Differences & Changes in Wage Structures (National Bureau of Economic Research Comparative Labor Markets Series) - Hardcover

Freeman, Richard B

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0226261603 ISBN 13: 9780226261607

Publisher: University of Chicago Press, 1995

Synopsis

During the past two decades, wages of skilled workers in the United States rose while those of unskilled workers fell; less-educated young men in particular have suffered unprecedented losses in real earnings. These 12 essays explore whether this trend is unique to the United States or is part of a general growth in inequality in advanced countries. Focusing on labour market institutions, and the supply and demand forces that affect wages, the papers compare patterns of earnings inequality and pay differentials in the United States, Australia, Korea, Japan, Western Europe and the changing economies of Eastern Europe. Cross-country studies examine issues such as managerial compensation, gender differences in earnings, and the relationship of pay to regional unemployment. The contributors attribute changes in relative wages and unemployment among countries both to differences in labour market institutions, and training and education systems, and to long-term shifts in supply and demand for skilled workers. These shifts are driven in part by skill-biased technological change and the growing internationalization of advanced industrial economies.

About this title

About the Author

Richard B. Freeman is the Herbert Ascherman Professor of Economics at Harvard University and is a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

From the Back Cover

In the two decades since the 1970s, wages of skilled workers in the United States rose while those of unskilled workers fell; less-educated young men in particular suffered unprecedented losses in real earnings. These twelve original essays explore whether this trend is unique to the United States or is part of a general growth in inequality in advanced countries. Focusing on labor market institutions and the supply and demand forces that affect wages, the papers compare patterns of earnings inequality and pay differentials in the United States, Australia, Korea, Japan, Western Europe, and the changing economies of Eastern Europe. Cross-country studies examine issues such as managerial compensation, gender differences in earnings, and the relationship of pay to regional unemployment. Drawing from this rich store of data, the contributors attribute changes in relative wages and unemployment among countries both to differences in labor market institutions and training and education systems, and to long-term shifts in supply and demand for skilled workers. These shifts are driven in part by skill-biased technological change and the growing internationalization of advanced industrial economies.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0226261603
• ISBN 13: 9780226261607
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 472