Rising Top, Falling Bottom: Industries and Rising Wage Inequality

S-Tier
Journal: American Economic Review
Year: 2024
Volume: 114
Issue: 10
Pages: 3250-83

Score contribution per author:

2.681 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Most of the rise in overall earnings inequality from 1996 to 2018 is accounted for by rising between-industry dispersion. The contribution of industries is right-skewed with the top 10 percent of four-digit NAICS industries dominating. The top 10 percent are clustered in high-paying high-tech and low-paying retail sectors. In the top industries, high-wage workers are increasingly sorted to high-wage industries with rising industry premia. In the bottom industries, low-wage workers are increasingly sorted into low-wage industries, with rising employment and falling industry wage premia.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aecrev:v:114:y:2024:i:10:p:3250-83
Journal Field
General
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-25