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A reversal in the global decline of the labor share?

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  • Andic, Selen
  • Burda, Michael C.

Abstract

It is widely acknowledged that a secular decline in the labor share has been underway around the world since the early 1980s. We document a sustained break in this trend following the global financial crisis. This holds for a majority of countries and is robust to different methods, measurements and aggregation procedures. When grouped by level of development, labor shares have stabilized in advanced and risen in developing economies since 2008. A novel application of the standard neoclassical growth model links this differential evolution to stronger increases in the growth of capital–output ratios in developing relative to advanced economies.

Suggested Citation

  • Andic, Selen & Burda, Michael C., 2021. "A reversal in the global decline of the labor share?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:209:y:2021:i:c:s0165176521004249
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2021.110147
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Robert C. Feenstra & Robert Inklaar & Marcel P. Timmer, 2015. "The Next Generation of the Penn World Table," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(10), pages 3150-3182, October.
    2. Gene M. Grossman & Elhanan Helpman & Ezra Oberfield & Thomas Sampson, 2017. "The productivity slowdown and the declining labor share: a neoclassical exploration," CEP Discussion Papers dp1504, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    3. Brent Neiman, 2014. "The Global Decline of the Labor Share," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 129(1), pages 61-103.
    4. Robert Z. Lawrence, 2015. "Recent Declines in Labor's Share in US Income: A Preliminary Neoclassical Account," NBER Working Papers 21296, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Matthew Rognlie, 2015. "Deciphering the Fall and Rise in the Net Capital Share," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 50(1 (Spring), pages 1-69.
    6. Michael Elsby & Bart Hobijn & Ayseful Sahin, 2013. "The Decline of the U.S. Labor Share," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 44(2 (Fall)), pages 1-63.
    7. Matthew Rognlie, 2015. "Deciphering the Fall and Rise in the Net Capital Share: Accumulation or Scarcity?," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 46(1 (Spring), pages 1-69.
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    Cited by:

    1. González-Rozada, Martín & Ruffo, Hernán, 2024. "Do trade agreements contribute to the decline in labor share? Evidence from Latin American countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    2. Alai Yeerken & Feng Deng, 2023. "Digital Service Trade and Labor Income Share—Empirical Research on 48 Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-19, March.
    3. Yating Dai & Jian Cheng & Daolin Zhu, 2022. "Understanding the Impact of Land Supply Structure on Low Consumption: Empirical Evidence from China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-18, April.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Labor income share; Functional income distribution; Capital–output ratio; Capital–labor ratio;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity
    • E25 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Aggregate Factor Income Distribution
    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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