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What Do We Know About the Labor Share and the Profit Share? Part II: Empirical Studies

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  • Olivier Giovannoni

Abstract

In this second part of our study we survey the rapidly expanding empirical literature on the determinants of the functional distribution of income. Three major strands emerge: technological change, international trade, and financialization. All contribute to the fluctuations of the labor share, and there is a significant amount of self-reinforcement among these factors. For the case of the United States, it seems that the factors listed above are by order of increasing importance. We conclude by noting that the falling US wage shares cointegrates with rising inequality and a rising top 1 percent income share. Thus, all measures of income distribution provide the same picture. Liberalization and financialization worsen economic inequality by raising top incomes, unless institutions are strongly redistributive. The labor share has also fallen, for structural reasons and for reasons related to economic policy. Such explanations are left to parts III and IV of our study, respectively. Part I investigated the theories of income distribution.

Suggested Citation

  • Olivier Giovannoni, 2014. "What Do We Know About the Labor Share and the Profit Share? Part II: Empirical Studies," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_804, Levy Economics Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:lev:wrkpap:wp_804
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. David H. Autor & Frank Levy & Richard J. Murnane, 2003. "The Skill Content of Recent Technological Change: An Empirical Exploration," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(4), pages 1279-1333.
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    Cited by:

    1. Joseph E. Stiglitz, 2015. "New Theoretical Perspectives on the Distribution of Income and Wealth among Individuals: Part I. The Wealth Residual," NBER Working Papers 21189, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Lyu, Zhuoyang & Yu, Li & Liu, Chen & Ma, Tiemeng, 2024. "When temperatures matter: Extreme heat and labor share," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    3. Araujo, Ricardo Azevedo & Dávila-Fernández, Marwil J. & Moreira, Helmar Nunes, 2019. "Some new insights on the empirics of Goodwin's growth-cycle model," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 42-54.
    4. Alessandro Bellocchi, 2020. "Labor share is falling down, but which one?," Working Papers 2001, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Department of Economics, Society & Politics - Scientific Committee - L. Stefanini & G. Travaglini, revised 2020.
    5. McCloskey Deirdre Nansen, 2018. "The Two Movements in Economic Thought, 1700–2000: Empty Economic Boxes Revisited," Man and the Economy, De Gruyter, vol. 5(2), pages 1-20, December.
    6. Fischer, Thomas, 2017. "Thomas Piketty and the rate of time preference," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 111-133.
    7. Zhi Luo & Guanghua Wan & Chen Wang & Xun Zhang, 2022. "The distributive impacts of the Belt and Road Initiative," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(3), pages 586-604, July.
    8. Bellocchi, Alessandro & Marin, Giovanni & Travaglini, Giuseppe, 2023. "The labor share puzzle: Empirical evidence for European countries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    9. Hötte, Kerstin, 2023. "Demand-pull, technology-push, and the direction of technological change," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(5).
    10. Jacopo Di Domenico & Alberto Russo, 2022. "Innovation, growth, and productivity appropriation. How the elites learned to stop worrying and love public debt," Working Papers 2022/12, Economics Department, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón (Spain).
    11. Doan, Ha Thi Thanh & Wan, Guanghua, 2017. "Globalization and the Labor Share in National Income," ADBI Working Papers 639, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    12. Jingxian ZOU & Guangjun SHEN & Shen JIA, 2020. "How does labour share respond to risk? Theory and evidence from the Chinese industrial sector," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 159(2), pages 259-281, June.
    13. César Castillo-García, 2022. "Factor Income Distribution and Capital Accumulation in Peru, 1940-2019," Working Papers 2202, New School for Social Research, Department of Economics.
    14. Joseph E. Stiglitz, 2016. "The Theory of Credit and Macro-economic Stability," NBER Working Papers 22837, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Mertens, Matthias, 2022. "Micro-mechanisms behind declining labor shares: Rising market power and changing modes of production," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    16. Giacomo Gabbuti, 2018. "Labour Shares and Income Inequality: Insights from Italian Economic History, 1895-2015," HHB Working Papers Series 13, The Historical Household Budgets Project.
    17. Onur Özdemir, 2020. "The handicap for enhanced solidarity across advanced economies: The greater the economic openness higher the unequal distribution of income," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 91(4), pages 585-632, December.
    18. Coveri, Andrea & Pianta, Mario, 2022. "Drivers of inequality: wages vs. profits in European industries," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 230-242.
    19. Mertens, Matthias, 2019. "Micro-mechanisms behind declining labour shares: Market power, production processes, and global competition," IWH-CompNet Discussion Papers 3/2019, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    20. Terranova, Roberta & Turco, Enrico M., 2022. "Concentration, stagnation and inequality: An agent-based approach," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 569-595.
    21. Urooj Khan & Suresh Nallareddy & Ethan Rouen, 2017. "The Role of Taxes in the Disconnect between Corporate Performance and Economic Growth," Harvard Business School Working Papers 18-006, Harvard Business School.
    22. Mai, Nhat Chi, 2018. "Three Essays On Financial Integration And Trade Liberalization," OSF Preprints hfrdq, Center for Open Science.
    23. Margarita Carvalho & João Cerejeira, 2019. "Financialization, Corporate Governance and Employee Pay: A Firm Level Analysis," NIPE Working Papers 08/2019, NIPE - Universidade do Minho.
    24. Anita Szymańska & Małgorzata Zielenkiewicz, 2022. "Declining Labour Income Share and Personal Income Inequality in Advanced Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-14, August.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Wage Share; Labor Share; Profit Share; Technology; International Trade; Finance; Bargaining Power;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D33 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Factor Income Distribution
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • E25 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Aggregate Factor Income Distribution

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