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Wage Differentials, Skills, and Institutions in Low-Skill Jobs

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  • Nan L. Maxwell

Abstract

The typical study of wage differentials examines workers at all educational levels and attends closely to the link between education and wages. Little research has looked at determinants of wage differentials specifically among workers with low educational attainment. This study, using the 1998–2002 Bay Area Longitudinal Surveys and the 2001–2003 Occupational Information Network, examines which skills and labor market institutions affected wages in jobs for individuals with a high school education or less and little work experience. The author finds that jobs demanding office/clerical skills, mechanical skills, or the “new basic†skills of reading, math, problem-solving, and communication paid higher wages, on average, than did other low-skill jobs, especially those in which physical skills were relatively important. Also positively associated with wages for these low-skilled workers were union representation and location in an industry containing relatively few low-skill jobs.

Suggested Citation

  • Nan L. Maxwell, 2008. "Wage Differentials, Skills, and Institutions in Low-Skill Jobs," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 61(3), pages 394-409, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:61:y:2008:i:3:p:394-409
    DOI: 10.1177/001979390806100307
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Alan B. Krueger, 1993. "How Computers Have Changed the Wage Structure: Evidence from Microdata, 1984–1989," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(1), pages 33-60.
    2. Alexandra Spitz-Oener, 2006. "Technical Change, Job Tasks, and Rising Educational Demands: Looking outside the Wage Structure," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 24(2), pages 235-270, April.
    3. David Card & John E. DiNardo, 2002. "Skill-Biased Technological Change and Rising Wage Inequality: Some Problems and Puzzles," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 20(4), pages 733-783, October.
    4. David H. Autor & Lawrence F. Katz & Alan B. Krueger, 1998. "Computing Inequality: Have Computers Changed the Labor Market?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(4), pages 1169-1213.
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    Cited by:

    1. Douglas Kruse & Lisa Schur & Sean Rogers & Mason Ameri, 2018. "Why Do Workers with Disabilities Earn Less? Occupational Job Requirements and Disability Discrimination," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 56(4), pages 798-834, December.
    2. David Brady & Regina Baker & Ryan Finnigan, 2013. "When Unionization Disappears: State-Level Unionization and Working Poverty in the U.S," LIS Working papers 590, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.

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