Micro-mechanisms and Macro-effects: How Structural Change and Institutional Context Affect Income Inequality in Rich Democracies
Dados Bibliográficos
| AUTOR(ES) | |
|---|---|
| AFILIAÇÃO(ÕES) | University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA |
| ANO | 2022 |
| TIPO | Article |
| PERIÓDICO | Socius Sociological Research for a Dynamic World |
| ISSN | 2378-0231 |
| E-ISSN | 2378-0231 |
| EDITORA | SAGE Publications Inc. |
| DOI | 10.1177/23780231221124581 |
| ADICIONADO EM | 2025-08-18 |
Resumo
In this article, the authors develop a taxonomy of the micro-mechanisms by which well-studied macro-level structural changes and institutional contexts distribute income and assess this taxonomy empirically. The authors' taxonomy explicates five distinct micro-mechanisms that operate inside and outside of the labor market to either increase (premiums) or decrease (penalties) income shares. Their analysis of total household income among over 1 million households across 14 countries and 39 years yields four contributions. First, the findings provide 'middle-range' evidence regarding the specific micro-mechanisms of each macro-process. Second, premiums are more common micro-mechanisms than penalties, consistent with the phenomenon of 'upper-tail polarization' observed in the literature. Third, workplace authority is the most important micro-mechanism operating in the labor market, but the top-income premium is the most important micro-mechanism overall. Finally, the relative importance of the top-income premium is greater for structural change than institutional context, which portends demands for new forms of redistribution.