Wage Inequality in the United States During the 1980s
Rising Dispersion or Falling Minimum Wage?
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23384705 |
|---|---|
| Authors | David S Lee (0000-0002-5984-8861, Princeton University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1999 |
| Volume | 114 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 977-1023 |
| Publication date | 1999-08-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Quarterly Journal of Economics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0033-5533 • E-ISSN: 1531-4650 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1162/003355399556197 |
| OpenAlex | W2073512802 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 138 |
| References cited | 22 |
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.
Demographic economics · Dispersion (optics) · Economics · Efficiency wage · Falling (accident) · Inequality · Labour economics · Minimum wage · Wage · Wage dispersion · Wage Inequality · Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Labor market dynamics and wage inequality · Mathematics · Psychology
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| Unique citing works | 138 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 5,11 |
| Citation span | 1999 - 2026 (28) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | Yes |
| Citation types | Neutral: 125 |