Explaining levels of within-group wage inequality in U.S. labor markets

Most research on earnings inequality has focused on the growing gap between workers of different races and at different education, age, and income levels, but a large portion of the increasing inequality has actually occurred within these groups. This article focuses on the extent and sources of "within-group" wage inequality in more than 500 labor markets in the United States in 1990. In addition to documenting that within-group wage inequality across regions varies more widely today than over the past several decades, the analysis reveals that two frequently cited explanations of rising wage inequality over time have little impact on within-group wage inequality when measured at the local labor market level: (1) industrial shifts and (2) increased technology and trade. By contrast, flexible and insecure employment conditions (e.g., unemployment, contingent work, and immigration) are associated strongly with high local levels of within-group wage inequality, especially among women.     

我国就业增长缓慢与劳动收入占比下降之谜

针对我国就业增长缓慢和劳动收入占比下降同时存在的现实,本文从就业增长与工资、劳动收入上涨之间的动态关系及劳动收入占比的决定因素两个方面入手,通过分析发现:在我国,工资上涨对就业增长的抑制作用有限,劳动收入占比是影响就业增长的重要因素;就业增长与劳动收入占比只是单向影响关系。     

Employment gains and wage declines: The erosion of black women’s relative wages since 1980

Public policy initiatives in the 1950s and 1960s, including Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity law, helped mitigate explicit discrimination in pay, and the expansion of higher education and training programs have advanced the employment fortunes of many American women. By the early 1980s, some scholars proclaimed near equity in pay between black and white women, particularly among young and highly skilled workers. More recent policy initiatives and labor market conditions have been arguably less progressive for black women’s employment and earnings: through the 1980s, 1990s, and the first half of the 2000s, the wage gap between black and white women widened considerably. Using data from the Current Population Survey Merged Outgoing Rotation Group (CPS-MORG), this article documents the racial wage gap among women in the United States from 1979 to 2005. We investigate how demographic and labor market conditions influence employment and wage inequality among black and white women over the period. Although shifts in labor supply influence the magnitude of the black-white wage gap among women, structural disadvantages faced by black women help explain the growth in the racial wage gap.     

Social class and workers’ rent, 1983–2001

Sociologists and economists continue to seek explanations for the growth of earnings inequality since the late 1970s. In this article, we draw upon the structural tradition of labor market analysis in sociology in order evaluate the conjecture that selective rent destruction is a source of the recent increase in earnings inequality. In empirical analysis of the Outgoing Rotation Groups of the Current Population Surveys from 1983 to 2001, we demonstrate that (1) the earnings of workers at the bottom of the class distribution have declined relative to the earnings of those at the top and (2) the variance of wage premia associated with employment in alternative industries has declined relatively more for those at the bottom of the class distribution. Adopting the position from both the sociology and labor economics literatures that these industry wage premia are reasonable measures of industry rents, we conclude that the results support the rent destruction conjecture and, by implication, that structural models of labor markets can explain some of the increase in earnings inequality.     

Child care demand and labor supply of young mothers over time

This paper uses panel data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) to analyze jointly fertility, employment, and child care decisions of young women over time. As these young women age (from 21 to 25 years on average) they become increasingly likely to have young children, to be employed, and to use non-relative forms of child care. A multivariate analysis reveals that rising wage rates and changes in household structure are important determinants of these upward trends. Further analysis reveals a considerable amount of movement each year among states defined by the presence of young children, employment, and child care arrangement. Overall the young women in the NLSY can be characterized as being in a volatile stage of their lives, when many economic and demographic factors are changing. They appear to respond to these changes by altering their labor supply and child care behavior.     

Occupational mobility of American women: Compositional and structural changes, 1980–2007

In this paper, I document trends in women's occupational mobility between 1980 and 2007 in the U.S labor market, and link these trends to two distinct sources: compositional and structural changes. In this context, compositional changes refers to the over time trends in the distributions of men and women in the occupational wage hierarchy, while structural changes are the trends in the relative standing of occupations in the wage hierarchy over time. The findings provide empirical evidence for both processes, indicating that the impressive upward occupational mobility of American women is a consequence not only of their increased access to highly paid occupations, but also of the higher wage increments in their typical occupational profiles relative to men's—a structural change not often acknowledged by sociologists.     

