Wage Risk and the Skill Premium

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Slavik, Ctirad; Yazici, Hakki
• 署名单位: Charles University Prague; University of Bristol
• 刊物名称: ECONOMIC JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0013-0133
• DOI: 10.1093/ej/ueac015
• 发表日期: 2022
• 页码: 2207-2230
• 关键词: technical change; business cycles; INEQUALITY; earnings; COMPLEMENTARITY; INVESTMENT; income; MODEL; TECHNOLOGY; insurance

摘要

The skill premium has increased significantly in the United States in the last five decades. During the same period, individual wage risk has also increased. This paper proposes a mechanism through which a rise in wage risk increases the skill premium. Intuitively, a rise in uninsured wage risk increases precautionary savings, thereby boosting capital accumulation, which increases the skill premium due to capital-skill complementarity. Using a quantitative macroeconomic model, we find that the rise in wage risk observed between 1967 and 2010 increases the skill premium significantly. This finding is robust across a variety of model specifications.