IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/upj/weupjo/94-24.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Earnings Inequality in Germany

Author

Listed:
  • Katharine G. Abraham

    (Bureau of Labor Statistics)

  • Susan N. Houseman

    (W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research)

Abstract

Recent studies have documented the growth of earnings inequality in the United States during the 1980s. In contrast to these studies' findings, our analysis of micro data for the former West Germany yields virtually no evidence of growth in earnings inequality over the same period. Between 1978 and 1988, a reduction in the dispersion of earnings among workers in the bottom half of the earnings distribution led to a narrowing of the overall dispersion of earnings in Germany. Earnings differentials across education and age groups remained roughly stable, and there was no general widening of earnings differentials within either education or age groups. German wage setting institutions tend to limit earnings differentials across groups of workers, but differences in wage setting institutions cannot fully explain the differences between trends in earnings inequality in Germany and those in the United States. Both the high quality of the training received by non-college-bound German youth and the fact that the growth of the highly-educated work force did not decelerate in Germany as it did in the United States seem likely to have contributed to these differences.

Suggested Citation

  • Katharine G. Abraham & Susan N. Houseman, 1993. "Earnings Inequality in Germany," Upjohn Working Papers 94-24, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:upj:weupjo:94-24
    Note: A revised version of this paper appears in R. Freeman and L. Katz, eds., Differences and Changes in Wage Structures. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1995. Please cite the revised version.
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://research.upjohn.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1041&context=up_workingpapers
    Download Restriction: This material is copyrighted. Permission is required to reproduce any or all parts.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Franke, Siegfried Franz, 1983. "Der Einfluss von Lohnhöhe und Lohnstruktur auf Beschäftigungsvolumen und -struktur," Wirtschaftsdienst – Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftspolitik (1949 - 2007), ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 63(1), pages 29-34.
    2. Steven J. Davis, 1992. "Cross-Country Patterns of Change in Relative Wages," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 1992, Volume 7, pages 239-300, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Clement, Werner & Tessaring, Manfred & Weißhuhn, Gernot, 1980. "Zur Entwicklung der qualifikationsspezifischen Einkommensrelationen in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland," Mitteilungen aus der Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 13(2), pages 184-212.
    4. McKinley L. Blackburn & David E. Bloom & Richard B. Freeman, 1989. "The Declining Economic Position of Less-Skilled American Males," NBER Working Papers 3186, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Juhn, Chinhui & Murphy, Kevin M & Pierce, Brooks, 1993. "Wage Inequality and the Rise in Returns to Skill," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(3), pages 410-442, June.
    6. Soltwedel, Rüdiger & Bothe, Adrian & Hoffmeyer, Martin & Laaser, Claus-Friedrich & Lammers, Konrad & Merz, Monika & Reuter, Dieter, 1990. "Regulierungen auf dem Arbeitsmarkt der Bundesrepublik," Open Access Publications from Kiel Institute for the World Economy 418, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    7. Bound, John & Johnson, George, 1992. "Changes in the Structure of Wages in the 1980's: An Evaluation of Alternative Explanations," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(3), pages 371-392, June.
    8. Fels, Joachim & Gundlach, Erich, 1990. "More evidence on the puzzle of interindustry wage differentials: the case of West Germany," Kiel Working Papers 400, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    9. Richard B. Freeman, 1975. "Overinvestment in College Training?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 10(3), pages 287-311.
    10. Rainer Thiehoff, "undated". "Lohnnivellierung und qualifikatorische Arbeitslosigkeitsstruktur - Eine theoretische und empirische Analyse der Beziehungen zwischen der qualifikatorischen Lohn- und Arbeitslosigkeitsstruktur," List Monographien 009, List Gesellschaft e.V..
    11. Michael C. Burda & Jeffrey D. Sachs, 1987. "Institutional Aspects of High Unemployment in the Federal Republic of Germany," NBER Working Papers 2241, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Clement, Werner & Tessaring, Manfred & Weißhuhn, Gernot, 1980. "Zur Entwicklung der qualifikationsspezifischen Einkommensrelationen in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland," Mitteilungen aus der Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 13(2), pages 184-212.
