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A Decade of Flat Wages?

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  • Fernando Rios-Avila
  • Julie L. Hotchkiss

Abstract

In the late 1990s low unemployment rates, increases in the minimum wage, and improvements in labor productivity contributed to a boost in wages, which translated into 12.4 percent cumulative growth in real wages from the late '90s until 2002. Real wages then stagnated despite continued growth in labor productivity. This period between 2002 and 2013 has become known as the decade of flat wages. However, over the same period there were significant changes in the composition of the labor market. In particular, the labor force has aged and become more educated. Increases in age, experience, and education could in fact be propping up observed real wages--meaning that wages of workers with a specific age and education profile may have actually declined over the decade. This is exactly what we uncover in this policy note: what appears to have been a decade of flat real wages was actually a decade of declining real wages within age/education worker profiles.

Suggested Citation

  • Fernando Rios-Avila & Julie L. Hotchkiss, 2014. "A Decade of Flat Wages?," Economics Policy Note Archive 14-4, Levy Economics Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:lev:levypn:14-4
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    1. Claudia Goldin & Lawrence F. Katz & Ilyana Kuziemko, 2006. "The Homecoming of American College Women: The Reversal of the College Gender Gap," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(4), pages 133-156, Fall.
    2. DiNardo, John & Fortin, Nicole M & Lemieux, Thomas, 1996. "Labor Market Institutions and the Distribution of Wages, 1973-1992: A Semiparametric Approach," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(5), pages 1001-1044, September.
    3. Gopi Shah Goda & John B. Shoven & Sita Nataraj Slavov, 2011. "What Explains Changes in Retirement Plans during the Great Recession?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(3), pages 29-34, May.
    4. Blau Francine D & Kahn Lawrence M, 2007. "The Gender Pay Gap," The Economists' Voice, De Gruyter, vol. 4(4), pages 1-6, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Mundra, Kusum & Rios-Avila, Fernando, 2016. "Immigrant Birthcountry Networks and Unemployment Duration: Evidence around the Great Recession," IZA Discussion Papers 10233, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Fernando Rios-Avila, 2015. "A Decade of Declining Wages: From Bad to Worse," Economics Policy Note Archive 15-3, Levy Economics Institute.
    3. Dimitri B. Papadimitriou & Greg Hannsgen & Michalis Nikiforos & Gennaro Zezza, 2015. "Fiscal Austerity, Dollar Appreciation, and Maldistribution Will Derail the US Economy," Economics Strategic Analysis Archive sa_may_15, Levy Economics Institute.
    4. Julie L. Hotchkiss & Robert E. Moore & Fernando Rios-Avila & Melissa R. Trussell, 2014. "Changes in family welfare from 1994 to 2012: a tale of two decades," FRB Atlanta Working Paper 2014-26, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
    5. Julie L. Hotchkiss & Robert E. Moore & Fernando Rios-Avila & Melissa R. Trussell, 2017. "A tale of two decades: Relative intra-family earning capacity and changes in family welfare over time," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 707-737, September.
    6. Julie L. Hotchkiss & Yanling Qi, 2017. "Impact of Allowing Sunday Alcohol Sales in Georgia on Employment and Hours," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 84(2), pages 504-524, October.
    7. Fernando Rios-Avila, 2015. "Losing Ground: Demographic Trends in US Labor Force Participation," Economics Policy Note Archive 15-7, Levy Economics Institute.

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