Labor Markets’ Institutional Properties And Distributive Justice In Modern Society: A Comparative Empirical Analysis

The paper’s main argument is that the rates of distributive injustice in industrial societies are significantly influenced by labor markets’ institutional properties. Markets characterized by institutional properties that heavily favor capital at the expense of labor are expected to produce more distributive injustice - as well as more income inequality – than others. In particular, distributive injustice is expected to be inversely linked with labor’s institutional power in economy and society. The paper intends to make a contribution to institutional analyses of distributive justice and related social problems such as income inequality in modern societies.     

The skills and autonomy of female part-time work in Britain and Sweden

Most OECD countries have experienced an increase of female part-time employment in the last decades. It has been argued that part-time work may give greater employment flexibility, enabling mothers to reconcile conflicting demands of family and work and thereby facilitating their integration into the wage economy. At the same time, it has been suggested that female part-time work implies segmentation of the labour force into a core and a periphery, with marginalized, low qualified jobs for part-time employees. However, little attention has been given to the possible mediating effect of the institutional context on potential job quality disadvantages of part-timers. We examine this question by comparing the skills and autonomy of female part-time workers in two countries, Britain and Sweden, often considered as representing quite distinct forms of institutional regime. The results show that female part-time employees in Sweden hold positions of higher skill and have more autonomy compared to their equivalents in Britain. Even so, both British and Swedish part-time employees face relative disadvantage when compared to female full-time workers. We conclude that differences in the institutional systems of Sweden and Britain do have a significant effect on the absolute skill level of part-time work. However, the relative disadvantage of part-timers persists despite Swedish policies giving greater salience to improvements in the quality of work.     

Employment transitions in the Netherlands, 1980–2004: Are low educated men subject to structural or cyclical crowding out?

This article addresses whether low educated men are displaced from their jobs by higher educated workers in the Netherlands in the period 1980–2004. In particular, we test whether structural or cyclical crowding out is predominant in the Dutch labor market. In order to do so, we try to explain the observed trends in education-specific transition rates to entry into first employment from education, exit from employment into unemployment or inactivity, and re-entry into employment from unemployment or inactivity for men by both business cycle effects (that is, changes in aggregate unemployment rates) and structural effects (that is, changes in labor supply–demand ratios for high educated). Discrete-time event history models are estimated using the OSA Labor Supply Panel 1985–2004. Retrospective information enables to study trends from 1980 onwards, so that structural effects can be distinguished from cyclical effects. The results show that structural crowding out exists at both the worker in- and outflow. First of all, it was observed that a growth in the oversupply of high educated increases the employment exit risk of low educated workers more so than that of higher educated ones. In addition, it was shown that an increase in the oversupply of high educated especially reduces the re-employment chances of low educated unemployed men. There is no evidence found for cyclical crowding out among low educated workers in the Dutch labor market.     

Wage shocks,household labor supply,and income instability

Do married couples make joint labor supply decisions in response to each other’s wage shocks? The study on this question aids in understanding the link between the rising income instability and household insurance. Existing studies on household insurance either focus on consumption smoothing and take labor supply as a given, or only focus on wife’s labor responses to husband’s unemployment shocks. This article develops an intra-household insurance model that allows for insurance against permanent and transitory wage shocks from both partners. Estimation using the Survey of Income and Program Participation shows that wife increases labor supply in response to husband’s adverse wage shocks when both of them are working, and wife gets more nonlabor income when she is out of work. This intra-household insurance reduces earnings instability by about 2 to 9 %. These results suggest that joint labor supply decisions provide an extra smoothing effect on income instability.     

Japanese response to an aging labor force

Slowing population growth in Japan has led to concern about aging of the labor force in the context of the seniority wage and lifetime employment systems. There is no question that the labor force will age rapidly in the future. However, Japanese labor force institutions are more flexible than most Western observers have thought, and appropriate response to the changing demographic situation has already begun. The Japanese government and private enterprises are devising innovative policies for accommodating an older labor force.The author thanks the staff of the East-West Population Institute for assistance in the production of this article. In addition, the support of the Nihon University Population Research Institute is gratefully acknowledged.     

