Demographics and the dynamics of earnings

This paper discusses how demographic changes, in particular changes in cohort size, female labor force participation and migration, influence the dynamics of wage rate profiles. A review of the literature suggests that there are demographic effects on wage rate profiles, although they are usually rather small. Future research should concentrate on second-order adjustments and long-term effects of demographic changes.Presidential address delivered at the sixth annual meeting of the European Society for Population Economics, June 10–13, 1992, Gemunden, Austria. The author acknowledges the constructive comments of Bjorn Gustafsson and two referees.