The Structure of Wages: An International Comparison

by Edward P. Lazear, Kathryn L. Shaw

Overview

The distribution of income, the rate of pay raises, and the mobility of employees is crucial to understanding labor economics. Although research abounds on the distribution of wages across individuals in the economy, wage differentials within firms remain a mystery to economists. The first effort to examine linked employer-employee data across countries, The Structure of Wages:An International Comparison analyzes labor trends and their institutional background in the United States and eight European countries.

A distinguished team of contributors reveal how a rising wage variance rewards star employees at a higher rate than ever before, how talent becomes concentrated in a few firms over time, and how outside market conditions affect wages in the twenty-first century. From a comparative perspective that examines wage and income differences within and between countries such as Denmark, Italy, and the Netherlands, this volume will be required reading for economists and those working in industrial organization.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780226470504
Publisher:	University of Chicago Press
Publication date:	02/15/2009
Series:	National Bureau of Economic Research Comparative Labor Markets Series
Pages:	472
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Edward P. Lazear is the Jack Steele Parker Professor of Human Resources Management and Economics at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University; the Morris Arnold Cox Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution; chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers to the President of the United States; and a research associate of the NBER.

Kathryn L. Shaw is the Ernest C. Arbuckle Professor of Economics at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Wage Structure, Raises, and Mobility: International Comparisons of the Structure of Wages within and across Firms

Edward P. Lazear and K. Shaw

1. Adjusting imperfect data: Overview and Case Studies

Lars Vilhuber

2. Wage Structure and Labor Mobility in the United States

John M. Abowd, John Haltiwanger and Julia Lane

3. Wage Structure and Labor Mobility in Denmark, 1980- 2000

Tor Eriksson and Niels Westergaard-Nielsen 

4. Wage Structure and Labor Mobility in the Netherlands, 1999-2003

Lex Borghans and Ben Kriechel

5. Finland: Firm Factors in Wages and Wage Changes

Roope Uusittalo and Juhana Vartiainen

6. Wage Structure and Firm Productivity in Belgium

Thierry Lallemand, Robert Plasman, and François Rycx

7. Wage Dispersion Between and Within Plants: Sweden 1985-2000

Oskar Nordstrom Skans, Per-Anders Edin, and Bertil Holmlund

8. Wage Structure and Labor Mobility in the West German Private Sector 1993- 2000

Holger Alda, Lutz Bellmann, and Hermann Gartner

9. Wage Structure and Labor Mobility in Norway: 1980-1997

Arngrim Hunnes, Jarle Moen and Kjell G. Salvanes

10. Wage Mobility and Dynamics in Italy in the 90s

Bruno Contini, Roberto Leombruni, Lia Pacelli, and Claudia Villosio

11. Wage Structure in France, 1977-1996

Francis Kramarz and Sébastien Perez- Duarte

12. Wage Structure and Labor Mobility in Sweden, 1970-1990

Paul Oyer