    13. Lawrence F. Katz & Gary W. Loveman & David G. Blanchflower, 1993. "A Comparison of Changes in the Structure of Wages," NBER Working Papers 4297, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Daron Acemoglu, 2002. "Technical Change, Inequality, and the Labor Market," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(1), pages 7-72, March.
    2. Dennis J. Snower, 1998. "Causes of changing earnings inequality," Proceedings - Economic Policy Symposium - Jackson Hole, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, pages 69-133.
    3. Wasmer, Etienne, 2001. "Measuring human capital in the labor market: The supply of experience in 8 OECD countries," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(4-6), pages 861-874, May.
    4. Lawrence F. Katz, 1994. "Active labor market policies to expand employment and opportunity," Proceedings - Economic Policy Symposium - Jackson Hole, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, issue Jan, pages 239-322.
    5. Cecilia Garcia-Penalosa & Eve Caroli & Philippe Aghion, 1999. "Inequality and Economic Growth: The Perspective of the New Growth Theories," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 37(4), pages 1615-1660, December.
    6. Jeff Borland, 1996. "Earnings Inequality in Australia: Changes and Causes," Canadian International Labour Network Working Papers 05, McMaster University.
    7. Jeff Borland, 2000. "Economic Explanations of Earnings Distribution Trends in the International Literature and Application to New Zealand," Treasury Working Paper Series 00/16, New Zealand Treasury.
    8. Wasmer, E., 1998. "Labour Supply Dynamics, Unemployment and Human Capital Investments," Papers 651, Stockholm - International Economic Studies.
    9. McKinley L. Blackburn & David E. Bloom, 1993. "The Distribution of Family Income: Measuring and Explaining Changes in the 1980s for Canada and the United States," NBER Chapters, in: Small Differences That Matter: Labor Markets and Income Maintenance in Canada and the United States, pages 233-266, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Lawrence F. Katz & Gary W. Loveman & David G. Blanchflower, 1995. "A Comparison of Changes in the Structure of Wages in Four OECD Countries," NBER Chapters, in: Differences and Changes in Wage Structures, pages 25-66, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. David H. Autor & Lawrence F. Katz & Melissa S. Kearney, 2005. "Trends in U. S. Wage Inequality: Re-Assessing the Revisionists," Harvard Institute of Economic Research Working Papers 2095, Harvard - Institute of Economic Research.
    12. Andrew Heisz & Andrew Jackson & Garnett Picot, 2001. "Distributional Outcomes in Canada During the 1990s," The Review of Economic Performance and Social Progress, in: Andrew Sharpe, Executive Director & France St-Hilaire, Vice-President , Research & Keith Banting, Di (ed.), The Review of Economic Performance and Social Progress 2001: The Longest Decade: Canada in the 1990s, volume 1, Centre for the Study of Living Standards;The Institutute for Research on Public Policy.
    13. Gosling, Amanda & Machin, Stephen, 1995. "Trade Unions and the Dispersion of Earnings in British Establishments, 1980-90," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 57(2), pages 167-184, May.
    14. Åsa Rosén & Etienne Wasmer, 2005. "Higher Education Levels, Firms’ Outside Options and the Wage Structure," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 19(4), pages 621-654, December.
    15. Zeira, Joseph, 2007. "Wage inequality, technology, and trade," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 137(1), pages 79-103, November.
    16. David Card & John E. DiNardo, 2002. "Skill-Biased Technological Change and Rising Wage Inequality: Some Problems and Puzzles," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 20(4), pages 733-783, October.
    17. Turrini, Alessandro, 1998. "Endogenous education policy and increasing income inequality between skilled and unskilled workers," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 303-326, May.
    18. John Schmitt, 1993. "The Changing Structure of Male Earnings in Britain," CEP Discussion Papers dp0122, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    19. Jørgen Elmeskov, 1993. "High and Persistent Unemployment: Assessment of the Problem and Its Causes," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 132, OECD Publishing.
    20. Wasmer, Etienne, 2001. "Between-group Competition in the Labor Market and the Rising Returns to Skill: US and France 1964-2000," IZA Discussion Papers 292, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    wages; earnings; inequality; Germany; Abraham; Houseman;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:upj:weupjo:94-24. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/upjohus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.