Rising Wage Inequality: The 1980s Experience in Urban Labor Markets

Authors

Thomas Hyclak, Lehigh University

Publication Date

1-1-2000

DOI

10.17848/9780880995948

Abstract

Hyclak analyzes information not utilized in previous studies of wage inequality. Whereas researchers previously relied on data derived from the national labor market, Hyclak draws on data from the Area Wage Surveys (AWS), which allows him to focus on changes in the wage structure in a sample of 20 local labor markets for the period of 1974 to 1991. This source also allows him to examine changes in the structure of wages paid for some 40 different jobs found in four different occupational groups. In addition, Hyclak is able to concentrate on jobs and the skills required as the primary determinant of wages, an approach, he says, that complements the more traditional human capital wage model that emphasizes the personal characteristics of workers.

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Contents

1. Introduction
2. Trends in the Urban Wage Structure
3. Trends in Benefit and Union Contract Coverage
4. Skill Requirements and Returns on Skills
5. Market and Institutional Factors in Rising Wage Inequality
6. Summary and Policy Implications
7. Addendum: Atlanta in 1991 and 1996

Appendix A-Data Sources and Definitions of Metropolitan Areas

Appendix B-Wage Distribution Data

Appendix C-Unemployment Rates

ISBN

9780880992084 (cloth) ; 9780880992077 (pbk.) ; 9780880995948 (ebook)

Subject Areas

LABOR MARKET ISSUES; Wages, health insurance and other benefits; Inequality; ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT; Regional policy and planning; Urban issues