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Capitalism and labor shares: A cross-country panel study

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  • Young, Andrew T.
  • Lawson, Robert A.

Abstract

We examine the empirical relationship between the institutions of economic freedom and labor shares in a panel of up to 93 countries covering 1970 through 2009. We find that a standard deviation increase in the Fraser Institute's Economic Freedom of the World (EFW) score is associated with about a 1/3 standard deviation increase in a country's labor share. Starting from the sample mean labor share in our panel, this amounts to about 4.26percentage points. This relationship is robust to considering OECD and non-OECD samples separately. It is also (both qualitatively and quantitatively) robust to controlling for differences in human capital levels, labor productivity, trade union density, and international economic flows. Breaking the EFW into its individual component areas, the regulation of credit, business and labor appears to be the most important source of the positive EFW–labor share relationship.

Suggested Citation

  • Young, Andrew T. & Lawson, Robert A., 2014. "Capitalism and labor shares: A cross-country panel study," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 20-36.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:poleco:v:33:y:2014:i:c:p:20-36
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2013.11.006
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    Cited by:

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    2. Ng, Yew-Kwang, 2015. "Is an increasing capital share under capitalism inevitable?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 82-86.
    3. Roya Taherifar & Mark J. Holmes & Gazi M. Hassan, 2023. "The drivers of labour share and impact on pay inequality: A firm-level investigation," Working Papers in Economics 23/03, University of Waikato.
    4. Arif, Imran, 2021. "Productive knowledge, economic sophistication, and labor share," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    5. Nejad, Maryam Naghsh & Young, Andrew T., 2016. "Want freedom, will travel: Emigrant self-selection according to institutional quality," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 45(S), pages 71-84.
    6. Francesco Bloise & Irene Brunetti & Valeria Cirillo, 2022. "Firm strategies and distributional dynamics: labour share in Italian medium-large firms," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 39(2), pages 623-655, July.
    7. Minh Tam Schlosky & Andrew Young, 2017. "Can foreign aid motivate institutional reform? An evaluation of the HIPC Initiative," Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 6(2), pages 242-258, August.
    8. Hector Sala & Pedro Trivín, 2018. "The effects of globalization and technology on the elasticity of substitution," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 154(3), pages 617-647, August.
    9. Andrew T. Young & Hernando Zuleta, 2018. "Do Unions Increase Labor Shares? Evidence from US Industry-Level Data," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 44(4), pages 558-575, September.
    10. Bárbara Cardoso Dias & Ana Urraca Ruiz, 2016. "A Mudança Estrutural Como Indutora Da Distribuição Funcional Da Renda No Brasil," Anais do XLIII Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 43rd Brazilian Economics Meeting] 021, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics].
    11. Young, Andrew T. & Tackett, Maria Y., 2018. "Globalization and the decline in labor shares: Exploring the relationship beyond trade and financial flows," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 18-35.
    12. Chambers, Dustin & O'Reilly, Colin, 2022. "Regulation and income inequality in the United States," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    13. Taining Wang & Jinjing Tian, 2020. "Recasting the trade impact on labor share: a fixed-effect semiparametric estimation study," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 58(5), pages 2465-2511, May.
    14. G. P. Manish & Colin O’Reilly, 2019. "Banking regulation, regulatory capture and inequality," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 180(1), pages 145-164, July.
    15. Danko Tarabar & Andrew T. Young, 2017. "Liberalizing Reforms and the European Union: Accession, Membership, and Convergence," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 83(4), pages 932-951, April.
    16. Arye L. Hillman & Niklas Potrafke, 2016. "Economic Freedom and Religion: An Empirical Investigation," CESifo Working Paper Series 6017, CESifo.
    17. Dawson, John W. & Sturgill, Brad, 2022. "Market Institutions and Factor Shares Across Countries," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 266-289.
    18. Kathleen M. Sheehan & Andrew T. Young, 2015. "It'S A Small World After All: Internet Access And Institutional Quality," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 33(4), pages 649-667, October.
    19. Ouattara, B. & Standaert, S., 2020. "Property rights revisited," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    20. Arye L. Hillman & Niklas Potrafke, 2018. "Economic Freedom and Religion," Public Finance Review, , vol. 46(2), pages 249-275, March.
    21. Alexandre, Fernando & Bação, Pedro & Veiga, Francisco José, 2022. "The political economy of productivity growth," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    22. Eric Olson & Andrew T. Young, 2015. "Discretionary monetary policy, quantitative easing and the decline in US labor share," Economics and Business Letters, Oviedo University Press, vol. 4(2), pages 63-78.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Labor share; Economic freedom; Political economy; Capitalism; Institutions; Distribution of income;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State
    • O50 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - General
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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