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Financial Development and Wage Inequality: Theory and Evidence

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  • Jerzmanowski, Michal
  • Nabar, Malhar

Abstract

We argue that financial market development contributed to the rise in the skill premium and residual wage inequality in the US since the 1980s. We present an endogenous growth model with imperfect credit markets and establish how improving the efficiency of these markets affects modes of production, innovation and wage dispersion between skilled and unskilled workers. The experience of US states following banking deregulation provides empirical support for our hypothesis. We find that wages of college educated workers increased by between 0.5 - 1.2% following deregulation while those of workers with a high school diploma fell by about 2.2%. Similarly, residual (or within-group) inequality increased. The 90-50 percentile ratio of residuals from a Mincerian wage regression and their standard deviation increased by 4.5% and 1.8%, respectively.

Suggested Citation

  • Jerzmanowski, Michal & Nabar, Malhar, 2008. "Financial Development and Wage Inequality: Theory and Evidence," MPRA Paper 9841, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:9841
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Skill Premium; Residual Wage Inequality; Financial Deregulation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E25 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Aggregate Factor Income Distribution
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • G24 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Investment Banking; Venture Capital; Brokerage

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