Global earnings inequality down, within-country inequality increasing
2021-06-28
This article is published in The Economic Journal
Authors: Olle Hammar and Daniel Waldenström
- Global earnings inequality has fallen, primarily during the 2000s and 2010s.
- The earnings share of the world's poorest half has doubled.
- Earnings inequalities between countries and within occupations have decreased.
- Within-country earnings inequality has increased.
The study estimates trends in global earnings dispersion across occupational groups using a new database that covers 68 developed and developing countries between 1970 and 2018. The main findings are that global earnings inequality has fallen, primarily during the 2000s and 2010s, when the global Gini coefficient dropped by 15 points and the earnings share of the world's poorest half doubled. Decomposition analyses show earnings convergence between countries and within occupations, while within-country earnings inequality has increased. Moreover, the falling global inequality trend was driven by real wage growth, rather than changes in hours worked, taxes or occupational employment.
For more information about the study, please contact Olle Hammar: olle.hammar@nek.uu.se
Article: "Global Earnings Inequality, 1970-2018" published in The Economic Journal, Volume 130, Issue 632, November 2020, pages 2526-2545.
-
What do companies do when workers go on extended parental leave?
A lot of research investigates how parental leave affects parents' careers, women's and children's health, and how it is divided between the parents. However, less is known about how parental leave programs affect companies, which is an important question since increased parental leave can make it more expensive to hire women and affect companies' profits and competitiveness negatively. In a new study, researchers Arizo Karimi, Rita Ginja, and Pengpeng Xiao investigate how companies reacted after two Swedish parental leave reforms that extended the duration of paid leave.
-
Employers value social skills more than brains
The paper The Rising return to Noncognitive skills is published in American
Economic Journal: Applied Economics 2022
Authors: Per-Anders Edin, Peter Fredriksson, Martin Nybom and Björn Öckert -
Stronger neighbourhood ties can reduce crime
The article Bolstering community ties as a mean of reducing crime
is published in the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization
Authors: Magdalena Domínguez and Daniel Montolio -
Emigration sparked innovation
The article Mass Migration and Technological Change is soon to be published in The Journal of the European Economic Association
Authors: David Andersson, Mounir Karadja and Erik Prawitz -
What role does news media play in the economy?
The paper Sectoral Media Focus and Aggregate Fluctuations is
published in The American Economic Review
Authors: Ryan Chahrour, Kristoffer Nimark and Stefan Pitschner -
Living in larger cities is greener
The paper Green urbanization is published in Plos One
Authors: Jan Eeckhout and Christoph Hedtrich -
Global earnings inequality down, within-country inequality increasing
This article is published in The Economic Journal
Authors: Olle Hammar and Daniel Waldenström -
Student achievement rises when grades matter more for admission
This paper is part of the thesis Inputs and Incentives in Education
Author: Lucas Tilley