UK Wage Inequality: An Industry and Regional Perspective

Abstract. This paper looks at male wage inequality in the UK across industries and regions over a 15 year period. After controlling for the heterogeneity of productivity characteristics across the population, that part of wage inequality which cannot be explained by observable worker characteristics is examined. This is undertaken at both the industry and regional level to assess the key themes dominant in the literature capable of explaining within‐group wage inequality, namely: technology; globalization; female participation; immigration; shifts in the supply of relative education across cohorts; and falling unionization.