中国的经济开放与经济型人口流动

本文从地区工资差别和就业机会的理论出发 ,论证了中国的经济型人口及劳动力流动的变化 ,并根据哈里斯和托达罗的模型 ,结合作为中国典型的人口流动现象的农村剩余劳动力向城市流动的趋向 ,提出了经济开放刺激的城市经济环境是诱发人口流动的主要的原因     

Women are key players in the economies of East and Southeast Asia

In 1996, the East-West Center's Program on Population investigated the links between population change and economic growth in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia. This document discusses the findings pertaining to women's changing marriage and childbearing patterns, education attainment, and labor force participation as well as changes in family life. In eastern and southeastern Asia, women are delaying marriage and having fewer children as a result of their overwhelming acceptance of modern contraception. Concurrently, women's secondary school enrollment has increased dramatically since 1960, and women have accounted for steadily increasing proportions of total labor force growth. Economic development has led to fewer women employed in agriculture and more in clerical positions. Women continue to be marginalized in low-paying manufacturing jobs and to lose these jobs more frequently than do men. Women's labor force participation continues to be dependent upon their child care responsibilities, but women are beginning to combine both activities with the help of live-in grandparents. Women have made an important contribution to economic growth in Asia. Policies should address job discrimination against married women, wage discrimination, the problems faced by young women who leave home for employment in the manufacturing and service sectors, and the lack of child care facilities.     

最低工资标准提升的劳动供给效应——基于回归间断设计的经验研究

文章依据中国健康与营养调查1997～2009年的微观数据,应用回归间断设计方法分析了最低工资标准提升对低收入群体劳动供给的影响。研究结果表明,提升最低工资标准未对男性就业和工作时间产生显著的影响,也未对女性工作时间产生显著影响,但对女性就业产生了显著的消极影响,这导致女性劳动力供给明显降低。随着相对工资的上升,男性就业、男性工作时间和女性工作时间均呈现上升趋势。因此,政府应逐渐适度地提高最低工资标准,在保证低收入群体劳动供给不受较大消极影响的同时,渐进地提高低收入群体的工资水平。     

On the Edge of Chaos: European Aviation and Disrupted Mobilities

Abstract

This article argues that airlines should be viewed through the lens of complexity theory, a complex systems‐oriented aviation industry defined by interactions among sub‐systems that include airports, passengers, airlines and (mobility) policy – the regulations, guidance, design and planning mechanisms that are increasingly part of aviation internalities. Together with air traffic controllers, cabin/ground crew, airport managers, the formation of multiple assemblages of aeromobility have generated the conditions for the industry’s survival and expansion; helping to make Europe and its air‐space one of the busiest in the world with 150,000 air routes, 150 airlines and 9.5 million annual flights. Within the European Union, the system draws support and governance from the political system since the system sustains and promotes mobilities in contemporary European life – a cornerstone of the modern European Union without borders. From supporting new aircraft innovation through loan guarantees; creating the framework for new powerful institutions such as the European Aviation Safety Agency; and designing new policy directives such as the Single European Sky, aeromobility has entered into the fabric of European life. During April 2010, an Icelandic volcanic eruption created turbulence in the Europe aviation industry, causing disrupted mobilities across the globe. Just as the 2008 financial crisis shook the global economy, exposing the fragility of the foundations of global banking and finance, the eruption exposed the weaknesses of European institutions and the governance framework that regulates the free flow of people, labor and cargo by air. This article reflects on the Eyjafjallajökull event to expose the fragility of the system and argues that decisions made during and after the eruption mask the system’s continual vulnerability to exogenous forces. Simplification by experts and other actors such as politicians from outside the system’s ecological landscape may thus have long lasting consequences.     

中国城镇劳动力市场中的过度教育——测量改进与收入效应

过度教育是否会造成收入惩罚?这是国际教育匹配领域长期争论的议题。本研究聚焦中国城镇劳动力市场,使用2003—2015年中国综合社会调查(CGSS)数据分析过度教育的收入效应,最终得到以下结论:第一,通过改进教育匹配的测量方法,发现我国城镇劳动力市场过度教育的发生比例约为35%。第二,通过线性回归发现过度教育会造成收入惩罚,并且这种收入惩罚持续存在。第三,将历年高考录取率和各省专业技术人员比例作为工具变量的分析,进一步证明了过度教育的收入惩罚效应。以上结论意味着,通过宏观政策促进教育和职业匹配,对于实现更加充分的劳动力就业具有重要现实意义。     

