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Employment Inequalities

Author

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  • Andrew Glyn

    (Corpus Christi College, Oxford Univ)

  • Wiener Salverda

    (University of Groningen)

Abstract

This paper documents the employment disadvantage faced by the less qualified part of the labor force and examines the factors that influence the differing extent of this disadvantage across OECD countries. We argue that employment rates for quartiles of the population ranked by educational qualification provide the best measure of employment disadvantage. We show that differences in these employment rates for the most- and least-educated quartiles vary substantially within Europe, but are not on average higher than those in the USA. The least qualified suffer the greatest employment disadvantage in countries in which the overall employment rates are low and, for men, the literacy test scores for the least qualified are relatively low. A high level of imports from the South appears to be associated with greater employment disadvantage, but there is no discernible tendency for a high level of wage dispersion, low benefits, or weak employment protection legislation to be associated with greater employment disadvantage. Labor market flexibility has not been the route by which some OECD countries have managed to minimize the employment disadvantage of the least qualified.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew Glyn & Wiener Salverda, 2000. "Employment Inequalities," Macroeconomics 0004039, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:wpa:wuwpma:0004039
    Note: Type of Document - Adobe Acrobat PDF; prepared on IBM PC; to print on PostScript; pages: 28; figures: included
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Nickell, Stephen & Layard, Richard, 1999. "Labor market institutions and economic performance," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 46, pages 3029-3084, Elsevier.
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    4. Alan Krueger & Jorn-Steffen Pischke, 1997. "Observations and Conjectures on the U.S. Employment Miracle," Working Papers 769, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    5. Stephen Nickell, 1997. "Unemployment and Labor Market Rigidities: Europe versus North America," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 11(3), pages 55-74, Summer.
    6. David Card & Francis Kramarz & Thomas Lemieux, 1999. "Changes in the Relative Structure of Wages and Employment: A Comparison of the United States, Canada, and France," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 32(4), pages 843-877, August.
    7. Blondal, Sveinbjorn & Pearson, Mark, 1995. "Unemployment and Other Non-employment Benefits," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 11(1), pages 136-169, Spring.
    8. Blau, Francine D & Kahn, Lawrence M, 1996. "International Differences in Male Wage Inequality: Institutions versus Market Forces," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(4), pages 791-836, August.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Floro Ernesto Caroleo, 2000. "Le politiche per l'occupazione in Europa: una tassonomia istituzionale," STUDI ECONOMICI, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2000(71).
    2. John Schmitt & Jonathan Wadsworth, 2002. "Is the OECD Jobs Strategy Behind US and British Employment and Unemployment Success in the 1990s?," SCEPA working paper series. 2002-06, Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis (SCEPA), The New School.
    3. David R. Howell & Ellen Houston & William Milberg, 1999. "Demand Shifts and Earnings Inequality: Wage and Hours Growth by Occupation in the U.S., 1970-97," SCEPA working paper series. 1999-02, Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis (SCEPA), The New School.
    4. Cathal O'Donoghue, 1999. "Estimating the Rate of Return to Education using Microsimulation," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 30(3), pages 249-265.
    5. Kenworthy, Lane, 2002. "Do affluent countries face an income-jobs tradeoff?," MPIfG Discussion Paper 01/10, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    6. Andrew Glyn, 2002. "Labour Market Success and Labour Market Reform: Lessons from Ireland and New Zealand," SCEPA working paper series. 2002-03, Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis (SCEPA), The New School.
    7. Daniele Checchi, 2001. "Education, Inequality and Income Inequality," STICERD - Distributional Analysis Research Programme Papers 52, Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, LSE.
    8. Borghans,L. & Grip,A.,de, 1999. "Skills and low pay: upgrading or overeducation?," ROA Research Memorandum 005, Maastricht University, Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA).
    9. Daniele Checchi, 2000. "Does educational achievement help to explain income inequality?," Departmental Working Papers 2000-11, Department of Economics, Management and Quantitative Methods at Università degli Studi di Milano.

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    • E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics

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