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EARNINGS INEQUALITY IN USA, 1969–99: COMPARING INEQUALITY USING EARNINGS EQUATIONS
Author(s) -
Yun MyeongSu
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
review of income and wealth
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.024
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1475-4991
pISSN - 0034-6586
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-4991.2006.00179.x
Subject(s) - earnings , inequality , economics , wage inequality , earnings response coefficient , labour economics , income inequality metrics , wage , decomposition , order (exchange) , distribution (mathematics) , income distribution , mathematics , finance , mathematical analysis , ecology , biology
A simple decomposition method using an earnings equation is proposed by synthesizing two decomposition methodologies, those of Juhn, Murphy, and Pierce (1993) and Fields (2003), in order to study changes in earnings inequality in America during the last three decades in the 20th century. The proposed method enables us to compute both aggregate and detailed decompositions of changes in earnings inequality. The decomposition of earnings inequality change during the last three decades in 20th century shows that the increase in earnings inequality in America was caused by changes in the wage structure and the distribution of unobservables. The premium to education contributes substantially to the widening of earnings inequality during the 1980s and 1990s. A decreasing male wage premium contributes to leveling earnings inequality.