The contribution of changes in employment composition and relative returns to the evolution of wage inequality: the case of Spain

Wage inequality in Spain decreased slightly between 1995 and 2006 despite significant changes in employment composition. Changes in the composition of the workforce would have increased inequality keeping constant wage structure, but changes in wage differentials are the most important factor determining the evolution of inequality. By subperiods, the low end of the wage distribution compressed between 1995 and 2002, while it experienced a slight increase in inequality afterward, as it was observed in the USA. On the other hand, in contrast to the American case, the high end of the wage distribution was strikingly compressed in the second period.     

What Does Non-standard Employment Look Like in the United States? An Empirical Typology of Employment Quality

Despite significant interest in the changing nature of employment as a critical social and economic challenge facing society—especially the decline in the so-called Standard Employment Relationship (SER) and rise in more insecure, precarious forms of employment—scholars have struggled to operationalize the multifaceted and heterogeneous nature of contemporary worker-employer relationships within empirical analyses. Here we investigate the character and distribution of employment relationships in the U.S., drawing on a representative sample of wage-earners and self-employed from the General Social Survey (2002–2018). We use the multidimensional construct of employment quality, which includes both contractual (e.g., wages, contract type) and relational (e.g., employee representation and participation) aspects of employment. We further employ a typological measurement approach, using latent class analysis, to explicitly examine how the multiple aspects of employment cluster together in modern labor markets. We present eight distinct employment types in the U.S., including one resembling the historical conception of the SER model (24% of the total workforce), and others representing various constellations of favorable and adverse employment features. These employment types are unevenly distributed across society, in terms of who works these jobs and where they are found in the labor market. Importantly, women, those with lower education, and younger workers are more likely to be in precarious forms of employment. More generally, our typology reveals limitations associated with binary conceptions of standard vs. non-standard employment, or insider–outsider dichotomies envisioned within dual labor market theories.

     

Ethnic Diversity and Inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa: Do Institutions Reduce the Noise?

Studies on the causes of income differences between the rich and the poor have received an extensive attention in the inequality empirics. While ethnic diversity has also been identified as one of the fundamental causes of income inequality, the role of institutions as a mediating factor in the ethnicity-inequality nexus has not received the scholarly attention it deserves. To this end, this study complements the existing literature by investigating the extent to which institutional framework corrects the noisy influence originating from the nexus between “ethnic diversity” and inequality in 26 sub-Saharan African countries for the period 1996–2015. The empirical evidence is based on pooled OLS, fixed effects and system GMM estimators. The main findings reveal that the mediating influences of institutional settings are defective, thus making it extremely difficult to modulate the noisy impacts of ethno-linguistic and religious heterogeneity on inequality. In addition, the negative influences orchestrated by ethno-linguistic and religious diversities on inequality fail to attenuate the impact of income disparity even when interacted with institutions. On the policy front, institutional reforms tailored toward economic, political and institutional governances should be targeted.

     

Gender,power, and population change

This report describes fertility and mortality trends in developing countries and discusses how gender is defined and measured in some countries. The discussion relies on case studies and country statistics to reveal how gender shapes the lives of all people in all societies. Gender is defined as the different roles women and men play in society. Gender is manifested in institutional structures, power relations, and culturally determined behavior. In no society do women and men share equal roles. The effects of inequality for women are manifested differently between countries. The 1994 International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo established the goal of gender equality. Educational enrollment and illiteracy are two measures of gender inequality that affect opportunities in society for advancement, power, and status. Girls are less likely to be enrolled in school than boys and more likely to have higher absenteeism rates. In China, absenteeism of girls is actually increasing under reforms. Marriage practices may devalue the investment in girls' education. Women experience different working conditions: they work longer hours, are paid less or not at all, and hold lower-status jobs. The exceptions are found in the Philippines and Brazil, where women hold more professional jobs than men. Women carry multiple responsibilities that consume time and prevent greater involvement in public life. Dowry and brideprice can constrain family relations. Women generally have fewer inheritance rights. Few women hold high-level public office positions or parliamentary seats. The extent to which gender inequality is reflected in demographic processes depends upon the gap in power in education, employment, and income. The relationship between gender and demographic processes is a central topic currently being researched.