des salariés au profil comparable des autres secteurs. Des estimations qui tiennent compte de l’hétérogénéité entre les travailleurs montrent que cet avantage de salaire du secteur financier est, en haut de la distribution, deux fois plus élevé qu’en bas. Le marché du travail dans la finance révèle d’autres signes d’imperfection, notamment le fait que les travailleurs masculins y bénéficient d’un avantage de salaire conséquent par rapport à leurs homologues femmes, là encore tout particulièrement en haut de la distribution.

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  • Oliver Denk, 2015. "Financial sector pay and labour income inequality: Evidence from Europe," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1225, OECD Publishing.
    • Handle: RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:1225-en
    DOI: 10.1787/5js04v5wjw9p-en
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    3. Oliver Denk & Boris Cournède, 2015. "Finance and income inequality in OECD countries," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1224, OECD Publishing.
    4. Michael Patrick Curran & Matthew J. Fagerstrom, 2019. "Monetary Growth and Financial Sector Wages," Villanova School of Business Department of Economics and Statistics Working Paper Series 41, Villanova School of Business Department of Economics and Statistics.
    5. Hamid Boustanifar & Everett Grant & Ariell Reshef, 2018. "Wages and Human Capital in Finance: International Evidence, 1970–2011 [Financial reform: what shakes it? What shapes it?]," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 22(2), pages 699-745.
    6. Claudius Gräbner-Radkowitsch & Dennis Tamesberger & Philipp Heimberger & Timo Kapelari & Jakob Kapeller, 2022. "Trade Models In The European Union," Economic Annals, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Belgrade, vol. 67(235), pages 7-36, October –.
    7. Boris Cournède & Catherine L. Mann, 2018. "Growth and Inequality Effects of Decades of Financial Transformation in OECD Countries," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 60(1), pages 3-14, March.
    8. Alessandra Casarico & Salvatore Lattanzio, 2024. "What Firms Do: Gender Inequality in Linked Employer-Employee Data," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 42(2), pages 325-355.
    9. de Haan, Jakob & Sturm, Jan-Egbert, 2017. "Finance and income inequality: A review and new evidence," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 171-195.
    10. Olivier Godechot, 2015. "Financialization Is Marketization! : A Study on the Respective Impact of Various Dimensions of Financialization on the Increase in Global Inequality," Sciences Po publications 15/3, Sciences Po.
    11. Oliver Denk, 2015. "Who are the top 1% earners in Europe?," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1274, OECD Publishing.
    12. Renato Gomes & Jean-Marie Lozachmeur & Alessandro Pavan, 2018. "Differential Taxation and Occupational Choice," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 85(1), pages 511-557.
    13. Rosario Aldunate & Gabriela Contreras & Matías Tapia, 2020. "Labor Earnings Dispersion in Chile: Decomposition, Dynamics and the Role of Firms," Working Papers Central Bank of Chile 892, Central Bank of Chile.
    14. Sturm, Jan-Egbert & De Haan, Jakob, 2016. "Finance and income inequality revisited," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145660, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    15. Oliver Denk & Sebastian Schich & Boris Cournède, 2015. "Why implicit bank debt guarantees matter: Some empirical evidence," OECD Journal: Financial Market Trends, OECD Publishing, vol. 2014(2), pages 63-88.
    16. Adnan Velic, 2023. "Wages and the Role of Intangibles in Finance," Trinity Economics Papers tep0323, Trinity College Dublin, Department of Economics.
    17. Olivier Godechot & Paula Apascaritei & István Boza & Martin Hallsten & Lasse Henriksen & Are Hermansen & Feng Hou & Jiwook Jung & Alena Křížková & Zoltán Lippényi & Elvira Marta & Silvia Maja Melzer &, 2021. "Size and evolution of the financial wage premium. Unpublished translation of “Ampleur et évolution dela prime salariale financière”, Regards croisés sur l'économie, 2020, 27(2): 97-109," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03363171, HAL.
    18. Boris Cournède & Oliver Denk & Peter Hoeller, 2015. "Finance and Inclusive Growth," OECD Economic Policy Papers 14, OECD Publishing.
    19. Martijn Hendriks & Martijn Burger & Harry Commandeur, 2023. "The influence of CEO compensation on employee engagement," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 607-633, February.
    20. Crouch, Colin, 2019. "Inequality in post-industrial societies," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 11-23.
    21. Zare , Roohollah, 2019. "Globalization and Income Inequality: Does the Level of Financial Development Matter?," Journal of Money and Economy, Monetary and Banking Research Institute, Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran, vol. 14(2), pages 159-175, April.
    22. Iwata, Kazumasa & Jean, Sébastien & Kastrop, Christian & Loewald, Chris & Véron, Nicolas, 2018. "T20 resilience and inclusive growth," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 12, pages 1-10.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    avantage salarial; coefficient de Gini; earnings; European Union; finance; finance; gender inequality; Gini coefficient; income inequality; Inégalités de genre; inégalités de revenu; surqualification; Union européenne; wage differential; Wage premium;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G22 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Insurance; Insurance Companies; Actuarial Studies
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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