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Wage Inequality and structural change

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  • Joanna Tyrowicz

    (Institute for Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union IAAEU), Trier University)

  • Magdalena Smyk

    (Group for Research in Applied Economics)

Abstract

Income inequality in the context of large structural change has received a lot of attention in the literature, but most studies relied on household post-transfer inequality measures. This study utilizes a novel and fairly comprehensive collection of micro data sets from between 1980’s and 2010 for both advanced market economies and economies undergoing transition from central planning to market based system. We show that wage inequality was initially lower in transition economies and immediately upon the change of the economic system surpassed the levels observed in advanced economies. We find a very weak link between structural change and wages in both advanced and post-transition economies, despite the predictions from skill-biased technological change literature. The decomposition of changes in wage inequality into a part attributable to changes in characteristics (mainly education) and a part attributable to changes in rewards does not yield any leading factors

Suggested Citation

  • Joanna Tyrowicz & Magdalena Smyk, 2018. "Wage Inequality and structural change," IAAEU Discussion Papers 201801, Institute of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU).
    • Handle: RePEc:iaa:dpaper:201801
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Magda, Iga & Gromadzki, Jan & Moriconi, Simone, 2021. "Firms and wage inequality in Central and Eastern Europe," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 499-552.
    4. de Pinto Marco & Goerke Laszlo, 2019. "Efficiency Wages in Cournot-Oligopoly," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 19(4), pages 1-13, October.
    5. Monika Martišková & Marta Kahancová & Jakub Kostolný, 2021. "Negotiating wage (in)equality: changing union strategies in high-wage and low-wage sectors in Czechia and Slovakia," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 27(1), pages 75-96, February.
    6. Marco de Pinto & Laszlo Goerke, 2022. "Cost uncertainty in an oligopoly with endogenous entry," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 74(4), pages 927-948, October.
    7. Iga Magda & Katarzyna Sałach, 2021. "Gender pay gaps in domestic and foreign-owned firms," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 61(4), pages 2237-2263, October.
    8. Clemens Buchen & Sven A. Hartmann & Alberto Palermo, 2021. "Our product is unique: A note on a delegation game with differentiated products," IAAEU Discussion Papers 202102, Institute of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU).
    9. Laszlo Goerke, 2020. "Horizontal FDI in a Dynamic Cournot - Oligopoly with Endogenous Entry," IAAEU Discussion Papers 202003, Institute of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU).
    10. Laporšek, Suzana & Orazem, Peter F. & Vodopivec, Milan & Vodopivec, Matija, 2021. "Winners and losers after 25 years of transition: Decreasing wage inequality in Slovenia," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 45(2).
    11. Iwasaki, Ichiro & Satogami, Mihoko, 2023. "Gender wage gap in European emerging markets: a meta-analytic perspective," Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 57, pages 1-9.
    12. Makarski, Krzysztof & Tyrowicz, Joanna, 2019. "On welfare effects of increasing retirement age," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 41(4), pages 718-746.
    13. Laszlo Goerke & Michael Neugart, 2020. "Thorstein Veblen, Joan Robinson, and George Stigler (probably) never met: Social Preferences, Monopsony, and Government Intervention," IAAEU Discussion Papers 202001, Institute of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU).
    14. Laszlo Goerke, 2020. "Unions and Workers' Well-being," IAAEU Discussion Papers 202008, Institute of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU).
    15. Doan, Tinh & Ha, Van & Tran, Tuyen & Yang, Judy, 2023. "Dynamics of wage inequality over the prolonged economic transformation: The case of Vietnam," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 816-834.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    wage inequality; structural change; transition; skill biased technological change;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • N34 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Europe: 1913-
    • O57 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Comparative Studies of Countries
    • P36 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions - - - Consumer Economics; Health; Education and Training; Welfare, Income, Wealth, and Poverty
    • P51 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems - - - Comparative Analysis of Economic Systems

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