Increasing Earnings Inequality: Reconciling Evidence from Survey and Administrative Data

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Haltiwanger, John; Hyatt, Henry R.; Spletzer, James R.
• 署名单位: University System of Maryland; University of Maryland College Park
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF LABOR ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0734-306X
• DOI: 10.1086/726632
• 发表日期: 2023
• 页码: S61-S93
• 关键词: employment

摘要

Analyses of survey data highlight observable person characteristics, such as education and occupation, as critical factors for rising earnings inequality, while industry has an offsetting effect. In contrast, analysis of administrative data highlights that rising between-firm earnings dispersion and, in turn, between-industry earnings dispersion dominates the rise in earnings inequality. We construct a novel integrated dataset based on CPS micro data linked with LEHD administrative records. We find that most of the rise in earnings inequality is accounted for by rising between-industry inequality. This finding reflects a substantial contribution of increased sorting and segregation of observable person characteristics between industries.