Wage inequality in the United States during the 1980s: Rising dispersion or falling minimum wage?

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Lee, DS
• 署名单位: Princeton University
• 刊物名称: QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0033-5533
• DOI: 10.1162/003355399556197
• 发表日期: 1999
• 页码: 977-1023
• 关键词: earnings inequality; relative wages; demand; explanations; TRENDS; LABOR

摘要

The magnitude of growth in underlying wage inequality in the United States during the 1980s is obscured by a concurrent decline in the federal minimum wage, which itself could cause an increase in observed wage inequality. This study uses regional variation in the relative level of the federal minimum wage to separately identify the impact of the minimum wage from nationwide growth in latent wage dispersion during the 1980s. The analysis suggests that the minimum wage can account for much of the rise in dispersion in the lower tail of the wage distribution, particularly for women.