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Bankers' Pay and Extreme Wage Inequality in the UK

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  • Brian Bell
  • John Van Reenen

Abstract

It is well known that the distribution of income in the United Kingdom has widened considerably in the last three decades. This rise has been a result of a widening at both the top and bottom of the wage distribution. More recently, most of the action appears to have occurred at the top of the distribution with lower wage workers keeping pace with the median. This paper explores this increased dispersion at the very top of the wage distribution. We show that the growth has occurred primarily within the top few percentiles and that the rise in inequality in recent years is much more pronounced when we focus on annual earnings as opposed to weekly wages (where most work has concentrated). This is because annual wages include bonuses. By the end of the decade to 2008, the top tenth of earners received £20bn more purely due to the increase in their share (it would have been only £173bn had their share of the pie remained the same as 1998), and £12bn of this went to workers in the financial sector (almost all of which was bonus payments). We consider various reasons why the bankers have managed to capture an increasing share of the wage bill over the last decade.

Suggested Citation

  • Brian Bell & John Van Reenen, 2010. "Bankers' Pay and Extreme Wage Inequality in the UK," CEP Reports 21, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    • Handle: RePEc:cep:cepsps:21
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    Cited by:

    1. Hochul Shin & Keun Lee, 2019. "Impact of Financialization and Financial Development on Inequality: Panel Cointegration Results Using OECD Data," Asian Economic Papers, MIT Press, vol. 18(1), pages 69-90, Winter/Sp.
    2. Daniel Detzer, 2015. "Inequality and the Financial System— The Case of Germany," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 54(4), pages 585-608.
    3. John Forth & Alex Bryson & Lucy Stokes, 2016. "Are firms paying more for performance?," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 37(2), pages 323-343, May.
    4. Chrysovalantis Amountzias, 2024. "Market power and income disparities: How can firms influence the gap between capital and labor earnings," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 76(3), pages 861-888, July.
    5. Bauluz, Luis & Bukowski, Pawel & Fransham, Mark & Lee, Annie & López Forero, Margarita & Novokmet, Filip & Breau, Sébastien & Lee, Neil & Malgouyres, Clement & Schularick, Moritz & Verdugo, Gregory, 2023. "Spatial wage inequality in North America and Western Europe: changes between and within local labour markets 1975-2019," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 119922, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Bryan, Mark & Bryson, Alex, 2016. "Has performance pay increased wage inequality in Britain?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 149-161.
    7. Vincenzo Quadrini & Ramon Marimon & Thomas Cooley, 2012. "Risky Investments with Limited Commitment," 2012 Meeting Papers 603, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    8. Joanne Lindley & Steven Mcintosh, 2017. "Finance Sector Wage Growth and the Role of Human Capital," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 79(4), pages 570-591, August.
    9. Efing, Matthias & Hau, Harald & Kampkötter, Patrick & Steinbrecher, Johannes, 2015. "Incentive pay and bank risk-taking: Evidence from Austrian, German, and Swiss banks," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(S1), pages 123-140.
    10. Gunther Capelle-Blancard & Yamina Tadjeddine, 2010. "The Impact of the 2007-2010 Crisis on the Geography of Finance," Working Papers 2010-16, CEPII research center.
    11. Brian Bell & John Van Reenen, 2011. "Firm Performance and Wages: Evidence from Across the Corporate Hierarchy," CEP Discussion Papers dp1088, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    12. Van Reenen, John, 2011. "Wage inequality, technology and trade: 21st century evidence," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(6), pages 730-741.
    13. Daniel Detzer, 2015. "Inequality and the Financial System— The Case of Germany," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 54(4), pages 585-608.
    14. Saara Vaahtoniemi, 2021. "The finance wage premium: Finnish evidence from a gender perspective," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 35(3), pages 412-431, September.
    15. Semih Tumen, 2013. "The Impact of the 2008 Crisis on Top Labor Incomes in Turkey: A Nonparametric Analysis," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 33(2), pages 1269-1282.
    16. repec:ilo:ilowps:485244 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Colin Green & John Heywood, 2012. "Don't Forget the Gravy! Are Bonuses and Time Rates Complements?," Working Papers 13424023, Lancaster University Management School, Economics Department.
    18. Matthias Efing & Harald Hau & Patrick Kampkötter & Johannes Steinbrecher, 2015. "Die Dosis macht das Gift – eine Analyse zum Einfluss von Bonuszahlungen auf die Profitabilität und das Risiko von Banken," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 68(03), pages 23-31, February.
    19. Olivier Godechot, 2011. "Finance and the rise in inequalities in France," Working Papers halshs-00584881, HAL.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    wage inequality; financial services; bonuses;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J3 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs

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