Open AccessThe Distribution of Earnings in New Zealand
Author(s) -
Sylvia Dixon
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
labour, employment and work in new zealand
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2463-2600
DOI - 10.26686/lew.v0i0.956
Subject(s) - earnings , economics , distribution (mathematics) , inequality , demographic economics , educational attainment , earnings response coefficient , labour economics , mathematics , mathematical analysis , accounting , economic growth
Changes in the distribution of individual earnings between 1984 and 1995 are examined using data from the Household Economic Survey. Several dimensions of changes in the earnings structure are considered, including measures of aggregate earnings inequality, the gender earnings gap and shifts in relative earnings by level of educational attainment. Changes in the variance of earnings are decomposed to identify more clearly the source of the tendencies towards and against greater inequality. Evidence is found of a rise in hourly earnings inequality among males over the decade. However, the effects of this trend on the total earnings distribution were offset by a rise in the female share of employment and a narrowing of the gap between male and female average hourly earnings.