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Employer Size and The Wage Structure in U.S. Manufacturing

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Author Info
Steven J. Davis
John Haltiwanger

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Abstract

We study how the hourly wage structure varies with establishment size and how wage dispersion breaks down into between-plant and within-plant components Our study combines household and establishment data for the U.S. manufacturing sector in 1982. 1) Wage dispersion falls sharply with establishment size for nonproduction workers and mildly for production workers. 2) Size-class differences in wage dispersion often mask even sharper differences in the dispersion of wages generated by observable worker characteristics and in the 'skill prices' on those characteristics. 3) In terms of dispersion in predicted log wages worker heterogeneity tends to rise with establishment size production workers are much more homogenous in the union sector, but only at plants with 1,000 or more workers. 4) Unobserved factors generate sharply greater wage dispersion at smaller establishments. 5) The variance in mean wages across establishments accounts for 59% of total variance. Within-plant wage variance among production workers accounts for a mere 2%. 6) Mean wage differences by size of establishment account for about one-fourth of the total between-plant variance of wages. 7) Between-plant wage dispersion falls sharply with establishment size, entirely accounting for the negative relationship of establishment size to overall wage dispersion. Guided by these and other empirical findings, we assess several hypotheses about the determination of the wage structure.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 5393.

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Date of creation: Dec 1995
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:5393

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. Lazear, Edward P & Rosen, Sherwin, 1981. "Rank-Order Tournaments as Optimum Labor Contracts," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 89(5), pages 841-64, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Michael Podgursky, 1986. "Unions, establishment size, and intra-industry threat effects," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, ILR School, Cornell University, vol. 39(2), pages 277-284, January.
  3. Katz, L.F. & Murphy, K.M., 1991. "Changes in Relative Wages, 1963-1987: Supply and Demand Factors," Harvard Institute of Economic Research Working Papers 1580, Harvard - Institute of Economic Research.
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  4. Rosen, Sherwin, 1987. "The theory of equalizing differences," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & R. Layard (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 12, pages 641-692 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Richard B. Freeman, 1980. "Unionism and the dispersion of wages," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, ILR School, Cornell University, vol. 34(1), pages 3-23, October.
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  6. Jovanovic, Boyan, 1982. "Selection and the Evolution of Industry," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(3), pages 649-70, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Charles Brown & James L. Medoff, 1989. "The Employer Size-Wage Effect," NBER Working Papers 2870, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Richard Ericson & Ariel Pakes, 1992. "An Alternative Theory of Firm and Industry Dynamics," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 1041, Cowles Foundation, Yale University. [Downloadable!]
  9. Lazear, Edward P, 1989. "Pay Equality and Industrial Politics," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(3), pages 561-80, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. Steven J. Davis & John C. Haltiwanger & Scott Schuh, 1998. "Job Creation and Destruction," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262540932.
  12. Mellow, Wesley, 1982. "Employer Size and Wages," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 64(3), pages 495-501, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  14. Kahn, Lawrence M & Curme, Michael, 1987. "Unions and Nonunion Wage Dispersion," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 69(4), pages 600-607, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. repec:att:wimass:19894 is not listed on IDEAS
  16. Steve J. Davis & John Haltiwanger, 1991. "Wage Dispersion Between and Within U.S. Manufacturing Plants, 1963-1986," NBER Working Papers 3722, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Richard B. Freeman, 1982. "Union wage practices and wage dispersion within establishments," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, ILR School, Cornell University, vol. 36(1), pages 3-21, October.
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  18. Garen, John E, 1985. "Worker Heterogeneity, Job Screening, and Firm Size," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 93(4), pages 715-39, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  19. Farber, Henry S & Saks, Daniel H, 1980. "Why Workers Want Unions: The Role of Relative Wages and Job Characteristics," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 88(2), pages 349-69, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  20. Robert E. Lucas Jr., 1978. "On the Size Distribution of Business Firms," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 9(2), pages 508-523, Autumn. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  21. Jeremy I. Bulow & Lawrence H. Summers, 1986. "A Theory of Dual Labor Markets with Application to Industrial Policy, Discrimination and Keynesian Unemployment," NBER Working Papers 1666, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  22. Paula B. Voos, 1983. "Union organizing: Costs and benefits," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, ILR School, Cornell University, vol. 36(4), pages 576-591, July.
  23. Juhn, Chinhui & Murphy, Kevin M & Pierce, Brooks, 1993. "Wage Inequality and the Rise in Returns to Skill," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(3), pages 410-42, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Giuseppe Bertola & Pietro Garibaldi, 2001. "Wages and the Size of Firms in Dynamic Matching Models," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 4(2), pages 335-368, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Christopher H. Wheeler, 2004. "Industry localization and earnings inequality: evidence from U.S. manufacturing," Working Papers 2004-023, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Thierry Lallemand & François Rycx, 2005. "Establishment Size and the Dispersion of Wages: Evidence from European Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 1778, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Steven J. Davis & Magnus Henrekson, 1997. "Explaining National Differences in the Size and Industry Distribution of Employment," NBER Working Papers 6246, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Raquel Fonseca & Natalia Utrero González, 2004. "Do Market Regulation and Financial Imperfections Affect Firm Size? New Empirical Evidence," CSEF Working Papers 119, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy. [Downloadable!]
  6. Bryce Stephens, 2005. "Wage Dispersion, Compensation Policy and the Role of Firms," Technical Papers 2005-04, Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau. [Downloadable!]
  7. Steven J. Davis & John Haltiwanger & Scott Schuh, 1993. "Small Business and Job Creation: Dissecting the Myth and Reassessing theFacts," NBER Working Papers 4492, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  8. Davis, Steven J. & Henrekson, Magnus, 1997. "Explaining National Differences in the Size and Industrial Distribution of Employment," Working Paper Series 482, Research Institute of Industrial Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  9. Dunne, Timothy & Foster, Lucia & Haltiwanger, John & Troske, Kenneth R., 2002. "Wage and Productivity Dispersion in U.S. Manufacturing: The Role of Computer Investment," IZA Discussion Papers 563, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  10. Rudolf Winter-Ebmer & Josef Zweimueller, . "Intra-firm Wage Dispersion and Firm Performance," IEW - Working Papers iewwp008, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  11. Davidsson, Per & Henrekson, Magnus, 2000. "Determinants of the Prevalence of Start-ups and High-Growth Firms," Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 381, Stockholm School of Economics, revised 26 May 2002. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  12. Raquel Fonseca & Natalia Utrero, 2006. "Employment Protection Laws, Barriers to Entrepreneurship, Financial Markets and Firm Size," Working Papers 454, RAND Corporation Publications Department. [Downloadable!]
  13. Simon Burgess & Julia Lane & David Stevens, 2001. "Jobs, Workers and Changes in Earnings Dispersion," CEP Discussion Papers dp0491, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  14. Torbjørn Hægeland, 2001. "Experience and Schooling: Substitutes or Complements?," Discussion Papers 301, Research Department of Statistics Norway. [Downloadable!]
  15. Hvide, Hans K., 2004. "Firm Size and the Quality of Entrepreneurs," Discussion Papers 2004/9, Department of Finance and Management Science, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration. [Downloadable!]
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