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Cross-National Differences In The Rise In Earnings Inequality: Market And Institutional Factors

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  • Peter Gottschalk
  • Mary Joyce

Abstract

This paper uses data from the Luxembourg Income Study to explore the role of differences in supply shifts in explaining cross-national differences in the rise in earnings inequality. Changes in returns to age and education are estimated for eight countries using a common specification of earnings functions across years and countries. We find that the small overall increase in earnings inequality in many countries reflects large but offsetting changes in returns to skill and changes in inequality within age education cells. Furthermore, these differences in returns to skill can largely be explained by differences in supply shifts. © 1998 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technolog

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  • Peter Gottschalk & Mary Joyce, 1998. "Cross-National Differences In The Rise In Earnings Inequality: Market And Institutional Factors," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 80(4), pages 489-502, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:restat:v:80:y:1998:i:4:p:489-502
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    JEL classification:

    • J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General

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