The Cycle of Earnings Inequality

Evidence from Spanish Social Security Data

Datos Bibliográficos

ID9702974
AutoresStéphane Bonhomme (University of Chicago), Laura Hospido (0000-0003-0831-9473, Bank of Spain and IZA)
Año2017
Volumen127
Número603
Páginas1244-1278
Fecha de publicación2017-08-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThe Economic Journal (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0013-0133 • E-ISSN: 1468-0297
EditorialOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/ecoj.12368
OpenAlexW3125178414
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas9
Referencias citadas39

We use detailed information from social security records to document the evolution of male earnings inequality and employment in Spain from 1988 to 2010. We find that inequality was strongly countercyclical: it increased around the 1993 recession, experienced a substantial decrease during the 1997–2007 expansion and then a sharp increase during the recent recession. This evolution went in parallel with the cyclicality of employment in the lower middle part of the wage distribution. Our findings highlight the importance of the housing boom and bust in this evolution, suggesting that demand shocks in the construction sector had large effects on aggregate labour market outcomes

Boom · Business cycle · Bust · Distribution (mathematics · Earnings · Economics · Great recession · Inequality · Labour economics · Macroeconomics · Market economy · Recession · Social security · Wage · Wage Inequality · Employment and Welfare Studies · Finance · Labor market dynamics and wage inequality · Retirement, Disability, and Employment