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Productivity and Wages: Common Factors and Idiosyncrasies Across Countries and Industries

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  • Edward P. Lazear

Abstract

Average wage growth is closely related to aggregate productivity growth across countries and within countries over time. The commonality of patterns across OECD countries suggests that common factors are at work. Are productivity-based explanations of wage changes consistent with increasing variance in wages as well as increases in mean wages as suggested by skill-biased technological change or other factors? To answer this, it is necessary to observe education-specific productivity growth. Cross-industry comparisons reveal that industries dominated by highly educated workers have higher productivity and experienced higher-than-average productivity growth that is more than sufficient to account for increasing skill differentials.

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  • Edward P. Lazear, 2019. "Productivity and Wages: Common Factors and Idiosyncrasies Across Countries and Industries," NBER Working Papers 26428, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:26428
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    1. Chiara Criscuolo & Alexander Hijzen & Cyrille Schwellnus & Erling Barth & Wen-Hao Chen & Richard Fabling & Priscilla Fialho & Balazs Stadler & Richard Upward & Wouter Zwysen & Katarzyna Grabska-Romago, 2020. "Workforce composition, productivity and pay: the role of firms in wage inequality," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1603, OECD Publishing.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J00 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - General
    • J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General
    • M50 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - General

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